Xinshun 1730

Chapter 135 Fair and Unfair Competition
It is a good thing that officials are afraid of taking responsibility and death. At least it proves that the imperial court still has deterrent power and control over the local area.

But Liu Yu still didn't believe Lin Yunwen's words.There is such a big temptation in front of us. With Japan's special trade policy under the country's lock-up, [-]% of the benefits can risk hanging, let alone the lure of a trade letter card?

"You really don't know? Or do you say you know but dare not say it? Afraid of being retaliated?"

"My lord, the villain really doesn't know."

Lin Yunwen lowered his head and didn't dare to look at Liu Yu. He wanted to know, of course he knew it. It was all in the circle. Is there an impenetrable wall in the world?

But the so-called Qin Hui still has three or five good friends.There are several friends in Lin Yunwen's business circle, and there is a consensus in the circle, that is, it is best not to get involved with the government.

Once the government is involved, it is likely that everyone's jobs will be ruined.

Imperial court policy has always been one size fits all.

Even if the above does not have a one-size-fits-all policy, when the governors and governors below implement it, out of laziness and unwillingness to take responsibility, they will choose a one-size-fits-all policy.

Xu said above, strict inspection of contraband.When you get to the bottom, it may become that you are not allowed to go to sea, so there is no contraband smuggling?
At that time, of course, the smuggling of contraband will be gone, and the normal trade will probably stop.

What Lin Yunwen said was awe-inspiring, and he had never read a book, so he would never do such a thing.But in fact, he didn't do it, or he didn't have the ability to do it.

He has no ability, and someone has the ability to find a way to bypass the inspection and transport some prohibited items to Japan.

If anyone can transport it, people in the circle will give a thumbs up, praise that they have the ability, full of envy, only hate that their ability is not great, and there is no way to get it out secretly.

But no one in the circle would point to his nose and call him a traitor.

Of course Liu Yu didn't believe Lin Yunwen's words. In fact, he was not very clear about the situation in Japan, but some truths were common to all.

As far as Japan's current trade policy is concerned, there is an obvious rent-seeking power, but all rent-seeking power is actually the same from Ningbo to London.

So he asked: "The Japanese country is so traded, and the distribution of trade letters is limited. Although there are regulations... But they say that they are not afraid of the county magistrate, but only afraid of the police. If you want to get a trade letter, you have to give money to bribes, right?"

"Yes, my lord has learned a lesson. You have to give money as a bribe. This bribe must have a network, and you must find a scene person. First, please drink, and the broker on the scene also clearly marked the price, taking one-eighth of the bribe. Get in the water. A letter card, at least it costs a thousand taels of silver to use."

Liu Yu smiled and said: "If you get the horses, military books and so on, don't you need to bribe?"

Lin Yunwen thought that Liu Yu was deceiving him again, but he couldn't see how much Liu Yu knew for a while, and he was afraid that he would pretend to be ignorant and be seen through by Liu Yu as cheating, so he made up his mind: what should be said should be said naturally, as long as Don't say specifics, it's okay.

Otherwise, if you take responsibility for others, but trap yourself in it, what's the point?

"What your lord said is true. Not only do you not need to bribe, the Japanese also reward you with silver, and you will also be issued an extra credit card."

"Um……"

I verified my own inference, this kind of official affairs is almost the same all over the world.

If Dashun also closes the door and issues trade licenses, whoever issues the licenses will be able to become rich as an enemy. This is all obvious.But all approvals are the same.

If there is a requirement from above that something must be obtained, naturally they will not ask for bribes, but offer rewards, or even pay for it themselves.

As long as you get what you want from above, won't you still be in charge of the trade credit card in the future?
How can there be anyone in the officialdom who doesn't understand this truth?
After thinking for a while, he asked again: "What kind of goods do you usually sell? What is the profit? Let's talk about bulk products."

Speaking of this, Lin Yunwen is very familiar.

"Returning to your lord's words. If you talk about the bulk and the high cost, the first is mercury. If you buy it in Ningbo, it costs 40 taels a load, and you can sell it for 120 taels in Nagasaki. Although the Dutch also trade, it is difficult to get mercury. That's why this mercury is in the hands of us merchants."

"Mercury? Hmm. Good."

The biggest use of mercury should be to refine precious metals such as silver and gold.

Mercury is so popular, it seems that Japan's silver mines are still far from being exhausted, and the potential of Japan's precious metals is still huge.Otherwise, this mercury would not sell so well.

Lin Yunwen didn't know Liu Yu's deep meaning, he only thought that Liu Yu wanted to ask for some information, thinking that if he didn't say these things, someone else would say them, and it wouldn't hurt others, so he said a few more things.

"Besides mercury, there are...uh, the prohibited zinc rods and iron rods. Zinc rods are unique to our dynasty, and the Dutch compete with us for iron rods. They are also twice as profitable, but ordinary people can't get them I see, and I use very little. The Wa country has not fought wars these years, if it is like when there were wars in the past, the iron rods will be more profitable."

"A load of white sugar is one tael and a half. In Nagasaki, it can be sold for more than four taels. It is mainly sugar from Taiwan. A few years ago, there were riots in Taiwan, so the sugar is much more expensive. Raw silk is also twice as profitable."

Liu Yu generally knows these bulky goods, and when it comes to mercury, it is actually enough.

Raw silk, white sugar, and iron bars are all well-known goods that are in short supply in the trade with Japan, but he is concerned about other things.

Interrupting Lin Yunwen's words, he asked, "Where's porcelain?"

Speaking of porcelain, Lin Yunwen's face was a little ugly, he shook his head and said, "Porcelain can't be sold."

"The villain's family had shipped a batch of porcelain before, but after arriving in Nagasaki, the Japanese had an order that foreign porcelain and pottery were not allowed to enter Hong Kong in the future. There was no other way but to be shipped back."

"The Japanese are also making porcelain now. The Dutch also buy more porcelain from the Japanese. In the past years of war in the south of the Yangtze River, it was difficult for Westerners to buy porcelain from our dynasty. The Japanese took the opportunity to make porcelain and developed rapidly. Although the quality is not as good as Jiangxi porcelain, it is better. It’s cheap. Nowadays, some people buy porcelain in Japan, sell it back, or resell it to the Dutch.”

Liu Yu, who was listening, pinched his teeth, tapped the back of his hand and said, "Damn it, you said such a good trade, why did you let the Japanese take a share? Since the Dutch are also allowed to trade, what is your relationship with them?"

"My lord... I have an exclusive letter card for merchants, and the Dutch have exclusive letter cards for the Dutch. It is said that the two do not affect each other. We also have an agreement in private, such as copper shipped back from Japan, we cannot send it to Batavia Give it away. But if you don’t do anything that is beneficial, others will do it. In business, the bold are starved to death, and the timid are exhausted.”

"The agreement is finalized, but someone still transports copper to Batavia. The Dutch merchants sold it at a high price, so they sold it to local smugglers at the price of three denarii lower than the Dutch merchant's. The Dutch said we would not If you keep your promise, there will be more conflicts on weekdays."

Speaking of the Dutch, Lin Yunwen's expression became ugly.

He doesn't understand the general trend, but he knows that the big business of Paohai is getting more and more difficult to do now.

The previous dynasty was fine.

Under the retreat, the Dutch were not allowed to trade. They not only invited merchants to go to Batavia, but also gave more rewards.

Now that the switch is opened, the Dutch also have business offices in Guangdong. The Dutch are much more tempered than before, and their backs are much tougher.

People's joys and sorrows are not connected.

Those big businessmen who sit on the ground and those who sell goods on the shore make a lot of money one by one.

And those of them who run the sea and exchange their lives for money are not as good as the Dutch when it comes to sailing, and they are not as good as the Dutch when it comes to the Nanyang route.

When the Dutch bought the goods directly in the shop, their attitude towards Chinese maritime merchants changed 180 degrees. There were restrictions everywhere, making it impossible to do big business at all.

I heard from the elders that a ship of raw silk and porcelain was shipped to Batavia in the previous dynasty, and the Dutch had to make offerings like their ancestors. After receiving the goods, they also invited meals and gifts. Please come again next time.

Now, it is said that if you go to Batavia, you will not even be able to enter the port. If you are stuck for ten or eight days, if you catch up with a typhoon, you will die.

The Dutch ships are directly loaded in Guangdong, and the Chinese maritime merchants are also loaded in Guangdong.

The Dutch are engaged in freight costs, which can force the whole of Europe to limit the Netherlands. Chinese maritime merchants really can't compete with freight costs.

If you really engage in free trade, who dares to compare the cost of freight with the driver of the sea?

The East India Company still wanted to make money, and even a little bit of manipulation at the port would cost them a lot of money.

The market share in Western Europe is only so large, and a boatload of raw silk for porcelain cannot be sold to the natives of Nanyang. They cannot afford it and cannot use so much.

In terms of trade with Japan, maritime merchants like Lin Yunwen also suffered a lot.

It turns out that if the Dutch want to sell raw silk to Japan, they need to go through the hands of Fujian merchants, and the price is a bit higher.

Ningbo merchants set sail directly to Japan, and the price of raw silk was lower than that of the Dutch, making the Dutch unable to compete with Ningbo merchants.

Now that the shop is open, the raw silk that the Dutch get is the same price as the raw silk that the Ningbo people get.

When they arrived in Japan, the original price advantage of Ningbo merchants was gone, and the Dutch took away a large share.

The Netherlands is monopolized by the East India Company. Wherever there is a monopoly, there are those who seek to survive outside the monopoly. Of course, Batavia also has private traffickers.

Some sea merchants secretly transported Japanese copper and Chinese silk to Batavia, only thinking about eating meat from the Dutch East India Company, drinking some soup by themselves, and trading privately with those Dutch private traders at a lower price.

As a result, the Dutch East India Company caught it and took the opportunity to accuse Chinese businessmen of breaking their promises, and took advantage of the situation to increase restrictions on Chinese businessmen traveling to Nanyang.

There is no unanimity with the outside world, and the maritime merchants who run to Southeast Asia and the East Ocean fight first.

Nanyang maritime merchants accused Dongyang maritime merchants of violating the agreement with the Dutch, causing the Dutch to now stick to the neck of Nanyang maritime merchants.

Dongyang Marine Merchant scolded Nanyang Marine Merchant for being wasteful, saying that there was nothing wrong with accusing Nanyang Marine Merchant of being a waste. He couldn’t compete with the Dutch for the freight cost, but thought it was Dongyang Marine Merchant’s fault. Didn’t the Dutch just find a reason?

After listening to Lin Yunwen's complaints, Liu Yu couldn't help laughing, and said: "Who gives the confidence of Nanyang maritime merchants, and compares the cost of shipping with the Dutch? If they can compete, then the sun will come out from the west. The small country of the Netherlands relies on It is the freight cost that dominates the roost for a while. If there is no injustice, it should be regarded as paying the tuition fee.”

In this world, how can there be real free trade?
Dashun is good, it really treats everyone equally, the big merchants and landlords on the shore have made money, but these maritime merchants have suffered.

When the gap is small, you can still catch up with each other, stimulate competition, and make progress together.

If the gap is too big, then it's not that you are chasing each other, but a one-sided massacre.

Wanting the best of both worlds is actually simple.

Increase export duties on foreign merchants.

Dashun does not have the worries of Western European mercantilism who only think about going out and not going in.Money... Isn't that all sent to the door of the house?
Western Europe wants to reduce export taxes and increase import taxes; Dashun should reduce or even exempt import taxes, increase taxes on exports for direct purchases by Westerners, and lighten taxes on domestic maritime merchants.

Liu Yu thought about the things that Dashun can import now, Vietnamese Siamese rice, arms, machinery... It seems that they are gone. These should be tax-free things. Compared with selling them, how much is it?European cloth wants to defeat Songjiang cloth, and it may not be enough to give them another 50 years.

The freight cost of engaging in truly free competition is incomparable, and tariff increases are treated differently.

When the time comes, the Dutch are guaranteed to return to the attitude of the Ming Dynasty: when they meet with Nanyang maritime merchants, they must first treat them to dinner and give them gifts when they go to Batavia.

The switch has been turned on for several years, making the Dutch wonder how high the sky is, and now it is shaking like this.

I really think of East Asia as a paradise for free trade, and forget how I got mixed up in Europe so that people tried to do everything possible, and it’s time to cry that free trade and navigation on the high seas should be international law.

The Dutch themselves were schizophrenic. They established the East India Company with an absolute monopoly, but called for free trade... Then you dismantled the East India Company with soldiers, guns, and organization, and went to free trade.

Liu Yu felt that the Dutch must be sober and realize that the world is not so beautiful.Real free trade is only in a dream.Besides, I want to make money in Japan, and the trade volume was robbed by the Dutch, so that's okay?Wouldn't it be worthless to be such a big official if you don't use the official position to do it?
(End of this chapter)