Xinshun 1730

Chapter 233 Monopoly

At the reception banquet in the evening, Liu Yu took the main seat as a matter of course.

Businessmen from Jiangsu and Zhejiang who have invested more than one thousand taels of shares in everything have come. Besides them, there are also those who missed the last bus and now regret it.

There were dozens of tables crowded in the dark, but it was quite quiet.

Everyone knows that Liu Yu's visit this time is definitely not as simple as giving money, there must be other things.

As soon as the banquet started, several maritime business leaders who had a lot of shares held a toast to Liu Yu on behalf of the rest.

"Eagle Sobo took us to make a fortune this time, and squeezed away the group of Hokkien and Zhangzhou gangs in Wa country. I am grateful, grateful!"

Holding the wine, Liu Yu said with a smile: "That's not right. I didn't push those people away. It's really that the shogunate of the Japanese country only gave so many trade letter cards. If I took more, others would take less. I can only say, It’s just that I have some skills in the country of Wo. But if the country of Japan releases the trade letter card, it will depend on the Jiangsu and Zhejiang gangs, the Fuzhou gang, and the Zhangzhou gang, who has more capital, who has a more stable supply of goods, and who has more ships.”

"Besides, the so-called brothers fight against their humiliation outside the wall. The Zhangzhou Gang and the Fuzhou Gang are still our citizens and our own people. If Japan opens trade in the future, I think it will be hello, me, everyone. .”

With just one sentence, everyone was shocked.

All the people present were fine people, and they could vaguely hear something different from these words.

If the Japanese country liberalizes trade?

Is this casual?Or did Eagle Sobo have the means?
How did Liu Yu get so many trade letters in Japan? No one knows, and no one asks.Even after inquiring, I couldn't find out.

Coupled with Liu Yu's official status, many people feel that there seems to be something in the words.

If the Japanese country really liberalizes trade...not to mention anything else, but to say that the bills in my hand have now risen to [-] shares, then it will have to be doubled.

Even if the Zhangzhou Gang and the Fuzhou Gang are still strong and the locals still have money, but after all, Liu Yu has taken away too many trade letters in the past few years, and many Fujian maritime merchants have been severely damaged.

In addition, in recent years, the trading company has been relying on the way of transporting rice to carry out smuggling in Japan. It can be said that they are familiar with each other.

What it means for Japan to liberalize trade, they know very well.

Before Arai Shiraishi restricted the Nagasaki trade, even if Japan had a national lock-up order, it could still benefit a lot through loopholes and smuggling, and even thought about crossing Shimonoseki to the Seto Inland Sea for smuggling.

The biggest difference from colonists such as Britain and the Netherlands is that they do not have a company with an army. When the Japanese fired bombardment at Shimonoseki to bombard smuggling ships, no one went to force Japan to found a country.

Although Arai Shiraishi is dead, the government is still alive, and the policy of restricting trade still remains.

This is a set of policies, limited trade, credit card system, gold and silver are not allowed to be used for copper replacement silk, porcelain and silk are prohibited from entering Hong Kong, and some goods that are not easy to sell and not high in profit must be forced to be carried, etc.

Several people who have run the Nagasaki trade before are clear about this change.

At this time Liu Yu mentioned this matter at the wine table, these people of course hoped that Liu Yu had something to say, but it was not easy to ask directly.

After a long time, the courageous one said: "Eagle's words are very reasonable. Back then, when Xinjing Baishi didn't do this, there were no conflicts between our Jiangsu and Zhejiang gangs, Fuzhou gangs, and Zhangzhou gangs. Every year when copper is collected, It’s all about us working together to lower the price.”

"The copper of Japanese merchants is sold to us at a loss. But they can sell our raw silk, relying on the copper price. If we delay for a month, they will get an extra month of interest and turnover. Then It was such a good time."

"Even if the policy of restricting trade was introduced later, we not only cooperated with the Fuzhou Gang and Zhangzhou Gang, but also cooperated with the Dutch to smuggle raw silk."

"It's just that Arai Shiraishi did it later. There were more wolves and less meat, so we shouldn't fight? We couldn't beat the Japanese, so we had to fight first. In Nagasaki, we fought with the Fuzhou Gang and the Zhangzhou Gang. Not a lot of conflict."

Liu Yuxin said, what is involution?This is a living example of the combination of foreign wars and inward competition.

After the businessman finished speaking, Liu Yu asked with a smile: "I also bought a lot of shares, but I was born late. It seems that when I went to Yongning Temple, Arai Shiraishi died. It's a pity that I didn't catch up with that year. Good times. Listening to what you said, business was easier than it is now?"

As soon as this was said, the originally quiet hall suddenly became chaotic.

Many people have worked as maritime merchants, and they have all experienced those good days, although they have not caught up with the better days before the lock-up.

But compared to now, those days are enough to miss.

"Eagle Sobo doesn't know something. At that time, life was more than easy?"

"At that time, there was not much copper in Yunnan, and the price of copper was extremely high. Copper in Japan was also cheap. If you come back and forth, even if you don't get any other luck, it will double your profit."

In recent years, due to the mining of copper mines in Yunnan, the increase in copper prices in Japan, and the transfer of pricing power from Chinese maritime merchants to Japanese merchants due to Japanese official control, profits have not been as good as before.

There's something else besides copper.

Porcelain, raw silk could not be obtained in the past, and two ships of porcelain were shipped to Japan, which was also very profitable.But now in Nagasaki, as long as porcelain is found, the ship will be directly detained and not allowed to enter the port. Now no one dares to take risks.

Silk, cotton... Which one is not profitable?

Moreover, the most important thing is that there was no mandatory barter regulation at that time, and gold and silver could be used for large transactions.There is a big difference between trading gold and silver in bulk and exchanging copper and other things now.

The old people missed the good old days, and the young people listened to the old people's complaints, and each of them opened their chatterboxes.

There are also people who satirize them, saying that they are a mess of loose sand and worms when they go outside.But in fact, 30 years ago, this was not the case at all. The Jiangsu-Zhejiang Gang, the Fuzhou Gang, and the Zhangzhou Gang could cooperate.In the smuggling before Arai Shiraishi started the New Deal, the three families tried to go to Xiaocang together, but they were turned back, which led to internal fighting.

Seeing that the emotions in the hall were mobilized, Liu Yu stood up, coughed lightly, and told everyone to be quiet.

"I was young, so I didn't know that there was such a thing back then. I was thinking, if one day the Japanese country switches to allow trade and the imperial court gives us the privilege of trading with the Japanese country, I will ask everyone how much they are willing to spend a year to buy this monopoly?"

These maritime merchants have all heard of monopoly rights.The Western merchants who trade here are basically from the East India Company. They have never eaten pork, but they have seen pigs running, so they naturally understand what monopoly power means.

Liu Yu said again: "That's all I'm going to say. But, think about it, if you give monopoly power, you must spend money to buy it, right. How much do you think you can give?"

That's all he said, but Liu Yu has an official status after all. Since he said this in front of so many people, it's okay to say nonsense, and it's right to say something.

Several former big merchants murmured for a while, and asked: "If Ying Suobo wants to say that, it depends on what it is. For example, is the Wa country completely liberalized trade? It is the same as before? Or is it even porcelain, silk and so on? Can be sold, and not limited to gold and silver?"

Liu Yu said with a smile: "Anyway, it's just a dream, so let's treat it as a dream. There are everything in the dream. Just treat it as a Japanese country switch, trade at will, gold and silver, porcelain and silk are not allowed. Of course, customs duties still have to be paid, and they are based on value. Take three out of a hundred to count."

Tariffs and everything are small money.Not to mention getting three out of a hundred, that is, doubling it, as long as the conditions mentioned above can be met, it will also make a lot of money.

That means that cotton cloth, silk and porcelain can be shipped to Japan crazily, and it also means that grain, rice, ironware, etc. can also be transshipped, as well as Japanese sulfur, etc...

Such a good thing, even older people have never experienced it.

The good days they experienced were just the trade with Japan before Arai Shiraishi's reforms, so they were already considered good days.

If it is true what Liu Yu said...pay the money to the court?Of course they had to hand it over. Everyone knew that it was safer to have the imperial court standing behind them, and why did the imperial court entrust them with such a good thing for no reason?
"If this is the case, 50 taels a year should be acceptable."

"I think 80 should be fine."

It is difficult to imagine accurately what one has not experienced, and one has to take Dutch trade into account.These people have not only been to the East, but also to the South Seas. Knowing that the Dutch have strong ships and cannons, they are aware of the gap between the naval forces of several countries and the Dutch. Naturally, they dare not imagine a trade with Japan without the Netherlands, and it is hard to imagine. Japan out of full switch.

The 80 two-year monopoly is basically close to Liu Yu's bottom line.For the imperial court, 80 taels a year is a lot of income, and all customs taxes are not much.

The key point is that Japan's handicraft level and poor resources make it impossible for these people to be compradors even if they have monopoly power.

There is nothing to sell back, except for precious metals, sulfur, rice, etc., Liu Yu can't think of anything in Japan that can have an impact on Dashun's handicraft industry.

The crowd didn't understand why Liu Yu said that at this time, and of course they didn't know that Liu Yu's confidence was in the 120 million taels of naval construction funds allocated by the treasury every year, so that he could straighten his back a little, and he didn't need to be extremely cautious to prevent Japan notices.

At this moment, they were arguing, and Liu Yu naturally believed that the merchants were not bad at all, and that the merchants in Dashun were no worse than European merchants at all.

After all, in Mongolia and Southeast Asia, there are countless legends about "Chinese businessmen treacherous", and some of them can even become part of the call for national tragedy and false enemies that shape the national community.

He never thought of occupying Japan, which is different from controlling Mongolia. He just regarded Japan as a primitive accumulation and dumping place for the first pot of gold.

After this step is completed, if you are willing to awaken the nation, you will wake up, if you are willing to work hard, you will work hard, but it must be too late, and it will be of no use.

All kinds of negative problems brought about by monopoly rights are long-term.This is an effective choice under the balance of not pursuing the long-term but also requiring the support of the court.

"Everyone, please be quiet for a moment. I'm just talking about this as a dream. But today's incident also reminded me of one thing. If our trading company wants to develop in the future, we must set the rules. Thanks to everyone’s trust before, many things are decided by me, but there is a saying that if you pay a penny, you have a share; Each bears his burden."

"Brothers, settle accounts clearly. Today I took you to make a fortune. You opened your mouth, Eagle Sabo, and shut your mouth, Mr. Liu, calling you close. If I make a wrong decision in the future and lose a lot of money, can't you curse me? I think , we have to select a few people to speak out."

"In business, there are profits and losses, and I am willing to bet and admit defeat. If there is a mistake in the election, it is also chosen by everyone. I will also get out early, so as not to cause trouble in the future."

(End of this chapter)