Xinshun 1730

Chapter 236 Intermediary
While waiting for everyone to arrive, Liu Yu asked Tian Ping to accompany him to visit the residences of Western merchants.

Westerners who can blow their brains out in Europe are very honest here.

A row of European-style houses sits outside the city, inlaid with glass and various European-style decorations.

Tian Ping explained: "It was built by local businessmen, who hired Western masons and rented it out to Westerners. It costs several hundred taels of silver a year."

"Westerners are not allowed to buy land and build houses at will in order to prevent the Macau incident from happening again. So they can only rent houses here. The control is relatively strict on weekdays, mainly because the sailors on the ship always make trouble."

"These houses were built by people from here. Although they are expensive to rent to Westerners, they cost a lot of money. The glass windows alone are expensive."

In Beijing, Liu Yu had already seen plate glass.

There are some in my own home, there are also some in Duke Qi's mansion, and there are even a few pieces in the Forbidden City.

But for a family like theirs, there is no need to spend money to install two pieces of glass, and someone from below will send it up as a gift.

According to the information bought from the French, the price of glass in the UK is not expensive at all.

Flat transparent glass, the kind that can be spliced ​​with glass windows, is only a few pennies a pound, and it is sold by the pound.

One pound is 240 pence, a piece of glass is three to five catties, one pound is about three taels of silver, and the price of a piece of glass is about five cents.

This is of course a luxury, and it is certainly unaffordable for the poor.At this time, the average daily wage in the north of Dashun was 4 grams of silver, and it was more expensive in the south. It was impossible for a person with this income to spend one or two months’ wages to buy a piece of glass.

Just wondering what the price is for shipping here?
After asking Tian Ping, Tian Ping smiled and said: "You really asked the right person. When I was in the capital, several windows in my house were made of glass, but they were all given by others. How do I know the price? When I got here, I asked about it. A piece of glass must cost nine taels of silver. If it is transported to the capital, it will be sold for 15 taels in the capital.”

"This thing is good, but it's too expensive. My house is not as big as yours, but the house is not small. If I replace all these things, it will cost several thousand taels of silver, and I definitely can't change it."

Liu Yu thought to himself that this is huge profits. Considering that the UK basically monopolizes the production of flat glass, and there is a huge breakage rate when transporting this thing, the glass of one and a half taels of silver can be sold here to nine taels, but it is a bit too expensive. .

"Is there anyone in Songjiang who buys this stuff?"

"Yes, there are many rich people in Songjiang..."

Pointing to several teahouses in the distance, he said, "Who does business with foreigners in there without a net worth of [-] yuan? But they usually don't buy glass windows, they buy glass screens and the like. There are some flowers and birds painted on them." , looks good-looking, but also expensive."

Tian Ping turned his mind and suddenly thought of something.

"Brother Shouchang, don't you want to sell glass?"

Liu Yu stretched out her finger, made a silent gesture on her mouth, and said with a smile: "Almost."

"Hey... that's great. Westerners don't have many things to sell. With Brother Shouchang doing this, Westerners can only transport money here by boat."

After working in the customs for a while, Tian Ping has roughly figured out the goods sold by the Westerners.

The Swedes were the worst. Except for Spanish silver dollars, the ships that came were almost empty.

The Dutch are the most nourishing. Nanyang mahogany, spices, and European fine wool can be exchanged for some silver here.

The French are not miserable, and their woolen goods are not as good as those of the Netherlands and England, but the French can still sell some small things like clocks, tapestries, and ivory.

Britain has not gained a foothold in India yet, and Dashun, especially the Songjiang area, is in great need of cotton.However, before the handicraft industry in Bangladesh was completely destroyed, it would not be profitable to transport cotton here, and Indian cotton cloth could not be sold in Dashun at all.Although the average daily wage in India at this time is 2 grams of silver, and the labor cost is lower than that of Dashun, the quality and production efficiency still offset this advantage.

Dashun is not a black uncle. The story of taking a few glass balls to exchange gold and silver here only exists in fantasy and mythology.

Looking at these Western-style houses, Tian Ping sighed: "Brother Shouchang, it would be great if our trading company could sell the goods directly to the West."

"That's what I think. You see, most of these Westerners' ships come empty, carrying silver. Then we take our cargo away. It is tens of thousands of miles away by sea, and there is no cargo to sell to us. , which is equivalent to running a one-way trip. But even if it’s just a one-way trip, even if it’s [-] miles away, these Westerners still enjoy it.”

"You don't need to think about it, just use your ass to think about it. You know how high the profit is here. Let's go to Japan, and we don't think we'll make much money for the one-way trip, so we want to bring some copper back."

Liu Yu laughed and couldn't help shaking his head.

"Brother Tian, ​​Britain, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland and other countries all have monopoly rights. Their chambers of commerce have spent money to monopolize the trade from the Cape of Good Hope to this side... Even if you sail the boat there, you won't be able to stand Not to mention the unfamiliarity of the place, the monopoly power bought with real money, how can it be so easy for many people to have money like killing their parents?"

"When our warships can sail to Europe, the merchant ships can follow. Otherwise, you won't even be able to get to the shore. But Brother Tian's idea is right. If it can be shipped there, it will indeed be a big profit. But it’s not a matter of whether it can be shipped, but whether it can be sold. You may not know that there is a law in the UK that prohibits people from wearing cotton cloth; Sweden prohibits the Chinese goods of the Swedish East India Company from being sold in Sweden. sale; France imposed heavy taxes on silk and porcelain; Britain even taxed tea heavily, and smuggling was rampant in the North American colonies."

"Westerners have closed their doors to the outside world. If they want to make a lot of money, they still need gunboat diplomacy to force them to free trade, abolish monopoly rights and monopoly companies. So brother, I insist on building a navy."

If it was three or five years ago, it would be difficult for Tian Ping to understand these things.

Now, he has invested tens of thousands of taels of silver in overseas trade, how could he not know the key to this?

Watching the empty Western ships carrying silver dollars go one way every day, a fool also knows that if the goods are shipped to the Western Ocean, if the Western Ocean is the founding trade, it will be several times the profit.

The interests are related, and the ass rotates.

"Brother Shouchang is right. I support the construction of the navy. If the Japanese can start the country, we can double our dividends. If there is such a profit, I am too lazy to buy land. The land in Jiangnan is good. But you can’t buy it; the land in Gyeonggi is also available, but the suppression of mergers is very strict.”

"Actually, since Brother Shouchang gave some shares to our own people, the nobles in the court more or less know that this maritime trade is more profitable. It's just... Brother Shouchang talks about free trade, but you can't say it like those Confucian scholars. I believe all these reasons. Naturally, I am looking forward to the free trade of Westerners, and I still give us the monopoly power... Hahahaha."

Both of them laughed out loud. This kind of double-standard play is purely natural, and it's not just a day or two.

Liu Yu thought to himself that this was all irrelevant, how could he have the ability to travel tens of thousands of miles to force Westerners to open the country?Thousands of "anti-thieves" in North America can almost bankrupt the United Kingdom. Even if technology advances by leaps and bounds within a few decades, they still cannot have the ability to send 10 people tens of thousands of miles away.

With such fantasies, it is better to think about how to replace the large amount of Dutch export trade after the war against the Netherlands.

This requires the preparation of an intermediary in advance. This intermediary must not only have contacts with smugglers in the European market, but also must remain neutral in the upcoming war of succession to the Austrian throne.

"By the way, Brother Tian, ​​have you dealt with these Swedes?"

"I've fought. Why, what are you doing with them?"

Liu Yu didn't tell the truth, but only said: "Isn't this when the Western Regions were pacified, and a few Swedish prisoners were captured? He explained the things about the Issyk-Kul Copper Mine and the Cannon Factory. In exchange, I promised to let him Go back to the country. How can I say that when I promised that day, I was also the leader of the party, so I don’t want to break my promise.”

Tian Ping knew this to some extent. When he kidnapped Liu Yu to deal with the etiquette issue of translating to Russian, Qi Guogong said that there were Swedes and Poles in Zhunbu.Thinking of the last time I talked about this matter, it was seven or eight years ago, and thinking about the changes in the past few years, I couldn't help but smile.

"That's right, that's right. I remember that there was a Swedish leader named Renat, right? Since Brother Shouchang agreed to him, this matter must be done, otherwise it would appear that our celestial dynasty has no credibility. This matter is easy to say, Sweden Ren's business store is headquartered in Fujian, and it mainly collects tea there. There are also branch stores for cloth and silk here. Let the people here send a message."

This place is near those western buildings. Tian Ping is in charge of the customs. Although he is a deputy, he is stationed from the capital. This status is quite different.

On weekdays, he had to strictly check whether the ship was carrying some goods that were prohibited from leaving the country, and he had to establish a good relationship with the customs, and he would show filial piety every year and festival. Tian Ping was very familiar with these people.

He led Liu Yu to the outside of a building with the Swedish yellow cross flag flying above it.

Before they could enter, the people outside the shop hurried over. They were locals working for the Swedes. They knelt on the ground and saluted.

"Master Tian, ​​why are you here?"

Tian Ping nodded, and after telling the man to get up, an adjutant put on airs and said, "Is the director of the Swedish business house here? Just say I want to see him."

The man hurriedly responded, and after retreating in, Tian Ping whispered to Liu Yu: "On their boat, these Western barbarians also kneel. Each has its own rules, and we can't follow their rules on our territory. I know you, brother Shou Chang. I don't care about trifles, but this matter is not a trifle, but a matter of national dignity."

Liu Yu looked at his non-official uniform and said with a smile: "This is not decent. Normally, I am an earl, and they greet me without sweeping the floor and sprinkling water. They must play and play."

While talking, a few Swedes went out to greet them, and they all knelt on the ground according to the rules here.After getting up, he hurriedly greeted the two of them and went inside, ordered tea to be served, and asked Tian Ping to sit on the seat.

But Tian Ping hastily resigned and asked Liu Yu to take the seat. The Swedes and the translator were all shocked. Thinking of the news they had heard in the past few days, they immediately thought of who it was.

The curator of Sweden muttered a lot, and after his eyebrows danced, he translated: "I don't know that Ying Sabo came, but he was far away to welcome him. The curator praised Ying Sabo for fighting Rakshasa with outstanding martial arts. Barbarians..."

Liu Yuxin said, don't be so nonsense, is there a word for barbarian in Swedish?It is true that Sweden and Russia are deadly enemies.

He tried to exchange a few words with the curator of the branch of the Swedish business office in Latin, and the other party understood it, so he asked the translator to go down first.

(End of this chapter)