Xinshun 1730

Chapter 940 Consciousness ([-])

Waiting for Liu Yu to finish the reading according to the script, he gave everyone half an hour to discuss.

A person beside Xu Heng who used to do business in Nanyang asked, "Jiesheng, we didn't understand what the Duke was talking about yesterday, but you are the only one who has excellent knowledge, and you really are the best."

"What can you see in the pamphlet of the Duke of the Kingdom today?"

Xu Heng was secretly happy when he heard Qing's words, but he still said: "You are too much, and I am just picking up people's teeth."

"The brochure given by the Duke today seems to be talking about some truths that we can all understand. What the Duke means is that he has always said that today's price reduction is to make more money tomorrow."

"Guogong has always said that Brazil, Portugal, is also suitable for growing spices. Moreover, the Portuguese brought saplings with them before they withdrew from Ceylon, South Seas. So I think what Guogong means is that the company's capital is strong. , are you planning to spend a few years on spices, and squeeze out Portuguese spices first?"

"I heard that in Brazil and other places, labor is quite expensive, and it is not comparable here. If the price is reduced to a certain extent, we still make money, but the profit is less. And the spice plantations of the Portuguese in Brazil must be I can't hold it..."

Xu Heng only felt that what he said was quite reasonable, but he didn't want the businessman to laugh and said: "Jiesheng, I don't think there is any objection to this matter of price reduction and monopoly. We old men, although we are old, we also know what it means to be first." Lose and earn."

"After reading the Dutch pricing in the Duke's pamphlet, I couldn't help but think of something else."

"Oh? What did you think of?"

Xu Heng didn't expect that the businessman in his fifties or sixties next to him would fully agree to cut prices and dump to ensure a monopoly position, and he couldn't help but wonder what the old man was thinking of.

The old businessman smiled and said, "The Dutchman was worried that the price of cloves would be too high and the British would covet it, so he took the initiative to lower the price, so that the British would not covet it."

"But back then, when I went to Batavia to sell tea, I was detained by the Dutch for half a year, forcing him to sell the tea at a loss."

"The Englishman is thousands of miles away, but the Dutch are still afraid of it; and the Chinese Dynasty is only a thousand miles away from Bacheng, and the Dutch are not worried at all."

"Thinking about it now, Nanyang is all in our hands, and the cargo ship went straight to the Netherlands. The emperor was angry, and companies from various countries bowed their heads tremblingly. It really seems like a lifetime ago."

"You young people, how do you know what we have experienced?"

"Grandpa's pamphlet really makes me feel sad, and I think about a lot of things in the past."

"When the British didn't say anything, the Dutch themselves were too scared to set a high price; and when they thought that Bacheng was so close to the Chinese Empire, the Dutch were unprepared and didn't care."

"You know, the feeling of being despised? It's really hard for you to understand the feeling of not even guarding against you."

"I have been with the Duke for a long time, and I became rich because of the Duke. But what really made me follow the road of the Duke with all my heart, was when the Duke said that the Dutch had to move the Tang people from Bacheng to Ceylon. Because he really I'm afraid of you, so I have to consider your feelings and opinions."

"Think about that time, do you know what we did?"

Of course Xu Heng knew about this, and said in a low voice, "I heard it was a bet to heaven that he would never do business in Batavia again in this life."

The old businessman raised his head with a bitter smile, thinking about the past, and said for a long time: "Yes. Do you know why we swore to the sky? Because we never thought that the imperial court would come forward to help us businessmen. We didn't go that way at all. think."

"So we can only swear to the sky and show our incompetence."

"What about now? If we are bullied, will we swear to the sky first? We will definitely put down a harsh word, and then come to the Duke to complain and ask the court to decide."

"From the time when I didn't even dare to think about the imperial court, I could only swear to the sky; now when I feel that something similar happens again, I am the first to think about going to the imperial court."

"From the time when the Dutch seized our ship, they didn't care that China was right next to them; now that we have robbed the Dutch of Nanyang, they are still happy to cooperate and trade with us."

"You lads have never experienced that before."

Xu Heng has never experienced it, and he really cannot have the empathy of an old businessman who ran in Nanyang back then.It was really hard for him to imagine that those old businessmen who swore to the sky in Batavia back then would never go to Batavia again, knowing that Dashun informed the Dutch East India Company to move people to Ceylon and the Dutch obeyed. Feel.

Didn't these old businessmen feel that they could only cry and be incapable of swearing back then.

Instead, he sighed that the British didn't even fart, and the Dutch were worried that the price of cloves would be higher, attracting covetousness, and took the initiative to lower the price.

But the Celestial Dynasty is right on the edge of Nanyang. For so many years, the Dutch have never considered the influence of the Celestial Empire, as if the Celestial Empire is like a curtain.

Just a real dead thing.

It was difficult for Xu Heng to understand the exclamation of these old businessmen "as if they had passed away".

But something else was on his mind.

That is, the motherland, the vocabulary that appears in this new study, seems to be really meaningful.

Or maybe, the things learned in the new school before are just instilling sexuality education, and it is not very different from words such as asking fathers to be kind and sons filial, brothers and friends to be respectful, and loyalty to the emperor.

Probably similar to "Why do you have to be filial to your parents? Because you have to be filial to your parents."

But now, after looking at the pricing of spices in the Netherlands, and thinking about Dashun's temporary deduction of the East India Company and the increase of taxes on the Danish Asian Company, Xu Heng has a completely different concept of "motherland" from "why?" Feelings related to the interests of being filial to your parents, because you have to be filial to your parents.

He is not engaged in industry, not engaged in textiles and the like.

And even if it is done, it is difficult for the industrial capitalists in Dashun to understand the concept of the motherland from the perspective of interests, because Dashun really has no chance to protect its own industry by raising tariffs.

They have no chance to experience this kind of patriotic education of imperialist expansion, which is different from the previous debate between Hua and Barbarians.

The way Xu Heng learned, regards patriotism as a kind of "conscience" that "knows everything without worrying about it".

The meaning of conscience at this time is different from that of later generations.

Just as it is natural to be filial to your parents, in the new indoctrination Xu Heng accepts, patriotism is also a natural conscience of "knowing without thinking".

But this kind of conscience needs an opportunity for them to combine this kind of conscience with their own interests, and this kind of conscience is long-lasting and strong.

Although Xu Heng couldn't understand the old sea merchant's feeling as if he was in another world.

However, the seeds planted by the new learning education in these years gradually germinated at this moment.

He gradually had a somewhat clear understanding of what a country is.

What is a country?
The country, in his eyes, is when the sea merchants can only smuggle, the country sends troops to open the door to Japan, making smuggling legal.

The country, that is, when the Dutch monopolized the spices, the country sent troops to conquer Nanyang and let the merchants of the country monopolize the spices.

The country, that is, when Western trading companies wanted to open up the European market, the country came forward to engage in the opium case and disrespect case, sealed up the British business house, and imposed high tariffs on the Danish business house.

The country, at best, is a tool for them to earn greater benefits and ensure their benefits.It's a pity that the country is not entirely theirs, because the country now forbids them to buy land in the country during the disaster year, and also forbids them to lend usury.

Today's pamphlet says that after the Dutch won the monopoly of cloves, they feared that the British would covet them and voluntarily lowered the price, which made Xu Heng gradually understand the significance of the country to big businessmen like them.

In fact, Liu Yu has always looked down on these maritime merchants, thinking that they are all potential compradors.He was always prejudiced.

Once foreign goods can make money in China, these people must be the first to be smugglers, compradors, and guide foreigners.

Not only them, isn't the British East India Company the same?The forced British textile industry has faced pressure from Indian and Chinese cotton cloth for many years, and even created a wave of unemployment.

The Dutch businessman forced the country's industry to death, and eventually destroyed the Netherlands, and patted his ass to London.

However, the reality is so ironic.

In Dashun, it was neither handicraftsmen, petty citizens, nor industrial capital that first awakened the patriotism of imperial expansion, but the potential comprador class in Liu Yu's eyes.

Dashun's extremely special trade status, highly developed handicraft industry, and extremely unique monopoly products made this group of people go on a different path from the British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company.

The British East India Company earned its own money and sold goods from India and China.

And these maritime merchants in Dashun want to be "compradors" but have no chance, and they can't even find a few commodities that can make money in their own country.

Even if you can make money, such as American ginseng and mink fur, there is really no substitute in this country, and it does not conflict with the domestic handicraft industry in the slightest.

The awakening of European expansionary patriotism, the earliest participants were petty citizens, guild craftsmen, industrial capital, and even nobles.Because they are facing huge competition from neighboring countries, including the grain grown by the nobles and the sheep they raise, they all have to compete with other countries.

As for Dashun, it was these maritime business groups that Liu Yu regarded as the comprador reserve army that awakened first.

Because... the British aristocracy will face competition for wool and food from the Prussian, French, and Polish aristocracy.The British East India Company had to face competition from its own industrial capital and wool textile industry.

However, Dashun Maritime Merchants had to face competition from the British East India Company, the British Navigation Act, and the Danish Asia Company.They searched for a long time, but they couldn't find any foreign goods that could cause them to compete with their own handicrafts and industries.

They are the first in Dashun to face this kind of international competition, and they are also the first to feel it personally.

Spring River Plumbing Duck Prophet.

On the contrary, industrial capital and handicrafts, which should be the main force of patriotism, still have not felt this kind of competition.

For them, it made no difference whether the British East India Company bought their goods or the Dashun Western Company bought their goods.

Even the days that the tea merchants miss the most are the most painful days for the sea merchants who went to Nanyang. year.It was also after that year that the Dutch East India Company officially started direct trade - and that year, tea producers made a lot of money.

The days that the gentry miss the most are the days when Dashun did not go to Nanyang in full swing, because the price of rice at that time made their rent more valuable.

This almost magical order of class awakening, even the miraculous comprador reserve army becoming the first to awaken expansionary patriotism, can be regarded as a kind of humor of the times.

A group of comprador reserve army, stunned by the industrious people of the country and the strong handicraft industry accumulated in 2000, became the first group of people to awaken patriotic expansionism.

Liu Yu's evaluation of them was not wrong at all.Once foreign products counteract domestic products, these people will be the first group of people who lead the way to destroy the domestic industry.

The Dutch have proved it, the British have proved it, and even the century-old history of opium in another time and space has also proved it.

However, Liu Yu is very good at grasping it. He feels that how ruthless these comprador reserve forces have been to the country in history, but now that the situation is special, they will be more aggressive and tough to foreign countries.

(End of this chapter)