1635 Han style rises again

Hooghly, Bengal, May 1672, 5.

"Your cotton cloth prices need to drop a little more." Malik Raymond, a senior manager of the British East India Company in Hooghly, put down a few cotton cloth samples in his hand, turned to several local cotton cloth merchants and said, "You know, these white Cotton and blue cotton, for the common poor. They are very price sensitive, am I right, gentlemen?"

"Mr. Raymond, the price we quoted is completely based on last year's selling price!" Anilud Thapa was a little anxious when he heard that the British wanted to lower the purchase price, "If we lower the price again, we will lose money." It is very large, and it will not even cover our production costs."

"Mr. Raymond, you may not know that even at last year's price, the profit we can get is very meager." Another Bengali cotton merchant said: "Compared to five years ago, we sold cotton cloth to you British The average price has been reduced by [-]%. However, our production costs and various commercial taxes that we need to pay have not decreased by one rupee, and have even increased to varying degrees.”

"Gentlemen, do you know the price of Hanzhou cotton cloth?" Malik Raymond took a lighted pipe from his assistant, took a puff, and then exhaled a smoke ring, "Hanzhou cotton cloth sells The price is [-]% lower than that of five years ago, and the quality is even better than your Indian cotton cloth. Oh, of course, because of the long distance and the high tariffs charged by your Mughal Empire, Hanzhou cotton cloth will cost a lot more cost. But, even so, the price of ordinary cotton cloth in Hanzhou is almost the same as your selling price."

"Mr. Raymond, as far as we know, in Bangladesh, the price of Hanzhou cotton cloth is still slightly higher than ours..." A cotton cloth merchant said weakly.

"Oh, is that so?" Malik Raymond rolled his eyes and said with a smile, "However, if we buy cotton cloth from the people of Qi, they will distribute to us the steel bars and copper blocks that are extremely scarce in the market. And a large amount of tea and porcelain. And these high-value goods can completely cover the profits lost due to the sale of Hanzhou cotton cloth."

"..."

Several local cotton merchants in Bangladesh couldn't help but look at each other when they heard this.Although they also knew that the British was using Hanzhou cotton cloth to put pressure on them, forcing them to lower the price of cotton cloth again.

But it is undeniable that the cotton cloth from the Hanzhou mainland has had a huge impact on the cotton cloth market in Bangladesh.Ten years ago, Hanzhou's high-end printed cotton and plain muslin began to occupy the local high-end cotton market, and became the first choice for many dignitaries and wealthy families.

Although the striped cotton fabrics, various dyed cotton fabrics and a large number of bleached cotton fabrics in the middle and low-end market are still dominated by local products, the price advantage is not as great as before.

All Indian cotton merchants, including Bangladesh, can't figure out why Hanzhou is thousands of miles away from India, but why they can still set the price of cotton cloth at such a low price after long-distance transportation. The century-old Indian cotton cloth poses such a serious threat.

During this period, Punjab and Gujarat in the northwestern part of India, the Coromandel coast in the southeastern part of India, and Bangladesh are the most famous cotton fabric producing areas in the world today.Cotton and dyes are relatively common in the above-mentioned production areas. Since ancient times, weavers and dyers with high skills have been trained in villages as units. They can produce silk with almost the same color, luster, and skin-friendliness, and the patterns are also very distinctive. Charming fine cotton.

India has a rich variety of cotton fabrics with a variety of colors and styles. There are 23 types in Gujarat, 16 types in Coromandel, and 46 types in Bangladesh.Among them, muslin, calico, palapur, denim, and checked cotton are sold well in Europe, Persia and Southeast Asia.These Indian cotton fabrics in various colors have the advantages of superb dyeing technology that is not easy to fade, beautiful pattern designs and bright color combinations, soft and skin-friendly, and a key point that all buyers cannot refuse, that is, the price is very cheap.

In the 17th century, when the Dutch East India Company traveled across the world and traveled all over the world, there was another important commodity alongside pepper, spices, and tea, and that was Indian cotton fabrics.

After the Dutch and British East India Companies established a firm foothold in the South Asian subcontinent, they quickly noticed the advantages of cotton fabrics in this place.In Southeast Asia at that time, Indian cotton fabrics were already very popular. In exchange for pepper and spices in Southeast Asia, the Dutch East India Company specially purchased cotton fabrics and built an inner Asian circular trade circle.At the same time, they also bought a large number of high-grade cotton fabrics called "chintz" and sent them to Europe.

In 1620, 5 items of cotton goods had been brought into England. In 1664, Britain imported about 27 pieces of cotton fabrics produced in India, accounting for 73% of the total imports of the British East India Company.Of course, this may be due to the fact that the Dutch East India Company controlled the origin of pepper and high-grade spices, forcing the British to switch to the cotton cloth business, but even so, this is a large number.

On the Dutch side, with its monopoly on fine spices, the situation was less extreme.Even so, from 1640 to 1670 fabrics accounted for around 15%-20% of the Amsterdam Division's total imports.If the fabrics exported to Southeast Asia are included, it can be said that the Dutch East India Company also imported a considerable amount of cotton fabrics.

However, since the production capacity of cotton cloth in the Hanzhou mainland was gradually expanded more than 20 years ago, at the request of the Qi people, the Dutch East India Company began to transfer most of its cotton cloth purchase orders to Hanzhou.

In Europe, high-grade cotton fabrics produced in India were initially used as tablecloths, bedspreads, curtains and wall hangings for interior decoration and were very popular.By the second half of the 17th century, these cotton fabrics began to be used as cloth for clothing.Compared with clothes made of linen, wool, and leather that were commonly used in the past, cotton cloth is very light, skin-friendly, sweat-absorbent, and easy to wash. It is an excellent clothing material in all aspects.At first, cotton cloth was only used in upper-class home wear and underwear, and later, it began to be recognized as outwear and formal wear.

During this period, cotton fabrics produced in India, collectively known as printed cloth, were widely welcomed not only in the UK, but also in the Netherlands, France and other Northwest European countries.The biggest attraction of calico is that it is not only a new product of high quality, but also very cheap.Compared with silk, a high-end fabric only available to the wealthy class, cotton fabrics are not inferior in quality, and the price is very affordable, so it is only natural that they are popular.The purchase price of these cotton fabrics in Indian producing areas is very low, and even with the long distance freight, they can still compete with various fabrics produced in Europe.

Fabrics from India were also shipped outside of Europe through the East India Company.One of these directions is the American continent and the West Indies.Since the 16th century, the Portuguese have brought cotton cloth to make clothes for slaves working on sugar plantations.Of course, these fabrics are cheap, low-quality things, and what are called "Sarambo small color check cloth" predominates.

As in Portugal, the Dutch and British East India companies, once returning cheap fabrics such as the Salambo ripstop, re-exported them to the American continent and the West Indies for use by slaves.

In addition, when buying slaves in West Africa, slave traders also used Indian cotton fabrics as payment.Throughout the 17th century, cotton goods produced in India were shipped in large quantities to all parts of the world.Accompanied by the sharp increase in production, the cotton acreage across India has also increased significantly.Sericulture for silk was also very popular, and the number of people employed in related industries continued to increase.By the 17s, more than 70 people had been newly added to the textile-related industries alone.

The practicality, comfort, colorfulness and strong exoticism of Indian cotton cloth have attracted consumers, making countless Indian cotton fabrics continue to be shipped to Europe. In the past few decades alone, millions of cotton garments were exported from India every year. .The Mughal Empire of India controlled a quarter of the world's cotton textile trade, and its annual tax revenue reached 8000 million to [-] million taels of silver, more than ten times the tax revenue received by the Ming Dynasty at the same time.

It can be said that India has become one of the wealthiest regions in the world by virtue of the cotton cloth trade alone.

However, Indian cotton cloth has encountered a new challenger in the past ten years, that is, cotton cloth from the Hanzhou continent.

More than 20 years ago, the people of Qi State tentatively shipped a batch of Hanzhou cotton cloth, but it was no surprise that they were ruthlessly rejected by the Indian market. No matter the quality of the design or the selling price, it was not Indian local cotton cloth at all. opponent.All the Indian cotton cloth merchants laughed endlessly at the ashen-faced Qi people.

Are these Qi people all out of their minds?In an area rich in cotton cloth, a batch of uncompetitive cotton cloth was shipped from thousands of miles away for sale. This is not playing a big knife in front of Guan Gong - overestimating one's abilities!
Later, the Qi people probably also knew that the cotton cloth produced by themselves could not compete with local Indian products, so they were very wise to withdraw cotton cloth from their merchandise sales catalog, and instead peddled their comparatively advantageous ironware, hardware, military industry, clocks, glass, and porcelain. , sugar, canned food and many other industrial products.

However, the confident Indians have not been proud for a long time. The Nanyang region, which was once an important market for Indian cotton cloth, was gradually encroached by Qi State, and finally monopolized and controlled by them, driving Indian cotton cloth out of this country with millions of people. size market.

Immediately afterwards, a large number of Hanzhou cotton cloth began to appear in the markets of Malay Peninsula, Indochina Peninsula, Japan and other regions and countries, squeezing the living space of Indian cotton cloth.

In the 1660s, Hanzhou cotton cloth, which had failed, entered the Indian market again.However, this time, the people of Qi State took the high-end market as an entry point, and shipped a large amount of high-grade calico and muslin. With their exquisite printing and dyeing technology and textile technology, coupled with the price advantage of industrial mass production, they quickly stood up. With a firm foothold, it has won the favor of many princes and nobles and wealthy families.

The low-end market, which is firmly controlled by Indian cotton cloth, has also suffered a huge impact in recent years.

In the area east of the Malacca Strait, it can be said that there is no market space for Indian cotton cloth, and it is all occupied by Hanzhou cotton cloth.In addition, Daming, whose cotton cloth production capacity has gradually recovered, also began to resume exports, competing for the cotton cloth markets in Japan, North Korea, Annan, Siam and other regions.

As for Persia, Arabia, Egypt, and the Mediterranean region, Qi also relied on its dense commercial network to continuously compete with Indian cotton cloth for a limited market, squeezing their living space.

Therefore, in the past ten years, whether it is the local cotton cloth merchants in Bangladesh, or the cotton cloth merchants in Gujarat and Punjab, they all feel that the cotton cloth business has become increasingly difficult.It seems that the cotton cloth market in the entire Indian region is suddenly saturated, and the trade prosperity that was once in short supply can no longer be reproduced.When all foreign merchants purchase Indian cotton cloth in their hands, they will continue to lower the price and volume, and even put forward various conditions, such as extending the payment period, forcing the acceptance of gold and silver coins of insufficient quality, and asking for additional goods...

Faced with this situation, many cotton cloth merchants tried to unite to establish some kind of price alliance to unify the sales price of cotton cloth in order to enhance their collective bargaining power.

However, this kind of spontaneous behavior of businessmen is destined to be unable to deal with foreign buyers who have more options.Numerous independent and scattered cotton cloth production models and a fragmented market environment make this kind of price alliance impossible to realize.Not to mention, there is also a Qi State standing next to it, eager to expand the cotton cloth market.

Previously, a large number of industrial products shipped from Qi State filled many gaps in the Indian market, and also met the production and living needs of countless local businessmen and ordinary people. There is little competition with the industry.

Not to mention, Qi merchants did not bring every coin they earned back to the mainland like those Europeans did.They will use all the proceeds to buy Indian saltpeter, indigo, cotton and female slaves, greatly prospering the local market in India and becoming the most popular merchants both official and private.

However, times have changed, and the Qi people have finally begun to invade India's most traditional and most advantageous industry after vigorously developing their own cotton textile industry for more than [-] years.

In less than ten years, the local high-end cotton fabric market in India was eaten away by the people of Qi, and now they are starting to encircle and suppress the low-end and mid-end cotton fabric market in India, as if a winner takes all.

Under the petition of countless cotton cloth merchants from all over the country, three years ago, the Mughal Empire made slight adjustments to the preferential tariff policy previously given to the people of Qi, deliberately excluding cotton fabrics and imposing a special tariff of 10%-20%.For this reason, the Qi people made a solemn protest to the emperor of the empire, believing that they had been discriminated against by the imperial government in trade, which violated the principle of free trade.

However, the cotton textile industry was related to the life and income of millions of workers and families in the Mughal Empire, and even more related to the increasingly severe fiscal revenue of the empire. Therefore, the emperor rejected the protest of the Qi people.

In order to appease the anger of the people of Qi, the emperor issued a decree, which exempted the import duties of steel, machinery, hardware, grain and other commodities in Qi, and reduced the import duties of tea, porcelain, sugar, oil, precious wood, clocks, vehicles, and ships. (small and medium-sized galleys) and other goods import duties.

Although high tariffs were imposed on Indian cotton fabrics, it did not prevent them from continuing to erode the market for Indian cotton cloth.No one knows how much the production cost of cotton fabrics in Qi State is. Whether it is the high-grade printed cotton cloth and muslin cloth they produce, or the low-end dyed cotton cloth and bleached cotton cloth, the price has not increased due to the increase in tariffs.This made the local cotton merchants in India feel extremely frustrated while being shocked.

Some "sighted people" clamored to the emperor and the government that a strict ban should be issued to completely prohibit the cotton cloth produced in Qi from entering the Indian market, so as to protect the survival of millions of people in related industries.