Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2338 Pampa (46)

"The products on the east coast are really rich. Among other things, the grain alone is enough to make many people envious." On March 1698, 3, in a wilderness in the northwest of Yancheng County, George Montgomery Said in a slightly envious tone.

Although he has seen this kind of endless wilderness and plain many times, George Montgomery was still a little shocked when he saw those neat farmlands again.After running for several days, he could not see the marginal farmland. He had never seen it in any other place except in New England in his life.I heard that the same is true of many places in Russia, but he has never been there, so it is not easy to comment. He can only lament that those Slavic barbarians are lucky to get such a vast farmland and land.

"George, don't be so lamented. The strength of a country lies not only in how vast its territory is, but also in whether its industry is developed and its trade is prosperous. Like Russia, it can only export grain, cattle and sheep, timber, and leather. In terms of wealth It is far from being comparable to England, let alone the United Provinces. The current United Provinces can force Russia to surrender within a few months to a year." Ambassador Scott, who was walking slowly with a steed, said: "Food , is only a commodity. God has commanded that no country shall possess all commodities. When one country lacks a certain commodity, another country shall supply it. When a country lacks a certain commodity in a certain year, another country shall supply it. A nation must have sufficient numbers. The purpose is to show that all nations need one another's help, so that the rule of law and communication may flourish among us. Although God has been very generous to us, and has given England enough food, livestock , fish, coal, iron, and vibrant people, but without goods from other countries, our economy would be in big trouble. For example, we can produce salt, but we still need to import more than [-]% from Portugal every year. And Dong Mechanical parts from the coast, wine from France, hides from Russia, whale products from the United Provinces, cheese from Italy, and even masts from North America, although we can get by without these, it is still too far from the state of civilization."

"Your Excellency, the food issue is different from others. It is a matter of life." George Montgomery had some headaches and had to remind: "Now more and more people are engaged in industrial production, and they are pinning their hopes on overseas trade and commercial speculation. There are more and more rich people, food production in England has been falling for several years, and I think it's a serious problem."

"Industry and commerce will bring enough profits to England, and these profits can feed our people. Food, whether it is Poland, Germany or Russia, has a large surplus, and we should not feel the slightest worry." Ambassador Scott said disapprovingly.

"But England spends too much money on importing some unnecessary goods. Like gaudy wine glasses, playing cards, balls, dolls, toothpicks, money bags, brooches, luxury decorations, cutlery imported from Paris, and so on. Money. Ashamed, my brothers and sisters and I spend a lot of these things, we only buy gloves imported from France, we only buy dyed cloth from the East Coast; Milanese; whether daggers, cutlasses, spurs, or bakeware, we only use Spanish ones. These are very expensive, not more than ten shops sell them from the Tower of London to Westminster, but the sales are huge So much so that many gentlemen who usually live a modest life can’t help but stop and stare when they pass by these shops. Because how many people in foreign countries have been fed by our consumption of these goods?” George Montgomery said with a wry smile: “Of course I may not be able to quit. For I do not want to make a fool of myself in society, but I only want to remind your Excellency that we spend a great deal of gold and silver in the consumption of non-essential goods. This money would have stayed in England."

Ambassador Scott was silent when he heard the words.He can't say anything about this kind of thing, and he can't say it well. The current social atmosphere is like this, so there is no way.Good things are liked by everyone, and he is no exception.Some people made money, like those who set up factories in Birmingham or mines in Newcastle, and naturally they needed something that would identify them.Especially when they don't have any ancestral titles, consuming these expensive luxury goods is a pass to enter the upper class. In fact, they have nothing to do, society is like this.

Therefore, Ambassador Scott quickly changed the topic, pointing to the construction site where the drainage ditch was being dug not far ahead, and said: "The railway that the people on the east coast took out is actually very sincere. I have studied the Yancheng Port , this directly-controlled port has now become the largest fishing port, grain export port, salt product export port, meat and dairy product export port, and wool export port on the east coast. It has a population of 10,000+ and is very prosperous. It leads to their new capital Luoyang After the railway is completed, it will be able to guarantee a steady stream of profits just by transporting textiles, grain, meat, dairy products, seafood, and salt. Luoyang Prefecture will be the same as London in the future, and its population will inevitably increase sharply, requiring a large amount of consumer goods. This is the opportunity. Maybe the profit in the first few years will not be too much, but in the 60-year dividend period promised to you, it will not be a problem for the average annual rate of return to reach more than 8%. Too much money, only invested [-] pounds, doomed to miss this opportunity."

England's industry and commerce have developed rapidly in recent decades, and the assets of the top families have doubled. A few hundred pounds is really nothing in London.George Montgomery took out most of his own money, and then borrowed a lot from his parents and brothers and sisters. He scraped together a total of four thousand pounds in cash and invested in this railway that was still under planning. It was a gamble. .

However, to Montgomery's surprise, many friends in London asked him to help him buy some registered or bearer shares of this railway, with a total amount of up to ninety-five thousand pounds.This frenzied investment atmosphere surprised Montgomery. After much deliberation, the main reason was probably hedging risks.Yes, it is risk avoidance!Everyone is not a fool, they all have their own news channels, they all smell the smoke of gunpowder over Europe, and they are all afraid that after England is involved in the war, their property will be lost.Take a friend of his who runs the Bordeaux-London trade route as an example. This guy decisively sold one-third of the ship. Except for opening a textile factory in Manchester, the rest of the cash was entrusted to Montgomery to help buy Luoyan. railroad stock.This awareness of risk aversion impressed Montgomery so much that he even considered whether to write another letter back to London, persuading the family to invest more funds to the East Bank, so as not to be wiped out in the war.

"The annual income of 8% is very attractive to those who hold a lot of cash. However, the income of setting up factories in England is still very high, and the income of operating overseas colonial businesses is even higher. Compared with these, the Luoyang Railway The rate of return is still not enough, so it can only attract some conservative gentlemen who lack courage. On the contrary, the Italians are very enthusiastic. More than [-]% of the railway funds come from the five cities of Genoa, Venice, Milan, Florence and Lucca No wonder Louis XIV and Leopold want to reach into Italy, I am afraid only God knows how much wealth is buried there." George Montgomery looked at Italy, which was standing on a mound and pointing People, said with a smile: "But so much money flowing out of Italy will do great damage to their country's industrial development. I'm afraid the Italians have given up on industry, right? That's right, they are on the thighs of the people on the east coast, Huge profits have been obtained from overseas trade. But these profits are basically replaced by weapons and warships made on the east coast, and then there are these overseas investments, which can really benefit ordinary Italians. It cannot be said that there are no, but certainly not many The people from the east coast are really powerful. Using Italian manpower and business skills to make money overseas, and more than half of the money earned goes back to the east coast. This is really a lucrative business, more attractive than us The Dutch are not far behind in their money."

Ambassador Scott smiled and said nothing.The English of this era were extremely mercantile.They can't wait to stare at every foreign transaction to see whether they have suffered a loss or made a profit in this transaction, and whether gold and silver have flowed out of the country.Even within England, this kind of mercantilism affects people all the time.

Ambassador Scott’s hometown is in Wales, where there is a port called Port Carnarvon. A ship full of fruits once arrived from Norwich, but the local port officials refused to unload the ship, causing all the fruits on board to rot .The captain had confronted the officials, asking why they were not allowed to unload the cargo.The officials replied that the ship would take the best wool and woolen stuff in their city, and that the fruit on board, if sold, would be consumed within a week.If they carry malt to brew them and buy the wine, they are always welcome.

Look, the officials of a small city are calculating the profit and loss of the business all day long, calculating whether each transaction is beneficial to the long-term development of the city.Although Ambassador Scott is not very in favor of this kind of behavior-obviously, this reduces the quality of life of the residents of Port Carnarvon-but he still thinks that the citizens should have this hard-working quality and a shrewd business acumen.This is the case for small ports, and it is still the case for the whole country, otherwise England would not have made rapid progress in recent decades.Just like they spend a lot of money to import machinery and parts from the East Coast, the money must generate income and must be made up from other places.They are currently running a huge trade deficit with the East Coast. Although it is very uncomfortable, there is no way to change it for the time being. We can only find a way later.The "unfair trade" between the East Coast and England must end and the deficit must be reduced, otherwise the "stolen" jobs in England will never come back, which is not a good thing for the country.

"Stop complaining, George." After seeing the group of Italians getting off the mound and slowly walking towards them, Ambassador Scott said in a low voice: "The European war is coming. In terms of competing for safe-haven funds with the people on the east coast , England is not without advantages. Italians, Spaniards, Dutch, Germans, they do not all like to immigrate to the east coast. The distant new land, strange environment, and incompatible culture are enough to dispel many people's Thoughts. Compared with the East Coast, England still has many advantages, and there are also many investment opportunities. As long as we are patient, courageous, and well-connected, we can attract enough hedging funds. I dare not say too much. The influx of foreign capital of 500-1000 million pounds into London, I think it is still possible, and the possibility is not small. How to attract these funds into England, it is up to the bigwigs in Parliament to figure out a way. The future prospects of England It’s bright, I’m sure of that.”

George Montgomery did not refute Ambassador Scott's words, but he was very pessimistic in his heart.He always felt that England may no longer be able to compete with the East Bank, at best it can only be the leader of the second group.This is only possible unless England invests all the capital it acquires into industry, and then vigorously develops the North American colonies to continuously enrich its national strength.

Otherwise, I'm afraid it will be very difficult!George Montgomery sighed softly, looking at the smiling Italians, wondering what he was thinking.

(End of this chapter)