Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 619 Liquidation of the Banking System

John Hill sold all the cotton he brought to the bulk commodity trading center in the port of Rocha, and received about 175 yuan in cash.Today is different. The price of cotton has dropped from the peak price of 140 yuan per ton on the east bank. Today, when he sold it, the purchase price offered by the people from the east coast was only a little over [-] yuan. Although the profit is still good, he Still a little disappointed.

However, this price is still too high and unbearable for established countries such as the Netherlands, France, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, which are currently trying to develop their own cotton textile industry. They can only tolerate the price of cotton within 100 yuan/ton. Any purchase of cotton above this price would have cost them too much to lose.And this just explains why John Hill, an English planter in Virginia, sold the cotton harvested in his estate to the east coast instead of selling it to the nearest domestic producer. The purchase price given is high enough!

In order to avoid risks, John Hill did not invest all his property in the cotton planting industry like his old friend Mr. George Hampton. Mr. Hill’s industries were relatively scattered, except that he retained part of the colony in Massachusetts. In addition to his shipbuilding and fishing industries, he also grew a lot of tobacco on Virginia plantations.The main export place of tobacco is England, but a considerable part is also exported to the east coast, because many consumers here recognize the tobacco leaves produced in Virginia. It is said that the taste of the tobacco leaves here is very special because of the special local soil and climate. Tobacco leaves grown locally cannot change this preference of the people on the east coast.

However, he encountered some trouble when trying to sell tobacco leaves, because officials on the east coast of Rocha port told him that all small batches of goods were temporarily moved to Qingdao port for trading, where there were some wooden trestles for boats to unload.Hill did not hesitate after hearing this, and asked one of his captains to load bricks, lime and other building materials in Luocha Port, and then he personally drove another ship along the current to Qingdao Port for trading.

On August 8th, while the Genoese were still negotiating the final details with the East Coasters, Mr. John Hill from Virginia brought 25 pounds of tobacco leaves to the free trading berth of Qingdao Port, and then negotiated with the East Coasters of trade officials made deals.5000 pounds of Virginia tobacco leaves were sold for about [-] yuan. After paying about [-] yuan in customs duties in the customs office, John Hill found that he suddenly had about [-] East Coast silver dollars in cash.How to use the money made him scratch his head.

It's definitely not good to bring cash back, but it's not very suitable for buying goods.Because the current amount of money is really big, no matter what kind of goods to buy, it will be huge. If it is transported back to Virginia, it will definitely not be able to digest it. Difficult to digest, is it possible to make a big purchase and then ship it back to England, which is in the midst of war, for sale?John Hill was a little hesitant. Now that the local situation is unclear, he was worried that he would lose his money if the large amount of goods shipped back could not be sold.

But no matter what, let’s buy some daily necessities first. Now Virginia, Massachusetts and other places are quite short of various materials. Although some smugglers from the country and the Netherlands will bring some daily necessities from time to time, the quality is low and the price is high. It is also difficult to fill the gap, which makes the English who immigrated there quite helpless.No, this time Mr. Hill decided to purchase a ship of building materials such as lime and red bricks on the east coast and return to Virginia to build his new manor and warehouse.There is no way, the mainland is now a mess, and apart from a lot of immigrants who hate war sneaking in, the officials have no time to manage the affairs of the colony.

Leather goods, soybean oil (butter is extremely lacking in North America), agricultural tools, hardware products, high-quality steel, textiles, wine, soap and other commodities purchased a lot here and there, making myself look like a grocer.After John Hill calculated in the trading market, the trader told him that the total price was 29670 yuan.Mr. Hill agreed with the price of the merchandise, but was rebuffed when he ordered the sailors to take out their cash boxes and prepare to pay.Pointing to a brick building next door, the trader said, "We only accept checks, money orders, or cashier's orders from commercial clearing banks, not cash transactions. You first need to go to the bank and open a current account, then contact Our businesses conduct transactions through bank transfers."

Mr. Hill naturally understands bank transfer transactions, because even in England, this method of transaction without cash is quite popular.It's just that he was used to cash transactions in the New World and gradually forgot about it, but now the people on the east coast have also established a clearing bank specially set up for port trade, which is a big improvement.

In the view of Captain John Hill, it is a good idea to centralize all non-bulk import and export trades in one port, and then force all merchants involved in the transaction to use the commercial clearing bank system opened by the people on the east coast to conduct account transfer transactions. The people on the east coast occupy a considerable amount of trade balance interests - because not all merchants will request the withdrawal of trade balances; secondly, it also greatly facilitates everyone's transaction process.

For example, people come from different countries or regions, and they hold different currencies. At this time, you first need to go to the commercial clearing bank for currency exchange, and then everyone uses a standard currency for transactions (bill transactions). After the transaction, you can Whether to withdraw cash according to the situation.This kind of commercial clearing bank actually undertakes several functions such as currency exchange and account transfer transactions.Of course, the Qingdao Commercial Clearing Bank opened by Dongan people also undertakes foreign currency deposits and foreign currency purchases (with a certain type and amount for foreign trade imports), but does not provide credit support to customers, that is, their current accounts do not allow overdrafts.

After figuring out the situation, John Hill shrugged, and then ordered the sailors to move 3 East Bank silver dollars to the Qingdao Commercial Clearing Bank, opened an account on the spot, and deposited the 30000 yuan in it.However, the deposit in his account has two numbers, one of which is "27322.40 yuan" (East Coast silver dollar), while the other is marked with "[-] yuan".

Captain Hill is no stranger to two numbers in one account, because anyone who has a little bit of experience in international trade knows that banks generally record two numbers when taking deposits, one is the account number of circulating currency, and the other is As for the number of bookkeeping currency accounts, there may be a certain premium or discount between the two accounts due to changes in the external market.And this so-called "circle" should be the bookkeeping currency launched by Qingdao Commercial Clearing Bank, and its value should also be fixed.

For this reason, Captain Hill asked the employees of the bank on the counter, and the answer he got really confirmed his guess.The bank employee explained to him that the "yuan" is a newly launched currency unit of account, and its value is fixed at 2 grams of gold.Because it is denominated in gold, the "circle" is also called "golden circle" or "golden dollar".

As for the goods on the East Coast purchased by Captain Hill, all of them are produced by factories on the East Coast, so he can use "Yuan" for transactions, and of course he can also use gold coins for transactions.The total payment Captain Hill needs to pay is 29670 yuan, and the bank staff has issued more than ten checks, each of which corresponds to the payment for a commodity.As for the remaining 330 yuan, Captain Hill asked the bank to issue him a one-year acceptance bill with a face value of 300.55 gold dollars (because it is denominated in gold, according to the relevant policies of the East Coast, gold dollars cannot be drawn on sight drafts or checks , only long-dated bills can be issued).

The bank staff who handled the business for him also reminded Captain Hill that the Ministry of Trade of the East Coast Republic and other units will hold the first Qingdao Autumn Commodity Fair in Qingdao Port in May next year. At that time, every factory in the East Coast will send representatives to the expo Set up booths in the pavilion (under construction) to have face-to-face exchanges with merchants who came to participate in the expo, and sign commercial contracts at the same time.

Of course, merchants from various countries who come to trade can also conduct transactions among themselves. They can first convert the currency they bring into gold dollars, and then settle through various commercial papers issued by Qingdao Commercial Clearing Bank.The bank also undertakes the functions of foreign currency deposit and foreign exchange market, and can provide the most convenient exchange service for every businessman who comes to the Expo, provided that you have opened a special account in Qingdao Commercial Bank.This means that merchants who have not opened an account in Qingdao Commercial Clearing Bank are not eligible to participate in the large-scale autumn commodity fair to be held in May next year.Regarding the pros and cons of this, I believe that every businessman will have his own judgment.

At present, Qingdao Commercial Clearing Bank is said to have reached a package of cooperation agreements with San Giorgio Bank/Commercial Bank, Palermo Bank, San Paulo Bank, and the soon-to-be-established Bank of La Plata. Acceptance draft issued by the bank.That is to say, if a person comes to Qingdao Port with an acceptance draft worth [-] bank lire issued by St. George Bank in Genoa, and he has an account in the Commercial Clearing Bank, then Qingdao Commercial Clearing Bank has to recognize this St. Bills of exchange issued by George Bank are legally negotiable.

After figuring out the situation, Captain John Hill kept the news of the first Qingdao Autumn Commodities Fair in his heart.He decided to tell his friend Mr. George Hampton the news after he returned to Virginia and Massachusetts, and then everyone will come to this so-called Commodity Fair in May next year.Captain Hill had a vague feeling that if he really came then, he might get some indescribable benefits.

(End of this chapter)