Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 775 Trade Friction ([-])

In late October 1649, before Mo San had time to deal with the affairs of the Florence trading station, he took an old Dutch ship purchased by the Smyrna trading station, crossed the Strait of Gibraltar, and arrived in the port of Bordeaux in France.Kang Ding, who was the head of the commercial station, quickly welcomed Mo San in, and then the two sides started a closed-door discussion.

This time France brazenly raised tariffs, which had a very far-reaching impact.Perhaps their main target was the Dutch, and the east coast just happened to be swept by the periphery of the typhoon.But who made the East Bank itself small and weak? The typhoon in the periphery is not so pleasant, and a bad one will hurt the muscles and bones.

Moreover, the French made a bad start this time, and many countries in Central and Western Europe have followed suit.For a time, trade barriers between countries increased greatly, free trade became an empty talk (although it never really became a reality), all countries strictly guarded against the outflow of silver, and scholars and businessmen who usually advocated mercantilism became officials from all over the world. , the guests of the dignitaries.

This trend is undoubtedly extremely unfavorable to a country like the East Coast, which takes foreign trade as its lifeline.You know, how can one not spend huge sums of money on domestic immigration, construction, and military support on the east coast?If foreign trade is unfavorable, the profits paid by state-owned enterprises will be greatly reduced, and the corporate tax and local tax alone will be worthless!At that time, the country's financial capacity will decline, the ability to do big things will decline, and the economic situation will deteriorate. Not only will many construction projects be cut off, but even immigration affairs may be affected. How can Mo San not be in a hurry?

The only solution now is to open up new markets and try to minimize the negative impact caused by the French.But this is not easy. Last year (1648), the East Coast Republic obtained a huge trade income of more than 250 million yuan in Europe, of which the Ottoman market was the most profitable, almost as much as 90 yuan, accounting for 36%; The French market is second, accounting for about 32%. Thanks to the assistance of the Genoese, the Greater Spanish market (including Spain, Naples, Sicily, Southern Netherlands, Parma, etc.) has sprung up, providing more than 40 Chinese goods to the East Coast Republic. Yuan profit accounted for 16%.

In addition to these three major markets, the business stations opened by people from the East Coast in Florence, Riga, and Danzig were not well managed, and they never provided enough profits.Among these three commercial stations, the Danzig Commercial Station, which had the largest initial investment and the most promising future prospects, was forced to close due to the sudden deterioration of diplomatic relations between the East Bank and Poland, which really makes people sigh .As for the Riga Commercial Station, its business has not improved for many years, and it only provides a profit of a little over 10 yuan every year, and the growth has always been weak; the profit of the Florence Commercial Station has been declining year after year, and last year it was only 5 yuan.The combined profits of these three trading stations only account for about [-]% of the European trade territory on the east coast, which is really tasteless.

As for the remaining 11% of foreign trade income, it was mainly provided by the Dutch West India Company and the Hanseatic Merchant Union. As agents of goods on the east coast, they provided a total profit of less than 30 yuan for the east coast. It can be seen that How ineffective they are in developing the market, it can be said that they have not put their minds on it at all, otherwise how could they be so based on their conditions.

Of course, the trade income of the East Coast Republic does not depend entirely on these.The income of the Autumn Commodity Trade Fair held in the local Qingdao Port is now becoming more and more stable, and the annual profit of 60 million yuan cannot be escaped.Coupled with the trade of some individual customers coming to the east coast before and after the trade fair, it is not a problem for Qingdao Port to provide the Ministry of Finance with a profit of more than 80 yuan throughout the year, which is equivalent to another French market.

From these data, we can clearly see that the importance of the French market's trade income in the East Coast's finances cannot be overstated.Once this market collapses, more than 80 yuan of fiscal revenue will be lost every year, and many projects on the east coast will be greatly affected: such as the investment in the Northwest Special Steel Base, such as the construction of the Northwest Railway, such as the second-phase technical transformation project of the Northern Iron and Steel Plant, For example, financial subsidies to the Southern Railway Company, such as the construction of new settlements, such as the continuous introduction of Ottoman female slaves, and so on.

The importance of the above-mentioned projects to the East Coast Republic is self-evident, and it is no problem to say that they are related to the foundation of the East Coast.It is now the second half of 1649, and a whole year has passed since the Thirty Years War. The production order in Europe has been gradually restored, leaving less and less time for the East Coast, and the pressure of competition will increase in the future.At this time, if you don't grab the time and concentrate on the construction, it will be too late when you are bullied by others.Therefore, in the eyes of the executive committee, anything that may slow down the development of the East Bank is intolerable.And this French tariff incident is precisely such a major incident that can shake the foundation of the East Coast!

We must find a way to make up for this shortfall!

Mo San and a group of people from the Bordeaux Commercial Station studied behind closed doors for several days, and finally came to the conclusion that they had to go to Paris for a walk.Regardless of whether it is effective or not, a dead horse as a living horse doctor has to go around, whether it is a reminder to the French, a protest, or even an ultimatum. anger let them know.Only in this way can we perform the expansion in the following steps.As for the candidate to negotiate in Paris, Mo San found sadly that he seemed to be the only one, and no one else was suitable or qualified.However, before that, the East Bank also needs to clarify some other things.

"New markets must be opened up, and the potential of existing old markets must be deeply tapped to make up for the deficit in the French market." Mo San's words set the tone for the activities of the diplomatic and commercial personnel stationed in Europe on the east coast. .

"The great Spanish market is catching up from behind. Relying on the inherent channels of the Genoese, our goods are distributed very quickly. At present, we have spread all over Cadiz, Madrid, Zaragoza, Barcelona, ​​Cartagena, Messina, and Palermo. , Parma, Naples, Antwerp and other cities. And the sales situation seems to be good, because our products have quite outstanding advantages in terms of cost performance and scarcity.” Mo San continued, “The next step we must stimulate Encouraging the enthusiasm of the Genoese, let them increase the promotion and promotion of East Coast products, and put more of our products on the shelves. For this reason, it is not unacceptable to give them a certain amount of profit. "

"The Dutch West India Company is doing the same thing. Most of their energy is currently focused on fighting the Brazilians, which is not good. We need to communicate with the mainland and even find a way to get the Dutch to pay attention if necessary. Go to Europe, go to help us sell our products. The Dutch are a people with a keen sense of business. There is no doubt about their talent in business. There is no doubt that their potential has not been developed at all. Competing with the Brazilians all day Sugar and tobacco plantations are really boring. We have to find a way to let them know that being an agent of our goods on the east coast may be more promising than competing for a few more sugarcane plantations or sugarcane sugar factories." Mo He said in three eloquent voices, his face was a little grim, and his whole body was full of energy like a clockwork, "Osman must continue to consolidate, and he must spend money where he should spend money. He is willing to spend a small amount of money to make a lot of money. Uh, okay Well, don’t worry about the Ottoman market, I will manage it myself.”

"Where did you just say? Yes, tap the potential of the inherent market." Mo San picked up the teacup, took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, and then looked at the people who were taking shorthand on their notebooks, and raised his voice: "In addition to these , and the work of opening up new markets is also urgent."

When Mo San was talking about this, his secretary opened a hand-painted map of Europe just right.Mo San poked it with his finger and said, "Where is the market with great prospects in the future? Here, yes, Moscow and Poland! These two countries have a vast territory and a large population, of which Poland has a population of 1100 million (lost The population of Ukraine and Northern Livonia is about 700 million), and the Principality of Moscow has 1600 million (plus Astrakhan). Although most of the population of these two countries are serfs, in some major cities , there are still quite a few people with purchasing power. After all, their population base is here. Even if only 1% or 2% of people are willing to buy our products, it will be a huge market for us. Even better Yes, these two countries have not been over-involved by commercial powers such as the Netherlands so far, and as far as the market is concerned, they are completely virgin land, worthy of our large investment, and if they are done well, they can completely make up for the huge hole lost in the French market."

"Mr. Special Envoy, we have offended the Polish government, and the Danzig trading station has even been ordered to close down. How do we get our products into the Polish market?" Kang Ding, the head of the Bordeaux trading station, raised his hands at this time, wondering asked.

"Look for an agent!" Mo San said succinctly, "Whether it is the Hanseatic League or the Dutch merchants, whoever has the ability to do it can find whoever! Of course, our business station in Riga can also give full play to its subjective initiative and sell products through Prussia, Courland and other places have entered the Polish market in a detour. Guys, there are 300 million people in the Polish crown territory, and more than 20% of them are so-called nobles. Well, we don’t care whether these people are qualified to be called nobles, but at least they already have Enough economic strength to buy our products. Grab these people, and our market will not be small."

"As for Moscow, the Arkhangelsk trading station will open this year. It will start distributing goods next year at the latest, and look for suitable agents in Russia. There are only a small number of Dutch and British merchants operating in this country, and their The forces are also very weak, and they are almost at the same starting line as us. We have to muster up the courage to compete with them. When is the time, don’t be afraid to frustrate the relationship, and how to do it. Of course, I will discuss the details with the business The station master Schneider said, you just need to understand this spirit." Mo San said after taking a sip of tea.

After he finished speaking, he looked at the crowd, seeing that they had almost digested what he said before, and finally threw out another blockbuster: "Kang Ding, you are also a veteran of my East Coast Republic in Europe! Let me tell you, if we engage in smuggling in the French market, will it be a big problem?"

Kang Ding was lowering his head to record something, when he heard Mo San asking himself, he thought for a while, and then said: "There are not many ships in the French Navy, and the danger of smuggling ships at sea is not great. The problem is that after the goods land The two generations of Richelieu and Mazarin have worked hard to rule, and have cleared the trade, economic and cultural barriers between quite a few provinces and regions in France. There are some difficulties. However, in some provinces in the east, south and northwest, the authority of the central government is still weak, and the power of the local aristocrats is still strong. We may take advantage of this, find some bold and powerful French businessmen, and give them more It’s okay to make some profits. After all, we don’t need to manage places now, and we don’t need to share profits with large wholesalers. The profit margins are still very large. These merchants can find a way to land our goods in remote ports, and then distribute them through their own channels. Selling everywhere, I believe that if they are lucky enough, the profits are still considerable, and this will undoubtedly stimulate more French speculators to act as our agents."

"It can be done like this!" Mo San nodded affirmatively, "Station Master Kang, you will find the personnel, and just report the detailed plan to me when the time comes."

(End of this chapter)