New Shun 1730

The Shaanxi businessman's lament, to put it bluntly, can be regarded as a "loser" consciousness, a bit like sour grapes.

But upon closer inspection, it makes sense.

The Lianghuai salt merchants complained all day long that the returns were too much, but in fact, without the administrative support provided by the imperial court, the monopoly would have been just as the Shaanxi businessman said.

Qualifications are also required for reporting results.

How can ordinary people have this opportunity to "repay"? Desire for retribution but not success.

In fact, there is no need for southern Sichuan salt. Kuidong, an "old revolutionary area" in another time and space, can instantly occupy the Xiangchu sales area, making it impossible to sell even a pound of Huai salt.

Unless the two prerequisite technologies of steamship and sun salt method are achieved.

Liu Yu just smiled at this and did not answer. He understood that the Shaanxi businessman wanted to say this because he wanted the Xiangchu sales area, but he didn't want to reveal it at this time. It was still a few months away.

I don’t want to reveal the truth, but I can say some things clearly in advance.

"Don't even think about putting the Yanzheng Yamen in Sichuan. Even if there is a lot of salt in Shu, is it more salty than the sea? Besides, with the current output of salt in Sichuan, even if the imperial court really gives you a chance, you can seize it. Live?"

The Shaanxi businessman thought, isn’t the production volume a simple matter? Without a market, what would we do with so much salt? Put it there and lose money?

As long as there is a market, with the current organizational methods and the power of this iron bull, salt wells will be everywhere within two or three years.

If the Xiangchu salt area can really be handed over to us, I am afraid that the number of salt wells in Zigong will increase tenfold in three to five years, from the current seven or eight hundred to seven or eight thousand deep wells.

Just talking about the production volume, naturally I am still a little unconvinced.

"My lord, I am not boasting. With this method, capital is sufficient and technology is not lacking. In just a few years, the output can be doubled."

"The key thing is not whether we can produce so much salt."

"It's about whether we can sell so much salt we produce, and whether the court will allow us to sell it."

"If the Duke is just worried about the production of salt, there is no need for it."

After that, he respectfully raised the development plan pamphlet in his hand and said: "These plans solve three things."

"One is ground rent, which is a headache for us."

"One is coal for boiling salt."

"The other is to issue orders to multiple gates, local embezzlement, etc. If the Duke sends someone to take charge, the order comes from one place. We can produce as much salt as the Duke wants, as long as the price is fair."

Liu Yu sneered at this statement.

Although the emperor was worried about whether Sichuan Salt could guarantee a stable supply to the Xiangchu market within three years.

But Liu Yu was not worried at all. He had other reasons for sneering.

Seeing Liu Yu's sneer, the Shaanxi businessman was confused and asked Xiaoyi, "But what did the villain say that was wrong?"

Liu Yu chuckled and said: "As for the matter of Guizhou salt, have you ever thought about why the imperial court can now allow Sichuan salt to enter Guizhou? In other words, why in recent years, most of the salt in Guizhou comes from From Sichuan?”

"And the Yunnan salt and Guangdong salt in Guizhou have almost disappeared in the past few years?"

"Is this because those who sell salt in Sichuan are smarter than those who sell salt in Yunnan and Guangxi? Smarter? Integrity? Or is it because of something else?"

The Shaanxi businessman thought for a while and said, "Because Sichuan salt is cheap, the price is better."

Liu Yu clapped his hands and said: "So, why is Sichuan salt so cheap? Why didn't Guangdong salt lose its market completely before?"

After a long while, the Shaanxi businessman could not give him any money, so Liu Yu said, "I'll tell you."

"The imperial court now wants Sichuan salt to enter Guizhou and Yunnan. You can be regarded as sitting back and enjoying the results. But let me ask you, have you made any efforts for this before? Do you understand that the basis for Sichuan salt to enter Guizhou now depends on What is it?”

"Damn it, is this just a policy from the imperial court? The imperial court said that if you want to go to the sun, can you go directly to the sun?"

"You only talk about salt production, salt production. When it comes to salt production, where is it not easy to produce salt in Shandong, Changlu, and Yingkou?"

"I said you should sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor, so don't be dissatisfied!"

First being offended, and then being belittled, the Shaanxi businessman quietly listened to Liu Yu's belittlement and was completely convinced.

Indeed, many policies cannot be solved by just one word from the court.

To put it more clearly, the prerequisite for Sichuan Salt to enter Guizhou is money making, military reform, and foreign trade that have nothing to do with salt.

To restore Dashun's economy, money, copper and lead are needed.

Yunnan copper accounts for 70 to 80% of Dashun's national copper output, excluding imports from Japan.

Guizhou lead accounts for 70 to 80% of Dashun's national "lead" output, excluding imports from Japan.

The "lead" here actually includes two things: lead and zinc.

How to transport Yunnan copper and Guizhou lead to the capital to mint money?

We can only build the Jinsha River water channel and the water channels of those rivers in Guizhou.

This was something the imperial court was forced to do without any help.

The collapse of the previous government's banknotes has a shadow, and Japan has begun to restrict precious metal exports.

Dashun was forced to develop Yunnan and Guizhou to alleviate the reality of currency shortage.

Minting money itself involves a lot of consumption.

With the subsequent military reform and foreign trade, the demand for lead and zinc has soared.

At this time, it can be said that the brass in Europe is 100% of Chinese origin, because the Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin has just completed the laboratory zinc production, and Dashun has been producing zinc for who knows how many years. It is an absolute flagship product for foreign trade. .

After the Dashun military reform, the guns of the elite navy had to use brass. Infantry training had to use lead. Various naval instruments, such as protractors and sextants, also required a lot of zinc.

During the twenty years when Liu Yu was "laying the foundation" for Dashun, Dashun also completed the infrastructure construction of this salt administration reform in places that Liu Yu did not pay attention to.

In the past twenty years, in places that Liu Yu did not pay attention to, the Dashun court invested about 4 million taels of silver before and after - if the people who served corvée were also converted into money. Of course, if they were calculated as zero cost, it would not have cost so much.

Subjectively speaking, the Dashun court spent this money and had nothing to do with improving people's livelihood.

The so-called emperor's benevolence and love for the people are all nonsense. If the court had any such idea, it would not have done things like not allowing the canal to be pumped in the dry season to irrigate the land, draining in the flood season to flood the crops, and tacitly not blocking the Yellow River in the south to protect the canal.

It was only because of the coinage and military reform that they were forced to do so.

But objectively speaking, the repair and dredging of these rivers, the clearing of dangerous shoals, etc., have indeed brought great benefits to the people on both sides of the strait.

During this period, more than 100 dangerous shoals in the Jinsha River were rectified, and the Jinsha River was basically kept unobstructed by burning reefs, pouring water on them, and crushing stones.

Yunnan built the Luoxingdu River, and Sichuan and Guizhou provinces cooperated to dig a river channel from Renhuai to Maotai.

These infrastructures are the guarantee for Sichuan salt to enter Guizhou.

This is the key to completely withdrawing Yunnan salt and Guangdong salt from Guizhou in recent years.

Without these infrastructures, no matter how perfectly the court's policies are designed, they are just empty words.

Liu Yu meant to ask, during this period, did these Shaanxi merchants pay a penny?

Did they take the initiative to propose to repair the river and the tow road in the Three Gorges?

Did they take the initiative to think that if they want to expand and develop their own industries, they should invest in road construction and so on?

Complaining that the imperial court did not give them opportunities, did they think about developing the market on their own initiative and ensuring the transportation of salt so that it would come naturally?

Smuggling had never stopped before, and all those who opened salt wells were involved. They could spend a lot of money to build temples for Guan Erye, donate schools to the local area, donate money to widows, and give alms to beggars. Have they ever thought about taking the initiative to repair the waterway, even if it was to facilitate smuggling?

No.

Shaanxi merchants only do three things after making money.

Investing in salt wells is considered progress.

Pawnshops and usury.

And buying land, hoarding land, collecting rent, and doing charity in the rent-collecting land.

Liu Yu said "Sichuan salt enters Guizhou".

In fact, it is really paving the way for "Sichuan salt enters Hunan and Chu" in March and April next year.

Dashun can transport copper and lead through the Yangtze River waterway, and it can also use the waterway from Sichuan to Hunan and Chu.

It's just that the accident rate is a bit higher, and the shipwreck rate of copper materials is about 10%, which is not too high.

After all, copper sinks deep in water.

Secondly, whether it sank or not, the court turned a blind eye to it when it saw that the loss rate was only 10%.

The salt sellers had to add more pounds for every shipwreck, and the grain transporters had to pay more for every shipwreck. The 10% shipwreck rate was really "low loss" in Dashun.

If only Sichuan salt was imported into Hunan and Chu, the current transportation problem would not be a big deal.

Liu Yu mentioned this mainly for future considerations.

He knew the particularity of Dashun very well. The capital group that was supported must be chained in advance, or a carrot on a stick.

In Dashun, it is easy to support a capital group.

What is more important than support is to control and guide in advance.

Before deciding to support Shaanxi capital to monopolize Sichuan salt, the result must be considered.

Sichuan is a good place. It is not easy to get out once you enter.

Whether it is warlords, princes, or capital, it is the same.

If the salt markets in Hubei, Hunan and Guizhou were really handed over to this group of people, with the speed of capital accumulation in the salt industry, a lot of money would be stuck in Sichuan, which would be a lot of fun.

The "Peach Blossom Land" that the emperor boasted to Liu Yu a while ago would have to be explosively merged in less than ten years.

This is different from the capital of the Lianghuai Salt Industry. Liu Yu's two sets of combined punches directly smashed the capital of the Lianghuai Salt Industry.

After the collapse, the capital can go to northern Jiangsu to reclaim wasteland.

It can go to Southeast Asia.

It can go overseas.

It can even go to Ezo and other places to catch seafood and sell goods.

Now that he wants to support the Sichuan Salt Capital Group, he must first consider where the rapidly accumulated capital will go after it is supported.

Because history has told Liu Yu that if he does nothing, the capital groups in the old society will invest their accumulated capital.

Land.

Usury.

Pawnshops.

And the salt industry itself is very special.

Since the separation of production and sales has been chosen, and the government transports and the merchants sell, then the "aggressive" period of this capital group will be at most ten years.

Because salt is not something that can be infinitely increased, the market is so big.

In the early stage, due to insufficient production, there will be a wave of aggressive stages.

Including but not limited to the adoption of new technologies, etc.

Once the production reaches market saturation - this thing is different from the Haimao Group.

Haimao Group can maintain aggressiveness for a long time, because every time it conquers a market, it can get a profit.

Salt Merchant Group, what is the use of aggressiveness? Or how to be aggressive?

Aggression, can it allow the people to eat a pound of salt a day or something?

The limit of Sichuan salt is Sichuan, Tibet, Guizhou, Hubei and Hunan. No matter how powerful it is, it is impossible to sell Sichuan salt on the Shandong coast. In history, when Britain ascended the throne as the emperor, the slave owners in the snowy mountains could use British diesel engines and British phonographs, but they did not eat London salt, but local Sichuan salt.

Therefore, once the market is saturated, the Shaanxi merchant capital group will quickly react and degenerate.

Its degeneration speed is much faster than that of the capital group in Songjiang Prefecture, because their advancement is meaningless. After the market is saturated, what is there to advance?