New Shun 1730

Smuggling is a technical job.

As the saying goes, a fierce dragon cannot cross the river. In terms of cash, capital and porcelain tea spot, Dashun's sea merchants are absolutely no problem.

But there is no place to stay there, so we still have to rely on the Swedes to lead us in.

At the dock in Gothenburg, we will pay homage to all kinds of gods, especially the predecessors of big smugglers who have the potential to sign the Declaration of Independence.

Give gifts when necessary and give kickbacks when necessary. There is still a way out.

The emperor asked Liu Yu in return how long it would take for the emperor's income to catch up with the direct monopoly of foreign trade by smuggling. This is also the first time that Liu Yu did not dare to give a guaranteed answer.

This time, we are going to let Mantou explore the way and pay homage to the docks in Western Europe. Whether we can open up the way in the future depends on whether the French did a good job in the War of Austrian Succession.

If the French privateers robbed Dutch and British ships and suffered heavy losses, the situation will definitely be opened.

But if the French are not strong enough and something unexpected happens, the control of the sea will be lost instantly, and privateers will not be able to stop the two East India Company ships, and the situation may be a little difficult to open.

Liu Yu now knows that the emperor is impatient. In addition, he "stimulates" the emperor all day long and brags about the tonnage of warships in European countries. The emperor also feels that the shipbuilding speed of one million taels a year is a bit slow.

This time, when the French delegation came, they learned more about the situation at sea in Europe. If they were not impatient, it would be wrong.

Talk to the emperor about the possible imbalance of the European market caused by the War of Austrian Succession and the French blocking of the East India Company merchant ships. There is only one word "supply exceeds demand". Even if the emperor has not learned any economics knowledge, it is not difficult to understand.

It looks good.

Considering the emperor's impatience, Liu Yu drew a bigger pie.

"Your Majesty, the reason why I am so concerned about going abroad and heading to the ocean is that there is actually a plan to kill two birds with one stone."

"Going abroad and sailing far away can bring a lot of benefits. This is an increase in revenue, and this is one bird."

"But England, Guyana and Lebanon are closed to the outside world and strictly prohibit any ships and goods east of the Cape of Good Hope from entering their country, unless they are from the East India Company. Tea is heavily taxed, and cotton cloth is forbidden to be worn by the people. However, drinking tea has become a trend in their country."

"In this case, smuggling is inevitable. Smuggling can avoid taxes, and the price is low. After so long, England, Guyana and Lebanon have only one choice."

"Reduce the tea tax so that the tea can be sold through the formal channels of the East India Company, and the goods will not be squeezed by smuggling."

"Your Majesty also knows that it takes one and a half years for European countries to go back and forth by sea. Although the interest rate in Europe is low, the interest for one and a half years is also a large amount. In addition, British merchants can only use silver coins to buy tea, unlike The Netherlands can exchange spices for tea, so once there is too much smuggling, the British East India Company's tea will inevitably be in a backlog. Under the pressure of interest, storage, loss, mold and other costs, it will definitely beg the British government to reduce the tea tax and crack down on smuggling. "

"In this way, if the tea tax is reduced, our dynasty will export more tea and collect more customs taxes, because more people can drink tea, and sales will be large. "

"Furthermore, if the tea tax is reduced, those smugglers who are supported by our dynasty will find it difficult to make a profit and will inevitably take risks. "

"I think that the Japanese pirates in the previous dynasty may not be impossible. It is also very likely that smugglers robbed British merchant ships and burned British tea-carrying official ships. "

"Ten thousand miles away, the strategy of exhausting the enemy. This is Guan Zhong's "light and heavy technique." "

The economic principles here are a little bit deeper. It has been two thousand years since the Hundred Schools of Thought, and the emperor has not understood it very well.

Following Liu Yu's thoughts for a long time, this is roughly understood.

The British now drink a lot of tea every year, but because of heavy taxes and the East India Company's monopoly, the price is too high, and there is still a lot of room for sales to increase.

Liu Yu wants to smuggle tea to European smugglers and let them force Britain to reduce tea taxes.

The key is that Dashun is the origin of tea, and the tax and price reduction of British tea will not affect the interests of Dashun tea merchants. On the contrary, the tax reduction will lead to the popularization of tea, more sales, and more tariffs.

On the other hand, those who smuggle on the sea are all a group of desperate people.

With ships, money, and people, if Britain really dares to reduce tea taxes and destroy the livelihoods of smugglers, these smugglers will naturally "rise up".

Looting official ships, selling tea privately, robbing tea ships... these are all done.

After Li Gan realized what was happening, he couldn't help but laugh and said, "In ancient times, Xiang Zhuang danced with a sword to attack Pei Gong. Now, you are talking about the British barbarians, but you are actually admonishing me."

"If I also want to monopolize the customs, there will be a lot of smuggling, which will be difficult to investigate. At that time, there may be a threat from Japanese pirates? If I monopolize trade in Songjiang, Fujian, Guangdong and other places will smuggle to Batavia, and there may be a pirate riot at that time?"

Liu Yu lowered his head and said nothing, thinking that you just need to know the situation in your heart.

"Merchants talk about profit and cannot be trusted. It seems that the East and West Oceans are the same. The British barbarians are like this, don't you worry that our country's sea merchants will become thieves in the future?"

Liu Yu shook his head firmly.

"I am not afraid. Tea is produced in our dynasty, but the British impose heavy taxes on it, which is why smugglers become pirates. Let me ask you, our tea, silk, rhubarb, porcelain, glass, firearms, cotton cloth, etc. are all of good quality and cheap. As long as Your Majesty continues to open the gates, how can there be smugglers?"

"On the other hand, if one day Western cotton and other products are better and cheaper than those from China. Your Majesty is worried about the outflow of silver and seclusion, so there may be smugglers."

"As long as China's products are the most abundant and cheapest, and trade is still open, there will be no danger of smuggling into pirates. Only those seeking profit will bypass customs and not pay taxes."

Liu Yu knew very well that the emperor was worried about the emergence of a powerful pirate force on the sea in the future, just like the Zheng family in the late years of the previous dynasty.

As for those smugglers who evaded taxes and did not go through customs, in the eyes of the emperor, they were just suffering from scabies, and they were just missing a little money.

Liu Yu must first explain clearly what the emperor was worried about, lest the emperor or ministers become confused and worry about such unfounded worries.

"Your Majesty, even in Europa, the pirates do not have warships above cruisers. A battleship costs two to three hundred thousand taels of silver, and the crew, supplies, consumption, and training on it are even more huge."

"Since bayonets and flintlocks are used in the army and large ships are used in the navy, there will be no more banditry in the future. Your Majesty, you can rest assured that they will all be out of control."

This is to remove some worries for the imperial power. There are many such arguments. Some people once argued that there would be no uprisings with flintlock guns, and others argued that there would be no revolution in the era of breech-loading guns, and step by step, there would be no revolution in the era of drones. However...

Liu Yu himself certainly didn't believe it, but in Dashun, this argument was quite convincing because "there is no history to draw lessons from."

The emperor thought about Liu Yu's words and thought that it made sense. In the past, we had to worry about generals taking over power, but now training and commanding troops are separated; military schools are controlled by the imperial power; ordnance is all around the capital; and the navy cannot even support two battleships without land support...

Is it possible... is it possible that this great success is really going to last for generations and break the curse that the First Emperor has placed on the country's fortunes for four hundred years?

Thinking of this, Li Gan felt a little excited in his heart. Although he could not express his joy and anger, he also looked strange at this time.

As long as the authority of the central government is still there, and as long as the imperial court can guarantee an annual income of about 30 million, after the military reform, it seems that, as Liu Yu said, the country will be stable and the possibility of internal subversion will be completely eliminated.

What they are worried about is nothing more than those big Western countries with annual incomes of tens of millions of taels. Internal forces can only succeed with the help of those big Western countries.

It seems like this.

Li Gan stood up excitedly and walked around the room with his hands behind his back. The sunlight shining through the transparent glass swept out streaks of dusty light and shadow, and the emperor's figure lingered in these streaks of light and shadow.

Sometimes my fingers are clasped together, sometimes loosened, and sometimes I look at Liu Yu again, thinking that this person is really a loyal minister sent by God to protect me! It has been nearly a hundred years since the founding of the country, and even Wei Yang, Wang Jinggong, and Zhang Taiyue can only tinker with things, but this son's methods are quite different.

Now that the Beijing camp has completed military reform, the northwest frontier army is also undergoing military reform, and results will be seen within five years.

By then, the Japanese country has surrendered and Nanyang has been captured. My prestige will be incomparable, comparable to that of Emperor Qin, Emperor Wu of Han, and Emperor Ming of Tang. With the gun in hand and the added prestige, the preferential treatment of the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River will be cancelled, the land will be surveyed, and water transportation will be abandoned and replaced by sea transportation. Not to mention that it will last forever, but we will still dare to chase the eight hundred years of Fengming Qishan!

At that time, all the Westerners will be expelled, and trade will only be conducted in Malacca, so that the Chinese people will not be able to contact the Westerners, and there will be no possibility of relying on the power of the Westerners to achieve anything. How can the country be unstable?

If I can control it, I can control it.

If in old age, the heirs are weak, then the caravans heading for Western trade will be abolished, leaving only a corner of Malacca as a window and the ocean as a gully. This is the true world.

Even if Li Gan was enterprising, he could not understand the role that Indian cotton and dumping grounds played in the industrial revolution that had not yet emerged.

The idea is considered grand at this time, but its essence is already conservative.

Expanding territory may not be unconservative, and the chair under his butt means that his thoughts must be conservative.

This idea that would have been regarded as militarism before, but under the various changes brought about by Liu Yu's appearance, seems to have supported it to become a dream that is not unattainable like the Han Dynasty's emptying of the Western Regions.

After walking around the room a few more times and calming down the excitement, he encouraged Liu Yu: "What Aiqing said makes sense. Aiqing should work diligently. When Nanyang is pacified, there is no way that this Earl's Mansion will be destroyed." Make it a little bigger and change a few words!”

"You sent a ship to Sweden not only to do important things, but also to do something for my world, so I thought I should do something. Not only did you want to smuggle, but you also wanted to get wood tar techniques, so I wrote a letter and brought it with you. Sweden, for its support. The few Swedes captured by the army also gave some gifts, so that they could have enough food and clothing after they returned, and told them about the kindness of the Celestial Empire. "