New Shun 1730

The next day, when Colin Campbell met with the leaders of the Free Trade again, he couldn't help but mutter a proverb in his heart.

"un vieux chat aime les jeunes souris..."

An experienced cat always likes to catch young mice.

In human terms, it is bullying the weak and fearing the strong.

Campbell thought, why don't you talk to the British East India Company or the Dutch East India Company? They are the ones doing big business, but you dare not talk to them, but instead focus on the weakest Swedish company to negotiate terms. Isn't this an old cat picking on small mice?

These people who came to Stockholm either knew Latin, some simple French, or some Russian. The best ones could communicate in Latin.

In the previous contacts, Dashun had already proposed the idea of ​​investing in the Swedish East India Company, which aroused great opposition from the shareholders of the Swedish East India Company.

However, not everyone is so stupid. Especially when Mantou and others said today that if they disagreed, Dashun might make adjustments in tariffs and supply, Kambir had to complain to them.

"Captain from China, in 31 years, I went to Guangdong for the first time as the head of the Swedish East India Company. Before that, I was also an employee of the British East India Company and went to Fujian and Songjiang."

"It must be admitted that even if there are officials asking for bribes, China's ports are still the most suitable for trade, and we are willing to do business with China. Why change this policy now?"

"Your goods, as long as they are sold, why must you load and transport them? If Sweden can sit at home and someone comes to trade and send silver coins, we will not choose to take risks."

"Even if you are well prepared, two people died on your ship this time. Such risks should be borne by us Europeans, and you don't need to bear such risks."

"You, just collect money on the coastline of Guangdong and Jiangsu."

Mantou smiled lightly and relayed a sentence that Liu Yu often said.

"Capital fears no profit or too little profit. Once there is a proper profit, capital will be very bold. As long as there is a 10% profit, it will be used everywhere; with 20%, it will be active; with 50%, it will cause active adventures; with 100%, it will make people disregard all laws... If unrest and disputes can bring profits, it will encourage them. Smuggling and slave trade are evidence of this."

"Nothing else, sitting at home collecting silver is still not enough profit. Many Europeans die every year from malaria, fever, scurvy and shipwrecks."

Speaking of this, he smiled lightly: "We also want to have the opportunity to die in pursuit of profits."

"This is not my personal request, but the capital in Songjiang, Fujian and Guangdong hopes to open this road. Trade routes. This is not the will of an individual, but the will of capital. Moreover, His Majesty the Emperor does not want these hot money to flow into the trade of buying land. "

"In the past, Dashun only had real free trade. But from now on, it is no longer. I have no right to decide such a policy. I just convey the policy change and hope that your company and the Swedish Parliament will send people of sufficient level to negotiate. "

"Since you have been to Guangdong in 1931 and have been granted the plenipotentiary ambassador to China, you are a very suitable person to go to China this time. I just told you about the policy change before you go. I hope Mr. Kambir can make it clear to the board of directors and the parliament. "

Mantou is very clear about his responsibilities. The first task is to find a craftsman who makes wood tar, which has been done.

As for the negotiations, he is not responsible, but is responsible for bringing people who are qualified to negotiate on board.

If you look at it from a so-called "moral" point of view, this is really encouraging smuggling.

But using Liu Yu's official rhetoric, this is called smuggling under monopoly rights, which is noble free trade.

Anyway, Dashun was not afraid of being dumped by foreign goods at this time. A hundred years later, the trade deficit was eliminated by opium. What was there to be afraid of now?

Facing Mantou, who looked like he was giving an ultimatum, Kambier could only patiently explain how difficult it was for the Swedish East India Company.

"Captain, you should know that Sweden is a small country and very poor. At the beginning of the establishment of the East India Company, the Parliament was extremely opposed to it, believing that this would destroy Sweden's nascent textile industry. If cotton cloth from India or China entered Sweden, Swedish weavers would be unemployed."

"It is poor in itself, and it has fought the long-term Great Northern War. People don't want luxury goods and cotton cloth from the East to exchange for Sweden's pitiful silver coins."

"Congress believes that it is stupid to establish the East India Company. Use silver coins to exchange for meaningless porcelain, silk and tea."

"It is said that we have worked hard to lobby and persuade Congress."

"Even if the East India Company is finally allowed to be established, Chinese goods are not allowed to be sold in Sweden, and can only be sold to third parties."

Mantou thought to himself that it was right, and the gentleman didn't expect to sell it to you, Sweden. How many people are there in Sweden? How much tea can they buy?

"Don't worry, Mr. Kambir. We can guarantee this as well. We will abide by this regulation and will never sell it privately. What we want is cooperation and equity investment, not direct trade in Gothenburg."

Speaking of this, I thought to myself, even if you open Gothenburg as a port now, we will not agree. If we don't fly your flag, the Dutch will definitely rob us in the future.

It's not that we can't spend more money to buy the ship's flag in your neutral country. This is all negotiable, but I won't talk to you now.

Kambir added: "Our capital is far inferior to that of the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The British and Dutch governments have regulations prohibiting private individuals from engaging in oriental trade, and only the East India Company can engage in this monopoly."

"This leads to many special features in the operation of our company. We must keep the information of our customers and the identities of our shareholders absolutely confidential."

"Although we destroy the account books after each voyage, many people in the parliament who have not had the opportunity to invest are dissatisfied. They all hope to get a share - although they were opposed at the beginning, now they can estimate how high our profits are without the account books."

"If you are allowed to participate in the shares, some people in the parliament who have not invested will definitely oppose it. This is really difficult to deal with."

It is not the lack of wealth that is worrying, but the inequality. This is a universal truth. Sweden is in the four seas, so naturally this sentence is also valid in Stockholm.

Once Chinese shareholders are allowed to participate in the shares, many people in the Swedish Parliament who have not invested will question: Why would they rather allow foreigners to invest than allow us to invest? Why are the accounts of the East India Company not open to the public? Why don't you give us the opportunity to invest?

A great opportunity to make money, but you would rather give it to your friends than to your own people? What is this?

There were many such calls. In addition to Swedish big businessmen and nobles, the British and Dutch businessmen were also shareholders. The account books could not be made public anyway.

The Dutch and British, who risked their own citizens' ban on participating in Asian trade, could not shake the existence of the East India Company in legal status, and placed their hopes on the Swedish East India Company. They gave great support to the royal family and bribed many members of Parliament. Although they destroyed the account books every time by covering their ears and stealing the bell, even covering their ears and stealing the bell was effective.

Now if Chinese businessmen are allowed to participate in the shares, even this step of covering their ears and stealing the bell will not be done. There will inevitably be a large number of "cap parties" in Parliament, demanding the disclosure of the company's share list, driving away those British and Dutch shareholders, and making it easier for themselves to participate in the shares.

Colin Campier knew very well that the opposition in Parliament would find many reasons.

In addition to the equity turmoil, there were also many people who opposed the establishment of the East India Company at the beginning. They knew very well what Sweden's poor textile industry would look like when facing the impact of India's handicraft industry, regardless of China.

The UK has issued a ban, strictly prohibiting the British from wearing cotton cloth. How can Sweden dare to compete with the UK in the textile industry? The British textile industry cannot beat India, and India's cotton cloth cannot be sold to China at all. The huge gap between them will cause the Swedish textile industry to collapse even if there is a sea of ​​tens of thousands of miles and losses.

Some of these people are engaged in the textile industry and have seats in Congress. They believe that national industries should be protected, exports should be expanded rather than imports, and import tariffs should be raised. They would rather let the Swedes wear expensive and low-quality domestic products than cheap good products.

Although... the East India Company promised not to sell in Sweden at the beginning of its establishment, but to resell to a third party. But... how can it be implemented so thoroughly? If it gets out of hand, those members of Congress engaged in the local textile industry will take advantage of the issue, and the company will be in trouble: at least, it will have to spend a lot of money to bribe and lobby in Congress.

The current situation is hard-won and is in a delicate balance. Whether it is covering one's ears and stealing the bell or taking advantage of the issue, breaking this balance may bring many uncertain factors.

Of course, this kind of uncertainty can be solved with money and bribes.

Kambir also knew that it was useless to just talk about reason and play the victim. Once China made a move on tariffs, the Swedish East India Company would collapse. Sweden is not the Netherlands or Britain. It does not have a strong presence in India, Persia, Southeast Asia, or even Africa. Half of the company's high-profit business is with China.

He just wanted to make this clear and bargain with Dashun: Does the smuggler's connections count as equity? Does the lobbying and bribery on the Congress count as equity?

Mantou was too lazy to listen to the other party's hidden meaning. He was not responsible for the negotiation. He just smiled and said, "Only by checking and balancing each other can there be a basis for cooperation. Without Chinese goods, your company will go bankrupt; without your sales channels, our merchants will not be able to make a profit. Isn't such cooperation beneficial to both parties?"

"As for the various details, I won't talk about them. You can talk to the court after you arrive in the Celestial Empire. But now, I want to know whether Congress can amend the terms of the East India Company? Or, can you make sure whether Congress agrees before you go? It will take at least two years to go back and forth. The court will not wait for you for two years."

"Besides, didn't you just say that it was difficult to raise capital? I dare not say more, but a capital of one or two million taels of silver can be raised in Dashun in an instant. As long as there is enough profit."

The last sentence is not bragging. Dashun is not short of silver at all, but there is no means of centralization and circulation of silver, or it is the court of Dashun that is short of silver.

The household government is not a central bank and doesn't even know how to manage finances, but the emperor wanted to keep all the fat pigs in Songjiang, which made it easy for capital to accumulate.

As long as the profit is enough, with the reputation of the trading company and the past accumulation, one or two million taels of silver is still a small amount.

Now the Swedes still lack capital, at least the number of merchant ships is not enough, and the European smugglers are not yet at the point where they can't eat the goods. The Swedes are short of cash, and Dashun has money, which is a match made in heaven.

Mantou thought that this negotiation was just reckless. If you don't accept it, I will close the trade.

It's not the time to talk about the conditions. The first thing to do now is to determine whether Congress can amend the regulations of the East India Company?

The Swedish East India Company now has many restrictions, such as ships must be Swedish ships to provide orders to Swedish shipyards and increase employment; for example, in wartime, the fleet of the East India Company needs to be placed under the command of the navy, and all merchant ship captains are equivalent to naval officers.

For example... they have to fight with Russia's Baltic Fleet at any time.

These regulations are not something that Cambill can decide, and they have to pass Congress. If Congress does not give in, even if Cambill goes to Dashun, the conditions he negotiates will be meaningless.

Mantou also knew that although the Congress was different from Dashun, there was one thing that could definitely solve the problem: money.

However, a channel was needed. Bribery also required connections and introductions.

"Mr. Cambill, I know you are the initiator of the East India Company. Before you go, please make the following preparations."

"Split the East India Company and separate the trade business with China. The cooperation between the two sides is to fix the proportion of goods. Dashun's merchant ships will not be controlled by the Swedish Navy during wartime, but in return, if a war breaks out between Russia and Sweden, Dashun can mediate."

"The initiative is in your hands because you have the market; but it is also in our hands because we have the source of goods. Both sides benefit if we unite and both sides suffer if we separate."

"As for the Congress, I think since you can facilitate the establishment of the East India Company, you must also have a way to facilitate the amendment of the decree. Money... is not a problem. If our merchants are allowed to participate in the shares, the company's affairs are their affairs, and they are proficient in bribery. Believe me, the merchants in Dashun know the value of bribes very well, and they are never stingy in bribes."

The conditions that can be mentioned at this time must not be the final conditions, but the money can be repaid on the spot.

In the early stage, it may be necessary to give Sweden more interests, mainly considering that Sweden will remain neutral in future European wars. Britain and the Netherlands will not rob Swedish ships due to their demand for Swedish copper, iron and wood tar.

If there is a fight in Nanyang, if the flag of Dashun is hung, it may be robbed by the Dutch as soon as it leaves Malacca.

This time, it is not only to borrow the shell of Sweden, but also to borrow the people and market of Sweden. As long as this gap can be opened, even if the merchants do not pay, Liu Yu is willing to pay a bribe.

Besides, how could the merchants of Dashun not know the truth that "the gate of the government faces south, and you can't come in if you have reason but no money"? Isn't the parliament just a government?

When Cambill heard such conditions, his heart was slightly moved. He understood that these conditions must not be the final conditions, and this is not impossible to negotiate.