New Shun 1730

Small citizens also have their own plans for the future, and they are quite shrewd when things concern their own vital interests.

Nowadays, the influx of a large number of troops, warships, and sailors has caused a short-term abnormal prosperity in Coconut City's service industry.

This prosperity is based on the presence of a large army.

Together with the rebel army, sailors and marines on vacation, there are more than 10,000 troops, plus the people on the ships requisitioned by the Japanese trading companies that transport logistical supplies. The service industry is indeed very profitable.

However, everyone knows that this cannot last forever.

With the relationship between the imperial court and the Netherlands in such a state of affairs, it is difficult to say how the business will turn out in the future. Some people are already thinking about transformation.

Learning a trade is a bit tiring, but at least you don’t have to slip down the ladder and carry a big bag on the dock.

And I heard that it seems that they will use the Dutch shipyard to expand a shipyard in Coconut City, and use the advantages of teak and other materials from Southeast Asia to build some merchant ships. This requires a lot of carpenters.

It seems that learning carpentry is a good way.

However, there are many types of service industries. Those who open stores are enjoying this short-term abnormal prosperity. The other group of people who had previously relied on Dutch trade had a less easy time.

Two months ago, after the fighting ended, Coconut City changed its name and implemented a relief system.

Merchant ships brought rice from Siam, and some people who were temporarily unemployed could apply for it. There weren't too many people in the city, and it didn't cost much money to apply for one in a day, but this attitude made the people in the city quickly obey the imperial rule.

There was a Wu Zhi fan system in the city before, but it was impossible for the company to pay a penny. Instead, some privileges were given to Wu Zhi fans, such as forced donation of money.

When donating money, Wuzhi fans rushed out; when it came to providing relief... Back then, the Wu Shit Party was stealing and robbing the city, and they couldn't survive. Wuzhi fans seemed to be pretending to be dead. Instead, they suggested that the Dutch arrest them and do hard labor.

Now when the imperial court comes, there is a wave of relief that actually does not cost much, which makes people see the difference between the imperial court and the company.

Sun Tao didn't need relief. He also saved up money and planned to buy a piece of land at the auction.

However, like his friend who ran a hotel, a family could only buy one piece of land auctioned outside the city. And it cannot be resold for twenty years.

He also has some sons, and one piece of land is definitely not enough. There is really nothing we can do about it. It is obviously a profitable land, everyone wants a piece of it, and these citizens in the city still have some wealth.

After Sun Tao sighed, Schwarz made a suggestion.

"I heard that the new government will also contract out the Sugar Sugar Factory. Wouldn't it be better for you to partner with a few friends to contract out the Sugar Sugar Factory with your savings? I am a foreigner and am not qualified to contract, and I don’t have much money left. You don’t have enough money. Can’t we go into partnership?”

"Isn't it said that some joint-stock cooperative industries can be registered? The new government will ensure that the contracts are valid?"

Sun Tao shook his head and lowered his voice and said: "Everyone is waiting and watching now. I heard people say that they are afraid that the imperial court will also prepare to specialize in the business; I am also afraid that the imperial court will not exclusively operate."

"If you get sugar, you still have to go through the hands of the court if you want to sell it. How is this different from when the Dutch were here? They keep the price of sugar so low every year, and you can't make any money at all. Now the contracting of the Cane Ministry Sugar Factory is still It’s empty, everyone is waiting.”

"I heard that some people who can boil sugar, make sugar, and manage sugar cane can be contracted here as a partnership. The governor's office in the military town can provide a loan. It can be repaid in two years. The interest rate is 40%, which is already a very low interest rate. ”

"I heard that the tin mine in Bangga is the same. The governor's office buys out the debts and then contracts them to the original mining gangs."

"However, the key to this matter still depends on what the policies will be in the future. If it is a monopoly, it would be meaningless to lower the acquisition price."

"Furthermore, in the past, it was purchased by the East India Company, and no one else could come to collect it. As a result, white sugar and rock sugar could not be sold to anyone else except to the company. Even if the sugar factory is contracted now, if no one comes to come, Take it, don’t you lose everything?”

Schwartz smiled and said: "Then do you hope to exclusively acquire it? Or do you hope that it will not be exclusive but no one may come to acquire it?"

Sun Tao also smiled and said: "I hope to run the franchise first and ensure that I can sell it this year and next. If I give up the franchise in the future, there will be more people coming to buy it, and they will compete to increase the price. The policy has not yet been decided, and everyone is waiting and watching. ”

"I know that the cultivated land outside the city is definitely profitable. If you have the opportunity, buy it. But things other than cultivated land, such as sugar mills, sugarcane plants, sugar cane gardens, spice hills, etc., still have to wait for the policy to be finalized."

"But to be honest, we have no hope. Think about it, how can the princes, marquises, and governors not have relatives and friends? The policies are set by them. If it is to make money, where will it be our turn?"

"If they don't contract, no one will dare to do so; but if they do, if everyone wants to do so, they won't be able to do so. So, it's better to buy a piece of land and let your children and grandchildren learn the craft."

"Those who contracted the sugarcane industry back then suffered huge losses. There are still people who still owe Kapitan a large sum of money."

"Even according to the Great Order, the interest after doubling is not included, and the maximum repayment is double the principal and interest. If those people want to repay, they will have to sell all their belongings."

As Sun Tao said, this city is, after all, a city that arose due to commerce. Until the land reform in the surrounding areas and throughout West Java is completed, it will still have to revolve around business.

Without commerce, half of the people in the city would have nothing to eat. They are not necessarily all merchants. Those who drive carts for merchants, help receive goods, do accounting, manage warehouses, etc., all rely on commerce for their livelihood.

For a long time, the Dutch monopoly policy has made the city's business deformed.

Sugar can only be purchased by the company, spices can only be purchased by the company, and so can cotton, indigo, coffee, tobacco, etc.

Monopoly, monopoly, the East India Company makes money from this.

Take the simplest sugar as an example. The company collapsed and was driven away by Dashun. No one has a monopoly. But who can sell sugar to?

For more than a hundred years, no dealer came to Batavia to collect sugar.

If caught, at least twenty years of hard labor.

The company has its own sales channels, and the sales direction is mainly Persia and Europe. In places outside the company's sales channels, the market has been saturated for more than a hundred years.

Squeezing out sugar and selling it is also a big problem.

Many people can see that after Dashun occupied Batavia, it tried to restore Batavia's prosperity as much as possible. However, many policies have not been finalized, and the new decrees that have been issued are at most patchwork and relief, and have not touched the key points.

Especially for many people who used to rely on the East India Company for their livelihood, their attitude towards the Dashun replacing the East India Company is very clear: if it is the same as before, we support it; if it is different from the past, we certainly do not support it.

The Dutch rule in Southeast Asia is centered in Batavia, with many points densely distributed.

And the lines connecting these points with the rural areas of Java rely on the Chinese.

Many Chinese also eat this bowl of rice. For example, there are seven or eight villages here, and the tropical products of these seven or eight villages are contracted to a certain Chinese for exclusive operation.

That is, only he can come to these seven or eight villages to collect the goods. Others cannot come. If others come, they have their own companies to support them.

Many people in the city also do this. Now that the policy has not been finalized, they are very worried about their future lives.

So far, it has been two months.

It seems that Batavia has implemented a lot of new policies, and it is very lively, changing the city name, setting up offices, and providing relief.

But if you think about it carefully, it seems that there are no new policies.

Although some people have found jobs again, it seems that the court has driven away the Dutch, and there is no difference; but there are also a large number of people who are temporarily unemployed and don’t know what to do.

Should we continue to wait here for the court’s policy to come out, in case the area-based system is still implemented?

Or should we not wait, and think about other businesses as soon as possible, change careers, or even leave Batavia?

Some people have reported these things to Niu Er, the fake governor of the military town in Coconut City. Niu Er is also very anxious, and he also wants to decide the policy as soon as possible.

Niu Er asked Liu Yu about this, and Liu Yu meant that these things cannot be rushed.

Before Malacca is captured and the rest of the Dutch castles are completely taken over, the land reform policy should not be announced for the time being.

Once announced, it may cause some resistance. After dealing with Malacca, the expansion of the Guiyi Army and the increase of local garrisons will be announced again.

You can't rush this kind of thing.

As for trade policy, Liu Yu could only tell Niu Er that trade policy should not be rushed.

The East Asian market, and even the sugar market in northern Southeast Asia, has long been saturated. Taiwan has plenty of sugar. Batavia's sugar was originally sold to Persia and Europe. Even when European sugar was popular, it bought sugar from the coastal areas of Ming and Dashun.

Now it's said that there is no monopoly and sugar cane is purchased at will. Can small merchants sell it?

Can you open the door of Persia and blow up the customs of the Indian princely state?

In the past, all the Chinese sea merchants who came to Batavia for trade had no ability to cross the Malacca Strait.

This has nothing to do with farming nations or maritime nations.

This has to do with the capital gathering into a monopoly trading company with an army, a regime, and a fleet to deal with those small private retail investors.

Even if they are full of martial virtues and born in the sea, it is useless. How can small retail investors fight against a world-class super-large multinational monopoly enterprise with a market value of hundreds of millions of silver shields?

Can they let you, a small retail investor, eat their market?

As for the market west of Malacca that the company did not occupy, how can you, a small retail investor, occupy the market that such a large company could not occupy?

The maritime merchants of Dashun were already fierce enough. When the isolation of the country intensified, they forced their way into the Shimonoseki Strait to smuggle. But being fierce is useless. Without an advanced organizational form, the loose forces can only be smashed to pieces by bombardment. The joint-stock monopoly company is indeed a very advanced organizational form at this time.

Although Liu Yu shouted about free trade all day long, he actually absolutely supported the establishment of a monopoly company at this time.

If you don't set up a monopoly company, it means giving money to the East India Company of various countries. Free trade is a world system. It must be the strongest handicraft power with a fleet that goes around to settle disputes, knocking on the doors of various countries one by one. One country cannot achieve free trade.

Spices, indigo, sugar, cotton... I'm afraid that these will continue the pricing policy and specialize in acquisition. But be careful not to exhaust all resources, and do not consider profits when setting prices. This requires the court to have absolute control over this monopoly company.

In two months, Java's major policies have not been finalized, and it is precisely because of the above reasons.

First, whether to acquire or not depends on the treaty reached with the Dutch and whether the East India Company can be reorganized.

Second, the court must have absolute control over the monopoly company, and raising shares may be a problem. Will investors be skeptical? Moreover, excessive military obligations and the complete return of decision-making power to the court will make investors less enthusiastic.

Although they knew there would be such problems, they had to do so. Because if they followed the Dutch model and established an uncontrolled East India Company, once capital was out of control, it would be almost inevitable to exhaust the resources. A large-scale uprising may break out within ten years.

Dashun wanted to try a new model that was different from the East India Company in Western Europe and the previous official monopoly in the West.

This itself was difficult.

Batavia's new policy can only be patched up in the form of "changing the city name" and "relief for the unemployed".

Because Batavia's new policy is related to the Netherlands tens of thousands of miles away, the court thousands of miles away, and the wealthy merchants who moved to Songjiang Prefecture.

The only thing that has nothing to do with Batavia.

So far, Batavia's new policy has no policy, only traces of the court's arrival.