Back to Ming Dynasty with Industrial Revolution System

Chapter 1203 Tea Trade with Britain

"Britain is not as peaceful as it appears on the surface. Their king has imposed various taxes in recent years, such as knight tax, forest tax, and ship tax. Complaints about it."

"Before we returned to the mainland from Britain, there were gentry and nobles who were summoned to court by the king for refusing to pay the ship tax. The king lacked strong control over the kingdom. From a small point of view, there may be a war brewing in Britain. turmoil."

"In addition to Britain, a kingdom called France in the Western Ocean declared war on the most powerful Spanish Empire. The two sides fought on multiple fronts in the Mediterranean Sea and the European continent. The Netherlands stood on the side of France, while the Papal States and the Spanish Empire Join hands. Fortunately, we are in Britain, which is a neutral country, and the wars in continental Europe and the Mediterranean did not cause us much loss."

"The only loss was that a merchant ship was severely damaged by a Spanish privateer in a sea area called Dunkirk when it was planning to go to the Bordeaux region of France to purchase wine. Fortunately, it was rescued by a passing Dutch warship. "

The director of the Western company was recruited by Chu Yun and introduced to Chu Yun what he had seen and heard in Western.

Hampton, a squire in Buckinghamshire, resisted taxes, and France personally intervened in the Thirty Years War.Chu Yun has a slight impression of these events, and it seems that there has not been a major deflection in history.

Most of the influence brought by Chu Yun occurred in the Eastern Hemisphere, and the Spice Islands were also contested, but they did not pose a major threat to European countries focused on the 30-year war.

"The Spaniards won't be able to jump on the privateers for many years." Chu Yun didn't want to fully intervene in the affairs of Europe.

The Thirty Years War has only been going on for 30 years, and if he doesn't intervene, it will last at least another ten years.

I quietly develop technology in the East, and then watch the European countries fight for another ten years. After the war in the European countries, I look back and see that the East has already had a lot of generational differences with them. Wouldn't it be flattering?

And war is the best time to infiltrate...

"Have the factories started?" Chu Yun asked.

"Yes, when I left the city of London, two textile factories, a sugar factory, and a smelting factory were all in operation. Presumably, the products produced by this time had already been exported to Western countries. In addition to the four factories, we also We rented a better location in the city of London to sell the goods we brought and produced." The director who returned confidently assured Chu Yun.

"Since the factory has been opened, it seems that you have completed the task quite well, and Western companies can get rich within ten years." Chu Yun couldn't help being satisfied when he heard that businessmen opened up their territory in another form in the city of London. .

"The tea we transported to the local area is very popular with the local nobles. A pound of tea is even worth several pounds. The only pity is that the land and sea are far away. The humidity on the sea makes the tea in our merchant ships ferment and deteriorate, losing its true taste. So the Britons added milk, sugar, and lemon to the tea to make the tea look different." The director also talked about his strange experience in the local area.

But Chu Yun has long been accustomed to the strangeness. Isn't this just milk tea and lemon tea?
"You can't think like this. If you want to spread our culture, you can't force the other party to be exactly the same as us, otherwise it will only make people disgusted. Products that can really meet people's needs are profitable products. Although they put them in tea Other condiments are added, but the essence is still drinking tea, that is, our tea culture has gone out. As long as more and more people adapt to this culture, then we can get a lot of profits from the tea trade every year " Chu Yun didn't think much of the British people's magical reform of tea.

Is it possible to force them to drink tea whose taste has been affected by seawater?If that is the case, maybe Europe will dislike tea and look for other beverages as a substitute - coffee.

Before coffee is popularized in Europe, first confirm the dominance of tea in the European beverage industry.

"If we want as many Westerners as possible to drink tea, we need to send more tea to Britain. Now a pound of tea can still be worth a few pounds, mainly because the supply is small. According to their units of measurement, we This time, we brought 40000 pounds of tea. If the amount is increased tenfold, the price of a pound of tea may drop to only a few shillings, and our profit will drop.” The director said worriedly.

For merchants, it does not mean that the more commodities they sell, the more profits they will make. Especially under the premise of monopolizing the tea trade, the price of the quantity of commodities sold must also be considered.

The more commodities are supplied, the lower the prices will be. When there is a surplus of products, merchants will even take the initiative to destroy the products to maintain the prices of the products.

Chu Yun knew the reason, but he shook his head: "It's good to control the price, but it's still far from that time. 40000 pounds of tea leaves are a drop in the bucket for Britain, not to mention the whole West. When tea becomes After Britain’s national drink, the market really started to rise at that time, and I’m afraid 400 million pounds of tea would not be enough.”

Chu Yun from later generations knew that when the British people were craziest about tea, the per capita consumption of tea could reach 2 pounds per year.If it is a market of 500 million people, then this is a market of 1000 million pounds of tea.

The price is reduced by ten times, and the market is expanded by one hundred times. Such a transaction must be sure to make a profit without losing money.After all, tea is not considered a rare product. It can be produced in large quantities in China, and it can even be cultivated in India.

"It's hard for a villain to predict whether the local commoners will be willing to buy tea. After all, only their nobles and businessmen can afford tea." The director hesitated.

He doesn't have the vision of Chu Yun's future generations, and he can confirm that the middle and lower class Europeans will also buy it.

"Don't worry, as long as the price drops to a level that they can afford, they will be willing to buy it." Chu Yun said.

"Why is that?" asked the director, puzzled.

"It's not because tea is so delicious to them. But there are two reasons - for their nobles, tea is our oriental specialty and synonymous with fashion, so they are naturally willing to pay high prices. And for commoners , malt wine is expensive, and milk can’t afford it. The only beverage that can soften dry bread for them is tea. Besides, this tea can also be divided into three or six grades, and sold to the nobles at a high price. Better tea, a little less The tea is sold cheaply to the common people, and they will pay for face or needs, can’t we make money from the two groups?” Chu Yun encouraged these businessmen to vigorously export tea culture to the West.

(End of this chapter)