Lord Moyu was forced to open

The third day of the sixth month in the ninth year of Xingwu.

It has been more than half a year since Crown Prince Zhao Jian took part in government affairs. The opinions of the government and the public on the Crown Prince...

Well... for a child, it is a good behavior if he does not make trouble in the court.

The entire Song Dynasty was also developing prosperously.

Thanks to the support of the imperial court, maritime trade on the southeast coast became increasingly prosperous. In addition to the two routes to Japan and Southeast Asia, some merchants even crossed the East China Sea directly to try to find new routes.

As we all know, opening up a new route is not easy.

It takes the continued dedication of countless people to have a glimmer of hope.

Driven by the Southeastern merchants' desire for silver and continuous investment, a new shipping route was finally successfully opened!

A new world that has never been seen before everyone's eyes!
The blond-haired and blue-eyed barbarians, various architectural styles that were completely different from the Song Dynasty, and exotic customs were quickly introduced into the Song Dynasty along with the prosperity of the shipping routes, and set off a new trend in the Song Dynasty.

The barbarians on the other side, that is, Europe where the British were, also became aware of the existence of the Song Dynasty through the new shipping routes.

The exchanges between the two sides began to become close, and Great Britain was the first to trade with the Song Dynasty.

Various goods from foreign countries were shipped to the Song Dynasty. At the same time, the Song Dynasty's tea, porcelain, silk, sugar and other goods were continuously sold to Europe in exchange for shiploads of exotic goods or gold and silver.

Sea routes are becoming increasingly prosperous.

However, European countries suddenly discovered that they were actually suffering losses in trade with the Song Dynasty!

The main reason was that the Song Dynasty did not have a strong demand for their country's goods.

Although there were purchases, they were not many.

However, the products of the Song Dynasty were extremely necessary for them.

Among them, white sugar and tea are sought after throughout Europe.

If any of the upper-class nobles in Europe did not have a set of porcelain from the East, a can of black tea from the East to entertain guests, or a set of gorgeous silk clothes, they would be laughed at by other nobles and be considered country folk.

The popularity among the nobles quickly led to a situation in which Song Dynasty goods were in short supply in Europe.

The goods of the Song Dynasty were once as valuable as gold.

However, the demand for each other's goods between Europe and the Song Dynasty has become a serious problem.

That is, the gold and silver that the Europeans had painstakingly plundered from colonies around the world began to flow into the Song Dynasty in large quantities.

In the eighth year of Xingwu alone, the amount of silver flowing into the Song Dynasty from the East China Sea route reached 100 million taels!

There were as much as five million taels of gold.

The huge trade deficit immediately made European countries alert.

At this time, the Golden Palace of Great Britain in Europe.

Royal families from various European countries sent representatives to attend the meeting.

Sitting at the top is today's host, Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain - Victoria I.

"Your Majesty, I salute you on behalf of His Majesty the Emperor of France and Spain!"

"Your Majesty, I salute you on behalf of His Majesty the Emperor of Shinra!"

……

Representatives from various countries saluted Elizabeth-Victoria, who was sitting at the top, and Elizabeth-Victoria nodded slightly in response.

After everyone finished their greetings, Elizabeth looked at everyone and said, “Everyone is here today because of the trade issues between us and the Song Kingdom.

Since we started trading with Song, we European countries have gained a lot, but it also brought a problem. Our gold and silver began to flow into Song. Everyone knows how hard it is to get these gold and silver in our hands. For example, Great Britain originally had a gold reserve of about 10 million taels, but after half a year of trading with Song, Great Britain's gold reserves have dropped to 8 million taels!
But what we got in return were only consumables such as tea, sugar and silk, which are of no use in enhancing the national strength of Great Britain.

I think this situation is the same for everyone, right? "

After Elizabeth finished speaking, representatives from other countries nodded in agreement. The representative of France and Spain even stood up and said, "Not only has our gold reserves in France and Spain decreased by two million, but the people have also decreased by a full ten million!

It takes us a whole year to collect one million gold and five million silver from the colonies!
In the end, all the money was taken away by Song State in just half a year. We all felt like we were working for Song State!"

As soon as Fassi's words came out, they immediately resonated with others, and they all came forward to give examples.

In an instant, the scene became a crusade against the State of Song, with everyone accusing the State of Song of taking away their gold and silver.

Seeing that everyone was talking excitedly, Elizabeth waited for about half an hour before she coughed twice to interrupt their heated accusations.

After everyone looked over, Elizabeth said:
"The reason why we are all gathered here today is to change this situation. We must not allow this situation to continue. Otherwise, sooner or later, all the business we earn will become the Song State, and we will only get some temporary consumables that can make people happy."

"Your Majesty is right!"

"Agree!"

"We can't go on like this!"

Representatives from all countries present voted in favor.

Elizabeth became more confident when she saw this, and said to everyone: “In order to reverse this trade deficit, we must counter the goods of Song.

Since we cannot change the popularity of Song's products in our country.

Then we will impose heavy taxes on these goods.

Use the method of collecting taxes to make money from the State of Song, and take our money back!

What do you think? "

When everyone heard this, it was as if they had suddenly realized something. Yes! This is also possible!
At this time, the representative of Portugal suddenly said: "What if Song State disagrees?
If they also impose heavy taxes on our goods, wouldn’t that be shooting themselves in the foot?”

Elizabeth said, "That's just fine! At worst we won't trade with them!"

Elizabeth had already regretted her decision. She had originally wanted to trade with the Song Dynasty to earn gold and silver and improve her country's national strength.

But the reality was that all their gold and silver were earned by the Song Dynasty, and instead they bought a bunch of useless things.

They can’t be considered useless, they are just a bunch of luxury items that allow nobles to show off their status.

But the tea and sugar are really good.

Upon hearing this, representatives from many countries fell silent.

They have no objection to raising tariffs.

However, they did not dare to make the decision to stop trading with the Song Dynasty.

Nowadays, Volkswagen's products are welcomed and sought after by the entire European aristocracy.

If they proposed not to trade with the Song Dynasty, they would undoubtedly offend the nobles of their own country, and when they returned, they would not be alive.

So everyone fell silent tacitly, and no one dared to express their support.

This made Elizabeth freeze in place.

Somewhat stunned.

...(End of chapter)