Uncle Lai in the Red Chamber

Chapter 281 Conversation over the wine table (continued)

After a series of tremors, Xue Biao finally had a new understanding of Lai Shangrong. His shoulders lowered lower and his mind focused on listening to Lai Shangrong's words.

He is not Xue Pan. His many years of experience in doing business with his father have made him mature, but also a little more philistine than he should be at this age.

This is not a bad habit. When facing people with a huge gap in status, still pretending to be polite is not noble, but stupid.

In fact, everyone in the Xue family, including Aunt Xue, Baochai and others, all have this problem. Xue Pan is considered an anomaly in the family.

After three or two glasses of water and wine, the topics I looked for were incompatible with Jia Lian and Xue Biao.

"Brother Lai! Since our firearms are more than a little bit better than Xiyi's, why don't we do it?"

"Do you think the war is just a joke? As the saying goes, the troops and horses have to go before the food and grass are used. The imperial court has not made sufficient preparations. How can it start the war lightly?

Moreover, the Western Yi countries have occupied several island countries in the southeast, and Daxia does not have a strong navy. How can we conquer them? "

Xue Biao said: "What Brother Lai said is that I have been to several coastal ports with my father. Most of the Western Yi people are half merchants and half pirates, and their ships are strong and cannons."

Lai Shangrong sighed: "The previous dynasty's false surrender to Wang Zhi was a big failure. If he could use it for his own purposes, there would be no chance for the Western barbarians to show off their evil along the southeast coast."

These words are not false. Whether it is Wang Zhi of the Ming Dynasty or the Zheng family of the Qing Dynasty, when they were entrenched in the outer sea, even Spain, the Netherlands and other countries in their heyday never took advantage of them.

"Isn't it just a boat? Don't we have too few boats in Daxia? At worst, we can just build bigger ones!"

Seeing that Xue Pan was getting more and more ridiculous, Xue Biao hurriedly said: "Brother, I don't know something. This sea boat is different from the boats we usually run in the river."

"What's the difference? Aren't they all running in the water?"

Lai Shangrong slapped Xue Pan on the back of the head.

"How high can the waves in the river be? If a boat in the river goes to the sea, if a wave hits it, it will be destroyed or capsized."

"Then let's build bigger ships. Those Westerners can build them, but we can't?"

"Of course we have to build, but now is not the time."

"Why isn't it the right time? Can't we build a sea-going ship?"

The Great Xia Dynasty relied on the natural dangers of the Yangtze River to resist the barbarians in the north and was able to establish its country. Therefore, the blueprints of the Guangzhou ships used by the previous dynasty Zheng He during his voyages to the West are still preserved.

It's just that industrialization is the most rare thing. In addition to technical drawings and workers, the Great Xia Dynasty has already experienced faults in this regard.

After all, Lai Shangrong came through time and had his eyes opened. Instead of groping on the old road, it would be better to change the track directly.

He planned to skip wooden sea ships and build ironclads directly.

Of course, this must complete a series of prerequisites such as steelmaking, welding, painting, etc. before it can be implemented.

However, he did not intend to explain this to Xue Pan and others.

He said perfunctorily: "The State-owned Department has only just started two years ago, and the treasury is still empty. Besides, after the ship is built, it is still necessary to recruit the navy, equip it with artillery, train, etc. Where can we get so much money!"

Seeing that the topic always revolved around this aspect, Jia Lian hurriedly interrupted: "Since Shang Rong said that the court was short of money, why didn't Shang Rong expand trade with Xiyi this time? I have silk, porcelain, tea and other items in Daxia. , it is very popular in Xiyi."

Regarding this issue, Lai Shangrong has several considerations.

On the one hand, it is the stability of domestic prices, which is easier to understand. If silk, porcelain, etc. are all used for export, the country will inevitably face a situation in which supply exceeds demand.

Another aspect is the financial aspect. Although the Daxia Dynasty was vast and rich in resources, mineral resources of silver and gold have always been scarce. This is also the reason why most dynasties in history used copper coins as their main currency.How can a sovereign country tolerate being unable to produce its own currency?
In fact, this was one of the reasons why the Qing government in the previous life banned the sea.

It was also the main reason why later beautiful countries disintegrated the Bretton Woods system and no longer linked the U.S. dollar to gold, because at that time a huge yellow mine was discovered in South Africa.

With the expansion of trade, a large amount of silver will inevitably flow in. Not to mention inflation, there is no doubt that the Western barbarians are plundering the labor force of Daxia.

Lai Shangrong also knew that as the production of silver gradually expanded, it would shift from the silver standard to the gold standard in the future, which would inevitably lead to a second plunder.

He doesn't want to make the same mistakes again, so limits and restraints are necessary.

Economic problems can never be solved by economics alone. This is very obvious to him who has done foreign trade in his previous life.

Lai Shangrong sneered and said: "Brother Lian, do you think that as long as you can make more money, it is a profitable business?"

When he asked this question, the three of them were stunned.

However, Jia Lian and Xue Biao would not refute him face to face even if Lai Shangrong called a deer a horse.

Xue Pan asked doubtfully: "Isn't making money a profitable business?"

Different positions mean different perspectives on the problem. For individuals, it is indeed a profitable business, but Lai Shangrong doesn't want to explain to them. He just wants to pretend.

So he asked: "Then let me ask you, if the silk trade is expanded, what will happen to our domestic silk in Daxia?"

"Increase the price!" Xue Biao, who had business experience after all, responded quickly.

"Yes, the price will increase. Then the silk that originally cost 50 taels per bolt will become 100 taels per bolt. Unless you specialize in the silk business, what's the point of it to you?"

Also because of the different positions, the silks sitting here are all necessities of life, so when Lai Shangrong gave examples like this, they felt particularly involved.

Although it was a bit over-generalized and did not describe the chain reaction, it did not prevent them from being questioned.

Xue Pan couldn't understand. Xue Pan was thoughtful, but didn't dare to question.

Jia Lian said in disbelief: "But isn't Xiyi afraid of being robbed of his money?"

"How do you know that you can pay it all? If you really pay it off, will the silver in Daxia in the future still be the silver it is now? I'm afraid it is worth less than copper coins. Money is just a currency, what is its value?"

This kind of problem is obviously too big for the three of them.

Lai Shangrong wouldn't explain it to them in detail, he just pretended to be enough.

"After all, you don't have enough position, so it's normal for you not to consider the problem comprehensively. Not to mention you, not even the Dukes in the court can think it through!"

After making a powerful concluding speech, he began to talk about the world structure, customs and customs.

After all, Xue Pan and Jia Lian had no experience in dealing with Xiyi, so they didn't think anything of it.

However, when Xue Biao was doing business with his father, he had many interactions with the Xiyi people. The more he heard about Lai Shangrong's knowledge, the more he admired him.

I am also becoming more and more convinced that those who did not understand before are just their own shallow knowledge.

Of course, this is also true.

(End of this chapter)