Wanli 1592

Chapter 1339

And all this is undoubtedly what France and Genoa want to see.

Of course they hope that Spain, which dominates Europe and is rampant, will be severely deflated and decline.

Although merchant ships from China need to pass through areas controlled by Spain to reach France and Genoa, there is no need for Chinese merchants to worry about it. The warm-hearted Genoese and French have joined forces to help China solve this problem.

Through economic pressure and military pressure, as well as the actual needs of the upper class in Europe, and even threats from the church, the Spaniards did not dare to make a move.

But after that, the Chinese fever that swept across Europe also stimulated the upper class people in the Spanish Empire. Because the Chinese refused to trade with the Spaniards, the Spaniards could not directly get Chinese goods. After the pressure on the government was finally ineffective, They had to seek cooperation with Genoa.

France will not cooperate with them, but Genoa may not. Under the temptation of high economic benefits, some Genoese businessmen allow Spanish caravans to do business with China as Genoese, but Genoese have to draw a certain amount from it. Benefit.

As a result, although some people in Spain have made money, the ensuing increase in costs has also made it more expensive for Spaniards to obtain Chinese goods.

However, Philip III's pursuit of Chinese goods and Chinese-style life was even more serious than that of Henry IV. When he learned that only the top nobles could enjoy Chinese-style life, Philip III, who was keen on enjoying it, Strongly demand that Lemar's ruling group satisfy his desire for enjoyment.

The Duke of Lemar had to find ways to satisfy Philip III's desire to ensure his power. Due to the Chinese's stubborn view of Spain's hostility, the process for the Duke of Lemar to obtain Chinese goods was extremely difficult, and the cost far exceeded that of the Genoese and France. people.

This has added a great burden to the already difficult Spanish finances.

But in the fourth year of Longwu, a Chinese businessman mysteriously came to Madrid, the capital of Spain, with the help of a missionary, found Duke Lemar, and promised to help the Spaniards get what they needed at a cheaper price than Genoa. of Chinese goods.

Duke Lemar was very happy with the news, but he didn't believe that the Chinese businessman could do this. The Chinese businessman immediately sent a hundred catties of tea and a hundred pieces of porcelain as a meeting gift.

Seeing these things, Duke Lemar was elated and immediately expressed his willingness to cooperate with the Chinese businessman.

The method provided by Chinese businessmen is to go through the channel of Myanmar, saying that Myanmar is a territory newly controlled by China, and the Chinese government’s control over Myanmar is not as strong as that of the mainland, so Myanmar’s Yangon port can be used for this kind of smuggling.

He said that by letting the Spanish ship go to the port of Yangon, he will help the Spaniards get Chinese goods at the port of Yangon. Of course, the price will not be like that of the French and Genoese.

Later, at the end of the fourth year of Longwu, a Spanish merchant fleet came to the port of Yangon, Myanmar, where they got the goods they dreamed of, and paid a lot of gold and silver for the goods.

After the goods left, the merchant turned around and loaded the gold and silver on a ship, headed for Tianjin, and delivered the gold and silver to the emperor's treasury in Beijing at the beginning of the fifth year of Longwu.

Xiao Ruxun would not let go of this opportunity to make a lot of money in a reasonable way. Instead of handing over this opportunity to the French and Genoese, why didn't he grasp it himself?

Having mastered power and become a policy maker, Xiao Ruxun has a sharper sense of smell and news channels than any businessman, because he is the news itself.

In this way, during the continuous economic blockade against Spain, Xiao Ruxun obtained a large amount of extra money through this kind of secret smuggling.

In order to occupy more Spanish demand, he also used the power of Huangzhuang to expand the scale of smuggling, and snatched most of the profits of this smuggling industry from the Genoese.

The Genoese also discovered this matter later, and realized that there were other forces helping the Spaniards smuggle Chinese goods, but when they found out that the smugglers were the Chinese themselves, they were very annoyed and complained to the Chinese customs, that is, the Shibo Department. complaint.

The result, of course, was that there was no feedback. After many complaints to no avail, the Genoese realized that this might be the work of power inside China. Smashed teeth and swallowed in the stomach.

With the help of this smuggling route, Xiao Ruxun's internal funds were further enriched, and a dark line was established to communicate with the Spanish rulers, and he learned a lot of useful information.

Through this series of actions, by the end of the fifth year of Longwu, Chinese goods had appeared in most parts of the entire European continent, including France, Spain, England, and the Holy Roman Empire, opening up many markets that had never been opened before, and earning a lot of money. The amount of foreign exchange obtained is far beyond imagination.

In the five years and one year of Longwu, 510 and seven merchant ships from China arrived in Europe to do business, making money directly, and opened four more stores in Paris and Genoa, expanding the business scope and quantity, and increasing the stable supply volume .

The huge profits and taxes generated by foreign trade greatly filled the treasury of Daqin, and the treasury revenue of Longwu in four years reached the sum of the eight years before Wanli.

Longwu's treasury revenue for five years and one year is being counted, and according to the forecast, it is estimated that it can reach the total treasury revenue of about 15 years in Wanli year, which is not counted as Xiao Ruxun's internal money income.

During the Wanli period, the maritime trade in the southeast was still prosperous, but few of the huge profits generated fell into the mouth of the treasury. Basically, they were eaten by the local gentry, and the treasury was empty enough to run a horse.

But now that the local gentry no longer exists, the commercial progressive tax rate law is officially implemented, and the direct income brought by the official merchant ships organized by Xiao Ruxun’s Huangzhuang organization and the Ministry of Finance is removed. click tongue.

Officials of the Ministry of Finance are dubbed by officials of other departments as "counting money every day until the hand cramps".

The unprecedented abundant income gave Xiao Ruxun great confidence, and gave him sufficient financial support to promote land reform, construction of education and roads, extermination of locusts and pests. These actions went very smoothly, and the three southeastern provinces The construction conditions have been fully met.

During this period, Xiao Ruxun set off a second wave of purges. The targets of the purges were businessmen who evaded taxes and officials who assisted them.

(End of this chapter)