Back to the end of Ming Dynasty to be a warlord

Chapter 365 Trade War

It is Yang Chao's sole purpose to attack the Japanese porcelain industry.

Exporting a large amount of their favorite Chinese porcelain to Japan is obviously a powerful means.

The reason why Jingdezhen is able to occupy the status of porcelain capital in the world, not to mention Japan and other countries, is not comparable to other places in China. In terms of history, I am afraid that some kilns in the north are older than Jingdezhen, but Jingdezhen can always stand. The only reason other places of origin of porcelain are lost in history is the porcelain clay in Jingdezhen, they occupy too good conditions.

There is no other place in the whole world where high-quality porcelain clay is so dense and located on the surface that it can be mined for thousands of years without being exhausted. Such conditions make Jingdezhen porcelain not only of high quality, but also of low price.

If Yang Chao only used twice the market price to supply large-scale supplies to Zheng's, then Zheng's would be able to sell Chinese porcelain all over Japan, leaving Japan's porcelain industry with no way out.

But it is definitely not enough, we must do both.

"But you Zheng have to promise me one condition!"

Yang Chao said immediately.

Zheng Hongkui said: "Uncle Yang, please tell me."

Yang Chao laughed and said, "Cut off the supply of porcelain clay to the Dutch."

Zheng Hongkui didn't think about it: "Deal!"

With the benefit of Yang Chao's unlimited supply of Jingdezhen porcelain, the profit of supplying a little porcelain clay to the Dutch seems insignificant.

Jingdezhen has a direct waterway to Panyang Lake, and together with the Jiujiang River, it enters the Yangtze River. It is very convenient to transport porcelain by water conservancy, and the price is more than double that of Fujian by land. Therefore, although Fujian is connected to the southeast of Jiangxi, the Zheng family still obtains porcelain from the Yangtze River. It's easier, otherwise they don't have to rely on Dehua porcelain.

As long as Zheng can cut off the supply of porcelain clay to the Dutch from Fujian and other places, and Yang Chao is absolutely impossible to supply the Dutch with porcelain clay, then there is absolutely no hope for Japanese porcelain kilns to obtain high-quality and low-priced raw materials, relying solely on the porcelain mined in Japan , probably just like from the Song Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty, even their own people are not happy to use Japanese porcelain.

"Hehe, Uncle, the Japanese also produce silk!"

Zheng Hongkui said to Yang Chao with a smile.

Yang Chao sighed: "Zheng Bing, you are too greedy."

Zheng Hongkui is very smart, and it is easy to guess that Yang Chao wants to strangle Japan's porcelain industry. Japan imports two major goods from China, porcelain and raw silk. Porcelain is because Japan's porcelain clay and skills are not good, and raw silk is even more so. The quality of raw silk in the world The best place is Huzhou. Not to mention the Japanese, even other places in China and Suzhou can’t compare to Huzhou’s silk.

That is a natural reason, where the water, soil and climate are suitable for the growth of silkworms, other places in the world are just not as good.

"Japan has raw silk. You probably don't know it. Europe also has silkworms."

Yang Chao laughed.

After Marco Polo, Italy first started planting mulberry and raising silkworms. Mulberry tree is an ancient tree species. There are also mulberry forests in Europe. However, since the Han Dynasty, the Han Dynasty kept the silkworm seeds very secret. Taking silkworm eggs is a crime of beheading. Many European businessmen lost their heads because of this, but the silk trade is so profitable. They did not hesitate to cross the desert Gobi in the Western Regions to China. Naturally, they were not afraid of taking risks, and finally they stole it. .

However, the quality of silk in Europe is not good. Neither Italy, which is the first to advance, nor the French, who is a rising star, have cultivated excellent silkworm eggs to adapt to the European climate. class consumption.

Zheng Hongkui smiled, apparently he knew the news, and when it comes to understanding the West, Zheng's is well-deserved number one.

"However, I can lower the price of silk first. Just follow the price of porcelain. The price of ordinary porcelain and ordinary raw silk can be reduced, but the price of good porcelain from Husi and Jingdezhen should be doubled. The Zheng family will not Have an opinion."

Zheng Hongkui frowned slightly, thought about it, and nodded in agreement.

The production of lake silk is not high, so the export is small, because China does not have enough supply, so there is no need to worry about sales, but the export is obviously more profitable, so some people smuggle it.

Moreover, lake silk is the same as high-end porcelain, even if it is exported to Japan and Europe, it is not for ordinary people, even the middle class cannot afford it, but for the rich and powerful, the price is not very sensitive, just double the price Even they are willing to accept it, aristocrats, what kind of aristocrats can't afford money.

After some discussions, Yang Chao and the Zheng family reached a series of trade wars against Ming's competitors. The quality of ordinary and cheap raw silk is similar to or slightly higher than that of Japan's local silk, so the supply will be released and the price advantage will be used. Apparently the silkworm farmers in Japan went bankrupt.The supply of low-grade silk was also opened up, making it impossible for a large number of weavers to survive.It is estimated that after a few years, only those workers who can weave the most exquisite silk with lake silk will be left in Japan. Even for these workers, Yang Chao does not think that they will have an advantage over those weavers in Nanjing who can weave brocade. Once the price of high-grade silk is lowered, the Japanese can say goodbye to the silk industry.

As for Europe, it won’t be successful in 100 years, but Yang Chao still decides to export a large amount of low-end silk to Europe, suppressing the budding silkworm industry in Europe, so that they will give up this industry before they have the opportunity to cultivate their own silkworm varieties .

But Yang Chao's income will definitely be greatly affected.

Zheng used to buy 100 million taels of goods from Jiangnan every year, and sold them to Japan worth more than 500 million. If the supply is opened up, it can double the limit. There are too many, and the Japanese can’t afford it. big financial resources.

The Zheng family is rich, and Zheng Zhilong has more than 20 mu of land in Anping, but because Zheng Zhilong, a worthless guy, invested too much money from the sea trade in assets such as land, he could mobilize The amount of funds is greatly affected.

If it were Yang Chao, he would definitely invest his capital in the most profitable industry. He must have worked hard to build ships and recruit sailors. He would have driven the Dutch out of the East long ago and monopolized the entire Eastern trade.

In fact, the status of the Zheng family was not established for a long time. Basically, it started after Zheng Zhilong was appeased by the imperial court, but he also annoyed a large number of pirates by taking refuge in the imperial court, and pushed the Zheng family to the opposite of the pirate group. Let's deal with Zheng Zhilong. Although Zheng Zhilong's group is the largest wave of pirates, it has no dominance. When other pirate groups unite, Zheng Zhilong really can't beat them. Moreover, the Dutch also joined the anti-Zheng alliance. At the beginning, Zheng Zhilong repeatedly fought and failed. .

But Zheng Zhilong's strength lies in his vision. He stands unswervingly on the side of the imperial court. When the ships are wiped out by the imperial court, and the people are exhausted, he recruits again, and finally wipes out the other pirate groups one by one, and finally establishes the fighting spirit of the sea hegemony. Luowan Naval Battle, that year was the eighth year of Chongzhen, and the last competitor, the Dutch, succumbed after that war.

However, the Zheng family was unable to eliminate the Dutch. After the Dutch agreed to pay protection fees in accordance with the rules (called pumping water in jargon), the Zheng family ceased fighting with the Dutch.

This year is the 17th year of Chongzhen. The Zheng family really monopolized the sea trade for only ten years. Zheng Zhilong does have tens of millions of wealth, but the value of more than 20 mu of fertile land in Fujian, where there are few people and a lot of land, is worth more than five or six million. After the profits are turned into land, the Zheng family can only use 600 to 300 million capital for turnover every year.

Under Yang Chao's promise of unlimited supply, the Zheng family only purchased 500 million taels a year, and there was really no way to get more.

However, after this large-scale price reduction, the Zheng family can probably buy goods with a market price of 500 million taels for 200 million taels of silver, and Yang Chao only took away 300 million taels, which is a great benefit to the Zheng family. 1000 taels, their profit can rise to 700 million.

Originally, the 500 million taels could only buy goods with a market price of 100 million taels from Yang Chao, but Yang Chao took away 400 million taels, and this price cut lost 100 million taels of silver.

But Yang Chao is willing to pay the price to hit Japan's silkworm and porcelain industries.

Anyway, Yang Chao still has the profits of the shipping industry. Although it is not as profitable as the sea trade, but now the Yangtze River trade is more and more monopolized by Yang Chao. One million taels a year is not a problem. With an income of 100 million, he can barely support 400 The army is here.

When it is time to expand the army a few years later, I believe that Japan's silkworm and porcelain industries have basically closed down. China monopolizes these two industries, and it is up to them to decide how much they want to raise prices.

"I have given the Zheng family such a great benefit, shouldn't the Zheng family also give me some benefits?"

Although the agreement reached with the Zheng family was a win-win situation, no matter how you look at it, Yang Chao lost 100 million taels, and the Zheng family obviously took advantage.

Zheng Hongkui is also a happy person: "Master Yang, tell me, what do you want the Zheng family to do?"

Yang Chao smiled and said, "I heard that the craftsmen of the Zheng family can imitate the red-haired plywood boat?"

Zheng Hongkui nodded and laughed: "The Zheng family sent a craftsman to help Mr. Yang build a boat."

The so-called plywood ship is a Western ship. Because it has a layer of decks, it is called a plywood ship. Cannons are arranged on each deck, so its firepower is stronger than traditional Chinese ships. It is safer to be a merchant ship with a watertight cabin design in China, but It is obviously more suitable to be a western ship as a warship.

Zheng Zhilong fought against the Dutch many times, and often suffered from firepower. The Dutch East India Company only had a total of about a hundred armed merchant ships, and only forty pure warships, and they were distributed on the long route from the Netherlands to Asia. , but it can make the Zheng family have nothing to do with them, which already shows the superiority of their warships.

Therefore, Zheng Zhilong has long started to imitate western warships and has the ability to manufacture plywood ships. However, due to the limitation of artillery casting level, the number of cannons on the Zheng family's warships is still not as good as that of the Dutch. Only ten doors.

Yang Chao drove a warship into the Longjiang Shipyard, hoping that Yao Jiangtou would imitate a large number of them, but Yao Jiangtou's progress is very slow now, because the ship type is too different from your Chinese ship, and he needs time to digest some of them. With the guidance of Zheng Zhilong's craftsmen for different technologies, I believe that Longjiang Shipyard will soon master the technology of manufacturing Western warships.

"Then leave it to Mr. Zheng!"

Yang Chao thanked Zheng Hongkui and toasted him with a glass of wine.

(End of this chapter)