Back to the end of Ming Dynasty to be a warlord

Chapter 438 Letter from Nassau (3)

"Dear Directors:

I have to say I'm pretty frustrated right now, I'm not making even the slightest bit of progress.I have to say that the Earl of China is very shrewd, but his attitude is too arrogant.This made me feel very uncomfortable.

The earl's attitude towards the requirements of the builder's station was very firm. It seemed that he was willing to trade with the company, but he did not want the company to get too close to his people.I don't know why, maybe it's some kind of bias, but I have to admit it did get me into a bit of a bind.

I have spent many days investigating the capital city of Nanking, an incomparable metropolis, with a population of more than a million, I guess, much larger than any great metropolis in Europe.The amount of goods entering and leaving here every day is astonishing. According to my estimation, the trade volume of grain trade alone exceeds 100 million dong every year, which is more than the sum of grain sent to the United Kingdom and Liberia from our country every year.

If it can cut into this trade, the prospect of the East India Company is immeasurable.So I decided that if I could not get free passage in the Chinese ports, I would ask the Earl for at least the privilege of cutting into the grain trade.

Here it goes, your João! "

After the first day of negotiations, Nassau reported the progress of the negotiations to the director of the East India Company with some frustration, and at the same time explained the reasons why he would change the negotiation method. Then he rested and was in no mood to write to his mistress. up.

Negotiations continued the next day, and Nassau finally relented on the issue of the cannonsmiths, and agreed to help hire a team of cannonsmiths with no more than ten people. They guaranteed the technical level of these people, but the related expenses had to be raised. pay.

In return, Yang Chao promised the East India Company to reduce the tariffs on silk and other textiles to 30.00%, but he was absolutely unwilling to reduce the tariffs on raw silk, a raw material, and monopoly products, such as porcelain.

The reason for not lowering raw silk is that Yang Chao hopes that Westerners can directly use Ming silk products. Ordinary satin and silk can be used as consumer goods for the middle class. High-end fabrics such as Yunjin and Songjin can be supplied to nobles. If raw silk is exported, It does not help to improve the industrial productivity of the Ming Dynasty.

As for porcelain, the [-]% tariff is all because of the purpose of combating Japanese porcelain production, otherwise Yang Chao may even raise it to [-]%.

Three times the tariff is enough to have a price advantage for Japanese porcelain. After all, Japan has always needed to import porcelain clay from Daming to produce porcelain. After the supply of porcelain clay to Japan was cut off, the cost of locally produced porcelain in Japan reached five times that of Daming porcelain. After two years of Zheng Zhilong's big dumping into the Japanese market, the Japanese porcelain industry was almost bankrupt. Now the Dutch have no choice but to import from Daming, so Yang Chao is determined not to give in.

But silk products are different. Exporting finished products can firstly promote the development of the textile industry, and secondly, allow a large number of workers to get jobs. The industrial revolution began with the textile industry because the textile industry is a labor-intensive industry. The development of this kind of industry will lead to the concentration of population, which will lead to urbanization, and urbanization will create new demand. The driving effect of marginal expansion is immeasurable, so Yang Chao would rather lose part of the tariff loss, and is willing to reduce the export tariff of silk fabrics.

For Nassau, the silk fabric technology of the Ming Dynasty has always been at the top of the world, and he could not get the promise of lowering the tariff on raw silk, and getting silk fabrics at a low price is nothing less than a reward, so he also accepted it, and used it to help hire cannons Artisans in exchange for reduced tariffs on silk.

But Nassau wanted the privilege of exporting grain to Daming. Yang Chao neither agreed nor refused, saying that this could be negotiated, but the East India Company had to come up with equal rights in exchange.

"I don't know what kind of support the Earl hopes the East India Company will provide?"

Nassau asked, the East India Company can provide limited help to the Eastern monarchs. In India, it is to protect those nobles who go to the holy places to worship, but China obviously does not need this kind of maritime force protection. Zheng Zhilong's flag is the pass to the China Sea.

"The colony of the East India Company, or what you call the stronghold, I need to obtain reciprocal trade with the East India Company."

Yang Chao said with a smile, took a sip of tea after speaking, and admired Nassau's extremely ugly expression with great interest.

The rule of the Dutch East India Company in the colonies can be described as extremely unethical. To put it bluntly, it used violence to cruelly control the aborigines in Southeast Asia. The aborigines could only produce spices in the way agreed by the Dutch, and finally sold the spices at the price set by the Dutch. After the islanders sold cardamom at a higher price to European merchants outside of Java and the Netherlands, all 800 residents on the island were killed by the Dutch, and more than [-] people were taken to Batavia as slaves.

Through this terrorist threat, the Dutch monopolized the spice trade and charged higher profit margins than the Portuguese and the British. Their spices sold to Europe could earn seven times the profit.

Although high-end porcelain and silk products sold to nobles had a higher profit margin, the spice trade was a commodity just like raw silk and cotton cloth, and getting seven times the profit was simply a hot-blooded trade.

Compared with the spice trade, cotton cloth with a profit margin of about 170%, and raw silk with a profit margin of more than 300%, obviously spices are the most important.

However, Yang Chao asked the Dutch to open up trade in the Spice Islands based on the principle of reciprocal business. It is no wonder that Nassau has changed color.

"Dear Lord Loyalty, the East India Company cannot agree to your request!"

Nassau gritted his teeth and refused. Even though it might cause the negotiation to break down, he couldn't agree to it, or even consider it. The trading status of spices, porcelain and raw silk pinched by the Chinese is not enough.

"Okay then. Since the East India Company is unwilling to accept my trade in the Spice Islands, I think you should understand how excessive your request to establish a stronghold in our country's coastal waters is."

Yang Chao sighed.

Nassau said: "This is entirely beneficial to both of us. The establishment of a trading house by the East India Company will not harm your interests."

Yang Chao said: "There is no room for negotiation on this issue. Let's talk about it today. The day the East India Company's cannon-casting craftsmen arrive, the silk tariff will be immediately reduced to 30.00%. As for the grain trade you mentioned, if the East India Company can promise me a The conditions are not impossible to discuss."

Nassau hurriedly said, "What conditions does the Earl have?"

Yang Chao said coldly: "Trade in tin is prohibited!"

Nassau was taken aback: "Please allow me to think about this."

The negotiation came to an end. Yang Chao was a tough opponent on the negotiation table, but after the negotiation ended, Yang Chao became the enthusiastic Earl of Daming. He asked people to invite Nassau to Jinchai Tower to appreciate Chinese art, and asked the tea art girl to give him Perform tea ceremony and so on.

Nassau is in a much better mood today. Although the main goal has not been fully achieved, the progress is still not small.

The reason why he was so depressed yesterday was not that he was not calm enough. On the contrary, he was an experienced manager, and his mentality should not fluctuate so violently. It was just that he paid too much attention to China. Now the East India Company’s most profitable trading house is the Japanese trading house. But everyone knows that China is a hundred times bigger than Japan, and Japan has the reputation of a country of silver, while the Ming Dynasty is known as a black hole of silver. If you can knock out a little bit of wealth in this black hole, it will be a huge profit. .

The so-called concern leads to chaos. Yang Chao's toughness yesterday made him see signs of a breakdown in the negotiations, so he was depressed.

But today, Yang Chao's attitude eased a little. At least he agreed to exchange cannon craftsmen for a reduction in the silk tax rate, and stated that he could accept the Dutch's entry into the grain trade. This is great news.

It's just that Nassau has something to think about.

"Dear Directors:

Things have made new progress. With my hard work, the earl promised to reduce the tariff on silk and various silk fabrics to 30.00%, but I had to represent the East India Company and agreed to recruit skilled cannon-casting craftsmen for the earl in the west. Thinking about this is not a difficult question for directors.

Another development is that the earl was relentless about the grain trade, but he made a very special request. He demanded that the tin trade be banned.The profit margin of the company's tin trafficking to Taiwan is 150%. If there is a loss, it is obviously a very painful loss for the company.But considering China's grain trade volume, there should be a great chance to make up for this loss, so I have to do a detailed assessment, if the assessment shows that grain trade can fully compensate for the loss of tin trade, and if there is a large surplus, I plan to Agree to the earl's request. "

Nassau wrote again to discipline the work, and these letters will eventually be sent back to the Netherlands in one go, which is equivalent to his work report.

China's grain trade volume is huge because there are too many people. Nanjing alone has a population of one million. Based on the annual consumption of five tons of grain per person and the price of two or two tons of grain, it is equivalent to the price of one city of Nanjing each year. The grain trade volume reached 1000 million taels.

One tael of silver is about three Dutch guilders, and there is a trade volume of 3000 million guilders in one year alone. I am not afraid that Nassau will not be tempted.

However, Yang Chao allowed the Dutch to intervene in the Ming Dynasty's grain trade, which is also good for him. After all, he has worked hard for so long, but he still can't suppress the grain price. The summer grain has already come down. Yang Chao only stabilized the grain price at two About two taels, far less than the price of one tael of silver a load of grain a few years ago.

The key is the loss of Huguang, which caused Jiangnan to lose its big granary. Although self-sufficiency is still self-sufficient, the price will be much higher. If the Dutch can bring more grain from Nanyang to replace Huguang's original position, the price of grain in Jiangnan will be can come down.

But Yang Chao's request to ban the tin trade is a bit strange.

It would never have occurred to Nassau that tin was banned because it was necessary for the minting of copper coins.

(End of this chapter)