Back to the end of Ming Dynasty to be a warlord

Chapter 465
Historically, the British have always been jealous of the Dutch trade interests and launched three wars for this.

But the war was won, and the Dutch were still the financial center of Europe, licking the cream on the European commercial cake, while Britain was heavily in debt.

It wasn't until William III of Nassau became the king of England and the Netherlands ruled that he brought the Dutch business and financial model and organizational operation mode, and then the United Kingdom gradually replaced the Netherlands as the European business center step by step, and then started the industrialization model.

The Dutch have completed almost all modern economic systems, from the stock exchange to the central bank, based on the business model that has been operating in Europe for thousands of years. It can be said that their accumulation of financial knowledge is already quite professional, and ordinary people cannot replicate it with common sense alone. .

That's why Yang Chao felt so deeply when he saw Nassau's report.

Invite Nassau to have a good talk.

This gave Nassau a sense of superiority for the first time, and it took the trouble to talk about the glory of the Netherlands.

"Norway is our forest; the banks of the Rhine and the Garonne are our vineyards; Germany, Spain, and Ireland are our sheepfolds; Prussia and Poland are our barns; India and Arabia..."

Nassau is boasting, and he is still talking with Yang Chao in Chinese. This guy has not wasted his time. It seems that he has studied hard, and he must admit that he is very talented in languages, and he has already mastered Chinese. It has spoken at least ten languages, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, German, Swedish and Latin.

This story is a cliché, and Dutch people in later generations are still willing to brag about the glory of this period of history, but Yang Chao has a different feeling when he hears it from Nassau this time.

The reason why the Dutch can suddenly prosper with a population of one million is probably the reason. Before the establishment of the financial system, they only had trade, and the reason why their trade was successful and accepted by others was precisely because Because he frequently uses geographical advantages to carry out cross-border trade.

Timber from Norway, iron ore from Sweden, fur from Russia, wine from France, grain from the Central European Plain, and wool from England and Spain. They frequently transport these goods to various countries and regions in need, and earn the difference from them.

But the greatest thing about this large-scale trade is that he activated the production capacity of the whole of Western Europe!
It was the Dutch who really connected Northwest Europe into one body in this century and created a huge common market!

And the driving force in the process is the precious metals that Spain plundered from America!

Yang Chao couldn't help but feel moved. It was a coincidence. Great Voyage provided a rich supply of money, the Dutch managed a common market, and there was no shortage of manpower in Europe. Therefore, the three elements of capital, labor and market, in this era It appeared at the same time, so Europe began to develop rapidly, which lasted for hundreds of years, and then completely left behind the eastern countries that were thousands of years ahead of them.

Yang Chao felt that he had spied on the secret of the rise of Europe, and this secret can only be seen through through hundreds of years of eyes. In this era, even European countries can't see it clearly. He suddenly had a vision, what if the Netherlands is destroyed?Did it disrupt the European common market!
But it was immediately denied. Without the Netherlands and the UK, the Europeans have already grasped the opportunity of the three elements, and it is difficult to take it away from them. Compared with the UK, the Dutch actually have no potential. They only have a population of more than 100 million, and their land area is extremely small. It is about the same size as Taiwan Island. In addition to commerce, it is also developed around the shipbuilding industry. There are 20 fishermen fishing every year. Counting the families behind the fishermen, I am afraid that half of the Netherlands Labor is occupied, and trade occupies half of it. They have no ability to develop manufacturing at all.

The manufacturing industry is the fundamental driving force of a country's strength and the foundation of an empire, and the Dutch do not have these.

That's why the Dutch were able to be caught by the British when they were far ahead. Compared with the Netherlands, it is more risky to push the British out.

From the perspective of the country, Yang Chao even feels that the Dutch should always be supported, so that they can firmly control the trade in Europe, which also controls the capital in Europe, so that the British will never receive industrial capital investment, and they will never be able to industrialize .

As long as the British do not start the industrialization model, the Europeans will never be able to threaten China even if the buds of capitalism in China never grow.

"The core reason why the Netherlands can achieve this is our low tax rate. One point is enough to prove that we purchase shipbuilding timber from the UK, which is cheaper than British merchants buying their own timber, so our ships will always be the cheapest , our freight will always be the lowest!"

Nassau made a big comeback and said it was all because of low taxes, obviously with ulterior motives.

Yang Chao smiled and said, "I'm afraid there is still a problem with the bank."

Nassau smiled awkwardly, Xiao Xiao was guessed, he just wanted to fool Yang Chao into adopting a low tax rate policy, which would undoubtedly be beneficial to the East India Company.

Cleared his throat: "Of course, our interest rate is much lower than that of the British, probably more than half."

This is the key. It is impossible for the Dutch to obtain resources at a lower price without the cost of capital being far lower than that of the British. After all, the tax of the British is still very heavy. The Dutch also have to pay taxes when buying their timber. How could it be cheaper than buying by the British themselves, but half the interest rate is enough to cover the shipping costs, making it cheaper to transport British timber to the Dutch market.

"Tell me about the banks in the Netherlands. What the Lord wants to know most is the operation of the banks in the Netherlands."

Nassau said: "Okay. The largest bank in the Netherlands is undoubtedly the Bank of Amsterdam..."

Needless to say, the Bank of Amsterdam is known to anyone with a little common sense in history. This should be the first central bank in the world. Although it does not print banknotes, its bank notes and bills serve as currency. .

"The establishment of the Bank of Amsterdam was not for profit, but for commercial services. Merchants from Britain, France and other countries can only trade their silver coins into a unified Dutch guilder through the Bank of Amsterdam... "

The Bank of Amsterdam is only engaged in deposit and exchange business, because the Netherlands is the commercial center of Europe, where there are businessmen from all over the world, but there are many European countries, each country has its own currency, and even the Dutch themselves used to have dozens of currencies. The gold content of each currency is different. Even the strongest British pound silver coin has a silver content of only one-third of the pound of silver that was stipulated in the past. The amount of silver is almost reduced to 5.00%, which is no different from broken copper.

It is obviously impossible for these various currencies to be recognized by each other. The Dutch established this bank in order to facilitate trade. The Dutch guilder silver coin, therefore, allowed the transaction to proceed smoothly and also maintained the status of the Dutch as a trading center.

"I see that the bank established by the earl is roughly the model of the Bank of Amsterdam, with exchange and storage. But it is very strange that your bank, the earl, actually carries out loan business, and it is a personal loan with high risk and low profit. Sorry I said bluntly that the purpose of our Dutch establishment of the Bank of Amsterdam is only to facilitate trade, so the credit of this bank must be maintained. For this reason, we even allowed the enemy's deposits to flow freely from the bank during the war, so that the bank remained neutral throughout the war. It is impossible to interrupt her business, so as to obtain the strongest credit!"

Nassau has already commented on the Jiangnan Bank established by Yang Chao in the report, so Yang Chao already knows this point of view.

But Yang Chao was very curious: "If the bank does not carry out lending activities, how about creating currency through fusion?"

The bank releases deposits as loans. Although the purpose is to earn a profit from the difference in interest rates between deposits and loans, it indirectly promotes capitalization, turning idle funds into circulating capital. If it is converted into currency and circulated in the market, if there is no lending business, it will not be able to play this role at all.

"Why? Currency is gold and silver, how can money be created! What is created in this way is just a bubble, once it is run, everything will be over!"

Nassau was very surprised that Yang Chao had such an idea. It was incredible. He thought that Yang Chao established Jiangnan Bank just like the Bank of Amsterdam, in order to facilitate exchange and promote trade, but he did not expect it to be such a terrible idea. , Turned out to want to throw enough money into the market.

"Then you should also have lending banks, how do they operate?"

Yang Chao couldn't help asking, the mortgage bank was much earlier than this kind of exchange bank.

Nassau said with some disdain: "Of course, those vampires used their own money. Of course, they may also use customers' funds, but this is obviously immoral."

Nassau is talking about usurer Jews.

Yang Chao thought, maybe the banking industry in Europe is not as developed as he imagined, and it is just a prototype. Although everything has appeared, it must be as crazy as those Yankees on Wall Street.

Then the two talked about the exchange and other things.

Before King Sanshun attacked Nanjing, Nassau visited the exchange in Jinchai Building. He concluded that the exchange was very chaotic, and the commodities traded were not classified. Detailed grading was carried out, and even furs were divided into upper, middle and lower classes, with different prices.

However, there is indeed no grading in the exchange, and grading is impossible, because the silk reeling workers always like to mix defective products in a handful of raw silk. As for the overall quality, it depends on the situation of the year. If there are few defective products in a year, the overall grade will be high, and if there are many defective products, the overall grade will be poor.

Of course, there are really pure good silks, but you need to pick them in person at spot shops. In invisible places like exchanges, those people like to play tricks.

Then Nassau talked about the classification method of the East India Company. In fact, in the list of goods of the East India Company, Chinese silk is divided into two types, one is silk produced in Jiangnan, and the other is silk produced in Guangdong and other real estates. The so-called Central China Silk and South China Silk.

Jiangnan silk is the highest in quality, pure white and translucent, with the best luster, while silk from Guangdong and other places is yellowish, Japanese silk is gray, Indian and Bengal silk is yellow, and there are French and Italian raw silk, but it is not as good as Indian silk. Woolen cloth.

The overall ranking is that Jiangnan silk is the best, Japanese silk is second, raw silk from Guangdong and Vietnam is second, Indian and Bangladeshi silk is third, and Italian and French silk are the worst.

This is the reason why Europe flocks to oriental raw silk even though it produces its own silk, because their silk cannot weave high-grade silk at all, and even the Japanese have a soft spot for Jiangnan silk, let alone the West.

As for the reason for this result, it may be climate, silkworm eggs, or technology. Yang Chao is not a professional, so he doesn't know the reason. He only knows that Jiangnan silk is the best. Quality drops.

"Also, I found that Your Excellency Earl has issued a large number of bonds, but why don't you build a bond exchange so that holders who need it can cash out at any time. In that case, I believe your bonds will be more popular. "

asked Nassau, speaking of bonds.

This Yang Chao naturally knew that he planned to allow bonds to be traded on the Jinchai Building Exchange, but the Jinchai Building was destroyed and the building was not yet completed, so the exchange was temporarily closed.

But at this time Yang Chao had a new idea: "Dear Duke of Nassau, I have a suggestion, why don't you stay and work in my Daming for a while, maybe your career will develop to a peak here Woolen cloth."

Yang Chao seduced with a devilish tone, he knew that people like this cannot be moved by money, only career can.

"I stay in Daming and work in China! For you?"

As Yang Chao expected, Nassau was a little surprised.

Yang Chao said with a smile: "That's right, I hope you can stay and help me. Of course, I am willing to pay you a generous salary. I wonder how much salary the Duke of Nassau thinks is worthy of your knowledge and status?"

Nassau's blue eyes flickered twice, and then said: "I need to think about this, and I need to ask the East India Company for instructions, and then I will reply to Your Excellency the Earl."

Yang Chao smiled and said, "It should."

With the status of the Nassau family, it is a bit unreliable to ask the East India Company for instructions, but if he can stay here, the East India Company may be very happy.

Nassau said again: "May I ask, if I am willing to stay and work for you, how much support will I get from you, I mean how much power will I have?"

Yang Chao secretly sighed in his heart: This guy is tempted!
Then he said grandly: "If you agree to stay and work, you will be fully responsible for helping Benjue establish an exchange, and have the power to operate it. And you will be responsible for improving Jiangnan Bank. You will be in charge of Jiangnan's economy!"

Then he added: "At the same time, our Daming government will hire you as a Tartar, well, you are a guest!"

The position of Keqing was very common in the Warring States Period. The Great Qin Empire almost relied on Keqing to rule the world. From Shang Yang to Lu Buwei, almost all famous ministers were foreigners, called Keqing.

However, in the Ming Dynasty, officials who were not natives were not called Keqing, but rather impolitely called Tartar officials, so Yang Chao planned to hire Nassau as the Tartar officials responsible for the construction of Jiangnan's financial system.

(End of this chapter)