"Awaixi (Hawaii), also known as Santoku Yizhi (Sandwich), commonly known as Honolulu." - Qing Dynasty, "Five Continents Illustrated Research", author unknown.
This is a record of Hawaii in the Qing Dynasty. The reason why this place is famous is because of its specialty sandalwood. Sandalwood is sold at a bargain price in Guangzhou.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, there was a huge demand for sandalwood.
Britain had a trade deficit every year, so it turned its attention not only to opium, but also to sandalwood from Southeast Asia. In order to provide sandalwood for the Chinese market and earn huge profits, the colonists destroyed all the sandalwood in Southeast Asia.
So the British thought of Hawaii, where sandalwood is everywhere!
The king of Hawaii discovered that sandalwood was valuable and moved the capital directly to Honolulu, where the sandalwood was most abundant. By selling sandalwood, the king built palaces, enjoyed a luxurious life, purchased firearms and warships, and even dreamed of unifying the Pacific.
The king prohibited civilians from mining, and all sandalwood belonged to the royal family. He also donated 40% of the profits to the chiefs of each island to encourage those chiefs to harvest sandalwood.
Civilians and slaves from various Hawaiian islands all joined the team of cutting down trees, and those who did not cut down trees went to plant saplings. The fields gradually became barren, eventually leading to a great famine. The king felt something was wrong and ordered the people to plant food again, but the next year he
He died.
The new king came to the throne, and was bewitched by the chiefs to harvest sandalwood again. Eventually, the sandalwood on the island was cut off, and countless people starved to death. Due to the huge amount of harvesting, oversupply caused the price to plummet.
A British businessman at the time described it this way: "Sandalwood is worthless in Guangzhou. Even if it is given to you for free, don't touch it."
Fortunately, now, with Zhao Han opening up the sea, the price of sandalwood is neither high nor low, and you can make a small profit by transporting it back.
The most popular in the Chinese market is Wanxiang, also called native agarwood, and the best one is called Nuerxiang. It is mostly produced in Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan, especially those produced in Dongguan as the authentic ones. Of course, the price is also relatively the cheapest.
Agarwood, sandalwood, and musk are even more expensive, and at least only a wealthy family can afford them.
The batch of sandalwood shipped back by Li Quan had a very low purchase cost, so the profit was probably 1000%. The volume of the goods was not large, and he did not make much money, because the cargo hold also contained American goods.
The cargo on the ship was mostly furs, as well as a large amount of sucrose, and copper ingots were used to ballast the bilges.
In addition, it also contains thirty thousand taels of silver, and American businessmen like to use silver to pay their bills.
At this time, the gold and silver price ratio in China has increased year by year from 1:4 in the early Ming Dynasty to 1:10. In America, the gold and silver price ratio is 1:15.5. You can arbitrage the gold and silver price difference. There are many businessmen in the Philippines.
Doing this.
This behavior resulted in a large inflow of silver, while gold continued to flow out of China.
The Datong court had no choice but to use gold as currency, and the only legal tender was silver dollars and copper coins. Then China's gold could only be used to make luxury goods, and domestic merchants were happy to exchange gold for silver.
As maritime trade prospered, silver and copper ingots continued to be imported, and more and more merchants no longer buried their silver in cellars. Inflation has occurred in coastal areas, and has rapidly spread to the inland along rivers.
The price of rice in Nanjing has risen to six cents per catty. This has nothing to do with grain production and is purely due to currency depreciation.
The price of rice in Nanjing this year is very likely to rise to seven cents per catty!
The common people are complaining about this, and factory workers are clamoring for a salary increase. Even taxi fares for riding on roller coasters have also increased.
Some ministers also suggested to Zhao Han whether official salaries should be increased accordingly?
The issue of the salary of civil servants will not be discussed for the time being, and it will not be too late to increase it in a few years. The imperial court has made a decision to issue gold coins starting from next year. By then, the legal currency value will be 1 gold dollar = 15 silver dollars, and 1 silver dollar = 800 copper coins.
.In doing so, it may be possible to reduce the outflow of gold, provided that private private minting is severely cracked down on.
Li Quan dispersed the goods in Manila, purchased Nanyang goods, and shipped them all the way to Shanghai for sale. Even the silver and copper ingots on the ship were sold to Datong Bank in Manila, in exchange for silver dollar bills, which could be purchased in Shanghai, freeing up the cabin.
Loading is also required.
Arriving in Shanghai, Li Quan found that merchant ships were being auctioned here.
However, many maritime merchants were unable to pay the fines, their capital chain was broken, and they were forced to auction by the government.
Li Quan was overjoyed and bought two ships at once, increasing the size of the fleet to eight large ships.
"Rich Car, take the Rich Car! Where are you going? Do you want to take the Rich Car?"
"The rich car is not good and it bumps the butt, so my husband should just sit on the sliding pole."
"The Fugui car doesn't bump your buttocks and is very comfortable."
"..."
Li Quan was about to enter the city when he was surrounded by a group of drivers near the pier.
"What is the Fortune Car?" Li Quan looked curiously.
A rich car is a rickshaw!
The use of steam engines is becoming more and more widespread, and it has been used for steel smelting. First, steam engines are used to stir-fry steel, and then steam engines are used to forge steel. Although there is no breakthrough in smelting technology, steel production has increased exponentially.
This situation first appeared in Foshan.
Merchants in the south of the Yangtze River used steam engines for textiles. The textile industry in Guangdong was underdeveloped, so some people used steam engines to make steel. Manually frying steel was time-consuming and laborious, but it was more comfortable to replace it with a steam engine, and the forging was countless times better than manual work.
This caused many iron smelting workers to lose their jobs, and some workers simply went overseas to make a living, which also stimulated the development of overseas territories.
As steel production increases, steel prices continue to fall, and many tools are replaced by steel products. For example, the rims, spokes and wheels of carriages (the axles are originally made of iron)!
More and more wealthy people are replacing carriage wheels with steel products and installing springs for shock absorption.
As for the tires, many materials have been changed, and currently they are tentatively made of sisal.
Rubber has not yet been used, but there are already many sisal plants in Nanyang. This stuff is corrosion-resistant, friction-resistant, and has a certain degree of elasticity. It can be used to make tires, and some steam engine conveyor belts are also made of it.
The upgrading of the carriages used by the rich suddenly changed again when it spread to Suzhou.
A certain horse-drawn carriage craftsman invented the rickshaw, and even solicited investment to apply for a patent. Currently, rickshaws are rapidly spreading along the coast and are named fortune carts. Investors and inventors are busy filing lawsuits because they are everywhere.
Counterfeit products.
Li Quan thought this thing was very strange, so he smiled and pointed at one of them: "Then I will take a ride in this rich car."
"Sir, please sit down!" The coachman smiled and swept away the dust.
The surface of the seat was covered with a layer of pigskin and padded with cotton cushions. As soon as Li Quan sat down, he felt his body sinking, but it was the shock-absorbing springs that were at work.
The coachman asked for the location and started running.
The other coachmen continued to wait for the guests, but the bearer carrying the sliding pole looked ugly.
"This business can't be run. I can't get many customers a day."
"Go to Chen's Car Shop to sign up. When the next batch of wealthy cars arrives, we will also change our careers to be car drivers!"
"I have signed up a long time ago, and I don't know when I will be able to join."
"..."
Li Quan felt that the Fugui Car was very comfortable, much faster than a sliding pole, and cheaper than renting a carriage. He asked, "Isn't this car expensive?"
"They are expensive. We can't afford them. They are all cars from Chen's Car Dealer," the coachman said as he ran. "There are only twenty Fugui cars in Shanghai. If you want to be a coachman, you must have insurance or shop insurance, and you must have insurance."
Pay another security deposit. When you get a car to work, you have to pay the car dealer monthly fees."
Li Quan asked: "How much can you earn?"
The coachman smiled and said: "After paying the travel fee, there is still a lot left. When there are many customers, I can earn seventy or eighty cents a day. When there are few customers, I can also earn thirty-four cents a day. This is after paying the travel fee."
It’s the money shared by the fee. But you have to pay for the tire replacement yourself. One tire costs dozens or hundreds of cents, and it can only last a month or two at most. When there are many customers, one tire will be scrapped every month.”
Li Quan carefully calculated that one tael of silver is eight hundred taels of silver. Excluding the cost of tires, the driver's monthly income is between 1 tael and 3 taels of silver, which is almost as much as that of skilled female workers in the textile industry.
For textile workers in the south of the Yangtze River, the monthly salary of apprentices is only three to four hundred silver. The monthly salary of skilled workers can be up to one or two taels. Senior workers must start at least three taels, and in places with fierce competition, they will be paid 40 taels.
The price of rice in Shanghai is relatively high, reaching ten cents per catty, but the people at the bottom can eat cheaper whole grains.
As for Guangdong and the coastal areas of Fujian, although prices are also rising, rice prices are falling. That is Taiwan, Hainan continues to develop, and the imperial court has included Vietnam. Rice from the three places is sold to Fujian and Guangdong at low prices.
Province. Guangdong is adjacent to Guangnan Province. The price of rice in Guangzhou is only 5 cents per catty.
In any case, as long as ordinary people in the market have work to do, they can live a comfortable life and still have savings.
The coachman grinned and said: "Now these rich cars are all produced in Suzhou, and the car dealers are also waiting for new cars to be built. In the future, more and more cars will be built, and the prices will definitely come down. If I save ten years of money, maybe I can
You can buy one. At that time, you no longer have to pay money to the car dealer, and you can earn all your money by yourself. That will be a promising life."
"There is indeed Bentou." Li Quan nodded.
The driver pulled harder and harder: "It's a good time. Twenty years ago, we were exhausted and hungry. Nowadays, as long as you work hard, you can save money every month. My sons
, the eldest is about to graduate from elementary school. If he can pass the public-funded student examination, let him go to middle school. If he cannot pass the public-funded student examination, he can become an apprentice. If he can make money, his life will be better."
"Then just wait and enjoy the blessing, haha." Li Quan also laughed.
But the coachman said: "How can I live a happy life? I am lucky to be able to pull a coach until I am fifty without any illness or disaster. Thanks to Long Live Lord, we poor people can also work hard to make money. In the past, we could not sell our lives even if we wanted to."
Price. The neighbors all say that it would be great if the Long Live Emperor could really live for ten thousand years, but it would not be possible if he were another emperor. He would be frightened all day long while working."
Li Quan sighed: "That's the truth."
The better the people's lives, the fewer people are willing to travel to America with them. Even if they can't survive, Taiwan and Nanyang are the first choices. Who the hell would go to that crappy place in America?