Chapter 371: The clutches of Beihai Trading Company
Matsudaira responded so resolutely, which not only offended Emperor Kokaku, but also the father and son of Sea Dog Kokata. The father and son began to think about replacing Matsudaira.
This "honored title" incident, which is very famous in the history of later generations, is actually far from over. Neither Seigou Kōkō nor Emperor Kokaku will give in. A larger political conflict has begun to brew, but that is a story for another day.
Already.
When the "Tianmei Famine" in the island country entered the end of its sixth year, Matsudaira Sadanobu not only promoted the "lenient reform" based on small farmer ideas and vigorously restored agricultural production, but also turned his attention to the debt problem of the Hatamoto samurai.
Beginning in the eighth year of Kyōho (1723), the Hatamoto samurai of the shogunate handed over Lumi to the "Zhacha Zhunakama" agency formed by the merchants of Miwenya and Mizuya. The specific operation was that Zhachazhu Nakama acted on behalf of the samurai
To receive their salaries, the samurai received money regularly from Zhachai. Over time, this evolved into the model of banks distributing wages on behalf of later generations.
So "Zhachazhu Nakajian" began to provide loan business to samurai to make profits. Those samurai who thought they had a stable salary and lacked the concept of financial management began to overdraft for consumption, and the interest rate of the loan was as high as 15 per year.
%~18%.
It is said that if there was no Hokkai Town, the overdraft consumption of the samurai would be some daily necessities, Dutch and Daisei products. But since the Sendai clan embraced Hokkai Town, a large amount of Hokkai goods have poured in through the "Hokkai Trading Company"
The island country.
Matches that light up instantly cost five cents per box, which is much less troublesome than carrying a pack of flints and flints; the "Tianxiang" cigarettes produced in Beihai Town are now smoked by even the female actresses in Yoshiwara.
A pot with a cigarette pouch is simply a symbol of tastelessness; a lantern made of iron and curved glass, paired with lamp oil produced in Beihai Town, hanging one on a horseback when you go out will give you face; in addition, there are also high-quality
Cheap enamel products, sugar, silk, cotton, furs, Sinology books, etc.
Thanks to the efforts of Denzo Katsuyama, the boss of Murataya, Heita and others, Hokkai goods are now very popular from Mutsu to Kyushu, and from Edo to Osaka. As soon as the goods arrive at Ishinomaki Port, they are immediately snapped up by various merchants.
A large number of novel and cheap goods appeared on the market, causing the samurai's overdraft consumption behavior to unknowingly get deeper and deeper, intensifying Beihai Town's economic plunder of the island country.
In mid-September of the eighth year of Tenmei, the four senior officials of the Tokugawa shogunate, headed by Matsudaira Sadanobu, gathered at the Honmaru Palace in Edo Castle to discuss how to resolve the "Zashi debt";
The second generation Tadakamoto Honda also attended the meeting.
"Everyone, the report I have in my hand is the debt data collected by the two towns of North and South over two months from 88 merchants in the city. As of July this year, the total debt owed is 2.8937 million taels.
"
The first person to speak was Matsudaira Nobuaki, the third generation lord of the Yoshida Clan in Mikawa Province. This 25-year-old man was promoted from a side servant of the family to the rank of laozhong in March. He is a staunch supporter of Shirakawa Hou Matsudaira Nobuaki. In view of the fact that the two towns of north and south are governed by the
They were on duty on a monthly basis, so it was not surprising that it took two months to produce the final investigation report.
"What? There are so many!" Makino Sadaga, who was the second-ranked member of the senior middle school, and Tadashi Torii, who was the third-ranked member of the senior middle school, were shocked when they heard this, and they shouted out in unison. Not to mention the two of them, even the Shogun Sect
Honda Tadashi, who came to listen in, also broke out in cold sweat on his forehead.
As of July of the eighth year of Tianmei, the number of flags directly under the Tokugawa shogunate was 5205, and the number of imperial families was 17395, a total of 22,600 people. In other words, the average debt owed by each family was close to 130 taels. You must know that this number is equivalent to
The financial expenses of the shogunate were over two years. Once Hatamoto's debts were repaid, the Tokugawa shogunate, as the master, became the ultimate debtor in essence.
By the way, if it's just a few lower-level samurai who are in debt, the shogunate will care whether you die or not. The problem is that almost every family in Hatamoto is living with debt and overdraft, and the Tokugawa family just came to power last year, and the bad luck is happening one after another.
It’s time to win over people’s hearts.
Matsudaira Sadanobu said: "We must come up with a solution, otherwise the hole will get bigger and bigger. We must make a plan today."
He saw very clearly that if the samurai, who were the main consumers, were unable to consume due to debt, then many industries would not be able to maintain normal operation, and the shogunate's finances would also be in a dead end.
Makino Sadaga asked: "What good idea does Marquis Baihe have?"
Matsudaira Sadanobu said: "Forgive all debts of the capital and modify the interest rates."
Okay, grab the whole thing!
In the history of another time and space, the Tokugawa shogunate resorted to this big move whenever it encountered a financial crisis, becoming more and more shameless every time. When Mizuno Tadakuni became the leader of the old school, a "German
"Government Decree", confiscated the wealth of the wealthy merchants of Edo and Osaka towns, forcibly canceled half of the debts of the daimyo and Hatamoto, and used the confiscated wealth to repay the other half.
After hearing this, Tadayoshi Torii was silent for a long time, and then suddenly said: "I heard that in the Sendai Domain, businessmen used half of their profits to pay off the debts of the samurai."
Matsudaira Nobuaki said: "There is no need to mention this matter again. The Sendai Domain can do this, but the shogunate cannot do it. The Hokkai Trading Company now controls half of the financial power of the Sendai Domain, and all the samurai in the domain have invested in it. Everyone is grateful for that.
It is located in the Palace of King Zhao."
Matsudaira Sadanobu said: "Haven't you seen it yet? Those idiots from the Date family are now a dog of that Zhao Wangdian."
Makino Sadaga said with a worried look on his face: "What does Prince Zhao want to do? We didn't provoke him. Should we send someone to talk to them again?"
A few days ago, the news came from the Kyoto Agency that the Sendai clan had given Emperor Kokaku five hundred thousand taels of gold. This almost made Matsudaira Sadanobu mad. He thought to himself, no wonder that man was dishonest. It turned out that the Sendai clan was here again.
Make a fool of yourself.
And where did the Sendai clan's money come from? It wasn't Zhao Wangdian who borrowed it through Beihai Trading Company. It was said that it was an interest-free loan!
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! At this point, Matsudaira Sadanobu said: "We have to talk about it. But that's not what we're talking about today."
Nowadays, what the Hokkai Trading Company did in the Sendai Domain is well known to the world, but the problem is that the number of warriors in the Sendai Domain is only 10,000, while the shogunate alone has more than 20,000 Hatamoto and imperial family members, plus the military commanders.
On behalf of the feudal lord, no one can catch this bad guy.
In fact, Zhao Xin is sucking the financial blood of the entire island country through Beihai Trading Company, and the Sendai clan is a comprador. Speaking of raising a dog, you have to give a bone as a reward from time to time, so part of the trading company's profits are used as dividends to help
It was really nothing for the samurai to pay off their debts.
Matsudaira Sadanobu sent people to communicate with Liu Zheng last year after he landed in Yokohama. He also wanted to set up a trading company with Beihai Town in an attempt to copy the Sendai Domain's model and monopolize the product agency rights of Edo and Osaka. However, Zhao Xin refused through Liu Zheng's mouth.
Already.
If the Sendai clan dares to be disobedient, Beihai Town will destroy him in a matter of minutes. Just change the feudal lord and it will not affect Zhao Xin's overall strategy. If the Tokugawa shogunate is disobedient, will Hokkai Town still want to defeat the island country? Isn't this purely for yourself?
Is it troublesome?
The five people discussed until night, and finally decided that all Zhacha loans that were made five years before dawn would be exempted, and the loan interest rate would also be revised from 15% to 18% to 6%.
Such a big matter related to the vital interests of each family, so the news quickly spread through Ooku, which was like a colander, and everyone related to it in Edo knew about it the next day.
The Hatamoto warriors burst into cheers, but the merchants in Zhachazhuzhongjian were all anxious, and they hurriedly gathered together to discuss countermeasures.
In the back room of a brothel in Yoshihara, several zhacha merchants gathered together.
"Did you hear that?"
"heard."
"Then what should we do?"
"The knife is on my neck, what can I do? Oh~ just admit it!"
"It can't be like this!" The speaker was Asanoya Heiji, the largest businessman in Edo 88 Zashizhu Nakama. I heard him continue: "If Shirakawa Marquis does this, we will stop the loan business from Hatamoto."
"How about we transfer our business to Sendai? The samurai there are not short of money."
"You're stupid! How dare you go to Sendai with that monster from Beihai Trading Co.? You can't beat them with just the interest. Do you know how much interest they charge for borrowing money?"
"How many?"
"Five cents! It's still annual interest!"
I'll go! The other Zhacha merchants suddenly took a breath of air-conditioning. 5% annual profit can make a profit!
Just listen to Asanoya Heiji continue: "I saw this clearly last year. The Hokkai Trading Company held all kinds of in-demand goods with its left hand, and helped the samurai pay off their debts with the right hand. Now all the gold and silver in the world are flowing to Ishinomaki Port. There is that
With Zhao Wangdian as your backer, the Ida family wouldn’t even dare to let out a fart. If it were you, who would dare?”
The businessmen discussed for a long time but could not find any solution, so they had to disperse hastily and go back to their homes.
After Asanoya Heiji and everyone else separated, he quietly went to another theater. He was led up to a Japanese-style room on the second floor. As soon as he entered the door, he knelt down respectfully in the tunnel and said: "Asanoya
Heiji, meet Boss Katsuyama!"
Sitting in the middle of the room was a middle-aged man with a simple and elegant dress and a fair complexion. Next to him sat an extremely attractive courtesan, who was pouring wine for him.
This person is none other than the major shareholder of Beihai Company, Zhao Xin's white glove in Sendai Domain, and the former owner of Katsuyamaya Winery, Katsuyama Denzo.
Today's Denzo Katsuyama is no longer the humble winery owner. He has a arrogant look on his face. He doesn't even look at Asanoya Heiji and says in a deep voice: "Boss Asanoya, why are you so late?"
"I was delayed in discussing some matters with my colleagues. Please don't take offense to Boss Shengshan."
After Asanoya tried to please him and drank three more drinks as a penalty, the two of them got down to business. They heard Katsuyama say three words: "I won't talk nonsense. Do you understand the conditions before?"
"It's clear, it's clear." Asanoya nodded hastily.
"Well, you send the five hundred households to Ishinomaki Port, and someone will sign an agreement with you there." After finishing speaking, Katsuyama Denzo handed a thick booklet to the other party, and said with a smile: "Pick one
Bar."
With trembling hands, Asanoya Heiji took this book, which countless businessmen have been coveting. He opened it and saw that the first few pages were a catalog, and the back was a detailed introduction to each product. He flipped through it, and every item on it was
He wanted the agency rights for all kinds of products, but today he could only choose one.
Asanoya looked at it hesitantly for a long time, and finally pointed at the sugar item and said, "I choose this one."
"Haha, Asanoya has really good taste! That's it then!"
In July, Zhao Xin asked Liu Zheng to tell Katsuyama Denzo not to take all the goods into his own hands and sell them. Instead of working hard to sell goods, it is better to sell agency rights. Divide the entire island country into two core businesses, Edo and Osaka.
The district charges an annual agency fee. However, the prerequisite for obtaining agency rights is to attract people to Beihai Town.
When Katsuyama heard Sanyi's words, he was naturally convinced. This guy has already made a lot of money just by being the exclusive agent for Ezo Island's coal, timber and fur business; Zhao Xin also promised that he could participate in Ryukyu under the name of Beihai Trading Company in the future.
, trade in Taiwan and even Southeast Asia.
The reason why Zhao Xin requires that those who want to obtain product agency rights must recruit people from Beihai Town is actually to fill the occupied areas with population.
He knew that Xu Dayong went to Nanba Laolin where Sichuan and Shaanxi were handed over, but that place belonged to the south. But if tens of thousands of southerners were sent to a place like Nerchinsk, the climate alone would be unbearable.
Many people will die in winter.
For Beihai Town, not only Nerchinsk and Chita, but also places from Boli and Trinshiji north of Xingkai Lake to Sanxing City on the Songhua River and even Heilongjiang City on the Heilongjiang River are sparsely populated.
, in urgent need of a large number of people, investing hundreds of thousands of people is just a splash.
Just one Bolivian city had a population of one million in another time and space, but if you want to develop in this time and space, you cannot do it without 200,000 people! Not to mention that Zhao Xin also wants to build a railway to connect Yaksa to Boli.
land route between forces.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! On September 13, 1788, Zhao Xin, who arrived early, led a battalion to quickly conquer Khnudinsk, the largest town in Transbaikal Russia, while Liu Sheng led
Fan Tong and several agricultural machinery drivers drove back to Chita in order to bring over another battalion of troops.
During the attack on Verkhnokhnudinsk, which had a population of only 2,500, the Northern Navy actually captured Tsarist Irkutsk Governor-General Ivan Jacobi, who had just returned from Chita in a carriage.
"You were the one who proposed the attack on Heilongjiang? I also heard that you once named all the mountains and rivers north of Heilongjiang City?"
There was no trace of anger on Zhao Xin's face, and he asked with a smile. Chen Jishan, who was standing on one side, saw Zhao Xin put on this expression again, and knew in his heart that the governor's fate was probably hanging in the balance. The boss
He would look like this every time he was extremely angry. If he was really angry and cursed, he would be fine.
Sitting opposite Zhao Xin, Ivan Jacques, who was wearing a gorgeous fur and a wig, had an earthy complexion. He did not expect that the Chinese's revenge would arrive so quickly. How did they do it after a thousand miles of journey?
?Didn’t you see these people riding horses when they were defending the city before?
What made him most incredible was that Suvorov was defeated by this man! Counting Major General Alexandrov who was defeated in Heilongjiang City before, Russia had no troops to send in the entire Eastern Siberia.
Even if we want to take back the occupied territory, we have to wait until next year.
He had previously sworn that he could cooperate with them to carve up the Northeast, but now it seems really ridiculous!
But one thing is strange about Ivan Jacobi. These people didn't even defeat the Qing Empire, so why did they help them?
"Tell me about it. Didn't you use the name of your wife's dog? What's that dog's name?"
Ivan Jacobi raised his head, looked at Zhao Xin and said: "I am the governor of the Irkutsk Governor-General appointed by the Tsarist Russian Empire. I am an imperial count. I demand to be treated in a manner consistent with my status."
Zhao Xin gently swept the table with the edge of his palm, as if there was something dirty on it, and he said lightly: "Barbarians also teach me etiquette? Although the Manchus are bastards, I don't think they said that.
No, you are just a bunch of barbarians."
"Mr. Zhao, I have heard of you. It is said that you are a descendant of a certain royal family of the previous dynasty. You have also defeated the encirclement and suppression armies of the Qing Empire several times. But what I want to tell you is that Tsarist Russia is not the Qing Empire. Please consider
Is there any consequences? You will face hundreds of thousands of elite troops! I advise you to retreat to the east bank of the Ergun River."
Zhao Xin stretched out his thumb and gestured, and said with a smile: "What a cooked duck. Count Jacob, please rest assured that I will not kill you. We will let you go after we put the red flag on the Irkutsk Castle."
Go back and give the old lady a message. I very much welcome you to send more people over. I am currently short of labor on the construction site."
"Then I have to thank you!"
Zhao Xin stood up suddenly, and everyone present thought he was going to end the conversation. They only heard him say in a deep voice: "Yin Bingwei!"
"arrive!"
"Cut off one of his hands, don't let him die." Zhao Xin's tone was very calm, as if he was talking about what he planned to eat tonight, and then he quickly opened the door and left without looking back.