Chapter 214 Sharpening the Knife to Gold and Silver
For the two princes who have reached the top of their nobility and cannot stretch their power randomly, nothing is more interesting than making money. If they don't make money, they can't even find the meaning of life.
Originally, making money was just a necessary means for them to maintain the dignity of their family. After all, there were examples in the past of losing their family fortune despite their hereditary title, making people laugh at the world. But when Gao Pragmatic hand in hand dragged them into sea trade.
After this business, which was like robbing money, they became truly interested in making money in a subjective sense, and this interest grew day by day, almost becoming the meaning of life in their minds.
As mentioned before, the overseas trade of the Ming Dynasty began in the early days of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, and its scale became larger and larger. The so-called maritime ban of the Ming Dynasty was mostly just a piece of paper.
The main purpose of the maritime ban at that time was to fight against Japanese pirates. Later foreign literature said: "Once the pirate activities decreased, the government lost the motivation to ban maritime transport. In fact, most officials turned a blind eye to private trade. Fujian University
Merchant ships entering the ports of Jiangsu and Zhejiang were rarely refused. Therefore, maritime trade between Fujian and Zhejiang was very prosperous in the Ming Dynasty."
Not only foreign documents say this, but also various domestic historical books and documents. For example, Wang Shu, a man of the Ming Dynasty, said, "In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, it was enacted that no sails or boards were allowed to go into the sea. For 180 years... every time there is a month of fishing for yellow croakers...
, there are thousands of huge ships, and they are all illegal. The people who discuss it are desperate to do it, but the situation is difficult to carry out, and the mood is unbearable. Rather than trying to stop it, which one is better to use it."
When Chenghua was prosperous, there were "rich families and wealthy people, and some of them sailed on huge ships to trade overseas." During the Zhengde period, "rich people privately built giant ships and sailed to make profits in foreign transactions." During the Jiajing period, "Zhangzhou
The Yue Gang family built large ships to travel back and forth across the ocean, and the number of "trade goods" between the French and French countries continued to increase. It can be said that by the late Ming Dynasty, the development of overseas trade had become majestic and prosperous.
At this time, the Japanese islands were one of the main trading areas for private maritime merchants and the main market for raw silk and various textiles and daily necessities of the Ming Dynasty.
"Most of what Japan needs, such as mats for rooms, are woven in Chang'an of Hangzhou; women need powdered makeup, and all kinds of lacquer work need gold and silver foil, which are made in Wulin; they are like porcelain from Rao, silk and cotton from Lake, and gauze from Zhang.
Silk and pine cotton are especially valued in that country."
At this time, the price of raw silk in the Ming Dynasty was about 60 taels of silver per load, but in Japan it could be sold for 500 to 600 taels of silver, with a gross profit of ten times. Among the goods imported to the Ming Dynasty from Japan were: "The Chinese goods in the mutual trade include gold, silver, amber, and crystal."
, sulfur, mercury, copper and iron, white beads, sapphire, hematoxylin, pepper,” as well as local products and seafood, etc.
According to the "History of the Late Ming Dynasty": "Chinese specialties such as raw silk, silk, and porcelain were sold throughout Spain and its colonies; cotton and linen were widely consumed by the indigenous residents of the Spanish colonies."
“In 1592, the governor reported to the King of Spain that Chinese merchants purchased cotton from the Philippines, and soon cotton cloth was shipped from China. Cotton cloth has become the most popular commodity from China in the Philippines.”
During this era, the Ming Dynasty’s foreign trade exceeded the market by a large margin, which resulted in the import of silver from America and Japan into China on an unprecedented scale. “Chinese textiles were also sold to Spanish American colonies through Manila. As early as the end of the 16th century, Chinese cotton cloth was already sold in Mexico.
Spanish goods are being squeezed out of the market.”
"As late as the early 1580s, Chinese silk had threatened the sales of Spanish products in the Americas. At the beginning of the 17th century, Mexicans wore more silk than cotton. The so-called silk wear mostly meant Chinese silk."
"In fact, China's trade relationship with the Spanish colonial empire was the relationship between Chinese silk flowing to the Philippines and America, and silver flowing to China."
"So much so that the Governor of Mexico called for a ban on the import of Chinese raw silk in 1611. But by 1637, the situation became increasingly serious. Mexico's silk industry all used Chinese silk as raw materials, and Mexico's native silk industry was actually wiped out.
Peru, which is adjacent to Mexico, is also a huge market for Chinese silk. The price of Chinese silk in Peru is only 1/3 of that of Spanish products. From Chile to Panama, Chinese silk and satin are sold and worn everywhere."
"Chinese silk not only flooded the American market and usurped the sales of Spanish silk in the Americas, but even bypassed most of the world and was sold as far away as Spain, where it directly destroyed Spain's silk production."
All in all, the volume of foreign trade in the late Ming Dynasty was staggering. The book "Social Changes in the Late Ming Dynasty" states that "based on rough estimates, a total of approximately 12,620 tons of American silver flowed into China from 1570 to 1644." Li Longsheng synthesized the research of many scholars
It is believed that "the silver inflow from overseas during the entire Ming Dynasty may be nearly 300 million taels." Based on various existing research results in "Silver Capital", Frank of the United States estimated that from the mid-16th century to the mid-17th century (that is, from the mid-Ming Dynasty to the end of the Ming Dynasty)
), the amount of silver flowing into China from Eurasian trade was about 7,000 to 10,000 tons, accounting for about 1/3 of the world's total silver production at that time.
Anyway, although the results of various studies are different, no matter which one is said, it is enough to show that the Ming Dynasty occupied the center position of the world economy at that time.
Portuguese scholar Magalhães Godinho described China in the late Ming Dynasty as a "sucking pump", vividly and concretely explaining that China absorbed the world's silver. However, one thing is very important here, that is, so much silver
They were exchanged for commodities that were abundant in the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, the social and economic development in the late Ming Dynasty was so high that it was by no means as bad as some people believed.
However, for the nobles, they did not produce many goods themselves. At the beginning, they could even produce nothing at all. Later, under the influence of Jinghua, they gradually got involved in the production industry - such as the new cement plant invested by Jinghua later.
, new textile mills, etc.
However, their involvement was carried out by relying on Jinghua. To put it simply, they invested in each specific factory of Jinghua, mainly participating in auditing and dividend distribution, but regardless of the operation of the factory, it was a relatively superficial "production".
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Although they participated in "production", they found that although the value of other commodities doubled, in comparison, arms were the bulk transaction, which could almost be said to be "
If it doesn’t open for three years, it will last for three years if it opens.”
For example, for the Jinghua No. 2 heavy artillery made in the 14th year of Wanli, Zhang Yuangong, Zhu Yingzhen and others actually made a gross profit of 1,100 taels per gun. They only needed to sell ten cannons to earn tens of thousands of taels. Even the wealthy and powerful Xun
You guys are also speechless and hope to sell more.
Unfortunately, this is difficult, because the two major sources of artillery sales in Jinghua are the imperial government and the military and various countries in southern Xinjiang. In fact, southern Xinjiang is an internal sales, but it is not a cost price, because Gao Pragmatic insists that internal sales should also rely on their own abilities. He only
Specifies the maximum premium rate and the order of priority to ensure supply.
Therefore, although the nobles were happy to sell guns secretly, it was not easy to get the goods, and they were in a state of dissatisfaction for a long time.
This situation gave rise to another idea: Japan has so much money, and our current supply of goods is not sufficient, so why not just do a business without capital and go directly to rob the motherfucker!
In order to persuade Gao Jingshi, the two princes, as representatives of the Xungui Group, even put forward "political opinions". They explained to Gao Jingshi with a sad expression: The major exporters of Ming Dynasty to Japan, such as the "Rao Zhi" mentioned just now,
Porcelain, silk and cotton from the lake, gauze and silk from the Zhang, and cotton and cloth from the pine, are almost all controlled by southern merchants, or in other words, the production capacity controlled by southern merchants is much higher than that of the north.
At the beginning, the Beiyang Maritime Trade Alliance relied on its fleet advantages (including transportation capacity and security) to dominate the southern merchants. However, as the two ocean fleets swept away the pirates until only a few sporadic small groups remained, the southern merchants soon
Quickly rely on production capacity and the capital base of our ancestors to catch up.
However, it is well known that these giant businessmen in the south have always stood behind the Heart School, so once the situation in the market is reversed, the opponents of the Practical School in the government will inevitably become stronger and stronger.
Gao Pragmatic was surprised to hear these words. Could it be that you two have also joined the Wo Shi school of thought?
That's definitely not the case. These two people just devoted themselves to gold and silver. But having said that, it was Gao Pragmatism who brought them gold and silver, so they really felt that they and the Practical School both prospered and suffered losses.
Although the starting point of the words of the two princes is definitely problematic, Gao Pragmatic feels that it is not completely unreasonable. As the saying goes, the economic foundation determines the superstructure, this sentence is not only correct at the national level, but also at the factional level.
In history, why did the Donglin Party in the late Ming Dynasty talk so loudly, but when it said it wanted to collect business taxes, it was like digging up their family's ancestral graves? Isn't it because the people behind the Donglin Party were wealthy businessmen from Jiangnan?
group!
It can be seen that whether the economic strength behind the factions is strong or not has a very important impact on the outcome of the factional disputes. In recent years, Jinghua has indeed developed rapidly, and even the "Xungui Capital Group" that Gao Pragmatic held in one hand has gradually risen to the top.
Stage trends.
However, it is impossible for the wings of a small butterfly to flap exactly where Gao Pragmatic wants to flap. The advantages of Jiangnan Haoshang Group are clearly there, whether it is the mastery of Ming Dynasty's original advantageous industries or its own strong economic foundation.
None of this can be taken lightly.
So they came to their senses and began to follow the road to wealth that Gao Pragmatic had taken. Gao Pragmatic, who was busy with government affairs more than business, had not yet begun to pay attention to it, but the "Xungui Capital Group", which was obsessed with making a fortune, was keenly aware of it.
abnormal.
Following Zhu Yingzhen's example, Gao Pragmatic found that southern capital obviously had an absolute advantage in traditional raw silk, and the north could only rely on the tussah silk industry he had developed in the past two years to gain some middle-class business.
However, the tussah silk industry is not actually a standard "middle-class product". The upper-level silk products and the lower-level cotton products have been squeezing it in both directions. Silk is controlled by southern merchants, and cotton is also controlled by southern merchants.
.
Therefore, although the market opening of the tussah silk industry has been relatively smooth, the market has been unable to expand further. If it were not for Gao Pragmatic, he began to promote cotton cultivation throughout the north, relying on his mastery of advanced looms (Jenny Spinning Machine Jinghua Improved Model)
With the advantage of starting to get involved in the textile industry, I am afraid that the entire fabric industry will be surrounded by the South.
The focus of the first industrial revolution was light industry, especially fabrics and clothing, because this industry was particularly suitable for forming a scale advantage - everyone has to wear clothes, right? But in the current Ming Dynasty, this industry is the heart.
The financial backers behind the school have an absolute advantage, while Gao Pragmatic is obsessed with "heavy industries" such as steel, coal, firearms, and shipbuilding, but others can't get involved.
In this situation, do you think "Xungui Capital Group" is in a hurry?
Obviously, they are not highly pragmatic and do not understand the meaning of heavy industry. Even if they understand, they dare not follow Gao pragmatism's instructions - Gao pragmatism dares to raise so many armed servants to protect their own industry, how can they dare to vote for military officials and nobles?
Are you afraid that you think the Emperor of the Zhu family doesn’t kill people?
People just don't dare to kill civil servants who hold the high ground of morality and public opinion. Kill a few military ministers who "privately keep soldiers" and see if the emperor will be soft. To a certain extent, the reason why Li Rusong died in history is still
The reason is that the Li Jiajun was too strong for a period of time.
The nobles' fighting skills are a bit advanced, but when it comes to how to survive in the world, almost all of them are at the level of artists, so at most they dare to prepare a few hundred armed servants on the ship, and then go one step further
They absolutely refused.
In this way, heavy industry can't be done, and light industry can't be done. If you want to make more money, don't you have to find another way?
What is the advantage of the Beiyang Maritime Trade Alliance compared to the Southern Rich Merchant Alliance? It’s really embarrassing to say: it lies in force.
Yes, two groups of merchants were competing in terms of their abilities, and one group of merchants found that they only had the upper hand in terms of force. This was very embarrassing, because the emperor would certainly not allow you to directly physically destroy the other group of people.
What can we do? Of course we can only use this advantage in force to other places, such as robbing outsiders.
They had never thought of this idea before, but Gao Pragmatic's method of making Burma pay compensation during the Yunnan-Myanmar War reminded them. Now, Japan's Iwami Ginzan has become their second target.
Now it was Gao Pragmatic's turn to be entangled.
Although the honorable nobles have thoroughly investigated the history of the Mouri family and Iwami Ginzan, they obviously only know how to treat headaches and feet. They have not studied the political situation in Japan, and it is impossible to know the direction of history.
Simply put, this problem is that with the basic unification of Japan during the Warring States Period, a large number of samurai began to become useless. It was not cost-effective to keep them, and big trouble would occur if they were not raised. Therefore, Toyotomi Hideyoshi was determined to launch a war to solve this problem.
In addition to the rebellion of refugees, launching any war requires more than just people, but also money. So it is conceivable that Toyotomi Hideyoshi must be full of ideas about making money now. At this time, the Beiyang Sea Trade Alliance went to break stones
See Yinshan?
Toyotomi Hideyoshi will definitely fight for his life with you! You actually come to ask me if Hideyoshi will intervene, and if I intervene, will I be willing to help you withstand it? I will give you a blow! Wait until the Japanese themselves are exhausted and then do it again
Isn’t winner-take-all bad?
However, although the truth is this, the drama Zhang Yuangong and Zhu Yingzhen performed today shows that the "Xungui Capital Group" has become red-eyed, and it won't work if they don't see some ways to make money and gain some benefits.
Although ninety-nine percent of this group of nobles were bullshit in the original history, they are highly pragmatic and have a waste utilization plan, and they have used it well so far. It is impossible to give up just because they want to.
Gao pragmatic thought for a while and suddenly said: "The Japanese country has more than 500,000 troops. Toyotomi Hideyoshi can at least mobilize more than 300,000 troops to defend Iwami Ginzan. I don't think this battle is cost-effective."
Zhu Yingzhen and Zhang Yuangong's expressions changed, and they said at the same time: "But he may not..."
"Listen to what I have to say." Gao Pragmatic stretched out his hand to stop them, and continued: "It's hard to beat those with two to three thousand yuan, but I think we can still beat those with two to three thousand yuan."
"Two or three thousand?" Zhu Yingzhen was stunned. He obviously misunderstood Gao Pragmatic's words and asked: "Is there any way for Rixin to only attack the mountains and destroy the cities?"
Zhang Yuangong also stared at Gao Pragmatic, nervously waiting for his next words.
Unexpectedly, Gao Pragmatic said: "I'm not talking about Shanchui City, or even the Japanese country - I'm talking about Luzon."
----------
Thanks to book friend "Cao Mianzi" for your reward and support, thank you!
Thanks to book friends "Yue Xiaoyao", "Cao Mianzi", "The Old West of Altay", "The Chic Pig", "Dingyong", "Ling Qi Zhao Bi Xin", and "Fantasy HJ" for their monthly ticket support, thank you!