Chapter 2 West 46 Exchange between East and West (4)
--Remember!
As expected, the Chinese people have a much more accurate eye when choosing things themselves. Within ten days, more than 70% of the goods purchased from Europe were sold. This result also shows that there is actually a market for European goods in China. -./
Of course, Shang Yi also knows that this is only the first time that China has imported a large amount of goods from Europe, and the problem cannot be completely solved. Although the Chinese in this era still have a superiority mentality towards European countries, there are also quite a few people who are completely out of touch. They buy European goods out of a curiosity rather than out of their real life needs. Therefore, the Ministry of Commerce was ordered to conduct an investigation to see which European goods are daily necessities for the Chinese people. In future economic exchanges It’s good to have a clear goal in mind.
Although Shang Yi is not an economics major, he also knows that in international import and export trade, it is better to have a surplus greater than a deficit than a deficit greater than a surplus, because a trade surplus also means having money. Earning money can increase fiscal revenue; while a trade deficit means losing money and a fiscal deficit.
However, the value of the import and export surplus is not that the bigger the better, or that it is always in surplus, but that it must be maintained within a certain time and limit, because a long-term trade surplus can easily cause friction with relevant trading partners. And trade is smooth. Once the limit is exceeded, a large foreign exchange surplus will result, which will usually lead to an increase in the amount of domestic currency invested in the domestic market, thus causing inflationary pressure, which is not conducive to the sustained and healthy development of the national economy.
In ancient China's foreign trade, it was basically a long-term trade surplus. There was almost no deficit, and the surplus ratio was extremely large. However, it did not trigger inflation. This is because the total volume of ancient China's foreign trade was all over the world. Small, the surplus income had little impact on the national economy. Although there were tense conflicts with Europe because of the trade surplus, in the 17th and 18th centuries, Europe had no way to deal with China and could only hold back secretly. This situation lasted until 1840, the beginning of the Sino-British Opium War.
The Opium War Chapter 2 West 46 Exchanges between the East and the West (4) The cause of the war was the British export of opium to China, and the reason why the British exported opium to China was because in the Sino-British trade at that time, the British were completely at a huge disadvantage With a trade deficit status, the trade deficit can only be filled by importing opium.
But now it's different. The Chinese Empire has completely banned all sea access, and strongly encourages trade with European countries. Now the annual trade volume has reached hundreds of millions of imperial silver dollars, more than ten times more than the Ming Dynasty, and the empire has always been in a state of decline. The absolute trade surplus status was due to domestic war needs in the past, but now that the country has been unified and major wars have basically ended, bilateral trade volume will continue to increase. If China remains at a high level of trade surplus for a long time, problems will arise sooner or later. Although Europe at this time cannot pose a threat to China, it is entirely possible to trigger inflation within China.
Therefore, now Shang Yi must also try his best to find ways to import some goods from Europe to keep his trade surplus within a reasonable level. Only in this way can the national economy continue to develop healthily. In addition, close ties and communication between China and foreign countries must be strengthened. , after Shang Yi, even if some people wanted to stop external exchanges and return to the old path of isolation, they couldn't.
Of course, modern economics has just begun in Europe, so the Chinese people still don’t understand the concepts of surplus, deficit, and inflation. Although some people can understand it literally, they don’t understand the authenticity of the period.
Doubtful, after all, there has never been real inflation in Chinese history. This
This is because in ancient China, land rent was basically implemented in kind rather than currency. Although prices often skyrocketed in Chinese history, this was not because the circulation of currency exceeded the supply of commodities, but because social production was under various pressures.
The destruction of these factors caused a situation in which supply exceeded demand, which led to rising prices.
But since Shang Yi said so, then just do it. Anyway, countless previous facts have proved that what Shang Yi said is basically correct. And in this situation, Shang Yi can do nothing but send
It is hoped that as the economy develops, relevant theoretical knowledge will gradually be produced.
But one thing is real. By this time, the cost of this trip to Europe has been basically recovered. If all the remaining goods are sold, there will still be a certain surplus, although the profit will not be much.
, but at least it is not a loss, and considering that this visit to Europe is not a purely commercial trip, but also has a large part of political goals in it, it is very rare.
A big reason why Zheng He's voyages to the West were stopped was that the cost of the voyage was too high and the country could not afford it. Although the scale of this visit to Europe was far smaller than any of Zheng He's voyages to the West, it still caused
If you can be self-sufficient and not spend a penny more from the national treasury, you can also effectively counter some people who think that this trip to Europe is a waste of the national treasury and is useless.
The European countries that visited China also brought some products to some extent. Therefore, at the request of each country, Shang Yi also set aside a place at the exhibition for each country to display and sell their own products. At the same time, it could also further examine the popularity of European products in China.
sales. At the same time, Shang Yi also set up a stage for countries to take turns to showcase their culture and art.
This time the exhibition also included the Great Market of All Nations, thus attracting more people to watch, just like a big temple fair.
Many people make special trips to watch performances from various countries. Although most people have no idea what the performances are about due to language barriers, they still attract Chinese people to drink. Because there are too few cultural and entertainment programs in this era.
Yes, it’s not easy to get a chance to watch a movie for free. Of course, it’s not wrong.
, it doesn’t matter what the performance is, as long as it is for fun. However, there were many people in Nanjing who knew foreign languages at this time, and missionaries and foreign mercenaries now almost knew Chinese, so in Nanjing
He acts as a translator in the audience and introduces the plot content to the audience for free. It is also popular among many people.
The exhibition lasted for more than two months. During this period, China also arranged many activities and held several exchange meetings for scholars from various missions. The overall quality of the European scholars who came to China this time was very good.
Gao, many of them are very well-known scholars in Europe. This is because they have communicated with Chinese scholars visiting Europe in Europe, but feel that this is not enough and they do not fully understand Chinese culture. After all, the level of Chinese scholars visiting Europe is relatively low.
Therefore, some people traveled thousands of miles to China to seek advice from high-level Chinese scholars.
The people who communicated with them this time were all well-known scholars in China, such as Huang Zongxi, Gu Yanwu, Wang Fuzhi, Fang Yizhi, Zhu Shunshui, Yan Yuan and others all participated in this exchange. Both sides were basically elite versus elite, and
Under the auspices of Shang Yi, China has translated many European books. Relatively speaking, Chinese scholars have a certain understanding of European thought and culture, so this exchange is of more practical significance than in Europe.
Although exchanges were quite limited due to translation issues, both sides felt that they benefited greatly. European scholars realized the breadth and depth of Eastern culture, and Chinese scholars also broadened their horizons, because at this time, Chinese thought also developed.
Reaching the highest point, people like Huang Zongxi, Gu Yanwu, Wang Fuzhi and others
Thoughts have reached the highest peak in ancient China, but due to the limitations of the times, they have never been able to break through the last step. Previously inspired by Shang Yi, now I have learned about concepts such as humanism and natural human rights from European scholars.
It also opened a new door for them to think and saw a broader world.
However, for both parties, they still felt that there was still more to be desired. After all, cultural and ideological exchanges between the East and the West could not be completed in a few meetings, and the level of translation was too backward, and they felt that they were falling behind. Therefore, some European scholars asked the imperial government
I applied, hoping to stay in the Empire for a long time, while studying Chinese and comprehensively studying Chinese culture, while further strengthening cultural exchanges between China and Europe.
For such a request, Shang Yi of course raised his hands in approval. Not only did he immediately issue an order to approve it, but he also arranged for a dedicated teacher to teach Han Chao to the European scholars who stayed in China, and gave them a certain living treatment, which at least ensured that they would have enough food and clothing.
After they learn Chinese, they can be given jobs such as foreign language teachers and translators.
Although the vast majority of people cannot truly fully understand the significance of this comprehensive exchange between the East and the West and the profound impact it has on the East and the West, generally speaking, all levels of Chinese society, academic circles, and public opinion have responded to this
Everyone in the sub-cultural exchange has a positive attitude, and they also praise Shang Yi for facilitating this exchange.
But where there is approval, there is also opposition. There are still some stubborn Chinese scholars who strongly oppose this kind of exchange. They still believe that China is the center of the world and the heaven is the supreme country. Except for China, all other overseas countries are barbarian lands.
They have no knowledge of education, no etiquette, and even no human language. Of course, in their eyes, except for Chinese, other languages are not human languages. Therefore, talking about the road of benevolence and righteousness with them is basically playing the harp to an ox. China is trying to stand up to them.
It should be a top-to-bottom exchange, not an equal exchange.
There are also some people who oppose purely out of opposition, because what Shang Yi did after he became emperor was not in line with the traditional Chinese sage kings, so it also aroused dissatisfaction among some people, who were dissatisfied with various policies of the empire.
Being dissatisfied, and because Shang Yi advocated free speech, he took this opportunity to criticize the exchange between the East and the West.
It became a sin to have colored hair.
Of course, these opposing voices are only a very small part, and Shang Yi does not take them to heart. This is also the inevitable negative impact of advocating freedom of speech. However, if there are multiple voices on anything, it is not necessarily a bad thing.