The journey was a tailwind, and when we arrived in Songjiang, it was time for European merchant ships to anchor here, waiting for the monsoon in January next year.

Flags of various colors were fluttered in the harbor, not in large numbers, the most conspicuous being two Swedish merchant ships.

It may be that most of the ships of other countries are traded in Guangdong or Fujian, where Wuyi tea and Jiangxi porcelain are all sought-after goods.

Those who come to Songjiang to trade mainly buy Songjiang cotton cloth.

Liu Yu estimated that it might be that the Swedish East India Company was aware of the treacherous clouds of war in Europe and was ready to take advantage of the opportunity of the war in Europe to smuggle on a large scale, so it increased the number of merchant ships?

The countries of Europe were basically mercantilist, and the goods of the Swedish East India Company could not be sold locally, but only to British, French, Dutch, and Western smugglers.

The British did not allow Matsue cloth at all, and there were extremely heavy tariffs on tea, which made smugglers rampant.

The Boston Tea Party, the landmark event of the American Revolution, was the result of the British lifting of reduced tariffs on tea, making a group of smugglers unprofitable. Because the East India Company's tea is cheaper than that of smugglers after the tariffs are removed, it can be said that Wuyi tea can be regarded as the fuse of American independence. The Swedes were unlucky and ill-fated, and the Gothenburg sank, otherwise they might not be able to get rid of the second-tier dealers of tea.

After observing the two Swedish ships, before the appearance of the tragic fate of the Gothenburg, the Swedish merchant ships were quite unrecognizable, and it was estimated that they were only seven or eight hundred tons, compared with the British and French and other large merchant ships of more than 1,000 tons, it still showed the poverty of a small country.

After observing the tonnage and weapons of the merchant ships here, Liu Yu took aim at a Dutch ship. It should also be that the East India Company did not upgrade its ships in order to save money, and its own fleet was enough to deal with such thin-skinned armed merchant ships at sea.

This time, I happened to talk to the Swedes about the return of the captured Renate and others, and at the same time we had to probe the bottom of the Dutch.

On the other side of the European merchant ship were a large number of local merchant ships from the north.

It is the autumn harvest season, and soybeans and other soybeans in Liaodong are in demand in the south of the Yangtze River. In addition to the demand for soy products, the soybean cake left over after oil extraction has also become fertilizer in the vegetable fields of the Jiangnan region, and it is said that the woad grown in this way is particularly fat.

It is said that it is Songjiang Customs, in fact, it should be said that it is Jiangsu Customs, and the jurisdiction is not known to be a Shanghai, as well as Liujiahe, Fushan Port, Renjiagang and other nearly 30 checkpoints on the sea or on the road.

The weakness of the sailors, the corruption of officials, and the smuggling of such things are distributed in more than 30 checkpoints, which can be imagined.

Soybeans from Liaodong, soybean cakes for fertilizer in Jiangnan vegetable fields, and wheat all need to be transshipped in Songjiang; Cane sugar, mahogany, spices, etc., from Fujian, Guangdong, and Nanyang are also subcontracted here; Cotton cloth and medicinal herbs needed for Western ships are loaded here.

Excluding the smuggling component, this customs office in Songjiang is still the busiest place in the entire Jiangsu customs.

I have long heard of the prosperity of the south of the Yangtze River, and I have heard of the scene of thousands of sails racing in Songjiang and other places, but hearing and seeing are different after all.

Before the ship docked, someone on the dock had already flown to report the news.

As early as more than half a month ago, they knew that Liu Yu was coming to Songjiang, the major shareholder of this trading company had never shown up, and they had never heard of it, and this time the big businessmen in Songjiang and other places regarded it as a big thing.

Soon, a group of people came to the dock, and the scene was quite grand.

When he arrived at the shore, the leader greeted Tian Ping, who was fat again, but he didn't wear an official uniform today, but wore an ordinary extravagant shirt.

Seeing Liu Yu, Tian Ping's face was also happy.

At the beginning, Liu Yu told him to prepare some capital to make a big deal, and he also bought 10,000 taels of shares in the Japanese trade, and the annual dividends were very large, and they were extremely stable.

Now he has been sent to Songjiang Customs to do a deputy position, which is a fat shortage.

Today, the people of the trading company came to greet him, and Tian Ping had an official status, so he naturally stood at the forefront.

walked over to Liu Yu, arched his hand and smiled: "I don't know if it's called Brother Shouchang?" Or is it a little lord? ”

"Get out!"

scolded, the two looked at each other and smiled, Lin Yunwen and other businessmen in the back knew that they had no official status, and they did not have such feelings, and they were about to bow down, Liu Yu said first: "Today I am only a shareholder of this trading company, and I am talking about business, not about official affairs." ”

Tell everyone not to see the officials, the great affection, these businessmen have added a little trust in their hearts, of course, the basis of this trust is the punctual distribution of dividends every year and the account book with clear accounts.

Lin Yunwen introduced all the businessmen who had heads and faces and were qualified to greet Liu Yu, even if Liu Yu said that he was talking about business and not talking about official affairs, these people still habitually bent over and made the posture of a subordinate.

On weekdays, they are all wealthy businessmen who shake one side, but at this time, they are like humble dogs, and this mentality can be reversed from time to time.

"Little sir, according to the news you sent last time, you have already summoned all the shareholders who have invested more than 1,000 taels. There are also some that do not have shares, but also have some money. I have asked someone to prepare the wine and food, and I also asked the little lord to move. ”

Liu Yu arched his hand and said: "It's not that I have a shelf, it's just that I want to take a turn in Songjiang first." This banquet will be arranged until the evening. I'll go around here first, and you'll take care of yourselves. ”

He didn't have much of a shelf, at least in the eyes of the merchants, but thinking that this was the youngest earl of Dashun who had been on the battlefield and cut people, he was also a little afraid in his heart.

Looking at Lin Yunwen, Lin Yunwen knew Liu Yu's temper, so he said: "In this case, the adult will go around first, and we will go and prepare first." The silver on the ship shall also be loaded and unloaded quickly, and it will be evening. ”

After the politeness, the merchants all left, leaving the people on Tian Ping's side.

After a slight turn on the dock, Tian Ping pointed to the hired man who was carrying Songjiang cloth to the merchant ship, and said something Western to Liu Yu.

"This Songjiang cloth, Westerners call it 'nankeen', Nanjing cloth."

Liu Yu also smiled: "It can be seen that Shanghai is still far behind Jinling." I don't have 'Nanjing', and even if there is, it should be Xiangyang. If this is counted, these Westerners are all remnants of the previous dynasty and shrewd for a hundred years. ”

Tian Ping also laughed, and after laughing, he said, "Call them anything, just buy the cloth here." I heard that those Westerners also have cotton cloth, but the quality is too poor. Guangdong homespun cloth is easy to fade, this Songjiang cloth is not only not easy to fade, some are like the canvas of Western ships so thick, can be a little wash on the soft fit. Although I don't wear cotton, I have learned a lot of tricks in the past few years. ”

"Hmm...... Matsue cloth is really good. ”

Liu Yu is quite confident in Songjiang's textile industry, and a hundred years after a comprehensive defeat. At this time, the only restriction on the development of Songjiang's textile industry is the policy of European countries that are not allowed to import and cotton output, and Dashun should set up the banner of free trade as soon as possible.

"By the way, a while ago I heard that the weavers here were calling for a break and asking the master to increase their wages? What's going on? ”

"It's fine. Add some wages, and you won't make a fuss. You say, what are these people making a fuss about? Westerners' ships have to catch the sea breeze, and if they miss the Westerners' goods, it will not be easy for me to do it. ”

The ass decides the head, and Tian Ping naturally expressed his opposition to the matter of Qi Xing's rest.

Liu Yu asked about the details of this strike again, and nodded secretly, seeing that these people already had a certain organizational ability.

Tian Ping talked about the customs again, and said that Liu Yu had told him about the customs reform before, and he couldn't help but complain for a while.

"This customs reform is really difficult. You said that some taxes should be added, saying that the tariffs of the current dynasty and even the tariffs of the previous dynasty were too low. However, this is not my sole decision. I have raised taxes here, but Fujian and Guangdong have not raised taxes, so aren't they all running over there? ”

Liu Yu smiled and said: "Brother Tian, give me a real deal, this tax is small, but there are a lot of bribes and benefits, right?" A little stuck in the neck, then the Westerners are not obedient tribute? ”

Tian Ping didn't feel embarrassed at all, everyone in the customs was like this, otherwise how could he say that this was a big fat shortage?

"Hey, there are a lot of things like paying tribute and bribes. It's all a convention, and I thought that Westerners didn't know what 'meaning and meaning' was, but I didn't think they would be clear. Brother Shouchang, it's not that I advise you, there are too many people to offend in the matter of reforming the customs. In fact, His Majesty is not unaware, but he just turns a blind eye, and it is impossible to manage it. ”

Liu Yu gritted his teeth and said: "If it has nothing to do with me, I naturally don't want to care." If the damn tax can't come up, the treasury will have no money. If there is no money in the treasury, how can the navy be built? ”

Tian Ping waved his hand and said, "It's difficult, it's difficult, it's difficult!" Even if you have heavy tariffs, what can you do? There are many ports and rivers, can you manage smuggling? Jiangsu Customs alone is eighteen sea gates, like a sieve. Patrol inspection, how do you patrol here? If you want me to say, it's better to make small profits but quick turnover. ”

Liu Yu was stunned and said curiously: "How can it be a small profit but quick turnover?" ”

"Hey, look at my mouth. That is to say, Westerners come to buy more merchant ships, even if the tariffs are not increased, is it not an increase in income? ”

Liu Yu shook his head, not very optimistic about this idea.

"Forget it, in the short term, it is impossible for Westerners to come to more ships. However, the Europa chaos has appeared, and I am afraid that the big war is imminent, and in a few years, not only will it not be more, but it will be less. ”

"It's hard to say, but you're right. If the customs want to be changed, several major customs must be changed together. Moreover, the navy must be built to be able to detect smuggling and patrol. ”

After carefully inquiring about Tian Ping's customs, Liu Yu also had a general understanding of the problems of Dashun Customs.

Indeed, almost incomprehensible.

There are no clippers, no steamboats, and it is pure nonsense to want to patrol such a long coastline.

If you want to solve it, it seems that it is still in the South Seas. As long as the Dutch captured a few points and jammed the Strait of Malacca and Sunda, the existing ship technology could be used to strictly investigate the tariffs on goods destined for Europe.

Otherwise, it will not be possible to raise taxes only on going to Europe. It's like Songjiang, the owner bought a boatload of silk and cotton, saying that he was going to Shandong, and he couldn't raise taxes on these goods. However, there is no way to manage the fact that they will go to the open sea to trade with the Europeans and evade tariffs. Merchants seek profit, and as long as there is a vacancy, they will be as sensitive as sharks that smell blood.

Either clippers and steamships were made to patrol the coast, or they occupied the control of the main roads in the Malacca and Sunda Straits for tax inspection.

Realistically, it's clear that the latter is simpler.