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Silvio stealthily took a few silver coins from the Dutch sailors in his palm, and slowly boarded the Dutch merchant ship "Tessel Shoal", which had just been anchored, and began to inspect the cargo in the hold.

"The best Swedish copper, Polish lead, and English tin are all duty-free strategic materials. Well, Captain Coot, please go to the dock over there and wait for the unloading and formalities, I have to congratulate you on a good business, and now the market for these supplies is very good, and you have made a lot of money. Silvio inspected some of the crates and immediately smiled at a Dutch captain who was about 5o years old.

"God should give me some good luck." Captain Kuat's wrinkled face was tired of much, and perhaps the voyage had drained him too much energy, "My four ships laden with spices and cane sugar ran aground in the shallows near Tesser's Island, and then sank in a storm, and I went from a rich man to an unlucky man with countless debts. It took me ten years to pay off my debts, and now that I'm still fit to sail, I have to earn it back. ”

Captain Couay was an old friend of the East Coasters, who brought the first Calvinist immigrants from Switzerland, and is still remembered by many people on the East Coast. However, he was unlucky, since he made a fortune from reselling porcelain from the East Coast, Captain Kuayt first squandered money for a while, then bought four old ships (Amsterdam is the largest used ship market in the world), and after recruiting sailors, he started a triangular trade between the Netherlands, Dutch Brazil, and West Africa. It's just that this guy was so unlucky that he was reluctant to pay for expensive marine insurance, so after a misoperation and a storm, he went from being a rich man to a loser.

After spending ten years as a captain to pay off his debts, Captain Couayt regrouped. Once again, he rented an old ship and was ready to start his own business. At the same time, he was favored by fate, and a Dutch merchant who lived in Gothenburg decided not only to hand over the goods to him for transport, but also to make a profit on the condition that he could transport the metals to the east coast, from where he would bring back a shipload of wheat to the port of Nantes for delivery.

Captain Couay bravely accepted the task, and after a difficult three-and-a-half-month voyage, he finally arrived at the port of Rocha, which is now the largest trading port on the East Coast. Inside the wharf of Rocha Port. At this time, there were 14 ships moored in a sparse place, and 1o of them were flying the flag of the United Provinces, which seemed to say a lot.

Copper, lead and tin are strategic materials urgently needed on the East Coast, and they rank in the top 10 of the zero-tariff trade goods catalogue all year round. After the port's trade officials weighed the supplies, they happily issued a ticket for Captain Kuait to pick up the goods at the Rocha Bulk Trade Center. This is a barter ticket that can only be used in the port of Rocha. It states that the ticket holder can receive a certain amount of cargo, for example, Captain Kuayt needs to receive 200 tons of wheat - half of the maximum cargo of the "Tesser".

Of course, the metal and wheat that Captain Kuayt brought were not of equal value, so he could also receive a corresponding amount of East Coast Silver Dollars. However, only the stupidest person would return to Europe with a shipload of precious metals, and Captain Kuayter was certainly not stupid, so he decided to buy some standard metal farming tools and tools from the East Coast on the spot, and then return to Europe to sell. These are bestsellers in France and England, and local farmers or ranchers are happy to shell out for a good metal farm implement.

However, Captain Couayt wanted wheat above all else, after all, in this era, both Paris and Madrid were extremely short of food at this time. Not to mention the continuous civil war in England, the originally intermittent grain exports have long been stopped, and instead a large amount of grain needs to be imported from Poland. This has further exacerbated the food crisis in Europe. In Amsterdam, probably the world's largest grain market, grain has been running at a high level since it peaked almost seven or eight years ago.

At the same time, the price of wheat on the Udine Grain Exchange, benefiting from the bumper wheat harvest in Sicily and Akaria, has fallen sharply, but remains at 15 Venetian lira/100 litres, which is about 3o yuan/ton at the current exchange rate, which is roughly the same as the purchase price of the domestic government on the east coast. But just two years ago, food prices in the Udine market experienced significant fluctuations due to a failed wheat harvest in Sicily and a devastating flood in northern Italy. And more importantly. The so-called Udine grain market is completely forbidden by the Venetians, and this price can only be bought by the Affluence Office (grain reserve agency) in Venice, and not a grain of grain will go to the grain-starved North Sea and Western European countries.

At the same time, Madrid and Paris, two Latin powers, were experiencing a growing food crisis. Even though the Netherlands imported large quantities of Eastern European grain from Danzig and Arkhangelsk at low prices, it would still be difficult to fill the gap. Although this year's grain shortage is not as large as in previous years, and the price of wheat is no longer the sky-high price of 6o, 7o or even 8o yuan (converted into the east coast currency) (at this price, you still have to have a relationship to buy, and the black market price is even higher), but it still fluctuates in the range of 6o-65 yuan, and there is no downward trend in sight. Moreover, it is rumored that Poland, known as the breadbasket of Europe, is unstable and may have some riots, so now there is a sufficient reason for the price of grain in the Amsterdam market to rise.

Therefore, in such a situation, it is no wonder that all Dutch merchant ships coming to the east coast without exception did not give priority to wheat and even miscellaneous grains (sweet potatoes, potatoes, sorghum, corn), and only when they had no choice but to buy some textiles (which had high tariffs on the European market) and metal utensils (including pig iron and steel bars). Captain Couayt had a certificate from the Dutch West India Company, which was a key factor in his ability to sit on the profits, so he was qualified to receive two hundred tons of wheat at a price of 4o yuan per ton.

"It's a shame that we don't even have the right to price wheat!" In the Luoqia Bulk Trade Center, Director Han Gang accompanied Qiang Quansheng, director of the State Administration of Precious Metals, who came here to investigate, said depressedly: "Last year's purchase price was fifty or sixty yuan, and this year it has dropped to 4o yuan, which is really big enough." The Dutch West India Company, as our monopoly partner in wheat exports, explains that last year's grain was exported to the West Indies, where cash crops are grown, so the price is higher. This year, the export target is Europe, so the price is low, but this is just their own words, and we cannot effectively supervise the flow of wheat. ”

"Recently, the outflow of domestic silver has been too fast, material imports have soared, and the treasury of the Ministry of Finance is about to bottom out. Minister Nie greeted me to see if I could use the gold reserves stored in the No. 1 Prison of the Sixth Army, and by the end of September this year, I would go to the Ottoman Empire through Xinhua Port to 400,000 yuan in cash, and the silver ship would be shipped out in three months. And this year, due to the war, the centralized escort system was implemented, and the normal chain of funds was disrupted, and she was afraid that the Ministry of Finance's accounts would bottom out at that time, so she informed me in advance. Alas, to tell the truth, the current batch of gold is less than 200,000 yuan, and it was originally intended to be repaid to the merchants of La Plata. Now in this shape, the country's finances are in difficulty. ”

"Didn't you seize a lot of cash a while ago?" Han Gang asked first, but he quickly thought of something and smiled bitterly: "I almost forgot that the navy built a lot of auxiliary ships in one go, plus the extra pensions and bonuses due to the war, this money plus the proceeds from the auction, almost all of them were smashed in." Now the La Plata wheat that hasn't had time to sell can be exchanged for some money, right? ”

"Who's to say it isn't?" Qiang Quansheng took a copy of the document from the secretary behind him, flipped through it casually and said: "Last year, the government's fiscal revenue was about 2.28 million yuan, and the profits (trade income) handed over by its Chinese enterprises were about 2oo yuan, and it is worth mentioning that the trade income (including infrastructure services) of the Ottoman market has reached 1oo yuan, accounting for 5o%; grain export 1o million yuan; The income tax and business tax are 140,000 yuan, and the property tax is not properly collected, only 30,000 yuan; The tariff is even less, only a ridiculous 10,000 yuan. ”

"Sounds like a lot." Han Gang made a rare joke.

"The expenditure is even greater, and the fiscal surplus for the whole year last year was only 49,000 yuan." The wrinkles on Qiang Quansheng's face all stood up, and he said in a voice that gritted his teeth: "Most of last year was a peacetime period, and the annual military expenditure actually reached 1.328 million yuan, accounting for 58.2 percent of the government's fiscal revenue. The 6th Army and the 6th Army have raised 83oo soldiers, not to mention the 6th Army, the navy, a gold-swallowing monster, already has 41 large and small ships, with a total tonnage of nearly 18,800 tons, and the training is still so diligent, accounting for 63.4% of military expenditure! I can't imagine how this kind of system and this kind of military spending could be sustained without war. ”

"This year's foreign trade is definitely not as good as last year." Han Gang said in a very affirmative tone, "Although the navy has organized a centralized escort, it will still be greatly affected after all, and the decline in financial revenue is certain." However, military spending this year is bound to be more than last year, and it is estimated that it will be much more. After all, the navy is about to have a few auxiliary ships and frigates in service, and this financial expenditure must not fly into the sky. ”

"That's the problem!" Qiang Quansheng said with some irritation: "Now is the time for the whole country to unanimously carry out foreign wars, at this time, whoever jumps out and accuses the military budget of being too high is a national thief, worry!" In order to import war and production materials, the outflow of domestic silver is accelerating, and if you don't think about it, you may not be able to support it. ”

"So you're going to open up wheat exports?" Han Gang asked speculatively, "But in this case, domestic food may be tight." ”

"The best way to do this is obviously to end the war once and for all, but this is simply not possible." "And it's not cost-effective from an economic point of view." We have spent so much money to raise such an army armed to the teeth, is it just for the sake of watching? The annual military expenditure is so high, we have to get back some capital for us. However, it is certain that wheat exports will be liberalized, in order to ease the outflow of silver, in short, this matter will be slow. ”