When Frost and Aros returned to the inn, Frost already believed that the East India Company's trade with China would be promising. Pen Fun Pavilion www.biquge.info Compared with the pedantic and rigid Qing people, the Tang people are easier to do business. It's just that the Tang people are sometimes far more shrewd than the British in business, which makes Frost feel a little crisis. In addition, however, they were able to purchase more goods from the local area.

The two had dinner at the hotel, where they served fried steak with black pepper sauce, pasta as a staple and tomato fish and broccoli as a side dish. This method of steak cooking is not familiar to the British, because this method of steak frying comes more from the contributions of later generations of Americans. When it comes to the British diet, it's fish and chips forever.

Frost felt that the taste of the dish was very good for his taste, and he was very pleased with the fact that the inn restaurant had prepared knives and forks. When they came to China to do business before, they used the ship's chef to buy fresh ingredients from the local area, and the chef on the ship was obviously not very good.

Frost smiled: "At least in the future, when we come to China to do business, it will no longer be a particularly painful thing." ”

Yaros wiped his mouth with the sauce with a napkin and smiled, "That's true, sir." ”

The two got up and left the restaurant, and Frost, satisfied, even dropped a few dime coins as a tip. The common currency in the Shanghai Special Economic Zone is no longer silver taels, but has become Tang Yuan, and for an ordinary adaptation, a dime can cover their food expenses for two or three days.

Although the British merchants were very reluctant to exchange their real money for Tang banknotes, they were told that when they left, they could exchange Tang Yuan banknotes for pound sterling gold and silver coins, or even direct gold and silver bullion. And the British naturally find it very convenient to use paper money to spend.

On the way upstairs, Frost ran into Wilson, the captain of their merchant ship.

"Two gentlemen." Wilson greeted them with a large bag.

Frost smiled and asked, "Mr. Captain." It looks like you've gained a lot of things. It's so late, are the shops in Shanghai still open? ”

Wilson replied excitedly, "You must have seen the street lights outside, the night here is like daytime, people are used to continuing to live and work, and the shops are open until after eight o'clock in the evening." Isn't that convenient? ”

Wilson was not able to travel with Frost during the day, as he had to deal with the entry of merchant ships and the loading and unloading of goods, and it was only in the evening that he was freed to wander around and shop.

Freightt nodded, and then asked, "Mr. Captain, what did you buy?" ”

Captain Wilson opened the package and said, "Some miscellaneous things, some are for the children of the family, and some are for gifts. ”

He casually took a flashlight out of his package and turned on the switch. A little ostentatiously dangling, said: "What's the matter, this is called a flashlight, and the street lamps outside are used to emit light, the Tang people are really powerful, they actually use the thunder and lightning in the sky as an energy source, and put it in such a small battery, in a place where the light on the ship is not good." This is better than a kerosene lamp and doesn't start a fire. It's a bit expensive, but it's good, isn't it? ”

Aros said to Frost's side, "Sir, this is a great thing, and if it is sent to London to be sold, it will sell well." Although Congress and the government have restricted the import of many goods into Britain, goods such as flashlights and cement have been restricted. We simply don't have specific standards and requirements, let alone tax rates. The point is, England can't produce these things. As long as there is no prohibition, we can take it back and sell it. ”

"England doesn't produce it, but the tax rate is very high," Frost said. There is also Chinese tea. ”

After entering the eighteenth century, tea completely conquered Britain and became an indispensable consumer product in British life, and the tariff rate of tea in Britain was also high and scary, at this time the import tariff on British tea was as high as 119%, which naturally led to a large number of smuggling.

"No matter how excessive the tax rate label will be given to these Datang goods in the future, at least when we first introduced them, they were very profitable, didn't we?" ”

Frost did not deny this, saying, "But the trouble is that we do not have enough money to eat a large quantity of trade goods, and we have come mainly to buy tea and silk, which will fill our hold, and we will not be able to buy much." ”

Wilson interjected, "Why don't you all scrape together some money?" ”

Frost said helplessly: "Even if everyone comes up with private money, how much can it have." ”

"Mr. Frost," he asked, "I saw a commercial bank in the street this afternoon, and a financial institution like a bank always lends money. ”

Frost's eyes lit up and said, "Borrow money from the Tang people's bank?" It's a good idea, it's like buying them on credit. But you also know that our relationship between Britain and the Tang Republic is not very good, will they lend it to us? ”

"Maybe we can put something on the mortgage," Arros said. ”

The next day, Frost and Yaros went to the Datang Bank of Shanghai and asked for a loan from the bank, along with a mortgage on the land.

The bank's manager, Ye Junyi, personally received the British, and the father of this manager Ye was Ye Baozao, the minister of finance of the Tang Dynasty and the former governor of the central bank. The Ye family is a traditional Jiangnan chaebol, and they ran a money village before the crossing, although the financial industry is under the control of the state after the crossing, but the Ye family is also like jade in this system.

"Land mortgage in Pune?" Ye Junyi glanced at it and threw this thing on the table.

He looked at Frost and said in a standard London accent with a serious face: "Gentlemen, although I have heard that some merchants in your country will do business by illegal means, I have always been convinced that a well-bred English gentleman would not do that. And in our country, business integrity is also a very important thing, and the dishonest cannot gain a foothold in society. ”

Frost was a little anxious and said, "Mr. Ye, do you doubt us?" No, this mortgage is genuine, and I can guarantee its authenticity in my capacity as a director of the East India Company. ”

Ye Jungong said: "Mr. Frost, don't treat us Tang people as Kaizi who are easy to deceive. We know exactly what is happening in the world, and we are different from the Qing people in that we believe what you say. Britain and France are at war in India, Pune, the capital of the Maratha Empire, is now under the full control of the French, and you British have suffered too many defeats on the west coast of India, and now you are ready to make peace with the French and recognize French suzerainty over Maratha. Moreover, I also know that the next step of your East India Company will be to focus on Mysore, in order to make up for your losses in northwestern India, and also to control the development of the French in India. Maybe the mortgage you issued is indeed valid, but is it a sincere practice to open a land that does not belong to you? ”

Frost and Yaros's faces were red, they had negotiated this method last night, thinking that they could fool the past, but they didn't expect the Tang people to know everything about what happened in India.

Ye Jungong said again: "Even if you issue a mortgage from Chennai or Kolkata, we will not admit it." Because we don't think we'll be able to recover the collateral if you default, these things don't work. ”

Frost finally said: "I'm very sorry, Mr. Ye, although we don't actually control Pune, but the East India Company has a claim to Pune. Now that we are in business, the East India Company wants to be able to get a sum of cash that can be used to purchase goods from your country, which is good for both of us, and I hope you will be able to accommodate it. ”

Ye Jungong pretended to groan and said, "The East India Company is a large commercial entity, and its credit is trustworthy, but as our first financial attempt, we will not lend you too much. The annual interest rate of the loan of 20,000 Tang Yuan is 3%, because this is an unsecured loan. Of course, although we have no collateral, if the East India Company still wants to do business in China, then if you do not repay the principal and interest on time, then the Bank of Shanghai will apply to the SAR court for compulsory repayment. In other words, if the East India Company merchant ships come to Shanghai and Hong Kong, we will seize them, and after the goods are auctioned, we will compensate our bank, and if the value of the goods is not enough, we will auction the cargo ships again. And in the meantime our country is likely to suspend all trade with Great Britain in the Far East, and you will not be able to buy a tea tael and a horse of silk in China. ”

Frost shuddered, the Tang controlled China's foreign maritime trade, which was equivalent to completely choking the upstream supply of tea and silk to Britain. And when they don't want to sell, the British are in trouble. Tea alone, whose import tax once accounted for one-tenth of Britain's revenue. For the sake of 20,000 Tang Yuan, Frost could not afford to cut off such a large trade.

But in the end, Ye Jungong still gave him another sweet date: "I heard that your cargo volume is not enough, so let's do it, we can help you contact Datang's shipping company and help you transport the goods to India." ”

Frost immediately rejoiced and asked, "Is it your steamship?" ”

Ye Jungong nodded and said: "Our Datang Shipping Company is a steamship that goes to sea trade, with a speed of about 12-14 knots, you can pay a part of the deposit, and then settle the ship fare after arriving in India." ”

For a moment, Frost thought of India and not returning it to the Tang people. But thinking that the Tang people still grasped the source of tea and silk, they could only decline the Tang Dynasty. (To be continued.) )