"Acrosh (Hawaii), alias Sande Mast Branch (Sandwich), commonly known as Honolulu." - Qing, "Five Continents Illustrated Examination", author unknown.

This is the Qing Dynasty's record of Hawaii, which is famous for its specialty sandalwood, which was smashed directly into the price of cabbage in Guangzhou.

In the Ming and Qing dynasties, there was a great demand for sandalwood.

Britain ran a trade deficit year after year, and turned its attention not only to opium, but also to sandalwood in the South Seas. In order to supply sandalwood to the Chinese market and make huge profits, the colonists ran out of sandalwood in Southeast Asia.

So, the British remembered Hawaii, where sandalwood was everywhere!

The King of Hawaii realized the value of sandalwood and moved his capital directly to Honolulu, where the most sandalwood was used. By selling sandalwood, kings built palaces, enjoyed lavish lifestyles, bought firearms and warships, and even dreamed of unifying the Pacific.

The king forbade the commoners to mine the sandalwood, which was owned by the royal family, and gave 40% of the profits to the chiefs of the islands to encourage them to harvest the sandalwood.

Civilians and slaves from all the Hawaiian islands joined the tree cutting process, and those who did not cut down trees planted saplings, and the fields gradually became barren and eventually led to the Great Famine. The king felt that something was wrong and ordered the people to plant food again, but he died the following year.

A new king ascends the throne and, bewitched by the chiefs, once again harvests sandalwood. Eventually, the sandalwood on the island was cut down, the people starved to death, and the price plummeted due to the huge amount of logging and the oversupply.

The British merchant at the time described it this way: "Sandalwood is worthless in Canton, even if it is given to you for free, do not touch it." ”

Fortunately, with Zhao Han's opening of the sea, the price of sandalwood is neither high nor low, and you can make a small profit when you ship it back.

The most popular in the Chinese market is guanxiang, also known as agarwood, among which the best is called daughter incense. It is mostly produced in Liangguang and Hainan, especially in Dongguan as authentic. Of course, the price is also relatively cheapest.

Agarwood, sandalwood, and musk are even more expensive, at least they have to be used by a wealthy family.

The batch of sandalwood that Li Quan shipped back, due to the extremely low purchase cost, the profit is 1000%. The volume of goods was not much, and I did not make a lot of money, because the cargo hold was still loaded with American goods.

The cargo on board was mostly fur, and there was a large amount of cane sugar, and copper ingots were used to ballast the bilge.

In addition, it contained 30,000 taels of silver, and American merchants liked to pay their bills with silver.

At this time, the ratio of gold and silver in China has increased from 1:4 in the early Ming Dynasty to 1:10 year by year. On the American side, the ratio of gold and silver is 1:15.5, and you can arbitrage the difference between gold and silver, and many businessmen in the Philippines are doing this.

This behavior has led to a large inflow of silver, while gold continues to flow out of China.

The Datong court had nothing to do about it, because it was forbidden to use gold as currency, and the only legal tender was silver dollars and copper coins. Then China's gold can only be used for luxury goods, and domestic merchants are willing to exchange gold for silver.

As the maritime trade flourished, silver and copper ingots continued to be imported, and more and more merchants stopped burying silver in their cellars, and inflation was already occurring along the coast, which quickly spread along the rivers to the interior.

The price of rice in Nanjing has risen to 6 cents per catty, which has nothing to do with grain production, and is purely a currency depreciation.

This year's Nanjing rice price is very likely to rise to seven cents per catty!

The common people are complaining about this, and the workers in the factories are clamoring for a wage increase, and even the taxi fares for riding the sliding pole are also rising.

There are also ministers who suggested to Zhao Han that the salaries of officials should be raised?

The issue of the salaries of civil servants will not be discussed for the time being, and it will not be too late to raise them in a few years. The imperial court has already made a decision to issue gold coins from next year, when the legal tender value will be 1 gold yuan = 15 silver dollars, and 1 silver yuan = 800 copper coins. In doing so, it may be possible to reduce the outflow of gold, provided that private minting is severely cracked down.

Li Quan dispersed the goods in Manila, bought Nanyang goods, and shipped them all the way to Shanghai to sell. Even the silver and copper ingots on the ship were sold to the Datong Bank in Manila in exchange for silver dollar bills of exchange to be purchased in Shanghai, and the vacated cabins had to be loaded.

Arriving in Shanghai, Li Quan found that merchant ships were being auctioned here.

However, many maritime merchants could not pay the fines, the capital chain was broken, and they were forced to auction by the government.

Li Quan was overjoyed and won two ships in one go, and the size of the fleet was increased to eight large ships.

"Nirvana, take the Nirvana car! Where is Xianggong going, do you want to take a rich car? ”

"The rich car is not good, the butt is bumpy, the husband should sit on the sliding pole."

"The rich car doesn't bump the buttocks, it's very comfortable."

“……”

Li Quan was about to enter the city when he was surrounded by a group of drivers near the pier.

"What is a Fugui car?" Li Quan looked at it curiously.

Nirvana is a rickshaw!

Steam engines are becoming more and more versatile and have been used in steel smelting. First use the steam engine to fry the steel, and then use the steam engine to forge the steel, although there is no breakthrough in smelting technology, but the steel output has doubled exponentially.

This situation first appeared in Foshan.

Merchants in Jiangnan used steam engines to engage in textiles, and the textile industry in Guangdong was underdeveloped, so some people used steam engines to make steel. Manual frying of steel is time-consuming, laborious and laborious, and it is comfortable to replace it with a steam engine, and it is countless times better than manual steel when forging.

This led to the loss of many iron-smelting workers, and some workers simply went to sea to earn a living, which in turn stimulated the development of overseas territories.

With the increase in steel production, steel prices have been declining, and many tools have been replaced with steel products. For example, the rims, spokes, and wheels of the carriage (the axles were originally made of iron)!

More and more wealthy people are replacing the wheels of horse-drawn carriages with steel products and installing springs for shock absorption.

As for the tires, they have been changed to a lot of materials, and they are currently tentatively designated as sisal.

Rubber has not yet been used, but there are many species of sisal in the South Seas. It's corrosion-resistant, friction-resistant, and resilient, and can be used to make car tires, as well as conveyor belts for some steam engines.

The upgrading of the rich man's carriage has been transmitted to Suzhou and there has been a mutation.

A certain horse-drawn carriage craftsman created and invented the rickshaw and also applied for a patent with investment. At present, rickshaws are rapidly gaining popularity along the coast and are being named Fugui cars, and investors and inventors are busy fighting lawsuits all over the land because their knockoffs are everywhere.

Li Quan felt that this thing was very strange, so he smiled and pointed to one of them: "Then I'll take this rich car." ”

"Sit down!" The coachman smiled and swept away the dust.

The seat was covered with a layer of pigskin and padded with cotton cushions. As soon as Li Quan sat down, he felt his body sinking, but it was the shock absorbing spring that worked.

The coachman asked the location and ran in small steps.

The rest of the coachmen continued to squat there and wait for the guests, but the sedan chair driver who picked the sliding pole had an ugly face.

"I can't do this business, and I can't get a few customers a day."

"Go to Chen's car dealership to register, and when the next batch of rich cars arrives, let's change to be a coachman!"

"I've signed up for a long time, and I don't know when I'll be able to pull it up."

“……”

Li Quan felt that the Fugui car was quite comfortable, and the speed was much faster than that of a sliding rod, and the price was cheaper than renting a carriage. He asked, "This car is expensive, isn't it?" ”

"It's expensive, we can't afford it, it's all Chen's cars," the driver said as he ran, "There are only 20 rich cars in the whole of Shanghai." If you want to be a driver, you have to have someone to insure or shop for insurance, and you have to pay another insurance money. When you get a car, you have to pay a travel fee to the car dealer every month. ”

Li Quan asked, "Then how much can you earn?" ”

The coachman smiled and said, "After paying the fare, there is still a lot left." When there are many guests, you can earn seventy or eighty wen a day, and when there are few guests, you can also earn thirty-four wen a day, which is the money spread out after paying the travel fee. However, you have to pay for the tire change, and a tire will cost tens or hundreds of dollars, and it can be pulled for a month or two at most. When there are many customers, one tire has to be scrapped every month. ”

Li Quan carefully calculated, one tael of silver and eight hundred yuan. If the cost of tires is not counted, the monthly income of this coachman is between 1 tael and 3 taels of silver, which is almost catching up with the skilled female workers in the textile industry.

The monthly salary of an apprentice in Jiangnan is only three or four hundred yuan. Skilled workers, the monthly salary can reach one or two taels of silver. Senior workers have to start at least three taels, and in places where competition is fierce, they have to give four taels.

The price of rice in Shanghai is relatively high, which has risen to 10 cents per catty, but the people at the bottom can eat cheaper coarse grains.

As for the coastal areas of Guangdong and Fujian, although prices are also rising, the price of rice is declining. That was because Taiwan and Hainan were constantly developing, and the imperial court had included Vietnam in its pocket, and the rice in the three places was sold to Fujian and Guangdong provinces at low prices. Guangdong is next to Guangnan Province, and the price of rice in Guangzhou is only 5 yuan per catty.

In any case, as long as the small people in the market have a job, they can get by, and they can still keep savings.

The driver grinned and said, "Now these rich cars are all made in Suzhou, and the car dealer is also waiting for the new car to be built." In the future, more and more cars will be built, and the price will definitely come down, and I will save ten years of silver, maybe I can buy one myself. When the time comes, there is no need to pay the car dealership, and Ladora will earn it all by himself, and that day will be called a head. ”

"There is indeed a rush." Li Quan nodded.

The coachman pulled harder and harder: "It's still a good time, twenty years ago, tired and hungry." As long as you are willing to work hard these days, you can save money every month. The eldest of my sons is about to graduate from elementary school. If he can be admitted to the government-funded student, he will be allowed to go to middle school. If you can't pass the public scholarship exam, you will go to be an apprentice. If he can make money, his life will be better. ”

"Then you just wait to enjoy the blessings, haha." Li Quan also laughed.

But the coachman said, "I am blessed with a life, I can be free from illness and disaster, and I will be thankful that I can pull the cart until I am fifty years old." Thanks to Long Live Lord, we poor people can also work hard to make money, and we couldn't sell it at a good price if we wanted to sell our lives before. The neighbors all said that it would be good if the long-lived lord could really live for 10,000 years, but not if he was replaced by another emperor, he would be afraid all day long when he worked. ”

Li Quan sighed: "It's such a reason. ”

The better the life of the people, the fewer willing to go with him to the Americas. Even if life can't go on, Taiwan and Nanyang are the first choices, who would go to the broken places in the Americas?

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