C2458 Make money with money (1/2)
The power of commerce was incomparably strong. It was not something that a single person or country could suppress just because they wanted to. It could be said that the advancement of human civilization was greatly dependent on the power of commerce.
The essence of business was to communicate, to communicate with each other, to improve the quality of life on both sides of the trade, not to be a miser like Grandet, who would earn all the money of others and lose them all.
Once business fell into a situation where one side wanted to force the other side to death, the game would go awry. Not to mention whether there would be a war, this kind of one-sided hegemony was not something that could last long and was against the laws of the heavens.
Trade was an interactive human act. If you monopolized it all, then you would have no rival buyers. If the wealth was accumulated in your hands, then no one else would be able to conduct trade.
There are many reasons why China has closed its doors since ancient times. For security purposes, it has stabilized the hearts of the people and controlled the thoughts of the people... However, there was one thing that could not be overlooked, which was the arrogance in the hearts of the literati of the Emperor.
I am a great country, the center of the world, rich and self-sufficient, only you foreign devils beg my good goods, I have nothing to beg you to go to.
It was this arrogant mentality that allowed them to ignore the source of human civilization's development, which was business.
The excessive power of the Central Plains' economies made the rulers have the mentality of eating by themselves. They wanted to do hegemonic business, always wanting to earn all the money in the world, but they couldn't. Do you think yourself to be a Pi Xiu?
The idea of a closed country was actually a relative concept. Since ancient times, China had never had a strict concept of a locked country. During the most severe period of seclusion in the Ming and Qing dynasties, Europeans could also buy Chinese porcelain, silk and tea.
The Kang Xi dryad did not close Guangzhou's Thirteen Rows even in the end, so how did the legend of sealing the country come about?
In fact, China's rulers were not in seclusion, they were just greedy. They themselves did not respect the business world and always wanted to be the one to take the lion's share of the profits in this trading game.
It was always exports without any imports, which resulted in a serious trade deficit. The gold and silver currency flowed back to China and the end result was war.
At the end of the day, the outbreak of war was caused by an economic problem, and 90% of the economic problem was caused by trade.
Xiao Letian looked at the confused Zai Chun and laughed, ”Now do you understand why I want to drag Duke of Newcastle into this? Didn't you all feel sorry for this small amount of shares? ”
”That's the problem, because the profits from this transaction are just too great. One hundred twenty thousand pounds a day worth of running water will never be less than one hundred thousand pounds a day even if it stabilizes in the future …”
”Such a huge amount of money, do I have to take all of it myself? Do you think England will let me take away the thirty or forty million pounds a year? ”
”How did the Opium War happen? Isn't the problem worth thinking about here? ”
If you want to make money for the longest time, you have to consider all kinds of benefits. If we pull the Duke of Newcastle into our group, he can pull the entire British aristocracy into our group.
”This way, we will become one with the entire British aristocracy circle. Both will prosper, and both will suffer losses at the same time. Only then will they allow me to live in peace for one year at a time, and not think of all ways to kill me!”