1890 King of Southeast Asia

"Let's talk about the progress of the plan first. You only asked me to delay the Japanese army for more than six months, and didn't say more." After repeatedly fighting for Guinea Island to no avail, Liu Yiming could only put it aside temporarily.

"At present, most of the bonds in Japan have been purchased or suppressed. In four months, the yen has appreciated by 6%. Japanese government bonds have been cold. American silk weaving companies have reduced the purchase volume of raw silk, and France has reduced the export price of raw silk. It is basically a comprehensive blockade."

"Japanese food prices have risen by 26% year-on-year. It's really unbelievable that there was no riot. By the way, Nanhua has recently raised the price of silver. A lot of your silver is purchased from Japan." Cyril said playfully.

"The most important thing for Japan is the export of textiles and raw silk. Textiles are mainly exported to die. Can Britain block it?" Liu Yiming said after thinking about it, ignoring Cyril's eyes.

Is there any problem with who owns the silver? Precious metals, industrial raw materials, not to mention that the price of silver was deliberately raised by Liu Yiming, preparing to pay off the debt in one go.

If the Qing Dynasty is defeated again, the price of silver will definitely fall sharply. The direction of history has changed. Liu Yiming is not sure when the war will happen, but Japan will definitely be a mad dog at that time, and Britain wants to lead it to the mainland. War is inevitable.

"It's not easy. Their quality is not good, and the price is too low. British merchants disdain to sell such products." Cyril knew why Japanese goods could create a market and said directly.

"Nanhua can take out one million tons of grain to impact Japan's grain exports and even its domestic market." Liu Yiming hopes to drag Britain into the water.

"Japan has grain exports?" Cyril's impression is that Japan has always been a grain importing country.

"Yes, hundreds of thousands of stones of refined rice are exported every year to offset the difference between imports and exports. Stone is a unit of measurement, I forgot the ratio." Liu Yiming didn't care about this.

"What can this do?" Cyril didn't understand, one million tons, dumping at a low price, what if someone eats it up?

"It's already October, and everything will start in November. The grain purchase season has long passed, and Japan has already purchased all the grain this year."

"If India and South China mobilize grain and dump it across the board, then Japan will face two problems."

Liu Yiming held up two fingers.

"First, the government will pay for it and eat up this batch of grain. But the Japanese government's money is all used for war, including the newly ordered warships."

After Liu Yiming said this, Cyril looked a little unnatural.

"Second, the government organizes and the private sector pays for it, but how much can they eat?"

"South China still has two million tons of inventory that can be mobilized, as well as strategic reserves. If India is added, he will not be able to eat it at all."

"And because a large amount of funds are occupied, the reaction of the entire financial system will become extremely slow." Charles added.

"I'm not familiar with this, but the worst result is that Japan eats up this grain, and a large amount of funds will be withdrawn. At that time, it will sell the yen and cause financial panic. It should be easy, right?"

Liu Yiming smiled evilly and played with the teacup.

"India can withdraw two million tons of grain, but how can we ensure that Japan does not use tariffs for protection?" Cyril wondered about this, because Japan has its own tariffs and can use 1000% tariffs for protection.

"It's very simple, we do this..." Liu Yiming became more and more excited as he spoke, and Cyril became more and more excited as he listened.

Except for Charles, who listened halfway and began to wonder if he had offended Liu Yiming. At the same time, he thought that Liu Yiming seemed to like gems and was ready to get some more.

...

On November 6, several Japanese ports suddenly received a few thousand tons and tens of thousands of tons of grain, totaling more than 100,000 tons.

Japanese merchants initially ate it, but on November 12, more and more grain entered Japan, totaling more than 400,000 tons.

"What happened? Where did this batch of grain come from?" Hirokawa Taichiro, the largest grain merchant in Tokyo, was furious.

More than 100,000 tons of grain have been delivered, and in order to stabilize the price of grain, the grain merchants have invested all their remaining funds.

Because grain is still entering the port, it is inevitable that small merchants will start to reduce the price of grain in order to quickly collect funds.

"It has been checked out. They are all from the Qing Dynasty. It is said that an official named Sun Yanshan, but he is an official of the Beiyang Trade Office, so it should be Li Hongzhang!" said another big grain merchant.

"The prime minister is thin in the world. The Qing Dynasty itself has not solved the problem of food and clothing. How can it export? It must be shameless plunder!"

"Enough, let's discuss it. This will definitely not work!" Hirokawa Taichiro interrupted the conversation of these people.

"There are already many vendors buying rice at the dock and then selling it. Their price is 20% lower than ours. In the past few days, many grain stores have had to reduce their prices."

"Damn it!"

"We..." Hirokawa Taichiro looked at the angry grain merchants and started to discuss the plan.

...

On October 13, the police blocked the grain and seized the grain transport ship on the pretext that the grain was poisonous.

"Huh! Fight with me?" Hirokawa Taichiro is now watching the police seal the warehouse not far away, and he is very proud.

"In order to maintain national order, from now on, the Japanese government will impose a 20% tariff on grain imports..."

When the new grain ship arrived, the influence of grain merchants had already been reflected.

"Your Excellency, we cannot understand and accept your meaningless and sudden increase in tariffs. Please consider it carefully." Lord Li stood on the side of Nanhua under the huge profit.

This is his private property. He bought hundreds of thousands of stones of grain from Nanhua at a low price and sold more than half of it. He has already made a profit. Nanhua is giving a 50% discount!

"This is in the interests of Japan. Your condemnation is unreasonable." The minister was confused. When did Lord Li take care of this matter?

"That's sad. By the way, the Qing Dynasty will impose a 20% import and export tariff on these items. This is in the interests of the Qing Dynasty. I hope you can understand." Lord Li threw out a list.

"I think this matter can be considered! Lord Li, Lord Li?" The minister looked at Lord Li who was leaving, and wanted to cry but had no tears.

The customs was controlled by the British. How could tariffs be imposed? Britain enjoyed unilateral most-favored-nation treatment, and imports and exports were not restricted by this.

On November 20, the customs officially implemented this order. The sales of British goods suddenly improved, so that Britain later raised tariffs for a long time. The Qing Dynasty also benefited from this, and its income increased.

And the impact on exports was not great! After all, the only place cheaper than this was India, but India was a British private land.

"Those merchants are traitors! They only want to make money, not to eat for us! The rice is at the port, but it can't come in because of the merchants' obstruction! The front line is still fighting, and it is said that there has been a shortage of food for a long time, but they..."

Various rumors spread in Japan, and Japan was like sitting on the crater of a volcano, and the highest level of Japan obviously noticed it.

"Factories are complaining about the lack of raw materials, people are protesting against the high price of food, and exports are completely blocked. The whole of Japan is in turmoil..."

"Enough, it is obvious that someone is manipulating it." Ito interrupted the spokesman.

"It's Nanhua! They have a lot of food, they have motivation, and Li Hongzhang is also on good terms with them!" Yamamoto Gonbei, if Borneo, knows how the natives there grow a lot of food.

"The problem now is that the factory is about to stop production, but the products can't be sold. With a 20% tariff, our cotton yarn is no longer attractive compared to competitors." The official of the Ministry of Finance said angrily.

The Japanese economy is on the verge of collapse, and he will definitely be the first to commit seppuku when the time comes.

"If the tariffs are stopped, the food that concerns the country will be manipulated by others." Oyama Iwao interrupted.

"Another fleet has arrived at the port, selling food at 80% of the market price." The meeting was not over yet, and a person ran in in a panic.

The British made a lot of money at this price, and Nanhua still made some money. First of all, the price of food in Japan is high, and secondly, the unified action has a lower cost. The most important thing is that Nanhua's food cost is low, and the British's is even lower, mainly due to administrative costs.

"Can't wait! Issue an order!" Oyama Iwao broke the silence.

"Unify the grain merchants, the government will take the lead, and lower the price of food." Ito made the decision.

After all, the grain merchants are backed by big capital and big nobles, and they are more or less related to the people on the field, so the grain merchants who should have taken action long ago have not taken action.

In the last week of November, the price of food in Japan fell by 48%, and the grain merchants could no longer bear it. This is already a huge loss.

"Sir, if this goes on, we will go bankrupt..." Taichiro Hirokawa came to a residence and said to its owner.

"I know, I will deal with it soon." Only the voice was heard, but the person was not seen.

...

"His Majesty the Emperor hopes that his people can have enough food." A simple sentence cut the final blow to Japan.

December 1st, Japan's routine meeting.

"His Majesty the Emperor has expressed dissatisfaction." Ito knew that this prime minister was going to step down again.

"Is it the Prince?" Many people present knew who the largest grain trader was.

"Okay! It has nothing to do with this. The price of grain has reached this level, and government purchases are also profitable!" Ito interrupted the possible topic.

Everyone knows that purchase is the best choice, anyway, it is not expensive, but the problem now is that Japan has entered the war. Even if the intensity is not high, fortunately the yen has appreciated, the market's trust has increased, and no one will notice if some more grain is printed.

"That's it, buy as much as you can! Maintain the price..."

At this time, there were a total of 300,000 tons of grain in major ports in Japan, and with the ones that had been purchased, it was almost one million tons.

The large outflow of yen did not cause much loss. When the yen was printed at full speed, the yen appreciated by 1%.

Ito was still praying that there would be no more.

...

"What's wrong? You are not in a good mood?" Miyazaki Natsumi said to her husband.

"Private Marseille! Natsumi, I lost my job..." Miyazaki Mitsuhei looked frustrated.

"What? What happened?" This is a big deal. A man lost his source of income. This is a devastating blow! Fortunately, the price of rice has dropped.

"The factory where I work went bankrupt..." Miyazaki Mitsuhei sat down and said dejectedly.

"How could this happen? I remember that the factory's performance was very good this year!" His wife's inquiry made Miyazaki Mitsuhei even more confused.

"The factory can't sell its products, and the price of raw materials has risen. In fact, some employees were laid off last month. This month, the factory can't pay wages. Today, it officially went bankrupt." Miyazaki Kohei seemed to be discussing something insignificant.

"Even if it's bankrupt, it shouldn't be so fast?" His wife asked in confusion.

"The boss also has a grain industry. It was originally a cycle and maintained normal. It has been good in recent years. However, this year's sudden grain price collapse, the boss was required to purchase uniformly, and the capital chain was broken..." Miyazaki Mitsuhei said something that his wife could not understand.

"It turns out that the grain price is very low, which is not a good thing?" The wife murmured to herself...

Similar situations often occur in Japan. Many people mention that Japan is a small family workshop with precision production.

In fact, Japan is controlled by the chaebols, and the grain merchants are closely related to them, or even directly to them.

They still have many industries, but all the funds are pressed on grain. Although the government is purchasing grain, it mainly purchases the newly arrived grain.

Some people may ask, is Japan so fragile?

First of all, it is already October, and Japan's gap this year has long been completed by imports, which is completely extra.

Just like a person who can only eat one bowl, if you stuff two bowls, then you will definitely be full, and those with poor physical fitness may even get sick.

"How much is it already?" On December 10, Liu Yiming looked at the warehouse that was getting thinner and thinner, and asked sadly.

This is how Chinese people are. When the granaries are gradually emptied, even if they know that they have been sold, they will definitely feel uncomfortable.

However, what is more peculiar is that Liu Yiming has been prepared for a huge loss, but after deducting the tariffs and the price reduction, the expected income has increased!

Even if the offshore price is cheaper, it also indirectly shows how high the grain price in Japan is.

The normal grain price in Japan is 5 times the price of die-clearance, plus the previous 26% increase, which is an increase based on 5 times.

So the sales volume is even higher, but the profit is lower, because transportation costs money.

"We sold 600,000 tons, and the British are about the same."

"Go on, keep the yen first."

The reason for keeping the yen is to appreciate the yen, and then sell part of it and run part of it. At this time, the currency can be directly exchanged for precious metals!

The UK does the same, and has mobilized a lot of brand new pounds to prepare for the bottom... Oh no, to help Japan stabilize its finances.

...

"Since November last year, two million tons of grain have entered our country. If this continues, the government will have no money except for special funds." The first surprise of the Ministry of Finance in the new year, the government has no money!

"We were wrong. We shouldn't have stopped it from the beginning. We should have lowered the price of grain. We would have suffered a small loss at most. Now the arrow is on the string and has to be shot." Ito said frustratedly.

"Agree to make peace with Nanhua. Any price is fine. Use special funds. No more printing. Stabilize the financial system. I will bear all the responsibilities. That's it!" Ito left the meeting...