Nan Ming Sun Never Sets

Chapter 116 Trading in Guangzhou

Different from the perspective of many traversers, Bai Mingxiu has a very clear "global perspective". He has a clear understanding of how the country of Ming Dynasty develops, how it enters the next era, and how the Chinese nation should make progress and gain an advantageous living position. Very personal thoughts.

His request for external space is not simply a grand feat to open up territories, or to satisfy the desire of the traversers to make contributions, but to think about space and geopolitics from the earth's scale, and conduct research on resource allocation and national pattern development. .

So even though Bai Mingxiu only controlled two provinces strictly speaking, and the Manchu Qing Tartars still occupied most of the country's land, Bai Mingxiu's eyes had already set his sights on a wider area.China is a country with a vast territory and complex society, which is completely different from other countries in the world.It is the only super-large, single civilized country.In history, European colonists often only mobilized land and population equivalent to half a province in China, then sailed around the world, conquered everywhere, and established an industrial society in the local area.

However, Bai Mingxiu knew from the very beginning that even if he could only mobilize the power of one province, he could become an awesome world-class hegemonic power.Governing China has never been an easy task. Being able to bring a huge country to prosperity proves that this regime has its own unique features.

Bai Mingxiu knew that while constantly recovering the country and expelling the Tartars, Daming should also maintain a certain degree of extroversion.The foreign explorations and great voyages of Emperor Yongle have fully proved that Ming Dynasty has the ability to radiate its own ability.The voyages to the West during Zheng He's period were huge in scale, but equally profitable.Bai Mingxiu is very confident that some future economic concepts will guide trade actions, making Ming's foreign trade more profitable.

The Ming Empire will have a large enough colony in the future, but Bai Mingxiu is not interested in implementing Western-style conquest colonial rule with Christian cultural influence.On the one hand, Westerners claim to be God to spread the gospel, and on the other hand, they regard people in other regions as inferior and practice robber-like plunder.Bai Mingxiu, on the other hand, hopes to combine different colonies with the huge economy of Daming through economic power, making them a part of the economic industry chain, replacing violence and destruction with good governance and construction.

As a later generation of Chinese, Bai Mingxiu fully understands that complete infrastructure construction is conducive to promoting economic improvement, and harmonious social and ethnic relations are conducive to promoting productivity.

However, the Chinese don’t just know that peace is the most important thing and congratulations to make a fortune. The fellow travelers who are willing to share the honor and disgrace with Daming will naturally have endless benefits, and those who cause troubles for Daming should just leave at their own convenience.

The core of Bai Mingxiu's creation of the Ming world order is to promote the new Ming Dynasty tributary diplomacy system.It's just that, in his blueprint, some countries can't even get the status of tributary states, and can only be propaganda ministers.

Except for Bai Mingxiu himself, others still don't know the plan in his mind. For many people, Nanming lived in Guangdong and opened a port. It completely reversed the Qing government's sea ban policy and made many countries that covet trade with China happy. Crazy.

Davidston, who came from Britain, set foot on the land of Guangzhou Mansion with great joy.A few months ago, he had the honor to meet and have friendly exchanges with the Chinese crown prince, and obtained good conditions for trade between India and Burma. Although this route was not franchised and exclusive, the British East India Company was able to obtain various materials from Burma. and make a profit.

What surprised the British even more was that the powerful army led by the Chinese crown prince expelled the Tatars and restored the rule of Guangdong, a major trading province. merchant ships of other countries.

Because he helped the British Kingdom to open the Burmese trade route, Davidston has been promoted to the trade representative of the East India Company. This time he came to China, hoping to achieve greater achievements.

On the pier, Davidston graciously said to the officials of Daming Customs: "Dear Mr. Customs Officer, I had the honor to have an intimate exchange with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of your country, and obtained his permission to travel from Madras to Yangzhou. The trade of light. This time I came to Guangzhou personally, hoping to meet His Highness again and present him with gifts on behalf of the East India Company and England."

The customs official was an Australian, and he was accompanied by Yishui'er, an intern from the Imperial College.The customs official said calmly: "Your Excellency Davidston, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of our country is the head of state and is busy with official duties. Even if you have a relationship with him, it does not mean that you are qualified to meet him at will. This is diplomatic etiquette. ,Do you understand?"

Davidston did not expect that the Ming people would talk to him about these diplomatic etiquettes. He hurriedly said: "It was my recklessness. The British East India Company has sent people back to our capital, London, hoping to hand over to the country as quickly as possible. Book, to be able to formally establish diplomatic relations with your country. My actions this time are completely personal, please understand."

He said that he also prepared a small bag of gold for bribery, but the customs officer directly pushed him away and said: "I am a civil servant of the imperial court, and our Metropolitan Procuratorate strictly investigates officials' bribery and corruption. I can sue you, do you still want to do business in Guangzhou?"

Davidston did not expect that the bribery method, which is very effective in Europe, would not work in Guangzhou. He was very embarrassed, apologized one after another, and praised the integrity of this official.

The customs official waved his hand and said: "Our customs' responsibility is to supervise trade activities, collect tariffs, and prohibit illegal products and smuggling. As for your trade problems, the building on the west side of the port is the office of the Guangzhou Government Trade Development Bureau. Go there and talk about something."

Davidston also learned some Chinese behavior, thanked the customs officials, and clasped his fists together.Immediately afterwards, they came to the so-called Trade Development Bureau, which also wore clothes that were somewhat similar to Europeans but had more Chinese characteristics, not long gowns.

The officials of the Trade Development Bureau are the talents recruited by Bai Mingxiu from the system. Although they are the lowest grade E, they have no problem doing these jobs.

"Welcome to Guangzhou. Are you from the British East India Company? We, the Ming Dynasty, uphold the spirit of free trade and inclusiveness. You can rent local venues and send representatives after obtaining a license from the Guangzhou Municipal Government. If necessary To hire local employees, you must apply to the labor department of Guangzhou Government. If you want to sell or buy goods, our Trade Development Bureau can help you contact local businesses..."

Speaking of this, the eldest brother gave Davidston a pamphlet, all of which were in Chinese, and on the cover was "Manual of Foreign Business, Work and Life in the Guangzhou Mansion of the Ming Dynasty".

(End of this chapter)