New Shun 1730

After the meeting in the Bahamas, Thomas Hancock chose to go to Pennsylvania to visit some of his old friends.

At this time, he was already quite famous in the business circles throughout North America.

Not only because of his assets, but also because of his boldness and pioneering spirit in the atrocities of expelling the Acadians at the beginning of the war, he became a business idol-when other ship owners were still cautiously loading dozens of people on a ship, at most a hundred people, he decisively used the way of transporting slaves to load three or four hundred people on a ship, and threw seven or eight hundred people into the sea on the way, saving food costs, which symbolized a business spirit that dared to break the mold and take risks.

Philadelphia was the county town in the center of the thirteen states, and old Hancock needed to go there to meet with some merchants engaged in smuggling, tea, slaves and other trades to prepare for the feast of participating in the division of the East India Company's commodity franchise.

And his nephew, John Hancock, the first person in history to sign the declaration, returned to Boston with the merchant ship.

Hancock Company is like some noble estates or families with housekeepers at this time, or like companies in later generations with professional managers. Many details are handled by professionals.

Thomas Hancock wanted Hancock Jr. to take over his company. Of course, he needed to learn such details to prevent the people below, or professional managers, from cheating them to death and taking away their money.

But more importantly, he hoped that he would learn the business vision of actively contacting enemy countries for smuggling trade during the war.

North America at this time was such an era.

As long as the vast number of self-employed farmers and petty bourgeoisie seized the opportunity, they might be one step ahead and master more business resources and political resources. Because self-employed farmers and petty bourgeoisie are like potatoes in the field, one by one, it is easy to become a group of lost lambs without group consciousness, being directed by the shepherd's baton to run around, and misunderstand this behavior of following the baton of others as their own self-will.

The Hancock family was originally engaged in the "printing and newspaper industries".

In the era of paper and printing, whoever controls the printing industry can control public opinion. After all, when the great Minglian Rebellion was underway, they knew to print documents first, and they went to the royal-controlled printing house for printing, where the technology was good and the quality of the printed books was good.

Now little Hancock has a booklet like "A New Trade System Based on the People" professionally summarized by Dashun. It can certainly be printed, but before printing, John Hancock needs to ask some local prominent people.

Boston at this time was not big.

The population was just over 10,000, of course, referring to the people counted. Such a population in Dashun... It's hard to say that it's a big village, but it's just a township level.

This is a standard acquaintance society, an acquaintance community.

With a population of just over 10,000, it's easy to imagine the state of this town.

His second uncle is a veterinarian, and he is basically a celebrity in a town with a population of tens of thousands; his family sells tea; his family runs a printing factory; his family sells apples; his family has power and is engaged in smuggling; he is a doctor; his fried fish is delicious...

This is basically the situation.

Except for those truly invisible people, if you are a veterinarian here, you are considered a celebrity in society. Just like people in a big village, they may not know everyone in the village, but they definitely know the people in the village clinic.

The society in North America exists on the basis of such an acquaintance society and acquaintance community. Whether it is the countryside or the city at this time, after all, the big city has a population of tens of thousands... To put it bluntly, in a place with a population of tens of thousands, a group fight cannot be started. Call a group of people here and a group of people there, and you will find that they all know each other.

After handling the company's affairs, John Hancock walked along King Road to a pub he often visited.

This pub is not big.

But the sign is very unique.

Three bunches of gilded grapes hang at the door of the tavern, attracting passers-by. Even the name is vulgar, just called the Grape Bunch Tavern.

But just like some villages in northern China in later generations, there may be several small shops, but there must be a small shop, where many people squat every day to drink beer, play poker, or contact someone to help with work tomorrow. This is the case with acquaintances.

This is also the case with the Grape Bunch Tavern.

This is one of the three most famous social places in Boston at this time for "politics, gossip, contact, gambling, slave trading and political movements".

In addition to the Grape Bunch Tavern, the remaining two are the Boston Stock Exchange and the Crown Coffee and Tea House.

This tavern is not big, and it didn't even live to see the 19th century, but it is very famous in the history of the United States in later generations. Washington, Marquis Lafayette, General Stark, etc., all got drunk here.

When this tavern was opened, Li Zicheng was fighting for freedom and survival. It has been open for more than a hundred years. According to the British philosophy at that time, not paying taxes and grain is not a property right, but the word "freedom" is used to remove its vulgar smell of money.

At that time, the significance of the existence of this tavern was to facilitate people to "find slave labor in Boston."

It is still the same now.

People who bought and sold slaves would come here after their transactions, spend a few big coins and have a few drinks. If you are willing to spend more money, you can go through the corridor to the small house at the back, where you will have other services, but if you don't like black people, you will have to queue up.

This tavern, which became the best in Boston because of the slave trade, the most talked about word at this time was "freedom".

Talking too much about freedom.

So any contraband can be bought at the bar here.

The Madura wine, which does not pay customs duties, has the genuine "Vinho da Roda" logo on it. Although it is all smuggled goods, the tavern owner can always take out the legal tax receipts. The 25 barrels of tax on the receipts seem to be endless.

French brandy, which should not appear here, is also sold publicly in the name of "pirate goods".

Of course, more of it is the cheap rum produced locally. "Thanks" to the French brandy industry protection policy, French honey is more than half cheaper than honey from British sugarcane plantations, which has led to the rapid development of the rum industry here.

Conversations about slave trade, smuggling, and piracy, intertwined with philosophies such as freedom, patriotism, and rights, seemed to be harmonious, showing a magical picture.

In fact, Grape Bunch Tavern, as one of the three earliest public places in Boston, has become a gathering place for anti-British people after Massachusetts participated in the last ginseng war.

The last ginseng station in North America that broke out with the War of the Austrian Succession, Massachusetts was the most miserable state in North America.

At that time, when Liu Yu was harming Korean ginseng and purchasing North American ginseng and mink, the state government of Massachusetts issued a large amount of paper money, recruited militia, and participated in the ginseng war.

But the result was that the Indians who were provided with weapons by Dashun ambushed in the forest; the cruiser that was "leased" to France by Dashun and returned to the naval instructor at the same time won the victory in India.

In the end, the British East India Company told the group of people in Massachusetts in an undisputed manner: Stupid, I am the ruling class.

Britain exchanged the castles captured in North America for the castles captured by the French in India.

This eventually led to a significant devaluation of Massachusetts's paper money, because when the banknotes were issued, a group of big businessmen over-issued them, thinking that if they conquered the north in the future, they would have plenty of ginseng and sable furs. If they went to China, wouldn't they have a lot of silver? The over-issuance of currency at this time was anchored by the future ginseng and sable fur trade.

As a result, the British government loved the East India Company more, so how could the paper money not depreciate?

Today, Benjamin Franklin is fighting for these banknotes to be used for transactions in London. The Massachusetts people who were cheated by these banknotes were naturally dissatisfied with the British government.

Of course, not everyone was dissatisfied.

Those who still had this simple patriotic sentiment or confiscated those banknotes gathered at the Crown Coffee and Tea House at this time.

And those who were dissatisfied gathered at the Grape Bunch Tavern.

The three most famous "political centers" in Boston, the exchange was for business, and anyone could go there to make money; the Grape Bunch Tavern was anti-British; and the Crown Coffee and Tea House was pro-British.

When John Hancock walked into the tavern, he saw an acquaintance of his speaking there. He was his alumnus and classmate at Harvard.

However, in fact, whether it was the speaker or the listener, John Hancock basically knew everyone.

After all, this was a small town with a population of tens of thousands, and in such a small town, young people of similar age were unlikely to not know each other.

When they were young, they played marbles together, peed together, or pulled each other's hair.

For example, the one who was speaking there at this time was Joseph Warren, a Boston doctor and Hancock's alumnus at Harvard.

In later history, his name was forever recorded in the famous oil painting "Warren Died at the Battle of Bunker Hill", and he became one of the heroes who shaped the national identity and national collective consciousness of the United States.

For example, at this time, next to the election podium, ordering a glass of rum, the silversmith in the town, Paul Levi, was cheering.

In later history, his most famous deed was that he rode a horse to Lexington at night to tell the people there that the British army might take action, firing the first shot of the North American resistance.

The older gentleman who smiled and nodded next to him was the town tax collector, the best man in the town, Samuel Adams. Because as a tax collector, he neither collected taxes nor kept accounts.

In later history, he was called the father of the American Revolution. Because he made the greatest contribution to "commenting on the scriptures" and "interpreting the scriptures", and keenly discovered that the key to the problem was not how much tax Britain collected. He was the first master to erase the "tax" and use the scripture "freedom" instead - the key to the problem is not how much tax is collected. Don't talk about details, just ask if he can collect three pence today, then he can collect 3 million tomorrow. Once you talk about details, the debate will fail. It is necessary to replace clear property rights with broad freedom; to replace specific problems with abstract "crisis".