New Shun 1730

Not long after Duke Qi arrived in the Netherlands, he encountered a happy event.

He also witnessed with his own eyes what the Holy Roman Empire, which was "neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire", was.

They had just arrived in the Netherlands for more than half a month when they received news.

Britain and the Netherlands, in the absence of Austrian representatives, unilaterally signed a contract with Prussia, recognizing Prussia's sovereignty over Silesia.

Prussia responded by electing the Austrian Queen's husband, the Grand Duke of Tuscany in Italy, as the Holy Roman Emperor.

However, the subsequent direction of this happy event became interesting.

The Austrians were not satisfied. Even though France had invaded the Austrian Netherlands and even though the Hanoverian Queen announced that if the emperor continued to fight Prussia, she would cut off aid to the emperor, the Austrians still did not give up and continued to fight Prussia, vowing to defend Silesia to the death.

"Shou Chang is right. The conflict between Austria and France is decreasing, while the conflict between Prussia and Austria is increasing. In the future, Austria and France may stand together."

After understanding the situation here, Duke Qi sighed at Kang Budai who followed him back to Europe.

Kang Budai has no official status. He is Liu Yu's staff. This time, Duke Qi came to Europe to handle this important matter again, and he also needed someone to take care of him and give him advice, so he asked Kang Budai to temporarily become Duke Qi's personal staff in order to achieve his goal.

The group came to the Netherlands for a month, and no official personnel from the Netherlands came to contact them. However, there was no expulsion or anything like that. The Dashun group watched the excitement in Amsterdam.

Watching the chaotic financial market, watching the various performances of those who took revenge on society after failed investments, and also watching the vigorous anti-taxation riots that were erupting in the Netherlands.

Whether it was the chaos in the Netherlands or Austria's refusal to accept mediation and continue to fight with Prussia, it was good news for the Dashun group.

Kang Budai also agreed with the Duke of Qi's opinion. It seemed that once Silesia was ceded, the conflict between Prussia and Austria could no longer be resolved.

France was an outsider after all, and both Prussia and Austria were within the Holy Roman Empire. "Internal fighting" would always be more important than external war.

This was of great benefit to Liu Yu's plan for a great alliance.

With Prussia's withdrawal from the war, the conditions for Dashun to form an armed neutral alliance to engage in smuggling became more mature.

Dashun was the Celestial Empire in Asia.

But in Europe, if you want to get things done, you must consider the opinions of European powers.

In Asia, if Dashun said that this thing could not be done, other countries could not do it. In Europe, it was far worse.

The armed neutral alliance itself was to deal with Britain, so of course there was no need to consider Britain's opinions.

However, since Britain's opinions were not considered, France's opinions must be considered.

The Netherlands is now in complete chaos, and France feels that it has a great advantage. It is hard to say whether it will be too hard at that time.

However, if Prussia withdrew from the war again, France's situation would actually look ugly again. As long as Austria finds that it lacks the British and Dutch pounds and silver shields, it can't beat Prussia on its own and can only accept the cession of Silesia.

In this way, France will face a circle of enemies again. At that time, there will definitely be concessions on the issue of dealing with the Netherlands.

France is more likely to support the treaty proposed by Dashun: abolishing the Anglo-Dutch alliance, driving the Orange family into exile in Britain, the parliamentary faction coming to power, the Netherlands joining the armed neutrality alliance, and abolishing all Anglo-Dutch treaties.

Before Prussia withdraws from the war again, France may not accept the ideas proposed by Dashun.

France feels that it has a great advantage: its Chinese allies have destroyed the economy of the Netherlands, its Prussian allies have beaten the Austrians to death, and it has invaded the Austrian Netherlands. Who can resist the alliance of China, Prussia and France? With such a great advantage, how can it give the Netherlands such tolerant conditions?

Why not occupy the Austrian Netherlands, make the Netherlands a puppet state, let Britain give up the Electorate of Hanover, and support the pro-French Holy Roman Empire as emperor?

Therefore, the envoys led by Duke Qi did not make a formal proposal to France at the first time, but chose to wait.

When the war was really over and France found that it not only did not have such a big advantage, but might be surrounded by enemies, Dashun would mediate and expand its influence at the European Peace Conference.

Because Dashun really cheated France a lot.

First, Dashun opened the port to allow the British George Anson fleet to dock, which enabled Britain to win a great victory in Luzon. Although it seemed to have nothing to do with France, in the subsequent Indian War, George Anson's fleet could directly support India from Luzon, and Dashun's declaration of war on the Netherlands also made Britain not worry about Dashun's interference, which basically cheated France to lose its colonies in India.

Then there was the ginseng and sable fur trade reached by Liu Yu and France, which cheated France even more. France's navy is really not good, and its colonial policy is really bad. France didn't know its strategic goal. Should it go to northern Italy? To the Netherlands lowlands? To India? Or should we go to North America?

After Liu Yu did this, France was even more confused. The value of North America has greatly increased with the Sino-French trade of ginseng, sable fur and pearls. But France really can't beat Britain in North America.

And with the increase in trade value, Britain also became jealous and declared war on France in North America.

This makes France look like it is making great progress now... but in fact, it has been badly cheated.

As long as Prussia withdraws from the war, France will lose all its advantages. In future negotiations, it cannot put too much pressure on Britain and the Netherlands in exchange for the interests of India and North America.

Now, although Prussia has withdrawn from the war again, the Austrians are still not convinced and want to continue fighting on their own.

France has not yet seen that Liu Yu has dug a big pit for France, so it did not stop at this time.

Therefore, Duke Qi felt that it would take at least two or three years to live in the Netherlands for a long time to achieve the goal.

First, when there are no more surprises in the situation in Europe and all countries can no longer fight and have to sit down for negotiations, Dashun's peace proposal can be passed.

Second, this still requires a group of Dutch people on the Dashun side to return to the Netherlands, so that they can use their own personal experience to tell the Netherlands about Dashun's strength, and it is possible for the Dutch parliament to make up their minds.

As for now, just wait.

If the Dutch do not take the initiative to find them, they will not take the initiative to find the Dutch.

However, shortly after Britain and the Netherlands recognized Prussia's sovereignty over Silesia, a very Chinese invitation was sent to the residence of the Duke of Qi in very standard Chinese.

The guests were the business class of Amsterdam and some figures of the parliamentary faction.

This was not an official invitation, because the Netherlands was no longer in an era without a ruler. William IV was the official co-ruler of the seven provinces, and he was a lifelong ruler, and he could even be hereditary.

Except that he was not called the king or the Grand Duke of the Netherlands, he was basically no different from the king.

William IV had not yet come forward to invite, so those who came forward to invite were not considered official figures of the Netherlands. Even if there were mayors and speakers of Amsterdam, it was not an official banquet.

Given the status and diplomatic standards of the Duke of Qi, only William IV was qualified to host an official banquet. This was a basic diplomatic rule.

Looking at this invitation in a very Chinese style, Duke Qi couldn't help but laugh and said, "The Dutch have been doing business in the Celestial Empire since the previous dynasty. If they really want to, they can get such an invitation. But, when Shou Chang came last time, did the Dutch have such an invitation?"

Kang Budai laughed and said, "When the Whale Marquis came last time, he was full of murderous intent. Whether it was free trade or trade with a license, the Dutch would not give in. Although there was a banquet, the format was still Dutch style. Duke, it seems that the Dutch merchants can't sit still anymore."

Duke Qi also knew that he should listen to Kang Budai's advice on these messy things in Europe. He thought about it for a while and asked, "Zhongxian, what do you mean by the Dutch merchants?"

"Returning to the Duke, it's probably just a test. They also know that Nanyang is impossible to get back. But business still has to be done. Business is done with anyone, and I hope the Celestial Empire will be more tolerant."

Kang Budai felt that the Dutch were not stupid, and they certainly couldn't be so stupid as to think that they could get Southeast Asia back by inviting them to a meal.

Inviting dinner at this critical moment must be to test Dashun's attitude in the future.

Because of Dashun's previous attitude, it was not very friendly to Britain. But France, France is not capable of taking all the spice trade. French merchant ships are not enough to transport French goods, and they still need Dutch merchant ships.

Although the East India Company is completely finished this time, there is no definite news whether it will be dissolved in the future. However, the merchant class still hopes to seize the spice trade as a way to make money.

Duke Qi thought that this was probably the case. He threw the invitation on the table and said with a smile: "In this way, we can scare them today. So that Shouchang's future plan can be more easily realized."

…………

In a manor in Amsterdam, the seventeen gentlemen of the East India Company were anxiously waiting for the arrival of Duke Qi of Dashun.

The company is finished.

But they are not finished.

Because the East India Company, from the beginning, was a limited liability company.

This is an innovation that does not require board members to bear personal obligations and responsibilities for the company's debts.

With the arrival of the Dashun envoys, the East India Company spread the word that these issues could be resolved through negotiations with the Chinese.

In addition, the violent organs of the city of Amsterdam used administrative means to suppress the run, and finally stabilized the crazy investors and debt collectors outside.

However, this is only temporary.

If it were just investors, the entire financial market in the Netherlands would not have experienced such a big tsunami.

The capital of the East India Company has not changed much in recent years, and has basically stabilized at the original capital of about 8 million taels of silver, and has not issued additional shares.

There is no direct relationship between the original capital and the market value of the company. In order to protect the interests of shareholders, the East India Company does not raise shares or issue new shares whenever it is short of money.

Instead, it relies on issuing bonds.

The bond party has no equity, and those bonds are not stocks. They are just the money that the East India Company borrows normally, and the principal plus interest will be paid at that time. But it has nothing to do with dividends.

If we really talk about the market value of the East India Company, it must be far more than the original capital of 8 million taels. Not to mention a hundred times, there are ten times.

This can be seen from the bonds issued by the East India Company in recent years.

The bonds issued by the East India Company are now 12 times the original share capital. However, before Dashun went to Southeast Asia, no one had ever doubted the credibility of the East India Company, and its credibility was very, very high.

If you want, the D/E ratio can reach 20 or even 30, and the credit rating is still the highest level.

The current financial market is not so standardized.

The East India Company never borrowed money in the Netherlands, but only issued bonds. This is very clear. The East India Company never borrowed money in the Netherlands.

Borrowing money means borrowing from others, and issuing bonds means issuing bonds by yourself, and you can buy them or not.

The Netherlands 200 years ago was similar to Dashun. If you want to borrow money, the annual interest rate must be 20%. There was a time when the Netherlands could only borrow national debts at an annual interest rate of 30%.

However, the Netherlands is the birthplace of today's finance after all. They have developed the prototype of the rating system: as long as you pay back the money and interest on time, you can borrow a loan with a lower interest rate.

The Netherlands does not have formal national debt because there is no formal country of the Netherlands. The bonds issued by various provinces, cities, and East and West India Companies are also a kind of national debt in a sense.

From the annual interest rate of 30% 200 years ago, it has been declining all the way over the years, and has dropped to the lowest 4% 40 years ago.

This also made many people rush to buy the bonds issued by the East India Company. At least, it is better than buying 4% government bonds.

The stocks of the East India Company have been rising steadily, because the dividends have always remained at around 20%. This is already a very high rate of return in the Netherlands-why is the financial capital of the Netherlands keen to lend money to other countries? Why is France buying French government bonds when it is at war with the Netherlands? Why did they lend money to British factory owners even though they knew that the start of British handicrafts would squeeze the handicrafts of the Netherlands-because the interest rate in the Netherlands is too low.

Why is the interest rate in the Netherlands so low?

The Netherlands is different from Dashun. Dashun can buy land, which is definitely much better than buying government bonds.

The main reason is that the real industry in the Netherlands continues to decline.

Secondly, all the industries that make money are monopolized, such as the East India Company, the West India Company, tax farming, marine insurance industry, etc. Even if you have money, you can't get involved, and basically no new shares are issued.

Just like the East India Company, if it does not issue bonds but issues new shares, it will be sold out on the same day. However, the East India Company did not issue new shares, only bonds, and you could buy them if you wanted. Bonds are not shares, so you do not need to pay a super high annual interest rate of 20%, but an annual interest rate of about 5% based on your credit rating.

This is the fundamental reason why Dashun's voyage to Southeast Asia directly led to the financial turmoil in the Netherlands. To some extent, the bonds of the East India Company can also be regarded as a kind of national debt of the Netherlands. Dashun destroyed not only the East India Company, but also directly destroyed the Netherlands' ability to repay its "national debt".