After pondering for a while, Liu Dapao finished his meal with them, saw off the guests and went downstairs.

Of course, this was not because the guests downstairs helped him pay the bill. Although their party spent a lot of money eating and drinking in Fanlou, money is really just a number to him, the richest man in the Zhou Dynasty.

It's meaningless. He racks his brains every day on how to spend the money. There are so many people in the world who want to curry favor with him. If he can just get a chance to meet them by helping to settle the bill, then he can't be considered a top big shot.

The reason why he came down was because he had probably guessed who the guest downstairs was, and the term Maritime Silk Road should have come from his own mouth.

Sure enough, when he entered the private room downstairs, he saw the two helmsmen of Quanzhou Yizimen and Hangzhou Yizimen waiting respectfully, accompanied by several semen with obvious alien characteristics.

Seeing him coming, everyone stood up one after another to salute him, but he stretched out his hand to indicate that there was no need to sit down and politely, and then he sat down on the vacant main seat.

Two voluptuous women, dressed in exotic clothes and showing their plump water snake waists, knelt down to his left and right, and poured him drinks respectfully.

"twin?"

The leader, a bearded man with seductive eyes, smiled and said: "These are our two saints from Jerusalem. If Jiao Xiang doesn't give up, he can stay by his side and be a maidservant. The two of them know basic close-quarters skills."

, you can be a bodyguard in critical moments.”

"Oh? Saint? It's very inappropriate for a saint from your noble sect to ask me to be your maid. I understand you. I understand you."

After saying this, he actually already knew in his heart that he was probably a member of the famous assassination group. If he stayed with him, it would have the same meaning as Jiu'er.

As for the so-called saints, he estimated that they should be true, but the Green Religion is a worldly religion after all, and it is a purely commercial religion. All teachings serve business, and sacrificing two saints for commercial interests, etc.

It's so normal. The Green Sect and the White Sect are completely different. It's possible that this so-called saint exists for this purpose at all.

It's just that when I made the deal with Tiance Mansion, I was just a small, ordinary gangster, but now, I am already a real big shot who can influence the government. If they are willing to give it away, I may not be happy with it.

Collect it.

He touched the waists of the two saints noncommittally, sighing secretly in his heart, how soft they are, and then smiled and made a pun: "This big table has good wine and good food. It's a pity that I was just upstairs.

After eating, several wealthy businessmen from the Liao Kingdom were very polite. They were already a little full and couldn't eat anymore."

The visitor smiled and said: "This is a fine wine brought from my hometown. Try it. I dare not say it is better than the wine from the Central Plains. But this thing is very rare in the Central Plains and has very exotic characteristics."

."

"Okay, let's try it."

As he spoke, he drank a drink and raised his eyebrows slightly.

This wine has been distilled and has a high alcohol content. It is already a bit like brandy.

After saying that, he smiled and said, "I haven't asked you yet, how should I call you?"

"Mohammed Atwa is an ordinary businessman."

"What do you plan to sell and what do you plan to buy?"

"The items for sale are nothing more than some characteristics of the Western Region, such as this wine, some European gold and silverware and strange stones, Persian carpets, spices from the South Seas, and gems from North Africa."

"As for the things to buy, there are many. In addition to the three traditional items such as silk, tea, and porcelain, you may also need to buy some various craft products."

Liu Dapao did not answer, but said: "The wine is good, exotic, very good. I like it very much. I have a sip occasionally and it is quite good. But if I drink it every day, I guess I still won't get used to it. It is not as good as the wine from the Central Plains to quench my thirst. The key is

It’s quite expensive. If I drink it every day, even with my wealth, I will feel distressed.”

Obviously, what this means is that this Maritime Silk Road is a bit too useless, and all it sells are luxury goods.

This is actually the same reason why the government is not willing to open the sea. This is the reason why the sea was banned during the Five Dynasties. In addition to being unfavorable to the people who rule the sea, the most important reason is that the things they import through trade are really useless.

.

As for the expenses of the royal family, after all, Xixia had not yet risen at this time, and the overland Silk Road had not really been cut off. Camels were enough for the luxuries needed by the upper class, and there was no need for sea transportation.

All imported goods are high-end luxury goods. In fact, the largest volume of trade imports in this era is all kinds of colorful gemstones. These things are really of no use to the national economy.

Not all luxury goods are exported. Even the three traditional items, namely silk, tea and porcelain, obviously delay agricultural production.

Of course, the most important thing is that in addition to the three big items, they also want to buy other things, ranging from needles and threads to large coppers, ironware, and carpentry work.

What should I do if there are so many imported things? Of course, they have to spend money to buy them, which means they must have a large amount of reserve currency. This is a sinkhole!

It should be said that the social consequences of maritime trade in the Ming and Song Dynasties were completely opposite. The largest imported cargo in maritime trade during the Ming and Qing Dynasties was actually silver, because the monetary policy during the Ming and Qing Dynasties was really like shit. Common people

If you use silver directly as currency, what else can sell better than money?

Then this large amount of imported silver leads to rising domestic prices and inflation. To put it bluntly, this is equivalent to not having the money printing machine in your hands, and others can print whatever they want. This will cause huge economic losses.

During the Song Dynasty, it was completely the opposite. The largest export product of the Maritime Silk Road was not silk, but the copper coins minted by the Song Dynasty, which were equivalent to foreign exchange reserves for maritime merchants.

Exporting currency is of course a good thing in modern society, but not in ancient society. In fact, the biggest economic problem of the entire Northern Song Dynasty was that the amount of coinage was never enough. There was never enough currency circulating in the market. At its peak, one year in the Northern Song Dynasty

The amount of coins minted is equivalent to the total of three hundred years of the Tang Dynasty.

But it’s still not enough!

Because the scholar-bureaucrats in the Northern Song Dynasty were all real people, they did not do immoral things such as minting large coins or minting small coins. Compared with the Ming Dynasty, they were completely two extremes. Money and credit have always been strong, so strong that these things are also hard currency in foreign countries.

At this point, the commodity economy is still very developed, which has led to deflation in the economy.

The speed of making money cannot keep up with the speed of spending money. The price of money is rising on its own, so who the hell spends money? It’s better to just save money and wait for the money to rise in price. As a result, everyone saves money, and the currency circulating in society

There will be less money, which will further lead to deflation and a vicious cycle.

This is also the reason why Liu Dapao is engaged in renting house tickets and trying every means to engage in banknotes. There is a limit to the commercial development that metal currency can support.

Unless we can cross the threshold from metal currency to banknotes, we will start the nuclear-powered money printing machine and cut leeks all over the world. The more foreign currencies we buy, the happier we will be. Maybe we can become a world hegemon just by printing money.

.

Of course, the crucial step from metal currency to banknotes is not so easy to cross. If you are not careful, you can easily become like the Ming Dynasty. For example, Zhu Di, who is known as the great emperor and has countless fans in modern society, just relies on wanton and indiscriminate issuance.

Only by using paper money and overdrafting the court's credit could we have the money to create the prosperous age of Yongle.

To be honest, Zhu Di spent money as if money was a bastard. He had a grudge against this thing. He spent all the money of his son and grandson by himself, which resulted in the subsequent Ming Dynasty emperor not having any money at all.

The credit of the minted coins can only be ruined. The printed banknotes are all waste paper. The copper coins are said to be sold as copper, and the price is the scrap copper.

That is to say, this copper is obviously a good piece of copper, but if you mint it into money, it will be scrap copper and iron. The coinage of the Ming Dynasty was for the emperors' own entertainment.

It's really a miracle that such a regime can last for more than two hundred years.

Therefore, Liu Dapao's meaning at this time is very obvious. If the sea trade is done well, it will benefit the country and the people. If it is not done well, these big food merchants will add to their already tight currency circulation.

If it's a fire, it's very annoying.

The imperial court's ban on the sea actually made some sense.

Although it is definitely beneficial to merchants engaged in maritime trade, and it is also beneficial to local areas, of course the things seen by the eyes will be different depending on the position of the buttocks.

Liu Dapao, who has unknowingly become one of the top shapers of the imperial court, must of course focus on the overall situation and start to learn to consider issues from the perspective of the world, rather than just limiting himself to Yangzhou or Yizimen.

Already.

Such a reply naturally surprised others in the room.

This is different from what was promised!

Didn’t you mention the Maritime Silk Road? Aren’t you always in favor of maritime trade? Didn’t you say that you would also build a shipyard in Hangzhou?

What's going on now? Has it changed?

Liu Dapao smiled and said: "Trade is all about long-term flow. Everyone, I discussed with the officials a while ago about the political strategy for trade with the Liao Kingdom. Although it has not been made explicit yet, I think it should already be in place.

Some scraps of news have come out, I wonder if you have heard of them?"

"Everyone nodded."

"Sea trade must be opened. I know a little bit about your rules in Dashi, but you have your rules and we also have ours. What I mean is that only specific firms are allowed to conduct sea trade by purchasing a license.

monopolize the import and export business.”

"These chambers of commerce composed of many commercial banks must be listed. My Loyalty Patriotic Association, even the Border Trade Association, Royal Mineral Company and other consortiums will definitely get involved and cross-shareholding with you."

"Everyone, if you want to engage in maritime trade indirectly, you can contact the Maritime Trade Chamber of Commerce at that time. If you want to participate directly, you are welcome to become a shareholder."

"Can we big cannibals also take shares?"

"Of course, but the cost will definitely be a bit high. It is difficult to occupy a place with several million coins each. Of course, I believe that this money can be earned back. You can think about it yourself whether you want to invest.

, but if you can’t get the controlling stake, you must abide by the big rules of the Chamber of Commerce.”

"First of all, I must stop the import of gems. As for gold and silverware, that is too boring. If you insist on selling it, the court will definitely impose heavy taxes. On the contrary, it is raw copper from the Luzon area, and the Japanese area

silver, BMWs from Europe, and most importantly, rubber and Champa rice from Southeast Asia, especially Champa rice. We can provide preferential tax exemptions for these things, or even provide subsidies under the leadership of the finance department."

"To put it simply, I welcome you here to invest. I hope we can jointly establish a strong chamber of commerce. We will always be brothers and sworn brothers with different surnames. I can build projects suitable for you in Hangzhou and other places according to your customs.

In the area where you live, build your temple so that you can live a better life. Don't hide your secrets. Let's work together to build a shipyard in Hangzhou and let us learn navigation skills. However, there are some rules that you must follow the local customs.

OK."

"As far as I know, your teachings encourage foreign investment, but oppose interest on loans. This is not good. Although you focus on commercial interests and are even the best business people in the world, if you reject finance, you will be eliminated sooner or later.

The world has been eliminated. I can tell you with certainty that finance will be the most important business method in my country and an integral part of the social economy. If you insist on not borrowing financial tools to do business in the country, you will be eaten up by your competitors.

There will be no scum left. When the time comes, you will go back bankrupt and dejected. You don’t know, but you think we are not hospitable and are bullying you outsiders."

Finance is a must. If we don’t do finance, how can we print money? If we can’t print money, maritime trade will be a big pit.

Everyone looked at each other in shock. They really didn't expect Liu Dapao to say this.

"If you don't want to invest, it doesn't matter. Let me do it now. To be honest, you are short of everything except money. The stock has risen too fast. We are all too rich. We don't even know how to spend the money."

."

"We can build a shipyard in Hangzhou and study it slowly. When the time comes, if you want to do business, you will have to cooperate with us. Maybe we will become competitors."

"In short, either you invest your money and life in it, and I will give you the status of a shareholder to ensure that you live a comfortable and happy life. We can make money together without distinguishing between each other. Let's be brothers."

"Either we go it alone, and from now on we will just have an ordinary customer relationship, or even a business competitor."

"There are only two roads. I have assigned them to you. You can choose for yourself. I really just finished eating with the envoy from Liao Kingdom. I am so full that I can't eat anymore, so I won't accompany you to continue.
Chapter completed!