Chapter 2138, you can mortgage land, women and taxation rights
In the Government House of Hong Kong, Governor Tang Bohu received the Duke of York from England, who had just arrived from France, in his garden.
The weather is very good now, a rare sunny day with blue sky and white clouds, a carpet-like lawn, and a pot of fine Daming tea. Sitting on a chair and overlooking the bustling and lively city below, this is definitely a life experience.
A great enjoyment.
"Your Majesty the Governor really knows how to enjoy himself. Sitting here drinking tea and looking at the bustling city is definitely one of the great enjoyments in life!"
The Duke of York took a sip of tea. This fine Daming tea was different. As the tea entered the mouth, it was slightly bitter at first and then sweetened, leaving a fragrance on the lips and teeth. It was unforgettable.
"Haha, overlooking Hong Kong from the Government House is indeed one of the great enjoyments of life."
Tang Bohu, who is over sixty years old, looks much older now. He has been the governor of Hong Kong for many years, and he has witnessed the development and prosperity of this place with his own eyes.
He would often overlook the city here, and would even splash ink here when the mood struck him. He also left behind many works, and even learned sketching and painting from Europe, and was quite successful.
Of course, these are not his biggest concerns now. What he wants most now is to be transferred back to the Ming Dynasty.
Recently, there has been news that Liu Gong, the chief minister of the cabinet, intends to promote him back to the Ming Dynasty as the chief envoy of a province. If possible, he will be considered a third-rank official.
Officials of the third rank are already very great officials, and they can be regarded as shining on the lintel.
And he is just sixty-one years old now. As long as his health is still good, he is still expected to move forward in the future. It would be really good if he could return to his hometown to take care of himself as a minister.
At his age, and having been an official for many years, this is all he pursues now. He no longer expects to be a highly respected minister, become a cabinet minister or something like that.
"Your Excellency, the Duke, shouldn't come here this time just to have tea with me, right?"
After some pleasantries, Tang Bohu also asked about his purpose.
In fact, Tang Bohu had already guessed his purpose of coming. Europe was filled with smoke and a war was about to begin. He must have come to buy arms and weapons from him.
The arms and weapons trade in the Ming Dynasty has always been controlled by the imperial court, but transactions and sales were conducted through Tianjin Ocean Trading House.
If you want to buy Ming Dynasty arms and weapons, you must first go to the Ming Dynasty government to get permission from the Ming Dynasty government, and then go to Tianjin Ocean Trading House to negotiate the quantity, price, etc. of weapons you need.
The reason for this operation is that many arsenals, including the Miyun Arsenal, are all the properties of the Son of Heaven and the Honorable Group of the Great Ming Dynasty.
These industries are not controlled and managed by the Ming court, but are private industries. This private industry naturally pays attention to interests and profits.
The court can control whether I sell it to others, but as for the price, that is my own business. The court has no control over it. I must ensure my own profits and interests.
In the past, there were a large number of craftsmen directly under the Ministry of Industry who specialized in making weapons for the imperial court. However, the quality of the weapons they produced was very poor, and corruption was so serious that the imperial armaments were depleted and the border troops would rather use them.
They are not willing to use the paper knives issued by the imperial court or explosive muskets to burn fire sticks.
Later, Emperor Hongzhi took the military power under his own control, and at the same time, all military expenditures came from the emperor's internal funds, which was equivalent to turning the army into the emperor's private army.
Naturally, the emperor himself was responsible for the weapons and equipment of this army. The imperial court would no longer spend money to purchase weapons and equipment for the Ming army.
For this reason, Liu Jin also established the Miyun Arsenal with Emperor Hongzhi, the prince and many military officers and nobles at that time to specialize in the production and research and development of weapons and equipment.
Eventually, the current system was formed.
"The Governor must also be aware of the current situation in Europe. We in England have joined forces with France, the Holy Roman Empire, the Holy See, Italy and many other countries to form the Knights Alliance to jointly deal with the brutal Charles V."
"We need a large amount of arms and weapons, so this time we are going to see the Governor, and ask the Governor to inform the Emperor of Heaven for permission to export arms and weapons to us."
The Duke of York quickly said solemnly.
"We, the Ming Empire, have always maintained a neutral attitude towards your European affairs."
"Not long ago, King Charles V of Spain sent people to purchase another 100,000 muskets, 500 cannons, and 20 of the latest iron-clad warships from our Ming Empire."
"Now that you have found us, of course our Ming Empire is willing to sell arms and weapons to you. This is only fair to both of you."
"As long as we have money, we will sell you as much as you want."
Tang Bohu looked at the Duke of York in front of him, showing the face of a profiteer.
After staying here for many years, he has slowly developed this habit, because as the governor of Hong Kong, the most important thing is to serve the interests of Ming Dynasty in Europe.
The biggest interest in this is to safeguard the Ming Dynasty's business interests here. Those who have the most dealings with are the heads of major trading houses, nobles, merchants from various European countries, etc.
"What?"
"Charles V purchased another 100,000 muskets, 500 cannons, and 20 armored warships?"
Hearing Tang Bohu's words, the Duke of York couldn't help but widen his eyes slightly.
The strength of the Spanish Empire is already strong enough. Unexpectedly, Charles V is still purchasing large quantities of arms and weapons and continuing to enhance his military strength. It seems that he has long been preparing for a war.
"Your Majesty the Governor, we also need a large amount of arms and weapons, the more the better."
"But currently we in England have limited funds. Can we be provided with certain loans?"
"I heard that the Ming Empire provided Spain with a huge loan of fifty million taels of silver!"
The Duke of York frowned, thought for a while and asked.
England is poor, really poor.
In the past few decades, the two wars with Spain were lost. They paid huge war indemnities to the Ming Empire and Spain. They finally paid them back and lost a lot of land. On the British Isles, not only the Ming people
Although the colonies, as well as the colonies of Spain and Japan, are not large, the British island itself is very small.
The last three years have been marked by drought and production cuts, which has made matters worse. Henry VIII was so poor that he was reluctant to buy a Mercedes-Benz from the Ming Dynasty. Fortunately, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty gave a Mercedes-Benz as a gift in return when he ascended the throne. Otherwise, everything would be over.
I have to go out in a carriage.
Now we are going to war with Spain again. We have no money but we can't even buy arms and weapons. Let's use the arms and weapons we make ourselves. That is to deliver food to the Spaniards.
Now the whole of Europe has realized this. In war, arms and weapons produced by the Ming Dynasty must be used. There is a huge gap between the arms and weapons made by oneself and those of the Ming Dynasty, and they will be directly crushed by others.
"There was no problem with the loan at that time."
"But you also know that this bank is not decided by our government. Even if we can let them lend you a loan, you still need to provide collateral."
"This time, the Spaniards took out a large colony on the Gold Coast of West Africa as collateral, so our Ming Dynasty banks were willing to lend to them."
Tang Bohu smiled and readily agreed.
"Pawn?"
When the Duke of York heard this, everyone was slightly startled.
The Spanish had colonies to mortgage, what did England have to mortgage?
"We don't have colonies in England."
The Duke of York said worriedly.
"You can mortgage your own land, such as the areas adjacent to Hong Kong, or you can use your tax rights as mortgage."
"You can even mortgage your England's population, women, etc. As long as the bank is willing to accept it, you can mortgage everything that can be mortgaged."
Tang Bohu smiled and suggested: "Of course, this is not a long-term solution. If you want to get more money, you can raise more sheep and produce more wool. We Ming people have a demand for wool.
Very big."
"this?"
"Shameless, greedy Ming people!"
After hearing Tang Bohu's words, the Duke of York couldn't help but curse in his heart.
The Ming Dynasty was so greedy that they wanted to give up land, population, and taxation rights from England. Once the war was lost, the Ming Dynasty would not be able to pay back the money of the Ming Dynasty.
This means that England will lose a large amount of land, its taxing rights, its population, and its women. This means that England will be completely destroyed.
It's really too cruel.
After all the calculations, it seems that raising sheep is also a good choice, but raising sheep takes time. There is only so much wool produced in a year, and the money that can be exchanged for it is still limited.
Ultimately, if you want to get a loan, you still have to provide collateral.
It's just that whether it is mortgaged with land, women or taxation rights, this is unacceptable to a country.
"My Lord Governor, is there no other way?"
The Duke of York thought for a moment and asked.
"There is no other way. Although we are neutral and do not interfere in your European affairs, we cannot give you the money for free. Besides, the First Bank of Ming Dynasty is a private bank, and our court cannot order them to do it for free.
You provide loans."
Tang Bohu smiled and shook his head.
"If you have money, you can go to Tianjin Ocean Trading Bank to buy arms and weapons now. If you don't have money, you have to take out the collateral and go to Daming First Bank for a loan. That's all I can do."