"The East Coast is really rich. Not to mention anything else, this grain alone is enough to make many people envy it." On March 1, 1698, in a wilderness northwest of Yancheng County, George Montgomer said in a slightly envious tone.

Although he had seen such endless wilderness and plains many times, when he saw those neat farmlands again, George Montgomery was still a little shocked. He could not see the boundless farmland for a few days. He had never seen it in New England in his life. He heard that the same was true in many places in Russia, but he had never been there. He was not good at commenting on it. He could only sigh that the Slavic barbarians were lucky and could obtain such vast farmland and land.

"George, don't sigh like this. The strength of a country is not only about how vast its territory is, but also about whether its industry is developed and whether its trade is prosperous. Like Russia, it can only export food, cattle, sheep, wood, and leather. In terms of wealth, it is far from comparable to England, let alone the Union Province. The Union Province can force Russia to surrender within a few months to a year." Ambassador Scott, who was walking slowly forward with a horse, said: "Food is just a commodity. God has commanded that no country must own all commodities. When a country lacks a certain commodity, another country should provide assistance. When a country lacks a certain commodity in a certain year, another country will provide assistance. When a country lacks a certain commodity in a certain year, another country will

The family must have sufficient quantity. The purpose is to make people know that all countries need help each other, so that the rule of law and communication will flourish between us. Although God is extremely generous to us, giving England enough food, livestock, fish, coal, iron and vibrant people, our economy will be in big trouble without the goods of other countries. For example, we can produce salt, but more than 40% of it needs to be imported from Portugal every year. There are also mechanical parts on the east coast, French wine, Russian leather, whale products from the United Provinces, Italian cheese and even North American masts. Although we can barely live without these, this is too far from the state of civilization."

"Your Excellency, the food problem is different from other things. It is life-related." George Montgomery had a headache and had to remind him: "Now there are more and more people engaged in industrial production, and more and more people are hoping to get rich after overseas trade and commercial speculation. The grain output in England has declined for several consecutive years. I think this is a very serious problem."

"Business and Commerce will bring enough profits to England, which can feed our people. Food, whether it is Poland, Germany or Russia, has a lot of surplus, and we should not be worried at all." Ambassador Scott disagreed.

"But England spent too much money on importing unnecessary goods. Like flashy wine glasses, cards, balls, dolls, toothpicks, purses, brooches, luxury decorations, tableware imported from Paris, etc. How much does it cost? I am ashamed that my brothers and sisters often consume these things. We only buy gloves imported from France and only dyed cloth on the East Coast; if we talk about gold threads on jacquard fabrics or clothing, we only buy Venetian or Milan; whether it is daggers, daggers, spurs or baking trays, we only use Spanish ones. The prices of these goods are very good.

It is expensive, from the Tower of London to Westminster, there are no more than ten stores selling, but the sales volume is huge, so many gentlemen who are usually very restrained in life can't help but stop and stare when passing by these stores. Because we consume these goods and how many foreign people have we supported?" George Montgomery smiled bitterly: "Of course I may not be able to quit these goods, because I don't want to make a fool of myself in the upper class. I just want to remind you of this. We have leaked a lot of gold and silver in the consumption of non-essential goods. This money could have been left in England."

Ambassador Scott was speechless when he heard this. He was hard to say or to say such things. Nowadays, the social atmosphere is like this. There is no way. Everyone likes beautiful things, and he is no exception. Some people make money, such as those who set up factories in Birmingham or mine in Newcastle, naturally they need something that can demonstrate their identity. Especially when they do not have any ancestral titles, consuming these expensive luxury goods is a pass to the upper class. In fact, they have no way to do so. Society is like this.

Therefore, Ambassador Scott quickly changed the topic and pointed to the construction site where the drainage ditches were digging not far ahead and said, "The railway taken out by the people on the east coast is actually very sincere. I have studied Yancheng Port, which has now become the largest fishing port on the east coast, a grain export port, a salt product export port, a meat and dairy product export port, and a wool export port. The population is as high as 100,000, which is very prosperous. After the railway to their new capital, Luoyang Prefecture, was built, it was only by transporting textiles.

Grain, meat, dairy products, seafood and salt can ensure a steady stream of profits. Luoyang Mansion will be the same as London in the future. The population will inevitably surge and require a large amount of consumer goods. This is an opportunity. Maybe the profits in the previous few years will not be too much, but during the sixty-year dividend period promised to you, the average annual rate of return will reach more than 8%. This is a very cost-effective transaction. Unfortunately, I don’t have much money and invested only 300 pounds. I am destined to miss this opportunity."

In recent decades, England has developed rapidly in industry and commerce, and the assets of the top families have doubled. Hundreds of pounds are really nothing in London. George Montgomery took out most of his money, and then borrowed a lot from his parents and siblings, gathered a full 4,000 pounds of cash, and invested in this planned railway, which was a big bet.

However, what surprised Montgomery was that many friends in London asked him to help him buy some registered or bearer stocks of this railway, with a total amount of up to 95,000 pounds. This fanatical investment atmosphere surprised Montgomery. After thinking about it, the main reason was probably risk aversion. Yes, it was risk aversion! Everyone is not fools, they have their own news channels, they all smelled the smoke that filled Europe, and were afraid that after England was involved in the war, they

The property would be lost. Take one of his friends who operated the London route trade in Bordeaux, as an example. This guy decisively sold one-third of the ship. In addition to opening a textile factory in Manchester, the rest of the cash received was entrusted to Montgomery to help buy stocks of the Los Angeles Railway. This awareness of risk avoidance made Montgomery very impressed. He was even considering whether to write another letter back to London to persuade the family to invest more funds to the East Coast, so as not to be wiped out in the war.

"The annual income of 8% is very attractive to those who hold a lot of cash. However, the income from running factories in England is still very high, and the income from operating overseas colonial businesses is even higher. Compared with these, the yield rate of the Los Angeles Railway is still not enough, so it can only attract some conservative gentlemen with insufficient courage. On the contrary, the Italians are very enthusiastic. More than 70% of the railway's funds come from five cities: Nazia, Venice, Milan, Florence and Luca. No wonder Louis XIV and Leopold wanted to put their hands into Italy. I'm afraid that only God knows how much wealth is buried there." George Montgomery looked at the Italian standing on a mound and pointed at him, and said with a smile.

: "But so much money flowing out of Italy will greatly damage the industrial development of their country. The Italians are afraid that they have given up industry, right? Yes, they have leaned over the thighs of the East Coast people and obtained huge profits from overseas trade. But these profits have basically been replaced by weapons and warships made on the East Coast. In addition, these overseas investments can truly benefit ordinary Italians. They cannot be said to be none, but there are definitely not many. The East Coast people's trick is really powerful. Using Italy's manpower and business skills to make money overseas, more than half of the money they earned has returned to the East Coast. This is really a profitable deal, not much less than the funds we attract the Dutch."

Ambassador Scott smiled and said nothing. The Englishmen of this era are extremely mercantilist. They want to stare at every foreign transaction to see if they suffer losses or make money in this transaction, and whether gold and silver have flowed out of the border. Even within England, this mercantilism does not affect people all the time.

Ambassador Scott's hometown is Wales, where there is a port called Canaven Port. A ship full of fruits arrived from Norwich, but local port officials refused to unload the ship, causing all the fruits on the ship to rot. The captain once asked the officials why it was not allowed to unload. The official replied that the ship would take away the best wool and wool in their city, and that if the fruits on the ship were sold out, they would be consumed within a week. If they carried malt to make wine for them and bought them, they would be welcome at any time.

Look, officials in a small city are calculating the profit and loss of business all day long, whether every transaction is beneficial to the long-term development of the city. Although Ambassador Scott does not agree with this behavior, it is obvious that this has reduced the quality of life of the residents of the Port of Canaven, but he still feels that the people should have such hard-working quality and smart business minds. This is like a small port, and so big that the whole country is still like this, otherwise England will not have made rapid progress in the past few decades. Just like they spend a lot of money to import machines and parts from the East Coast, the money must generate profits and must be made up from other places. They now have a huge trade deficit with the East Coast. Although it is very uncomfortable, it cannot be changed for the time being. We can only find a way out in the future. The "unfair trade" between the East Coast and England must end, and the deficit must be reduced, otherwise the "stolen" jobs in England will never be returned, which is not a good thing for the country.

"Don't complain, George." After seeing the Italians descending into the mound and slowly walking towards them, Ambassador Scott whispered: "The Continental War is imminent. England is not without advantages in competing with the East Coast people for safe-haven funds. Italians, Spanish, Dutch, and Germans, they do not all like to immigrate to the East Coast. The distant new world, unfamiliar environment, and incompatible culture are enough to dispel many people's ideas. Compared with the East Coast, the Englishman

Gran has many advantages and investment opportunities. As long as we have patience, courage and connections, we can attract enough safe-haven funds. I dare not say that there are more foreign capital of 5-10 million pounds into London, I think it is still possible, and the possibility is quite large. How to attract these funds to England depends on the big figures in parliament to find a way. England's future prospects are bright, and I firmly believe in this."

George Montgomery did not refute Ambassador Scott's words, but he was very pessimistic. He always felt that England might no longer be able to compete with the East Coast, and at best it could only be the leader of the second group. Unless England invested all the capital it obtained into industry, and then vigorously developed North American colonies and continuously enriched its national strength, this would be possible.
Chapter completed!