"... Therefore, the basic means to increase our wealth depends on foreign trade, but one principle must be followed: the value of the goods we sell to foreign countries every year is greater than the value of the foreign goods we import. In our country, the supply of cloth, lead, tin, iron, fish and some other commodities is relatively sufficient, with more than 2.5 million pounds of surplus materials available for export every year. If we only import 2 million pounds of materials from abroad at the same time, the country's wealth can increase by 500,000 pounds per year. These wealth exists in the form of gold and silver coins, and this is obviously the real wealth..."

"For products facing fierce competition in our country, we must try to reduce the price when selling, which will help our goods occupy the market. When we defeated the wool industry in Venice and competed for the Ottoman market, we rely on low prices - although our woolen prices fell, sales increased. However, in the 1920s and 1930s, due to the inexplicable increase in wool prices, and then a long war broke out, resulting in the price of woolen sold in our country also rising sharply, which almost caused us to lose half of the overseas market. Half of the wool industry's decline in the past 20 years has to be remembered."

"We should also encourage our own merchant ships to transport goods abroad, so that our country will gain a lot of benefits. For example, if Italian merchants come to our country to buy grains, red herrings or other goods on their own ships, we will not make much money. Because in our country, a quart of wheat usually only sells 30 shillings, and a barrel of red herring only sells 25 shillings; and if Chinese ships transport these goods to Italy for sale, at the current exchange rate, a quart of wheat can sell about 60 shillings, and a barrel of red herring can sell 50 shillings, almost double the difference."

"We must vigorously develop our own fishing industry. This requires us to have more ships and sailors, and also professional management methods. In places with rich fishery resources such as New England, Virginia, Greenland, Iceland and Newfoundland, we must increase investment and encourage more people to fish. Because this can not only provide wealth and job opportunities for a large number of poor people, but also restore and grow trade that has been in recession in our country. I would like to emphasize that only cod, herring, and fish oil, salted fish, and whale bones caught by our ships can be sold in our country, and only our ships (or most of the sailors on the ships are British) can transport the above goods from the country."

"The Dutch often said, 'Live, let others live too!' But I have to say that the Dutch had long since thrown this motto out of the sky. They not only erode our business in our territory, but also hindered our business in the country or region under their influence, destroyed our business, and prevented us from making a living by legal means and taking away the bread from our mouths. We should never endure or accommodate, because it has proved that patience and accommodation will only boost the ambitions of the Dutch and hurt our great country. Now that we declare war with the Netherlands, I want to say that this is good, we will fight this trade war until the Dutch admits defeat."

Just when Mosan and Morris Thompson and others crossed the Fire to the Thames Pier, in the House of Commons, Thomas Stone, who was a director of the Levant Company, and who invested heavily in tobacco plantations in Virginia, held an inspiring speech in Parliament. The MP, who once made a fortune in selling tobacco with Thompson, is now one of the figures who advocated the overseas trade of Britain. His argument has a very market in the House of Commons and can be regarded as one of the mainstream spokespersons of the British bourgeoisie today.

After the bourgeois revolution, the power of the conservative aristocrats was greatly weakened at this moment, and the new merchant class began to step into the British politics. They took office as government office while doing business, indirectly influenced and even directly formulated many policies issued by the government, tied the entire country to their chariots, and served them - promoting the promulgation of the "Navigation Regulations" and decisive declaration of war on the Netherlands were inseparable from their efforts. It can be said that the Republic of England at this time was the second country in which the bourgeoisie had an advantage in many countries in the old continent, and the other was the United Province - it was purely a loose consortium formed by a group of merchants.

As expected, Mr. Stone's speech won the applause of the members of the House of Commons. The mercantilist argument he advocated was exactly what these merchants loved to hear. The war with the Netherlands lasted for a long time. Although they intercepted and captured hundreds of Dutch ships, the British navy had the upper hand in the confrontation with the Netherlands, and the Dutch's fighting will gradually decline (they repeatedly tentatively proposed the possibility of ending the war), the British did not lose without losses in this war: the huge military expenditure, the collapse of the Mediterranean trade, and the serious impact of West African trade, all made the MPs and gentlemen who advocated the war heartbroken, because the loss was their own money!

Especially the merchants of the Levant-East India (the shareholders of the Levant and the East India Company overlapped a lot) who had the advantage in the parliament. Since the Dutch gathered heavily in the Western Mediterranean, and the British navy sent there was weak, it was not enough to break the Dutch's dominant position there. Therefore, the business volume of the Levantine Company suddenly plummeted and its revenues dropped sharply. How can this not upset the merchants - now the country may have gained benefits from this war, but their private losses have suffered losses. What is this? Shouldn't it be the other way around, they get benefits from private, and the losses are borne by the state? The state is just a tool for them to rule this land!

Therefore, they now urgently need someone to say what they love to hear, advocate theories they agree with (mercantilism), and adhere to the policies that this country is currently promoting in favor of them. Those who often go to the House of Commons know that it has now become the base camp of mercantilists, and merchants from various places such as London, Norwich, Bristol gather here to discuss politics, trade, military and diplomacy, and become the actual masters of the country in a blatant place.

It was in this kind of thought or background that Mo San arrived in London. After two days of missing him, Mr. Thompson, who accompanied him, came to meet with Mo San on December 6. The meeting was held in Mr. Thompson's mansion in London, which was said to be a royalist before the Civil War. The mansion was easily sold by Thompson at a very cost-effective price two years ago. At this commercial salon reception, Mo San held several intermittent talks with merchants who invested in the Merchant Adventure Company, Moscow Company, East Land Company, Levant Company, Royal Guyana Company, and East India Company.

Especially those wealthy businessmen from the Levant-East India system, whose business was greatly affected by the weak British maritime power in the Mediterranean waters, they were eager to find ways to reduce losses. Since Thompson found the exclusive envoy of the East Coast Republic of China, it seems that some cooperation possibilities can be negotiated. However, before cooperation, some issues must be clarified, otherwise the talks will not be able to continue.

"Do your government intend to enter the Indian market?" Someone asked. Many of the people here - especially those London merchants - are shareholders of East India Company. They import a large amount of refined cotton, pepper, gemstone, saltpeter, raw silk (Indian wild silk) from India every year, and then sell it in their own country or export it again, making a lot of profits. Therefore, they were eager to know whether the regional power of the East Coast Republic of China (the size of the East Coast Navy in their opinion is not very large, but it is still a big trouble) will intervene in the situation in India, with the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

Portugal competed locally. At the beginning, these British merchants were defeated by the Dutch in the East Indies, so they were forced to transfer their energy to the Indian subcontinent. It turned out that this was also a treasure house no less than that of the East Indies. Especially after they defeated the Portuguese through two naval battles, the British East Indies Company had an increasingly greater influence in the Mughal dynasty in India, and their interests were getting deeper and deeper. At this moment, they never wanted to see other countries intervene in the Indian market - the East Coast country has a strong maritime power and has a geographical advantage, so it is definitely an object worthy of vigilance.

"The Chinese government has no plan to enter the Indian market, at least not in the short term." Mo San did not dare to say too much. After all, he did not know the government's future plans, so he could only make vague promises at this moment. However, he was not someone who was willing to suffer for nothing. Since the British demanded that the East Coast not enter the Indian market, they also had to give some benefits, such as the East Coast Republic of China is becoming more and more important to the Persian Kingdom.

You know, the relationship between the British and Persia is now very good. Their initial friendship began with the Battle of Britain and Portugal. At that time, the British Navy (actually an East India Company armed merchant ship) defeated the Portuguese Indian fleet and helped Iran regain strategic locations such as Abbas Port and Hormuz Island. At the same time, it also vigorously traded with Persia to help them innovate their army equipment. This allowed the Persians to support the two-front wars with the Ottoman Empire (fighting for Iraq) and the Mughal Dynasty (fighting for Afghanistan).

The British have been so helpful to Persia, and the Persians have always been very kind. Therefore, it is still very reliable to ask these British merchants to help deepen the trade ties between the East Coast and Persia at this moment. If I don’t enter India, you have to give me some of the Persian market, right? (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!