"Now many early towns have declined, but the countryside has achieved great development. Of course, London is the exception. This largest city in Europe will not decline." Morris Thompson sat opposite Mo San and said in a slightly boasted tone: "Many years ago, when industries such as woolen velvet were transferred to the countryside and many towns began to fall into decline, London became increasingly prosperous because it could continue to attract immigrants. This is the charm of London."

"England has only one head, but it is huge and has no friends." Mo San said teasingly. What he said is not only an outsider's evaluation of London, but also a boastful word from Londoners, because London has a population of 400,000, but Norwich, the second largest city in England, has a population of 20,000 to 30,000, and Bristol, the third largest city, has a population of more than 10,000, which is completely incomparable to the giant city of London.

The essence of England is almost all here! Although London's prices have been rising over the years - of course, this is influencing factors of the Western European price revolution, but also the rapid increase in population - in the past 200 years, the prices of grain in London have increased by 8 times, agricultural and sideline products have increased by 66 times, industrial products have increased by 31 times, and the living expenses of 12 general consumer goods have increased by 9 times compared with 150 years ago, but the wages of Londoners have increased by only three times!

Such inverted income and price increase failed to prevent the British from rushing into the city, nor did they prevent the British from slowly industrializing and urbanizing. The proliferation of mercantilist ideas caused wealth to flow everywhere in London and its suburbs. East India Company, Levant Company, East Land Company, West African Company and other trading and colonial companies provided a large number of job opportunities to many people who had nothing to do because of the land occupied by the gentry. In the more than half century from 1575 to 1630, more than 90 franchise trading companies were established in London, attracting a total of 6,336 investors and total assets of 8 million pounds.

This is an amazing number, and it is precisely because of the gathering of such huge capital that London has a unique appeal: the most wealth, the best goods, the highest-end talents, the best infrastructure, are all difficult to match in other cities, and even most cities on the European continent.

At this moment, Mo San and Thompson had just returned from outside the city in a carriage. Thompson took Mo San to a tour of the suburbs of London with frankness, and tried his best to answer the questions raised by Mo San. It seemed that he didn't mind Mo San's behavior of asking around. At this time, he heard Mo San say a saying about the outsider describing London's status in the UK, Thompson immediately laughed: "London gathers most of its wealth. This is the greatest charm of London. Now England's annual import trade is now

Yi's total amount exceeded 3 million pounds, most of which were produced in London. Whether it was industrial products produced in England or re-exported goods by East India and the Levant Company, they had to be licensed by London Customs. The tax refunds obtained for re-export must also be collected in London. So, you see, the banks of the Thames have been so busy that they did not stop even during the war. The cowardly and incompetent Dutch could not compete with the English Navy at all."

Mo San smiled when he heard this. At this time, Britain was in the era of transition from early mercantilism to late mercantilism. In addition to the insignificant commodity output from other small ports, most of the import and export trade still had to go through London. Especially at the moment when the Navigation Ordinance was strictly enforced, even if the Virginia colonies wanted to export to New England to New England, they had to ship the goods to London first, pay tariffs and then ship to Massachusetts. There was no other way. This perverted and deformed trade policy was undoubtedly one of the main reasons for London's prosperity.

It is worth mentioning that although late mercantilism (also known as heavy industry) also focuses on accumulating wealth, foreign trade surplus, and precious metals are kept in its own country, compared with early mercantilism, it pays more attention to the development of handicraft workshops to obtain profits through exports, and the so-called "man-made wealth" is the main source of its nickname. This is obviously the origin of its heavy industry nickname. Today, England is obviously transitioning from the early mercantilism to the late stage. Compared with the early mercantilism of many countries on the European continent, it is better to be ahead.

Both are centered on retaining precious metals, and implementing local protectionism, strict guild access system and tariff barriers. However, one only focuses on the accumulation of precious metals. The other pays more attention to exporting domestic industrial products to accumulate precious metals. The gap between the two is still very obvious, just like the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Now the power of the House of Commons is increasing, and the proportion of its members in the parliament is also increasing. According to public information widely circulated in London, the number of bourgeoisie, enlightened aristocrats and emerging squire in the House of Commons has accounted for more than two-thirds, most of whom are handicraft workshop owners. Or even wholesalers mostly use wholesale British self-produced goods. Therefore, the influence of British industrial capital in the parliament is already strong enough at this time, which is another unfortunate news for the East Coast people.

"Seriously, why do you cooperate with the Netherlands? Is it just to be able to export some goods to them?" After a while of silence, Mr. Thompson finally opened his mouth. It seemed that he came with the collective will of some people. He only heard him say: "Maybe it is tempting for the Dutch to promise you that it is very irrelevant to open some closed markets, but we can also provide them. England, Scotland, Ireland, Virginia, New England, we can even help you talk about re-entering Poland, and we are willing to share some Italian state markets that have been closed to you."

"Oh?" Even Mo San was moved by the other party's conditions, because the capacity of this market is quite large, and consumers' purchasing intention and purchasing power are not very low, which is crucial to improving the scale of industrial production and industrial technology in the East Coast. It can be said that if the British really open these markets - at least shared - to the East Coast people, it will be enough to make most domestic enterprises in the East Coast make a fortune, so that they have sufficient funds to expand production scale, update industrial technology, and complete further upgrading of the industrial system.

"What are your conditions?" After staying in Europe for so many years, Mo San knew that these people were all masters who did not show off their own eagles and did not have enough benefits. They should not give up their own interests, so he immediately asked a question tentatively.

"Of course there is. The first thing is that you need to intercept the ships of the Dutch East India Company off the coast of Cape Town. In addition, if possible, you can provide appropriate assistance to the Portuguese in Brazil, and at the same time close the foreign aid channel of Dutch Brazil, so that the Dutch West India Company will be out of the American continent in shame." Mr. Thompson said leisurely, "In this way, the Dutch will have a hard time. Of course, you cannot export supplies to the Netherlands, and you must make the Netherlands surrender."

After hearing what Thompson said, Mo San suddenly felt a headache. This condition was almost completely unacceptable to the East Coast people. If Mo San would have thought about it a little before, then after visiting England for nearly a month, Mo San's subconscious fear of Britain became stronger and stronger. Such a country that is on the right path and controls tens of millions of people is worthy of the East Coast people's vigilance, because she has the most potential to surpass the East Coast and has to be guarded. Therefore, Mo San is destined to be unable to accept the olive branch sent by the other party.

"Is this going to let our country officially join this war?" Mo San asked directly.

"So," Thompson nodded without any concealment and confirmed: "Although your navy is very average, it is better to have a superior geographical location. If your main fleet is used up, it will indeed cause great trouble to the merchant ships of the Dutch East India Company. This is much more convenient and surprising than General Black's efforts to capture them outside the coast of Scotland. You just need to stand by our side and declare war on the Netherlands, and you can receive the rewards you deserve. How about it, don't you think about it?"

"This is too risky. We can't do it and it is not in line with our national interests. I'm really sorry." Mo San immediately said flatly. What a joke? Let's declare war on the Netherlands. Isn't this a mortal? Should we sell things in Europe in the future? The Dutch can influence the sales of East Coast goods from market, exchange rate, politics and other aspects. This is not the case for a brainless person.

Thompson was not surprised at all as if he had already anticipated Mo San's idea. So he nodded and said, "Since your country chose the Netherlands in this war, it will inevitably hurt the feelings of England. Especially for us businessmen, your country's attitude is very disappointing."

"My country has always been strictly neutral and has no intention of taking sides on one side. If your country is willing to import our products, then we will definitely not be stingy." Mo San explained. Although he also knew that his explanation was more or less pale, this attitude still needs to be expressed.

"England's development is changing with each passing day, far from what the Netherlands can match. Your parliament regrets its choice today." After saying this, the carriage almost arrived at the ground. Mo San put on a fur hat and left the carriage. Then he saw Thompson who didn't say anything, he felt that he had no need to stay in England, because the owner here had clearly expressed a certain attitude.

So let's go back to Istanbul. Mo San turned around and walked into the hotel, intending to leave soon. (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!