Silvio secretly took a few silver coins placed by the Dutch sailors in his palm, and slowly boarded the Dutch merchant ship "Tesel Shoal" that had just been anchored, and began to check the cargo loaded in the cabin.

"The best Swedish copper, Polish lead, and England tin are all tax-free strategic materials. Well, Captain Kuait, please go to the dock there to wait for unloading and go through the procedures. I have to congratulate you on doing a good business. Now the market for these materials is very good, and you have made a lot of money." After Silvio inspected some cargo boxes, he immediately smiled at a Dutch captain about 50 years old.

"God should give me some good luck." Captain Kuait's wrinkled face was full of fatigue. Perhaps the voyage consumed too much energy. "My four ships full of spices and sugar were stranded in the shallows near Taysel Island, and then sank in a storm. I instantly changed from a Monopoly to a hapless person who owed countless debts. It took me ten years to pay off my debts, and now while my body is still able to sail far, I must make money back."

Captain Kuait is an old friend of the East Coast people. He brought the first Calvinist immigrant from Switzerland. Now many people still remember him in the East Coast people. However, he is quite unlucky. Since he made a fortune by reselling porcelain from the East Coast people, Captain Kuait first spent money like land for a while, and then bought four old ships (Amsterdam is the largest old ship market in the world). After recruiting sailors, he started a triangular trade between the Netherlands, Dutch Brazil and West Africa. However, this guy was so lucky that he was reluctant to pay expensive maritime insurance fees. Therefore, after a misoperation and storm, he changed from a rich man to a tragic man.

After spending ten years to pay off his debts for others, Captain Kuait regrouped and rented an old ship again to start his own business. At the same time, he was favored by fate. A Dutch merchant who lived in Gothenburg not only decided to hand over the goods to him for transportation, but also promised him a 10% profit, provided that he successfully transported the metal to the east coast and brought back a ship of wheat from there to Nantes for delivery.

Captain Kuait bravely accepted this task. After three and a half months of difficult sailing, he finally arrived at the port of Luoqia Port, which is now the largest trading port on the east coast. At this time, 14 ships were parked sparsely, including 10 of which were hanging the flag of the United Provinces, which seemed to illustrate many problems.

Copper, lead and tin are the strategic materials urgently needed on the East Coast, and are ranked among the top ten in the zero-tax trade catalog for many years. After the port's trade officials weighed the materials, they readily issued a ticket for Captain Kuaite to pick up the goods in the Luoqia Bulk Trade Center. This is a bartered bill and can only be used in Luoqia Port. It says that the holder can receive a certain amount of goods with the ticket. For example, Captain Kuaite needs to receive 200 tons of wheat - half of the maximum cargo capacity of the "Tesel Shoal".

Of course, the metal brought by Captain Kuait is not equivalent to wheat, so he can also receive the corresponding amount of East Coast silver dollars. However, only the stupidest person will return to Europe with a ship of precious metals. Captain Kuait is certainly not a fool, so he decided to purchase some East Coast standard metal farm tools and tools on the spot and then return to Europe for sale. These are best-selling products in France and England, and local farmers or farmers are happy to pay for a high-quality metal farm tool.

However, what Captain Kuait wants most is wheat. After all, in this era, both Paris and Madrid were extremely short of food at this time. Not to mention that England's civil wars have been going on for years, and the originally intermittent grain exports have long stopped. On the contrary, a large amount of grain input from Poland is needed. This further makes the European food crisis worse. Amsterdam, which may be the largest grain trading market in the world, has been operating at a high level since it reached its peak almost seven or eight years ago.

At the same time, the wheat price on the Udinese grain exchange benefited from the sharp drop in wheat harvest in Sicily and Acalia, but it still maintained a price of 15 Venetian lira/100 liters. According to the exchange rate at this time, it was about 30 yuan/ton, which is generally the same as the purchase price of the domestic government in the East Coast. But you should know that just two years ago, due to the poor harvest of Sicily wheat and the floods in northern Italy, the food prices in the Udinese market had experienced a large fluctuation. What's more important is that the so-called Udinese grain market is completely banned by the Venetians, and this price can only be bought by the Fengyu Office of Venice (grain reserve agency) and a grain of grain will not flow into the North Sea and Western European countries that are short of food.

At this time, Madrid and Paris, the two domestic food crises in Latin that are fighting hard are spreading. Even though the Netherlands has imported a large number of Eastern European grains from Danze and Arkhangelsk at low prices, it is still difficult to fill the gap. Although the grain gap this year is not as large as in previous years, the wheat price is no longer a sky-high price of 60, 70 or even 80 yuan (converted to East Coast currency) (the price still needs to be bought with friendship, and the black market price is higher), it still fluctuates in the range of 60-65 yuan, and there is no sign of a slight decline. Moreover, there are rumors that the domestic situation in Poland, known as the European granary, is unstable, and some riots may occur. Therefore, the grain prices in the Amsterdam market have a sufficient reason to rise. The reason why it has not risen yet may be that more than a dozen large wholesalers who dominate the grain market are still waiting and watching the situation.

Therefore, in such a case, it is no wonder that all Dutch merchant ships coming to the east coast do not give priority to buying wheat or even grains (sweet potatoes, potatoes, sorghum, corn). If they really can’t help, they will buy some textiles (high tariffs into the European market) and metal utensils (including pig iron and steel bars). Captain Kuait has the certificate from the Dutch West India Company - this is the key factor in his ability to enjoy a 10% profit, so he successfully obtained the qualification to receive 200 tons of wheat, at a price of 40 yuan per ton.

"We don't even have the right to price wheat, which is a shame!" In the Luoqia Bulk Trade Center, Director Han Gang accompanied Qiang Quansheng, Director of the State Administration of Precious Metals Administration, who came here to investigate, and said depressedly: "The purchase price last year was still fifty or sixty yuan, and this year it dropped to 40 yuan. This is a big gap. As the monopoly partner of our wheat exports, the Dutch West India Company explained that last year's grain was exported to the West India region where cash crops were grown, so the price was higher. The export target this year is Europe, so the price is relatively low, but this is just their own saying that we cannot effectively supervise the flow of wheat at all."

"Recently, the domestic silver outflow was too fast, and the import of materials increased sharply, and the Ministry of Finance's vault was about to bottom out. Minister Nie said hello to me to see if the reserve gold stored in the Army's First Prison could be used. Before the end of September this year, 400,000 yuan of cash was sent to the Ottoman Empire through Xinhua Port, and the silver ship was about to set off in three months. This year, due to the war, the centralized escort system was implemented, and the normal fund recovery chain was disrupted. She was afraid that the Ministry of Finance's accounts would bottom out at that time, so she told me in advance. Alas, to be honest, the current batch of gold is less than 200,000 yuan, and it was still the ones who were originally planning to repay the merchants of La Plata. The current situation is in financial difficulties."

"Didn't you seized a lot of cash a while ago?" Han Gang asked first, but he soon smiled bitterly as if he thought of something: "I almost forgot that the Navy built a lot of auxiliary ships in one go, and the pensions and bonuses that were spent on the war, and the amount of money and the amounts from the auction were almost all poured in again. Now, only those La Plata wheat that had not yet been sold can be exchanged for some money, right?"

"Who said no?" Qiang Quansheng took a document from the secretary behind him, and then flipped it out and said: "Last year, the government's fiscal revenue was about 2.28 million yuan, and the profits (trade income) of Chinese enterprises were about 2 million yuan. It is worth mentioning that the trade income (including infrastructure services) in the Ottoman market has reached 1 million yuan, accounting for 50%; grain exports are 100,000 yuan; various income taxes and business taxes are 140,000 yuan, and property taxes are not properly collected, which is only 30,000 yuan; tariffs are even less, only a ridiculous 10,000 yuan."

"It sounds quite a bit." Han Gang joked with a rare slightest.

"The expenditure is even greater. The fiscal surplus last year was only 49,000 yuan." Qiang Quansheng's face stood up, and he said in a gritted voice: "Most half of last year was a peaceful period, and the annual military expenditure reached 1.328 million yuan, accounting for 58.2% of the government's fiscal revenue. The army and the navy actually raised 8,300 soldiers. The army not to mention it, the navy, the gold-swalking beast already has 41 ships of large and small ships, with a total tonnage of nearly 18,800 tons. It is so diligent in training, accounting for 63.4% of military expenditure! With such a system and such military expenditure, I can't imagine how to maintain it if such a military expenditure is not launched."

"The foreign trade situation this year is definitely not as good as last year." Han Gang said in a very affirmative tone, "Although the Navy organized a concentrated escort, it will still be greatly affected in the end. It is certain that the fiscal revenue will decline. But the military expenditure will definitely be more than last year, and it is estimated that it will be much higher. After all, the Navy will have several auxiliary ships, and frigates and other things will be put into service, so the fiscal expenditure will not be allowed to fly into the sky."

"It's this problem!" Qiang Quansheng said with some irritation: "Now is the time when the whole country is uniting in a foreign war. Whoever jumps out of the military expenses is a traitor. I'm worried! For the import war and production materials, the domestic silver outflow is on the rise. If you don't think of a solution, you may not be able to support it."

"So we have to release wheat exports?" Han Gang asked speculatively, "but this may lead to tight food in China."
Chapter completed!