Chapter 1157: Trade Surplus
John Weddell’s eyes widened. He seemed somewhat confused.
Zheng Sen, however, had no time to waste. Their ability to secretly meet with John Weddell relied on pulling strings and entering through a back door, entirely unbeknownst to the higher-ranking imperial officials.
Those stuffy, conservative literati officials in the imperial court had initially cowered like quails when John Weddell's forces attacked, wanting nothing more than to appease and make peace. Yet, after the combined might of Zheng Zhilong and Gao Family Village secured victory, the "Celestial Empire" arrogance had resurfaced. Now, they were once again clamoring about their status as a superior nation, claiming no need to trade with "barbarians," demanding the English be driven away, and prohibiting their ships from ever returning.
They were truly foolish, through and through.
Zheng Zhilong had no choice but to bribe the guards to arrange this private meeting with John Weddell.
Zheng Sen swiftly unfurled a crude sea chart, pointing to the port of Macau. "This is Portuguese territory. Currently, you English can't get in there, right?"
John Weddell nodded. "The Portuguese want to monopolize the Far Eastern trade. They won't allow us English into their port."
Zheng Sen had learned in Li Daoxuan's lessons that trade monopolies were highly detrimental to the Ming Dynasty's populace. Without competition, monopolies would flourish, allowing the Portuguese to arbitrarily depress prices.
That certainly wouldn't do. A mechanism of competition needed to be introduced to counter the Portuguese.
John Weddell sounded skeptical. "Is that true?"
Zheng Sen retorted, "Do we need to lie to a prisoner?"
"Uh! That's a fair point," John Weddell conceded.
Zheng Sen's finger continued tracing the coastline northward. "Here, Shanghai Port. It's also currently under our control. We can permit you to dock and trade there as well."
John Weddell was overjoyed. Shanghai Port's location was superb. If they could establish a foothold there, they could easily sail to Nagasaki in Japan, completing a truly perfect trade route.
His joy was quickly followed by caution. John Weddell asked warily, "What would our British Empire need to offer in return?"
Zheng Sen replied, "We have only one very simple demand for Britain. Nothing else."
"Please, tell me," John Weddell urged.
Zheng Sen stated, "Fair dealings, honest trade with all, young and old."
"That, of course, is no problem," John Weddell said.
And so, the negotiations concluded.
The bribed guards then jogged back from a distance, resuming their posts at the door as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.
The group of four walked back along the road.
Zheng Zhihu seemed a little bewildered. "Elder Brother, worthy nephew, I don't quite understand."
"Oh? What puzzles you?" Zheng Zhilong inquired.
Zheng Zhihu explained, "The English sailed great ships from countless miles away, even resorting to cannons and warfare, all to force the Ming to trade with them. From this, it seems clear that trade must be beneficial to them; otherwise, they wouldn't do it."
"Since we clearly won, shouldn't we refuse anything that benefits them? Why are we agreeing to this? It makes us look like the defeated nation."
"Hahaha!" Zheng Zhilong chuckled. "Xiaosen, you tell your Second Uncle."
Zheng Sen took up the explanation. "Second Uncle, whether trade is truly beneficial to them or not, they might be misjudging the situation."
Zheng Zhihu just blinked, confused.
Zheng Sen continued, "The Westerners believe they can gather goods from all corners of the world to sell to us and make immense profits. But what they don't realize is that, in the eyes of the Ming Dynasty people, their goods are barely distinguishable from rubbish. Before long, something very interesting will happen: our goods will easily sell into their countries, while they will rack their brains trying to sell their own products into the Ming."
"Our common people take a lump of clay, mold it, and it transforms into exquisite porcelain, which exchanges for the Westerners' gold and silver. Our common people plant mulberry leaves, raise a few silkworms, weave their silk, and again exchange it for the Westerners' gold and silver. Our common people cultivate some tea trees, water them, and in the blink of an eye, they become tea leaves, once more exchanged for the Westerners' gold and silver."
Finishing his explanation, Zheng Sen smiled. "In any case, we stand to make a massive profit. What do they have that they can sell to us? It will be exceedingly difficult for them to take our gold and silver."
Zheng Zhihu uttered a sound of realization, "Ah?"
Zheng Sen clarified, "The Heavenly Lord taught that this is called a trade surplus. We will gain enormous wealth from trade, while they will continuously deplete their national resources."
"Wow, so that's how it is," Zheng Zhihu exclaimed.
Zheng Sen continued, "That's why I told Father not to let those imperial officials meddle. If the court is unwilling to open ports to the English, then we will simply open them privately. Let the Westerners work for us; let them search the entire world for gold and silver, and then dutifully bring it all to us."
Zheng Zhihu praised, "Xiaosen, you've become incredibly astute! Your explanations are truly insightful."
Zheng Sen said, "This is all what I learned at the Naval Academy on Zhoushan Island. Heh, now that the fighting here is over, I have to go back to classes. I find everything I learn there fascinating."
Shi Lang, standing nearby, pouted. "I'm not like you. I hate classes. Fighting suits me much better. All this talk in school about trade surpluses and deficits makes my head ache."
Zheng Sen teased, "Xiaolang, you'll get dumber and dumber like this."
Shi Lang chuckled. "It's fine, as long as you're smart. Heh heh, I'll be in charge of charging into battle, and you'll be in charge of devising strategies. Together, we'll still be invincible."
The two teenagers laughed together.
Several days later...
The English delivered the money, paying the Ming Dynasty twenty-eight thousand silver dollars in war reparations, finally ransoming John Weddell and his companions.
As soon as John Weddell returned, he immediately informed the East India Company that Quanzhou Port and Shanghai Port would be open to the English.
The British were instantly overjoyed. "Excellent! We can go and make a fortune from the Ming Dynasty!"
A crowd of Englishmen eagerly steered their large ships towards their dreamed-of "Golden Land," sharpening their swords and spears, ready to make a fortune...
But they quickly found themselves lost amidst the Ming Dynasty's rich and diverse array of goods.
Tea, wanted! Porcelain, wanted! Silk, wanted!
Everything they saw seemed precious, and they wanted to load it all onto their ships.
Yet, they couldn't bring anything that the common people of the Ming Dynasty desired.
What to do?
What *could* they do?
They racked their brains but couldn't come up with a solution...
In reality, in conventional history, they would remain stumped for centuries until they finally found a way to bridge the trade deficit: opium.
But opium was poisonous!
The Qing government at the time wasn't foolish; they knew that such a harmful substance entering the country would be detrimental. Thus, they dispatched Lin Zexu to destroy the opium at Humen.
Humen's destruction of opium cut off the Westerners' source of wealth, which prompted them to launch the Opium War.
Of course, the Qing government was utterly inept and quickly lost the war, grudgingly forced to accept opium. However, in this timeline, Li Daoxuan would absolutely not allow barbarism to triumph over civilization, so the Qing government would certainly not exist.
In that future, it would be hard to say who would launch the Opium War against whom.
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