Volume 1: New People of Great Ming Chapter 12: Macroeconomics

  "Mother, we can't take things for granted."

  Xu Yuansuo, facing the two stunned adults, spoke in a soft tone: "The accounts are definitely fake, but it's possible that Father did it for the family, turning losses into profits? Taking all the blame on himself is truly moving!" Although he said so, he unconsciously revealed his past life's sarcastic tone.

  "What are you talking about with such an attitude!" Xu He was furious and was about to rush up and slap his son.

  Xu Yuansuo dodged behind his mother and spoke quickly: "I looked at these two account books, the tax silver before was 132 taels, this time it's 120 taels, not much difference. Another major expense is entertaining guests, with expenses of 235 taels and a half, and 243 taels and eight parts."

  Xu He's hand, which had just been raised, stopped in mid-air and didn't come down.

  Xu's mother opened her arms and protected her son, at this moment also looked back with an incredulous expression.

  "Last year's principal was 300 taels, this year's principal is 580 taels. Among them, the cost of three-shu cloth increased by two tenths, the fanbu cloth increased by one and a half tenths, and the medicine spot cloth per bolt increased by seven points... However, because there was no silk fabric trading this year, the actual procurement quantity is still three tenths more than last year." Xu Yuansuo showed off his skills at this moment, reporting various data fluently.

  "Mother," Xu Yuansuo asked again, "how much did Father gain in the previous year?"

  Madam Xu was completely unguarded and replied, "In the year before last, we still made over 50 taels of silver. The account book is still in my room."

  "That's it! Last year there were over 50 taels of income, why did it drop so sharply this year and last year?" Xu Yuansuo looked at his father.

  Xu He was momentarily stunned, stuttering and stammering: "You don't understand! In business, there's no such thing as guaranteed profits without losses!" He psyched himself up again and scolded: "You little beast! How dare you say your dad cooked the books!"

  "Doing business indeed has gains and losses, but this loss is not the right time!" Xu Yuansuo walked out from behind his mother with a calm pace, facing his parents without any fear. He said: "What was the situation two years ago? The miners of Jiangxi and Zhejiang rioted, the mountain people of Guangdong and Guangxi rioted, and later there was also a civil unrest in Shandong. The court suppressed everywhere, with all kinds of harsh taxes, is this a good time for doing business?"

  "This won't stop us from going to Songjiang!" Xuhui strongly argued.

  "Doesn't the unrest on the road affect the price of feet?" Xu Yuansuo raised an eyebrow: "Although I haven't seen the accounts from two years ago, but without looking it can be known that the price of feet two years ago was absolutely several times higher than last year and this year."

  The transportation capacity of this era is extremely low, and even if labor costs are cheap, transporting goods to the northwest is not a small sum.

  "So last year's earnings were hard-earned money!" Xu Yuansuo said: "But it shouldn't be the case for last year and this year! Because the imperial court opened up the sea route last year!"

  Compared with another dimension's Qing dynasty sea ban, tomorrow morning's sea ban is simply like playing house.

  The Qing dynasty's maritime prohibition was to prohibit people from living along the coast, marking it as a forbidden area. The Ming dynasty's sea ban, on the other hand, was due to the prevention of Japanese pirates, not only did they not clear the area, but also relocated people to the border and filled the coastal garrisons with soldiers, indirectly increasing the population along the coast.

  Secondly, the Qing dynasty banned maritime activities, which means that no sails were allowed to sail out to sea. However, after the Ming dynasty's ban on maritime activities, not only did official ships habitually go out to sea for patrols, but even civilian ships didn't take the ban seriously. Moreover, coastal shipping routes remained unobstructed, and only deep-sea navigation was affected.

  It was not the imperial court that truly and actively promoted Haijin, but rather the coastal magnates, who used it to guarantee their own monopoly on maritime trade profits.

  At that time, many people with insight saw that the倭患 actually originated from the sea ban, but opening up the sea was faced with strong pressure from the powerful families of Fujian and Zhejiang. Even Zhu Ni, the governor who was in charge of the naval defense of Fujian and Zhejiang at that time, was dismissed by the imperial court for advocating the opening of the sea and died in anger.

  In the first year of Longqing, the court's wind direction had thoroughly changed. The northerners who were in power increased day by day. The Open Sea faction defeated the Closed Sea faction, and only then was the port opened at Moon Harbour. Although the actual situation was complicated, Moon Harbour was not an ideal place either, but it ultimately counted as opening a gap to let foreign merchants squeeze in.

  More people participating in maritime trade naturally requires more goods.

  Songjiang cloth as one of the important export goods of the Ming Dynasty's maritime trade naturally led to a sharp price increase.

  With production costs remaining unchanged, sales prices skyrocketing means something even a fool knows!

  "The quantity of goods has decreased, the seller has raised prices, but it can't stop the price hike of the traveling merchants!" Xu Yuansuo analyzed step by step: "Under such circumstances, why did the profit drop so much! Fifty taels dropped to ten taels, which is a drop of more than 80%!"

  Xu He was stunned on the spot, and it was only then that he realized the great impact of Longqing Kaihai on himself. Previously, he had been puzzled by the surge in prices at Songjiang Fabric Market, but it turned out that they had all gone to Yuegang!

  Xu's mother has reacted and is looking at her husband with a bad expression.

  "Last year, the commercial tax paid to the national treasury was 10,000 taels of white silver. Xu Yuansuo showed no concern for the two gentlemen's skepticism about this number and said categorically: "This year, more wealthy families will definitely participate in the market, so the price of cloth will continue to rise, and it is already difficult to find silk fabrics that can be used as interlining. In such a good market situation, as long as we can get the goods, there must be several times the profit, why did Father earn 20% less than last year?"

  "It's been two years since the country has been at peace, and the soldiers from the garrison have come out to transport goods, and the price of footwork has dropped!" Xu Yuansu ended his speech with a flourish.

  "This year Shaanxi will have a big earthquake!" Xu He finally dug out some bearish news from his mind.

  He snatched the momentum, his face heavy, and said: "On April 6th, Xi'an, Fengxiang, and Qingyang had earthquakes on the same day. It was truly a thunderous sound, dust and ash blocking the sky, not a single building left intact! Alas! Heaven knows how many people and livestock died, aftershocks didn't stop for over ten days!

  "On the nineteenth, Xianyang and Jingyang were again hit by earthquakes. The villages of Baqiao and Liuwei in Xianyang County, and the towns of Yangjun and Yongle in Jingyang County, all collapsed as if they had been flattened, killing two to three hundred people! And yet the imperial court still orders Governor Zhang to offer sacrifices at Mount Hua!" Xu He said with a heavy heart.

  "Then," Xu Yuansuo said unaffected, "can't it be sold for a higher price?"

  Xu He was moved.

  Indeed, after a major disaster, survivors always need to rebuild their lives. In this process, various living materials will rise in price. Even under the convenience of logistics and legal constraints in later generations, there are still profiteers seeking exorbitant profits. In today's era, businessmen will not have any psychological burden at all.

  And according to Xu He's account book, in April they were still on the road and did not catch up with the big earthquake - at most they caught up with the aftershocks. They were among the first batch of businessmen to arrive after the disaster, so how could they not make a lot of money!

  "Where did the silver go?" Madam Xue suddenly spoke in an extremely calm tone, even softer than usual.

  However, Xu Yuanshuo couldn't believe that his mother had changed her strategy of struggle, and if the hard way didn't work, she would try the soft way.

  This is clearly the oppressive atmosphere before a storm!

  Xu Yuansuo quietly made his way to the stairs, when suddenly a coarse and dark hand reached out from behind him, grabbing his shoulder and pulling him into the back kitchen.

  It's none other than Xu Jia's older sister.

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