Chapter 605 The Rapid Development of British-French Trade (seeking follow-up reading)
Seven or eight carriages slowly arrived at the dock.
On the "Youxian", several people jumped out immediately. They shouted loudly and asked the crew to load the contents of the car onto the ship.
Demville rushed forward with dozens of sailors, unloaded boxes of goods from the carriage and carried them onto the ship.
Demville weighed the two wooden boxes on his shoulders. They were not heavy. He looked at his distant relative Maderno beside him—the latter was an old sailor and served as the second-class sailor on the "Leisure"—and asked in a low voice: "What is in this? It won't bring us anything." Danger of the gallows? ”
No matter how stupid he is, he can still think of paying so much wages, loading goods near dark, and not going to those big ports. This is definitely not a serious business.
"It's silk." Maderno said with a relaxed expression, "You can earn 300 francs by shipping the two boxes in your hand to England. This business is not dangerous. I have gone to sea four times with the ship and everything went well. ."
"Silk?" Demville looked at the carriages, "Is that all on them?"
"Absolutely. There is also some high-end wine."
< br>“God, how much is that worth?!”
"I don't know, it must be at least 60,000 francs."
"It seems that our boss is very rich..."
"That's not necessarily true," Maderno smiled pretending to be mysterious. He smiled and said, "I heard that as long as you can hook up with the 'Purs Gang', you can get goods from France on credit, and you only need to pay a small deposit."
He said, pointing his chin towards "Leisure" gestured: "Even this ship was borrowed from the 'Puls Gang'. It is said that as long as you make 12 successful business trips, you can buy this ship at a very low price."
“Really?!” Demville’s eyes widened, “Is the Purs Gang so powerful?”
"Of course it's true." Maderno whispered, "There are big names behind the Purs Gang.
"Tell you, when I save enough money, I also plan to borrow a boat. , and then run 'business' on credit for some goods. Then you'll be my boatswain, oh, if you're qualified. "
Demville's eyes flashed with joy, and then he said nervously: "After talking for a long time, what kind of 'business' is this? "
"I'm going to sea tomorrow anyway, so it doesn't matter if I tell you. This ship will smuggle these silks, wines, and cosmetics to the UK, well, the kind that don't pay customs duties. "
"You mean... smuggling? ! ”
"Don't be so serious, we call this 'private transactions'. If you take these things to the UK, you can easily make 30% profit!"
"But if you are caught..."
"Don't worry, you won't be caught. Purse's helper is very knowledgeable." Maderno said, patting him on the shoulder, "And even if the worst happens, your sister will still get 4,000 francs. The insurance money will be paid. Someone will work to rescue you later.”
Throughout the night, the carriages from Brujas were loaded and parked at the simple dock. on several nearby ships.
During the day, all activities were suspended until dusk fell again. The "Leisure" and the two schooners next to it raised their half-sails and began to slowly leave the shore.
The three ships were about 2 nautical miles apart, heading northwest, and arrived near Norfolk, England, a few hours later.
The sea conditions in the English Channel are very good, and with year-round trade exchanges, pilots have long memorized the waterway, and as long as there is a little light, they will not deviate.
The "Youxian" took the lead in furling its sails and stopped. After waiting for about an hour, they saw a few bright lights flashing on the sea in the distance.
Maderno and the third mate rowed the boat towards the light spot. After a while, they returned, and the third mate handed a note to the captain. The captain immediately issued an order: "Sail due west and set sail in 25 minutes. Lower the sails 10 nautical miles from the coast at 4:20. Strictly maintain light control."
Demville grabbed the distant relative who was passing by and asked in a low voice: "What did you do just now?"
"Get the 'pass'." Maderno winked proudly, "This There are British anti-smuggling ships everywhere nearby, and you will be hit if you don't pay attention.
"So, the Purs gang arranged for serious merchant ships to constantly observe their whereabouts nearby and find out how to avoid them all. open route. ”
Demville opened his mouth in surprise.
How did he know that the powerful Purs Gang was actually one of the several "vests" of the "Special Trade Association".< br>
These "vests" include gangs, smuggling organizations, and even chambers of commerce. They recruit a large number of smuggling ships in the Southern Netherlands and northern France. The industrial development fund provides them with supplies, and the French intelligence agency provides cover.
In recent months, the scale of "special trade" has expanded 12 times, with an average monthly trade volume of 5 million francs, and it continues to surge.
At the same time, thanks to strict organization and unified management, no smuggling ship has been caught by the British anti-smuggling fleet so far.
This is the power of state behavior!
The "Leisure" easily avoided all British anti-smuggling ships and docked smoothly on a deserted beach in Norfolk.
In fact, it cannot be considered a deserted beach - a simple pier was built here with wooden planks, and a broken road passed through the grass and shrubs, leading directly to a church 8 miles away.
After receiving monthly benefits of 5 to 20 pounds, all the priests in the church will even help move goods together during busy times.
The cellar of the church has been expanded more than ten times to temporarily store goods.
On the simple dock, there were hundreds of "workers" who quickly unloaded the contents of the ship, then loaded them into trucks and transported them to the chapel.
Every Monday and Thursday, British caravans would transport large quantities of goods from the farmhouses near the church, and then sell them in markets in Norfolk, Essex and even London.
You know, the UK’s excise tax is currently a core tax.
From the time a child is born and baptized, to marriage and housing, various supplies, including windows, saddles, cosmetic powder, dried fruits, oils, etc., are taxed. As for cigarettes, wine, tea, sugar, etc., then The tax rate is infinitely higher.
So, when these "duty-free" goods shipped from the Southern Netherlands entered the British market, all goods coming from formal channels were immediately rendered unable to fight back.
Smuggled goods are almost always sold at 80% to 90% of the market price, and the quality is absolutely guaranteed. Even so, these items can earn 30% profit. This shows how high the UK’s consumption tax and tariffs are.
Starting in Norfolk, serious shops continued to go bankrupt.
However, savvy businessmen soon discovered the "secret" and switched to purchasing goods from special channels.
During this period, the British people have been very happy - their daily expenses have dropped significantly.
British businessmen are also very happy - especially those "unconventional" businessmen - they easily beat their competitors with price advantages, and sales soared.
The only ones who are unhappy are the tax officials in several British cities - their tax collection has dropped by 35% in the past three months!
(End of this chapter)