In his book The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare depicts a pair of "sworn enemies of the business world." The protagonist, Antonio, is good-natured and never charges interest when lending money to others. His nemesis was Sherlock, a wealthy Jewish merchant who loved to lend money. Because Antonio not only robbed him of his business, but also insulted him to his face, Shylock was always angry and eager to put Antonio to death.
A life-and-death showdown in court
Although Shylock and Antonio in the story are sworn enemies, they have a common name, called "The Merchant of Venice".
In addition to Shakespeare's plays, the figure of the Venetian merchant has also appeared in other works of art. For example, in the game "Age of Discovery Online", in addition to the well-known old colonial powers Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, and the Ottoman Turkish Empire, the British Empire, and the Kingdom of France, the seventh optional trading country is Venice.
For most people who do not know much about history, venice's prestige and fame seem to be incomparable with the first six, but in fact, Venice in the age of great navigation has a trade status that cannot be ignored, and this glory also belongs to the "Venetian merchants".
Ottoman Turkey: Why Venice is so hanging
Drama and games are deeply rooted in people's hearts, and behind them is a long history. Dukat gold coins, which have been circulating in Europe for many years, were written by craftsmen of the Republic of Venice, and the weight of each gold coin was stable at 3.5 grams, and its value and purchasing power were relatively stable. It is precisely because of this that it has been able to flow unimpeded throughout the countries of Europe and even its colonies. From another point of view, this proves that Venice is difficult to shake the world trade status.
Gold Ducat
It is well known that the United States' control over the lifeblood of the global economy is inseparable from the liquidity of the dollar, and the same is true of Venice. In a word, the one who gets the money wins the world. Dukat gold coins are recognized throughout the world, and the strength of the Venetian currency is evident – it is by no means inferior to that of Venetian merchants.
So the question is, in the age of great kings, why were Venetian merchants always so powerful and able to dominate for hundreds of years?
It is not difficult to find the answer to this question in the book "The Tale of Kaito: A Thousand Years of Venice" by the Japanese historical writer Shino Shizuo. The stories in the book tell us that the rise of the Venetian merchants is of course closely related to his own tenacity and intelligence, but the truth is by no means limited to this.
(1) Economic politics are inseparable
All social problems are essentially economic problems; and the key to solving economic problems is usually in the hands of politicians.
The Merchants of Venice were fortunate because they had an outstanding leader named Pieto Othello. It was this young head of state who built a "highway" for the Venetian merchants' international trade routes.
In the era of maritime trade, pirates were the natural enemies of merchants. These outlaws are familiar with the sea breeze and ocean currents, and they are quite brave and good at war, and they use their strong ships and cannons to kill people and goods at sea with impunity. In order to ensure safety, the Venetian government could only pay protection fees to the pirates to ensure that the pirates held high hands on the Venetian merchant ships.
Not every pirate is so handsome
But by 991, the situation seemed to have suddenly reversed. It was in this year that the 30-year-old Pieto Othello officially ascended the throne and became the head of Venice. The first thing he did when he came to power was to announce that he refused to pay protection money to the pirates. This seemingly reckless decision surprised many conservatives in the country.
But Piero Othello's next move soon put the hearts of domestic businessmen at ease. At this moment, it was the turn of the "One Piece" to be worried. As a vassal of the Byzantine Empire, the Republic of Venice signed an agreement with which the Byzantine Empire allowed Venetian merchants to trade freely in the country and reduced nearly half of their trade taxes. In return, Venice had to send out naval cruises to ensure the safety of the west coast of the Byzantine Empire.
Medieval paddle warships
This agreement is exactly in the heart of Pieto Osero. Because after this, the Venetian navy could legitimately cruise back and forth between the seas and even receive material support from the Byzantine Empire. As soon as there were pirates, the navy immediately opened fire and directly killed the other side into slag. At the same time, the Venetian army was also cooperating with the naval operation. Soon, the villages and towns inhabited by the pirates were under siege, and in order to survive, they had to obediently surrender on their knees and declare their allegiance to the Venetian Republic.
Under the iron fist of politicians, Venice's eastern route was no longer threatened, thus opening up a wide "avenue to heaven". This superior condition brought the opportunity for Venetian merchants to show their fists.
(ii) Slave Terminators
What was the most profitable commodity for Venetian merchants? Is it gold and silver crafts, or oriental spices, or porcelain and silk from China?
No, the black slaves they plundered from North Africa are the best-selling "fist products".
In One Thousand and One Nights, we often find that the story mentions "black slaves". Some of these young men from Africa were sent to the palace to become eunuchs, while others were incorporated into the army or became slaves of the rich. Although this is a fictional work, it is not difficult to conclude that if there were no black slaves everywhere in the Arab cities, the author of "One Thousand and One Nights" could not have made up such a thing as "black slaves" out of thin air, even if he had opened his mind.
So the question is: there are only white people in the Middle East, where did these black slaves come from?
If we understand the business of the Merchants of Venice, this problem will be solved. After purchasing slaves in North Africa, Venetian merchants used the Byzantine Empire as a transit point and sold them to the sultanates. The authors of "One Thousand and One Nights" have inadvertently become witnesses to this history.
The trade of black slaves
In addition to black slaves, gold and silver crafts and spices from the East are also popular products. Pepper from India, brought all the way to Byzantium by Arab merchants, and then to Venice, its price has multiplied several times, and for Europeans, although pepper is very expensive, it is also a good thing to buy, because it is so amazing. Even if the meat stinks and spoils, just sprinkle some pepper and its taste will return to its original state.
Therefore, it is not difficult for us to find that under the golden mountain of wealth of Venetian merchants, in addition to the luxury of gold, silver and spices, there are also countless black slaves who hide blood and tears.
(iii) The limits of geopolitical expansion
Many large-scale wars began with ideological differences, as was the case with the famous Crusades. In order to defend their faith, the European Crusades went on several crusades and fought with the Muslim armies of West Asia. They abandoned their families and lost their lives, but when they were dying, they could not get the true favor of the gods.
The Merchant of Venice certainly wasn't so stupid. They turn a blind eye to the meaningless ideology and thus stand alone in this war. Venetian merchants were very busy—they were transporting supplies to Western European countries, doing business with The countries of Western Asia, making windfall fortunes in the war, and their military power also increased by leaps and bounds. During this long war, many coastal cities were destroyed by the war, and the Venetian army took the opportunity to take these lands into its pockets and rapidly expanded its territory.
The rapid expansion of the Venetian Republic finally drew the alarm of the Byzantine Empire. In fact, every kingdom whose geopolitical expansion is close to the limit will cause fear and resistance in the surrounding countries, which is an immutable law.
Unconsciously, the Merchants of Venice were still dumping their goods in the Byzantine Empire, and the business of the local merchants was becoming more and more difficult to do, and they had long been dissatisfied and waited for an opportunity to erupt. In 1068, the new emperor, in order to curry favor with his own merchants, deliberately instigated the mob to make trouble, let them smash the Venetian shops, burn their residences, and drive the merchants out of the country. The honeymoon era between the two countries came to an end at this time.
The two countries whose diplomatic relations have broken down are like a derailed hot couple. Even if the rain passes and the sky is clear, the outward love is still the same, but the heart will still plant untie knots. Time cannot dissipate this suspicion, but only allows the two sides to drift apart.
What the Venetian merchants urgently needed to do was to continue to expand their trade to the East, building new trading sites in Syria, Palestine, and Egypt, while also deliberately cutting back on trade with Byzantium. Under this deliberate act of separation, the volume of trade between Venice and Byzantium was declining, and the situation of mutual benefit and win-win in the past was gradually disappearing. Merchant ships still flowed through the Adriatic Sea, but the west coast of Byzantium was becoming increasingly deserted.
How similar is this situation to the situation on the eve of World War I. On the eve of the outbreak of the war, the contradictions between Britain, France and Germany intensified, and the war seemed to be on the verge of breaking out. But Kaiser Wilhelm II's think tank found that Germany's current financial system simply could not be separated from Britain and France. Once war was waged against Britain and France, Germany's finances and resources would collapse completely within a few months. In desperation, Wilhelm II had no choice but to give up.
But after that, Germany began to seriously improve its financial system, consciously increasing its reserves of food and raw materials in order to deal with future wars. And all this became the prologue to the First World War.
The German Empire's approach was so similar to venice in the past. It can be seen that there is nothing new under the sun, and history is always repeating itself again and again, without exception.
(iv) This is the Merchant of Venice
That's what a businessman is. When people are bound by ideology, moral belief, they can abandon ideology and only seek the most convenient way to find the "highway" to profit.
Merchants do not superstitiously believe in any friendships and covenants, and when their interests decline, they will look for new ones. So no matter how the times change, businessmen will always have a stronger ability to survive.
Under the whitewash of the victor, the impression of the pioneer by the successors of later generations will often be deviated. They mistakenly believe that their ancestors were compassionate and compassionate idealists. In fact, the cunning and barbarism based on the grass, as well as the cruelty and determination in the arena, are the only laws for the rise of civilization.
(End)
(I am @ Weishui Xugong, a history blogger who loves to write)