Back to Ming Dynasty with Industrial Revolution System

Chapter 963 24 directors
"I heard that more than a dozen businessmen in Dongying Trading were arrested by the government, and several officials of the Oriental Company were interrogated at the same time. Three of the big businessmen were confiscated and sentenced to life imprisonment because they were involved in colluding with officials of the Eastern Company and evading taxes. .A director of the Eastern Company was also sentenced to death. So don't touch the law, especially recently."

After the businessman's tax evasion incident ended, many businessmen were still in despair.

Western companies are preparing for the first general meeting of shareholders. In theory, all shareholders can participate, but because the transportation is not very convenient at this time, and the small shareholders who contribute a few taels of silver or a few coins actually have no right to speak, so Basically only the government and major shareholders who invested more than 1000 taels were preparing to attend the meeting this time. Many people were absent from the meeting because they could not arrive in time.

Li Jinde, who had started to gain popularity among businessmen, was in charge of organizing the meeting, and he also participated in the election for the director of the Western Trading Company.

Although he is not one of the richest businessmen, his experience of traveling to and from the West and meeting the kings of the West made him famous and became a sailing hero shaped by Chu Yun. Rich businessmen are also very polite to Li Jinde.

The first general meeting of shareholders of Western Company was held in the big tea garden in the capital. The number of participants exceeded a hundred people.This is still to keep their entourage outside, otherwise the big tea garden will not be able to sit down.

Wearing dry clothes, Li Jinde stood in front of the gate to welcome the major shareholders who came, and they will be partners in cooperation from now on.

"It turns out to be Hero Li. We've heard the story of you fighting against the Pirate King for a long time!" After the big shareholders who arrived recognized Li Jinde, they bowed their hands to Li Jinde one after another.

"Wisdom against the Pirate King, that is to say, it's just nonsense. In the future, we will work together to develop the Western market. Please take care of us." Li Jinde returned the gift to the other party.

This time Chu Yun asked him to be in charge of preparing for the first general meeting of shareholders of Western Trading Company, and had high hopes for him.

Li Jinde also realized that this was a key turning point in his life. If he could lead the western company to grow, then he could become a real legend——there is no need for Chu Yun to specially arrange an exaggerated legend.

After people arrived one after another, the first general meeting of shareholders of Western Company began, and many big businessmen and some upstarts gathered here.

"First of all, let me explain the purpose of Western Company. Western Trading Company is a profit-making organization that organizes fleets to trade in the Western Ocean in order to implement the concept of free trade! According to my experience in Western Ocean, there are many other countries in the world besides Beiyang and Nanyang. They do not have a large population like ours, but the combined population is larger than ours, and the market of tens of millions of people is several times that of the domestic market!" Li Jinde stood on the wooden platform in the middle, describing the broad prospects of Western companies to everyone .

"Tens of millions of people?! There are only 3000 to [-] million people in Nanyang and Beiyang, but there are tens of millions in the West?"

The businessmen below whispered in surprise.

Because the technical level of Nanyang, Beiyang and other countries is not good, Chinese products are popular, so Huaxia merchants have earned a lot of gold and silver from them, creating a group of rich people such as Wang Changyuan and Lu shopkeeper.If the population of Xiyang is ten times that of the above two places, wouldn't it be ten times more profitable?
Thinking of this, the businessman below was a little moved.

"To set up a fleet to go to the West for trade, establish factories and warehouses, two preparations need to be made! The first preparation is to clarify who will be in charge. We need to select 24 directors to form a board of directors, make decisions together, and appoint them to hire management Personnel, workers, sailors, handymen. The second preparation is to use the funds we raised to build our own ships and hire warships from the Admiralty. Our fleet going to the West must be absolutely safe! Going to the West can get Several times the profit, but there are many pirates on the way, once caught by them, they are likely to be sold to the desert or other unknown places as slaves!" Li Jinde explained to everyone the preparations for the Western company before going to Europe.

Western companies currently have only an empty shell and funds, and need to establish their own decision-making bodies and own their own fixed assets - ships, machines.

There are 24 directors, 14 of which belong to government seats, and the other 10 belong to large private shareholders.The seat of the government is appointed by the government, while the other 10 major shareholders are elected through elections.

In fact, shareholders with more shares are more likely to be elected as directors. Major shareholders with more than 1% of shares, such as Li Jinde and Wang Changyuan, have become 10 directors.

These 24 directors own more than 70% of all shares, and they determine all important matters of Western companies.As Western companies seize territory in Europe, the 24-member board of directors of Western companies has also become a fearsome existence.

"With regard to the operation of Western companies, it is planned to approve 40 taels of silver to build ocean-going galleons and purchase artillery from the government. 10 taels of silver will be used to hire more than 2000 talents, workers, sailors, and provide salaries and pension reserves. The remaining 50 taels The silver is used for the company's three-year normal operation and procurement of materials!"

"Western companies are divided into two headquarters, one Eastern headquarters, right here in Beijing, and the other Western headquarters, in the city of London, Britain, to quickly respond to the local market and situation. Before the construction of the submarine cable across the ocean, The Eastern Headquarters formulates an annual master plan at the beginning of each year and sends it to the Western Headquarters, and the Western Headquarters has a certain degree of autonomy in the master plan to make changes according to local conditions."

The board of directors represented by Li Jinde quickly passed the proposal that had been prepared long ago.The most important investment is shipbuilding. Only with ships can we talk about transoceanic trade, otherwise it is nonsense to go to the West to open up markets.

At the same time, because the distance from the capital to the city of London is too far, the 24-member board of directors had to be divided into two parts to deal with changes in the European situation. Otherwise, it would be too late when the opinions from the capital reached the city of London. .

"Everyone, I wish our Western Trading Company smooth sailing and success, cheers!" Li Jinde raised his glass to congratulate everyone when the meeting ended successfully.

"Smooth sailing, cheers!" The wealthy businessmen present raised their glasses one after another.

There were some bloodshot eyes in Li Jinde's eyes. He was busy preparing for the Western Trading Company for a while, so he couldn't keep his hands open, and he didn't even take a good rest.

But judging from today's grand occasion, everything he has done is worth it.In the past, he led a large sailing ship to the west, and in the future he will lead a huge fleet to go there!

(End of this chapter)