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Chapter 1133 African Timber
"Hey, I'm a major shareholder of the bank!" Hong Tao was a little impatient. He wanted to stand in the snow and talk nonsense about such a trivial matter. No matter how beautiful the snow scenery was, it was not as comfortable as lying in the Palace of Tranquil Longevity, warming himself by the stove and smoking a cigar.

"Your Majesty said that every investment must generate profits. Investments without returns must be rejected even by the emperor himself!" Gulandam was not frightened by the emperor's attitude, because she had a trump card, using her own spear to attack his shield.

"..." Hong Tao glanced to the left at Oyani. The woman had her face tucked into her fur coat and was dozing with her eyes closed. He then glanced to the right at Wang Chengen. This grandson was even more ruthless. He simply turned his back to him, obviously not intending to interrupt.

"..." He turned around and looked at the flat-headed brother behind him. Well, this guy was loyal to his duty, with a straight body and bright eyes. But when he blinked at him, he also blinked. I don't know if he really didn't understand, or if he was just pretending to be a grandson.

"Uh... who said that the investment in the three halls has no return? I will teach you a way to get more returns with less investment."

Seeing that no one could act as a shield, Hong Tao had to think of a way out on his own. He couldn't find a good exchange condition in such a hurry, so he could only take out the business he wanted to start next year, and change from eating alone to having everyone share.

"I would like to hear the details!" When the emperor said there was a good deal to be done, Gulandam's attitude immediately became much more respectful. He took half a step forward and tried to get as close as possible as etiquette allowed.

"The most needed material for repairing the three main halls is large wood. Where do you plan to purchase it from?"

Although the main body of the three main halls did not collapse seriously, after so many years of exposure to the sun, wind and rain, some of the wood has decayed and must be replaced. Other parts such as glazed tiles and bases can be preserved, and there is no need to replace them all.

However, it is difficult to find suitable wood in the Ming Dynasty. Even if it is found, most of it is located in the deep mountains in the southwest. It is extremely difficult to cut down and transport it. It depends entirely on manpower and the cost is extremely high.

On the contrary, it is easier to obtain them from the virgin forests of Southeast Asia, especially the coastal areas. The felled giant trees can be transported to the river, flowing downstream into the sea, and then bundled together and towed by boats, along the coastal areas one stop at a time to reach Dagukou.

If there is a large seaport and lifting equipment nearby, the wood can also be loaded onto large cargo ships for ocean voyages, which is faster and less expensive.

"Your Majesty, do not worry about this. There are many huge trees on Kalimantan Island. As long as the Sultan of Brunei knows their uses, he will send capable people to find them. The navy will then tow them to the port of Manila and hand them over to the cargo ships of the Maritime Commandery for transportation."

Without the emperor's explanation, Gulandam knew the source of this kind of wood. The large wood used by the two major naval shipyards in Songjiang and Da Nang basically came from Lower Burma, Luzon Island, Ayutthaya and Cambodia, and was all transported by sea.

In addition, she also knew of a new source of timber. The Sun Moon Bank had already made a plan to invest in the Brunei Sultan to repair the road leading to the interior of Kalimantan Island, so as to facilitate the transportation of giant trees hidden in the primeval forest to the seaside.

This not only solved the need for shipbuilding, but also gave the Brunei Sultan an additional foreign trade commodity with huge reserves. Of course, collecting giant trees from the primeval forests in the hinterland of the island requires a lot of manpower, and the backward working and sanitary conditions there will definitely cause a lot of casualties.

But Sun Moon Bank is not an industry of the Sultanate of Brunei, and it will not consider the people of Brunei too much. It is very kind to repair the road for the local people on the premise of creating more profits and meeting the needs of the Ming Dynasty.

Even if there is no investment in repairing the road, as long as the value of the giant trees is made known to the Sultan of Brunei, local people will still have to cut down and transport them, which will result in greater casualties and less compensation.

"Look, how can it be accomplished without my efforts? I have known for a long time that there are giant trees on Kalimantan Island, but they have not been mined because the geographical environment and climatic conditions do not allow it. It is indeed easier to build a road with Sun Moon Bank's investment, and the Sultan of Brunei will certainly agree. But one road alone is not enough to completely improve the traffic conditions. In the rainy season, two heavy rains can turn any road into a rotten pond, not to mention the mudslides that may occur at any time.

In addition, over-exploitation of the people in vassal states is not a long-term solution. You can not regard the people of vassal states as human beings in your heart, but you cannot show it through actual actions.

On the contrary, I require you to use the power of the vassal states reasonably, only in this way can the local regime be stable. Internal stability is the foundation for the health of the empire, because it is obviously a bad idea to destroy the foundation of a few dozen giant trees. "

Hong Tao seemed to have expected Gulandam to say this, and immediately gave him a very low evaluation. Then he began to exaggerate the topic, talking about wood, the empire's internal affairs, and then connecting the internal affairs to international relations.

"...Then where do you think we should buy the wood?"

At this time, the luster in Gulandam's beautiful big eyes had disappeared. When the emperor stopped talking, he immediately changed his previous attitude, and his tone and expression seemed very respectful.

"Huh, it's too late!" Seeing this scene, Wang Chengen, who was standing not far away, let out a soft groan from his nose.

There are only two outcomes for those who dare to be arrogant and show off their skills in front of the emperor. One is to serve hard labor, and the other is to receive a sincere instruction. Whether it is the former or the latter depends entirely on the emperor's mood.

Gulandam and Oyani were both favored by the emperor. They would not do hard labor, but they had to attend classes. Once the class started, it would not be easily interrupted. It started at an hour and a half. And as the emperor got older, the class time tended to get longer and longer.

"Africa, Mozambique to be more specific. There are a lot of precious hardwoods there, which are perfect for building palaces."

But Wang Chengen seemed to have guessed wrong. The emperor did not take the opportunity to start teaching. It was most likely because the environment was too bad. No matter how strong his passion for educating people was, he would not stand on the steps in the heavy snow to give a lecture.

"Africa? Even if the wood is piled up on the seashore and given away for free, the freight will be prohibitively high... unless Your Majesty intends to use naval warships!" Oyani, who had been silent all this time, couldn't help it anymore. She poked her face out of the fur collar and gave a very low evaluation of this proposal.

"I will not use the navy to build the imperial palace, but you have overlooked one thing, the appointment of the Governor-General of South Africa. Since I have upgraded Enniao City to the Governor-General's District of South Africa, I will naturally not let it fend for itself, and all aspects of its treatment will be improved accordingly.

Didn't the Sun Moon Bank also invest in building roads in the local area? However, the Governorate cannot produce many mechanical equipment and materials on its own and must transport them from the mainland of the empire. The Maritime Transport Department is responsible for this task."

Hong Tao was very generous to an old woman who had made great contributions and was suffering from menopausal syndrome. He did not argue with her attitude and continued to expound his theory.

(End of this chapter)