I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Chapter 386 Expanding sea trade
Huang Dong and others were stunned when they saw this, and quickly knelt down to greet Zhu Youxiao.

"His Majesty!"

Zhu Youxiao looked at everyone, waved his hand to let them get up, and then walked slowly in front of them.

"I saw that you were very immersed in the conversation, so I didn't ask my servants to report it, but I surprised you."

"No, no, it's my fault that I didn't greet you respectfully. Please forgive me."

Upon seeing this, Huang Dong quickly confessed. Then he glanced behind the emperor and saw that his servants had long disappeared. A dozen unfamiliar guards were guarding the courtyard and no one was allowed to enter.

“I just walked around Qianmen Street for a while, and people said that Tianjin’s merchants are now gathering together, and shipping is busy.

He also said that Daming Trading Co., Ltd. is now in full swing and the business is quite good, so I, the shareholder, came over to take a look, hahaha, to see how you are doing. "

As Zhu Youxiao talked, he walked to the head of the table and took a seat. Zhang Chang beside him picked up the teapot and looked at the tea.

"Thanks to His Majesty's blessing, Daming Trading Company now has 37 black-tailed boats, which are now crossing the Bohai Sea and trading between Liaodong and Shandong. There are also ten lucky boats going to South Zhili, Zhejiang and other places. It has been operating for five months now, except Necessary expenses and a profit of 14 taels."

Seeing the emperor asking about the profits of Daming Trading Company, Zheng Zhilong, who was in charge, immediately stood up and reported back like a treasure trove.

When Zhu Youxiao heard that the profit was 8 taels, he was secretly surprised.

"It's 14 taels in five months. It's so much. No wonder so many people smuggled it out to sea before. The profits are so high."

Seeing the emperor's surprise, Zheng Zhilong suddenly smiled. He was under great pressure during this period and was afraid of losing money in business, so what should he do?

So in the beginning I was doing everything myself, afraid of making any mistakes.However, since his uncle came, his burden has become much lighter, and Daming Trading Company has quickly got on the right track and is profitable.

"No villain dares to be greedy for credit. This is indeed the result of His Majesty's blessing. For ordinary merchants to go to sea, it is extremely troublesome just to buy a ship, train crew members, leave the port, find sources of goods, etc.

But now that we have the banner of the Ming Dynasty Trading Company, no matter what we do, it is very convenient. Everywhere we go, officials will not make things difficult for us, and other merchants are more willing to do business with us. "

Zheng Zhilong's explanation immediately made Zhu Youxiao smile.

"You are good at talking, but what you said makes some sense. This trading company is dominated by me and the nobles, so it's okay to use my banner.

But one thing is that you must not use my name to bend the law for personal gain. Both customs duties and commercial taxes must be paid in full, and you must not rely on my status to buy or sell by force, which distorts the atmosphere of the trading company. "

In Zhu Youxiao's heart, Zheng Zhilong and others are now considered imperial merchants, and Daming Trading Company is also using his name to make money for him.

But it doesn't matter if it's just making money. Zhu Youxiao doesn't care much about such a small amount of money. What he is afraid of is that Zheng Zhilong and others will do evil under his banner in order to make profits, which will be troublesome.

"Please rest assured, your Majesty, we will definitely abide by your Majesty's teachings and instructions. Since your Majesty trusts us, we will not embarrass your Majesty." Upon hearing this, Zhu Youxiao immediately felt relieved and stopped mentioning this topic. .

"I heard what Lu Aiqing said to you just now. In a few days, the imperial envoys will meet and will head south to Macau. At that time, you can send people to follow them and take a good look at the customs along the way and in the West. As a favor, I will do business there in the future.”

"Your Majesty, please rest assured. Although the profits of Daming Trading Company from doing business in Liaodong, Shandong, and Jiangnan are good, they are far less profitable than doing business in Japan, Southeast Asia, Luzon and other places. I want to take this opportunity to bring Japan, Nanyang, etc. When the situation opens up, it will be better to go to the West."

Zhu Youxiao nodded immediately when he heard Zheng Zhilong's ambitious words. He still hoped that the Ming Trading Company would focus on overseas trade and the Ming Dynasty trade as a supplement.

After all, doing business in the territory of the Ming Dynasty means competing with other Ming Dynasty merchants for business. This is a stock competition, and you make your own money.

But if we go overseas, it will be incremental competition, and we will make money from foreigners and enrich Ming Dynasty. Why not do it.

"You're right. What's the point of doing business in the Ming Dynasty? You still have to go to the sea, and you can go to North Korea, Japan, Luzon, Malacca and even Tianzhu. The porcelain, silk, and tea of ​​the Ming Dynasty are loved by all countries. , as long as you go out, you won’t have to worry about selling.

But you have to be prepared if you want to go out. I heard that Japanese pirates and pirates are prevalent in this sea. It's okay in the Ming Dynasty territory, and there are naval escorts.But if you go to places such as the East, South, and the West, you still need to be prepared. Ships, weapons, and guards must be indispensable. "

Huang Cheng, who was standing bowed aside, was surprised when he heard what the emperor said. It seemed that the emperor still knew something about sea trade.

"What your Majesty said is true. I thought that during this period, I would first establish a foothold in Liaodong and Jiangnan, and then build large ships and go to Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia. However, there are many pirates in these places. Sometimes they are merchants, and sometimes they are pirates. As a pirate, your strength cannot be underestimated.

My uncle once traveled across Southeast Asia, and he once told me that there were great pirates such as Li Dan and Yan Siqi who traveled across Japan and Southeast Asia and had a fortune of hundreds of thousands, so they should not be underestimated in the future. "

When Zhu Youxiao heard this, he immediately became interested in the two people behind him.

Among them, Li Dan knew that he was a well-known pirate merchant on the southeast coast. He not only traded daily, but also owned an armed fleet. He had always carried out trade and ship robbery in the southwest, Japan, southeast and other routes of the Ming Dynasty.Historically, Zheng Zhilong went to Japan and worshiped Li Dan as his adoptive father.

That Yan Siqi was even more thunderous.He had seen it in an article in his previous life.

Although this person settled in Japan, he wanted to plan to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate, establish political power in Japan, and accept the canonization of the Ming Dynasty.

But in the end, the incident was exposed and he was forced to flee Japan. He led his troops across the Taiwan Strait, recruited immigrants from Zhangquan, and carried out large-scale organized reclamation of Taiwan. Therefore, he was revered as the "King of Taiwan".

When Zhu Youxiao thought of this, he suddenly felt that Yan Siqi was a person. What he wanted to do coincided with his plan. If there was a chance in the future, he could win over him.

"These people live outside the Ming Dynasty, but I don't know what their character is. If they want to submit to the Ming Dynasty, they can win over them. However, you need to be hardworking, and you must also develop well. You must not be compared with them.

But as the saying goes, if a worker wants to do his job well, he must first sharpen his tools.I have heard before that Western ships are good. Being able to come to Da Ming shows that they are very good.

I think you can go to Macau and buy merchant ships there. When the time comes, I will also ask the Ordnance Bureau to sell you artillery as a guard. You will not be afraid of any pirates and foreigners. "

(End of this chapter)