I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Chapter 486 The future of Daming Trading Company

Zheng Zhilong not only wrote down profits in his account books.

He also wrote out the dividends to shareholders, and even made plans for the future development of Daming Trading Company.

Daming Trading Company made a profit of 150 million taels last year, but Zheng Zhilong did not want to share all the profits out of consideration for business expansion.

So he suggested to Zhu Youxiao in the account book that 50 taels, or one-third of the profits, should be used for dividends.

He also calculated clearly that even if he only shared a profit of 50 taels, there would be a dividend of 50 taels per share.

This dividend profit is very high for these shareholders. When the time comes, the shareholders will not have any complaints, and the remaining profits will continue to buy ships and properties and expand the industry.

Zhu Youxiao had no objection to the amount of dividends. Zheng Zhilong was right. He took out 50 taels of profits as dividends, with a profit margin of [-]%.This is not a small amount anywhere. If this news is released, it is estimated that the entire capital will be shocked.

Moreover, Daming Trading Company owns half of the shares, and will also receive a dividend of 25 by then.Although this number is nothing compared to the huge internal savings, mosquitoes are still meat no matter how small they are. How could Zhu Youxiao be dissatisfied.

In addition to dividends, the rest is the future planning of Daming Trading Company.

The first is to continue to expand industry, not only to carry out sea trade, but also to purchase industries and sell goods throughout the Ming Dynasty.

Huang Dong is mainly responsible for this sector. For example, a Western store was recently built on Qianmen Street in Beijing. It contains various Western gadgets. The business will definitely be good in the future.

Looking at this layout, Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but think of a term, that is, the layout of the entire industry chain.It's just that Daming Trading Company only imports, ships and sells, and has no production links.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but have other ideas. Why should he keep importing Western goods?

In fact, the Ming Dynasty could also imitate Western objects, which not only reduced costs but also stimulated employment, killing two birds with one stone.

But he also knew in his heart that Western clocks, telescopes and other items were technology-intensive industries that could not be built by relying on people. They required skilled workers and the cost was not low. But if it happened, then Definitely a huge benefit.

When Zhu Youxiao thought of this, he immediately wrote down the idea, but as he wrote, he came up with another idea.Since we are all making Western objects, why not make some new objects that are easy to make, economical and practical.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but start to close his eyes and meditate. In his previous life, he had seen many videos and articles, which also contained many magical skills necessary for time travellers.

But at that time, who would have thought that I could travel through time? Besides, I was also a liberal arts student, and I couldn’t understand anything that was too professional. I had long forgotten most of the techniques, and could only vaguely remember a few simple ones. object.

He thought for a while and then wrote down the steps for making these objects.

The objects are also simple, with only two items: soap and cement.

In his memory, these two were really frequent visitors in time travel stories. If Zhu Youxiao hadn't always read online stories in his previous life, he wouldn't have been able to remember them.

Moreover, both of them use very simple materials, both of which use limestone. They are also easy to make, the cost is not high, and they are easy to popularize.At the same time, he also made it clear that this was the royal secret recipe and could not be leaked at will or spread to outsiders. The Ming Trading Company could just copy it.

But he doesn’t give it for free. Once the production is successful, he needs to share it in proportion.It's just that he didn't write this out, but he knew that Zheng Zhilong would also think of this with his intelligence.

In addition to the idea of ​​expanding industry, the second is to expand the fleet and trade scope.

There are now three fleets of Daming Trading Company, one facing Liaodong and North Korea, one facing Jiangnan, and one heading to Liaodong.

These are domestic trades, and although navigation and trade are easy, the profit margins are not the highest.Therefore, Zheng Zhilong is thinking of continuing to purchase ships, train crews, and expand the fleet this year.

The goal is to go to Japan to do business with Nanyang. Japan is rich in silver. There is a huge demand for Ming Dynasty ironware, silk, porcelain, etc., and the profits are very high.This is especially true in Nanyang. Both the Francois and the local natives all like Ming porcelain and other items.

Japan and Nanyang also have things that the Ming Dynasty needs. Their silver, copper mines, spices and other things are also needed by the Ming Dynasty. This time they can't triple the profit. How can Zheng Zhilong not be envious of this.

Not to mention Zheng Zhilong, even Zhu Youxiao is envious. It is good to make domestic money, but wouldn't it be even better to make foreign money.

Therefore, he fully agreed with this proposal and was determined to let Zheng Zhilong go ahead and do it boldly.

But he also knew in his heart that Daming Trading Company would have many advantages in domestic trade, but if it went to foreign trade, this advantage would be gone.Not only do you have to face competition from other merchants, you may also face risks such as pirate plunder.

Zheng Zhilong also thought of this, so he came up with a third idea, which was to ask Zhu Youxiao to let the Ming Navy escort the ships, or to equip the Ming Dynasty trading company's ocean-going merchant ships with firearms.

This idea was actually proposed by Zhu Youxiao. As early as July and August last year, he said that Daming Trading Company could order firearms from Tongzhou Firearms Workshop.

However, due to various reasons, this matter did not finally take place.

On the one hand, Daming Trading Company only trades domestically, and the demand for firearms is not that strong. On the other hand, although Tongzhou Firearms Workshop has a large output, it was busy producing firearms for Jingying last year and could not take care of other orders.The situation of the Tongzhou Firearms Workshop this year is much better than last year. This year it can not only supply the Beijing camp, but also the navy and even others.

Zheng Zhilong also knew about this, so he wrote to Zhu Youxiao that he wanted to purchase firearms, and attached the construction price given to him by the Tongzhou Firearms Workshop in the account book.

Zhu Youxiao couldn't help laughing when he saw the price.

According to Xu Guangqi's previous report to him, he knew that the current average cost of a Krug cannon is about 1000 taels, that the current cost of a bird gun is about one tael, [-], [-], and a flintlock gun costs [-] and a half.

But the price quoted by Tongzhou Firearms Workshop to Zheng Zhilong was extremely high.

The Krug gun C model costs 500 taels per gun, the musket costs 500 taels of silver, and the flintlock gun costs [-] taels of silver.If you think the Krugun C model is too expensive, you can also use the Fran cannon, which costs [-] taels of silver each.

The Krug gun C model is the smallest among the Krug guns. It is generally not suitable for sieges. It is only used in field battles, so it is very suitable to be equipped on ships.

A layman might think that this price is not bad at first glance, but Zhu Youxiao knew clearly that although the average cost of a Krug cannon is about 1000 taels of silver, this is after averaging the costs of the three models of Krug cannons, A, B, and C.

In fact, model A costs up to 2000 taels of silver, model B costs 300 taels of silver, and model C is the smallest of the Krug cannons, so the cost is also low, only 700 taels of silver.

Calculated in this way, the price quoted by Tongzhou Firearms Workshop to Daming Trading Company for the Krug Cannon was more than three times the cost.

When he saw this, he secretly thought that Tongzhou Firearms Workshop would do business.With such a high price, he wanted Tongzhou Firearms Workshop to further expand its business. In the future, it would not only sell firearms to Daming Trading Company, but also merchants going overseas and even other vassal states could purchase firearms from Tongzhou Firearms Workshop as long as they met the conditions.

After all, the profits of arms are high. If you sell them casually, you can earn several times the profit. Why not do it.

Zhu Youxiao also knew what Zheng Zhilong meant when he wrote this, and it was obvious that he wanted his help to see if these firearms could be made cheaper.

But Zhu Youxiao would not agree to this in any case.

First, this is normal business behavior, and it is not convenient for me to show up.Secondly, it is also good for the Tongzhou Firearms Workshop to make money, which can reduce the pressure on the court. After all, the annual firearms construction expenditure of 150 million taels is a headache even for Zhu Youxiao.

In addition to these three things, Zheng Zhilong also wanted to ask Zhu Youxiao for instructions.

That is, Zheng Zhilong wants to further purchase a fleet, train sailors, purchase firearms, and expand the scale of trade, especially traveling to various parts of Southeast Asia, which is extremely risky and requires more principal.

Therefore, in order to operate better, Zheng Zhilong applied to Zhu Youxiao to raise funds again, issuing a total of 100 additional shares, which is [-] million taels of silver.

With this money, plus this year's profit, there will be 200 million taels of available funds.

This would be enough for the Ming Dynasty Trading Company to expand its business in Japan and Southeast Asia, and even trade in places such as Tianzhu.

After seeing this, Zhu Youxiao thought about it and thought it was okay. He knew the risks of ocean trade. If he raised funds again, he could indeed speed up the development of Daming Trading Company.

However, with so much money raised from the private sector, he was a little doubtful whether Zheng Zhilong could raise so much money.

He sighed slightly when he thought of this. He also gave up the 25 in dividends. At the same time, he took out another 30 from the internal funds and invested it again, which was equivalent to subscribing for [-] shares.

The majority of the fund-raising was taken care of by himself, and the remaining four thousand shares and 45 taels were left to Zheng Zhilong to figure out a solution for himself.

However, Zhu Youxiao also knew that once the news of this year's dividend of 50 taels per share is released, people will be very enthusiastic about subscribing. Although 100 million taels is a bit difficult, it should be easier to raise 45 taels tomorrow.

After these four things were said, the account books of Daming Trading Company were also cleared.

Generally speaking, whether it is dividends, profits, or later planning, Zhu Youxiao is very satisfied with the results of Daming Trading Company.

In his heart, he hopes that Daming Trading Company will become bigger and better, and the industry will be bigger and better.

This can not only drive more industries and employment, but also increase the court's income, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone.

More importantly, the nobles and the common people purchased the shares of Daming Trading Company through stock subscription. With the steady distribution of dividends every year, the vested interest groups will gradually grow, and gradually a group will be formed that is firm in maritime trade and colonization. .

In the future, if I carry out reforms related to maritime trade and colonization, I will get more support, and there will be much less resistance both within the court and among the people.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but sigh. The stock invented by the Dutch East India Company was so useful. It felt so good to cross the river with the knowledge of future generations.

(End of this chapter)