I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Chapter 619: The Development of Daming Trading Company (First Update)
Originally, according to the suggestions of Ye Xianggao and others, He Shixian had worked hard in Liaodong and made great achievements. According to his merits, he could be canonized as an earl this time.

But now that something like this has happened, even if the emperor protects him, he, the earl, will definitely not be able to protect him.

At most, he is just a viscount, and he is still a noble who cannot be hereditary.

Sure enough, as Zhu Youxiao thought, not long after Ye Xianggao gave Zhu Youxiao some early warning, many title books for Yanguan Yushi also followed.They impeached He Shixian one after another, dehumanized him, and actually killed him. This is really against the way of a saint.

But what surprised Zhu Youxiao was that many people wrote letters to congratulate Shixian.For example, Wen Tiren, the Minister of Rites, Yang Changsi, the Minister of War, and others wrote letters saying that He Shixian was not guilty.

They said in the title book that Dai Shan had committed extremely evil crimes and was the person who hated the Liao people the most among the Jianlu. They killed countless Liao people in Saarhu and Jiefan cities.Now He Shixian is treating others in his own way, so why not? It's not a big deal at all.

So under the fierce debate between the two factions, the matter became more and more fierce, and it became the focus of the court for a while.

However, things in the court always happened one after another. Zhu Youxiao deliberately ignored it, and He Shixian was used as a target to attract Yanguan's attention.On the contrary, the cabinet, together with the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel, have accelerated the work on formulating a new system of nobility.

At this time, Zhu Youxiao also met Zheng Zhilong who was brought into the palace by Zhang Chang despite his busy schedule.

"Caomin Zheng Zhilong pays homage to Your Majesty."

When Zheng Zhilong stepped into the Qianqing Palace again, his mood was still very nervous, even a little magical.

He still clearly remembers the first time he stepped into Qianqing Palace as Tang Ruowang's translator.

At that time, the emperor saw that he was young, so he asked his name, and then chatted with him about Nanyang maritime trade. Thanks to his understanding, he answered fluently.

This also aroused great interest in the emperor, and he made the immediate decision to invest his own money, allowing him and Huang Dong to establish the Daming Trading Company.

Since then, he and Huang Dong have soared, from ordinary people to the shopkeepers of the Ming Dynasty Trading Company, the Ming Dynasty Emperor Merchant, and prominent figures in the capital.

All of this happened within two years, which made him feel unreal for a moment.

Sometimes after waking up, he feels as if he is dreaming, but what he experiences every day tells him that it is not a dream, but something that really happened.

Therefore, he and Huang Dong could only do their best to repay the emperor's support.Fortunately, Daming Trading Company was doing very well, which gave him the confidence to come to Qianqing Palace this time.

"Get up."

Seeing Zheng Zhilong kneeling on the ground, Zhu Youxiao put down the question book in his hand, waved his hand to let him stand up, and said with a smile:

"Zheng Zhilong, we haven't seen each other for more than a year."

"What your Majesty said is that it has been more than a year and a half since you asked me to meet Huang Dong at the beginning of last year to form the Daming Trading Company."

When Zhu Youxiao heard this, he recalled it thoughtfully.

"It's true. It's been almost a year and a half since I asked you and Huang Dong to start a business partnership. How has this year been? How do you and Huang Dong get along?"

"Your Majesty, please rest assured that Cao Gen and Shopkeeper Huang each perform their own duties. The younger one is responsible for maritime trade matters, while Shopkeeper Huang is responsible for sales, store opening and other matters. Shopkeeper Huang is cautious in doing things and makes decisions before taking action. Now Daming Trading Company There are more than fifty shops and more than ten workshops opened in Gyeonggi Province, all thanks to Shopkeeper Huang."

When the emperor asked, Zheng Zhilong naturally did not dare to say anything wrong about Huang Dong. He knew very well that Huang Dong had known the emperor much earlier than he did.

When Zhu Youxiao saw what he said, he immediately became interested.From the end of last year to this year, he gave Huang Dong many inventions, and it seems that the scale of his work is quite large.

"You have the account book? Show it to me."

Zheng Zhilong was well prepared before he came. When he saw this, he immediately took out a document from his sleeve and handed it to Zhang Chang. Then he handed it over and said:
"Your Majesty, last year Daming Trading Company relied on its maritime trade business and took advantage of the favorable opportunity of the imperial court to open the sea. It purchased goods from Jiangnan and Liaodong and came to Gyeonggi to sell them.

But since this year, in accordance with your instructions and the royal secret recipe given to you, Shopkeeper Huang began to build a workshop in Gyeonggi.At present, there are [-] ironware, Western ware, cement, and soap workshops in Tongzhou, employing more than [-] craftsmen. There are [-] coal kilns in Xishan Coal Field, with more than [-] workers, and two briquette workshops, currently employing craftsmen. More than four hundred people. "

Zhu Youxiao listened to Zheng Zhilong's words and took the account book handed over by Zhang Chang, feeling very satisfied.If nothing else, just say how many people are employed in so many workshops and how many employment problems can be solved.But Zheng Zhilong hadn't finished speaking yet. He continued:

"As for shops, there are shops selling Western wares, cement, soap, fur, silk, etc. In the entire Gyeonggi region, in addition to the capital city, there are also shops opened by us in Tianjin Prefecture, Baoding Prefecture and other places, and the products in them are also Demand exceeds supply.

The Western utensils, soaps, furs and other items in the store have high prices and high profits. They are rare items for many people, so many wealthy people like to buy them for use.As for cement and briquettes, they are low-priced and durable.Among them, cement is the best for paving roads and repairing workshops, so many merchants love to buy it.

Briquettes are different. The price of this product is much lower than that of firewood and charcoal. Therefore, since its launch last month, it has been very popular among the people in the capital and is in short supply. For this reason, Shopkeeper Huang is planning to open two more briquette workshops to increase production. . "

Zhu Youxiao carefully looked at the account books handed over by Zhang Chang and listened to Zheng Zhilong's report. He was very satisfied with the current results of Daming Trading Company.

He secretly thought that Huang Dong was really good at getting things done and had strong mobility, and he actually got things started so quickly.

He is very confident in cement, briquettes and other products, especially briquettes, which have not exploded yet. By the time winter comes, the demand for this economical and affordable living product will definitely increase explosively.

"Huang Dong has done a very good job. I am very satisfied. I will continue to work hard in the future. These briquettes, cement and other things are commonly used by the people, so we need to increase production. If necessary, we can produce these things together with other trading companies. Just charge a small fee. In this way, the people can use it, the output will be greatly increased, and it will be easier to promote it nationwide in the future."

Zheng Zhilong had long expected that the emperor would say this. After all, at the beginning of this year, the emperor had told Huang Dong not to eat alone and to let others cooperate with Daming Trading Company to make money.

For this reason, the emperor even coined a word to describe it, called community of interests.Every time Zheng Zhilong thinks of this word, he feels it is very appropriate.These people do business together with Daming Trading Company. It can be said that they are both prosperous and suffer losses. It is not a community of interests.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me. Daming Trading Co., Ltd. is now cooperating with other trading companies in Tongzhou and Xishan Coal Yard, either letting other trading companies do the work, or transferring technology to them on an annual basis for a fee. Now in Tongzhou, around Daming Trading Co., Ltd. More than 50 workshops have been built.

They either help produce raw materials, imitate, or cooperate with Daming trading companies to produce. However, most of them are in the ascendant now and are still in the initial stage. After a year or two, Tongzhou will definitely prosper. "

When Zhu Youxiao heard this, he nodded repeatedly.

"Okay, that's what I'm going to do. Daming Trading Company, since you gave it this name, you should put Daming first, and you must not live up to this name."

For Zhu Youxiao, due to the special status of his position, although he also valued the profits of Daming Trading Company, he paid more attention to the development of other trading companies driven by Daming Trading Company.

In his opinion, instead of the Ming Dynasty trading company living alone, it is better to cooperate with other merchants and make money together.

This will not only bring tax revenue, but also create employment. It will also allow more people to participate in the system, slowly cultivate new interest groups, and provide assistance for his reforms.

After Huang Dong's situation is dealt with, what remains is the situation of Daming Trading Company and Sea Trade. This is one of the main reasons why Zhu Youxiao summoned Zheng Zhilong today.

The maritime trade business of Daming Trading Company started in the middle of last year, and it was very difficult at the beginning.But when Zheng Zhilong's uncle Huang Cheng arrived, his rich experience in sea trade and the many crew members he brought with him helped Daming Trading Company's sea trade business grow by leaps and bounds.

Therefore, after a year and a half of purchasing and merging fleets, Daming Trading Company's maritime trade business has now expanded from last year's basic areas of Liaodong and Jiangnan to North Korea, Nanyang and other places. There are currently more than 60 ships, which is quite large.

However, it won't be long before the strength of the Daming Trading Company's maritime trade fleet will become even stronger.

The reason for this lies in Li Dan. Since Li Dan returned to China and came to Beijing, Zheng Zhilong has contacted Li Dan several times according to the emperor's instructions to discuss letting him purchase shares of Daming Trading Company.

When they first met, Zheng Zhilong had a great conversation with Li Dan. Zheng Zhilong benefited a lot from Li Dan's sea trade experience.

In particular, Li Dan suggested that Zheng Zhilong open up the New World and Western trade routes, and offered his full help. This made Zheng Zhilong's eyes light up, and he immediately wrote to Zhu Youxiao to request that this matter be implemented.

Zhu Youxiao then agreed and also allocated funds. Unexpectedly, Li Dan, who received the emperor's reply, became more confident, and then proposed to Zheng Zhilong that in addition to buying shares of Daming Trading Company, he also wanted to use more than 50 of his men to A merchant ship became a shareholder of Daming Trading Company.

Originally, Zheng Zhilong thought that Li Dan had his own sea trading fleet, and Daming Trading Company would compete with him to a certain extent, so he would not buy too much.But he didn't expect that Li Dan not only wanted to buy it, but also wanted to invest all of his fleet in Daming Trading Company.

This surprised Zheng Zhilong. Someone came to give him a pillow just because he was sleepy.

With Li Dan's help, Daming Trading Company's sea trade business will definitely reach a higher level.It's just that he couldn't make the decision on this matter, so when he saw the emperor asking him now, he told the whole story and wanted to ask Zhu Youxiao's opinion.

(End of this chapter)