Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Zhu Youjian did not expect that stocks would be sought after while bonds would be unpopular.

In his opinion, bonds are much more stable than stocks, and conservative people in the Ming Dynasty should prefer this.

Especially nowadays, there is no interest on money deposited in the bank, and even some money houses still charge storage fees.

In this case, isn't it natural to take out some money to buy bonds?

Compared to bank deposits, it is obviously more profitable.

After thinking about it, Zhu Youjian could only attribute it to the poor credibility of the Ming Dynasty court, so that people were not very confident about the bonds when they saw that they were issued by the Imperial Household Department.

The bonds of the Duke of Dongping were sought after, mostly because some merchants wanted to rely on the rich and powerful. It was essentially a rich and powerful economy and was not worth promoting.

This made him feel that the Ming Dynasty's capital market still had a long way to go before it could be perfected.

"Another reason is that silver is a good hedge against price, so people are not eager to invest in it."

"Unlike the credit currency of later generations, which has a certain inflation rate every year, if you don't invest your money, the purchasing power will be only half of what it was before in a few years."

"Now that the price of silver in exchange for copper coins has risen, those who have hoarded silver are even more reluctant to take it out."

This is the sequelae of Zhu Youjian's promotion of the devaluation of copper coins.

People took out their copper coins and exchanged them for silver dollars, and even promoted the issuance of subsidiary currencies such as Libi.

This greatly reduced the cost of collecting copper for the inner court, and a lot of copper has been smelted now.

But at the same time, the idea that silver can preserve its value is also recognized by some people.

Naturally, the wealthy who have hoarded silver are even more reluctant to take it out.

The solution to this problem is very simple, which is to make silver depreciate like copper coins.

But for Zhu Youjian, who urgently needed copper to make primers and bullet casings, the depreciation of copper coins would bring greater benefits.

So he just had this idea in his mind, planning to push for the devaluation of silver after copper coins were no longer used as currency.

During this period of time, he could also store more gold and turn the inner court's deposits of silver into gold as much as possible.

After thinking this through, Zhu Youjian called Tu Wenfu and Wang Chengen and made arrangements with them:

“We must ensure fair trading and allow more funds to enter the exchange.”

"This way the court can collect more stamp taxes, and you can also gain more profits when you manipulate the market."

Tu Wenfu and Wang Chengen both nodded in agreement.

After trying their hand at metal trading last year, the two have learned how to profit from both rising and falling prices.

For the Royal Assets Committee that controls the exchange, there is no need to do much trickery. They can manipulate the market simply by relying on the information they collect.

What they need to do most is to ensure the fairness of transactions, so that the exchange can attract more funds and make money more easily.

Wang Chengen also proposed the idea:
"I plan to set up a securities company under Shuntian Bank."

“Specially responsible for the issuance, sale and trading of stocks and bonds on exchanges.”

Zhu Youjian highly approved of this and believed that specialized securities companies would help improve the capital market.

At the same time, he reminded Wang Chengen that he must allocate the bank's funds properly, how much to use for lending, how much to buy bonds, how much to buy stocks... the proportions must be calculated.

"In this regard, you can let the Industrial and Commercial School opened by the Imperial Household Department run a financial school."

“We will also set up a financial research institute to study these issues.”

Encourage Wang Chengen to use the collected data to build financial models.

Even if there are many errors in the early stages, it can still be used as a reference.

Wang Chengen nodded and took note. Tu Wenfu was also thoughtful and believed that the Imperial Assets Commission should also establish a data model to manage its subordinate enterprises.

In particular, he knew that the current emperor liked to look at numbers and would often send people to check the accounts.

In order to ensure that there are fewer mistakes in this regard, he will also promote data management in the Royal Assets Commission. It would be best if a model could be established to estimate the profits that each company should have.

If they don't match in the future, there must be something wrong. Either the person in charge is incompetent or they are corrupt.

The economics of the Ming Dynasty was gradually established after this, and using mathematics to manage the economy became a more important means.

After making arrangements for this, Zhu Youjian urged them to keep an eye on the eight listed companies. They should be able to make profits and their stock prices should not fall too much. In particular, he urged them to implement the listing requirements and promote employee shareholding.

Tu Wenfu was somewhat reluctant about this and said:
"For a company like Ming Pao, it's OK. Giving 20 percent to employees is no big deal."

"But Daming Shipping Group now has 15 million in assets. Giving 10% in dividends to employees is really too much."

"I think the requirements for such giant companies can be lowered, or a cap can be set."

I am unwilling to hand over 10% of the shares to the staff meeting for nothing.

Zhu Youjian frowned at this, and felt a little reluctant to part with Shancai. Especially another reason given by Tu Wenfu almost moved him:

"The company under the shipping group has already implemented this arrangement and allocated 10% of the shares to the employees in the company."

“If the shipping group gets another 10 percent, wouldn’t it be duplication if it were given to them?”

"It's only distributed to the group's head office, and there aren't many people there now."

It was believed that these people should not share the 10% dividend, and the Privy Council and the Admiralty were particularly opposed to this.

After knowing how valuable the shares of Daming Shipping Group were, they changed their previous indifferent attitude and began to take it seriously.

They were unwilling to see the Imperial Assets Commission and the Navy Department jointly offer 5 percent of the shares to the employees.

Although Zhu Youjian was reluctant to take out 1.5 million yuan, he made up his mind after careful consideration:

"No matter what, the 10 percent employee shareholding cannot be changed. It must be at least this proportion."

“Although the number of employees at the group headquarters is small, they are indispensable. They are basically part of the management team, and when they reach a certain level, they should be treated as senior executives.”

"Also, the management of the subsidiary companies under the management of the group headquarters should also be included in the group headquarters' dividends. This will prevent them from only caring about the interests of their own company while ignoring the group when working in the subsidiary company."

Let these managers who are sent to subsidiary companies by the group headquarters enjoy double dividends.

But even so, it is still a bit too much for these people to share the 10% dividend.

Zhu Youjian said:
"Giant companies must shoulder social responsibilities and at least support their own employees."

"Of the 10% dividends paid to the group headquarters staff, only half can be distributed to the group headquarters staff, and the other half, 5%, can be used to establish a fund for all staff."

"This fund can be used to provide assistance to employees who encounter special circumstances, and can also be used to donate to the academy so that the academy can accept a certain number of employees for training."

"As long as it is beneficial to employees, we should boldly do it." "After the exploration is mature, it will be included in the listing regulations."

We insist on employees holding 10% of the shares and will never waver in this regard.

They even go further to protect their employees so that they don't resort to extremes when they are desperate in the future.

These are all measures to ease future labor-capital conflicts, and to set norms for them before the development of capitalism in the Ming Dynasty.

Seeing this scene, Tu Wenfu felt helpless.

Because the emperor established this rule when he set up various enterprises.

By raising his objection this time, he had already risked offending the senior executives of the subordinate companies. If he continued speaking, those people might find ways to embarrass him.

He felt unhappy when he thought that the 45 points of the shipping group's shares owned by the Imperial Assets Committee would become 40% after the 5 points were distributed to the employees. He thought that the emperor was too generous in spending money, not only to the feudal nobles, but also to the coolies.

After Zhu Youjian made this arrangement, he thought of the 5% bonus enjoyed by the members of the Imperial Capital Committee and the senior officials of the inner court, but other inner court personnel had not made any arrangements, so he instructed:
"The same goes for the revenue from the Imperial Capital Commission. Five percent will be used to place people in the inner court."

"Whether it's leaving the palace to retire or studying and improving yourself, arrangements must be made."

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"As long as they work for the inner court, the Imperial Fund Committee will find a way to support them."

Let Tu Wenfu draw up a set of rules and get this done.

This finally made Tu Wenfu's mood improve.

Compared to money, this matter has a greater impact. As long as it can be done well, the influence of the Imperial Assets Committee in the inner court will be further enhanced.

Naturally, along with it, his power and prestige as the person in charge also increased.

Wang Chengen looked at this scene and knew that Tu Wenfu's status was getting higher and higher.

I, who previously had the potential to compete with the other person, am now completely left behind.

It would be impossible for him to say that he was not envious of this, because the Imperial Household Supervision, which the emperor originally intended to establish, included the responsibilities of the Imperial Assets Commission.

As a eunuch promoted by the emperor, he had a very shallow foundation in the palace. Compared with Tu Wenfu, the third eunuch of the eunuch party, he was completely different.

Now he could only watch as the power of the Imperial Assets Commission, which was controlled by the other party, grew larger and larger, completely overpowering the Imperial Household Department, which he was in charge of.

This made him feel somewhat resentful towards Cao Huachun, thinking that Wang An's successor had not played his role to the full:
"I thought Cao Huachun could restrain Tu Wenfu a little bit in the Imperial Assets Commission."

"I didn't expect that I had overestimated him. This person is totally incompetent."

"The Emperor doesn't seem to like him very much either. I'll have to stay away from him in the future."

The last time Cao Huachun suggested that he make friends with civil officials and give the initiative of taxation entirely to the Ministry of Revenue, he was blamed by the emperor.

This made Wang Chengen realize that the emperor still had some taboos about the interactions between eunuchs and civil servants.

If he wants to continue to climb up in the future, he cannot learn from Cao Huachun.

As Wang Chengen was thinking these things, he heard the emperor ask:
"I intend to invest all the 800,000 taels of silver I harvested this time into equipment production."

"How many muskets can be manufactured to equip the imperial camp?"

The Arms Bureau is under the supervision of the Imperial Household, and the Weapons Group is under the supervision of the Imperial Household. Wang Chengen quickly calculated in his mind and replied:

"The current breech-loading rifled musket costs about thirty yuan each."

"The cost of a breech-loading smoothbore musket is about fifteen dollars."

"Often five rifled barrels fail when drawn and are converted to smoothbore barrels."

"That means the combination of one rifled musket and five smoothbore muskets would cost about one hundred and five dollars."

"The Imperial Camp now has more than 10,000 people. If we calculate based on 12,000 muskets, it will cost 210,000 yuan."

"If they were all equipped with rifled muskets, it would cost 360,000 yuan."

This made Zhu Youjian nod his head, thinking that he could afford the expense.

But Wang Chengen's next words made him not so satisfied:
"Since your majesty determined the standard musket two years ago, about 23,000 heavy and light matchlock muskets have been produced in the early stage."

"After switching to the production of flintlock muskets in September last year, we manufactured about 11,000 muskets. Of these, 5,000 were muzzle-loading flintlock muskets, but production was later discontinued. There were also more than 1,000 breech-loading rifled muskets and more than 5,000 breech-loading smoothbore muskets."

"I think if we go all out this year, we can produce about 6,000 rifled muskets and 30,000 smoothbore muskets."

"If the imperial camp is equipped with rifled muskets, it will take two years."

This efficiency was far from what Zhu Youjian had expected. Especially after the new single-shot musket came out, the design needed to be changed to allow workers to adapt to production.

If there are problems in the middle, the production speed will be further slowed down, and it may take longer to equip the Imperial Camp.

Moreover, the Imperial Camp could not be sent out easily. If it was to be used on the front line to fight against the Jianlu, more muskets were needed to equip the army.

This made him very dissatisfied with the efficiency, and he asked Wang Chengen:
"Didn't I instruct you to use assembly lines last year? Why is the efficiency still so low?"

"Did you not take this seriously? Why haven't you done it yet?"

Wang Chengen said with some grievance:

"I and the craftsmen from the Armour Bureau and the Equipment Institute have already implemented assembly line technology in various government offices. Many unimportant small parts have been distributed to craftsmen from other government offices."

"This was only completed at the end of last year, so not many muskets were produced using this method. Before that, we still used the old method."

"Moreover, the receiver and barrel are the most difficult to make, so they can only be made by senior craftsmen. Their number is limited, so the number cannot be increased naturally."

"If we switch to producing muzzle-loading flintlock muskets, I am confident that we can produce more than 6,000 per month."

This is the production quantity previously reported by the Equipment Department. Two hundred muskets of various types can be manufactured every day.

Zhu Youjian also calculated based on this number, so he planned to sell muskets to Dongjiang Territory and other vassal states to enhance their strength.

I didn't expect that after switching to the production of breech-loading muskets, the number would drop so much. Last year, only more than 1,000 breech-loading rifled muskets were produced, and the production of smoothbore muskets was not satisfactory either.

This made him wonder, what was the problem?

Wang Chengen responded:

"I think the biggest problem is that the current production of smoothbore muskets is subordinate to rifled muskets, and no one specializes in manufacturing smoothbore gun barrels anymore."

"If we separate rifled and smoothbore muskets, and stop using complicated designs like receivers, the number of muskets will immediately increase to 6,000 per month. The muskets produced in a year will be enough to equip the Beijing Camp."

"The problem is that the Armament Department now believes that smoothbore muskets are outdated. All smoothbore gun barrels were modified after the rifling failed."

"This has prevented the production of rifled muskets from increasing, and the production of smoothbore muskets has also been limited." (End of this chapter)