4355 years (AD 1658), the twenty-second day of the first month.
A few days later, the eight princes and kings went to the palace of King Qian Mingyi of Shu to meet again.
King Qian Mingyi of Shu was the host of this gathering. After serving tea to several other princes and kings, he said with emotion: "We were planning to observe the situation of the princes.
Now that things have settled, I will share with you my key observations.
The fourth prince, King Su Ming of Qi, was the second prince to react. He listed the Qi State Development Company very quickly and also raised 50 million taels of silver coins.
The wealth in the capital far exceeded everyone's imagination. It didn't even stir up much excitement, and all the stocks were sold out.
After King Su Ming of Qi succeeded, the other two less powerful princes immediately started taking action.
They were not fully prepared, but even so, they still achieved relatively ideal results.
The third prince, King Su Meng of Liang, listed the Liangguo Development Company and planned to raise 50 million taels of silver coins, but initially only raised 20 million taels of silver coins.
This is because a group of merchants from Songjiang County and Guangzhou Prefecture went north and took the remaining share.
The situation of the third prince may have been isolated, but the subsequent sixth prince, Tang Wang Su Sheng, experienced almost the same situation.
Through observing these princes, I can now basically analyze several situations.
In the first case, it is indeed feasible to raise funds for nation-building through the stock market.
The people in the country are very supportive of this situation.
The second situation is that local funds in the capital are indeed facing depletion.
But what we suspected before has also been confirmed.
Businessmen with strong assets from other places are flocking to the capital, preparing to invest in the newly established country by buying stocks.
These businessmen believe that there is no higher return than investing in a new country.
The experiences of the four princes let us know that it is feasible to raise funds in the stock market by setting up a company.
We also don’t have to worry about not having enough money in the market.
Many merchants who grew up with the empire lacked reliable investment methods and kept depositing their money in banks.
Now the four princes have become role models and together they have raised 200 million taels of silver coins.
This involves at least millions of people in the empire, or people with some modest assets.
The royal family will not let the stock market collapse, and the four princes cannot bear the responsibility for breach of contract.
In this way, the four princes have made the people of the empire believe in this kind of investment.
If we choose to follow up later, it should be easier to raise funds.
But if you choose this method, you must pay a certain price.
Whether you choose this method, you need to consider the pros and cons."
Qian Mingyi, the king of Shu, is struggling now. As a scholar who is not a traditional Confucian, he is not so discriminatory towards merchants.
But he has read many files and knows that once those businessmen lose control, they are very bold and dare to trample everything in the world.
The most critical point is that Qian Mingyi, the king of Shu, served as prime minister for a long time and had close personal relationships with many civil servant families.
These civil servant families adhere to the habit of cunning rabbits and three burrows.
They are preparing to increase investment in Shu to improve the family's ability to resist risks.
These people were hesitating before, mainly because they were waiting to see Emperor Su He's attitude towards their families.
They found that Emperor Su He ignored them and didn't take it to heart at all.
Only these timid families dare to increase the scale of investment.
King Lu Chenyang of Chu heard that King Qian Mingyi of Shu seemed to have something in his words.
He has always dared to ask questions clearly about things he didn't understand, and would not lose face.
This is an ability he developed on the battlefield.
There are many factors that affect the outcome of a war. A commander who cannot even ask questions of his subordinates and thinks he can control everything is definitely not a famous general.
The king of Chu, Lu Chenyang, asked directly: "King Shu, what you said seems to me to have some meaning in it.
Do we have to pay a high price to raise funds through the stock market?”
King Qian Mingyi of Shu smiled and replied: "Everything you do has to pay a certain price.
Even if parents are raising children, they still hope that their children will grow up and provide for themselves in old age.
If you want to raise funds through the stock market, you must promise merchants certain rights.
There is no guarantee for businessmen, and those smart businessmen will never buy stocks.
What exactly does it cost?
Take a look at the promises of the four princes."
When King Lu Chenyang of Chu heard the answer from King Qian Mingyi of Shu, he clasped his hands in thanks.
"As long as you pay these things, I can completely accept it.
We picture silver coins in the hands of merchants. These merchants want their investments to be protected.
This deal is acceptable to me."
After King Qian Mingyi of Shu heard this, he had no choice but to compare with King Lu Chenyang of Chu.
He looked at everyone and said: "The king has called you here today mainly because he wants to know how you raise funds.
We can help each other to complete the preparations for the founding of the People's Republic of China as soon as possible.
We are already moving slower than the four princes, and if we continue to consume each other, we will only be able to eat the leftovers left by the four princes."
The meaning of Shu King Qian Mingyi has been conveyed, but he did not say it too thoroughly.
They need to fully compete with the four princes.
Originally, the royal family assisted the four princes in raising supplies, so they were faster.
Now that the princes have raised funds, the progress will be far beyond people's imagination.
Domestic immigrants and talents who want to go to Europe, if they start later, they will all be lured into the mansion by the four princes.
All the princes and kings attending the banquet are smart people and know how to avoid internal friction at this time.
They originally competed with each other on the same road.
Now I find that there is another broad road, so there is no need to crowd each other.
King Lu Chenyang of Chu drank a cup of tea, stood up and said: "I have decided to go to the stock market to raise funds.
There is nothing wrong with just giving certain preferential treatment to merchants.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! As long as the military power is in our hands, we can deal with these businessmen at any time."
King Lu Chenyang of Chu was extremely confident. He did not believe that some businessmen could pose a certain threat to the royal family when the royal family controlled military power.
King of Chu Lu Chenyang actually had one sentence that he had not yet said.
That is, there are not many forces supporting him, and he cannot accept what he wants. Some families already want to get involved in the military power of Chu State.
Such ambitious people must never be allowed to become important ministers of Chu State.
Lu Chenyang, King of Chu, believed that compared with these ambitious people, merchants were more harmless.
As a frontline general, his shortcomings are his connections.
The King of Chu, Lu Chenyang, had no time at all to manage his connections.
With no friends to vouch for, the families he met were all rather weird.
The families I met might not be as reassuring as the businessmen who buy stocks.
King Lu Chenyang of Chu believed that there must be people who had the same experience as him.
Song King Zhantie followed Chu King Lu Chenyang and said: "I am also preparing to list the company.
The core territory of the Song Dynasty was too small, and its territory in Northern Europe was too remote.
Now I’m worried that the company’s stock price won’t rise and it won’t be able to raise enough funds.”
Taking advantage of the geographical advantages of the British Isles, Song State had many merchants engaged in maritime trade who were ready to invest in Song State.
However, the area of the British Isles was not large after all, and King Zhan Tie of the Song Dynasty could not accommodate too many forces.
He has come into contact with many merchants engaged in maritime trade, and he has a fairly clear understanding of merchants' thoughts.
Bai Yuangui, the king of Yue, looked at Lu Chenyang, the king of Chu, and said with a smile: "We are really destined to sit at the same table again.
The king chose to raise funds for the founding of the country through the listing of the company."
The Yue King Bai Yuangui looked at the Chu King Lu Chenyang's wry smile.
The difficulties he encountered and those faced by King Lu Chenyang of Chu should be similar.
These generals, who have been fighting abroad all year round, have relatively shallow connections.
He took the initiative to come together and wanted to help them jointly establish the power of the country.
No matter how much you give, no matter how little you ask for.
They don't dare to use these forces. How can there be so many good things in the world that they can't catch up with.
King Liang Feng of Xiang saw that most of the princes and kings who often led troops outside had already made their choices.
The expressions on the faces of everyone in the study basically did not change much.
They were not surprised at all by this situation.
The King of Xiang, Liang Feng, was also not surprised. The generals who led the troops outside had close ties with the powerful families in the interior of the empire.
Once any general does this, his future is completely ruined.
A general who chooses to do this will definitely not be able to come to the study room today.
The biggest shortcoming of these people is that they have poor connections and have too few reliable friends.
King Liang Feng of Xiang saw that most people were looking at him.
He clasped his fists and said: "Everyone, I have already settled the funds for the founding of the country, and I am not planning to set up a development company and raise funds through the stock market."
King Lu Chenyang of Chu was a comrade who worked with King Xiang.
He quickly asked curiously: "Lao Liang, you are so amazing at raising funds quietly.
None of us here have raised good funds, and the difficulty is really too high.
The current situation is different from the past. The previous vassal country only needed one or two million taels of silver coins as a starting capital.
Now if we want to establish a vassal state, we must prepare tens of millions of taels of silver coins."
Xiang Wang Liang Feng quickly explained: "Lao Lu thinks too highly of me. With my ability, how can I raise tens of millions of taels of silver coins in a short period of time.
I am short of silver coins, but there are mines in the land of Xiang.
As we all know, the discovery of oil in Persia transformed it from a barbaric area into a wealthy and important town in the empire.
Due to the discovery of oil deposits in the Arabian Desert, towns with a population of over 10,000 appeared in the sky of yellow sand.
Nowadays, internal combustion engines are used in too many places in the empire. The cars running on the ground, the ships traveling on the sea, and the machines in factories are all big consumers of fuel.
The main oil producing areas of the empire, apart from the Southeast Asia, were only the Persian and Arabian deserts.
There are large oil mines near Xiang State, but don’t they exist in Hunan State?
This king learned that there were local nomadic tribes who drilled wells to produce oil.
There is not just one such record, but it appears many times in the local history.
The locals also cursed these oils because they poisoned the water and affected the locals' search for water sources.
I immediately spent more than 200,000 taels of silver coins to hire a well-drilling team from the deserts surrounding Hunan to dig wells in the two river basins of Hunan.
My luck has always been good. Within my territory, I have discovered many oil deposits that started blowing out just a few meters deep.
These oil deposits are better than those in Persia in terms of quality and reserves.
I used these oil mines as collateral to borrow thirty million taels of silver coins from various commercial banks in the empire.
This money is enough for me to build the country."
When the other princes and kings heard what Xiang King Liang Feng said, some were envious and some were jealous.
Their mouths were full of sour water, and they regretted why they didn't choose this territory.
Some princes and kings regretted that they did not know in advance whether there were any special products in their territory.
This also reminds all the princes and kings to search for unique minerals and commodities in the territory, which can really be exchanged for silver coins.
After Xiang Wang Liang Feng talked about his experience, the scene was silent for a long time.
King Qutian of Gui then said: "I am going to the stock market to raise funds.
This is almost the easiest way to raise funds that I can come across."
As soon as Gui Wang Qutian said these words, Chu Wang Lu Chenyang said in surprise: "Gui Wang, I thought you chose other methods."
Gui Wang Qutian smiled and said: "I am also considering the pros and cons of all aspects.
Rather than dealing with those bureaucrats and aristocratic families, I would rather deal with businessmen."
As soon as Gui Wang Qutian said these words, most of the princes and kings in the study had surprised looks on their faces.
They all agreed that Gui Wang Qutian's answer was perfunctory.
They couldn't figure it out why King Gui Qutian gave up his connections?
Selling development company stocks can usually only raise silver coins.
But many things needed for the founding of the country could not be purchased with silver coins.
The four princes don't worry about this matter, Emperor Su He will take care of everything.
King Lu Chenyang of Chu, Bai Yuangui, King of Yue, and Zhan Tie, King of Song, had no connections at all, and they were unable to obtain the intangible value brought by connections.
Some families paid silver coins and wanted to ask for privileges.
This is completely inferior to obtaining silver coins directly from the stock market.
Gui Wang Qutian just smiled and did not answer the question.
This stems from what happened to him when he was a child.
He has a strong feeling of resistance to bureaucrats and aristocratic families.
King Gui Qutian knew that when he was a minister, he could still cooperate with others.
Once he becomes a monarch, he will never trust anyone except his relatives.
When this happens to him, it is more cost-effective to choose a merchant.
King Qutian of Gui did not need to establish trust with the merchants at all. There was a bond between them based on pure interests.
King Qing Jiang Zhiyu, King Wu Qi Gangyi, and King Shu Qian Mingyi are three princes and kings with rich connections in the empire.
They considered it for several days, especially since many princes and kings chose to obtain funds through the stock market.
Many families are aware of this situation and know that they cannot continue to sell at a high price, so they choose to actively provide resources.
Twelve princes and kings choose from them, and they can sell them at a higher price to obtain higher profits.
There are only two or three princes and kings to choose from. Once these princes and kings reach a rough alliance, their strategy will be completely ineffective.
Wu Wang Qi Gangyi saw that they, the princes and kings, finally made different choices due to considerations from all parties.
The fate of their countries will also go in different directions.
Whether this choice is a merit or a fault can only be judged by future generations.
