Chapter 1221 The Behemoth of the Empire (Second update, please subscribe)
Author: Xiaoyu’s Destiny
Chapter 1221 The Behemoth of the Empire (Second update, please subscribe)
Iron is a metal, and like all metals it has its own price. Among all metals, iron is the cheapest, but it is the most indispensable.
It can even be said that iron is the foundation of the country!
After mankind entered the Iron Age, iron weapons and agricultural tools set off changes again and again, both in military and agriculture.
However, this is not worth mentioning.
The real full use of iron was the Industrial Revolution. After the Industrial Revolution, iron and coal became the basis of industry. Only with iron and coal can it be possible to manufacture various machines including steam engines.
Iron is the least valuable of all metals, but it is the most valuable.
In ancient times, with iron, we could make weapons and armor, and steal gold, silver, women, and land from other people's hands.
In modern times, iron can be used to make weapons and continue to rob. It can also build giant ships and railways to further conquer more distant lands and rob more wealth.
Since steel is a country, without iron, it is impossible to have a modern industrial power.
Ironmaking requires iron ore!
There would be no steel industry without iron ore.
In fact, it can be said that the Ming Dynasty's steel industry has never been easy. In the Nanhua era, there was only one small iron mine with a reserve of only 100 million tons. Even in the early days of the empire, it could only rely on a few small iron mines in order to develop the steel industry.
, the empire had to reach out to Africa and develop the Simandou Iron Mine in Guinea, West Africa. It was that remote iron mine that allowed the Ming Empire's steel industry to develop by leaps and bounds - relying on tens of millions of tons of iron ore.
Imported, the empire established a strong steel industry.
But the Simandou iron ore mine is far overseas.
However, the raw material problems that plagued the empire's steel industry were not fundamentally solved until the empire occupied Brazil - the Belo Horizonte iron mine in Minas Gerais, a mine with reserves of tens of billions of tons of iron.
The mine became the mother of the empire's steel industry.
"Vale!"
The discovery of the expedition team almost made Emperor Zhu Da want to whistle to celebrate. But who among the Chinese people does not know the name of Vale? They barely remember that in another world, it was not until the 1960s and 1970s that the giant iron tower was discovered.
Mine, after all, it is a remote area... No, it is not a remote area, it is simply a no-man's land! That's why the iron ore has never been discovered.
I never thought that it would be discovered by the expedition team. Although I don’t know much about the iron mine, I still need to know more. Even now that the empire’s demand for iron ore has been met, it is still important to conduct exploration in advance.
Lay a good foundation for the future.
Just when Emperor Zhu Da was about to pick up the phone, he suddenly thought of another thing - monopoly.
At present, the empire's industries are highly monopolized. The royal consortium headed by Nanhua Company monopolizes many industries in the empire. This is obviously not a good thing.
Take mining companies as an example. On the surface, Ming Dynasty has Southwest Mining Company, Northern Mining Company, Northwest Mining Company and African Mining Company. But who are the major shareholders of these mining companies?
Nanhua Company.
The Ming Dynasty has its own national conditions. Although Emperor Zhu Da has not been very involved in the company in the past ten years and has split the company many times, the company's assets are still developing like a snowball.
Emperor Zhu Da's wealth has grown bigger and bigger like a snowball. Even he himself thinks it's a bit surprising how much wealth he has now.
All this made Emperor Zhu Da very helpless.
"Hey, forget it..."
The hand that originally reached for the phone suddenly dropped it. He looked at the report in his hand and shook his head helplessly.
"I hope one day there will be other capital to develop it."
At this moment, Emperor Zhu lost all his previous excitement and enthusiasm. Now the empire has no urgent need for that giant iron mine. After all, Xuzhou... This Xuzhou is not that Xuzhou, the former Minas Gerais
In the state, a giant iron mine is enough to meet the empire's needs for the next hundred or even two hundred years. At least for a hundred years, there is no need to consider iron ore matters.
As for the iron ore in the Amazon, we really don’t need it right now!
It doesn't matter which company or enterprise Vale will belong to in the future. What's important is... as long as it doesn't belong to Nanhua Company.
"The tail is too big to get rid of."
Emperor Zhu Da stood up and came to the window, meditating, still staring at the royal garden outside the window.
"Faced with such a giant, sometimes I feel that I may have made a mistake, but on the other hand, if there was no Nanhua Company, how could we have the current empire?"
While talking to himself, Emperor Zhu Da shook his head helplessly and sighed.
The current Nanhua Company is essentially the largest chaebol in the Ming Dynasty, and this chaebol is also involved in all walks of life. This is directly related to the "poor and white people" of Nanhua back then. When the "Andires" arrived in Nanhua Bay, there were no
Any industry, and the company was the only investor at that time to invest in various industries and eventually became the industry leader.
And now?
The companies that the company belongs to use their intellectual advantages to continuously innovate in technology, leaving other companies far behind. With technological innovation, they can not only sell goods, but also formulate industry standards.
In one sentence, the person who takes the lead is the leader in the industry.
Today, Nanhua Company and the companies it controls directly or through multiple banks are industry leaders in various industries.
Although the outside world has not said it, as far as Emperor Zhu Da knows, the people of Ming Dynasty have reached the point where they can't live without three things in their lives: death, taxation and Nanhua.
This Nanhua means that the power of Nanhua Company almost covers the basic necessities, food, housing and transportation of hundreds of millions of subjects in the empire, and such a powerful business empire is still an imperial property!
What does this mean?
It means that he is combined with the supreme power of the empire. What does this mean? The company of the future is almost a giant beast, a monster that directly controls the pulse of the country's economy, industry, science and technology.
Staring at the royal garden in the dusk, Emperor Zhu Da vaguely seemed to see a giant beast hiding in it. It seemed to be tamed, curling up docilely and lying at the feet of its owner.
Owner!
Who is its owner?
Of course it is Emperor Zhu Da himself, but what happens next?
He is the crown prince of the empire and the heir to the throne. In the hands of the royal family, perhaps this giant beast will be very docile, but who can predict the future?
But what could make Emperor Zhu Da feel happy?
Even now, it has not affected the diversification of the empire's industrial and commercial economy. It... is just the leader...
As for the future, this dragon head should eventually disintegrate, because Emperor Zhu Da has many children, and the inheritance of those children will eventually completely disintegrate this giant beast.
As long as there are enough children, it doesn't matter how big the beast is. After all, every child will get the share they deserve.
Well, maybe having more children is not necessarily a bad thing for the empire. At least, they will divide the property and prevent the empire from being ruled by a giant plutocrat.
It seems that for the sake of the empire, I still need to work hard for a few more years. I need to have more children.