In Beijing, in the newly renovated Forbidden City Palace.
Recently, Emperor Zhu Youjian has been feeling unhappy.
Eating doesn't feel good anymore.
Sleep quality has declined.
The motivation and enthusiasm for handling government affairs have also decreased. Occasionally, I will put the government affairs aside and take a lazy break. I have become a lot more lazy.
On the one hand, the weather is getting colder and the Chinese New Year is coming soon. The desire to work hard becomes less and the desire to relax and have fun increases. After all, this is human nature.
Secondly, Zhu Youjian is really tired. He has been the emperor for almost ten years. During this period, he worked diligently and never got tired. He wanted to change the Ming Dynasty for the better. Although the Ming Dynasty has indeed changed for the better in the past few years, it cannot be compared with his diligence.
It has nothing to do with politics. He is not the one who pushed Ming Dynasty into what it is today. He is the most important witness, not the pusher. He enjoys the results brought by others. His diligence has changed Ming Dynasty.
The effect is almost nonexistent.
Finally, there was frustration, a very huge sense of frustration, which made him feel that everything he had done so far was of little significance, and the results were very limited. Even many things he had done were the same as not having been done, and his efforts were the same as not having worked hard. It was a failure.
Betting money was almost the same as not betting... This made him fall into self-doubt.
This kind of wavering and self-doubt started a few months ago, has lasted for several months, and has not gotten out of it yet.
By the way, what happened?
What stimulation did he receive? He even had the thought of lying down like a Buddhist.
You must know that this year belongs to the royal family. It is truly a year of great harvest, and several good things have happened in succession.
For example, domestic money income hit a new high, adding up to more than 22 million yuan.
For example, the decoration and renovation of the palace have been successfully completed. Now the convenience and comfort of living are as good as those in Harbor City, but the total cost is less than 5 million silver dollars, which is a very cost-effective deal.
For example, the Mongols from the Chahar tribe outside the Great Wall, with a population of 100,000, ostensibly submitted to the Ming Dynasty and were willing to become vassals. They would never invade the Ming Dynasty's borders again, permanently stop fighting, obey the Ming Dynasty's rule, and help establish a vassal peace on the grassland belonging to the Ming Dynasty.
Their only request for a stable and long-term order is to open border markets with each other, conduct material transactions with the Ming Dynasty, and establish fair trade cooperation... Zhu Youjian naturally agreed.
Also, his goal of having a super fat year this year will definitely be achieved. During the Chinese New Year this year, he can eat whatever delicacies he wants and enjoy them as much as he wants. He wants to buy the new 'classic radio' from Xujiazhuang.
We must buy luxury goods such as luxurious family banquets, banquets of peace and tranquility for the country, banquets for enjoying the people, banquets for ministers of grace, and Lantern Festival banquets. We have arranged seven or eight banquets, with each banquet costing at least 100,000 silver dollars.
After all, these banquets alone are estimated to cost millions of silver dollars.
But Zhu Youjian is happy! I will put aside the criticism and admonitions of the civil servants. Anyone who dares to compete too much will be dismissed directly.
It can be said!
These days are getting better and better, more and more promising, and more and more exciting. Why does he feel unhappy, depressed, and depressed for several months in a row?
After all, why is he like this?
It can only be said that happiness and satisfaction are obtained through comparison.
If compared with the past days of the royal family, Zhu Youjian should be happy and satisfied, full of happiness, and a smile should hang on his face every day, never full of sadness.
But no, Zhu Youjian is the emperor, the lord of the world, and richer than the world. Of course, he cannot compare with himself, but must compare with all the forces in the world.
As a result, something went wrong as soon as I compared them, anxiety arose, and happiness almost completely disappeared.
If it can’t compare to Xujiazhuang, forget it. After all, Xujiazhuang is too scary and abnormal. This year’s so-called gross national product (gdp) reached 5.5 billion silver dollars, while the Ming Dynasty only had 2.8 billion silver dollars. The total difference is nearly double, and the per capita income is even higher.
The difference is twenty times, that is, the value created by one villager in Xujiazhuang is equivalent to twenty people in the Ming Dynasty. How can people believe and accept this? But it is true. Xujiazhuang rarely makes up data.
Therefore, Zhu Youjian dare not compare with Xu Jiazhuang. There is no comparison. There is no comparability at all. He is just humiliating himself.
So besides Xujiazhuang, there should be few forces in the Ming Dynasty that can pose threats and challenges to the royal family. The royal family must be the number one besides Xujiazhuang, right?
Sadly not.
In September this year, the "Oriental Times" opened a column to take stock of the development of many business groups in Ming Dynasty. As a result, among the top ten business groups reviewed, the royal family could not even win the fifth place!
For example, Shandong Mining Group, the number one company, is expected to earn more than 200 million silver dollars in profits this year, and has mined a total of more than 1.8 billion stones of various ores.
Shanxi Mining Group, the second largest company, also had profits of 150 million silver dollars this year.
The third-placed Fujian Zheng Group’s profit this year is expected to be no less than 38 million silver dollars.
The fourth-placed Guan Ningjun Commercial Group made a profit of approximately 35 million silver dollars this year.
The fifth-placed Zhejiang Maritime Group has a profit of approximately 23 million silver dollars this year.
The royal family's total income from all aspects this year, excluding the financial support provided by Xujiazhuang, is on par with Zhejiang Maritime Group. By next year, it is expected that the gap will be widened by Zhejiang Maritime Group, which is still developing rapidly. The royal family can only
Ranked sixth.
Hahaha~
Zhu Youjian laughed. The Ming Empire, ruled by the Zhu family royal family, actually ranked sixth in terms of financial resources. If Xujiazhuang was added to it, it would be the seventh. Looking at the development speed of several business groups at the bottom of the list, it is estimated that
In a few years, the financial resources of the Ming royal family will only rank eighth, ninth, or even tenth.
How could he accept this?
Money is the lifeblood of an empire. Money is more important than anything else. However, the royal family is so poor. How could he not feel anxious and depressed?
What he couldn't accept the most was that the Guan Ningjun Business Group, which ranked fourth on the list, had grown to such a huge scale secretly, with a net profit of nearly 40 million a year. It was obviously a regular army belonging to the imperial court.
, actually went into business, dug so many mines, opened so many factories, and made so much money without even saying a word, let alone paying taxes to the court, and asking the court to send him millions of dollars.
Money and food, let the imperial court, the 'poor', feed the 'rich' like them?
anger.
Extremely angry!
After all, it's just Shandong miners, Shanxi miners and the like. These commercial forces have nothing to do with the imperial court. They are all supported by Xujiazhuang. No matter how much they earn, there is nothing wrong with them. The imperial court does not have much reason to interfere.
However, the Guan Ning Army was an army of the imperial court and was under the management of the emperor and the Ministry of War. They used to receive imperial food and military pay and must obey the arrangements and orders of the imperial court. Even if they were asked to die on a cruel battlefield, they had to go.
But this Guan Ningjun, who had to listen to the court, earned more than the court taxes and was richer than the royal family! In just two or three years, it became the fourth largest business group in the Ming Dynasty.
This phenomenon is like the employee in charge of serving food in a restaurant who suddenly becomes richer than the owner of the restaurant. If you were the owner, would you be able to accept it?
Anyway, Zhu Youjian and the civil servants in the court had a highly consistent position, and they all felt that they could not accept it.
Then there was suppression, restriction, and even disintegration, with the intention of taking all the commercial interests of Guan Ning's army back to the imperial court and letting them all go to war honestly and stop doing their jobs properly.
Unexpectedly, the public relations skills of Guan Ningjun's top management were so strong that they quickly settled the situation with the civil servants. They also promised to provide millions of silver dollars in internal funds every year, and even made a vague threat, saying that Guan Ningjun's internal affairs were a piece of metal. If pressed, he would
It is very likely that he will do some "unbearable things", and at worst, he will set up his own business. I hope the emperor will think twice before he acts. It can be said that he takes both hard and soft measures.
Of course Zhu Youjian would not fall for this, but Guan Ning's army has 100,000 elite soldiers, and the royal family only has 50,000 new troops. In terms of strength comparison, the royal family is at a disadvantage. Even if they can order the world's soldiers and horses to be diligent, but now they have combat effectiveness.
Most of the armies have business cooperation relationships with Xujiazhuang. In recent years, they have become business groups one after another, making a lot of money. If Guan Ning's army is moved, these armies will worry about becoming the next one, and they will probably not stand on the same side.
If the court doesn't say anything, it may put pressure on the court.
That is to say, the Guan Ning Army cannot be defeated by military force.
Let it go.
After accepting the one million silver dollar offer, Zhu Youjian had no choice but to let it go.
Then I have been depressed and depressed until now, and I still can't get relief.
So is there any way to solve his problem, stop being anxious and depressed, and have a cheerful and sunny mood?
After thinking about it for many days.
Zhu Youjian thought of a very good way.
That is to make money, to establish a royal business group, to make more money, to make more money than all the business groups on the list of the top ten business groups in the Ming Dynasty, and even to surpass Xujiazhuang one day - although this possibility is
Zero, but Zhu Youjian dared to think so.
But the question is, how can we make more money?
Set up a factory.
That is to open a factory.
Zhu Youjian sent a large number of capable Jin Yiwei to conduct an in-depth investigation of all the top business groups in the Ming Dynasty, and finally found a common pattern as to why they could make so much money, which was to open mines and set up factories.
There is no need to think about mines. Although the emperor is rich in the world, not a single mine belongs to the emperor.
The only way is to set up a factory.
In the past two years, due to the need for efficient development, Xujiazhuang has not only sold a large number of low-end machine tools, but also integrated cement firing technology, brick kiln technology, soil acid and soil alkali production technology, ore washing technology, refining technology and even glass firing technology.
Manufacturing technology was decentralized and sold one after another, allowing all commercial forces to open a large number of cement factories, brick kiln factories, glass factories, food processing factories, furniture factories, canneries and other factories, allowing these factories to flourish everywhere.
After the introduction of Xujiazhuang's advanced equipment and technology, the profit margin of even an ordinary brick kiln factory is not less than 20%. In addition, there are many finished and semi-finished products, Xujiazhuang will place huge orders and purchase unlimited quantities, so the profit of the factory is very high.
It’s amazing, you can easily earn three and a half million silver dollars a year.
And the larger the scale of the factory, the more amazing the profits. As long as the production line is running, it is like the land where crops are growing all the time. As long as the raw materials are sufficient, it will not be affected by weather, rainfall and other factors, and production can be carried out all year round.
, the development ceiling is extremely high.
This made Zhu Youjian also want to introduce Xujiazhuang's advanced technology and set up several royal factories.
For example, if the profit from glass exceeds 50%, he especially wants to open a royal glass factory.
There are also soap factories, furniture factories, toilet paper factories, etc. Qianjing is very good.
It's just that investment is required in building factories, purchasing machine tools and equipment, and introducing technology. It also requires Xujiazhuang's nod of approval, otherwise there will be no way to open the factory.
Earning more money is impossible.
Therefore, he needs to build a good relationship with Xujiazhuang, strive to get technology for free, buy equipment at discounted prices, and it is best to borrow an interest-free loan of several million silver dollars from Tianxiatong Bank, so that he does not have to use his precious cash.
.
But Xujiazhuang is not a philanthropist. It is impossible for Xujiazhuang to give you whatever you want. The consequence of treating others as fools is that you will be fooled.
Zhu Youjian planned to send the queen to Harbor City again to negotiate with Xujiazhuang to see if he could get favorable conditions to open the royal factory.
So he expressed his thoughts and hoped that Queen Zhou, as the royal family's negotiator, would set off in the next few days and make another trip to Harbor City.
"Your Majesty, you can let me go to Harbor City."
Queen Zhou nodded and said: "But it's not that easy to take advantage of Xujiazhuang, even if you are an ally. We have to be prepared for the royal family to come up with some exchange conditions and pay some price, otherwise it will be useless to talk about it.
, it is impossible to run a royal factory."
"I know that I agree to appropriate concessions, even if you spend some money, but I still hope that you can get the best and most favorable cooperation conditions for the royal family, by the way!"
Thinking of something, Zhu Youjian suddenly thought: "You should also bring the emperor's wife with you this time. With the emperor's wife here, let her talk to Xu Yuan, maybe it will work wonders!"