Shen Tingyang was very happy to see that he was very interested in sailing and his conversation was quite knowledgeable. There were very few scholars interested in this these days, so he couldn't help but feel like he had a close friend.
Talking about the Beiyang Route, Shen Tingyang said that in fact, this route has always been in operation. However, due to the influence of the maritime ban and Japanese pirates, there were not many people running the Beiyang Route. It was not until Longqing Chao Shachuan started running the Beiyang Route that it became prosperous.
The Beiyang route starts from above Shanghai, exits Wusongkou, sails eastward, reaches Sheshan, takes the route to Tiechashan, reaches Chengshan, turns west to Zhifu Island, and then reaches Tianjin a little further north, with a total water distance of four thousand miles.
Generally speaking, we still follow the needle path navigation, using sea landmarks to sail along the coastline, so it takes ten days to sail in a tailwind environment. Including the time to wait for the wind, the one-way journey takes about fifteen days, plus the loading and unloading time. The round trip takes about forty days, which is low enough according to modern standards. But compared to the one-way shipping speed of a ship, which can take several months, it is still very efficient.
Zhao Yingong calculated in his mind that if he provided a navigator and modern route maps, the mileage and speed would be greatly reduced - the modern Shanghai-Tianjin route has a total range of only 1,300 kilometers - and the efficiency could be greatly improved.
"Nowadays, the business in Beiyang is getting worse day by day." Shen Tingyang drank a few more drinks, and he was a man with a bold personality. He couldn't help but utter the truth after drinking, "The ground in the capital has been ruined by the Tatars, and there is famine everywhere. The war is in turmoil and business is very difficult to do."
Fortunately, the capital city, as the capital, concentrated the consumption power of the whole of China as always, and the enjoyment of luxury by the dignitaries was not affected by the chaos outside the city walls. This allowed the Shen family to continue their business of selling goods from the north to the south.
However, even so, the number of sand boats owned by his family is a bit too much, and he feels like he is not full: there are more than 100 sand boats of the Bald Head, excluding the small and medium-sized ones. Therefore, some of the boats have been converted to Shanghai Go to Wuchang and Hankou for business along the Yangtze River.
"It's not easy to do business when you enter the Yangtze River. The water bandits are as ruthless as hair, and there are still gangsters who hinder you when you get to the dock. Now I'm looking after the people in charge, only transporting goods. I don't do business, so I can save myself this endless trouble."
"If the rice can be transported by sea, Ji Ming will make a huge fortune." Zhao Yingong complimented.
"Where, where, even if brother Ru is willing to come forward one day, the certainty of this matter is only 11%. If it can be shipped by sea, it will be enough." Shen Tingyang shook his head and said.
"So, if the imperial court relaxes on this matter, Brother Ji Ming will definitely do his best?"
"This is natural!" Shen Tingyang said in a loud voice, "It is of great benefit to the country, the people and myself, so I must do my best." He smiled. "To be honest with you, brother, I have been doing this for the past few years. I have been planning this matter, so I read and read the shipping maps and shipping books of the previous dynasty. If you want me to transport grain, I am not bragging. My brother has prepared a hundred large ships, which can transport three to four hundred thousand shi of rice at a time. , the entire south of the Yangtze River, which transports more than one million shi of grain to the north, can be transported back and forth only three times. Why do we need thousands of canals and tens of thousands of grain captains to serve!"
When he said this, he was full of pride. He couldn't help but comment on the shortcomings of the current situation: "Let's talk about Guan Ning's food and salary. Nowadays, it is transported from Tianjin to Dengzhou first, and then from Dengzhou to Guan Ning. If it were transported by me, why would it be like this? It’s cumbersome, just ship it directly from Tianjin! How much manpower and material resources can be saved! I’m not bragging, if the imperial court can outsource the water transportation and Guanning military transportation to me, at least half of the cost can be saved!”
Zhao Yingong nodded frequently. He thought it was more than half! It would take the shipping company under the Senate to transport it, not even a tenth of it was needed.
If the shipping capacity were not tight and we needed a legal brand to go ashore to solicit business, there would be no need to contact you.
"Brother Ji Ming is indeed heroic!" Zhao Yingong said with a smile, "It's just that the affairs of the court can only be handled carefully and painstakingly, and there is no need to rush."
"Of course." Shen Tingyang said with a smile, "If this matter can be solved, I wonder what I plan to do in the future?"
Zhao Yingong thought that it was time to explore the market for cooperation. The plan on how to participate in the stock and how to distribute dividends was revealed here.
He had thought about it many times and asked the big library for help. Generally speaking, Zhang Pu did not need to distribute benefits, because Zhang Pu's starting point was mainly to "relieve the troubles" of the grain farmers in his hometown of Taicang. As long as he could If you can do it, you will get points; Xu Guangqi's family is just the tiger skin he brought, and as a believer, it is enough to donate some money to the church in Shanghai. In fact, it is the distribution of interests between the Senate and Shen Tingyang.
But on the surface, he still had to hold the banner of the Xu Guangqi family. So he proposed a plan: the two parties would set up a joint venture shipping company. The company would be jointly funded by the Shen family and Zhao Yingong - the Shen family could use the ships to pay for their shares.
The total share capital was set at 30,000 taels. The Shen family contributed 10,000 taels, Zhao Yingong contributed 10,000 taels, and the remaining 10,000 taels were used to attract investment shares. One hundred taels per share. Shen Tingyang thought about his so-called 10,000 taels and the prospectus. Needless to say, the 10,000 liang included the shares of Mr. Xu Ge or the big boss of Fushe. It was just that it was inconvenient for these people to come forward, so they came up with a "share prospectus" trick.
In fact, the IPO is not fictitious. Zhao Yingong is indeed preparing to IPO in Jiangnan - this is where the wealth of the Ming Dynasty is concentrated. It would be a shame for the old rich not to dig out and use the money hoarded by them.
"The equity is easy to talk about, but I don't know where is the right place to locate this company?" Shen Tingyang asked, "Brother, there are many houses in Chongming, so just set aside a few houses. It will be easy for ships to get on and off the dock..."
Zhao Yingong shook his head, "Jiangnan is a water town, and grain farmers use small boats to transport grain. If it is transported to Chongming, the small boats cannot withstand the wind and waves of the river, and there is another layer of transshipment procedures. It is better to set up a warehouse directly in Shanghai County to collect grain."
Shen Tingyang thought so. Moreover, Xu Ge's hometown is in Shanghai. He is the number one gentry in Shanghai. No matter whether the government or private parties dare to provoke him, he is indeed a good protective umbrella. You must know that once this Taicang white grain is allowed to be shipped by sea, , I don’t know how many unscrupulous people and scoundrels I have to offend, it would be much better to have this protective umbrella.
"I just don't know when this matter can be done." Shen Tingyang sighed. If this matter cannot be done, all these plans will come to nothing.
Zhao Yingong felt that the time had come, and said: "When we set up a trade name, we are afraid that we will not be able to do it without business. I heard that sea trade to Japan can be quite profitable. I wonder if Brother Ji Ming has thought about it?"
Shen Tingyang was startled, and suddenly thought that the other party had an Australian background. For a moment, he didn't know what the other party's intention was, so he could only say vaguely: "The sand ship has never been overseas, and there is no way to use it." He drank again. Taking a sip of wine, he muttered, "It's not that I haven't thought about it. Thousands of brothers under my command have to eat, but Japan is the place where I was born..."
The Shen family is the overlord of Beiyang, and they can do well on the Yangtze River. However, sand ships do not enter the canal, nor do they go south to Fujian and Guangdong. Although this is not an express rule, it is an "unspoken rule." The line of trade with Japan, It has always been run by sea owners from Fujian. Although merchants from South Zhili can do business in Japan as long as they are willing to pay Zheng Zhilong to buy a flag, they do not have a fire chief who is familiar with sea routes, and they do not know. How many joints need to be opened, don't dare to intervene rashly.
Shen Tingyang said: "This kind of business is not something ordinary people can do. I heard that if you want to go to Japan to do big business, you have to prepare a big ship, plus a full ship of goods, and you have to invest at least ten thousand taels of silver. If you encounter disaster on the way, If there is a pirate or a strong wind, the ten thousand taels of silver will be wasted."
Small businessmen don't need so much. They can take a boat and go to sea with a few hundred taels of silver. But according to the people at the time, this was gambling with their lives. Although Shen Tingyang's vision is much broader than that of ordinary people, but people It is difficult for his thinking to escape the times. For him, going to Japan to do business is a very risky thing.
He mused: What Zhao Yingong said seemed to indicate that he had the idea of intervening in the trade with Japan. When he mentioned this to himself, he was just hoping that his sand ships could be used - but trade with Japan was not something that could only be done with ships.
Zhao Yingong said in a deep voice: "To be honest, Mr. Shen, I have been trading with ships since I was a child. I have made friends with some overseas businessmen. I am also familiar with sea routes. In particular, I got the secret method of navigation from the Australians. I don't need a needle to measure the position by observing the sky." It’s time for a long voyage. I’ll start from Shanghai and take the fastest sea route to Japan. It only takes ten days. As for the money, I can also afford it.”
Shen Tingyang was dubious. He knew that Westerners did not use needles for navigation. They also had a method of observing the sky that could determine the sea route in the vast ocean, but he had never seen it with his own eyes. It would not be surprising if Zhao Yingong understood it. It's just that he was bragging a bit when he said that he could get to Japan in ten days with the fastest sea route.
He had heard someone say that if you want to go to Japan, you must go to the sea from Fujian, otherwise the needle route will be useless. Could it be that Mr. Zhao has another needle route? If so, doesn't this Mr. Zhao hold an unprecedented wealth in his hands? This It’s so incredible!
Thinking of this, he carefully observed Zhao Yingong's face and eyes to see if there was any deception in it. However, the other party was calm and confident, and did not seem to be deceitful.
Zhao Yingong knew what he was thinking and said with a smile: "I know Brother Ji Ming must not believe it..."
"It's not that I don't believe it, it's just too much -" Shen Tingyang thought about what to say.
“Incredible.”
"Words are strong! Words are strong!"
Zhao Yingong smiled: He proposed a plan. He would rent four large sand ships from the Shen family, including the sailors on them, and fund the trade with Japan at his own expense.
"Brother Ji Ming, just ask me how much the rent is."
Shen Tingyang looked at him for a moment and said flatly: "Brother, what are you talking about? I don't want a single copper for the boat rental. It's just that for this trip to Japan, I want to be considered a brother."