"Are you willing, Landlord Lao Cai? It sounds like there is no guarantee."
"It's definitely not a loss, but we need some leaders. There happens to be an old man who got into a little trouble. Let's talk about it together?" Wang Kai asked his secretary to bring in shopkeeper Gu as he spoke.
There are thousands of indigenous and naturalized people named Gu in Lingao, but the most famous one is undoubtedly this young man: Gu Baocheng.
In the past few years, Gu Baocheng has been running the Liaohai branch in Lingao. Relying on his uncle's strong financial resources and the Senate's policy of "loving people far away", he has basically been making money in Lingao. Not to mention the profits from selling goods.
He successively sold the land that his uncle had taken care of him to buy in the early years, and he made a lot of money.
Although Gu Baocheng was not said to have any talent in business, he followed the rules and kept a low profile and did not cause any trouble to his uncle.
After the second counter-encirclement and suppression campaign, Li Luoyou canceled the Lingao semi-signal number under the pretext of "military looting", so the Lingao semi-signal number of the Liaohai trip was transformed into the "Tianbao number" and directly became Gu Baocheng's personal
Property - of course, his uncle secretly became a shareholder and became the actual controller behind the scenes.
Gu Baocheng was doing business in Lingao, and he was abiding by the law. However, in recent years, he didn't know whether it was due to Li Luoyou's instructions or a sudden enlightenment, and he gradually became restless.
Not long ago, the Colonial and Trade Department received a report from the Political Security Bureau, which confirmed some of the situations that Wang Kai had always suspected. This led to today's meeting.
Shopkeeper Gu's appearance can be called "handsome" even from the perspective of a veteran. He always has the calm and indifferent expression taught by his uncle on weekdays. However, at this moment, his forehead is also sweating untimely.
"Two chiefs." Gu Baocheng bowed respectfully.
"Shopkeeper Gu, sit down." Wang Kai greeted "warmly", "I heard that you encountered some trouble in Japan? Why didn't you tell us? Maintaining the order of maritime trade is an important task of the Senate. You don't trust me.
Us."
"Although a shipment of goods has been lost, the value is not too high. The elders have many things to do every day, and there are already too many troubles for you on weekdays, so I think I will forget it this time." Shopkeeper Gu Baocheng is familiar with the origins of all kinds of pirates, he
What I'm worried about is not being robbed, but being robbed by pirates from the Senate.
"Shopkeeper Gu, you are so generous. You have tens of thousands of yuan worth of goods and an h800 worth several thousand yuan. That's all?"
Now Gu Baocheng couldn't hide his embarrassment. He was young after all. He couldn't think of anything to say in response, so he just blushed and stopped talking.
Wang Kai wanted him to do something, so naturally he wouldn't push him too hard, so he softened his tone:
"I can't blame you completely for this. Our policy is not clear yet, but we will soon have a system. But when it comes to the Dutch, we still have to make it clear to them in the end."
"I understand. In fact, when it comes to trade with Japan, since the goods are all purchased by the Senate, and the ports in Japan are gradually obeying the orders of the Senate, it really shouldn't be borrowed from others. Nowadays, whether it's merchants or the Dutch,
, the Portuguese, no matter how good they are, have the mentality of making money one after another.”
Shopkeeper Gu understood the core problem in just a few words. In the past, the Senate was weak and unable to do what it could, and it wanted to squeeze out the Zheng family, so it could only share the fat meat of the trade with Japan to everyone. Now the Senate has become more and more powerful.
, going to devour it all to itself.
Gu Baocheng had followed his uncle for many years, and he understood the government's thoughts very well. So as soon as Wang Kai said a few words, he immediately joined in.
Wang Kai felt that he was very knowledgeable. He added: "Of course, our Senate is not just competing for profits. Instead of burying this money in your cellars, it is better to let the Senate develop industry and agriculture, and you will have greater success."
With more ships and more merchants doing business, our income will increase by orders of magnitude."
After saying the dirty talk, he still regained the situation with righteous words. Of course, he was right.
"I understand, this is called 'mercantilism'? I have attended the courses of the elders. Obtaining a surplus, subsidizing industry, and further expanding the surplus. This is a virtuous circle."
"Oh, yes." Fatty Wang looked at Shopkeeper Gu with admiration, "But our mercantilism is still different from that of the West. It has been improved. We are not opposed to the prosperity of diversified businesses. It's just that the stage we set up is
, the profits picked up for free on the platform cannot be given away, which would become a "loss of state-owned assets", which is a serious crime here. As for the safety on the platform, we also provide such public property. The ship you were robbed
We'll get the ship back from you. As for the payment, we'll give it to you based on the purchase price."
"Ah... I'm deeply grateful for the great favor of the Senate!" Gu Baocheng originally no longer counted on ships and cargo, but now that Chief Wang was willing to give in, he was naturally overjoyed. He quickly stood up to salute, but Wang Kai immediately stopped him: "That doesn't have to be the case.
.”
Now that Chief Wang is talking about friendship, a new policy has been announced. Gu Baocheng made up his mind to take this opportunity to deal with his opponent.
"Chief Wang, you mentioned diversity, and I would like to report some information to you. As for Japan, the diversity you mentioned is really too much. In addition to the Senate's own operations, there are also Dutch and Portuguese people.
, there are also maritime merchants like us, and...well, some merchants under the pseudo-Meiji rule. The last type accounts for a large proportion. They are also using the safe environment and cargo organization capabilities provided by the Senate to do business.
There are indeed many die-hards here."
"When did you know about this situation?" Wang Kai was not surprised by his report - colleagues have been like enemies since ancient times. Given such an opportunity to punish his opponent, Gu Baocheng certainly would not and should not let it pass.
"This, this, I know, I know." Shopkeeper Gu said quickly. "It doesn't count before. But now, I think the Senate has firmly occupied the exports of cane sugar and raw silk. As for porcelain, the Senate
The new products of Japan are already far ahead in terms of output and quality; on the sea route, the Fubo Army and Navy are naturally unrivaled; even the few places in Japan that have opened ports for trade are all related to the Senate. If we continue
Allowing others to enter as they please, then I dare to say, it is indeed a "loss of state-owned assets". If you want to take care of it, you can take care of them all. It is useless to take care of only some people. But the elders are far-sighted, haven't you already planned to deal with this?
Whatever happens, we will work together without any complaints."
"Made, the Senate also has many accounts that cannot be settled clearly!" Senator Shi Jiantao, who had been listening, suddenly spoke, and Gu Baocheng was so frightened that sweat broke out on his forehead again.
"Hahaha, the organizational process still needs to be done." Fatty Wang quickly smoothed things over, "By the way, Shopkeeper Gu, investigate the business situation of Ming Dynasty businessmen in Japan you just mentioned and write a report to me. This part of the figures,
Our Foreign Intelligence Agency uses subtraction to calculate, let me see what the results of your direct investigation are."
"Yes, yes, I'll write it when I get back." Gu Baocheng nodded repeatedly, "I'll submit it in two or three days. It's just that I have little knowledge and some things are just hearsay, so the report can only be..."
"Don't worry, we are just using it as a reference." In order to reassure him, Wang Kai immediately took out the reassurance pill he had prepared:
"Trade with Japan is highly profitable, and we are not a one-man shop. We will still leave a hole for you. But we won't rush in like we did before, and no one will make a profit in the end. Do you recognize Mr. Shi from the shipyard?"
"I recognize you, I have admired your name for a long time, you are Lu Ban." Shopkeeper Gu quickly stood up and saluted Mr. Shi.
Elder Shi felt a little embarrassed, smiled and waved his hand.
"So, have you heard about the Nanyang Company?"
"I heard about it. As soon as the details come out, I will give my full support."
"The Nanyang Company is something that the Senate is anxious to do, but can't take care of, so it brings in private capital. In terms of trade and transportation, we also have a similar dilemma. If the transportation capacity is insufficient, you and Westerners will have to do it. Even if
If the price difference is limited, the freight will always have to be paid. If the freight is more, there will be less money for shipbuilding; if there is less money for shipbuilding, and the demand is still growing, then the freight will be even more. This is a vicious circle
.You also know that the Senate’s trading company is half-dead. Rather than being called a trading company, it’s better called a transportation brigade. It can’t transport 30,000 to 50,000 tons of grain every year. The entire trade between Australia and Song Dynasty is basically just waiting for someone to come to your door.”
"The Senate is hiding wealth from the people and not competing with the people for profit..."
mD, everything this educated person says is so fresh and refined. Wang Kai thought.
"But this vicious cycle must be broken out. I'm not afraid of you dumping goods. I can tell you that next year we will transport 100,000 tons of grain. Therefore, we need to build a large scale and do not hesitate to introduce private capital. The efficiency of new cutting-edge ships is h800.
Five times, it is very attractive commercially. The shipyard and the trading company plan to cooperate and come up with two plans. The first one is that private capital will provide the full payment for the ship, and the trading company will be responsible for the operation. We will pay the principal of the payment. What route will we take?
It is determined that you just sit back and collect 20% of the profit. The second option is for private capital to fully fund the ship, and we will pay for the personnel on the ship, but you are responsible for the principal of the goods. You decide what to buy and where to sell it.
We will take 20% of the profit. In both cases, the shipyard will value the ship based on the cost price, the trading company and the naval school will provide the sailors needed for operation, and you can send the necessary accompanying personnel."
"Then I dare to ask, the ships of the first plan and the ships of the second plan must operate different merchants and routes?" Shopkeeper Gu discovered the problem at a glance.
"Yes, this is what I just said. In some high-profit places where we plan to monopolize, we will also leave an opening for you to participate. The form of participation is the first option. Here we will introduce the trade details I plan to implement.
The bill has been divided.”
"Then you must have set a limit on the number of ships in the first option?"