From Chief to Ball

Chen Jian refused.

It's not that he is afraid or feels guilty, but that the technical content of robbery is too low. For him and the ethnic group behind him, he prefers smuggling to robbery.

The developed handicraft industry of the Republic can fully meet the material needs of the Spanish colonial people. However, the evil Spanish royal government actually prevented the Republic’s maritime merchants from meeting the improvement of the colonial people’s material living standards, which obviously violated human rights and free trade.

The pirates in this sea area will be wiped out sooner or later, the existence of pirates will only affect trade.

Moreover, this place is too far to the west, so Chen Jian can't reach here in a short time, and Chen Jian doesn't want to have too much contact with these people.In the future, these people will either be enemies or competitors, and the republic can satisfy most of the products needed by the colonies except slaves, and the distance is closer.

When returning to the voyage, Chen Jian checked the sea chart and found an island that was the closest to Mincheng when he was about to turn north.

There is no one on the island, and it will be used as a transit point for smuggling trade in the future.

Chapter 13 Find a way to send money

Mincheng Port at the end of February was as busy as ever.

Suddenly, those busy people stopped what they were doing and looked towards the sea.

The shadow of a fleet appeared on the surface of the sea, and as the fleet gradually approached, the busy people on the pier involuntarily let out bursts of cheers.

They recognized that the leading ship was Chen Jian's flagship Lanfang, and recognized the flag of the trading company flying on it.

It disappeared for a whole year, but the people of Mincheng did not forget it. This voyage has become one of the things that the people of Mincheng like to talk about most.

People believe that Chen Jian will definitely come back, after all, this person has created too many miracles.People also look forward to Chen Jian's return, just like the future promised when he left. People know that Chen Jian's return will bring new business opportunities.

In front of this fleet, those ships that docked in the port have become a foil.Not because of the size of this fleet, but because of the meaning it carries.

The news quickly spread around the pier, and people put down their work and rushed to the pier to witness this historic moment.

When the boat docked, Chen Jian walked off the boat, and several people behind him carried a large wooden box.

The scene was a little quiet, and people were waiting for Chen Jian to speak.

Suddenly, Chen Jian stretched out his hands, took out a handful of gold and silver coins from the heavy wooden box, and threw them to the crowd far away.

"This is the future I promised!"

In a simple sentence, with the sound of gold and silver coins falling to the ground, the people on the pier heard the future and saw wealth, cheering and scrambling for the falling gold and silver coins.

They have never seen these gold and silver coins with strange patterns, but the gold and silver behind the patterns are not fake...

The sailors disembarked and told these people what they had seen and heard along the way, bragging about those weird and mysterious worlds.

They can't rest for too long, at most one month, the fleet will join several new ships built this year to go to Turtle Island.From there, send the second batch of immigrants, a large number of cattle, horses and livestock, and various urgently needed utensils. This time, Chen Jian will not follow.

After the people who should meet saw it, and when crops such as sugar, red dye, corn, sweet potato, pepper, etc. became popular in Mincheng, many wealthy businessmen in Mincheng or doing business in Mincheng excitedly received Chen Jian's invitation.

After receiving the invitation, wealthy businessmen began to raise money at an unprecedented speed.They still don't know what Chen Jian invited them to do, but they know that it will definitely make money. If it is in the form of a joint-stock system again, they must prepare enough cash.

At the banquet, after a burst of compliments and congratulations, Chen Jian got up and said, "I have invited you here today because I have a good matter to discuss with you. I want to prepare a new company, mainly engaged in foreign trade, and some things will be discussed later. Tell everyone in detail, but it will definitely make money."

A group of people shouted: "Mr. Chen said he made money, can there be fakes?"

"Yes, we can trust Mr. Chen's character."

Chen Jian bowed his hands one by one, and said with a smile, "Okay, then I'll talk about it. This company needs to raise at least 200 million shares in the early stage."

As soon as the quantity was announced, all the businessmen present laughed.

"We can still afford the 200 million share capital. We think it's a little too little, and I'm afraid it's not enough."

Chen Jian shook his head and said, "The 200 million is just what everyone present here today wants to pay. The company's share capital cannot be 200 million, it must be more than this amount. But eating alone is easy to make people hate, and we need to set aside some money to attract more money." People. After all... this matter is a bit troublesome."

The rich merchants wondered: "Mr. Chen, it's nothing more than money, what's the trouble?"

Chen Jian sighed and said, "If it's just a matter of money, it's easy to talk about. Even if the city of Min is not enough, the nearby counties can make it together. It's just... the profit of this exchange is high, but there are still pirates there. They need guards. Besides, I’m not afraid to tell you that there are many uninhabited islands with fertile land. You must have seen those sugars, right? Those uninhabited islands can grow these things.”

"The problem is, there are many countries out there, and they are also fighting over those islands. Far from overseas, they are vulnerable to looting if left unguarded. It requires men and guns, it requires the support of armies, navies, and even countries inside."

"The problems of money, guns, and people are all easy to solve, but...it's not good for us to have hundreds of ships with cannons and thousands of caravan guards with guns in Fujian City. It's hard to be the master."

"I thought about it. If it's just trade in the early stage, in order to guard against pirates, at least [-] ships are needed. Most of them are cargo ships, and there are also several escort ships equipped with cannons. Each ship also needs [-] to [-] sailors with guns. ...I'm afraid the higher-ups won't be reassured."

"Everyone, trade is only a small part of the income. Some dangerous ports need to occupy garrisons, and some fertile islands need to be guarded. These are not problems that money can solve."

The wealthy businessmen also understood the meaning and asked, "Mr. Chen must have a solution, otherwise he wouldn't have brought us all here."

Chen Jian said with a smile: "There are only a few ways. I first went to the sheriff and the deputy sheriff, and both of them said that this matter is too big and they can't decide. It will be held every few years At that time, what I mean is that our share capital should be settled first, and some will be reserved for the big families in the north. If they are willing to contribute, they can contribute. If they don’t want to, as long as they don’t object.”

"Everyone can make connections more or less. I have some connections in the academy, and everyone must have some connections in other officials. Some things are well known to everyone, so spend money. But there must be someone to help introduce, otherwise you want to You don’t even know who to throw money at? I guess, let’s start with 50 silver coins.”

Hearing this, the businessmen were not frightened by the number, but even more excited.If the amount of bribes is 50 silver coins, then obviously the profit here is far from as simple as they thought.These businessmen don't know how much profit there is, but Chen Jian, who is the clearest, pointed out that they already understand the huge benefits.

"Mr. Chen, money is not a problem. I think Mr. Chen will give compensation afterwards, and there is no problem at all for everyone to pool 50 silver coins. It's just...even if you spend money, everyone must know what to say with the money?"

Chen Jian thought for a while and said: "This is the crux of the problem. This company must have a fleet, people, guns, and even an army. The price is that in addition to normal taxes and fees, [-]% of the annual profits are turned over to the national treasury. The army [-]. The supervisor of the fleet is appointed by the state, and the expenses of the military fleet are borne by the company. I thought about it, and only in this way can it be approved."

"In a few days, I will go north to the capital, and everyone will go back and think about it. I just want to let everyone know first, and everyone will go back and think about it. If you are willing to participate, you will also spend some time to see if you can send the money out. To the right person."

The merchants had their own thoughts, Chen Jian thought, this was just the beginning.

For the real thing to consider, you have to ask your father and Ye Yuanshan, it's time to stand in line.It still needs to grow quietly under these wings, but it has no choice but to do it.

Chapter 14 Inside the Xiao Wall

In the sheriff's mansion, the flickering kerosene lamps were adjusted to the brightest.

These days, Ye Yuanshan only slept for a short while for several days in a row, and he became more and more addicted to reading Chen Jian's writing about the situation and conception of the outside world.

From Nan'an to Mincheng, he saw a new era different from the past, and the world after returning from sailing this time opened his eyes.

Mincheng was originally a source of "rebellion" thinking, even if he disagreed with some things, it was impossible not to be affected by many.

In the past two years in Mincheng, he has gained too many things that he never dared to think about before, and gradually began to learn to look at the world and the relationship between people from another perspective.

Even if it is still difficult to get rid of the shadow of the old era, the wings of the new era have begun to conceive in the cocoon in his heart.

Chen Jian gave him some new things like chili and sucrose, and it was really interesting to taste it carefully.The chili tastes like cornel but has a stronger temper than cornel, and the sweetness of sucrose is also different from maple syrup.

As for the gold and silver coins he brought back, he also collected some, and heard Chen Jian talk about the outside world.

Tonight, instead of watching those things, he decided to open his mind and talk to Chen Jian about something else.

Chen Jian talked about some of his ideas about the trading company, Yuanshan waved his hands and said: "Mr. Chen, what you think is very good, I believe your vision is much higher than mine. You really want to do this thing?"

Chen Jian nodded and said, "Of course, am I joking here?"