Beiyang new warlord

The big thing that Mao Jue had always wanted to do, finally jumped away. Taking Hangzhou Bay as the starting point, this oriental lion began to look at the other end of the sea with a covetous gaze.

On the other side, the pirates under Zheng Zhilong's hands also played a role. The fierce characters who looked like mountain spirits and beasts transformed into legal maritime merchants under the command of the Ming East India Company, just like contracting long-distance trucks in later generations. He and their pirates became contracted captains of the Daming East India Company, who could recruit merchants to carry goods, and transfer them to any trading post in the East India Company's colony to earn a huge amount of money.

It is not appropriate to say that it is the East India Company. Whether it is Europe or India, geographically speaking, they are all located in the west of Ming Dynasty.

Although it is a new beginning, it is extremely vibrant here. The large conference room on the third floor, which still smells of cement, is also packed. Several company accountants are holding their hands and shaking the table back and forth sadly. On the one hand, he was scribbling on the account book, and on the other hand, the businessmen from all over the world under Beiming's governance were rushing over, holding up the bank notes issued by the Imperial Bank like a lunatic, crying and screaming.

If he invested himself and took over all the shares of the East India Company, even if there was a company fleet of 10 people, Mao Jue would be able to afford the money without using the treasury tax. Both have tens of millions of taels of income, but for Mao Jue, the East India Company is not just a profitable company, just like Britain in history, he wants to build it into a chariot for the Ming Dynasty to rule the world, then Relying on his own strength is naturally not enough, and enough people must be involved.

And only if they participate in person and have a personal interest relationship, whether these are emerging bourgeois gentry or old land aristocrats, they will devote themselves wholeheartedly. Otherwise, even if Mao Jue re-establishes a unified and powerful empire, he will still escape. Not out of the strange circle of history, the party disputes during the reign of Tianqi and Chongzhen were not just because a group of well-dressed scholars clamored to be loyal to the emperor and patriotism, but in fact they regarded the world as the world of the old Zhu family. It's fine to just hug the money, this kind of thinking is at work!

Therefore, after negotiating with Robert, Mao Jue sold 90.00% of the 60.00% of the shares he occupied. If there is money, everyone can earn it together, and if it is powerful, everyone can sell it together!

However, Beiming's performance at this time did not fall short of Mao Jue's expectations, not to mention the newly emerging Liao merchants in the old Dongjiang, the Shanxi merchants in Shanxi, the Shaanxi merchants in Shaanxi, and the salt merchants in Yangzhou. Tuan, I just heard about it, and there is no official announcement yet. It is already like a shark smelling blood, holding money and squeezing in desperately, especially those in Yangzhou who have just invested in the Tongguan Xi'an Railway. The salt merchants on the last trip tried their best to squeeze in.

Among them, a lot of embarrassment happened!

"Hey! Brother Feng, don't you say that this is how the regent king takes the opportunity to make money, why don't you come?"

Almost a mouthful of old blood didn't come out, and Feng Xuewen turned around in disbelief, good guys, Kang Wanli, Li Fatty, Liu Jinyao, Dong Shen, with a family fortune of more than 100, and more than [-] famous salt merchants in Yangzhou City all came That's right, including those old guys who had a party and drank together a few days ago and swore that they would never invest in Mao Jue's place.

Listening to Dong Shen's questioning there, Mr. Feng, who was fighting to the end with the Imperial Salt Works with a determined look, rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, and found an excuse in a sly way: "Originally, the old man didn't come, no, my third son Joined the Imperial Navy, eager to get promoted, and asked the family to help, so the old man can only get tens of thousands of taels!"

"Brother Dong, why are you here?"

"Hey, you're not too bad, my girl, ever since she saw her in Yangzhou, she's been fascinated by the regent's heroic attitude, she's so fascinated by the regent's fundraising, she's ready to take out her own dowry Help! I can't help it!"

The two weasels were making excuses there, but Kang Wanli was laughing so loudly behind him, they could really make it up, and taking advantage of the two of them chatting, the fat old Xier pushed forward suddenly, holding his hand high. Holding the silver ticket, he said with a smile: "Hey! Two brothers! Since you two are unwilling, then I will come first as a brother! I am really optimistic about the overseas company of the regent king! I will admit it even if I lose it! ah!"

"Taiyuan Kang Wanli, the treasurer of Jinkang Commercial Bank, I want to subscribe for 100 million taels of shares!"

Feng Xuewen and the two big salt merchants were dumbfounded, and Kang Wanli was already happily holding up the highly anti-counterfeit company stock after printing more than ten times.

60.00% of the shares said it was a lot less, and it was not much more. The sign on this sign also went down by more than half. They looked at each other, and their face was thrown to Java in an instant. The two of them suddenly seemed to be fighting. The chicken blood grinned like that and squeezed in desperately.

"I, Feng Xuewen, subscribe for 50 taels!"

"I, Dong Shen, subscribe for 80 taels. Brother Feng, your tens of thousands of taels is enough, you don't need that much!"

"Brother Dong, your mother's daughter has a lot of dowry!"

.........

There was a lot of noise at the opposite door, but in the big office, Mao Jue stood quietly with his hands behind his back, in front of a big cowhide.

This Robert is also interesting enough!Now that he decided to join the group, this guy sold Britain upside down, and he didn't rush back to the UK to hold a shareholders' merger and acquisition meeting. The books, maps, logbooks and records of the British East India Company in India, Southeast Asia, and even on the coast of Africa The local conditions and customs have been packaged and delivered by ship.

This map is the world map drawn by the British. Although it is far less accurate than the world map of later generations, the outline of the continent is a bit deformed, and it is the center of the West, putting Europe at the center of the world, but this map is not enough for Ming Dynasty. It is worth tens of millions of taels of silver, worth 40 years, and even countless human lives. On the map, Spanish colonies, Portuguese colonies, French colonies, and Dutch colonies are marked in detail one by one, Cape of Good Hope, The Strait of Hormuz, where there is any output, where there is a castle garrison, is also marked on the map in small print, these are priceless treasures!They are also Daming's hope for the future!

Mao Jue has no ambition to rule the entire world. Even the huge British Empire later fell apart, but he could not let go of this great voyage and the opportunity of the times. To have a place, and not as a humiliating labor guest in the future, but to live there as a master!

Behind him, in the brand-new port of Hangzhou Bay, which has been half paved, more than a dozen newly-launched galleons are tinkling and equipped with cannons. Several of them have been sailing to India for more than ten years. He conveyed the precious sailing experience to the newly promoted captains in every detail. Some people have already carried their burdens and followed them onto the ship to be the first group of people who pioneered the development of Ming Dynasty. They finally turned around from the map and looked at They, Mao Jue couldn't help but look at them again in fascination.

But at this moment, the door was pushed open with a creak, and Adelaine, whose hair was all messed up, barged in with all her teeth and claws, and threw a large pile of reports on the desk of the major shareholder, Mao Jue. Like seeing an alien, he walked around Mao Jue in a full circle.

"How on earth do you know that the King of England and the Parliament fell out? I know about the entire Dongjiang intelligence agency! I spent a lot of money to find out the news about John II in the past few years!"

This girl was pinched heavily by Xiaoman's waist, her small mouth was pouted, and she yelled angrily.

"Don't tell me to ask God! I am your personal secretary!"

"Yes, my personal secretary!"

Seeing the girl's swearing-in attitude, Mao Jue had no choice but to nod helplessly, leaning his head against her small face mysteriously, and deliberately lowered his voice.

"This is Dongjiang's top secret, let me tell you, don't tell anyone else!"

"En! En!"

This has troubled Adelaine for so many years, and she immediately agreed like a dustpan, wishing to prick up her ears.

Rao Youjie, Mao Jue lowered his voice and began to speak in a serious manner.

"Just a few days before some British guys came, God gave me a dream, saying..., ouch! How can you pinch someone! Hey! Hey! Stop pinching! Don't talk about God , It’s a few Arabs! Arabs are not enough! Army division Song will count, he told me, really! Oops!!!”

The shrill screams could be heard clearly even in the nearby subscription hall. In an instant, more than a dozen big businessmen from all over the country turned their heads in astonishment. However, in just half a second, there was a crash and the sign of the remaining shares was turned over again. On the first page, these guys desperately raised the banknotes forward without caring about anything.

On the golden sea of ​​Hangzhou Bay, several ships filled with tea and silk also went south leisurely amidst the shouts, and merged into this magnificent era of great navigation......

Chapter 636. Advantages and disadvantages

Grandpa Mao, the sage of the Mao family, once said: 1 years is too long, seize the day!

Unprecedented, the attitude of the imperial court has taken a 180-degree turn. From the original suppression of business, sealing the sea, to the opening of Longqing, it is just indifferent. But now, it is the regent who personally establishes the company and personally encourages the sea. For a time, there was a situation of hundreds of ships competing for the flow in Hangzhou. During July and August, more than [-] large ships loaded with silk, porcelain, tea and other goods set sail to the sea where the Sanbao eunuch used to be. Southeast Asia visited.

But this is only Southeast Asia.

The Longqing switch more than 100 years ago, the chicken cages in Taiwan, Tamsui, Xiagang in South Asian countries, Siam, the old port, Jiaozhi, and Luzon, which is Manila controlled by the Spanish, have become merchants of the Ming Dynasty. A fixed maritime trading point, where silk, tea, and sugar were transported from the south of the Yangtze River, and then bought back pepper, sumac, ambergris, and pearls, the profits of which have reached two or three times as much, and there is no need for merchants to take risks to Explore further afield.

In terms of terrain, China is in an excellent geographical location. After Columbus discovered the American continent, Western colonists frantically plundered precious metals such as gold and silver in the New World. However, these treasure ships full of treasures did not return the same way, but Ventured across the choppy Pacific Ocean, followed the current off the coast of Australia into Southeast Asia, and then returned to Europe along the coast of the Indian Ocean around Africa.

There is no other reason, no matter how much shiny gold and silver, but a pile of good-looking metal, money still has to be spent to make money, and the other part of world trade is all in the East!

Chinese silk, porcelain, Indian homespun cloth, Juan cloth, and spices from Southeast Asia are all the most gratifying luxuries for Western aristocrats.Especially the spices!

Most of the main western nations are composed of Germanic people who perished in the Roman Empire. They like to eat meat. But in that era, there was no technology of deacidification, no technology of freezing and keeping fresh, and the slaughtered animals would not be fresh within a few days. Pickled, the smell and taste of the meat can be imagined. Since the Roman Empire, Indian pepper was spread to the West, and it was the savior of the western noble table. In the West, the value of pepper is equivalent to gold coins, and a few grains of pepper are used when eating Paying bills is better than paying bills with money.

What's more interesting is that the establishment of the British East India Company, which led to the rule of a small half of the world in later generations, was entirely because the Spaniards, the British business rivals, doubled the price of pepper. For the spicy taste on the table, the British People are enough to muster up the courage to form a fleet and go to the most remote corners of the world.

The natural advantages in trade have turned Southeast Asia into a crossroads where China and the West meet. This is a good thing for the Ming Empire, but it is also a bad thing. It is too easy to obtain the lucrative benefits of trade, so that Eastern merchants lack Competitive and aggressive, without managing the Atlantic Ocean, the Eastern Fleet, which has experienced the stormy waves of the Pacific Ocean, will eventually be difficult to occupy a place in the unprecedented opportunities and challenges of the age of great navigation.

Fortunately, Mao Jue acquired the British East India Company instead of forming a new East India Company himself. The merchants of Ming Dynasty are not very interested in distant India, but these British guys are extremely interested, and they are still there. There are trading posts and supply points, and in the team where most of the ships headed straight to the south and then stopped abruptly, there is a whole fleet of ships, which bravely rushed towards the west through the wind and waves.

The size of this fleet can be considered not small, the pilot ship is the British Red Hart, a Galen sailing ship, but it is small enough, with a total length of 27 meters, which is about the same length as the Cangshan ship of Ming Dynasty, with a single deck and two masts. But I have to admire the enterprising and adventurous spirit of the British. The cargo capacity of such a small boat is comparable to two Dongjiang 30-meter three-class sailboats. Mao Jue set up lounge rooms for sailors and sailors. When it was used as a cargo hold, the sailors slept directly on the cargo box.

Followed by three Dongjiang third-class battleships, the organization of the Dongjiang navy is a bit messy. It is a national fleet in name, but in fact it is equivalent to Mao Jue's private fleet. Although after the establishment of the capital, Mao Jue began to distinguish between the two Or, to establish a formal national navy, but that is not in a hurry, there is still a navy to do private work for Mao Jue.

Moreover, the commanders of these three sailboats can be regarded as Mao Jue's old acquaintances.

Wu Sangui, former general of Ningyuan!

Further back, there are six local blessing ships from the south of the Yangtze River, the maritime merchant fleet under the command of Fujian Zheng Zhilong, a total of ten ships filled with goods from the north and the south, including the three major pieces of silk tea and porcelain from the south of the Yangtze River, and Mao Jue's special goods, cigarettes , white wine, woven cloth, and even glass, which the West is proud of, has been packed into several boxes. These goods are equivalent to the trade volume of the East India Company for at least five or six years. The saliva almost didn't come out with joy.

The target of the fleet was directed at Bengal, India. Just before Mao Jue invested in the shares and wanted to buy the East India Company, the British had just established a new trading post here through bribery, and the plank road was located in a small village.

Calcutta!

Gold shines everywhere, and there are dozens of soldiers under him to help, coupled with the background of an orthodox officer and outstanding commanding ability, Wu Sangui quickly mixed up from the second officer to the captain's position, but now, he regrets it. Confused.