Zhang Dai couldn't help but interject: "Your Majesty, the steam engines built by the steam engine factory are sold, not given away. The money earned from selling one can be used to purchase raw materials, so the account is not calculated that way."
"What Zongzi said is absolutely true." Ma Mingluan also said, "The steam engine factory can produce 650 units without having to do it at one time, and then put them there for manufacturers in need to choose, so it doesn't require such a huge cost at all."
"No, steam engines are different from other products and cannot be used like this."
Chongzhen waved his hand and said: "Firstly, the unit price of the steam engine is too high, and few merchants can afford it. Secondly, the steam engine is a new thing, and merchants don't know its benefits yet. So if we cultivate the market according to the old method, first
Put small batches on the market, get good feedback, and then increase production capacity. How about waiting until the year of the monkey for the steam engine market to mature? I don’t have that much time.”
What Chongzhen said is true, market cultivation of new products is never easy.
The huge investment and high cost in cultivating the market for new products is even more difficult.
If you want to cultivate the market in the short term, there is no other way but to burn money.
"So, what does Your Majesty mean?" Ma Mingluan had already thought about it, but couldn't believe it.
Chongzhen pondered for a moment and then said: "After the steam engine factory is launched, we will go all out to expand production capacity. Within one year, we will achieve an annual output of twenty units, and within three years, we will achieve an annual output of one hundred units!"
Chongzhen also thought about steam engine production capacity.
In the beginning, it could only be made by hand, and the production capacity would definitely be low.
But after one or two years, when lathes are developed, the steam engine production capacity will definitely be greatly increased, so it is possible to produce one hundred steam engines per year, or even two hundred per year.
"After the steam engine is produced, it will only be given away and not sold."
“It’s just a free trial given to merchants in need.”
"There is no charge for the first year and maintenance will be provided on site. A nominal rent will be charged from the second year onwards."
"After the two-year lease expires, the merchant will decide whether to buy it or return it. If he decides to buy it, he only needs to pay half of the fee. If he decides to return it, he does not need to pay any fees."
"Your Majesty!" Ma Mingluan and Zhang Dai almost went crazy when they heard this.
"No, you must not do this. How can you do this?"
"Ma Qing and Zhang Dai, you don't have to worry." Chongzhen said seductively, "You two might as well think carefully, will you really lose money by doing this?"
Hearing this, Zhang Dai and Ma Mingluan fell into deep thought.
However, Ma Mingluan could not figure out the secret for a long time, and Zhang Dai was indeed from Kuaiji. He had been influenced by business since he was a child, and he quickly figured out the secret.
Zhang Dai said thoughtfully: "If the steam engine is really a good thing, as the Holy Spirit said, it can greatly reduce the cost of merchants and improve the production efficiency of various factories, then the steam engines used by merchants in the past three years can form a good
The demonstration effect will prompt most merchants to rush to buy it, which is actually not a loss."
"Why don't you lose money?" Ma Mingluan frowned and said, "Even if the steam engines produced in the past three years are sold, they can only be sold for half the price."
Zhang Dai said with a smile: "The half price mentioned by the Holy Spirit is only half of the selling price, not half of the cost price. What's more, even if it is only sold at half of the cost price, the steam engine factory will not lose money."
Ma Mingluan was completely confused: "You can only sell half of the cost price and you won't lose money?"
"It's not a loss." Zhang Dai said, "If we don't follow the method mentioned by the Holy Spirit, the steam engine factory will only receive orders for two or three units a year from arsenals and other merchants. Even if the cost is 100,000, the selling price is 200,000, and the profit will be made.
At most two to three hundred thousand."
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Ma Mingluan nodded lightly when he heard this. This account was still easy to calculate and he could completely understand it.
Zhang Dai added: "But if we follow the method mentioned by the Holy One, we can send out at most two hundred units in the first three years!"
"So what?" Ma Mingluo said, "Selling at the cost price is just a loss of capital. At least 300,000 yuan in profit is lost. If sold at half the cost, 200 units will lose 100 yuan.
Wan, how can I say it’s not a loss?”
"No, no, that's not how the accounts are calculated." Zhang Dai waved his hand and said, "There is another problem that you have not considered, that is, the steam engine is indeed very effective after being used, but the number of trials is limited, so some merchants will spend a lot of money.
If you buy it, as long as you sell ten units at this time, you can make a profit of one million, which is enough to wipe out all the previous losses."
Ma Mingluan was dissatisfied and said: "This is just your wishful thinking. Is a steam engine really so useful?"
"Ma Qing, you don't have to doubt this." Chongzhen said decisively, "The steam engine is more useful than you think. The reason why I gave the steam engine to the merchants for free trial at any cost is to open up the market as soon as possible and make the whole
The steam engine industry can mature as soon as possible."
In the final analysis, Chongzhen was still trying to gain time.
According to the general business rules, start with small batch manufacturing, wait until customer feedback information comes out, and then slowly expand production capacity after gaining market approval. The risk of doing so is minimal.
But it may take more than ten years or even decades.
But Chongzhen didn't want to spend so much time. He wanted to see results within three years.
If we want to seize time, there is no other way except burning money to cultivate the market.
Originally, there were still two obstacles to burning money to forcefully cultivate the market. One was that there had to be enough capital, and the other was that there had to be a bright prospect, which could at least be recognized by the market. Otherwise, it would be useless to burn money even if you wanted to.
But for Chongzhen and the steam engine, these two obstacles did not exist.
Chongzhen was well aware of the prospects of steam engines, and he also had ways to make money.
In this case, anyone who is not an idiot would choose to burn money to cultivate the market.
Seeing that Chongzhen was determined, Ma Mingluan stopped trying to dissuade him. This was Ma Mingluan, and he would never compromise in carrying out Chongzhen's will, even if he didn't agree with it in his heart.
…
Ma Mingluan received the order and left the Imperial College with Zhang Dai.
Chongzhen has been busy all day, but he still can't rest.
Because there are still Tang newspapers from Gaizhou and Dagukou that I haven’t read.
When I opened the Tang newspapers from Gaizhou and Dagukou, I found that the contents of the reports were almost the same.
The Jiannu army has surrounded Dagukou and Gaizhou and launched continuous attacks, mainly by digging tunnels and burying gunpowder for blasting.
There were not many ways the Ming army could deal with Jiannu's tunnel blasting.
Because Jiannu had dug tunnels deep underground since the last time Dagukou suffered a loss. In addition, the temperature in Dagukou and Gaizhou was low and the water froze into ice, so the tunnels were not easy to collapse.
If you come in summer, you won't be able to dig tunnels in the coastal area.
The Ming army found that the 4-inch cannon could not destroy the tunnels of the Jiannu, so they stopped wasting ammunition.
However, the Ming army did not sit back and wait. Instead, they invented a listening device, which was to cover the ground with empty Ming wine cans, so that they could hear the subtle movements from underground, and thus determine the location of the Jiannu Tunnel in advance.
After roughly judging the location of the tunnel, the Ming army followed suit and dug the tunnel to intercept it.
After the tunnels on both sides were dug, a melee ensued, but basically Jiannu suffered the loss. Then the entire tunnel would be blown up by the Ming army, and then Jiannu would have to dig another tunnel.
However, there were also Jiannu who dug tunnels under the Ming army's gun towers and detonated them.
Most of the time, the Ming army would move ahead of time, but there were also times when they were accidentally attacked.
For example, 90 Ming soldiers from a cannon station in Gaizhou Guard were buried alive, and when they were dug out, they had all died.
The two armies of the Ming and Qing dynasties were victorious and inextricable from each other. At least in a short period of time, Jiannu could not do anything to the Ming army, and it was unlikely that he could capture the Gaizhou Guards and Dagukou.
To be honest, the result was better than Chongzhen expected.
Chongzhen was actually ready to give up on Dagukou.
Chongzhen even gave Yan Yingyuan a secret order to abandon Dagukou if the situation was critical.
But Yan Yingyuan defended Dagokou, and even today Jiannu has no choice but to do anything.
After reading the Tang newspaper, it was already the beginning of the Chouchu period. Chongzhen simply washed himself and fell asleep with a happy mood.
…
Ma Mingluan and Zhang Dai didn't sleep all night.
After returning to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ma Mingluan found brothers Weng Zhiyi and Weng Zhili.
The Weng family is a big salt merchant as famous as the Kang family, and Weng Zhili is famous for his shrewdness.
The Weng brothers had been asleep for a long time, but when they heard that the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs had summoned them, they immediately got up and rushed over. They really didn't dare to delay for a moment.
After listening to Zhang Dai's narration, Weng Zhiyi was stunned on the spot.
How can it still be like this? Isn’t this just wasting the money of more than 900 shareholders?
Ma Mingluan said in a deep voice: "Shopkeeper Kang Da and Shopkeeper Kang Er, this is not to discuss with you, but to inform you that this is the decision of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, do you understand?"
"But, but..." Weng Zhiyi's facial features were so worried that they were almost bunched up.
"Isn't it expressly stipulated by the Ministry of Internal Affairs that no specific intervention in the affairs of factories with shares is allowed? Mr. Ma, does this constitute a violation of the rules? If the Holy One asks, it will be difficult to explain."
Through the two tax refunds in Yangzhou and Nanjing, Chongzhen's image of "abiding by the rules" has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. The Weng brothers have no doubt that if this matter is brought to Chongzhen's face, Ma Mingluan will inevitably suffer a meal.
fall.
Of course, the Weng family brothers would definitely not do this unless absolutely necessary, and it would not be good for the Weng family to break up with each other.
Ma Mingluan also had troubles that he couldn't explain. Could he say that this was the Holy Emperor's will? No, that wouldn't be a slap in the Holy Emperor's face. As a minister, you have to worry about the emperor's concerns instead of pushing the troubles and problems onto the emperor.
At that moment, Ma Mingluan said to Zhang Dai: "Zongzi, you should come and tell them."
To be honest, Ma Mingluan himself still has little understanding of the concept of cultivating the market through burning money.
So this matter can only be said by Zhang Dai, who understands this concept more thoroughly than Ma Mingluan.
At that moment, Zhang Dai took over the task without hesitation and instilled the concept of burning money to quickly cultivate the market into the Weng brothers. Weng Zhiyi was stunned for a while, and Weng Zhili felt like he was waiting for a hut to open up after hearing this.
"Brother, we can give this a try," Weng Zhili said.
