Zhu Ying has been checking the list of merchants in recent days.
It is not an easy matter to develop the Ocean Colonial Chamber of Commerce. Zhu Ying knew very well what would happen if this monster trapped in a cage was released.
But this is inevitable. The primitive accumulation of capital is often the most bloody and cruel.
Nowadays, there are sprouts in the West, and the Renaissance represents the true ideological emancipation of the mind.
When the Ottoman Empire's artillery bombarded the gates of Constantinople, it heralded the weakening of theocracy, and coupled with the chaos of multinational wars, there was more room for technological development.
But things are not that simple, at least for now.
If the West wants to complete the development of science and technology, the first thing it must face is the primitive accumulation of capital.
If there is not enough capital to carry out trial and error, then there will be no technological explosion at all.
Not to mention anything else, Zhu Ying alone has already incurred a lot of consumption.
Zhu Ying didn't understand technology, he only knew the general principles of steam engines.
To put it simply, boiling hot water provides boiling power to drive.
Principles are principles, and it is a very troublesome process to actually manufacture a steam engine.
And here, the first thing is investment.
Whether it's the craftsman's salary or the support of various materials, this is an unimaginable expense for the average family.
Fortunately, Zhu Ying is the grandson of the Ming Dynasty, so there will not be any scarcity in terms of money or materials.
At most, some people think this is just a weird trick and a crooked way.
Such as those stubborn scholars.
Most of them did not dare to come forward to condemn openly, which was due to Zhu Ying's huge influence in today's Ming Dynasty.
No matter what he does, he will undoubtedly get the support of the people.
He has indeed brought so much benefit to today's Ming Dynasty that many people even firmly believe that Taisun is the banished immortal sent by God to save the world.
It is not that there were no aristocratic families in the Ming Dynasty, but after experiencing the devastation of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty and nearly a hundred years of rule, these aristocratic families no longer had any historical influence.
Zhu Yuanzhang was born as a commoner. Among all the founding heroes, there was indeed a shadow of help from aristocratic families, but they were not able to truly control the government and develop and strengthen their families as they did in history.
The more typical representative among them is undoubtedly Liu Bowen.
Liu Bowen was not from an ordinary background. Behind him was the background of a large family in the Jiangnan area.
It's a pity that although he can be regarded as a founding hero, he was actually suppressed by Lao Zhu.
Lao Zhu has a very obvious colored filter for these greedy aristocratic families.
Most of the surviving aristocratic families were located in the Jiangnan area, which did not prevent Lao Zhu from imposing heavy taxes and relocating wealthy households on a large scale, completely dispelling the influence of these aristocratic families.
At this point, Lao Zhu is undoubtedly very good and cruel.
But now Zhu Ying seems to be on the opposite side of Lao Zhu.
Whether it is business support, allowing the Jiangnan family to participate in maritime trade, or providing encouragement and guidance, it is equivalent to helping the family.
This is Zhu Ying, otherwise no one would be able to achieve such a situation.
Naturally, such behavior was prepared by Lao Zhu.
"With the current economic development, huge families are gradually being born. Whether they are old or new, these things cannot be completely avoided."
"But we can find a way to control them in our own hands, so as not to cause unrest. We must let them know from any aspect that only by following the footsteps of the imperial court can we get benefits, otherwise it will only bring them complete destruction.
."
"Money is indeed a more important aspect for the country, but at the same time, these families will also focus on making money, instead of thinking about how to enter the court, build their own parties, and enter the country all day long.
Struggle for power through official career.”
"The most important thing is that now the grandson is guiding them to develop overseas. If they want to continue to strengthen themselves, they can only follow the method set by the grandson and continue to embark on the path of overseas trade."
"At the same time, the harsh environment inside the Ming Dynasty will make them want to stay overseas even more, because there are no restrictions from the imperial court overseas, and they can also use the name of the Ming Dynasty to obtain more wealth."
"Under such a cycle, it is equivalent to indirectly completing the migration of Haiwa."
"These families that continue to cultivate their power overseas, because they are far away from home, they will pay more attention to their loyalty to the Ming Dynasty. Even if such loyalty may be fake, they must do this. This is the fundamental reason why they can suppress the development of others.
."
We are strangers in a foreign land, and we miss our loved ones even more during festive seasons.
Zhu Ying actually understands this feeling very well. In previous lives, or later generations, in fact, even during the Manchu and Qing Dynasties, there were a large number of Chinese people in Nanyang.
Even though the Manchu and Qing Dynasties were so screwed up, many true patriots still emerged and even returned to the motherland with dreams and funds.
It's a pity that what they were given in the end was cold reality.
It's different now.
Because the Ming Dynasty is really strong, so strong that it is currently the most powerful country in the world, and there is no one.
Even in the open sea, if the Ming Dynasty's merchant ships were robbed by pirates, as long as there were survivors who reported it, the Ming Navy would really launch operations.
Even if you are cheating and cheating, you must keep your hands and feet clean, at least you can't let the government find out.
Otherwise, no matter where they go, or people from other countries, they will not be able to escape the sanctions of the Ming Dynasty.
As the suzerain state, the Ming Dynasty's Public Security Department and the army have investigative powers over vassal states and satellite states.
As long as the Ming Dynasty issues an investigation order to the subordinate departments of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Rites, then even ordinary yamen officials will theoretically have the power to conduct cross-border affairs, and can require the cooperation of the governments in their respective regions, even outside the Ming Dynasty.
Of course, this is the scope of power. In fact, due to the current speed of traffic, cross-national and regional eucalyptus has not yet appeared.
Oh, no.
Strictly speaking, there is.
For example, Zhao Yuanhong has become the Imperial Chancellor and Finance Minister in Constantinople, Europe.
In order to capture the traitor Li Laosi, he has truly traveled half of the world.
And the Ming Dynasty approval document he carried with him really showed its effect.
In fact, many countries still don’t know much about the Ming Dynasty, but they know about the East.
In the east, there is a very powerful country with a history of thousands of years.
The most important thing is that they can produce exquisite porcelain, bright colors, and extremely comfortable silk.
In fact, except for the areas surrounding the Ming Dynasty, countries such as India and Europe did not understand the dynasties spread in the Central Plains.
Just like the Easterners only know about Rome the Roman Empire, and about the Delhi Sultanate they only know the Delhi Sultanate.
For example, the Ottoman Empire, these Turks are the same.
In fact, Constantinople alone was similar to the Central Plains today and also experienced a large number of dynasty changes. The same was true for the Ottomans and the Sultans of Delhi.
Even because of the long distance, some European aristocrats still think that the Central Plains was ruled by the Tang Dynasty.
For example, Chinatown in later generations came out like this.
Why not Hanren Street or Mingren Street?
There was no way, in terms of foreign trade, the Tang Dynasty was the most famous and powerful, and had a huge impact on the world.
When Zhao Yuanhong and Zhao Xiucai arrived in Europe and revealed their identities.
There are many nobles who confidently believe that the Central Plains is the Tang Dynasty and Chang'an is the royal capital of the Central Plains today.
But for now, the name Chinatown will basically not appear in the future, and it will most likely be renamed Mingren Street.
Zhu Ying has already begun to make the families that have gradually developed within the Ming Dynasty become part of the expansion abroad.
In the past few days, we have been screening various families.
Zhu Ying's current idea is to establish a Ocean Investment Chamber of Commerce that is in line with Ming Dynasty's interests.
The era of sea navigation has begun, and the good news is that the initiative is in Zhu Ying's hands.
When the steam ironclad ship was developed, Zhu Ying wanted to let the world see the power of the Ming Dynasty.
During this period, the first thing to do is to fix the pattern.
"Your Highness, the current families are quite consistent in terms of character and loyalty to the Ming Dynasty."
"In their business scope, they have always had a lot of contact with our former Qunying Chamber of Commerce. They have never had any bad deeds and they abide by their integrity."
There was some obvious joy in Zhang Bo's tone.
Because of my boss, His Highness Taisun finally set his sights on business again.
This made his old bones seem to be useful again.
In Kunning Palace, Zhu Ying nodded slightly: "Although the Chamber of Commerce to be established this time is mainly based on the Royal Chamber of Commerce, in fact there is no candidate who can be trusted by the imperial court."
"I only serve as the president in name only. I still have to rely on you, Uncle Zhang, to control the specific affairs."
"But the general direction must first be explained clearly. The purpose of the Chamber of Commerce is mainly to carry out external acquisitions and investments. As for transportation and trading, they are other matters."
"You know, I can't come forward, and I don't have time to manage these things, so you still need to be tired in many places, Uncle Zhang."
Uncle Zhang looked excited, feeling the great grandson's closeness to him.
"Don't worry, Your Highness, I will do my best."
In fact, he is not a business talent, and he does not even have unique insights in many business aspects.
In Zhu Ying's opinion, these are not important, as long as Uncle Zhang is loyal enough.
Zhu Ying thought for a while and said: "There is something different this time. I will arrange some soldiers from the Chamber of Commerce to enter as guards."
"Overseas is different from the Ming Dynasty. The kings of those countries will be wary of the nobles, but the underlying forces will not, so they need sufficient force to deter them."
"Similarly, these overseas assets also need adequate protection, at least to have the ability to fight back when faced with some provocations."
"I will sign a special decree to allow members of the Chamber of Commerce to have the ability to make independent decisions within a certain range, and these actions will be supported by the court."
This specially signed edict is actually equivalent to a privateering license.
However, as a country of civilization and etiquette, Ming Dynasty would naturally not be as bloody and cruel as in history.
At least, when the population is introduced, Westerners will not pay attention to the lives of "goods", but the Ming Dynasty will not only provide normal meals, but also provide medical care to ensure the safety of personnel.
Because of infectious diseases, these people introduced by the Ming Dynasty, no matter which country they came from, would not be allowed to directly enter the capital or other prefectures.
Instead, remote locations are prepared in advance for land reclamation, planting, or construction work.
After receiving Zhu Ying's order, Zhang Bo immediately started preliminary preparations.
Not all families can enter the Ocean Trading Chamber of Commerce.
The several families that Zhu Ying named and approved were actually, in a sense, supported by Zhu Ying himself, and they have achieved very good results.
To join the ocean trade, you first need to pay a huge entrance fee.
The entrance fee is not much and is independent of the shares. The first step is to pay 20,000 guan in banknotes.
This is similar to a ship ticket, which means that even individuals, as long as they are good citizens, can participate in ocean trade.
There are also some special restrictions, such as the number of goods that can be carried, etc.
Then there is the participation of shares.
In the Ocean Trading Guild, Zhu Ying only retained 30% of the original shares, which was actually planned for internal funds.
The reason why it is not an absolute controlling stake is first of all because it is not necessary.
The system of the Chamber of Commerce involves several large families participating together, similar to a parliament, to decide issues.
Zhu Ying only provided the initial force guarantee.
Zhu Ying had no intention of embezzling even the treasure money sold from these shares. Even if he embezzled it, no one would dare to say anything.
These funds will be used for the investment and operation of the entire Ocean Trading Chamber of Commerce.
Seventy percent of the shares is not a small amount.
In terms of pricing, it can be sold for tens of millions of dollars.
These tens of millions of banknotes are the original capital of the entire chamber of commerce.
In fact, what Zhu Ying provided this time was already worth more than 30% of the shares.
The armed forces alone, such as the introduction of retired soldiers, cannot be achieved with money.
Of course, the salaries of these guards will be subsequently paid by the Chamber of Commerce.
After listening to Uncle Zhang's follow-up account of the Chamber of Commerce, many families wanted to invest all their wealth in it.
No matter who looks at it, the Ocean Trading Chamber of Commerce with the participation of His Highness Taisun is definitely a profitable business, especially since His Highness Taisun has provided a lot of conveniences to the Chamber of Commerce.
The most important thing is that this is the only time in all the transactions that His Highness the Grand Sun participated in that all the money from the shares was put into the Chamber of Commerce.
In fact, even if Zhu Ying took away a lot, no one would say anything.
Although tens of millions of treasure notes are said to be worth it, from Zhu Ying's point of view now, it's really nothing.
The subsequent value generated by this ocean-going trading chamber will definitely not only be in the tens of millions.