The soldiers sent by Tian Daohan took the silver notes to Nanjing city and exchanged them for cash before returning to the shipyard. Tian Daohan personally presided over the distribution of silver to the craftsmen, deducting the silver that was reserved for the shipyard's working capital, and each craftsman household could receive it.
With more than three taels of cash, the entire shipyard suddenly became a sea of welcome.
Compared with the money in hand, the news of building more than 50 ships announced by Tian Daohan made everyone full of hope for the future. With work to do, the craftsmen no longer need to make a living by farming. The shipyard's
The salary is very generous, and skilled craftsmen can even get more money than petty officials in the government. They have only heard of such days in the legends of their ancestors.
Tian Daohan set up a banquet in the back hall of Tijusi to entertain Su Hao and Li Zhi. At this time, the stone in his heart had been put down, and he began to frequently ask Li Zhi for advice. These two people are both scriptures.
Su Hao, a man with profound skills, talked about topics that made Su Hao feel mysterious and boring, so he could only drink alone and giggle a few times.
Li Zhi chatted with Tian Daohan for a while, noticed Su Hao's mood, and said with a smile: "Haha, Yuan Zhai, you are patronizing us and talking to us, but you are ignoring us. Our young Master Su, often
I don’t have much literature, so I’m afraid I’ll be a little bored listening to us talk.”
Tian Daohan's nickname was Yuanzhai. When he heard what Li Zhi said, he quickly took back a question he was planning to discuss with Li Zhi. He picked up his wine glass and said to Su Hao: "Master Su, come on, I'll give you a drink. Su Hao."
Your Excellency, you seem to be in your weak years, but you are able to receive the grace of the Holy One and be ranked in the fourth rank. I am really admired by the lower officials."
Su Hao smiled and said: "Master Tian, you are too polite. As Mr. Li said, Su is a person with no knowledge and skills. He just relies on the side door to make a living in the court. How can he be more knowledgeable and knowledgeable than Master Tian?"
.”
"No, Mr. Su is young and promising. How can he be compared to the old and incompetent officials..." Tian Daohan said quickly, but there was some insincerity in his tone.
In Tian Daohan's heart, he couldn't understand Su Hao. Li Zhi said to his face that Su Hao didn't know the scriptures. It was obvious that Su Hao was not a scholar. Perhaps he got to the position by flattering others as Tian Daohan guessed. However, if Su Hao
It's really so unbearable. With Li Zhi's temper, it's impossible for him to be so close to Su Hao. And he seems to have some sympathy. You know, Li Zhi is also a person with high eyesight. He is an ordinary Jinshi, Juren, Li Zhi
They won't be so close.
Li Zhi saw Tian Daohan's thoughts. He smiled and said: "Yuanzhai, you have lived in this shipyard for a long time. I'm afraid you are a little unfamiliar with the official affairs of the Ming Dynasty? Su Hao Su Gaizhi is such a famous person, you
Never heard of it?"
"Famous?" Tian Daohan was stunned. Something suddenly came to his mind. He couldn't help but look at Su Hao and asked: "Could it be that... you are the Su Hao who invented the topographic map?"
"Uh... the topographic map was indeed... created by someone below." Su Hao replied bravely. Plagiarizing the achievements of future generations is also quite embarrassing. Fortunately, no one can hold him accountable.
"It turns out it's you!" Tian Daohan suddenly realized. "I said that Mr. Su could be so favored by the Holy Spirit at such a young age, so it turns out that's what happened. I should be damned if I didn't think of this earlier. Mr. Su, what's the matter with you?
The official has always heard about it. You killed the Japanese pirates in Huai'an, worshiped in Pinggui in Ningxia, and even impressed the little prince Bu Shitu. I only heard that you are very young, but I didn't expect you to be so young."
Su Hao said modestly: "These are all coincidences. In fact, Mr. Li also helped me a lot with Ping Kuai Bai. Otherwise, with Su's experience, how could he defeat the cunning Kuai Bai?"
.”
As soon as he said this, Tian Daohan looked at Su Hao in a completely different way. He no longer discussed academic matters with Li Zhi, but chatted with Su Hao about scientific and technological issues with great interest, from maps to telescopes to mineral exploration.
Speaking of yellow explosives, the further down the story, the deeper Tian Daohan's admiration for Su Hao became, and as a result, Li Zhi was pushed aside again.
"With you two adults in charge, the official will be at ease. The official is really afraid that some incompetent official will come and mess up a good thing." After Tian Daohan chatted with Su Hao, he said sincerely
Said. Su Hao and Li Zhi are both great people, so it will certainly make Tian Daohan feel happy that these two people will supervise the construction of ships.
Su Hao said: "Mr. Li and I are not good at shipbuilding. We have to rely on Mr. Tian and the masters of the shipyard to implement it. What we can do is to be responsible for raising funds to ensure that there is no problem with the funds for shipbuilding."
Tian Daohan said: "By the way, when it comes to money, I still don't understand. As far as I know, our Ming Dynasty treasury has not been very rich in recent years. This time we built so many ships at once. This money
Where did it come from?"
When Li Zhi heard this, he laughed, pointed at Su Hao and said, "I have to let Gai Zhi tell you about this matter. He is so eloquent that he not only convinced the emperor, but also made the officials and wealthy businessmen in the capital flock to him and rush to get the money."
He came out to help the imperial court build ships. Yuanzhai, tell me, is his knowledge extraordinary?"
"Mr. Li, you are laughing at me. Su just found a way for everyone to make money, so that everyone can make money and build ships at the same time." Su Hao said with a smile.
Su Hao's method of raising money is actually very simple, that is, with Wanli's tacit approval, he established a "Nanyang Trading Company" to raise funds to go to Luzon, Java, Sunda, Malacca and other places to mine and do business. If you want to go overseas to do business, naturally
We couldn't live without ships, and in addition to ships carrying people and cargo, we also needed warships in order to compete with the warships of pirates and European colonists. This was the origin of the shipbuilding order that Su Hao brought.
After discussion with the cabinet, Wanli and the cabinet unanimously agreed that as long as Nanyang merchants could build warships, Ming officers and soldiers could serve as soldiers on board. Is this considered a case of the state borrowing private merchants' ships to expand overseas, or whether private merchants borrowing state soldiers to escort them?
There's no way to explain it clearly.
When this matter was brought up in the court, it was criticized by some officials. However, most of the officials in the court were absorbed by Su Hao into the Nanyang trading company, and they were all shareholders of the company, big or small. Naturally, they were
They wanted to speak up for the company. As soon as the criticisms of the few officials were uttered, they were unanimously refuted by the officials. Such a shocking act was passed by the court without causing any trouble.
Su Hao didn't know that his appearance was quietly changing the atmosphere of the Ming Dynasty. In the past, the officials of the Ming Dynasty had two faces. One was full of benevolence, justice and morality in court, and the other was engaged in male thieves and female prostitutes in private. They said
When they talk about the way of sages and sages, people think that they are simply moral models for all mankind. They cannot be promiscuous when they are rich, and they cannot be subjugated when they are powerful. But in fact, each of them has his own industry, tacitly making a lot of money, and absolutely
I will not spend a penny to do anything for the country.
In his unique way, Su Hao broke this unspoken rule and forced officials to publicly display their true thoughts. Su Hao demanded that all officials who hoped to follow him overseas to make a lot of money must support him in court.
The policies proposed, otherwise the benefits in the future will not go to these officials. When more and more officials began to talk about making money in the court, the original hypocritical atmosphere disappeared.
If anyone continues to sing high-key, everyone will just write an S on his left face and a B on his right face.
In fact, this concept of openly discussing interests has also been advocated by Li Zhi. Li Zhi was a deviant scholar. He always believed that the so-called feudal ethics were nothing but false morals. He once said in his article: "As far as talking about learning is concerned,
, then he said that you are for yourself and I am for others; what are you doing, I want to benefit others;... In reality, you are studying to seek high status, and being in an official position are seeking respect and recognition... There is no reason to seek for others."
This means that those scholars keep saying that they are selfless, but in fact they are seeking their own wealth in their hearts. Li Zhi believes that instead of being so duplicitous and inconsistent in words and deeds, it is better to be as down-to-earth as a "businessman" or a "litian author"
Now, just say whatever you want.
In real history, Li Zhi was considered a heretic because of his unbridled speech, and ended up in prison. In this world, with Su Hao's ability, his ideas were
In order to spread and practice, this evil creature like Nanyang Trading Company came into being.
Naturally, Su Hao would not tell Tian Daohan too much about the details in this regard. However, some of the words he revealed have made Tian Daohan very relieved. With the support of so many senior officials and wealthy businessmen, the matter of building sea-going ships is almost
It's a done deal and can't be changed.
When Su Hao and Li Zhi returned to the south, in addition to inspecting the shipyards and supervising the construction of ships, they also had the task of collecting money. Most of the industries of the officials in the capital were concentrated in the south, and the funds they used to invest in shares required
It was extracted from the trading houses in the south and handed over to Su Hao for unified operation. When Su Hao and Li Zhi took the boat to go south along the canal, many fast horses were also galloping south along both sides of the canal, delivering various messages to Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
among various businesses.
"Su will be able to raise the required silver quickly. Master Tian only needs to safely supervise the craftsmen to build the ships. I will build another factory to provide the cannons used on the warships. The specific gun sizes and gun positions will be provided."
Regarding matters such as specifications, wait until my engineer Mr. Xu Guangqi arrives before communicating with Mr. Tian." Su Hao explained to Tian Daohan.
"I will obey Mr. Su's arrangements for everything," Tian Daohan agreed.
"Okay, then let's drink this glass together and wish our ship construction a success." Su Hao raised his glass high and suggested to Tian Daohan and Li Zhi.