In Beijing, Liu Jin is thinking about life in his study.
It has been nineteen years of Hongzhi. There is no nineteen years of Hongzhi in history. Suddenly, history has undergone earth-shaking changes. The Ming Dynasty has also gone on a completely different path. No one can stop the rolling wheel of history.
"Here in Western Europe, there was fighting, then there was no fighting, and they actually negotiated a peace. Spain was really fierce this time. England, France, and Portugal were fighting one against three, and they were all looking for teeth."
"This peace negotiation involves ceding territory and paying compensation. I'm afraid we won't just let it go."
Liu Jin recalled in his mind the news he had just received recently. The war in Western Europe had stopped and the four countries were beginning to negotiate for peace.
There are two main reasons for this. One is that Spain has achieved a decisive victory, and the Three Kingdoms Allied Forces are no longer able to organize a decent war. Spain is also exhausted and has emptied its treasury after a war.
The second reason is that because of the Ottoman Empire's westward advance, the powerful Ottoman Empire's legions have crossed Vienna and are advancing towards the Vatican, Italy, the center of Christendom.
With the mediation of the Holy See and in order to defend Christendom and the Vatican, the Holy Roman Emperor personally sought help from his in-laws, the King of Spain, and this war that lasted for more than a year was stopped.
"It's really exciting now. The war between the Ottoman Empire and Christendom will probably be inextricable again."
"Although the Ottoman Empire is powerful, if there are one enemy and many enemies, it will probably be very difficult. It seems that it is still necessary to give the Ottoman Empire more support."
Thinking silently in his mind, Liu Jin laughed when he thought of the situation in Europe.
The more lively the war in Europe is, the more beneficial it will be for the Ming Dynasty. Selling arms and buying slaves can make a lot of money. What's more, the war can also greatly consume the strength of the Europeans and the Ottoman Empire, which is good for the Ming Dynasty.
It is very important to dominate the world.
Originally, Europe at this time should have been the beginning of the Great Navigation. With the rapid development of the Age of Discovery and the Colonial Age, Europeans developed rapidly and became wealthy.
At the same time, with the rise of the Renaissance movement, Europeans began to gradually surpass other places in the world in many aspects such as art, technology, astronomy and geography.
But now that they are caught in a war, the colonial era and the Age of Discovery have also been taken over by the Ming Dynasty, and their development will naturally stop, which is extremely beneficial to the Ming Dynasty.
The Ming Dynasty did not need hundreds of years, it only needed a few decades. A few decades were enough for the Ming Dynasty to establish its rule and hegemony over the entire world and firmly control everything.
"Dong~dong~"
Just when Liu Jin was thinking about how to add some ingredients to the Europeans, someone hurriedly knocked on the door.
"Sir, news just came out from Tianzhu that Hu Xian, the governor of Ceylon, actually wanted to monopolize the entire Western United Trading Company. He directly dismissed the heads of several important departments of the Western United Trading Company and replaced them all with members of his own Hu family. He also
Dispatch the armed forces and slave army to take over the entire Western United Trading Company."
The servant hurriedly handed a superstitious letter to Liu Jin and said.
"What?"
When Liu Jin heard this, he stood up in disbelief, took the letter and started reading it very quickly.
"This Hu Xian doesn't know what he's capable of, and he doesn't know how high the sky is. He became dizzy after being the governor for a few years."
After reading it quickly, Liu Jin began to think deeply.
Although the Western United Trading Company is a trading house, it is somewhat similar to the East India Company in history. Not only does it have its own armed forces, but its rule in the colonies is also similar to the rule of the government, but all its purposes are to plunder the resources of the colonies.
and wealth.
The Governor of Ceylon, as the highest person in charge of the Western United Trading Company, held great power in his hands and was in charge of military, financial, and economic power. He was actually a native emperor himself.
But this Turkish emperor was different from others, because behind the Governor of Ceylon there were shareholders of the Western United Trading Company. The situation was a bit like that of later capitalist countries.
Hu Xian's problem is, in essence, a problem of the system.
Anyone who works in such a position for a few years will be drowsy with the taste of power. Everyone will want to get rid of the control of the bosses behind them, turn this place into their own kingdom, and become a real king.
More than ten thousand people.
"Maybe it's an opportunity~"
Thinking of this, Liu Jin's eyes lit up slightly.
The wheel of history is rolling forward, and the Ming Dynasty will eventually develop from a feudal society to a capitalist society. The emperor's power will eventually be limited, and may even disappear completely in the future.
This process may be accompanied by war, but it may also be accompanied by top-down reforms. In short, it is possible.
But now, the Western United Commercial Bank has given Liu Jin an idea. Perhaps the future capitalist system can be tried out here at the Western United Commercial Bank.
After confirming the republican system of parliament, governor, and constitution, such a system was implemented from the Western United Corporation, turning the Western United Corporation into a country that was completely different from the previous system.
"Well, we don't need to take too big a step. We can take it step by step. The first step is to reaffirm the system of the Western United Commercial Bank and establish a system similar to that of parliament."
"The governor is elected by the parliament. Below the governor, the important heads of the ministries are also appointed by the parliament. The governor has no power to remove. The parliament is responsible for enacting laws."
“In addition, there is a system of regular replacement~”
Thinking of this, Liu Jin immediately said to his servants: "Go and invite the British Duke, Ding Guogong, Cheng Guogong, Ao Guogong, Sihai merchant Li Chunyang and the heads of the Western United Commercial Bank in the capital to come to Wangyue Tower.
Let’s get together to discuss the matter of the Western United Trading Company.”
"Yes~"
The servants quickly started to do it.
…
In the luxurious hall on the top floor of Wangyue Tower, a large round table was set up, and Liu Jin, Zhang Mao, Zhu Fu, Xu Guangzuo, Li Chunyang and others all gathered together.
"Liu Jin, it's already this time and you still have the heart to eat and drink here. This Western United Trading Company will be swallowed up by Hu Xian."
Zhang Mao seemed very anxious, wishing he could lead his army to Ceylon Island right now and chop that Hu Xian into pieces. He had always been the only one who robbed other people's things, but when did someone dare to take over his own property?
"Yes, this Hu Xian, I really didn't expect that he would be so bold and dare to swallow up our property. He really doesn't know how to live or die."
Zhu Fu also looked very angry. The Western United Trading Company was a very important industry to the Zhu family, and could receive millions of taels of silver every year.
"Brother-in-law, why are you not in a hurry?"
Xu Guangzuo looked at Liu Jin's calm look and asked strangely.
When others heard this, they all looked at Liu Jin. Liu Jin seemed to be really not in a hurry at all.
"What's the use of being anxious? We're in the capital, a hundred and eighty thousand miles away from Tianzhu, so there's no point in being anxious."
"What's more, isn't Shouning Hou and Jianchang Bo in Bangladesh?"
"After they received the news, I'm afraid they were even more anxious than us. And they have tens of thousands of colonial troops in their hands. Coupled with the strength of our families in Tianzhu, they might have captured Hu Xian and recaptured it by now.
The property of Western Union Trading Company."
Liu Jin said very confidently.
"Just the two brothers?"
When Zhang Mao heard about the two brothers Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling, he immediately said in disbelief.
"Of course it's not just the two brothers. Each of our families has people in the Western United Trading Company, and we also have our own colonies and colonial armies in Tianzhu. They should also know the importance of time. They will definitely contact us for many things.
Take care of it."
"Let's just relax in this regard. If we wait a little longer, there will definitely be news."
"If this Hu Xian really has wings and is really capable of standing firm, we can also deploy troops and generals to attack him. The Western United Trading Company is our property, how can he swallow it up alone?
.”
Liu Jin thought for a while and said.
"Well, that's pretty much it."
Only then did Zhang Mao feel relieved.
"The main reason I called everyone here today is to discuss the future affairs of the Western United Trading Company."
"We must come up with a good way to prevent this Hu Xian incident in the future."
"Liu Jin, you have a lot of clever ideas, so just speak your mind."
"Yes, yes, Mr. Liu, you are very resourceful and must have some good ideas."
"We all listen to you, Mr. Liu."
Liu Jin looked at everyone, smiled, and slowly said: "Although this Western United Trading Company is a trading house, in essence, it is no different from a country."
"It's just that this country is a bit special. It's not a country where one family has one name. It's a country where we all invested money and worked hard together. It belongs to us shareholders."
"The position of the Governor of Ceylon is a bit similar to that of a king. If it is restricted, a second Hu Xian may appear in the future, trying to turn everyone's belongings into a world under one family."
"So I think we should set up a shareholders' meeting within Western United Commercial Bank. The members of the shareholders' meeting will be appointed by each of our companies. The number of people sent by each company depends on the number of shares."
"Then the Governor of Ceylon is elected and appointed by the Shareholders' Meeting and is responsible to the Shareholders' Meeting. Then the ministers under the Governor of Ceylon are also directly elected and appointed by the Shareholders' Meeting. The Governor and the ministers must be rotated regularly, and
They can only be re-elected for a maximum of two terms, and the ministers of each department are served by members of each family, and members of the same family cannot hold multiple important positions at the same time."
"The general meeting of shareholders is responsible for formulating the laws and regulations implemented within the Western United Commercial Bank. Everyone, including the governor, must abide by them. If there is any violation, the general meeting of shareholders can directly remove the governor and ministers by voting..."
