Li Zhaofan was thinking about the long-term development of the Chaling colony.
Because he knows that the oil will one day be exhausted, but the population of his Li family is increasing, and it is impossible to say that he can always live such a good life relying on oil.
The Li family has always been a scholarly family, and the family mainly focuses on studying for imperial examinations. This kind of sitting and eating life is not the Li family's way of survival, and it is also inconsistent with the legacy left by Li Dongyang.
Li Dongyang came to Chaling Colony and left a legacy to Li Zhaofan and the Li family. One of the most important words is that people without long-term concerns must have immediate worries. The Li family cannot lie on the oil and become nothing.
That's why the Li family strongly supports their children to study, take imperial examinations, and go to college, because only by studying, gaining knowledge, and becoming educated can they truly preserve the huge wealth of the Li family.
This has been the case since ancient times.
Some people may become rich overnight, but they cannot keep their wealth and will soon lose it in various ways.
The biggest problem here is that you have little culture, little knowledge, you know too little, and you have too little experience. Therefore, your virtue is not matched, and you cannot retain huge wealth at all.
Since ancient times, any big family that can last forever has basically attached great importance to the education of their children, because they know very well that knowledge is the only wealth that others cannot take away, and it is also the most precious wealth. With knowledge, wealth
Nature will follow.
“What is a better investment?”
Li Zhaofan was thinking in his mind.
There are many places to invest now. Not to mention other things, just by taking the funds to the Tianjin Stock Exchange or the South African Stock Exchange to buy stocks, you can get good returns every year.
These two stock exchanges are currently the only two major stock exchanges in the world. A large number of commercial banks and factories are listed here. Their complete systems can also ensure the rights and interests of investors. At the end of each year, dividends are distributed to shareholders.
When we are happiest.
"Dong dong~"
Just as Li Zhaofan was thinking, there was a knock on the door outside.
"Come in~"
Li Zhaofan came back to his senses and said.
Soon, a young man of about 20 years old walked in with a smile on his face. This man's name was Li Yanchuan. He was the son of Li Zhaofan's brother and a top student who just graduated from the University of Technology in South Africa.
"Oh, it's Yanchuan!"
Seeing Li Yanchuan, Li Zhaofan immediately laughed.
"Uncle~"
Li Yanchuan also saluted respectfully.
"sit down."
"Thank you uncle!"
After some pleasantries, Li Zhaofan also asked about Li Yanchuan's studies.
"How are you doing studying here in South Africa?"
"I have graduated and am ready to return to work within our family."
Li Yanchuan quickly replied.
"Very good, our Li family just needs talents like you who have gone to a new university to come back, so that we can develop better."
"It just so happens that I am also thinking about the future development of our Li family. You can also help me."
When Li Zhaofan heard this, he immediately nodded with satisfaction.
The Li family is full of talents, but many of them studied in traditional schools. The road to the imperial examination is much more difficult. Although there are several children in the family who have passed the imperial examination, they have never been able to pass the imperial examination.
Even if you become a Jinshi and can serve as an official in the Ming Dynasty, Ning State, or Chu State, it actually doesn't matter to the Li family.
Because the Li family moved to Chaling, in the Ming Dynasty, only Huguang's hometown still had some fields and real estate, but there were no other industries or people.
Therefore, for the Li family, the most important thing now is actually the Chaling colony in front of them, which they have worked hard for. The quality of development here is the most important thing for the Li family.
Reading the old school obviously has no meaning or effect on the Li family colony. Although it is a small independent kingdom, it does not need to establish a dynasty or the like.
Because the population here is only a small amount, and they are all members of the Li family.
For this place, learning the old skills is the art of slaying the dragon, which is useless. On the contrary, it is learning new skills, which is very important to the Li family.
Li Zhaofan actually intends to develop the oil refining industry, smelting the oil himself and directly exporting the finished products. In this case, the income will be much higher than directly selling crude oil.
But smelting oil requires technology and equipment. Fortunately, equipment can be bought as long as you are willing to spend money. But this technology is not reliable after all if your family does not have talents in this field and relies on outsiders for everything.
In addition, the Li family also has huge wealth. How to manage this huge wealth is also very technical.
Times have changed.
Nowadays, we are no longer in the old days when you relied on studying to become an official, and when you got rich, you hoarded large amounts of land and then collected land rents. Now the price of food in the world is extremely cheap.
Counting on the little income they could get from hoarding land and collecting land rent, the Li family was in a state of despair.
Nowadays, there are various channels and methods of global investment. These are all studied in new universities, especially those majoring in finance and economics. As for the traditional old school.
Don't expect a group of ignorant scholars to have any sense of investment. They have always looked down on gold and silver money, and feel that these yellow and white things are the most tarnishing their nobility as scholars.
Let them manage your finances, and it's possible that they'll make you lose money every year.
"Uncle, I'm still young and don't know anything. I may not be able to help you."
Li Yanchuan said modestly.
"Where can it be~"
"The South African University of Technology is the best university in South Africa. The talents from it can be found in all walks of life around the world."
Li Zhaofan smiled, and then talked about the future of his Li family's Chaling colony.
"Although our Li family has this colony and is living a pretty good life relying on the income from oil, the oil will always be exhausted. Our Li family cannot live on oil forever."
"All in all, our Li family still needs to find ways to do other things and develop other industries. Only in this way can our wealth continue to grow and grow, so that the family can continue to grow."
"However, the conditions here are so bad that nothing can be developed. Apart from oil and the development of the oil refining industry, there is nothing else that can be developed."
When Li Zhaofan talked about this matter, he was also very troubled.
"Uncle, your concerns are very reasonable."
"Oil is a non-renewable resource. The more you dig, the less it will be."
"It is indeed impossible for our Li family to rest on oil forever."
After hearing this, Li Yanchuan solemnly nodded in agreement.
"Haha, you think so too, then what do you think we should do based on our Li family's situation?"
Li Zhaofan laughed and asked.
"In fact, we should not just limit our sights to our Li family's colonies, but should look at the world and have a global vision and awareness."
Li Yanchuan thought for a while and said.
“Global vision and awareness?”
"Tell me in detail."
When Li Zhaofan heard this, he immediately became energetic.
Li Zhaofan himself was actually a traditional scholar, and the education he received was all traditional old-school education. Therefore, although he knew that the Li family could not rest on oil, he did not know how to do it.
"yes!"
"The so-called global vision and awareness were actually proposed by a professor at my university."
"He said that today's times are different from those of the past thousands of years. In the past, the history of various parts of the world was often independent, and it was difficult to influence each other. Even if there was contact, both the scale and the number of people were small.
It is not enough to have a big impact on the global economy, politics and culture."
"But things are different now. The world is developing rapidly, and the influence between various regions is getting greater and greater. They influence each other, especially in the economic field, and the influence on each other is even greater."
"When the northern region of the Ming Dynasty suffered a severe cold wave and a large number of cattle and sheep froze to death, the price of wool would inevitably rise the next year."
"When diseases occur in rubber plantations in Nanyang and rubber production is reduced, the prices of rubber-related products will increase significantly."
"When our oil fields in the Persian Gulf reduce production, global oil prices will rise."
"These are enough to show that the global economy is gradually developing towards integration and globalization. Each region influences and promotes each other, relying on its own advantages to occupy a place in this huge system."
"For example, in our Li Family Chaling Colony, we produce oil here, and the cost of extracting oil is very low, so we have an advantage in oil."
"Another example is the Tianzhu continent. The climate is very suitable for the development of agriculture, so Ningguo and Xiyang United Trading Company are now the main producing areas of spices, grains, cane sugar, and tea."
"Another example is the South Golden Continent. It has vast grasslands with abundant water and grass, so it is extremely suitable for grazing cattle and sheep. The main focus is animal husbandry. The cattle and sheep produced are not only of high quality, but also very cheap."
"These are the most typical manifestations of globalization and integrated development. The economy of a region is relatively single. It can give full play to its own advantages and highlight its own advantages to gain absolute competitiveness in this field.
"
"Such an economic model has not been available at any time in the past, and it is impossible to appear."
"Because in the past, people had to eat and fill their stomachs. Even in places that were not suitable for the development of agriculture, agriculture still had to be developed, because if you didn't cultivate the land, you would starve to death, and it was impossible to engage in other industries.
"
"Even if it can be developed, it is often impossible to transport it out due to traffic and transportation issues, let alone sell the product to a place thousands of miles away."
Li Yanchuan thought for a while and began to talk in detail about the content of this global economy and integrated economy.
"The reason why the new situation of globalized economy and integrated economy is emerging now is inseparable from our increasingly developed transportation and transportation technology."
"Trains, cars, and ships have greatly facilitated the exchange and trade of people and goods. Cars produced in the Beijing-Tianjin region of the Ming Empire can be sold to any region in the world."
"Raw materials from all over the world can also be transported to the Ming Empire, which is enough to illustrate this point."
“Under such a development trend, all regions around the world will be involved and deeply affected. Places that can adapt to this development trend and trend will be able to quickly gain their own place in the global economy.
.”
"On the other hand, if you cannot apply and comply with this trend of global economic development, you will inevitably be gradually eliminated and abandoned by the times."
"Take Persia and Egypt around us as an example."
"The geographical conditions of Persia and Egypt are very suitable for growing cotton. The cotton grown is of very high quality and is very popular."
"But these two places are not very suitable for the development of agriculture, especially Egypt. Its agriculture can only rely on water from the Nile River for irrigation, and it does not have advantages in developing agriculture."
"If the Persians and Egyptians had only grown food, they might have been able to feed their own populations, but they would not have become rich."
"Because on a global scale, they do not have any advantages in growing food, and it is far from being compared with the Ming Empire and the South African colonies, which used extensive agricultural mechanization."
"The four major granaries of the Ming Dynasty are Black Earth Province, Hezhong Province, Liaodong Province, and Beihuanghuangzhou. The land is open, flat, and fertile. They use mechanized farming methods, which are extremely efficient, large in output, and low in cost."
"Even when the Ming Empire's grain was shipped to Egypt and in the hands of the Persians, the price was lower than their locally produced grain, and the quality was much better than their local grain."
"So from a purely economic perspective, growing food in places like Persia and Egypt is not as cost-effective as growing cotton."
"They can grow cotton, sell it to the Ming Dynasty people at a good price, and then buy cheaper and better quality grain from the Ming Dynasty people, so that they can still have extra income."
"If they just grow food, they will probably be able to barely fill their stomachs. Once there is a drought year, even filling their stomachs will be a problem."
"This is a manifestation of the global economy. The economic development of a place must be integrated into the global economy, and it will definitely be integrated into it."
Li Yanchuan took a sip of tea to moisten his throat.
"Because this is the choice and inevitability of the market. Under the influence of economic guidance, people will choose a way that is beneficial to them to live a better life."
"That's it. I talked with some officials in Persia about this period. He said that fewer and fewer people in Persia were growing food. Everyone was growing cotton and raising sheep. I didn't expect that there was such a truth in it."
After Li Zhaofan heard this, he suddenly said as if he had a sudden enlightenment.
Now I seem to have some understanding. In the past, I always couldn't figure out why this happened, but it turns out that there is such a reason behind it.
"Yes, in fact, the influence of Persia and Egypt in these aspects is not too great. They only suffered an impact on agriculture. In these vassal states and colonies outside our Ming Dynasty, this influence is even more profound."
"Our Chaling Colony and Zhang Colony produce oil. We don't even grow food ourselves. We rely on imports for almost all our products. We can live quite well just relying on oil."
"Also, the Chu State is dominated by animal husbandry; the Ning State is dominated by cane sugar, spices and tea; the South African colony has its own industrial advantages, so it is dominated by ship manufacturing, automobile manufacturing, electrical industry, and steel industry."
"There are also large and small colonies and vassal states. Almost all of them illustrate this point. Colonies and vassal states that have adapted to the development of globalized economy have developed rapidly and become rich rapidly."
“On the contrary, vassal states and colonies that do not like the development of globalized economy often develop extremely slowly.”
"Like Xingguo on the Gold Coast of West Africa, Xingguo itself does not have the foundation to develop industry. It insists on developing industry. As a result, a large amount of investment was poured into it and all the money was lost."
"To rejuvenate a country, if there is no technology and no talent, no industry can be developed. Their best development path is to follow the plantation economy, plant one or two crops with good economic value, and integrate into the globalized economy before they can develop.
stand up."
Li Yanchuan nodded and continued.
"In that case, our Li family's colony can only continue to exploit oil?"
Li Zhaofan thought for a while and said.
"It is petroleum-based related industries, such as petroleum refining and petrochemicals!"
"Petroleum can not only be used to smelt gasoline, diesel, etc., but it is also an extremely important chemical raw material, and its use in the chemical industry is also very large."
"By simply exporting crude oil, we can only eat a small part of the oil industry chain. If we want to fully expand our profits, we must develop oil refining and petrochemicals."
"And once these two industries can develop, we can also slowly take the road of industrialization, and our ability to resist risks will be greatly increased."
"In addition, we have huge income from oil, which can be invested globally."
"For example, in Australia and Golden Island, there are many high-quality iron ore and copper mines. These places have inconvenient transportation and mining requires a lot of investment. We can definitely invest in these iron ore and copper mines."
"The rubber planting in Nanyang is also very good. We can also invest in a large number of plantations in Nanyang to plant rubber."
"We can also invest in some commercial firms and factories in South Africa and Daming. These firms and factories are developing rapidly and have very good benefits. Many of them lack funds and cannot expand quickly. We can definitely invest in these factories and firms."
"It doesn't have to be limited to Chaling. We Ming people have the most land and resources in the world, and there are many places where we can invest. And under the system of the Ming Empire, we can actually invest anywhere.
It’s almost the same, there’s not much difference.”
"At this point, we can learn more from Liu Gong, the chief minister of the current Ming Dynasty cabinet. The Liu family's industries are spread all over the world, in major industries."
"Liu Jin does not have his own colony, but the Liu family has shares in major colonies around the world. Even in our Chaling colony, the Liu family only invested a few million taels of silver and got half of it. In this way
The investment can be said to be very successful.”
"Similar to this kind of investment, the Liu family has many other investments. In many fields, the Liu family can be found. Although on the surface it seems to be inconspicuous, the towering tree of Liu Jin is
The roots have already spread deeply to all parts of the world and in various fields.”
"Liu Jin's Liu family?"
When Li Yanchuan mentioned Liu Jin and the Liu family, Li Zhaofan couldn't help but nod.
Thinking that his own Chaling colony was facing many difficulties and that he would no longer be able to survive, Liu Jin just dumped several million taels of silver and bought himself half of the Chaling colony.
At that time, I thought I had made a profit and was very happy. But now, the people in the Li family have been complaining about this transaction and I have suffered a huge loss.
It was only a few million taels of silver. Chaling Colony can now sell tens of millions of taels of silver every year by selling oil. The millions of taels of silver that Liu Jin originally invested are now making extremely huge profits every year.
To be honest, many people in the Li family are clamoring to discuss with Liu Jin to buy back the other half of the ownership, but Li Zhaofan does not dare to mention this matter to the Liu family.
On the one hand, this is a matter related to the reputation of the Li family. If you regret the things you agreed on at the beginning, the credibility of the Li family will be gone.
Another aspect is that the Liu family is not an ordinary family. Whether it is in the Ming Dynasty, South Africa, or other vassal states, colonies, etc., it has huge influence. You and the Liu family are trying to burn bridges by crossing rivers.
Kill yourself.
The Liu family is a super family with extremely far-reaching influence in the world today. Its influence and wealth are beyond imagination and have exceeded the scope of the Li family's current worries.
The Li family is only thinking about how to continue and expand their wealth. The Liu family has already laid out the global layout decades ago and laid out the development and pattern for the next few hundred years.
"What you said is very good!"
"This new learning is still very useful. Compared with your brothers who study the old learning, your knowledge and thinking are several levels higher. You are a rare talent in our Li family."
Li Zhaofan praised Li Yanchuan. After listening to Li Yanchuan's words, Li Zhaofan finally had a clear understanding of the current global economy and structure.
He had a rough idea of how the Li family would go from here.
Although Chaling Colony belongs to the Li family and needs to be managed well, it cannot be restricted by Chaling Colony. Instead, it should look at the world and integrate into the global economy. At the same time, it should also continue to integrate into the huge Ming Empire.
into the system.
Such a Li family can truly develop into a global Li family, rather than a Li family limited to the small place of Chaling.
We must look globally and focus on the world and future development.
PS: Two chapters combined into one, too lazy to split~~
