Guanhai Tower in Tianjin and Wangyue Tower in Beijing are both famous restaurants in the Beijing-Tianjin area. Guanhai Tower is located in a very good location, in the core area of Tianjin New Town.
The Guanhai Building is made of reinforced concrete, with eight floors and a total height of more than ten feet. It is all decorated with the most fashionable all-glass windows. You can enjoy delicious food upstairs while overlooking the prosperity of Tianjin New Town. It is regarded as a landmark of Tianjin.
architecture.
A meal at Guanhailou costs at least dozens of taels of silver. Only the real rich and powerful can enjoy it here. Generally, small landowners in the countryside are reluctant to spend money here.
At this time, the top two floors of Guanhai Building, the entire eighth and seventh floors were occupied by others. Big figures from the Beijing and Tianjin areas were constantly coming in and out, and there were also some big businessmen from the south.
Representatives of big families also came here one after another.
The seventh floor is very lively. Big businessmen wearing brocade clothes and wealthy people, emerging capitalists, powerful representatives from the capital, etc. gather together. They talk and laugh with each other. While chatting, they also look at the general public from time to time.
The stairs to the eighth floor seemed to be waiting for something.
Among these people were Zhu Benduan, Feng Xiang, Ye Li and others, representatives of Huizhou merchants from the Jiangnan area. This time they found out a piece of news not easily.
That is, Tianjin Ocean Trading Company will organize a fleet to go to the Nanyang region and open up routes to the Nanyang region. If conditions permit, they will even go to Tianzhu and Arabia in South Asia.
As soon as this news came out, the dignitaries, capitalists, and businessmen in the entire Beijing-Tianjin area were extremely excited. At the same time, as the news spread, even Zhu Benduan, Feng Xiang, Ye Li, and other big businessmen, big families, and big gentlemen in the south knew about it.
, was also in a hurry, and rushed to Tianjin through the starry night.
Tianjin Ocean Trading House, anyone with a discerning eye knows that it was jointly established by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Liu Jin to specialize in ocean trading. Today, it is this Tianjin Ocean Trading House that travels to North Korea and Japan the most.
It would be good if other businessmen could go there once a month. Tianjin Ocean Trading Company was the first to try it and has extremely strong capital. In addition, it also has the support of Tianjin Shipyard and Tianjin Maritime University, so it is also the largest one now.
The Ocean Trading Company has hundreds of merchant ships going to North Korea and Japan every month, earning a steady stream of money.
Now Tianjin Ocean Trading Company is going to open up a new route, a route to the Nanyang region. People who know the news are very excited and swarm over to Tianjin to inquire about the specific information.
Of course, the most important thing is to see if I can board the giant ship of Tianjin Ocean Trading Company and go to the Nanyang region to make a fortune together.
There are so many merchant ships going to Tianjin and Japan that the profits from going to Japan and North Korea are now plummeting.
At the beginning, it was no problem to make a million taels of silver on a trip to Japan and Korea, but now.
With the frequent trade exchanges, the people of Japan and Korea are not fools, and they are competing with each other. The profit of a trip to Japan and Korea is now only less than 300,000 taels of silver.
However, this ocean-going ship is very expensive. In addition, crew expenses, cost expenses, etc. are also very high. We also urgently need to open up new routes and open up new markets to meet the growing demand and satisfy the capital's demand for profits.
chase.
Going to Huanghuangzhou is a craze, but the time to go to Huanghuangzhou is after the beginning of spring, and it is safer to start in the summer.
What's more important is that the fleet heading to Golden Continent requires very strong strength. Most people can't do it at all. Without enough funds, you can't even afford a ship, not to mention hiring crew members and preparing various supplies.
etc.
Now that Nanyang routes have been opened, the Nanyang region is much closer than the Golden Continent, and everyone is more familiar with it. After all, Annan, Siam, Luzon, etc. in the Nanyang region also had contacts with the Ming Dynasty in history. In the past, they were still vassal of the Ming Dynasty.
The country often came to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty.
This is especially true for Annan, which was deeply influenced by Chinese civilization. The kings of Annan needed to be canonized by the Ming Emperor before they could be considered truly legitimate kings.
Traveling to the Nanyang region, in everyone's opinion, has low risks and high profits. The Nanyang region is very large and has many countries. If you can reach Tianzhu, Ceylon and other places in South Asia through the Nanyang region, the profits will be even more considerable.
In addition, everyone is smart and wants to be the first to eat crabs.
Because Tianjin Ocean Trading Company was the first to take advantage of the situation, it has already established long-term trade relations with many local big forces in North Korea and Japan. The business is stable and profits are guaranteed. You, the latecomer, want to get involved.
Business is not that easy.
The same goes for going to the Nanyang region. Those who go first can seize the pit and seize the opportunity. When the route matures, they can have a steady stream of wealth.
"Do you think Liu Jin will take everyone to Nanyang?"
Ye Li said as he drank some tea with Feng Xiang beside him.
"I didn't see that all the reputable people from the Beijing and Tianjin areas came over. Everyone just got wind of it, so they came to attend this party. Otherwise, if everyone is full and hungry, they will come here and suffer in this winter."
Ye Li smiled and said affirmatively.
"Then I don't understand. What kind of medicine is Liu Jin selling in his gourd? He doesn't want this good gold and silver, but he has to get everyone to share it?"
Zhu Benduan felt very confused.
In his opinion, this route to Japan and North Korea was a golden route. If Tianjin Ocean Trading Company and his family were to eat it, they would definitely be able to eat to their heart's content.
However, Liu Jin was very generous. He not only gave up this route, but also encouraged everyone to make a fortune. It is really unfathomable that there are such people in the world.
Even now, the people who opened the Nanyang route are actually willing to take everyone to the Nanyang region to make a fortune, instead of choosing to open the Nanyang route alone and then eat alone as a family.
They businessmen from the south know this very well. Once a person eats any of these things, he will definitely be full.
Just like salt in the past, these salt merchants are all extremely wealthy. Apart from them, there is no way for anyone else to get involved in the salt business.
Supporting the maritime ban is also because the big businessmen, big families, and big gentry in the Jiangnan area want to monopolize the huge profits from sea trade and want to have a monopoly.
But Liu Jin is different. He just does the opposite. If there is anything to make money, everyone will do it together. He wants to let everyone in the world know about it and everyone will make money.
The route to gold was fully announced, how many gold mines were discovered along the way, their locations, where in the Golden Continent there is a country of descendants of the Yin Shang, where glass balls can be exchanged for gold, etc. were all announced through the Ming Dynasty Morning Post.
Let the entire Ming Dynasty know the wealth of Golden Continent.
In Zhu Benduan's opinion, Liu Jin is like a fool.
Why should such a route be announced? If you take it alone every year, it will cost tens of millions of taels of money.
Once this is announced, I wonder how many people will go to Golden Continent, and will they still be able to eat alone?
I didn’t see that Tianjin is almost full of wealthy people from the entire Ming Dynasty. Everyone is buying ships, recruiting people, and preparing to go to Huanghuangzhou to dig gold.
"I don't understand either, but this Liu Jin has always done this."
Feng Xiang smiled and said.
Last year, he was completely defeated in the competition with Changlu Saltworks for the market in the north. After that, he calmed down and studied carefully, including Liu Jin.
After studying Liu Jin, he discovered a very strange thing.
That was Liu Jin. As long as there was any profitable business, he wanted everyone to do it together.
In the fishing industry, ocean trade, textile industry, cement, briquettes, etc., it seems that apart from glass, as long as it is a profitable business, Liu Jin selflessly announced it and led many people to do it together, and everyone followed to make money.
Nowadays, the capitalists in the entire Beijing-Tianjin area are very strong, so much so that there is now a saying of "North Factory and South Hui Merchants", which refers to the emerging capitalists in the north and the big businessmen in the south.
"Perhaps this is his true brilliance. Let more people join his boat and make the boat bigger and bigger. In the end, everyone will make money together, and he will naturally earn the most."
Ye Li pondered for a while, thought about it and said.
The more one studies Liu Jin, the more one admires him.
"Don't worry too much. If you can really make money by following him, nothing else matters."
Zhu Benduan nodded, then smiled and shook his head and said.
His words also made other people around him nod their heads. In the end, everyone is still in it for money. The hustle and bustle in the world is for profit, and the bustle of the world is for profit.
The eighth floor is much deserted compared to the seventh floor. There are very few people, only about twenty people, each of whom is a real dignitary of the Ming Dynasty, a newly powerful capitalist, a big businessman, and a big landowner.
Among them are Cui Wenjin, the general manager of Tianjin Ocean Trading Company, who represents the current Crown Prince and Liu Jin, and Zhang Fen from Sangong Ocean Trading Company, who represents Ding Guogong, Ying Gong, Cheng Guogong, etc.
The Xungui Group.
In addition, at Shouning Hou in Tianjin, the two brothers Jianchangbo also came in person. At this time, they were sitting carelessly in the most important position, drinking tea leisurely and listening.
In addition, there was Xu Long who came from Nanjing to represent Wei Guogong. With the huge trading profits from the ocean, Wei Guogong in Nanjing couldn't sit still and sent someone here this time.
Of course, Xu Long not only represents Wei Guogong, but also represents the big businessmen, big gentry, big families and big landowners in the Jiangnan area.
In recent years, with the rise of capitalists in the Beijing-Tianjin region and the development of ocean-going trade, southerners like them have not been able to share their own cake, which is extremely unbalanced in their hearts.
Originally, the idea was to use means to limit the imperial power and suppress the development of the new capitalists in the north and the development of ocean-going industries. However, the theft of official warehouses, the Li Guang case, and the case involving the army gave a heavy blow to Jiangnan Shilin.
blow.
Originally, officials from the Jiangnan region accounted for half of the imperial court. However, after these three cases, the number of officials from the Jiangnan region decreased significantly.
Those who were killed were killed, those who were demoted were demoted, and some were exiled. The remaining people were also frightened and did not dare to act rashly again, for fear that they would also suffer disaster.
Even Xie Qian, one of the three elders in the cabinet, no longer has much say in the court. Most of the time, he only watches and listens to all matters, big and small, without expressing his own opinions.
Such a huge change also made people in the Jiangnan area understand one thing: they cannot forcefully fight against the imperial power, especially now that Emperor Hongzhi has money and soldiers, and he is still holding your pigtails in his hands.
If you go hard with Emperor Hongzhi and keep it, you will die even more miserably.
What should I do if I still want to eat meat if I can’t do it?
Of course, we can only keep up with the trend and actively cooperate.
So not only Zhu Benduan, Feng Xiang, Ye Li and other Anhui merchants, but also the big salt merchants came to Tianjin, preparing a fleet to Huanghuangzhou, and also wanted to follow them to Nanyang to make a fortune.
Even top wealthy families like Wei Guogong couldn't sit still. They also sent people to Tianjin and wanted to share the fruits of ocean trade.
"Cui Wenjin, what does Liu Jin mean?"
"If there is a rumor here, no one will come to such an important matter."
Jianchang Bo Zhang Heling said to Cui Wenjin with some dissatisfaction.
"That's right, Liu Jin, please come over."
Xu Long also said that Xu Long was a branch of Wei Guogong, not a direct descendant, but he was obviously an extremely important person to be sent here.
"Sorry, sorry~"
"Everyone knows that Mr. Liu has been busy with the new army recently. He is really busy. With the emperor's orders, there is nothing he can do."
Cui Wenjin immediately explained to everyone with a smile on his face.
In fact, Liu Jin is in Tianjin, so he has plenty of time. However, Liu Jin is now a fifth-rank official. It is really inconvenient for him to come forward in person if there are things he needs to do. He can just leave it to the people below.
"Well, if I had known earlier, I would have gone directly to Liu Jin. This would have saved me the trouble of having a messenger in the middle."
Zhang Heling curled his lips slightly and nodded.
"Everyone is almost here, and there are many people waiting downstairs. Please tell me what kind of regulations this opening of the Nanyang route is. In this case, everyone can prepare as soon as possible."
Shouning Hou Zhang Yanling was relatively more patient. He looked at everyone, thought about it and said, here, he has the greatest status, the brother-in-law of Emperor Hongzhi and the uncle of Prince Zhu Houzhao.