On the top floor of Wanghai Tower in Tianjin, an extremely important chamber of commerce was being held at this moment. The attendees were all the owners of major business houses in the Ming Dynasty or famous dignitaries.
Such as the two brothers Shouninghou and Jianchang Bo, Li Chunyang, the boss of Sihai Trading Company, Zhu Benduan and Feng Xiang of Huishang Trading Company, Hu Xian and Zhang Yuan from Jiangnan, etc.
It was inconvenient for many people to come in person, so they also sent their sons or confidants to attend this chamber of commerce, because this was a chamber of commerce of extremely high standards.
Those who could come to attend the meeting were all dignitaries, businessmen, and big families who had extremely huge influence in the entire Ming Dynasty. They almost included the power of the Ming Dynasty, including the court and the local government.
app
And this time is a little different from the past. In the past, such top-level chambers of commerce were usually owned by northern trading firms, and the participants were usually northern trading firms, etc.
But this time, the people who organized this high-profile chamber of commerce were Zhu Benduan and Feng Xiang from the Huishang Trading Company in the south, as well as Hu Xian and Zhang Yuan from the Jiangnan family.
It was they who took the initiative to send invitations to everyone, created this top chamber of commerce, and invited everyone to come to the meeting and discuss important matters together.
Everyone was chatting quietly with each other while tasting the delicious food.
"Brother, do you think there is something wrong with these southerners suddenly calling everyone here?"
Zhang Heling ate the delicacies in big mouthfuls. He was very ungraceful, as if he was a poor man from the bottom of the family. He had never tasted the delicacies in Wanghailou. While eating, he asked Zhang Yanling beside him.
"Pay attention to your image~"
Zhang Yanling looked at his younger brother and felt helpless.
Can you please pay attention to your image? Our family is now one of the top families in the Ming Dynasty. We have plenty of money and nothing to eat. Why should we look like a starving ghost reincarnated?
"I just think it's nothing but a waste. It's such a waste."
Zhang Heling slowly stopped helplessly, curled his lips and said.
"I guess these southerners must have some ideas. I heard that Taiping Marquis Du Mingen's fleet has returned and arrived in Songhu a few days ago, so they southerners were the first to hear the news.
"
"I heard that Du Mingen's fleet sailed to the West this time, sailing thousands of miles, visiting hundreds of countries, reaching as far as the east coast of Africa, and visiting the Middle East, Persia, Tianzhu, and Ceylon."
"Of course, this is not the most important thing. The most important thing is that Du Mingen's Western expedition returned with hundreds of large ships fully loaded, bringing back countless gold and silver jewelry, emeralds, ivory agates, and precious medicinal materials. It is said that if evaluated, it may be worth more than
Thirty million silver."
"Tianjin Ocean Trading Company made big profits again this time!"
When Zhang Yanling said this, he couldn't help but became jealous, his eyes were really red. Tianjin Ocean Trading House is really good at making money. Tianjin Ocean Trading House is very profitable no matter what they do, and everyone just follows them.
Just making money from behind.
"Another thirty million taels of silver~"
When Zhang Heling heard this, he couldn't help being stunned and then said with red eyes: "Brother, let's also set up a boat to go to the West. One trip a year is enough."
"Do you think you are smart enough to organize a fleet to go to the West?"
"There have long been people doing business along Du Min'en's route to the Western countries, jade from Burma, gems from Ceylon, and gold and silver from Tianzhu."
"There are too many people now. A shipload of goods arriving in Nanyang can now earn hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. Moreover, there are too many people and the competition is fierce. Life is not as easy as before."
"So everyone is heading towards the West, and Zhang Mao and Liu Jin are sweeping across the Nanyang region. In the future, Nanyang may slowly become the place of the Ming Dynasty, and it will be even harder to do business here.
"
Zhang Yanling still has a brain and sees many things accurately.
"What should we do?"
"Wouldn't it be possible to drink the northwest wind from now on?"
When Zhang Heling heard this, he immediately said anxiously.
"...I've told you so straightforwardly, and you still don't understand?"
"We have just begun to go all the way to the west. This is a land of gold. If it can be like Africa and Europe, it will be more profitable. Didn't Liu Jin say that porcelain and silk can be compared with gold in Europe?
It’s equivalent.”
Zhang Yanling sighed helplessly. This younger brother of his was really speechless.
On the other side, Zhu Benduan, Feng Xiang, Hu Xian, and Zhang Yuan were also gathered together, discussing something with each other.
"Is there a fleet coming back from Golden Continent?"
Zhu Benduan asked a little surprised.
"Yes, we just arrived in Songhu in the past two days. There are more than fifty ships, and each ship is filled with gold and silver. The trading companies that invested in going to the Golden Continent are going to ship this time."
"I heard that thousands of gold mines, large and small, have been discovered in the Golden Continent. People from all the major trading houses are working hard to mine gold. Many trading houses wrote back saying that they don't have enough manpower. The Golden Continent is really everywhere.
It’s gold.”
Hu Xian nodded solemnly and said: "The news will soon reach the Beijing-Tianjin area. We will work hard to spread the news step by step."
"Fifty big ships?"
"How much gold and silver can this hold?"
When Feng Xiang heard this, he couldn't help but stare slightly.
"I don't know, there must be tens of millions of taels of silver, especially Tianjin Ocean Trading House. They really made a lot of money this time."
"I heard that those people from the Golden Continent have returned. Tian Erniu of Tianjin Ocean Trading Company was here in the Golden Continent. He conquered two countries of descendants of the Yin Shang here in the Golden Continent with only less than 10,000 people."
"In the Aztec Kingdom and the Inca Empire, Tian Erniu asked people from these two countries to build pyramids with gold and silver bricks to atone for their sins. It is said that in the Aztec Kingdom alone, they obtained five
Tens of millions of taels of gold and silver, and the descendants of the Yin Shang in these two kingdoms were asked to build pyramids of gold and silver every year to atone for their sins."
Hu Xian shook his head slightly, and then sighed: "Liu Jin's people are still very powerful. The major trading houses were desperately looking for gold mines. When digging gold mines, they directly conquered the two kingdoms of the descendants of the Yin Shang, and asked them to help
Go dig for gold and silver yourself and enjoy the harvest."
“A pyramid of gold and silver bricks?”
When the others heard this, they all couldn't help but take a breath and their eyes turned red.
They knew about the pyramid. The year before last, when Du Mingen came back from Golden Continent, the newspaper reported about the pyramid. They actually used gold and silver to build the pyramid. This pyramid is not a pyramid at all. It is a gold tower and a silver tower.
"Fifty million taels of silver!"
Feng Xiang's eyes turned red. He started out as a salt merchant after all, but even in the most glorious era of salt merchants, they combined were not as profitable as the Tianjin Ocean Trading Guild.
"This time, they not only brought back a large amount of gold and silver and news from the Golden Continent, but also on the east coast of the Golden Continent, people from the Tianjin Ocean Trading Company met Europeans."
"The Europeans have a country called Spain, and their ships have also arrived on the east coast of Golden Continent. According to the news, our Ming Dynasty things are indeed very valuable in Europe."
"Silk, porcelain, mirrors, spices, sugar, tea, etc., the Europeans are in great need of these things, and the prices they pay are very high."
"Golden Continent is not only Golden Continent, it can also connect with Europeans and do business with Europeans. This is very important."
"As soon as the news spreads, many people will organize goods to go to Golden Continent to do business with Europeans, so we have to be quick, be one step ahead, organize fleets to transport goods there, and make a lot of money first.
"
Hu Xian then told another piece of news, which made several others couldn't help but open their mouths.
"In other words, the world we live in is really a ball. You can reach Europe if you go west, and you can reach Europe if you go east. We actually met the Europeans first on the Golden Continent."
When Zhu Benduan heard this, he immediately thought of what Liu Jin said that the world we live in is a round ball. He used to not believe it, but now it seems that it is really the case.
"It doesn't matter anymore, whether it's round or square."
"As long as we can make money, that's the most important thing."
Zhu Benduan smiled and said.
"Yes, yes, hurry up and organize a fleet to bring the goods to the Golden Continent. If you take the first step, you can make a fortune. Once the news spreads, the competition will become fierce."
Zhang Yuan nodded and said.
"Buying and selling are naturally necessary~"
"But how can we give up on a more profitable business?"
Hu Xian nodded slightly, then thought about it and said.
"A more profitable deal?"
When the other three heard this, they immediately asked in confusion.
“Don’t you all want to learn how to be a good person?”
"This easily conquered a country and made them pay huge amounts of wealth. The world is very big, and there are many, many countries. Not to mention others, just here in the West, there are so many countries, big and small, that I don't know.
.”
"Didn't we talk about private armed forces when we were chatting with Liu Jin in Songhu a few months ago? With everyone's joint efforts, the imperial court has allowed us trading houses to have small-scale overseas armed forces."
"This time, I called everyone here, naturally to unite with everyone. We can also learn from Tianjin Ocean Trading Company."
"They can conquer countries one after another, why can't we?"
"Jade from Burma, gems from Ceylon, gold and silver from Tianzhu, and gold and silver from the Middle East and Persia. Now we have to exchange them with commodities. If we can defeat them and conquer them, in the future
There is no need to change it, just let them pay us tribute every year."
Hu Xian looked at the people around him and finally revealed the purpose of holding this chamber of commerce today.