At this time, it was not just King Ning who was busy preparing to go to sea. The vassal kings who were entrusted to various places were basically taking action. Someone as ambitious as King Ning would naturally not be willing to just occupy a small island or a small place overseas.
, to be an idle prince.
These vassal kings were extremely ambitious, like King Ning, who even wanted to build an empire as large as the Ming Dynasty overseas, so they all chose to stay away from the Ming Dynasty and go to places like Africa, because there were places big enough.
territory.
Of course, most of the feudal kings actually just want to go overseas to build a territory. It doesn't need to be big, just a piece of territory is enough, so that they can be their own emperor in their own territory with peace of mind.
In the Ming Dynasty, they are just pigs who are kept in captivity and have no freedom. It is different in Haiwa when they have their own territory. It doesn't need to be too big, just a small one.
This is the idea of most vassals. It is necessary to go to sea, but the territory does not need to be big, just one piece is enough. It is best to be an island like Ceylon. If you occupy an island and become the emperor, that is also very good.
.
The vassals were all taking action, and as word spread that the Governor of Ceylon presented a treasure to Emperor Hongzhi, everyone in the Ming Dynasty was deeply attracted by the huge benefits of overseas colonization, and countless people's eyes became red.
It is just an island of Ceylon. The Governor of Ceylon donated treasures worth tens of millions of taels of silver to Emperor Hongzhi in one donation. How much wealth did the Western United Trading Company get from Ceylon Island?
It is estimated that only people from the Western United Trading Company know about it.
However, everyone knows that the investment of the Western United Trading Company was not large. Only an army of 5,000 people occupied the island of Ceylon, and its own losses were minimal. In everyone's opinion, this was a hugely profitable business.
A truly profitable transaction.
The occupied Ceylon Island can bring a steady stream of benefits to the shareholders of the Western United Trading Company in the future. In the future, just collecting tolls will make the Western United Trading Company financially exhausted.
Everyone in the world is jealous and restless.
Of course, as the first Western joint trading company to take advantage of the situation, they were even more active.
In a huge conference room in the building where the headquarters of Shili Yang Company and Xiyang United Commercial Bank are located in Tianjin, all the shareholders of Xiyang United Commercial Bank are here, with smiles on their faces.
Make a lot of money, really make a lot of money.
Hu Xian, dressed in governor's uniform, is sitting on top of everyone. As the proposer of the establishment of the Western United Trading Company, he has made great contributions, so everyone also publicly recommended him to be the first governor.
However, because the Western United Trading Company was established by everyone, the candidate for the Governor of Ceylon was also publicly recommended by everyone. The power of the Governor of Ceylon was conferred by the General Meeting of Shareholders of the Western United Trading Company.
This is somewhat similar to the structure of many countries in later generations. The governor was publicly elected and had great power, but he also served the entire Western United Trading Company. After everyone discussed, the governor of Ceylon could be dismissed.
Of course, no one realized this at this time. Hu Xian was one of the major shareholders. He contributed a lot of money and effort, and successfully conquered the island of Ceylon. His own losses were very small.
Therefore, he had a high prestige in the Western United Trading Company. When he presented treasures to Emperor Hongzhi, he overcame all opinions and believed that the treasures should be presented generously. In the end, everyone expressed their support and agreement after listening to his statement.
"Everyone, our Western United Trading Company's battle on Ceylon Island has been a complete success."
"The Island of Ceylon already belongs to our Western United Trading Company. We have called everyone here today. On the one hand, we will discuss how to develop Ceylon Island. On the other hand, we will discuss the next actions of our Western United Trading Company."
Hu Xian looked at the people present. There were two brothers, Zhang Yanling and Zhang Heling, Li Chunyang, the owner of Sihai Trading Company, and Zhang Yuan, Zhu Benduan and Feng Xiang who came from a large Jiangnan family. They stayed on Ceylon Island. In addition, Wei Guogong stayed on
I also sent someone to attend the meeting.
Everyone was smiling and nodded slightly when they heard Hu Xian's words. Before setting out to conquer Ceylon Island, everyone was still a little nervous. How could they conquer an island of Ceylon with just a few thousand people?
Isn’t it a little too whimsical?
But now, all doubts have completely disappeared, and everyone has tasted the benefits. Every shareholder has received gems from the Island of Ceylon, boxes after boxes of gems of various colors, and every household has also received gems from the Island of Ceylon.
slave.
“Let’s talk about the first thing first, how to develop the island of Ceylon~”
Hu Xian smiled and went overseas. He had a real understanding of overseas countries. They were very backward everywhere, but the land was very fertile, vast, and had many resources. It was far from the barbaric wilderness described in books.
On the contrary, many places are truly paradise.
Not to mention anything else, Ceylon Island alone has fertile land, abundant rainfall, rich products, and small gems. Ceylon Island is also very suitable for growing rice, tea, spices, etc.
Compared with many places in the mainland of the Ming Dynasty, the conditions here on Ceylon Island are much better.
"Mr. Hu, you have been here on the Island of Ceylon for several months and have a relatively in-depth understanding of the West. We are here in the Ming Dynasty and don't know much about the Island of Ceylon, so we still want to hear your opinion."
Li Chunyang thought for a while and said.
He is also a major shareholder, and the amount of money and people he contributes will not be less than that of Hu Xian.
"Yes, yes, Mr. Hu has a long-term vision. The island of Ceylon will do what you want, and we will wait for the money to be divided."
Zhang Yuan also said with a smile, as long as you make money, you can talk about anything and everything else is not important.
"Ceylon Island is located in the southeast of Tianzhu, in the middle of the Western Ocean Route, and its geographical location is extremely important."
"In the past few months, we have also conducted detailed and in-depth understanding and research on the entire island of Ceylon. Ceylon has fertile land, abundant rainfall, and sufficient sunlight."
"In addition, the resources are also extremely rich. In addition to gems, there are also iron ore, silver ore and tin ore. The resources are pretty good."
Hu Xian smiled and said: "So my plan is this. When we conquered Ceylon Island, we originally planned to divide the land on Ceylon Island according to the money we paid."
"But this does not maximize our interests. My point of view is that we shareholders will divide part of the land first, and the remaining land will still belong to the Western United Commercial Bank. Everyone will share the proportion according to the original investment and enjoy the subsequent
income rights and decision-making rights.”
"In terms of the operation of Ceylon Island, because of its unique geographical location, my suggestion is that we invest a lot of money in building ports in the southwest coastal area. In the future, we will only accept the berthing of ships traveling from east to west.
You can get it for free."
"At the same time, we can also use our advantages to do transit trade, which is enough to make money easily."
Hu Xian stood up and began to explain his plan facing the map of Ceylon Island.
He was the Governor of Ceylon, but this Governor was restricted by the United Western Trading Company, and everything required everyone's consent.
After hearing Hu Xian's words, everyone nodded. Just look at Tianjin and Songhu now and you will know that once the port is built, bigger and has better services, it will naturally attract ships to berth.
The berthing of ships will bring many benefits. The berthing fees are only a trivial part, and the transit trade is the big one. How did Singapore start in the future?
Do you think it depends on the parking fee?
In fact, they often make money from transshipment trade. They can easily make a fortune just by transferring goods in their own ports. This business can be done.
Many of the shareholders present are businessmen with Li Chunyang, and they all know this very well. How can Ceylon be worthy of it if its geographical advantages are not fully utilized?
"The natural conditions on Ceylon Island are very good. My opinion is to build large-scale plantations on Ceylon Island to grow rice, tea and spices."
"Now the trend of tea drinking has begun to slowly rise in the West. The sales of tea will definitely be very strong in the future. The land on Ceylon Island is very suitable for growing tea. In the future, we will not need to import tea from the Ming Dynasty."
"Spices are the favorite of Europeans and are very popular in Europe. We grow spices and sell them directly to the Portuguese in the West."
"Now our entire Ming Dynasty is keen to develop private colonies overseas, so in the future, the demand for various materials will be very strong. Food is definitely indispensable. We grow it here on Ceylon Island.
Rice can not only meet our own needs, but can also be sold to people who go overseas, and can also be transported from Nanyang to save money."
"This was my plan for the future of Ceylon. The focus was on the construction of the port, followed by plantations, and only the mining of gemstones. This was needless to say at the time."
Hu Xian finished speaking in one breath. Ceylon Island has been captured. The next step is to maximize its value and earn a steady stream of profits for the Western United Trading Company.
"I think it's okay~"
Li Chunyang pondered for a long time and nodded in support.
"I have no objection either~"
Zhang Yuan also spoke.
"Support~"
Zhu Benduan had been to Ceylon Island and knew that Hu Xian's plan was very good, so he nodded solemnly.
"We have no objection~"
"Can I get a share of the treasure this time?"
Zhang Yanling and Zhang Heling looked at each other and nodded, then thought about it and said.
The two brothers are now ambitious. They have formed a separate team and are preparing to go overseas to conquer a private colony belonging to their old Zhang family. Money is a bit tight.
"Of course. I know that everyone actually has their own plans. Many people want to go overseas to occupy private colonies, and they all need money. My opinion is to take out 20 million taels of this harvest and share it with each other."
"However, I still say that only unity has strength. Next, our Western United Trading Company's goal should be Tianzhu and gradually annex the entire Tianzhu!"
Hu Xian nodded, and then drew an arrow on the map, pointing directly to the Tianzhu continent!