The first thousand seven hundred and forty-six chapters of Chen Lifu
Those engaged in finance in the empire were beaten up by everyone, and those engaged in trade were actually not much better. Although they also played a role as an economic lubricant, in people's minds, they were just a group of speculators.
To be honest, social status is not that good!
Well, except for the more than thirty overseas trading companies that still exist in the empire!
In the early years of the empire, there were more than a hundred overseas trading companies, but because it never approved the establishment of new trading companies, it later blocked the recruitment of trading companies and the introduction of investors, which led to the slow reduction of the number of overseas trading companies.
Why do these overseas trading companies have a high status? Because what they do is not ordinary business!
These overseas trading companies, which have their own armed merchant ships and caravans, and go to the indigenous-controlled areas to do business, can be regarded as unofficial representatives to a certain extent. Behind them is the empire, which is responsible for the empire's operations in some indigenous areas.
Diplomacy, expansion, localization and other tasks.
But Xihai Trading Company is obviously not included in this list. They do not have an overseas trade license. Without this license, it means that they cannot form armed merchant ships, and armed caravans can directly deal with indigenous countries and tribes.
In fact, this is also the reason why many people start out in trading and then turn to other industries after becoming big. Didn't three of Zuo Chengsheng's previous partners all rush to join the industry?
After arriving in Shanghai, Zuo Chengsheng also tried to contact them, but unfortunately, he was only able to contact one. As for the other two, one was bankrupt and jumped into the river, one was said to be discouraged and immigrated to America, and
A man who went to India to trade also ended up nowhere.
Hearing the fate of his former partner also made Zuo Chengsheng sigh.
This business world is very dangerous.
I don’t know if I can go on smoothly all the way.
Zuo Chengsheng is actually a little worried about entering the oil refining industry this time. This oil refining industry is different from ordinary industries. Not only does it involve large investments, but it is also restricted by upstream oil companies and at the same time by the Ministry of Commerce.
This industry is potentially very profitable, but the limitations are also very large, and you can get into big trouble if you're not careful.
Ordinary businessmen simply can't do it.
Zuo Chengsheng had been in the kerosene business for a long time and was familiar with the industry, and then he roped in Royal Petroleum Company and Imperial Oil Company to do it together.
This Xihai Refining Company is wholly owned by Xihai Trading Company, and Zuo Chengsheng actually only holds 30% of the shares in Xihai Trading Company. Royal Oil Company and Imperial Oil Company each hold 40% of the shares.
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In other words, Zuo Chengsheng is actually no longer able to control Xihai Trading Company, but this does not affect him from becoming the general manager of this company, because the two oil companies still trust him and are willing to support him in taking charge of Xihai Trading Company.
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With the help of these two oil companies, many other obstacles that are difficult to overcome for ordinary businessmen are not a problem for Xihai Refining Company.
For example, the purchase of oil refining equipment.
Nowadays, there are only a few companies in China that can produce complete sets of oil refining and have related patented technologies, and they are all subsidiaries of Royal Petroleum Company!
Although other oil companies can also purchase these equipment, but there are so many orders now, they can only wait slowly.
However, Xihai Refining Company's refining equipment orders were given priority.
Zuo Chengsheng had just arrived in Shanghai, and the factory in Ningbo had not yet been built. The machinery company sent a telegram saying that the first set of oil refining equipment had been sent to them for preliminary assembly tests and so on.
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This kind of convenience is not available to other new oil refining companies.
After receiving this good news, Zuo Chengsheng rushed to Ningbo without stopping, urging the construction company to speed up the construction progress of the factory. Don't even wait for the equipment to arrive before there is even a factory building.
When Zuo Chengsheng was busy with his oil refining business, in August of the thirty-sixth year of Xuanping, the second page of the Tang Dynasty Daily also reported a news that attracted the attention of many people.
That is the decree issued by the Holy Emperor, the Minister of the Ministry of Commerce, and Chen Lifu, who was walking in the Imperial Study Room, went to the Imperial Study Room for duty!
After this news was published in the Tang Dynasty newspapers and spread all over the world, it immediately caused a sensation all over the world!
This sensation is not only due to the changes in the number of ministers on duty in the imperial study room. In fact, over the years, every one or two years, someone has quit the imperial study room, the center of power, due to various reasons, such as resignation or dismissal.
Someone comes in, so every one or two years someone will become the new minister on duty in the Imperial Study Room.
Although the changes in the number of ministers on duty in the Royal Study Room have a big impact, they have come every one or two years over the years, and sometimes there are even multiple people entering at the same time, so most people are used to it.
But Chen Lifu is different!
He was the first traditional official to become the minister on duty in the Imperial Study Room!
Before Chen Lifu, there were generally three types of ministers on duty in the imperial study room of the Tang Empire. One was military generals, which needless to say.
The other type is the founding fathers of the country, such as Liu Bagou, Qian Mengjiu and other civil servants who were the first to serve in the Long Dynasty.
The third type is the officials from Conglong during the rise of the empire and the talents cultivated by the empire after it unified China.
The above three types of people all have a common characteristic, that is, they are not traditional gentry. They come from official families. Regardless of whether they are military generals, Liu Bagou or others, most of them have nothing to do with traditional gentry.
They are a new generation of powerful people who have risen with the rise of the empire.
But as for Chen Lifu, everyone knows that he comes from a scholarly family and was a former Jinshi of the Ming Dynasty!
Even in the pre-Ming Dynasty, when talking about a three-level scholarship, many people would immediately think of the Chen family in Jinling East.
Chen Lifu came from Longzhi, and because of his status as a gentry, he turned around and went to do taxation, and he did it very ruthlessly, earning a reputation as a Chen Rentu. At that time, his reputation was among the gentry class, especially in Jiangnan.
The gentry class simply stinks.
At one point, even his former mentors, classmates, friends and even relatives severed their ties with him. As a result, even his eldest son had his marriage certificate returned.
But Chen Lifu was just a spitting image, and the more he was afraid, the higher he got. Later, naturally no one scolded him anymore, and more and more people came to curry favor with him.
When he took office as the governor of Guangdong and was promoted to the rank of Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Commerce, the infamy was naturally gone. Instead, many people began to hope that Chen Lifu would go further and speak out for the traditional gentry.
Unfortunately, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. Many traditional gentry hoped that Chen Lifu would speak out for the traditional gentry, but Chen Lifu basically ignored them.
Focus on industrial and commercial affairs and develop industry and commerce.
In the end, the traditional gentry also completely despaired of him.