After Xu Wen and Zhang Hao had a thorough discussion, they immediately split up and acted.
While they were searching for treasures and presenting beauties to Yang Wo, they showed great loyalty in order to paralyze Yang Wo and delay time. At the same time, they selected two reliable confidants, carried letters, quietly left Guangling City, disguised themselves as merchants, and headed for Xia Kingdom. territory.
The process is naturally quite thrilling and the journey is extremely slow. But if you want to do something big, how can you do it without taking some risks?
Xu and Zhang's envoys were still on their way hard, while Shao Shude was lying leisurely in Shangyang Palace, teasing women, handling official affairs, and occasionally going hunting in Shendu Garden with the Yin'anzhi warriors, living a miserable life. Quite chic too.
On the tenth day of March, the new Xia King Award will be awarded.
Since the award was given to "On Bloodline" in the third year of Tang Qianning's reign (896), the "Xia King Award" has been issued to the tenth session. In the fifth year of Jianji (905), the seventh winner was the improved wool jacquard machine.
The sixth year of Jianji was an iron horse. The seventh year of Jianji was a bye.
In the eighth year of Jianji, it was awarded to five craftsmen in Luoyang. They improved the brick-making process, increased efficiency, and proposed several new material bricks, including coal ash, cinder, slag and the like.
It was another bye in the ninth year of Jianji.
The tenth year of Jianji was just awarded to a craftsman in Fengzhou who improved the sugar pressing machine and increased production efficiency.
Since the first session, the "Xia Wang Award" has gone through fifteen years without realizing it. Except for the sixth year of Qianning, the second year of Jianji, the third year of Jianji, the seventh year of Jianji, and the ninth year of Jianji, the award has been vacant. , sent out ten times in total.
The demonstration effect is amazing.
Generous monetary rewards, official status, and influence on descendants were widely publicized, making people gain both fame and fortune, and their social status increased dramatically. Even a peasant woman who could not read a single word had transcended social classes and became the subject of people's talk.
The more rewards that are awarded, the more significant the cumulative effect will be.
Last year's new sugar-pressing machine was created by an old craftsman who was not angry that a "stupid peasant woman" could win the prize, so he spent several years thinking about it and finally improved the original sugar-pressing machine to make it more suitable for the needs of sea beets.
Shao Shude is not sure whether this award will be spoiled after his death, but at least for now, it is full of gold, and each item has made a great contribution to social production, such as "Theory of Blood", "Geometry", Wool spinning machines, wool jacquard machines, new seagoing ships, new livestock breeds, etc.
Once these things appear, it is basically difficult to disappear, and they will always contribute to society.
What's even more gratifying is that these were not invented by him. Instead, they were invented under his guidance by using social resources—brain resources, and technical resources are also resources. This is much more meaningful than him acting as the inventor himself.
He is only one person, not God, and cannot accomplish everything. The more people involved, the better the effect and the faster social progress.
"Is this brown sugar cake made with Rouzhou sugar?" Shao Shude picked up a piece of steamed and extremely soft pastry, took a few bites, and asked.
"Your Majesty, it's Rou and Shen who brought the sugar to you. I heard that this year Yun, Wei, Shuo, and Gui have also begun to plant sea beets. There will be more and more sugar in the future." Shang Gong Su replied.
road.
"Why are you standing so far away from me? There are no outsiders here." Shao Shude waved, and Gao looked around and reluctantly came over.
Shao Shude hugged her into his arms and said, "I was so desperate last night, why are I so alive now?" Gao was panicked, as if some big secret had been leaked, and struggled subconsciously.
"Okay, okay." Shao Shude stroked her back like a kitten, turned to Mrs. Su and said, "Is there any candy in the palace from Annan?" "Your Majesty, the sweet soup we had yesterday was made from Annan.
Made of sugar." Su Shi replied.
"I see, there doesn't seem to be much difference." Shao Shude nodded, and then sighed: "The two frontiers, one in the south and the other in the north, really worry me. Now that the south is leveled, five canes can be used to grow sugarcane.
Ship back to the north."
It is actually an urgent matter to bind more and more anchors to his maritime dream.
The more anchors there are, the less likely it is that shipping will be abolished, and maritime technology will receive continued investment and iteration.
Modern times. Maritime transportation is naturally more risky than canal transportation, and bureaucrats are very risk-averse.
If there are fewer anchors, there will be fewer concerns when maritime transportation is abolished. Only when the benefits are so great that they cannot be separated, and the abolition of maritime transportation will attract huge opposition, everything will continue.
Then, it becomes inevitable to find more anchors for shipping.
The cheap meat in Liaodong has already won praises from the people in Peiping and Luoyang, and pepper has entered thousands of households in northern rural areas. The dependence on these two commodities is slowly increasing. What needs to be done is to take care of it carefully and continuously strengthen it.
, to ensure that these two seedlings slowly grow into towering trees. As the third anchor, you can choose sucrose.
Unlike cotton, sucrose is a cash crop that he decided to vigorously promote in Guangguan, Yongguan, and Traffic Management.
Sugar is a mass consumer product. As long as the price is cheap enough, the theoretical demand is infinite. It will not compete with the beet sugar in the north for the market, because you will probably not be able to satisfy the huge appetite of the market.
He was actually a little hesitant about cotton. Because the woolen cloth market in the north was becoming more and more prosperous, with both production and sales booming. It was even sold to the Yangtze River Basin, earning a lot of money for farmers in the north. If cotton was planted on a large scale in the south, would it in turn squeeze out the market?
The northern market is not conducive to balancing the northern and southern economies.
The three-crop rotation system is the foundation of northern agriculture, and wool is an important by-product. If sales decrease, it will affect the income of northern farmers. In fact, northern farmers can still survive without relying on wool. The real impact may be
It is the grassland tribes, because they are now also clumsily learning woolen spinning to earn income, which is what Shao Shude has always encouraged.
There is work to do, money to make, and commerce to circulate, so we can survive, and there are not so many people on the grassland who have no choice but to rebel.
But then again, some things cannot be resisted. Cotton has been planted on a considerable scale in the Dunhuang area, and sooner or later it will flow to the south. Shao Shude thought about it and decided not to actively promote it for the time being. He could only do this.
.
"I would like to inform all the prime ministers that I will go to the Guanfeng Hall tomorrow to discuss the Bohai Trading Company. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Household Affairs will also send personnel to participate." Shao Shude hugged Gao's soft and delicate body and closed his eyes to think.
After a long time, just when Su suspected that he had fallen asleep, he suddenly opened his eyes and said.
"According to the decree."
In the Guanfeng Hall, the officials participating in the questioning arrived one after another and took their seats in order.
"Since you all know what a joint-stock trading company is, it's easy to handle. Let's take a look at the articles of association first." Shao Shude clapped his hands, and the lieutenant general Wang Yanfan immediately brought many copied documents and handed them to everyone.
For a moment, the hall was filled with the sound of turning pages.
The prime ministers watched silently most of the time, and occasionally exchanged a few words in low voices.
Shao Shude was not in a hurry. He was sitting on the ground behind the imperial desk, and occasionally glanced at Gao, who was already a palace official. Every time their eyes met, Gao hurriedly lowered his head like a frightened little white rabbit.
Shao Shude secretly laughed in his heart and wanted this flavor. "Ahem..." Chen Cheng cleared his throat.
Shao Shude withdrew his gaze and sat upright.
"Your Majesty, I have read the articles of association of the Bohai Trading Company." Chen Cheng said: "According to this letter, there are a total of 1,000 shares, 200 shares for the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 200 shares for the Ministry of Revenue, 300 shares for the Manchu Xungui, and 50 shares for the Governor's Office of Liaodong Road.
The capital commander made 50 shares of the Yamen, 50 shares of the Bohai Family, 50 shares of the Mohe Jurchen leader, and another hundred shares were publicly auctioned in Sanjingfang City. As the prime minister, I had no objection. However, the foundation laid by the Ministry of Internal Affairs only accounted for this
Wouldn’t it be too much of a loss if you order a portion?”
"In the past, the Ministry of Internal Affairs relied entirely on funding from the Ministry of Household Affairs for financial support, and it is still funding it today. It's hard to say whether it suffered a loss or not." Shao Shude said: "In addition, my thoughts are far beyond what this little money can stop.
"
Chen Chengruo realized something.
This is probably the reason why the saint likes to talk about "the perfect golden pot" recently. From this point of view, the saint values the land in Liaodong more than how much money he has in his private pocket.
"Your Majesty." Pei Shu, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, also spoke, and he said: "I looked through the account books and found that the Ministry of Internal Affairs earned more than 22,000 yuan in the ninth year of Jianji, and 49,000 yuan last year.
Yu Min, is it a little missing?"
Pei Shu's words were more tactful.
For a matter of tens of thousands of dollars, how about such a big fanfare and calling all the important ministers over? Calculated based on one thousand shares, the dividend per share is only 49 dollars. This...
You know, a martial artist's annual income is more than 20 yuan, and your dividend is only so small. Do the nobles like it? Shao Shude was a little embarrassed.
Those idiots in the Ministry of Internal Affairs asked them to make last year's accounts look better, but the result was just like this.
"Don't underestimate the prospects of Bohai Trading Company." With no other choice, Shao Shude could only go into battle personally and start drawing the big pie: "Just because you have made less in the past two years does not mean you will make less in the future. The money that should be spent has already been spent.
It cost a lot of money to build ships, hire people, build warehouses and buildings, give gifts to the savage leaders to build relationships, etc. Starting next year, the interest will increase a lot, and it will not be a problem for more than 100,000 yuan."
Pei Shu was still a little hesitant. One hundred thousand minions would not be able to mobilize troops like this.
"One hundred thousand yuan is not the end, it is just a trivial one." Shao Shude seemed to be the black mouth of the stock market and began to brag about the fundamentals: "Guys, think about it, how many people are there in Liaodong now? How many acres of land have been opened? Five years later, there will be another
How many people will it be? Ten or twenty years from now? The more people there are, the more wealth will be produced."
"I sent people to enclose a lot of pastures to raise deer. They are still in the breeding period and there is no sign of success. What about five or ten years from now?"
"Liaodong ginseng cannot be sold at high prices now, and people don't really recognize it. How big is Lucai? It's a fact that Codonopsis pilosula production is decreasing. Now people don't recognize Liaodong ginseng. What will happen in five or ten years?"
Having said this, Shao Shude clapped his hands and said, "Bring me a bowl of Liaodong ginseng tea, and you will all have some. Please drink it." Everyone laughed and laughed.
"There is also the matter of hunting sea animals." Shao Shude continued: "Whales, seals, sea lions, fur seals, sea otters, beavers, walruses... what about ten years from now?"
"The Jurchens are addicted to alcohol...what happens in ten years?" "...what happens in ten years?"
Shao Shude talked about it eloquently, basically assuming what would happen in ten years. The prospect was very bright, and it seemed to be like that. On the surface, there was nothing wrong with it.
At the end, he took a look at the case and said: "I think the future goal of Bohai Trading Company is to earn one million yuan a year!" "Your Majesty, your Majesty agrees." All the ministers agreed.
If you ask them if they believe it? Actually, they don’t really believe it.
But the saint’s words are all about this, so we can’t keep him from coming to power.
This Bohai trading company seems to be able to make some money, so it's up to the saint. Anyway, according to the charter, the management rights are from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. After other people spend a small amount of money to buy shares, they can just sit back and wait for the dividends. If they don't worry at all, then it doesn't matter.
Already.
Even if you fail in the future, it doesn't matter. You should give the saint some face and make him happy. The saint is so generous and often rewards you with wealth. It's not a big deal for Mei Ji.
"Since you have no objections, the matter has been decided." Seeing everyone's lack of interest, Shao Shude felt depressed and waved his hands and said.
I have to talk to Mr. Gao for a while and calm down.
Mrs. Gao is a good person. When there are no outsiders in private, she will occasionally say a few words of comfort when you tell her, and she will accept it with a sob, which makes you feel refreshed and troubles disappear every time.