"Where is it...Prince Zheng wants to buy a boat for fun? It couldn't be easier. What I'm worried about is actually the discussion in the court. After all, sea ban is the national policy of our Qing Dynasty!"
"Although I have become less particular about it over the years, the rules of our ancestors have not been abolished after all! It's really a troublesome scene!"
"Haha... let's see who dares!" Prince Zheng immediately raised his eyes, "The court is the court of our Eight Banners, and the country belongs to our banner people. This ban will always ban the Han people, not us!"
"Don't think I'm a fool. I've done my homework before. Why didn't we have overseas trade during the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong dynasties of the Qing Dynasty?"
"Why did the Fan family of Shanxi merchants, who are so popular now, decline for a period of time? It was not because they suffered losses from copper trade with Japan during the Qianlong period, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs was so angry that they took away their imperial merchant qualifications!"
"Fan Lian's brother, the deceased Fan Ru's lifelong dream was to regain his qualifications as an imperial merchant, and then make money by running errands for the imperial court!"
"Look, I'm not the kind of person who just eats and waits for death, right? I still know a little bit about the past! The so-called sea ban is actually just a way for the predecessors to confuse the eyes of future generations and fool the Han people!"
"We Manchus don't believe in that. Making money is the first priority! Why is there a sea ban? Isn't it because we are afraid that the Han people will rebel after they escape? But we Manchus don't care. Who would rebel against their ancestors? You are right wrong!"
At the banquet, all the princes nodded and said, "That's right, we bannermen buy ships just for fun. We buy some Western goods for the emperor. It is impossible to rebel! So this ban is of no use to us!"
"Third Master, if you have a way, please contact us to get a ship. Can you buy it all for 200,000 yuan? We just want to save worry and trouble! We can pay back the capital in two years, and we can do this business with a pure profit in the future!"
At this moment, seven or eight sea-going ships have been booked. The Qing Ocean Caravan has not yet been officially established, but this ocean-going caravan already has ships!
The third master will not refuse anyone who comes, but Chou said that you have to give money first, and you can't do things that are in arrears!
"It's not that I, Fu Qing, are unkind, it's just that the shipyard didn't listen to me, and the foreign captains and sailors can't default on the money! Send the 200,000 taels to my house first, and then wait in line slowly!"
"I haven't said anything yet. Just go and do it, Third Master. How can we still not trust you?"
Everyone was dumbfounded by the drunkenness. The famous actors and actresses on the stage almost lost their tune. They said that the Third Master Fu Qing of the capital had a great reputation, which was true.
A group of princes came up to pay him New Year's greetings. They didn't even say anything like slaves, and they all used the honorific title of Third Master. The Qing Dynasty was really turned upside down. All the rules were gone. The slaves stood above their masters.
Before these actors could figure it out, they heard a cry of "rewards" from the audience. The silver coins turned into baskets were scattered on the stage, gurgling and whirling around. At this time, no matter who was born and looked ugly, all the actors Even the third-string puller ran over to pick up the money.
What the banquet wants is this excitement, what the banner people want is this dignity!
After talking about the ship, Prince Zheng secretly said to Fu Qing, "Third Master... tell me the truth, how many shares of Qingyang Ocean do you want to issue and how much does one share cost?"
Fu Qing wiped his face with a handkerchief and tried to keep his mind clearer. "Prince Zheng! To tell you the truth, this maritime business cannot be small. Only by enlarging the scale can you make money!"
"I'm telling you this from the bottom of my heart, please don't go back and sue me..."
"That's not possible! Do you think I'm a bastard? Don't worry, Third Master, if I tell anyone, I will be like this..." After saying this, his hand was still making bastard gestures on the table.
"Okay, then I'll make it clear! When we look at the Qing Dynasty at home, we see it as a kingdom of heaven, but when we look at it abroad, it's bullshit!"
"Don't believe me, I'm not lying. It's really like this. Foreigners look down on us! Not to mention Europe's big noses, many small countries in Southeast Asia, India, and Africa also look down on us!"
"Who told us we don't have a navy? Once our caravan goes out, the biggest risk is pirates!"
"Huh? Pirates...you mean that our ship might not make any money but be robbed by pirates?" Prince Zheng suddenly retreated.
"Yes, there are too many pirates, especially in Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean. The indigenous people of each country have their own pirate organizations. There are so many of them!"
"If there are many ships with cannons, just rob them. If there are small ships with many people, just rely on disguise and cheat... Sometimes they will fake shipwrecks and get some female pirates to pretend to be distressed natives!"
"As long as you rescue them, these women will cooperate inside and outside to kill and rob!"
"It's dangerous! It's really dangerous. Without the navy patrolling the sea, merchant ships are just big pieces of fat!"
"What should we do?" People suddenly became frustrated.
"Of course there are ways. The best way is that we have a navy in the Qing Dynasty. If Li Hongzhang's navy is established, those young people who are afraid of revenge will restrain themselves a lot!"
"But we were stopped by Qingliu, so we can only think about it in the long term! And the second way is to use scale effect!"
"That's right, it's just about expanding the scale! Although merchant ships are for business, they also have guns. We can even carry two or three small-caliber naval guns for limited defense!"
"It doesn't matter if there are two ships, but what if ten ships and twenty ships form a formation and do business together? This is a big deal. Not to mention pirates along the way, even other countries must be careful!"
"One boat has one hundred men, and twenty boats equals an army of two thousand. It will be able to fight against some backward feudal states!"
"If we really encounter pirates, dozens of our ships will gather around them and knock them over... Why do I keep asking everyone to spend tens of thousands more taels to buy a steamship covered with iron armor?"
"That's the truth. If we can fight, we can defend, and finally we can run. If we turn it into an ocean-going caravan, we won't suffer a loss!"
"But everything requires money and silver... So, I am going to raise 50 million silver dollars in the stock market!"
"Ah! Fifty million!" People exclaimed for a while. The Beijing-Tianjin Railway stock only raised 10 million, and the Qingyang Ocean Company was five times the size?
Before everyone could express their opinions, Prince Dun suddenly said, "The Qing Dynasty took away 50 million yuan, don't forget there is also the Beijing-Hankou Railway!"
"The scale of that railway is eight times that of the Beijing-Tianjin Railway. It cannot be built without 70 to 80 million silver dollars!"
One hundred and thirty million! In the future, the Qing Dynasty will have to spend 130 million to accomplish these two major things!
