"Mr. Marvell, Mr. Howell, and Mr. Paul Sparrow, I have fully understood the requests and disputes between the three of you... Then let me make a fair ruling! Are you willing to accept it?"
The Emperor of Ming Dynasty was sitting on a sofa, holding a cup of Marie milk tea. He smiled and listened to the appeals of the representatives of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Portugal regarding the Indian Ocean Clearing Bank, and then he said to himself that he wanted to be a arbiter.
"Your Majesty, Portugal is willing to accept your ruling."
"Your Majesty, the Dutch East India Company is also willing to accept your just decision."
"The Republic of England is ready to listen to your suggestions."
The Portuguese ambassador and the president of the Dutch East India Company simply recognized Zhu Cihong's ruling authority without much thought, while the British envoy was just willing to listen to his opinions - probably Emperor Zhu's ruling could not satisfy the British, so they stopped listening. Bar?
Zhu Cixiang did not argue with the British, but said with a smile: "Let me just say that the settlement bank in Tianzhu was organized by the British East India Company and opened in Goa, a Portuguese territory. The Dutch East India Company can participate in God Continental United Bank can hold Shenzhou Bank...Huang Jiang, Jabs, how many shares of Shenzhou Bank can you give up, and what price will you charge?"
Huang Jiang said: "We can give up 20% of the shares of the Dutch East India Company. As for the asking price... We will set the principal of Shenzhou Bank at two million taels of silver, and the two-yielding amount will be 400,000 taels."
Of course, as many as two million taels of silver would not be transported from the Ming Dynasty to Versailles outside Paris. There will only be a batch of valuable furs and pearl jewelry and a small amount of silver (as start-up capital) shipped to Europe - according to Zhu Cixiang's idea, at the same time as the Shenzhou United Bank was opened, Jiale City Bank and Yiguan Chamber of Commerce (owned by Zheng Zhilong) ) will also join the European Union. The main business of Jiale City and Yiguan Chamber of Commerce is to exchange furs, pearls, and tea for wine, raisins, butter, cheese, woolen cloth, and other machinery and equipment produced in Europe.
In other words, the Jiale City Hall and the Yiguan Chamber of Commerce will not touch the cheese of the Dutch East India Company and the British East India Company.
In the Age of Discovery, taking money from people would lead to war at sea!
With the maritime power of the Ming Dynasty, it could not touch the two "sea kings" of the Netherlands and England. Therefore, silk, porcelain, spices, lacquerware and other bulk commodities traded between the East and the West could only stay away from it and focus on developing new products.
"Four hundred thousand taels," Zhu Cixiang said with a smile, "isn't that a big amount for the Dutch East India Company?"
"Of course it's not a large amount. We can accept this offer," Howell paused, "but we must send directors corresponding to the offer. In addition, I also want to know who the other shareholders of the company are and what their shareholding status is. "
Jabs smiled and took over the topic: "Shenzhouxing was co-initiated by me and Brother Shiren (Huang Jiang). We are currently the only two shareholders with a capital of two million taels. The board of directors has not yet been formed, but it will definitely be The number of directors will be allocated according to the proportion of shareholders’ capital contribution, and major shareholders will be allowed to send managers to participate in the operation of the bank based on their capital contribution ratio.”
Zhu Cixiang smiled and asked Howell, "Mr. Howell, what do you think?"
Howell nodded and said, "Okay."
"Your Majesty," Marvell interjected, "We in England also want to invest in the Bank of China, and the number of shares we hold should not be less than that of the Dutch East India Company."
Zhu Cixi smiled and said: "Mr. Special Envoy, this question should not be raised with me. I am not a shareholder of Shenzhouxing."
Huang Jiang said with a smile: "Of course we welcome England to become a shareholder, but... on behalf of the Republic of England, can you provide 500,000 taels of silver for foreign investment? This amount is equivalent to more than 200,000 pounds. !”
Theoretically, the pound should be one pound of pure silver, but England's finances before the Industrial Revolution were not very wealthy, so there was a lot of adulteration when minting the pound. By the middle of the 17th century, there was only more than 110 silver in one pound. Gram, the bank taels exchanged in the Ming Dynasty were a little more than 2 taels (bank taels were 90% of silver), and five hundred thousand taels of silver was equal to more than 200,000 pounds.
In today's England, this is also a huge sum of money. Not only can Marvell not be able to pay it, but even the British East India Company cannot pay that much money at once - Britain is not yet a maritime hegemon in this era, and the Dutch have a huge influence in maritime trade. A bigger share!
Moreover, the capital strength of the Dutch East India Company was far greater than that of the British East India Company.
Therefore, the Dutch East India Company could easily take out the money, but England could not take out it at once.
Huang Jiang knew what England's financial situation was, so he smiled and said: "If England wants to take a stake, of course we will not object, but... please wait until we get to Europe to discuss this matter!"
Marvell immediately turned his attention to Zhu Cixiang: "Your Majesty the Emperor, I hope you can guarantee the Republic of England's investment in the United Bank of China."
"No problem." Zhu Cihong said in his heart: How much power does your family have in the Republic of England? The year is already 1657... When did Cromwell die? 1658? 1659?
Zhu Cixiang said: "We can sign a "Settlement Bank Treaty" to regulate the behavior of the five major settlement banks."
"Your Majesty," Prince Condé interrupted at this time, "France must also have the power to invest in the Union Bank at the right time!"
The UK has it, how can France not have it? Oh, except money! It is estimated that before Napoleon III came to power, France would not have the money to invest...
"Okay!" Zhu Cixi nodded.
Prince Kongdai added: "In addition, the name of the United Bank of China is inappropriate. It should be renamed China-United Bank of Europe."
Sinou Bank?
"Okay." Zhu Cixiang didn't have any different opinions, it was just a name, "Then let's sign the "Sino-European Settlement Bank Treaty". The Ming Dynasty, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France and Portugal will jointly establish five major settlement banks to be responsible for Europe - —Settlement business between divine continents."
"So... what about the loan?" French envoy Colbert asked. His biggest concern was to obtain a low-interest loan for France.
Zhu Cixiang smiled and said: "No problem... I personally provide a full irrevocable guarantee of 3 million bank taels!" As he spoke, he stretched out his right hand, and Mary Mancini used the Chinese method that she had prepared earlier. The letter of guarantee written in both languages was handed to Emperor Zhu.
Zhu Cihong took the letter of guarantee, handed it to Kolber, and said with a smile: "With this letter of guarantee, Shenzhou-European Bank will definitely provide the most favorable interest rate loan to the French government. As for the details of the loan, wait for Shenzhou-- Let’s discuss it after the European bank officially opens.”
He then told British Ambassador Marvel: "I can also provide the same amount of guarantee to England...but it requires the Parliament of the Republic of England to pass a resolution guaranteeing repayment."
This matter can be delayed...Parliament is not Louis XIV of "I am the country"! And it’s hard to say whether there is a parliament in the UK now!
As for the Stuart dynasty after the restoration... Emperor Zhu was quite happy to provide support! Because he heard that the Stuart dynasty was quite reactionary and was the target of the British bourgeois revolution. Of course Emperor Zhu would support them!
The party in Pang's garden is now over. Most of the guests have left, except Zheng Zhilong.
Zhu Cixiang still had something to talk about with him.
"Old Taishan," Zhu Cihong said, "I plan to set up a Pacific Passenger Transport Company to be responsible for the passenger transport business on the Pacific Ocean. Do you think this business can be done?"
Zheng Zhilong thought about it seriously and said: "The Spanish sailing ships can run, there is no reason why our ships can't run... The problem is the cost! How many people can a boat carry? How many round trips can it make? ?How much does it cost to crew?
Also, if you transport people to America, what will you transport back? If the transport ship has to sail back empty, the freight will be too expensive! "
