Of course, Zhu Cixiang's heart is very peaceful... He should be able to get his 7 cents profit as long as he issues some banknotes and makes a debit. You don’t have to worry about bad debts at all, and you don’t have to think about whether to chop off someone’s hands or feet when chasing debts.
Because the Salt Bank will not lend loans to ordinary small and medium-sized businessmen at all, but will only lend them to giant businessmen such as Zheng Zhilong, Shen Tingzhi, Li Guozhu, and Liu Xiang, who will then lend them to small and medium-sized businessmen who need money.
As for the problems of collecting debts and killing people, they are all handled by big thieves like Zheng Zhilong, Shen Tingzhi, Li Guozhu, and Liu Xiang. Zhu Cixiang only collects money. What is not satisfied with 7 cents of profit?
Moreover, Zhu Cixiang really didn't want to compete with the people for profit. He was the emperor's nephew, and the country of Ming Dynasty would belong to him sooner or later. Why would he fight for so much profit?
According to his idea, he can just make a billion or eighty billion casually, push Ming Dynasty to the threshold of capitalism, and then live comfortably.
In his view, two conditions must be met for Ming Dynasty to embark on the path of no return for capitalism. First, you have to learn how to check things. Checking things is the primary productive force! If productivity cannot increase, the door of capitalism will not be open; secondly, there must be sufficient and relatively cheap capital...Capitalism cannot be without capital!
The problem of investigating objects should have been perfectly solved by Zhu Youjian, and he compiled something like "The Posthumous Chapters of Confucius". Even to be admitted to the Jinshi examination, you have to write a research paper. There are many universities opened in various places. Although they are all universities that combine the old and the new, they are enough.
Therefore, Zhu Cixiang does not have to use his golden fingers in this regard... We cannot rush the matter of studying things. We must let the scholars of the Ming Dynasty explore and discover by themselves. Only in this way can they truly master the ability to investigate objects.
By the way, they can also copy the knowledge of foreigners... The study of things has no borders, the premise is that you must be able to copy, truly master the skills learned from others, and then surpass them.
And in Zhu Cixiang's view, when someone copies something, he should try his best to copy it, and don't think about starting from scratch... Anyway, he should let people from the Ming Dynasty copy it anyway.
Therefore, the best way is to encourage scholars of the Ming Dynasty to learn on their own... let them translate Western scientific and philosophical works, learn Western technology, and drag China down compared to Westerners. All aspects are supplemented.
In this regard, Emperor Chongzhen actually did a pretty good job.
As far as Zhu Cixiang knows, in the imperial examination competitions in the 16th and 13th years of Chongzhen, many Jinshi's "Essays on Research on Things" copied Western things... but Chongzhen didn't ask any questions, as long as these things were relevant to As long as it is new and useful knowledge for Ming Dynasty!
Under the temptation of huge profits, various universities in the Ming Dynasty are now doing their best to translate and study Western philosophy and science books, hoping to find knowledge that can help their students (or teachers) become Jinshi and become Confucian scholars. .
Thanks to everyone's efforts, the Ming Dynasty has produced a large number of great scholars in recent years, and the level of studying things has improved rapidly.
However, Zhu Youjian didn't pay much attention to encouraging inventions. He didn't pay much attention to this matter, and he focused on the theory on "The Posthumous Chapters of Confucius".
So Zhu Cixiang is going to help Chongzhen take care of it... The patent law is not yet settled, but he can get a few invention awards and just give him a lot of money.
In addition to not paying much attention to inventions, Zhu Youjian never seemed to care about financial matters... There are no banks, no bonds, no banknotes in Ming Dynasty, not even standardized silver coins.
This aspect is a bit behind the times, so Zhu Cixiang regarded finance as his first focus.
To create a financial system that can provide capital for capitalism, it is not enough to deal with salt merchants and maritime merchants. Handicrafts and agriculture must also join the system as soon as possible.
In this way, Zhu Cihong could use the Salt Bank's special status to guide market interest rates downward to a level that would encourage the development of handicrafts and large and medium-sized farms.
To bring handicrafts and agriculture into the financial system centered on the Salt Bank, Zhu Cixiang had to use another trump card at hand - the military supply order of more than 100 million.
The purpose of Zhu Youjian asking Zhu Cihong to help raise money was to spend it on foreign wars, which meant huge demand and a large number of military orders.
...
Nan'an Marquis Mansion, in the back garden.
After just enjoying a sumptuous meal of "Shanghai local delicacies", Zhu Cihong and Zheng Zhilong, the profiteers and son-in-laws, were taking a walk in the back garden of the Marquis Mansion, where they could play polo, and discussed how to deal with the situation next. The real industry has also been integrated into the financial situation of the salt industry.
"What? A military order of more than 100 million yuan? Is it really such a big deal?" Zheng Zhilong still didn't believe it!
Zhu Cixiang clasped his hands behind his back and walked in the garden while smiling and saying: "Of course...my father likes fighting so much, and he wants my second brother to be the Great Khan and my third brother to be the emperor, so we have to fight How many wars? How can we not spend more than 100 million?"
Zheng Zhilong frowned after hearing this: "Master Qiantose, Master Long live, really want His Highness Prince Ning to become the Emperor of Japan?"
"That's..." Zhu Cixiang said with a smile, "If you want to conquer the world, you must first conquer North America; if you want to conquer North America, you must first conquer Japan! My father's ambition is so great, how can he not get involved in North America? Even if he wants to conquer North America, he must first conquer it." You can’t have all of North America, and you can’t have all of Westerners in North America, their chosen land!”
Zheng Zhilong shook his head repeatedly, "It is not easy to become the emperor! Japan has fought many battles... The Japanese are not stupid, they are very good at learning, and there are Spaniards who teach them well and make progress. Very soon!"
He is a true Japan-knowledge person. Of course he knows how difficult it is to deal with the Japanese, and he doesn't think there is any big money in America.
Zhu Cixiang looked indifferent, "It's a good thing to make rapid progress! My Ming Dynasty's heavenly soldiers can only progress by fighting against masters. They have to fight against a group of weaklings all day long, and sooner or later they themselves will become weak.
Do you think why do Westerners make rapid military progress? Isn't it because all warring parties are very strong? Their place is equivalent to our Warring States Period. The more we fight, the stronger we become!
Therefore, my Ming Dynasty cannot be without opponents...and Japan is just the right opponent. It is best to keep fighting for our benefit. "
Isn't it just militancy to keep fighting?
Zheng Zhilong really couldn't figure it out, how could it be beneficial?
Zhu Cixi seemed to understand what Zheng Zhilong was thinking, so he explained with a smile: "Without me sitting in the southeast to take charge of finance and military procurement, it would not be feasible to continue fighting Japan. My father is not good at managing finances, and he does not know how to use military procurement. To improve the capabilities of industry and commerce. But luckily there are orphans in the Ming Dynasty, and it won’t be a problem if there are orphans.”
"I wonder what your Highness is going to do?" Zheng Zhilong asked, "Is it useful to my ministers?"
"Of course we have to rely on Lao Taishan..." Zhu Cixiang said with a smile, "I want to achieve two goals through the large-scale military procurement after the new year. One is to let those in Shanghai, Foshan, and Quanzhou produce warships, muskets, and gunpowder. Merchants who wear clothes, armors, swords, artillery, and military jackets and uniforms all open accounts at the Salt Bank and use various bills from the Salt Bank. If the money on hand is not enough, they have to borrow money from the Salt Bank.
Second, Gu Wang hopes that the factories that produce these military products can use rulers with unified specifications and install the same regulations for production... This is called standardization! "
(End of chapter)
