Zhu Cizhao lived a long life, and even if he only earned 20,000 silver coins a year, he would still earn a million in fifty years.
What's more, my family's sales every year are far more than this amount, and now I have saved tens of millions of silver coins.
It was far inferior to his eldest brother and King Jingzhi, but it was not to the point where he would starve to death without his brother's support after joining the domain.
It's just that Zhu Cizhao didn't want to use his own capital before. There was really no need to exhaust his family wealth in order to compete with Ruan Fuwei for territory.
If it weren't for the fact that his eldest brother had instructed him to expand eastward, he wouldn't have pressed all the main forces of the only three brigades in his hand.
Now the main force is all entangled with the Ruan army. The opponent has no ability to fight head-on, but the ability to engage in guerrilla warfare seems to be innate.
Under the premise that the number of ground troops is far from enough, our own side cannot win quickly with its powerful air force. Zhu Cizhao has already seen this.
Just when he was frowning, he got good news. His elder brother agreed to continue to assist him. In terms of funds alone, there was a five-year plan with five million silver coins per year.
In addition to the 15 million already given, it means that during these six years, he will receive 40 million silver coins in aid, which is the kind that is free and does not need to be paid back.
The price is that he has to continue fighting with Ruan Phuc Wei, and instead of getting any benefits, he calls a truce. This is definitely something he cannot explain to the emperor.
There is no need to worry about weapons and equipment. Big brother has already sent people and delivered arms and combat supplies that can arm three brigades. It is also free.
Zhu Cizhao had previously received equipment from five brigades, but only three brigades were reorganized. The remaining men and horses equivalent to two brigades were organized in battalion units.
On the one hand, it was to facilitate their dispersed deployment, and on the other hand, out of cost-saving considerations, Minbing Camp was not upgraded to a regular army.
Even the regular army under the lord's command could not compare with the salary and benefits of the imperial army.
For soldiers fighting overseas, the minimum monthly salary can reach fifteen silver coins per month.
In some places where living conditions are extremely difficult, soldiers can receive a salary of up to twenty-five silver coins per month.
For example, the troops of the King's Division near the Arctic Circle or encircling and suppressing the natives in the East Indies can receive such high salaries with confidence.
Due to the good salary and benefits, the imperial court also had to reduce the standing army in order to save expenses.
In the absence of a large-scale war, the number of combat brigades of the Army's field forces will not exceed one hundred, and is generally maintained at the auspicious number of ninety-nine.
There are no more than twenty combat brigades deployed on the mainland. The largest number are in the Northland, especially the Western Governorate and Central Asia. The rest are scattered in the Eastland, Southland and the Pacific Islands.
The Army does not need to be responsible for landing operations. This business is handled by the Marine Corps. Jiexuan can be expanded to up to 20 Marine brigades, but currently there are only 15, and 75,000 people are almost enough.
The Air Force also has 100 battalions of airport guards, but they are scattered in bases around the world. They can only serve as self-protection. In the event of a major battle, they have to count on the army and navy to come to help.
In addition, there are five special operations brigades under the direct command of the Military Aircraft Division.
The total salary paid to the soldiers alone exceeds 150 million silver coins every year.
Including the consumption of weapons, ammunition, supplies, and the cost of purchasing new equipment, the total military expenditure will usually reach about 800 million silver coins.
During the period of Emperor Chongzhen, the Ming Empire's annual military expenditure was as high as 800 million silver coins, equivalent to 500 million taels of silver, which was an unimaginable astronomical figure...
You can't even raise 500 million taels of silver by selling blood, kidneys, or imperial cities, let alone spending so much money every year.
However, today, military expenditures only account for less than half of China's annual cash income, which is completely within the affordable range.
If we include grain and other commodities that can be taxed without converting into silver, military expenditures will drop to about one-third.
The biggest difference between the Haojing period and the Chongzhen period is that there were no natural disasters, the weather was smooth, and high-yielding crops such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn were planted. With the construction of water conservancy projects, various places were able to achieve bumper harvests year after year.
The imperial court did not need to spend money to buy grain. Instead, it had to worry about more and more stocks, so that it had to order the use of grain to make wine.
Then Zhu Cixiang announced the famous "half whip" order. This name originated from Zhang Juzheng's "one whip", but there are differences.
That is, merchants engaged in these four industries of salt, sugar, tea, and cloth do not need to exchange goods for silver and then pay taxes. They can pay directly in kind.
This is one of the measures to encourage production. Porcelain is not included because it is not a bulk commodity that ordinary people can use. Stainless steel products have completely replaced it.
The first three items are food, which is understandable, and the last item is daily necessities. This is Zhu Cixiang's consideration.
One of the characteristics of industrialization is the "sheep cannibalism" caused by land enclosure, so the textile industry must be encouraged.
Use cheap mechanized cloth to compete with handmade homespun cloth from local and overseas markets.
As long as the original local homespun weavers apply, they can work in textile factories and receive free training.
All textile factories have purchased steam-powered looms, which can produce cloth non-stop as long as they burn coal and add water.
In many big cities, such as the Yangtze River Delta region where light industry is prevalent, textile factories operate around the clock. Workers can work shifts and the machines do not rest at all.
For this reason, Zhu Cixi also ordered that workers in any textile factory should not work more than forty-eight hours a week, that is, six days of work, with a maximum of eight hours a day.
If factory owners want to produce more cloth, they need to recruit more workers, so that they can create more jobs and absorb labor like idle women.
It is also easy to reduce production costs. Zhu Cixiang will not blindly suppress factory owners. For example, the local products from the Lianghuai Coal Mine are transported to the Yangtze River Delta through canals, and the prices are very cheap.
Emperor Haojing cannot hope to make money from coal. This stuff is everywhere in the Ming Dynasty, and there are many in other parts of the world.
Especially in Australia, the price of electricity is very cheap, almost to the point of being attached to the land.
After sunset, any place with electricity will be brightly lit.
The Shouxing Gold Coast lives up to its name at night. Coupled with the pleasant climate, every night is a scene of sensuality...
Another advantage of developing the textile industry locally is that it can pacify the indigenous people in the Western Regions.
Tens of millions of indigenous people who cannot engage in industry can only engage in their old trade, farming and herding.
After the Ming Dynasty Wangshi regained this area, Zhu Cixiang had ensured that the quality of life of the indigenous people would not decline.
The natives who have mines in the pasture can simply win like tribes like Sunit. The problem is that most of the people on the land do not have mines.
Fortunately, the Ming Dynasty needed their cattle, sheep and related by-products, such as cowhide and wool, plus locally grown grapes, spices, and cotton, which could complement the local light industry.
In the Western Region where there is ample sunshine, cotton has surpassed grain and become the largest local crop.
After the underwriting order issued by Emperor Haojing was completely implemented, the indigenous people were very relieved for many years.
Vigorous development of the textile industry in the south of the Yangtze River is in line with the imperial court's original intention of long-term control of the Western Regions, and will also squeeze the overseas market share of other competitors.
Made in Da Ming - DA MING ZHI ZAO has become an established label for each product and is also one of the symbols recognized by overseas customers.
As long as there are no major problems in the textile industry in the Jiangnan region, the income of the cotton farmers and Mumin in the Western Region will be guaranteed, and no major incidents will occur.
Although the two places are thousands or even tens of thousands of miles apart, they are an upstream and downstream relationship in an industrial chain. Xiyu is Jiangnan's supplier.
Zhu Cixi ordered the coal sales price to be lowered. Even if the court did not gain any income from coal mining, it still wanted to ensure the sustainable development of the two industries.
The entire kimchi textile market has become the exclusive preserve of textile merchants from the Ming Dynasty.
It is irresponsible to say that the Ming Dynasty stopped supplying textiles to them. It will not be long before the locals may run out...
For example, Zheng Zhilong took his fellow villagers to cultivate in South Africa. In the early stage, they had no time to grow cotton. They had to fill their stomachs first. All the land that was reclaimed must be planted with grain.
All cloth was purchased from the local area using various minerals. Because of this, Zhu Cixi allowed cloth factory owners to not need to exchange goods for silver.
After the imperial court collected the cloth, they could directly barter with Zheng Zhilong, and the wholesale price was cheaper than the market price.
Zheng Zhilong's fleet sailed back to the West every month with merchant ships loaded with cloth from the mainland. Even after thousands of miles of sea transportation, the total cost was cheaper than growing cotton locally and spinning cloth.
The local mineral resources can be described as "massive". It is very economical for Zheng Zhilong to exchange semi-finished metal products for light industrial products because he does not need to spend cash.
No matter what kind of commodities the Zheng Group needs, all they have to do is ask their subordinates to mine more and smelt more. It just takes a little longer to exchange semi-finished metal products into the required commodities.
In order to make it easier for Zheng Zhilong to pick up the goods, Zhu Cixiang also ordered the establishment of a large-scale logistics park in Ceylon, which is almost close to the middle of the route.
Nowadays, many merchant ships dock at the port of Ceylon every day to unload goods. Many nobles from the neighboring kingdoms also come by ship to purchase some goods so that they can be brought back for retail and earn the price difference.
If wholesaled, the unit price of the coarse cloth produced in Daming is half or even more than that of local homespun cloth in India. Even in retail, it is 20 to 30% cheaper than homespun cloth.
The most important thing is that there are many colors, and you can choose many patterns by spending a little more money. Moreover, Ming merchants accepted barter trade and the prices were fair, which made the nobles of the feudal states very happy.
In fact, as long as it is a product that can compete with international peers, Zhu Cixiang is willing to dump it in a way that reduces profits!
The lost profits can be made up by mining. As the world's largest mine owner, Zhu Cixiang has this capital.
A country like the Netherlands, which has few mines in its hands, can only endure and act as a middleman.
What's more, the Ming Empire was able to accept barter trade with its strong financial capabilities and industrial capacity.
Not to mention semi-finished metal products, as long as the buyer can produce the ore, the seller can accept the entire order.
In comparison, countries such as the Netherlands and Venice do not have this strength.
In the whole of Europe, only France and Sweden, which have relatively rich resources, can play this way.
The Holy Roman Empire wanted to get involved, but unfortunately the overseas markets had long been carved up by the great powers.
Buyers with money in their pockets can choose high-quality and low-priced goods, while buyers with no money in their pockets can only buy goods that can be bartered.
Rubber from Siam, iron ingots from India, refined oil products from the Ottomans, copper ingots and saltpeter from the Inca Empire, the Ming Dynasty could all take over.
You won't lose money when you take over the deal, because the profit from raw materials and semi-finished products is much lower than the price of finished products. The only exception is copper ingots, because this thing is money.
Through bulk commodity barter trade, Zhu Cihong can not only stimulate the vigorous development of local industry, but also make use of the huge funds in his hands.
Without rapid growth in market size and total consumption, it is very difficult to double the returns on a large amount of money.
At this time, it is necessary to use natural resources and industrial semi-finished products as a medium for rolling capital growth. The resources obtained from barter are futures.
As long as the Ming Empire does not go bankrupt, any batch of futures will definitely appreciate in value at some time in the future when it can be converted into industrial products.
This is equivalent to using the money in his own pocket to stock up on goods. Zhu Cixiang can use the empire's military strength and industrial production as leverage to achieve the small goal of doubling his worth.
Even if the annual income earned only increases by 10%, the total value of the investment will double in less than eight years, and the actual growth rate is much higher than this level.
As the eldest brother, the money given to the two younger brothers now can be earned back through barter when they have established a foothold in the fiefdoms in various places!
Would it be embarrassing to make money from your half-brother?
of course not!
As long as you don’t feel embarrassed, others will be embarrassed!
History is written by the victors, never by the embarrassed.
Some contents in Sima Qian's "Historical Records" embarrassed Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, so he had the author...
But this punishment was recorded, and it would make Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty feel even more embarrassed if it was seen by future generations!
Talented, ambitious, militaristic, and petty!
Zhu Cixiang didn't have any taboos in this regard. If a historian wanted to write it, it would be fine. He would describe the ins and outs of each incident completely without any personal emotions, so that future readers can see which side is right!
Write about Donglin's collusion with merchants and refusal of commercial taxes.
Write about Shanxi merchants colluding with Donglu to traffic grain outside the customs.
Also write down the things that treacherous ministers did in both positive and negative ways, and who took bribes and perverted the law but refused to admit it.
Let's see who will be embarrassed after the book is published!
Zhu Cizhao didn't have time to think about embarrassing things. He was already troubled by the group of monkeys opposite him.
If you want to expand your military, you are still reluctant to spend money. If you don't expand your military, you won't be able to change the current anxious situation between the two sides.
After learning from the pain, we decided to organize a main force brigade first.
As a new force, enter the battlefield and strive to tear through the opponent's defense line as soon as possible and open a gap.
Wait to see if the situation on the battlefield can change before proceeding with the reorganization of the second brigade.
