Beidu Municipality, West Shooting Range of the Forbidden City.
Snap, snap, snap.
Several gunshots rang out in succession.
The glass bottle dozens of meters ahead shattered.
It turned out that Emperor Zhu was playing with firearms in the shooting range.
I saw him pulling the bolt, taking out a paper-cased fixed-loading bullet and stuffing it into the butt of the gun, rotating the bolt and locking it before firing.
With a snap, flames shot out from the muzzle, but there was not much smoke.
But Emperor Zhu pulled the bolt and frowned. It turned out that the paper shell was burned irregularly by the flame gas, which caused the bolt to need to be cleaned with a brush.
"The Emperor is good at shooting!"
Luo Fangbo, who was standing aside, flattered him.
Zhu Daohua handed the gun in his hand to the Guardsman standing aside, then shook his head and said: "My marksmanship is only ordinary, but this gun is different from before."
It's a breech-loading needle gun.
An epoch-making product.
And it uses nitrocellulose, a smokeless propellant.
It is the latest product from Lantau Arsenal. But there are still many problems now.
It has not yet been finalized, and the one now sent to Emperor Zhu is in the shape of an experimental gun.
Emperor Zhu turned to the other side and said to a firearms expert from the Lantau Arsenal who had white skin, a big nose and blue eyes: "The bullets should not be paper shells. Cleaning is too troublesome. Brass should be used. In addition, the mechanical structure of the bolt lock is It is still too complex and not conducive to maintenance, so we can consider continuing to streamline it.”
Emperor Zhu didn't do much research on firearms, so he made a rough guess based on his impressions.
"Your Majesty, our engineers have also considered using metal as material, but this will increase the cost."
"There is no need to consider this cost. As long as it can be put into large-scale production, this cost can be eliminated." Boss Zhu said.
The current Ming Dynasty is definitely the country with the highest industrial output value in the world. One of the benefits of industrialized large-scale production is that it can greatly reduce costs.
Waiting for the Western engineers from the Lantau Arsenal to leave.
Emperor Zhu just walked and talked to Luo Fangbo.
Emperor Zhu's father-in-law came to ask him for money.
It was 20 million as soon as I opened my mouth.
It really feels like the emperor's family has a surplus of food.
"Twenty million yuan, this is not a small amount! I don't have that much money at the moment."
"Your Majesty, please stop being modest. Now the Ming Dynasty belongs to the Emperor and you are the best at making money. The arsenal, machinery factory, steel factory, and pharmaceutical factory on Lantau Island are all profitable businesses, and immigrating to the Northeast is a big deal. Well, although I don’t know how to get my money back, the Emperor must have a way. Twenty million is just an investment for you, Your Majesty.”
Zhu Daohua couldn't help but smile when he heard this.
This is a good point.
Northeast is a treasure land.
Daqing Oilfield, Anshan Iron Mine, Fushun Coal Mine, and forest resources everywhere.
With these resources, scraping 20 million Ming Yuan from the Northeast is just a sprinkling of water.
Of course.
It’s true that Northeast China is a treasure land.
But how to transport the treasures from the Northeast is another matter.
If you want to get rich, you must first build roads.
Preliminary investment in railways and ports is definitely required, and the investment capital for this kind of infrastructure is large, and the profit return cycle is too long, so ordinary private capital really does not dare to invest.
"That's true. The development of the Northeast is indeed a big business. It will bring a lot of money in the future. Father-in-law, is your Luo Group interested in investing some money?"
Luo Fangbo originally made his fortune in the mining business in Nanyang, and the Luo family clan in Jiaying Prefecture has a large population. Relying on Luo Fangbo, the Duke of Lan State, a large consortium whose main business is sea transportation and Lanfang rice trafficking has been formed.
Luo Fangbo was stunned for a moment when he heard this.
Although he is a large consortium that is very profitable, with a profit of more than one million yuan a year, it is also ranked among the top business groups in Guangdong.
But compared with the Ming Dynasty Royal Consortium, it really pales into insignificance.
Relying on his connections and power in Lanfang and him, the Duke of Lan State, he was able to arrange for the following children of the Luo family in Jiaying Prefecture.
But when it comes to investing in Northeast China
I really haven't thought about that.
But since it was the emperor who proposed it, Luo Fangbo also smiled and said: "Your Majesty, I don't have much money at hand, so just invest a hundred thousand dollars."
“It doesn’t matter how much you invest.”
Emperor Zhu smiled.
"For the development of Northeast China, the cabinet only needs to take care of the establishment of local prefectures and counties. Moreover, there is no need for so many officials in the early stage, which is prone to bad things."
Hearing this, Luo Fangbo couldn't help but frown.
You said you are such a big emperor, how can you say that officials are prone to bad things?
"For the immigration and development of the Northeast, I plan to establish a Northeast Development Corporation. The cost of immigration to the Northeast will be paid by this company, and the imperial court will grant it exclusive rights to build railways, ports, and develop mineral and forestry resources in the Northeast. Exchange."
Building railways, opening ports, mining and logging in the Northeast?
Can this make money?
Luo Fangbo made some calculations in his mind. If the Ming Dynasty did not need to pay much, then this matter must be discussed.
"Your Majesty, how much principal are you prepared to invest in the Northeast Development Corporation?"
"I personally invest 10 million, the imperial court invests 5 million, and then publicly recruits 15 million shares to raise a capital of 30 million. The Ming court has the exclusive right to convert the equity into capital, and can occupy a large share, so just occupy a 40%, I will also take 40%, and the remaining 20% will be given to private capital, so that businessmen from Guangdong and Liangjiang can also participate."
A principal of 30 million is enough to leverage an investment of 100 million.
70 million invested in railways, ports, mines, and forest farms.
With an investment of 30 million yuan to immigrate, one million households can be resettled. Based on an average of five people per household, this is five million people.
In addition to the original military households and residents, as well as some people who left the country to make a living on their own.
Within five years.
The Northeast can have a total population of seven to eight million.
This population is several times greater than the total population of the entire western Liya region of Tsarist Russia!
At that time, what Tsarist Russia will have to consider is not coveting Vladivostok, but that with the support of these seven to eight million people, the Ming Empire will use the Northeast as a springboard to gradually encroach on Tsarist Russia's Far Eastern territory.
Of course.
The population in the Northeast is increasing.
It is not just politically and militarily significant.
The same is true financially.
Only with enough people can Northeast China be well developed.
And with good infrastructure such as railways and ports.
People's willingness to immigrate to the Northeast on their own will also be strengthened, and the cost of immigration will be greatly reduced.
Thus.
Without much investment from the court, the economic development of Northeast China can accelerate on its own.
"Leverage private funds." Luo Fangbo heard this and was weighing the pros and cons in his mind.
"Then who owns the land in the Northeast? It can't be given to the Northeast Development Corporation, right?"
"The land is owned by the state and can be leased to farmers on a long-term basis," Zhu Daohua said.
"How to calculate the rent?" Luo Fangbo still values the direct income from the land.
In his opinion.
Farming land and paying rent is a matter of course.
"My father-in-law, why are you always thinking about those few buckets of rent!" Zhu Daohua shook his head repeatedly, "It is bitterly cold in the Northeast. To attract people from the mainland to immigrate, we must have preferential policies."
"What discount?"
"Fifty years of rent-free!"
Zhu Daohua stretched out five fingers.
In fact, what he wants is permanent rent-free, but the land in the Northeast will definitely be "capitalistized" in the future and put on the market.
After all, this was the largest capital of the Ming Dynasty.
Fifty years of rent-free is basically equivalent to one generation of farming without having to pay rent.
"Fifty years!" Luo Fangbo stared.
"Then the court is losing money, isn't it?"
"Losing money? How could we lose money!" Zhu Daohua was dumbfounded by Luo Fangbo's thinking.
Luo Fangbo was a scholar-bureaucrat who had been in Nanyang.
If those people from Hunan come, with the brute strength of the Hunan people, they will probably fight Emperor Zhu on the spot.
This economic model of land rent collection is too deep-rooted.
(End of chapter)
