Way to make money?
When talking about this, the gentry couldn't help but become a little excited and agitated.
An Zaixu, a gentleman from Changzhou, was the most anxious, "Your Highness, in my humble opinion, since this exchange is famous for hundreds of industries, it must not only trade land securities, but also the stocks you mentioned a few days ago."
"Exactly." Zhao Mengqi nodded and said eloquently, "Gu Ye said before that the Taihu Lake Project will generate massive material needs, which are far from being met by existing workshops, so a number of large workshops must be built. , just like the stock issued under the estate system, they will all be publicly traded here."
"Any industry that issues stocks is equivalent to an industry shared by all shareholders, so it can be called a "company." And stocks are like ordinary commodities and can be freely traded on the market, which is referred to as "listed." "
"Not only industries established in isolation can be listed. If necessary, private industries can also apply for IPOs to raise funds here. However, they must undergo strict review to pass. However, after becoming a listed company, its operating conditions and financial information must be disclosed. , accept the supervision of the exchange and all shareholders.”
After hearing this, the gentry thought about it one after another, and soon discovered the huge benefits.
The industry and commerce of the Song Dynasty were very developed, but many private industries could only rely on their own accumulation to operate, and their development was very slow. At the same time, many wealthy people had no reliable investment channels and could only hoard their money.
If you want to use money to make money, in addition to starting your own business, the most common thing is to lend money at high interest rates. Although the profits are huge, it is not safe and has a bad reputation.
This stock seems to be a very good investment channel, and this exchange was created by King Yan. At that time, these listed companies will only need to pay taxes normally and will not suffer additional exploitation from the government, which is also a major benefit.
Some people also realized that the exchange itself was a promising industry, so they tried to ask, "Your Highness, can this Baiye Exchange itself issue stocks? If so, I plan to buy 300,000 yuan." !」
Zhao Mengqi shook his head with a smile, "The exchange is just a platform that communicates between two parties. Although it will charge some handling fees to maintain operation, it is not for profit, so it does not make money. What is important is that the exchange must strictly ensure It is fair and just. If the shares are divided, it will be easily affected by adverse effects. Therefore, it will only be controlled by the king for the time being. There is a high probability that it will become a direct subordinate of the royal family in the future. We will always maintain a neutral attitude."
"Your Highness's words make sense..." Most of the gentry nodded in agreement.
Wu Qian then stood up and said, "The materials needed for the Taihu Lake Project will be purchased by the Department of Comprehensive Management. In order to eliminate disadvantages, all purchases will be publicly tendered through the exchange."
"What is tendering? It means that the Department of Comprehensive Management issues an announcement in advance, indicating the types, quantities, requirements and other information to be purchased, and then the sellers bid confidentially based on the price and quality of their respective products. Finally, the public selection process is based on quality and price. Honesty wins, puts an end to evils such as private give-and-take and exploitation, and achieves mutual benefit between buyers and sellers!"
"Moreover, from now on, the official procurement of Pingjiang Prefecture's yamen will gradually adopt this method to replace "he purchase"! "
Hemai originally meant a fair transaction based on mutual consent. Since the pre-Qin Dynasty, it has gradually become a term used by the government to purchase materials from the people.
In the early Song Dynasty, Hemai was regarded as a policy to benefit the people. The government purchased silk and other goods directly from the people at a price higher than the market price. Not only did it cut out the middlemen, it even paid for the goods in advance at the beginning of the year, so that the people did not have to borrow money due to lack of funds. usury.
However, the status of the government and the people is seriously unequal. The government can change the rules and agreements at any time, and it is simply impossible to maintain fairness in transactions for a long time.
Later it developed, but it was completely reduced to a means for the government to extort private wealth, and transformed into a kind of compulsory assessment of taxes. Especially at this time, it was the heaviest burden on the people, and officials often used and bought it to impose taxes on business people. The people extorted money without restraint.
Mainly because of the Hemai system, all walks of life in the Song Dynasty were declining and becoming more and more bleak.
This system, which has become the greatest harm to the people, has already formed a huge chain of interests. It is really not something that ordinary people dare to touch easily, that is, Zhao Mengqi has too many lice and is not itchy.
Of course, at this time, the taxes converted from Hemai were already more than twice the regular taxes and had become an important part of the imperial finances. It was unrealistic to completely change it in the short term. We could only take advantage of the recent large-scale payment. Cai, first tried it out in Pingjiang Mansion.
But this news still shocked the gentry, and they had different reactions in their hearts. Some people appreciated it and some disagreed. No matter what they thought, they all realized that the real spring of industry and commerce was coming.
The reason why the gentry were very interested in buying shares in King Yan's industry was because they believed that the government would not exploit King Yan, and they had no worries about sales and were guaranteed to make profits. But now they found that if the bidding was fair, they would directly Building an industry may make more money, so many people began to make calculations in their minds.
Seeing that everyone was lost in thought, Zhao Mengqi broke the silence, "Well, in the future, private bulk goods transactions can actually use exchanges and use bidding and auctions. However, this is not today's theme. The financial path that I want to talk about is also the same. The Taihu project has nothing to do with it.”
It has nothing to do with Taihu Project! ?
This is a big project worth 50 million yuan. Is there any project more profitable than this?
In the astonished eyes of everyone, Zhao Mengqi raised his hand, and dozens of sergeants walked in, each carrying a large tray filled with small paper packages.
"In this paper package is the money that the orphan has brought to everyone. Please each of you wise men take a package."
With curiosity, the gentlemen took the paper packages one by one and observed them in their hands.
It was very ordinary straw paper, even a little rough and inferior. When it was opened, it contained a handful of crystal clear particles, which looked like snow and frost. It looked a bit like the refined salt that King Yan had distributed to the people of Gusu for free, but the shape was different.
What's this? Also refined salt?
Speaking of which, such high-quality refined salt is indeed a tool for making money. Unfortunately, most of the salt industry's profits are with the court, and there is nothing to do. Is the King of Yan planning to let the court let go of the problem?
"No need to guess, let me tell you, this is candy."
sugar?
How can it be! ?
The gentlemen looked in disbelief.
It is estimated that since the birth of human beings, there has been a special pursuit of sweetness. Most ancient people also regarded sweetness as the first of the five flavors.
Initially, people obtained sugar through primitive methods such as collecting wild fruits, honey, and common plant solutions.
In the pre-Qin Dynasty, starch sugar made from grains appeared, called "祴", which was as sweet as glutinous rice.
Although sugarcane spread to southern China during the Western Zhou Dynasty, it was only used for extracting the original juice, which was called "zhe pulp". It was not until the Han Dynasty that the word sugarcane came into being. It was originally called Gancan, the pole of a bamboo pole, but it was later changed to So sweet.
By the Tang Dynasty, it was only "sucrose syrup" that had become thicker after being exposed to the sun, but Tianzhu, one of the origins of sugar cane, had already produced a kind of solid sugar called "stone honey" or "sugar frost".
After Tang Taizong Li Er knew about it, he sent an envoy to ask for the technology.
This messenger was Wang Xuance, who "one man conquered a country". The "Magatu Empire" he conquered was the first country to produce cane sugar.
Tianzhu artificial sugar uses the milk impurity removal method. After Wang Xuance brought the technology back, Huaxia's milk production was low, so he switched to using egg whites instead to produce granulated sugar.
Whether it is milk or egg white, the cost is very high and not something ordinary people can afford. Ordinary people in the Tang Dynasty can still only use sugarcane syrup, and most of the sugar and icing sugar are not white, but gray. Brown, high-quality ones are more like amber.
By the time of the Song Dynasty, sweets had become more common, as evidenced by the recipes passed down to later generations, but what the common people could buy was still syrup. Although it was thicker, it was still liquid and still reddish brown. Candy vendors always use earthen jars to serve sugar, as is the case in "Along the River During the Qingming Festival".
This kind of sugar actually existed in later generations, and Shangyou County in Jiangxi Province still retains this traditional sugar making method.
As for solid icing sugar, it was also called rock sugar at this time. It was only produced in a few places such as Suining, and the output was very impressive. Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty asked Suining to pay thousands of kilograms of icing sugar every year, but nearly half of the local sugar producers All went bankrupt.
At this time, the Persians had already adopted the alkaline tree ash sugar refining method. Because Quanzhou Shipsi had frequent trade with Dashi and Persia, the Song Dynasty also learned this method, but only a very small part of the solid sugar produced was white. , the others are brown sugar and brown sugar.
If it weren't for Zhao Mengqi's intrusion, China would have discovered the method of decolorizing sugar from yellow mud water only in the Ming Dynasty due to an accident. There were even people who lamented that "before Jiajing, there was no white sugar in the world", so people at this time had never seen it. Such crystal white sugar.
The salt is just as white as snow. Although I don’t know where King Yan got it from, after all, some places can indeed produce similar good salt, such as Xixia green salt.
How can sugar be so white?
I'm afraid King Yan is treating us like children to fool us.
Zhao Mengqi saw that each of these gentry looked disbelieving, so he shrugged helplessly, took a paper bag, opened it, twisted a handful and put it in his mouth, then smashed it in his mouth, "Don't you know after you taste it?"
Well, King Yan himself dared to eat it, it seems not poisonous.
Several hundred gentry tried it hesitantly, and then it exploded.
"Sweet! Just like honey, it's really sugar!"
"Mom, this is the real snow and frost. Those in the past were too embarrassed to be called frosting!? Then what should this be called?"
"In my humble opinion, this candy can be called snow candy!"
"Snow candy? It's a good name. It's both vivid and artistic... I wonder how much this snow candy should cost?"
"The sugar on the market costs nearly a hundred cents a pound, and this snow sugar should be a hundred times that!"
"A hundred times is only ten pounds per catty. If the price is really that, I will buy as much as I can, and I will lose all my money to buy it!"
"I just thought that even if the price is higher than the price of gold, the supply exceeds the demand. If you resell it, you will get ten times the profit. You are really beautiful."
"Brother Hua is right. Mr. Zhou is really good at business. How can I sell such beautiful things to you alone..."
It sounds exaggerated to compare the price to gold, but as the saying goes, rare things are more valuable. During the Yuanfeng period, the Song Dynasty could produce more than 10,000 taels of gold a year. However, the gentry believed that this kind of snow candy must be extremely difficult to produce. I'm afraid it doesn't even weigh a thousand pounds.
"Everyone, please be quiet for a moment." Zhao Mengqi snapped his fingers and said after a while, "Equal to gold? Will you buy it?"
"Buy it, of course I'll buy it. Even if I don't have a lot of money, I can still afford a hundred pounds!"
"That's right. There are so many people in my family, so I have to weigh forty or fifty pounds just to get enough..."
"Your Highness, don't doubt it. No matter whether others buy it or not, I am willing to buy all the remaining snow candies!"
"I'll buy three hundred pounds!"
"Your Highness, I have one hundred thousand dollars in cash. I promise to deliver the goods with one hand and pay with the other hand..."
Zhao Mengqi shook his head, "There's no need to argue. Selling it to you is not a big problem, and the price doesn't have to be so high. However, have you misunderstood something? I don't want to sell sugar to you, but let you participate in this together." Bai, um, snow candy business."
"ah!?"
"Does your Highness really mean what he said?"
"Isn't this the same as giving a golden mountain to us!?"
"This... this snow candy business also issues stocks?"
The gentry were all very surprised, but Zhao Mengqi was completely calm.
"That's right, I want to establish the Dasong Sugar Company and issue 100,000 shares at a price of 100 guan per share. It is expected that when the company gets on the right track, the annual income per share will be no less than 100 guan!"
