Starting from the beginning of the 34th year of Taiping, including the initial preparation time, the nine-month talks were finally concluded.
Zhu Jingyuan stood at the stern of the Zhoushan Island passenger ship, looking at the Haijiao Huangzhuang Pier that was gradually receding.
Representatives from various countries are leaving one after another, and the Huangzhuang, which has been bustling for more than half a year, is about to return to daily life.
Zhu Jingyuan's room was still a completely independent room, and the original facilities remained unchanged.
Three little girls, sisters An Xiaona and Luo Feiya, also moved in as Zhu Jingyuan's followers, in the room of the personal maid.
Xichang conducted three months of investigation and supervision and confirmed that An Xiaona's family had no problems, and Luo Feiya was already the daughter of the Duke of Ming Dynasty.
Although the three of them don't have to go to school for the time being, they still have no chance to be lazy.
Zhu Jingyuan can continue to be a spiritual mentor and requires them to study by themselves with textbooks every day.
The two staff members and the palace chief Shi were both top students. Under Zhu Jingyuan's arrangement, they served as temporary teachers and came in regularly to teach the three of them every day.
In addition, the two older sisters An Xiaona also began to participate in the daily tasks of serving Zhu Jingyuan under the leadership of adult servants.
Although we are going out to sea by boat, our schedule is full every day and there is not much time for free activities.
Zhu Jingyuan himself is also very busy.
Understand the situation of Big Food Country in detail and plan the future development plan of Big Food Country. If you don’t open up oil mining, you have to do other things.
As for the entire Ming Dynasty's further economic, political, and military reform plans, it seems that he still has the opportunity to participate in these matters.
Track the completion progress of battleship drawings, draw various future weapons and equipment and mechanical structure diagrams, and hand them over to craftsmen for implementation when the time is right.
Occasionally chat with a few clothing craftsmen, draw various common clothing designs of later generations, let them convert them into production drawings, make samples, and discuss which ones are suitable for promotion and sales.
That morning, while An Xiaona and the other three were studying by themselves, Prince Palace Chief Shi Liu Zhixin came to see Zhu Jingyuan.
Liu Zhixin is a relatively honest and straightforward official. Whatever is on his mind is shown directly on his face, and there is basically no fuss.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been "tricked" into staying in the Great Food Country.
Ever since the oil was dug out in the Dashi Kingdom, Liu Zhixin's energy and energy have gotten better and better, and he has completely gotten better.
Because oil is not a temporary one-time income, nor is it a small input with a limited amount.
It is an income that can be continuously profitable, and the amount is so large that it makes people jealous.
The earliest wells have been producing for three months, but the flow of oil continues unabated and seems likely to go on forever.
If oil mining is allowed, the Dashi Kingdom will sooner or later become the richest vassal state in the Ming Dynasty.
But Liu Zhixin seemed a little unhappy today.
After the serious ceremony, Liu Zhixin reported to Zhu Jingyuan:
"Your Majesty, I have just received news that the Royal Refining Company has received the second batch of crude oil from our food country.
"Then it was suggested that we should not continue to increase production, otherwise they would not be able to digest it..."
Zhu Jingyuan was not surprised by the news, but he confirmed the reason why his parents were unhappy:
"How many wells have been drilled in total now? How much have they been sold for in total? What is our approximate oil production cost now?
"What is the price for the Royal Refinery to receive the goods this time? What is the expected annual income from these wells in the future?"
Liu Zhixin immediately reported the truth:
“After drilling the current six wells, there will be a total of 18 wells. The crude oil wells are all high-pressure self-blowout wells, and the new wells should be the same.
"Each well produces four thousand to five thousand shi of oil per day. After all 18 wells are completed, the total daily output is expected to exceed 80,000 shi.
“Since wells are being drilled continuously, the cost is evenly distributed to each crude oil, so the production cost will be relatively high and not accurate enough.
"The current estimate is between three hundred and five hundred copper coins, plus the cost of transportation to the mainland of the Ming Dynasty, it should be more than one dollar of silver coins.
“However, the Royal Refinery has a dedicated fleet. Now we don’t need to deliver to them. They receive the goods directly from our terminal.
“The purchase price of the first transaction was three yuan of silver notes per stone, but this time it was reduced to two yuan of silver notes and five hundred copper notes.
“Our profit per stone of oil has also dropped from two yuan and five hundred copper coins to about two yuan and five hundred copper coins.
“Royal Refining Company means that if we continue to increase production, the next purchase price will continue to decrease.
"This time, we sold a total of 840,000 shi of oil, with an income of 2.1 million silver coins and a profit of 1.68 million silver coins.
“Based on current prices and profit margins, after all eighteen wells are in normal production, the daily income can reach 200,000 silver notes.
"The net profit is 160,000 silver notes per day, 5 million silver notes per month, and 60 million silver notes per year."
Zhu Jingyuan was shocked by Liu Zhixin's data.
Although I knew that wells had been being dug in Dashi Country, I didn't expect that eighteen wells had been drilled in three months, and there were actually six wells being drilled at the same time.
This must be because after seeing the oil profits, they directly hired more workers to drill wells at the same time.
The current oil extraction model is still very extensive, which means constantly drilling wells. In history, many oil fields were like forests of steel derricks.
The Big Food Country has drilled a total of eighteen wells in several large oil fields, which is actually a very small number.
And this has a profit rate of 80%. This is inherently unreasonable. It is normal for prices to continue to fall.
Zhu Jingyuan estimated in his mind that 60 million banknotes were equivalent to 6 billion yuan in his previous life based on purchasing power.
This is still net income...
No, it doesn’t seem to be pure income.
What Liu Zhixin calculated was only the cost of oil extraction, not the financial expenditure of the entire food country.
The entire food country will be maintained by oil revenue from now on.
Zhu Jingyuan asked subconsciously:
"In addition to oil, how much is the annual fiscal revenue and fiscal expenditure of our big food country?"
Liu Zhixin did a little calculation in his mind:
"Your Majesty, we didn't have a big food country last year. The total income of the original counties in the area was less than 200,000 silver coins, and the total expenditure was about the same amount..."
Zhu Jingyuan was immediately shocked:
"The total income of those several counties is only 200,000 silver coins? This is just the salary of two princes! They have to support several small vassals..."
Two hundred thousand banknotes is equivalent to 20 million yuan in a previous life.
The poor counties in later generations basically have a fiscal revenue of 100 million, let alone the wealthy counties. The top 100 counties have more than 3 billion in revenue.
This big food country turns out to be really poor.
Liu Zhixin had served as an official in several previous counties. Looking back on the situation at that time, he said with a little melancholy:
"Yes, before the King instructed us to dig out oil, there was nothing here in our Big Food Country.
“There are no products and no population. The sum of several counties is not as good as one county in the Ming Dynasty. A county and kingdom can only be regarded as a town.
"It turns out that those county princes couldn't save any money at all, and it was difficult to maintain the dignity of the clan.
"That's why they kept reporting every now and then, asking to withdraw from the feudal vassal and return home. They may regret it now..."
Zhu Jingyuan was silent.
My uncles and brothers were really suffering in the past.
The key is that we have just withdrawn the vassal state, and we have dug out the oil here.
If these people heard about the oil industry in the Big Food Country, they can now earn an estimated 60 million silver coins a year, which is equivalent to the salary of 60 princes. Wouldn't they regret it for the rest of their lives?
At the same time, Zhu Jingyuan also realized a problem again.
If the previous fiscal revenue and expenditure of the Great Food Country were only about 200,000 silver notes, now these 60 million silver notes are really pure income.
But at the same time, the fiscal revenue of 6 billion yuan is almost in the middle of the top 100 counties, ranking more than 50 places.
Are oil sales equivalent to the fiscal revenue of a top 100 county already showing signs of saturation in the market?
Although the current market in the oil industry is not comparable to that in previous generations, it is not so small, right?
Zhu Jingyuan calculated subconsciously:
"Eighteen wells produce 80,000 shi per day, and the total annual output is about 30 million shi. Can't we digest this?"
Liu Zhixin immediately followed:
"Your Majesty, your Majesty, according to my knowledge, Ming's oil production last year was at least over 120 million stones.
“The estimated annual output of our big food country is only a quarter of this number.
"Even without our big food country, the production increase figures of other oil fields may be more than this."
Zhu Jingyuan subconsciously wanted to say that a quarter was quite a lot.
The Ming Dynasty occupies more than half of the world's territory, and a new oil field's annual output can account for a quarter of the entire world, which is already outrageous.
But of course this is not enough. The Dashiguo oil field is the easiest oil field to exploit in the world.
Not to mention that the current production is saturated, it can only be said to have just begun to "leak"...
Zhu Jingyuan thought about it for a moment:
"In other words, the current expected output of our big food country is almost the same as the expected increase in oil production in Ming Dynasty? Does the royal consortium mean not to allow other oil fields to increase production?
"Give in. The Royal Refinery said they couldn't digest it, but they didn't say other refineries couldn't digest it..."
Liu Zhixin immediately reminded:
"Your Highness, our Ming Dynasty's oil refining industry is exclusively owned by the royal family. If the royal oil refinery cannot digest it, then it really cannot digest it."
Zhu Jingyuan waved his hand and said:
"We are refining it ourselves, and I am preparing to develop a new refining process. At the same time, we can also try to sell crude oil to various countries in Thailand and Spain. We can work in two directions."
Liu Zhixin said a little panicked:
"Your Majesty, we extract and sell oil by ourselves, which is already a bit out of line. The key is that money and silk can attract people's hearts.
"The net profit of 60 million banknotes a year will soon be leaked out. By then, not only the clan will be jealous, but the court may not be able to bear it.
"Under this situation, if we sell it to Xiyi ourselves, will it incur criticism from the clan and the imperial court?"
Zhu Jingyuan frowned and considered:
"Liu Qing has thought carefully, so we can't sell it ourselves. We contact the royal consortium oil exploration-related companies and ask them to help sell it.
"Let them get a commission and pay extra taxes at the same time, which is equivalent to sharing the profits between the clan and the court. This should be fine."
Liu Zhixin suddenly realized:
"Your Majesty, I have made a note of it and will arrange it later. Should we stop drilling?"
Zhu Jingyuan thought for a while:
“You don’t have to stop completely when drilling a well, but you don’t need to continue to increase the speed of drilling the well.
“Oil consumption will rise significantly in the next few years, but the production of oil fields in our food-rich country can soar even faster.
"So we have to control the speed to increase production and keep the market relatively stable."
Liu Zhixin immediately nodded in agreement.
Zhu Jingyuan thought for a while and then continued to give instructions:
"Also, we must specifically recruit oil-related talents and continue to study oil extraction technology. We cannot simply rely on drilling wells..."
This time Liu Zhixin was a little confused:
"We are going to drill the well directly, and the oil will spray out directly. Is there any additional process required?"
Liu Zhixin's question made Zhu Jingyuan a little confused.
The oil fields in the Persian Gulf... are too simple and crude.
Even in the previous life, when the production volume had been 70 or 80 years, most of them were spontaneous wells, and only a few old oil fields required specialized processes such as water injection and pressure lifting.
This world has just begun to mine, and it is as if it is seeping and leaking.
No special process technology will be needed in the next few decades...
However, Ming Dynasty cannot do without oil exploration technology.
If he directly guided the discovery of the Persian Gulf oil fields, causing Ming Dynasty's oil exploration technology to fall seriously behind, it would be his own fault.
After sorting out his thoughts, Zhu Jingyuan decided to take the initiative to promote research:
“There will always be a time when the self-effluent wells will stop, and there will always be a time when the existing oil fields will be exhausted.
“Eventually we will need other extraction technologies and we will need to explore new oil fields.
“At the same time, our existing oil fields are good samples for studying oil field distribution and exploration technology.
“We can study and summarize together with Royal Petroleum Company.
“A special research institute can be established to study oil exploration, refining and application.
“When we have accumulated enough skills and experience, we will then set up a craftsman school with relevant majors.”
Liu Zhixin felt that what Zhu Jingyuan said was reasonable:
"Your Majesty has a long-term view, and I only care about the present. I will make arrangements as soon as I get back."
Zhu Jingyuan nodded lightly, feeling that there was nothing to arrange:
"Is there anything else?"
Liu Zhixin immediately said:
"Yes, now that our country of Dashi is rich, I think the king can form a formal palace guard.
"From now on, the food country will earn at least 60 million banknotes every year, and even if it takes 10% of the money, it will still be 6 million banknotes.
“If we don’t use too many heavy weapons, it’s enough to form three full strength infantry guards of 10,000 people.
“There is not much money on the books right now, and the main reason is that the number of immigrants is still too small.
"I suggest that we can form a battalion first, wait until next year to form a complete guard, and the year after that, form a complete three guards."
Zhu Jingyuan fell into deep thought after listening to Liu Zhixin's suggestion.
Now that he is the king, he can have his own troops directly under him, and the default is three guards.
For frontline vassal states with a relatively special position, the imperial court will additionally approve them to increase their guard quota, and even allow them to take the initiative to expand their territory.
After the Renwu Dynasty, Wei was the highest establishment in the Ming army.
The total number of army guards exceeds 10,000, and if there are guards who need to fight independently, the number can even be increased to nearly 20,000.
The Navy's Guard-class fleet, if it is within the main fleet and receives unified command within the large fleet, may directly have more than four capital ships, or more main armored cruisers.
If it is a non-main fleet, a fleet operating alone can have one capital ship, one to two main armored cruisers, four to eight low-level cruisers and miscellaneous destroyers, and it can also have specialized supply ships.
After the new generation of battleships planned by Zhu Jingyuan and his craftsmen is completed, the independent fleet should be replaced by a high-speed battleship, a fleet aircraft carrier, four to eight new cruisers and destroyers, plus new types of oil and water supply ships.
Not only can he form three guards, he can even use three guards to complete all three armies.
A full army guard, a main navy fleet, plus a brand new air force guard.
In this era, compared with the construction cost of the army, the navy and air force may be a bit ridiculously high.
The cost of a cutting-edge battleship or fleet aircraft carrier is estimated to be 30 to 40 million silver coins, which is almost the military expenditure of an army guard for ten years.
In fact, simply looking at the cost of 30 to 40 million banknotes, Da Shiguo can really afford it.
It is estimated that the fiscal revenue in the next year will be 60 million, which can directly buy a battleship, and the rest can be used to meet other expenses.
And this income will continue to rise in the future. Simply looking at money, you can definitely support a battleship, just like Saudi Arabia could definitely support an aircraft carrier fleet in a previous life.
However, maintenance costs and related technical requirements are definitely not something that big food countries can afford.
The pragmatic plan is to build two new cruisers and eight new destroyers, which should be able to be maintained and used by themselves.
But the more important issue is that he is not only the king of the vassal state, but also the prince of the Ming Dynasty.
What impact will it have if I go to war in a big food country?
After thinking for a long time, Zhu Jingyuan ordered:
"According to Liu Qing's plan, we will gradually complete a complete army guard to protect the oil fields of our food country.
"Let me think carefully about whether to continue to build the other two guards and how to build them. I will talk about it when the time comes..."
