Zhu Yuanzhang only felt that Li Jin was really good at doing business.
Previously, he tricked everyone into raising funds to set up a Royal Chamber of Commerce, but now he backhanded Queen Ma to open a shipyard.
After all, if you want to go to sea, you must have a boat, but what Ming Dynasty lacks most now is boats.
Now Li Jin has opened a shipyard of his own. Before, Zhu Yuanzhang thought that Li Jin might be eager to go to sea and planned to build his own ship in order to go to sea faster.
Now it seems that Li Jin clearly had a premeditated plan.
If Li Jin really wipes out the Japanese pirates and opens up sea trade in the future, then the ocean will be a place full of gold for the merchants of the Ming Dynasty.
And the key to this land filled with gold is now in Li Jin's hands.
Li Jin heard Zhu Yuanzhang's question and replied directly:
"The Chamber of Commerce is a chamber of commerce, and a shipyard is a shipyard. The two cannot be confused."
"These are two companies. Even if the Chamber of Commerce goes bankrupt in the future, it will not affect the operation of the shipyard."
"As a qualified investor, you should learn to share risks and not put your eggs in one basket."
Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't hear what Li Jin was talking about there. Anyway, if the chamber of commerce couldn't make money, Li Jin would have to compensate himself for the shipyard.
They are all Li Jin's industries, and Zhu Yuanzhang doesn't care if they are two different companies.
Queen Ma doesn't care about this. She just wants to know how much money she makes now.
"Li Jin, you have said so much, how much money have we made now?"
"When can the money be divided?"
Hearing this, Li Jin's high-spirited expression was suffocated, he touched his nose awkwardly and said:
"Madam, it's like this. Our dock has earned no less than three hundred thousand taels in the past half month."
Three hundred thousand?
When Zhu Biao and Queen Ma heard this number, they both beamed with joy.
Half a month is already 300,000 taels of silver, so wouldn’t a month be 600,000 taels?
If you calculate it this way, Queen Ma can earn several million taels of silver a year just from this pier. This money is really very profitable.
At this moment, Zhu Yuanzhang could hear that he was very jealous. He had known that he would not set up any chamber of commerce and come to invest in the port.
I wonder if I can get my money back now?
Zhu Yuanzhang stared at Li Jin with unkind eyes, hesitating whether to speak.
"Where's the money? Give it to me quickly, I'll take it back just in time."
Empress Ma stretched out her hand towards Li Jin, wanting to take the money away directly.
After all, the last time she spent five million taels of silver, she had drained all the palace funds.
Li Jin looked at Queen Ma's white palms and said with a dry smile:
"Ma'am, don't worry, listen to me continue."
"All that money has been spent on building the road leading to the county seat of Shanghu County."
"Not only that, I also owe the government 150,000 taels of silver."
"What?"
Queen Ma opened her eyes wide and looked at Li Jin in disbelief.
I just saw the money back, and it was gone in the blink of an eye.
Zhu Yuanzhang was even more angry and his face was livid. He knew that this bastard Li Jin definitely had no good intentions.
All the money he had just earned was spent, and Zhu Yuanzhang immediately roared:
"Li Jin, are you here to lie to us on purpose? So that you can keep the money?"
"Aren't you the magistrate of Shanghu County? Don't you have the final say on how much money is spent?"
"We think this money has been embezzled by you."
Li Jin knew this was the result and could only say:
"The road built this time is a little different. You will know if you come with me and take a look."
Li Jin said and took the lead towards the door.
Zhu Yuanzhang followed angrily. Queen Ma didn't look very good either. Only Zhu Biao had doubts on his face. He didn't know what kind of road could cost so much money.
As soon as Li Jin went out, he called a carriage and then took the three of them to the intersection of the port.
On the carriage, Zhu Yuanzhang stared at Li Jin with wide eyes, as if Li Jin owed him millions of taels of silver.
Queen Ma and Zhu Biao looked outside the curtain, wanting to see what the road Li Jin was talking about was?
Not long after, I heard the coachman say:
"A few guests have arrived."
Li Jin was delighted when he heard this and said:
"Come on, guys, I'll show you the newly built expressway in Shanghu County."
Queen Ma didn't see any special road at all when she was at the curtain just now, so she couldn't help but be a little curious.
Zhu Yuanzhang was the first to bear the brunt and got out of the carriage at once.
But when Zhu Yuanzhang saw Li Jin's so-called highway, he was completely shocked.
"Is this...is this still a road?"
What appeared in front of Zhu Yuanzhang were black lanes, and these lanes were extremely flat and looked smoother than cement roads.
Moreover, the smell of asphalt still lingers on these roads, obviously they were built not long ago.
The road, which consists of eighteen lanes, is so wide that even Zhu Yuanzhang looks insignificant when standing at the intersection.
These roads continued until the end of the field of vision. Zhu Yuanzhang found that he could not see the end of this road at all.
Not to mention anything else, just because of its majestic momentum, this highway looks worth half a million taels of silver.
"This place will also become our cornucopia in the future."
Li Jin looked at the shocked Queen Ma and explained with a smile.
"What cornucopia?"
Queen Ma was confused. Ever since she met Li Jin, Queen Ma suddenly felt that making money was really easy.
Zhu Yuanzhang also looked at Li Jin with clear eyes, wanting to see if he could get in.
Li Jin pointed to the busy intersection and said:
"A toll booth will be built here in the future."
"Only merchants who pay a fee are eligible to walk through here."
"Otherwise, you won't be allowed to pass. Of course, the fee won't be very high, but look at the flow of people here."
"You can imagine the scale of this toll station in the future."
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, his face darkened and he said:
"You are competing with the people for profit. Since you have created a road, it is for people to use."
"If you charge fees here, wouldn't it violate your original intention and leave the poor people to do what?"
"Aren't we going to let them walk?"
"Old Huang, you are too young, your structure is too small."
Li Jin shook his head and sighed, and said:
"The roads we built are naturally qualified to collect money."
"We built highways, which benefited the country and the people. Businessmen benefited from it and were able to transport goods to places faster and more conveniently."
"The imperial court also received more tax revenue because of the prosperity of business."
"But if it's not self-serving, how many people do you think are willing to do this kind of thing?"
"But if this kind of thing benefits the country and the people as well as self-interest, how many people do you think are unwilling to do it?"
"As the saying goes, if you want to get rich, you must first build roads. If businessmen from all over the country are willing to pay to help build roads, it will not only be convenient for the people, but they can also make a lot of money. Then will the roads in Ming Dynasty become better and better? many?"
"The one who will ultimately benefit the most from this is the imperial court!"
"The pattern, your pattern is too small, Lao Huang!"
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard Li Jin's disparagement this time, he unexpectedly did not get angry. Instead, he lowered his head and frowned in thought.
After a long time, Zhu Yuanzhang raised his head and said:
"Despite this, charging ordinary people is still too unreasonable."
"They have no money to begin with, how can I collect money from them?"
Li Jin said:
"Then they can definitely take the national highway!"
"This kind of highway was originally used by businessmen to allow them to transport goods more conveniently."
