This was a gathering for profit distribution, and Gao Pragmatic promised a dry share dividend of 40% of the soap factory's gross profit.
Among them, the three princes Cheng Guogong, Ying Gong and Ding Guogong and the Marquis of Linhuai each accounted for 5%, the three marquises of Zhenyuan, Yangwu and Fengcheng each accounted for 3%, and Xiangcheng Bo Together with the two earls of Yingcheng, who each have 2%, this area occupies 33%. The remaining 7% of the spare share is temporarily reserved, but Gao Pragmatic did not clearly indicate where it will be used. Honorable Lords I didn’t ask any more questions, I just thought about it in my heart.
At first glance, it seems that the share of each noble family is not large, but ruthlessly, Gao Pragmatic gave a five-year "minimum living allowance plan": No matter whether the Jinghua Soap Factory is profitable or not, and how much it makes, it will Dividends are distributed based on the minimum dividend guarantee amount of at least 100,000 taels of silver per year; if the profit exceeds 100,000 taels, dividends are distributed based on actual profits.
In other words, even if Gao Pragmatic loses money like a fool, the amount of dividends he participates in every year will still be one hundred thousand taels. So, a 5% dividend is 5,000 taels; a 2% dividend is 2,000 taels.
This is not the random mess of one hundred thousand taels or one million taels in some ignorant TV series in later generations. Prices in the Ming Dynasty were low enough at this time, and the salaries and rewards of Ming officials were also astonishingly low. Even two thousand taels was an absolute sum. A huge amount of money that cannot be ignored.
Prices have been explained before, so I won’t go into details here. Let’s take Qi Jiguang as an example and talk about the rewards from the court. Readers can compare by themselves:
Historically, after Qi Jiguang went north, he won a great victory at Qingshan Pass. Qi Jiguang was asked to take credit for his victory in the imperial history. As a result, "he was rewarded with thirty taels of silver and two pieces of silk."
When he entered the right governor's office because of his old merits, he was rewarded with "thirty taels of silver and two pieces of silk".
He built 472 hollow enemy towers. Tan Lun personally went to Shu to ask for credit for Qi Jiguang, and he was so boastful. When he was overthrown, he wrote a lot of praise for Qi Jiguang. As soon as he got the money, " I appreciate twenty taels of silver."
In the sixth year of Longqing's reign, because Qi Jiguang had shrewdly dispatched and fought and defended well over the years, Ji Town became the quietest place in Jiubian. The then governor of Shuntian asked for credit and was rewarded with "a reward of ten taels of silver".
In the first year of Wanli, Qi Jiguang won the battle of Nazi Valley. Liu Yingjie, the governor of Jiliao at the time, personally asked for merit and praised Qi Jiguang as "Prime Minister Qi, who has both civil and military talents, and has the same talents and knowledge. He will sacrifice his life to repay the master when he swears to the public, and his loyalty can be carried out." The sun rises; when managing the army, the weak becomes strong, and the training is really impressive... It is enough to be called a famous general who has revitalized the ancient times, and is worthy of the Great Wall! Merit should be discussed first." The result is still the sentence "I appreciate twenty taels of silver. , The silk has two outer surfaces and an inner surface."
Therefore, readers should make a wise decision as to what the concepts of two thousand taels and five thousand taels are. Anyway, according to the average price at this time, a pig costs about 1.5 taels of silver. Even if it is only 2,000 taels, it can buy more than 1,300 pigs; if it is flour, it can buy 120 tons in future generations. That is twenty-four thousand catties (modern market catties).
In the Ming Dynasty, where productivity was far inferior to that of modern society, this was really not a small number.
Regardless of the Duke or the Marquis, not to mention the earls, although they have a high status, they can still get some free pay, and even force military households to serve their families, but they can't afford to spend so much money on the house, so they can get such an extra sum of money. It's not something that can be ignored casually.
You know, because the house given to the father-in-law, Li Wei, was not in good condition, the emperor waited until the inner treasury was more abundant before giving him one hundred taels of silver for repairs.
It is precisely because of this actual situation that sometimes Gao Pragmatic even feels that, except for some places in Jiubian that are always harassed by nomads and disaster-stricken areas, the daily life pressure of most people in Ming Dynasty may be lighter than that of later generations. - Of course, if you insist on saying that they don’t have cars or electrical appliances, that would be a bit exaggerated. After all, being pragmatic refers to the pressure of life.
Just imagine, if people in later generations value having more children like the Ming Dynasty, are they afraid that most people will die from exhaustion? But now, it is completely normal to have five or six children in the family, and more than a dozen are not a problem, and people can actually live on. Of course, this is definitely not the case when it comes to education level, but that is related to the entire social system and atmosphere: people in the Ming Dynasty can only study to become officials, but in later generations, there will always be a minority of people who study to become officials, right? Therefore, if we compare a "scholar" who is not an official to a child of a wise man learning a craft, the comparison is not so exaggerated.
All in all, Gao Pragmatic's wave of "profit concessions" can definitely be regarded as sincere and sincere. It is a favor given by real money and silver, and the nobles of the family cannot help but appreciate it.
Of course, these nobles who have been in officialdom for a long time are not children, and they don't dare to treat Gao Pragmatic as an ordinary child now. Therefore, since Gao Pragmatic pays benefits, there must be something in exchange. What was discussed at the gathering of the nobles just now, Apart from share distribution, this is the main thing.
However, the conditions proposed by Gao pragmatically were so simple that these nobles were a little confused, and they even felt that he did not need to propose it at all - Gao pragmatically just hoped that they would replace all the cleaning products at home with soap, and in addition, they would entertain guests, After traveling or having dinner together, wash your hands in public and use soap, etc.
What condition is this? That soap works so well. Everyone just tried it themselves. They will definitely switch to it in the future. What’s the difference between this condition and not mentioning it?
Precisely because it was too simple, everyone had analyzed it carefully for a while and felt that Gao Shidu's words were just an excuse, and the real conditions had not been raised yet? However, the reports from the children of each family were completely consistent, and it was really such a condition.
At the end of the day, money still attracts people's hearts. Since they don't mention any conditions, just pretend that it doesn't matter and just pretend to be ignorant. Anyway, the news in the palace is clear. His Majesty the Emperor has indeed accepted Gao Shidu's contribution and has also given him the exclusive production of soap in the form of an oral decree. So what is there to doubt?
After the secret meeting, when the nobles sent the news back to Gao Mansion that they accepted Gao Pragmatic's shares and agreed to the terms of exchange proposed by him, Gao Pragmatic laughed.
Nearly 40% of the dry shares of the soap factory is certainly not a small amount, and according to his estimate, one hundred thousand taels is a very conservative estimate. After all, the daily consumption of soap is not small.
Although it will take some time for the market to be cultivated and spread out, a trend has begun to brew now, but Gao Pragmatic is not in a hurry to open it for sale. He will continue to accumulate this sense of expectation. How could Luoyang Zhigui's atmosphere be worthy of his foreshadowing?
As for whether it is too much of a loss for the profit to be so large but the requirements to be so low, this is a matter of different perceptions between the two parties.
