Chapter 39: Domain is a business
He Xi said: "Marquis Lu, a small impatience leads to a big plan. In fact, we can't do business directly with people from Nanyang now."
Lawrence Lu said: “What’s wrong?”
He Xi said: "These people from Nanyang all fled from the coast. Maybe there is some blood feud. There is no mutual trust between the two sides and they rashly went south. Maybe it was a big war."
Lu Zhongheng said: "A big war is a big war. Can't we beat it?"
He Xi privately felt that he might not be able to win. After all, they are all long-time pirates. The people and the land are familiar with each other, and there is no generation difference between the ships on both sides. Although during the Battle of Poyang Lake, the Ming army used a large number of firearms. But at the end of the day. In this era, we still rely on dancing gangs to fight hand to hand.
The Ming army came from afar and were not familiar with hydrology. The numbers are at a disadvantage, so the odds of winning or losing are 50-50, which is normal.
But if you say these words to Lawrence Lu, I’m afraid he will be unhappy. Lu Zhongheng actually represented a large number of people in the army during the Hongwu period. Zhu Yuanzhang can still remain calm. Before going to war, analyze in detail and stay calm and objective. You will not go to war easily without being completely sure. But many people below do not have this level.
They just feel that they have always won the battle before. I am invincible.
Telling them this will serve no purpose other than to make them unhappy.
He Xi said, "Uncle Lu, we are now a company. We are doing business. We want to make money. There is a fight. But no one will compensate for our losses."
Lawrence Lu suddenly stopped talking.
He is an experienced war veteran, so he naturally knows how expensive fighting is. Let’s not talk about anything else, let’s just talk about the Battle of Poyang Lake. After the first battle, the ships built by Longjiang Shipyard in the past year were sunk. If Chen Youliang hadn't captured many ships. At that time, the navy's ships were not enough.
So how much does it cost in conversion?
It's simply unthinkable.
Today, the so-called company's ship is still on paper. All these costs. Many of them were stolen by him. It was so heavy that he didn't know what to do.
Lu Zhongheng thought to himself: "It's so troublesome to make money. It's so easy to steal money." Lu Zhongheng couldn't help but miss the time when he was fighting. At that time, he could get a share of the profits every time he went to the fields. It's just a pity that he spends too much money. So that nothing was left.
"Okay." Tang He said, "He Xi, I think you have your own ideas."
He Xi said, "Now there is a big business, which is suitable for us to sit in. Is that the matter of King Jingjiang's vassalship?"
Lu Zhongheng said: "As for the feudal clan, how can this be considered business?"
He Xi said; "According to the court's practice, generally when a vassal king establishes a vassal, he will build a mansion first. But there is nothing here in King Jingjiang's house? But King Jingjiang's mansion has to be repaired. If the court sends people to build it, it will be consumed. It’s too big. In my opinion, it’s better to outsource it to a firm.”
He Xi came up with this idea. It's not just for the sake of the imperial court. Engage in collusion between officials and businessmen. Rather, out of practical considerations, if the Ming Dynasty vassal kings will move out in large numbers in the future, if the imperial court undertakes major projects such as building the royal palace. The consumption will be very large.
Without him, as mentioned above. Among the many accounts of the imperial court, the human cost was subconsciously ignored. Because of the existence of corvee labor, the court's labor cost was almost zero.
If civil engineering is carried out in Ming Dynasty. Only responsible for materials, design and other aspects, there are many people who really do the hard work.
But if you are overseas. It's different. There may not be support from the local people, and it is very likely that the Ming vassal king is an outsider. As a result, if the imperial court still builds the palace, it will be a heavy burden. It should be noted that the size of Prince Daming's palace even exceeds that of many county towns. If you add the decoration inside. Many county towns are not as good as the palace.
The price is quite heavy.
He felt that the feudal king should be given some money. After all, the feudal king also needs start-up funds to build the local area.
Therefore, instead of saying that He Xi is collecting the wool of the imperial court, it is better to say that He Xi is collecting the wool of King Jingjiang.
Lu Zhongheng touched his beard and said, "This is not bad. Can you suggest that all major projects in the imperial court do this in the future?"
As soon as he said this, Lu Zhongheng saw He Xi and Tang He looking at him with wide eyes. "Pretend I didn't say it," said sarcastically.
He Xi secretly thought: "Lu Zhongheng is simply a born capitalist. He doesn't want anything for money. There is simply no bottom line."
How could this be done within the imperial court? The imperial manpower requires no money, or very little money. But others don't have this power. Even if labor in Ming Dynasty is cheap, you always have to pay for it. The biggest expense of many civil projects is personnel expenses. Even if the labor price is very low, the number of people will become astronomical.
And it was impossible for the imperial court to give the power of recruiting taxes and servitude to merchants. Because this kind of power represents the court's control over the local area, how can it be given away to others.
Therefore, it is bound to cost more to let businessmen do it than to do it for the court.
Not to mention, if businessmen were to handle it, it would infringe on the interests of the court officials, and they would have no room to do anything.
Lu Zhongheng is not a fool. He knows that he does not pay attention to some things, or pays little attention to them, thinking that his body is special and transcendent. He doesn't care, he is very smart when it comes to money. How can you not understand?
However, it would be most suitable for someone like Lu Zhongheng to preside over Nanyang affairs.
Because needless to say, Lu Zhongheng was the one who shouted loudly for conquering Nanyang. Because it infringes on his interests. And use force to obtain benefits from foreign countries, and then use productivity to squeeze foreign countries. This is not typical capitalist behavior.
Lu Zhongheng is simply self-taught.
He Xi put away his bored feelings and got down to business, saying: "Actually, there is a reason why I started with the construction of Jingjiang vassal and brought King Jingjiang in. Sea ban is a major policy of the imperial court and should not be changed overnight. . This affects the authority of the imperial court. And what we are doing now is nominally against the imperial court's policy."
"But Jingjiang Fan is different. The new policy of the imperial court to seal the vassal. Although it has not been announced to the world now, the two uncles probably know it."
"In the New Deal, the vassal king has all the power in the fiefdom. As long as the ancestral temple does not decline and the tributes continue, the court will not interfere with other matters. Therefore, Jingjiang Fan's opening of sea is in line with the court's policy. We in Jingjiang Fan, Or trading with Nanyang in the name of Jingjiang Fan is completely in line with the imperial policy."
This alternative idea was not thought up by He Xi herself. It was negotiated by Yao Guangxiao, Zhan Ding and others.
He Xi didn't think much about it. But Yao Guangxiao reminded him not to take the court policy seriously. Yes, he has grace. But many things still have to follow the rules. Otherwise there will be trouble in the future.
Only this way, it is completely in line with the rules of the court, and it can also realize your own roundabout methods.
In this matter, He Xi felt another benefit of sealing the vassal country overseas. That's policy freedom.
In the unified dynasty, policies cannot be made rashly in many cases. Since Shang Yang’s reform, it is difficult to say that China has had a successful reform. A very important reason is probably that China is too big. In such a large country, it is extremely difficult to achieve political reform.
Many actions in later generations also started from pilot projects.
In fact, it is difficult for the court to improve the high degree of freedom in local areas. But the feudal king was different. As long as the Ming Dynasty maintains its current size, the vassal king will be sealed. No matter how powerful he was, he would not dare to disobey the imperial court. There will be a testing ground for many policies.
Just like now.
It was successfully experimented by the feudal lord and then promoted in the country. With Ming's size, even without first-mover advantage, it is impossible to be thrown away. This is what Ming Dynasty did in history. When the Portuguese were making trouble on the southeast coast, the Fujian Navy fought a battle with the Portuguese.
I suffered some losses and learned about the Portuguese's Franco machine guns. Within a dozen years, Folang machine guns were everywhere in the Ming Dynasty. By the end of the Ming Dynasty, there was no generational difference between the Ming Dynasty and the West. Even if the West has a slight technological advantage, Ming Dynasty can still suppress it with its huge size.
For example, the Zheng family is like this, even if Western warships are very advanced. But I can exchange ten for one, and after suffering losses two or three times, I can make it myself. The Zheng family has its own plywood fleet. Although a little smaller.
But the Qing Dynasty was completely different. You don’t know what the other person is like unless you get knocked on the door.
