Chapter 52 Meeting the Marquis of Hangzhou
He Xi took the secret letter from Princess Anqing. Take a closer look. Sure enough, the 50% shares of Jinghai Company held by He Xi on behalf of the royal family were directly transferred to Princess Anqing's name.
But He Xi couldn't help laughing in his heart.
Because He Xi understands one thing very well, within the next one or two years. A large number of business houses will appear on the southeast coast. Maritime trade can be carried out directly, and perhaps there will be a transition in Jingjiang. But in the near future, it will become the norm.
It's hard to say how much money Jinghai Company can make by then.
Of course, in the next one or two years, this Jinghai company will still be very profitable. The main problem is the boat.
As mentioned before, the Ming Dynasty was short of ships, at least ships capable of ocean transportation. The Jinghai Company's ship is related to Tanghe. Just got it. But Tang He didn't have many ships in his hands. Ships will be in short supply for a long time to come.
Jinghai Company has ships and has a first-mover advantage. Of course you can make some money. But it’s just a first-mover advantage of one or two years.
Moreover, the reason why Zhu Yuanzhang gave up these shares was because the Ming Dynasty imposed two levels of taxes on these firms. One layer should be the qualification tax. It's not easy to get a license for ocean trading. It will be re-photographed in a few years. Even if it goes with the market, for a long time in the future, it is estimated that a license plate will not be available for ten thousand taels.
Then there are the import and export tariffs.
The total of these two items is estimated to be hundreds of thousands of taels per year.
Don’t underestimate these hundreds of thousands taels. Gein, the money collected by Ming Dynasty every year is only three million taels. Several hundred thousand taels is already a lot of money, and it's still increasing.
Under such policy changes, the shares of Jinghai Company will only become less and less valuable, unless there is a shopkeeper who is a business wizard.
He Xi may be able to run Jinghai Company and kill everyone. But He Xi would not do such a thing, he had more important things to do.
Therefore, Princess Anqing was extremely happy to take 50% of the shares. In fact, it is already depreciating rapidly. Zhu Yuanzhang not only safeguarded the interests of the court, but also deceived his youngest daughter. He Xi couldn't laugh or cry. Although Zhu Yuanzhang doted on his daughter, he was determined not to show favoritism in matters concerning the court.
Just this little trick. It really made He Xi feel funny.
At the same time, I don’t dare to expose it. With Princess Anqing's wisdom, it would take half a year or a year to figure this out.
He Xi didn't care about the wealth, she just smiled and coaxed Princess Anqing and said, "Great. The princess must keep this family property well."
Princess Anqing's face flushed with excitement. After all, this Jinghai company is too profitable. Although Princess Anqing is rich, the money in her house is only counted in hundreds or two thousand taels at most. When can I see the unit of 10,000 taels?
It can be said that the money earned by Jinghai Company has exceeded the income of the Princess Mansion from other aspects.
Princess Anqing said: "My husband, don't worry. The male is the master of the house, and the woman is the master of the house. Leave this matter to me."
He Xi smiled slightly. Nothing more to say. I just want to see what Princess Anqing's business will look like.
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It's a pity that He Xi and Princess Anqing are destined to spend less time together and more time apart.
He Xi originally wanted to spend more time with Princess Anqing, but she had to rush to Liujiagang. The reason is very simple. First of all, Zhu Yuanzhang's affairs in the capital were handled in a mess. Before many people knew it, many names had been filled in the book of life and death in Zhu Yuanzhang's hand.
Those who have been registered naturally come to Ningbo to find ways to make money through maritime trade. As for those who are not listed, that is another issue that will be dealt with later. Of course, the group of people headed by Li Shanchang are smelly and tough. But he didn't think that Zhu Yuanzhang would be cruel to them.
It is no longer suitable for He Xi to stay in Ningbo.
There is another reason, that is, the shipping fleet of Navigation Hou Zhanghe is about to go to the north again.
The reason is simple, it's summer. The south wind is blowing, if you wait. When the north wind blows, many things will become difficult to handle.
But Princess Anqing did not leave Ningbo. Without him, Princess Anqing is treating Jinghai Company as her family's property. Very caring. As for many honorable people coming to Ningbo. Princess Anqing doesn’t have to avoid suspicion. The reason is simple. If He Xi stays here, he will be the distributor, and his qualifications cannot hold him back. It would be embarrassing. But Princess Anqing is different, she is here to get a piece of the pie.
In addition, Princess Anqing grew up under Queen Ma's knees. Many of these nobles had hugged her. It is estimated that no one wants to compete with Princess Anqing. It not only offended Zhu Yuanzhang, but also made him look immodest. It can even be said that Princess Anqing is at home in Ningbo. There is no need to worry about He Xi.
He Xi had no choice but to go to Liujiagang in a hurry.
Upon arrival at Liujiagang. Zhang He came out to welcome him.
Zhang He is a Huaibei man in his early fifties. At first glance, I feel that such a person should be a fierce general who rides into battle, not a genius who manages the sea and is proficient in water warfare. Perhaps because of Zhu Yuanzhang's age, many of the heroes are about the same age as Zhu Yuanzhang.
Probably Zhu Yuanzhang joined the army at the age of 24 and has been in the army for more than 30 years now. If at the beginning, the young people who followed Zhu Yuanzhang. By this time, he was already in his fifties. Of course, the premise is that you can survive.
As for the older ones, there are of course some, but most of the older counselors like Zhu Sheng are gone. And Li Shanchang is over seventy years old.
These people have faded away. Or Zhu Yuanzhang faded out of the court.
Zhang He said: "Consort, I have been waiting for a long time."
He Xi said: "Thank you for your long wait, Lord Marquis. You didn't waste time, did you?"
Zhang He said: "Of course there is no such thing. If your consort is interested, why don't you go and have a look now?"
He Xi said: "Of course I want to take a look. However, Lord Marquis, please don't call me Prince Consort. I am just a minor official. Come and listen to Lord Marquis."
Zhang He said, "You don't need to call me Marquis anymore. Who am I, Marquis? If you don't mind, just call me Brother Zhang, and I will call you Brother He."
He Xi said: "Then I'll pay my respects to Brother Zhang."
Zhang He laughed, and the relationship between the two seemed closer.
In fact, Zhang He is right. Although he has a title, he is not one of the founding heroes. His title of "Marquis of Navigation" is to preside over shipping, plus some of his contributions, and his annual salary is several hundred dan. Nothing.
And many things are not about salary.
The time of being granted a title is also a matter of seniority. Because they were not the first batch of knights in the Ming Dynasty. Zhang He also missed the founding heroes.
Of course, this is the founding hero in the narrow sense. That is, the hero who was canonized by Zhu Yuanzhang when he founded the country. But if we talk about the founding heroes in a broad sense, they are those who participated in a series of battles in the founding of the Ming Dynasty, and Zhang He counts.
However, the founding heroes are still there, although some have passed away. But the group of founding heroes has not withdrawn from the stage of history. The latter cannot take the lead.
This is why Zhang He and He Xi want to call him brothers, but they dare not let He Xi call him Uncle Zhang.
Because the status of the two is fundamentally different.
He Xi followed Zhang He to the dock. Liujiagang was the starting point for Zheng He's voyages to the West. It is also the largest port in the Yangtze River Estuary today. Shanghai in later generations is now half under water. Wait until Liujiagang is silted up by the sediment of the Yangtze River. The docks at the Yangtze River outlet gradually moved eastward, and Shanghai was formed.
This is not the first time He Xi has come to Liujiagang. But at this moment, Liujiagang is particularly spectacular. Dozens of boats were parked on the pier and raised high above it. A long wooden board is placed on the bow of the ship at one end and on the high slope of the dock at the other. Each person carries a sack and walks on the trembling wooden board to deliver a sack of grain to the ship. Then come down from one side and continue to carry the grain. This goes on over and over again.
Fill all these ships one by one.
Zhang He explained for him: "There were two sea shipments this year, with a total of 700,000 stones. The last time, 400,000 stones were sent to the Chief Secretary of Peking and disembarked in Tanggu. But this time, they were sent to Liaodong. A total of 300,000 stones were sent. Ten Thousand Stones.”
"It's no small project."
He Xi looked at dozens of ships and said, "Are these the only ships?"
Zhang He said: "Of course not. The boat filled with food is already waiting outside. Let's go together when it's all filled."
