I Build an Aircraft Carrier in the Ming Dynasty

Suzhou-Hangzhou Chamber of Commerce, several wealthy businessmen sat together.

Sitting across from them was Wu Zhiyue, who came to ask them for raw materials such as cotton, silk and linen.

"Thirty cents, is Mr. Wu joking? We spent forty-five cents to buy these cottons, and you want to buy them from us for thirty cents. Could it be that Duke Wu wants to rob in broad daylight? "

Xu Baoxin, who took the lead, snorted coldly, if Wu Changqing really wanted to use force to snatch it, he would have no choice.

However, Xu Baoxin believed that now Wu Changqing was an official of the imperial court, and he would never dare to act like this.

"Manager Xu is joking. My nephew always encourages business and attaches great importance to business, so how could it be possible to force and rob. My nephew has been in charge of Suzhou for a few months, has he ever done anything by force?"

Wu Zhiyue laughed.

The other businessmen were speechless, because they really couldn't fault Wu Changqing. Although Wu Changqing had stolen the homes of several merchants before, it was because those merchants committed suicide and tried to collude with the Manchu army to cause chaos.

No one in power can tolerate this kind of thing, and it is also well-deserved to be raided.

Apart from these few households, Wu Changqing did not have any behavior to suppress the merchants. Even if the commercial tax was enacted, it was within the acceptable range for everyone.

Wu Zhiyue continued: "The reason why I ask for thirty cents is because they are only worth thirty cents."

"Treasurer Wu's remarks are bad. Today, there are very few cotton, silk and hemp on the market, and what is rare is the most expensive. Naturally, the price cannot be 30 cents."

Xu Baoxin retorted.

"Oh, haven't you heard that there are six thousand-ton Dutch ships coming from Songjiang? Three of the large ships are loaded with cotton. Moreover, they will continue to transport cotton."

Wu Zhiyue smiled. If Wu Changqing had not told him that the Dutch fleet had arrived in Songjiang, he would not have been so confident, because the raw materials in the factory were indeed running out.

What? Three thousand-ton ships full of cotton?

Xu Baoxin and others were immediately dumbfounded when they heard the words.

They thought that Wu Zhiyue might go to the north or the south to buy raw materials, but the freight would be greatly increased, and the time would be too late.

Unexpectedly, Wu Changqing still has such a hand, and has long ago let overseas merchants transport raw materials from overseas.

"Everyone, it's better to dispose of the goods in your hand as soon as possible and exchange some cash for other business. The longer you stay, the more losses you will lose. Now the Governor supports and encourages doing business with overseas. There are many ways to make a fortune. There is no need to hang yourself in the cloth business. die.

If you have to do the cloth business, then it is best to buy raw materials for me, and then buy the goods from me at low prices and sell them elsewhere to earn a little price difference. "

Wu Zhiyue persuaded him with words. Wu Changqing said that his purpose was not to kill these cloth merchants, but to improve efficiency. So, they eat the meat and leave a mouthful of soup for other merchants.

They were allowed to buy from Wu's cloth at below-market prices and then sell it elsewhere. It doesn't make much money, but it makes more or less money.

If you have to create competition in this area, you are courting death.

Xu Baoxin and others were all heartbroken when they heard the words. If they really wanted to deal with the hoarded goods at a low price, how much money would they lose? It hurts to think about it.

However, what can we do if we do not deal with it at a low price?

Wu's cloth has a stable and low-cost raw material channel, and the price of cloth will not drop at all. It doesn't make sense for them to keep hoarding cloth.

The psychological defense line of everyone has been broken, but they did not immediately agree to Wu Zhiyue to sell the cotton in their hands.

After all, the news of the arrival of the Dutch fleet is only what Wu Zhiyue said, and they have not confirmed whether it is true or not.

The next day, they set off for Songjiang in person.

Coincidentally, Wu Changqing also went to Songjiang in person on this day.

After arriving in Songjiang, Wu Changqing found that the place had become much more prosperous, with many traders coming and going.

Songjiang Trade Zone has now become a distribution center for goods, as well as a manufacturing location.

A large number of merchants are concentrated here because the variety of goods here is complete, and it is easy to buy the goods they need. At the same time, sellers also like to sell their goods here, because there are all kinds of buyers here, so there is no need to worry about their goods being sold.

Before the commercial zone was formed, businessmen from all over the world had a lot of inconveniences in doing business.

For example, when you ship a batch of grain to another place, you have to worry about whether it can be sold in time, and after it is sold out, you have to worry about whether you can buy the goods you need in that place.

The business district solves this problem, and because of the large number of merchants who gather in the business district, the prices of goods here are more transparent.

In addition to the transit of goods, Songjiang has also established four large factories, one for soap and soap, one for mirrors, and the other two for spinning and weaving.

Now Wu's Cloth has completely monopolized the cloth business in the Jiangnan area by relying on low prices. Other cloth merchants can't sell the cloth, and they can't afford the yarn, and they have gone bankrupt.

Some non-local cloth merchants have given up their own manufacturing and become distributors, taking goods directly from Wu's factories at low prices, and then shipping them to other places to sell.

While selling cloth, they also purchased raw materials such as cotton, silk and linen, and then sold them to Wu's factory, forming a new industrial chain.

In this industry chain, everyone else is drinking soup, and only Wu's factory is eating meat.

Some people want to imitate

It is a pity that this thing looks simple, but it is not easy to imitate it.

In addition, Wu Zhiyue attaches great importance to preventing the leakage of secrets, and it is difficult for outsiders to get a textile machine to study.

"Your Excellency General, we have brought the goods you want."

Hurd said with a smile on his face, he even taught himself some Chinese during this time.

This time, Hurd has a total of six thousand-ton ships, three of which are for cotton, two for high-quality iron ore, and one for spices, gold and silver.

Because cotton and iron ore are relatively cheap raw materials, they can't buy enough goods to fill six sea ships without gold and silver.

Wu Changqing is also quite helpless about this. Who makes China's porcelain and silk valuable now? Foreign trade has always been a surplus, and the inflow of silver is inevitable.

The inflow of silver is really not good at all, it will only lead to the devaluation of domestic silver.

It appears that silver has increased, but actual wealth has not.

Gold is a little better. The output of this thing is rare, and the global reserves are also low. It is still very valuable in future generations. In fact, there are many things like silver. In Japan, South America and other places, if you walk and kick, it is possible to kick a silver nugget.

What Wu Changqing wants to do in the future is a gold-standard paper currency system, which requires a large amount of gold as a reserve, while silver is useless.

"You give me the list of goods you want first, and I'll help you get it done."

Wu Changqing said that there were a lot of troubles in direct transactions between Hurd and other businessmen, and translation alone was not enough. At present, only Lu Shanwei can speak Dutch better, and there are a few others who can barely communicate.

Moreover, because many of the goods brought by Hurd are strategic substances, local merchants do not want them either.

Therefore, Wu Changqing acted as a middleman. He first used silver to buy the commodities that Hurd needed from local merchants, and then exchanged these commodities with Hurd.

Finally, Wu Changqing put the exchanged raw materials into the factory and processed it into cloth to sell to local merchants.

As a middleman, he can make a lot of money in this transaction as long as he adjusts the prices of various commodities slightly.

For example, when he bought a merchant's porcelain for 3 taels of silver, when he sold it to Hurd, the estimated value was 5 taels of silver, and he directly earned the difference of 2 taels.

Another example is the spice he bought from Hurd, for one tael of silver per pound, and sold it to a local businessman for two tael and one pound.

That's it, local businessmen are still rushing to ask for it, if you don't want it, others will rob it.

There were also smart businessmen who saw that Wu Changqing was making money, but they couldn't do anything unless they had their own translators and at the same time were able to eat Hurd's goods.

This requires a lot of capital, as well as translation talents.

In the face of huge profits, some businessmen have already prepared to join forces to form a chamber of commerce, specifically to do business with overseas businessmen, and not to give Wu Changqing the opportunity to be a middleman to earn the difference.

Wu Changqing doesn't really care about this kind of thing, and even encourages it.

What he wants is the country, not the country's wealth, otherwise he wouldn't put money into the army.

Businessmen in this country are making money, which is also a good thing for Wu Changqing.

The more a businessman earns, the more he collects in taxes.

Only by letting some people get rich first and complete the accumulation of capital can we smoothly enter the industrial age.

After all, such things as buying machines and setting up factories must be counted on these businessmen, and it is too difficult to count on the common people. Where can they spend the money for the initial investment?