Please ask me to be the emperor

"Your Highness, the past few days have made it clear!" Sun Kewang happily reported to Zhang Shunhui.

"Each large ship is taxed two thousand taels, and the actual levy is fifty-six thousand taels; each piece of silk is levied one tael and five taels, for a total of two thousand two hundred and fifty taels; and each catty of raw silk is levied 7,500 taels, for a total of Sixty thousand taels of silver were levied; other goods such as tea, porcelain, lacquerware, sugar, medicinal materials, books, Songjiang cloth, fuel, etc. totaled 23,600 taels of silver, totaling 141,850 taels."

"He also stocked up on raw silk, tea, and porcelain and resold them, making a profit of 9,000 taels. The raw silk, tea, porcelain, silk, etc. that were going to be shipped to Japan for sale were worth more than 20,000 taels, and the profit was expected to be 50,000 to 60,000 taels."

"Oh? The total is only 200,000 taels. Isn't this a bit small?" Zhang Shun frowned when he heard this.

Didn’t Zheng Zhilong say that trade with Japan would earn more than one million yuan a year?

I worked hard this time to collect and make a profit of two hundred thousand taels?

"Isn't this enough?" Sun Kewang was stunned when he heard this, "Your Highness, please know that the annual tax in Zhejiang is less than 1.15 million, of which seven layers are shipped at the beginning, and the remaining three layers are left at the bottom. The actual transportation to the capital is only eight One hundred thousand taels.”

"And these eight hundred thousand cannot be paid in full. By the way, the entire summer tax in Zhejiang is only more than 150,000 taels, and Qiushui is 990,000 taels. Your Highness, just this one, is better than the entire summer tax." Forehead!"

As soon as Sun Kewang finished speaking, Zheng Zhilong quickly answered: "If Your Highness is dissatisfied, I have one hundred thousand taels for shipping, and I will voluntarily pay all of it to Your Highness!"

"That's not necessary!" Unexpectedly, after Zhang Shun heard this, he smiled and shook his head and said, "Originally, these shipping fees should have fallen into your pocket."

"Now that you are dedicated to serving the public good and surrendering to the imperial court, I already owe you so much. How can I ask for anything more?"

"Well, I heard that your eldest son Zheng Sen is thirteen or fourteen years old and is quite clever. How about staying with me for a few years as compensation for you?"

"Ah? The guilty minister has thanked His Highness now!" Zheng Zhilong was stunned when he heard this, and then he was overjoyed.

It turns out that Zheng Zhilong has certainly earned a lot over the years, but not much has actually ended up in his pocket.

First, you need to manage the officials, secondly, you need to recruit and train soldiers, and thirdly, you need to build warships and cast cannons. Which one of them is not a gold-eating beast?

Since then, although Zheng has an annual income of more than two million taels of silver, there is not much related to him personally.

After joining Zhang Shun, military pay was paid by the imperial court, warships and artillery were built by the imperial court, and warships and artillery were built by the imperial court. Thirdly, Zhang Shun was now on his own, and there was much less management.

In this way, although his income is much less, his personal profit is much more.

Just this time, there were a total of twenty-eight ships, twenty of which were entirely owned by Zheng Zhilong.

Not only did he earn freight, but he also carried more than 100,000 taels of raw silk, tea and other goods.

When these goods arrive in Japan, the net profit is three to five times, and they earn back three and a half million in cash as soon as they turn around.

And in September or October, when we return from Japan and bring some silver, sulfur, copper materials, dendrobium, Japanese knives and other goods, we can earn more than 100,000 yuan.

Although this time it was only half of the previous profit, half of it actually belonged to himself.

In this way, you make money every time you go in and out.

Of course, in addition to Zheng Zhilong's own profits, the remaining profits of about 500,000 taels were shared by Zhang Shun and other large households in Jiangnan this time.

"Actually, in addition to Ningbo, Weichen would also ship trade from Fujian in previous years." Zheng Zhilong hesitated and then said.

"In addition, countries such as Red Pogo and Ethybia will also go to Japan for trade, and the profits may be in the millions."

"Among them, our country trades with Nanyang and Luzon, and the profit ranges from 7 to 8 million each."

"Oh? Hmm!" Zhang Shun nodded after hearing this, and couldn't help but start thinking again.

According to the information provided by Zheng Zhilong, Zhang Shun estimated that the total annual sea trade volume in this era was approximately 30 million taels, of which Japan only accounted for one-third, while Southeast Asia and Luzon shared the other two-thirds.

The reason why Zheng Zhilong's profits in Japan were higher than those in the other two places was because most of the profits in Luzon were exclusively enjoyed by the Spanish colonists, while the profits in Southeast Asia were exclusively enjoyed by the Dutch colonists.

Zheng Zhilong is just relying on China's local advantages to make some money.

If the imperial court could manage this area perfectly, an annual income of three to five million taels would not be a dream at all.

In fact, Zhang Shun did not know that according to later research, although the Ming and Qing Dynasties were in a state of isolation for most of the time, the direct and indirect inflow of silver from Japan each year amounted to three to five million taels.

The annual inflow of silver from the Spanish colonists in the Philippines amounted to three million taels.

If you include North Korea, Southeast Asia and other places, the annual income exceeds 7 million to 10 million, which shows the huge advantage of China's maritime trade in this era.

However, due to the poor management level of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, not only were they unable to take advantage of this advantageous condition to gain huge profits, they were unable to collect even the most basic tariffs.

I also missed the entire Age of Discovery because of this, which I have to say is a pity.

Thinking of this, Zhang Shun laughed again: "So, we have two competitors!"

"Do you think we should send another fleet to completely squeeze these two companies out of trade with Japan?"

"I'm afraid this won't work, right?" Sun Kewang and Zheng Zhilong looked at each other after hearing this, and then said hesitantly.

"The sea conditions in the East China Sea are like this. When our ship turns back this time, we may have to wait until next year!"

Of course Zhang Shun already knew the situation from Ningbo to Japan, which was basically concentrated in summer and autumn every year, but obviously he had other ideas.

"What you are saying is so narrow-minded!" Zhang Shun couldn't help laughing, "This time we have twenty merchant ships in hand, didn't we also send twenty-eight ships?"

"Since our own ship can't come back for the time being, why not borrow a chicken to lay an egg and summon other ships to go?"

"At that time, the imperial court will provide protection, maritime merchants will provide ships, and merchants will provide goods, just like today!"

As soon as Zhang Shun said these words, Sun Kewang and Zheng Zhilong couldn't help but their eyes lit up again.

It turns out that Japan in this era was not a big country, but it had a large population, and its demand for Chinese products was not small.

For example, raw silk, sugar, and tea are all hot-selling commodities.

In this era, the annual trade volume of twenty-eight ships was completely unable to meet Japan's needs.

Judging from history, the actual demand is probably around 200 ships.

In other words, the trade volume between the two sides can actually expand ten times.

Of course, Zhang Shun did not know this data, but this did not prevent him from inferring that the Japanese market was not saturated based on the profits from the trade, so he proposed to send another fleet.

"Okay, that's good!" Zheng Zhilong couldn't help but smile after hearing this, "I will order people to spread out to see which other merchants are ready to go to sea!"

"If they know the identity, everything will be fine; if they don't, it will be bad luck for them if they are robbed!"

Zhang Shun was stunned when he heard Zheng Zhilong's words, and then understood what he meant.

It turns out that the "business war" of this era is no different from the Age of Discovery that Zhang Shun played in his previous life.

If you want to squeeze out others' share, there is nothing more than dumping, plundering, and suppression.

Among them, dumping is Zhang Shun's method of sending more ships and selling more goods until the market is saturated and others are squeezed out.

Plunder, on the other hand, openly or covertly supports pirates in plundering their opponents' merchant ships in order to combat their opponents' trade.

The so-called suppression relies on strong military power to threaten the other party to open trade and restrict other traders from coming to trade to ensure that one's own share exceeds that of the opponent.

Zhang Shun didn't think of this at first, but after Zheng Zhilong reminded him, he immediately reacted.

"Let's do this!" Zhang Shun was so smart. When he heard this, he rolled his eyes and smiled, "Starting from tomorrow, Zheng's navy will be operational, and our navy will also launch anti-smuggling activities. "

"Isn't now a good season to go to sea? I want to see which ship dares to smuggle out to sea without my permission!"