Please ask me to be the emperor

Chapter 1733 Declaration of the Age of Discovery

The sky has heaven and earth, and the earth has yin and yang, so mountains, rivers, and objects are all different. "Zhang Shun stood on the high platform and talked eloquently.

"The red lacquer feathers from Long and Shu, the leather and bone elephants from Jing and Yang, the bamboo arrows from Nanzi from the south of the Yangtze River, the fish and salt coats from Yan and Qi, and the lacquer silk buns from Yan and Yu, each has its own production."

"Therefore, the sage used the boat as a boat to connect the rivers and valleys, to serve the oxen and the horses, to reach the tombs and the land; to reach the far and poor, so he handed over the common people and benefited the people."

"Nowadays, huge ships are coming out. They can carry more than a million catties of cargo, and they can travel thousands of miles every month. These are all beyond the reach of chariots and horses, and even manpower cannot reach them!"

"This is why Europa's journey to China, which is 80,000 miles away, has not been connected since ancient times. However, it has been connected for more than 70 years now. This is because of the boom in shipping."

"In the past, with the rise of carriages and carriages, goods could be transported to all directions and the nine continents could be unified. Today, with the rise of giant ships, it should be the same as in the past, when goods should colonize the four seas and unify the four continents."

"I firmly know that this is not something that can be achieved overnight, nor can it be achieved by one family or one country, nor can it benefit one generation after another."

"I am willing to work together with my Chinese descendants to explore the world and share the benefits."

As soon as Zhang Shun said this, all the merchants and maritime merchants who were sitting down, including Sun Kewang, Zheng Zhilong, etc., were in an uproar and started talking to each other.

It turned out that after Zhang Shun was assassinated in Hangzhou, he dispatched Li Zicheng to lead his army and sent people to arrest Zhang Guowei, the governor of Yuan Yingtian. For a while, there was no news.

However, during this period, through the full cooperation of Huang Shoucai, Zhao Lizi, Zheng Zhilong and others, the smuggling points in the Zhoushan Islands were basically eliminated.

A total of more than 100 pirates, large and small, were killed, more than 1,000 pirates and smugglers were captured, 37 Japanese pirates, red-haired fans, and Buddhists were captured, and 73 large and small ships were seized. Raw silk, silk, Tea, medicinal materials, porcelain, etc. were worth more than 100,000 taels. Thirty-three smuggling dens were destroyed, including more than 200 merchants and maritime merchants involved in the case.

After this battle, the smuggling activities that were once extremely rampant along the coast of Ningbo were basically eliminated, and large amounts of goods and ships could no longer sneak out to sea.

Therefore, those merchants and maritime merchants had to come and cry and clamor to participate in the maritime trade conference organized by the imperial court.

According to their thinking, Zhang Shun did this just to share their interests.

The winner is the king and the loser is the bandit. Now that he has fallen into his hands this time, he can only cut his flesh.

However, when Zhang Shun opened his mouth, they realized that they were wrong.

This guy really cares about the profit, and he has set his sights on the entire overseas market.

Some people who are politically literate even vaguely recall a sentence: "In the whole world, there is nothing but the king's land. On the shore of the land, there is nothing but the king's ministers!"

If done properly and the "government and the people" cooperate, it may not be impossible to regain the grandeur of the east-west two weeks in the past.

Businessmen talk about profits and are not interested in these grand narratives. However, this does not prevent them from estimating the benefits.

But looking at Dengzhou's trade with North Korea and Japan, the annual profits should be in the millions.

This one million taels of silver has attracted so many heroes from Dongjiang Town, Liaodong Town and Denglai Town to covet it, caused many killings for it, and attracted many heroes to bow to it.

Not to mention the southeastern coastal areas that trade with Japan, Luzon, and Southeast Asia. The annual net profit ranges from millions of taels.

It also led to many fighting games among Japan, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, various sea routes and officials.

Nowadays, a change of dynasty is imminent. Unexpectedly, the "new emperor" Zhang Shun, who is about to ascend the throne, has stated that not only is he not opposed to maritime trade, but he also wants to vigorously develop maritime trade, and is even ready to expand it further and deeper. How can this not make people crazy?

Today, only trading with North Korea, Japan, Luzon and Southeast Asia is so profitable.

If we expand to Tianzhu, Dashi, Europe, North and South America and other places, what kind of financial resources will it bring?

Thinking of this, these people couldn't help but blush. They wished they could take their goods to sea immediately, cross the ocean, and come back in exchange for gold and silver.

Seeing that the fire was almost done, Zhang Shun couldn't help but continue to shout loudly: "Since Nuwa created humans, for thousands of years, they can only walk on two legs, rely on shoulders and hands to resist transportation, and can only trade near their residences. This can be called ' 'Proximity'."

"Since humans tamed livestock and sages made chariots, people have been able to travel thousands of miles and trade on the road. This is how Zhang Qian opened the Western Regions in the past. This can be called the 'Continental Age'."

"Nowadays, giant ships set sail and can sail around the world, which is a hundred times better than cars. People can sail around the world through the sea. I call it the 'Great Age of Navigation'."

"In the past, when chariots and chariots were flourishing, our Chinese people expanded and colonized nine states through the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, and now we have two capitals and thirteen provinces."

"In today's world, just like back then, it seems that we did not colonize other people, but others colonized me, with no exception. How can I, the descendants of Yan and Huang, descendants of China, colonize others?"

"Now, countries such as Italy, Ezebania, and Holland can come to our country, look at our reality, and make profits. I cannot go to their countries and make profits. This is a great danger to the sincere country."

"The imperial court wants to take advantage of his skills and create a large-scale ocean-going navy to protect our merchants and colonize the world. However, the country's tax revenue is limited and cannot afford it!"

"Today I am a businessman, raising silkworms and reeling silk to weave brocade; rolling soil into embryos and firing them into porcelain; watering and irrigating; and picking tea leaves. I just want to exchange them for silver and taels of money, and then I can buy food for my mouth and clothing for my body, but there is no sale. .”

"Today, I am a sea merchant, fighting against the wind and waves, crossing the ocean, in order to gain ten times the profit. However, the natives make things difficult for no reason, or rob their property, or hurt their lives. It is really hateful!"

"What can be done?"

"What can be done?"

"What to do about it!"

Zhang Shun asked three questions in a row, his voice getting louder and louder each time, his emotions getting more intense each time, deafening and deafening, making everyone's hearts tremble.

"We are willing to follow His Highness and work together to colonize the world!" As soon as Zhang Shun finished speaking, someone couldn't hold himself back and responded loudly.

"Work together and colonize the world! Work together and colonize the world!" Someone started, and naturally others followed and shouted, pushing the atmosphere to a climax.

"Okay, let's work together to colonize the world!" Zhang Shun quickly answered loudly.

Everyone shouted in unison, their faces rosy and excited, as if they had just taken a pot of Shiquan Dabu Pills.

Zhang Shun saw that "the people's support can be used" and then smiled and said: "In that case, I will make a rule and discuss it with everyone."

"When goods go to sea and merchant ships go to sea, the imperial court will collect the April 1st tax and use it for the construction of maritime navy."

"The collection and use of taxes must be reported to the members of the Maritime Trade Conference on a regular basis to reassure everyone and facilitate everyone's supervision. I wonder if that's okay?"

"Ah?" When everyone heard Zhang Shun's words, they were shocked and couldn't help but said, "How can this be done? How can we common people dare to supervise the emperor?"

Unexpectedly, Zhang Shun smiled and said: "I can only eat three meals a day, and I can only wear five feet of clothing. How much can I spend on delicacies from the mountains and seas, and beauties and concubines?"

"This is not to ask you to supervise me, but to supervise the lawless people for me, and to make money from them!"

"Easy to say, easy to say, King Shun alone makes the decision!" After hearing this, everyone was overjoyed.

"Secondly, the quantity of goods produced by merchants varies. If there are many goods, they will be unsalable, and if there are few goods, there will be shortages, which will affect the cooperation between the two parties."

"I propose that maritime merchants can place orders with merchants in advance and only need to pay part of the deposit to order the goods, so as to avoid the risk of uneven quantities and price fluctuations. What do you think?"

"Okay, this is good, we have no objection!" Everyone clapped their hands and laughed, and said one after another, "It turns out that His Highness is a knowledgeable person!"

"Third, when merchants go to sea, they may encounter storms or pirates, and they are often in danger of losing their fortune. Purchasing goods requires a lot of capital, and there is also the risk of a shortage of funds."

"I want to set up a bank and call it Haimao Bank. One will be responsible for insurance and the other will be responsible for lending to help everyone. I wonder if that's okay?"

"We all understand this loan, but what is this insurance business?" Everyone was stunned when they heard this, and quickly asked.

"Insurance means protection!" Zhang Shun said with a smile, "Every ship that goes to sea must pay a certain amount of premium before departure, just in case."

"If you are indeed in danger, the bank can pay compensation according to the insured amount."

"For example, if you go out to sea and buy accident insurance for one million yuan, if there is an accident, the bank will pay the compensation."

“Of course, in order to prevent fraudulent claims at sea, relevant certificates must be provided.”

"Okay, this is good!" After hearing this, everyone couldn't help but answer.

Of course, there were also smart people who quickly asked how the bank was established.

Zhang Shun had already known about this, and couldn't help but laugh: "This is how the king plans this matter: the initial investment of this bank is 10 million taels of silver, of which 50% is contributed by the court, 20% by maritime merchants, 20% by merchants, and the remaining 10% will be contributed by retail investors.”

"The profits earned every year are also divided by the bank according to the proportion of investment. What do you think?"

"Okay, this is great!" Some businessmen who are risk-averse and like stability couldn't help but say, "I wonder how Your Highness will divide the shares?"

"Ten thousand taels per share, totaling 1,000 shares. What do you think?" Zhang Shun hesitated for a moment and then said.

"Okay, I'll subscribe for two shares first!" Someone had already shouted.

It didn't matter that he was shouting. Someone suddenly remembered that the number of places was limited and couldn't help but start shouting too.

Zhang Shun immediately didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and quickly comforted everyone and said: "Please wait for the dispute, please leave your name and intention first, we can discuss this later!"

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