(Continue to reissue today, continue to update normally after today's reissue,,, I am speechless for the inconvenience caused to everyone's reading, and I apologize again.) ）

Spring is the time of rejuvenation.

And this spring, for Zhu Mingzhong, is definitely a happy spring. Not to mention that the shadow of childlessness in the past two years has disappeared with the pregnancy of Jin Zuo and Zheng Ling, even in many other things, it can also be said that there are happy events.

Not only is it limited to the political communication and people in Jiangbei, but also in foreign trade, the Beiyang firm and the Western firm that was just established last year have now become two cornucopias. He is absorbing wealth from Japan, Korea, and the South Seas at a speed beyond his imagination, and even in the trade with the West, he is also showing unprecedented vigor.

“…… Now, the most popular among Western merchants is the glass mirror produced in Jiangbei, according to the Dutch businessmen who entered the port, even if it is a Venetian glass mirror, in terms of quality, it can not be compared with the glass mirror produced in Jiangbei, and our mirror is larger, can be made into a large mirror worth ten thousand gold, while the Venetian glass mirror can only be made into a small mirror of one and a half feet, those Indian princes like Jiangbei mirror the most......"

As the manager of the Western firm, Wang Puzhi used to be an officer of the Accounting Section of the Logistics Department of the Loyal and Righteous Army in charge of general affairs, finance, clothing, and provisions, and now as the manager of the Western firm, it undoubtedly shows that the Western firm is different from the Beiyang firm.

According to the articles of association of the Western firm, the initial total capital of the firm was 5 million Jiangbei silver dollars, with a total of 1 million shares. Non-Jiangbei nationals are not allowed to subscribe for shares, of which 500,000 shares were subscribed by the Economic and Diplomatic Affairs Bureau, totaling 2.5 million silver dollars. But in fact, the government office did not pay a penny, but offset it with the wharves and auxiliary facilities in Keelung, Nantianmen and Pingnan, as well as the concessions in the area south of Keelung. As for the other 500,000 shares, they were recruited from the outside world, and 50 percent of the shares recruited were completely purchased by the officials and officers and soldiers of the government office, and there were more than 70,000 shareholders, and the number of private shareholders of the other 250,000 shares was also as high as 10,000.

In this way, it is difficult for private shareholders to pool their forces to exercise shareholder rights, thus providing the safest guarantee for the government to exercise absolute control over the firm. It can be said that it is clear from the capital operation and the articles of association of the company that although the Western firm is a "private commercial organization" on the surface, it is by no means a free enterprise. It is a strong company that must be operated in strict accordance with the special requirements and regulations of the government. It is an enterprise in the ordinary sense, and it is reflected in every cell in the Western firm that it represents the will of the government office, and it is the "national policy firm" that Zhu Mingzhong will implement in the future to implement the "overseas policy", and it is also an important institution for China's overseas expansion in the future.

As the manager of the firm, Wang Puzhi also declared very blatantly and arrogantly that he wanted to build the Western firm into a "pioneer in the development of overseas trade similar to the Westerner East India Company".

"However, our plan is that this year we will overcome all difficulties and send trading ships to India, otherwise, it will undoubtedly be extremely detrimental to the development of the business just to act as a supplier of goods."

For Wang Puzhi, who has hired a number of Westerners as his personal staff, he knows very well what the future of the business is, and the key to the development of the business is to colonize overseas through overseas trade.

"After all, the profits of direct trade are greater, and the export price of the unique Yizhang Dajing firm in Jiangbei is 7,000 yuan, and we estimate that the Dutch should sell it for no less than 15,000 yuan in India, or even higher, so it is extremely necessary to develop direct trade......

When Wang Puzhi mentioned "a large glass mirror", Zhu Mingzhong only smiled slightly, because this kind of large glass mirror is not manufactured by the artificial blowing tube spreading method used before, but is more suitable for industrial production of the pouring method, this flat glass pouring method, in the history of 1688 began to be mass-produced in France, because it is more convenient to produce, so it will quickly reduce the cost of flat glass, so that flat glass has become popular. Because of this, most of the applications of this kind of flat glass are used for window glass and four-wheeled carriage window glass, and because of its cheapness, the once valuable glass mirror has been introduced to ordinary people's homes and has become a common thing.

Of course, although it has the advantage of being able to produce plate glass with a much larger size than the blowing method. And the technical requirements for workers are also much lower, but its shortcomings are also obvious, that is, the investment in fixed assets is large, compared with the semi-manual workshop manufacturing of the spreading method, then the pouring flat glass factory is completely a modern factory.

If the market size is limited, then investing in a cast flat glass plant will inevitably lead to a surge in costs due to the market size, which will cause the factory to fall into a loss. However, compared to Europe a few decades later, tens of millions of people were slaughtered in China after the Manchu Qing Dynasty entered the customs, but there are still tens of millions of people, plus Korea, Japan and Nanyang, the market potential is huge. Therefore, Zhu Mingzhong invested in the establishment of a flat glass factory last year, which lasted nearly eight months to build a factory composed of furnaces, calcining kilns and annealing kilns. However, most of the flat glass produced by the factory is ground and polished to make mirrors. The reason for restricting promotion is to maintain the profit of glass mirrors.

"The windfall profits of glass mirrors, in a few years, I am afraid it will end, the real profit point, or cotton, porcelain, and even tea and other goods produced in China, the profiteering industry is not sustainable, once foreigners know how to make glass mirrors, it will inevitably lead to the windfall profits of glass mirrors no longer exist!"

Knowing that soon the secret of the Venetian glass mirror will be obtained by the French, after the French obtained the secret of manufacturing the glass mirror, its sky-high price immediately fell, so Zhu Mingzhong naturally knew very well that such a huge profit would not last for a few years at all.

"Strategy, this is not a problem, as long as there are a few years of windfall profits, it is enough for us to gain a foothold in India and in the South Seas, and when the time comes, there will naturally be alternative trade to replace the glass mirror."

For the development of overseas trade, Wang Puzhi is naturally full of confidence, for him, doing business is what he is best at.

In fact, before joining the army, he was a businessman, as a native of Huizhou, according to the customs of the time, as early as thirteen or fourteen years old, he went out with the elders of the village to learn to do business, looking for a way to make a living. After three years of apprenticeship in the shop, after several tosses, he had his own business name in Jiangyin, but the fire overnight not only made him lose everything, but also owed hundreds of taels of debt, it was in order to maintain the livelihood of his family, he joined the Loyal Army, among the dozen managers of the Accounting Department of the Loyal Army, he was able to become the head of the business, precisely because he was good at business.

"As long as there are one or two profiteering goods as maintenance, and then we can sell cotton, porcelain, silk, tea, and other goods everywhere, even if we lose money at the beginning, there is no problem, as long as we can gain a foothold there, business will naturally be able to continue, and the key to gaining a foothold is the trading post......"

Looking at Jing Luo, Wang Puzhi's tone was a little tentative, for him who has been "humbly" learning how to do overseas business from Westerners, he has heard of the trade post countless times, and he is naturally fascinated by it, but the establishment of a trade post requires the permission of Jing Luo.

"Trading Post?"

Looking at Wang Puzhi, Zhu Mingzhong motioned for him to continue.

"Jinglu, when the firm was established, you said that in overseas trade, China seems to have been engaged in overseas trade as early as before the Tang and Song dynasties, but in fact, in this process, our role is only the role of suppliers, and it is always foreigners who come and go on the trade routes. The fundamental reason is that every time they go to a place, they will use various means to seize or forcibly occupy coastal ports, and build trading posts accordingly, so that they can have the upper hand in trade with the local people, otherwise the port will be controlled by the local natives, and it will definitely add a lot of trouble, just as the Portuguese today rely on their base in Macao, so that they can be ahead of the Western countries in trade with our Ming Dynasty. Therefore, if a Western merchant wants to start trading, he must first build a trading post."

What is a Trading Post? It is clearly a colonial stronghold, listening to Wang Puzhi's explanation, how could Zhu Mingzhong, who had played games such as the Age of Discovery, not know what the so-called trading post was?

"Moreover, it is better to come forward as a merchant than to come forward with the government, so as to reduce the vigilance of the local natives, and when the merchant has gained a stronghold and expanded its trade into its hinterland, when the time comes, the merchant can also hand over the stronghold to the imperial court......

When he said this, Wang Puzhi's tone seemed to be calm, but he was a little nervous in his heart, he had read the book for a few years, and naturally knew that he was asking for something, what he was asking for was not just a trade license, but to allow the firm to have its own army! If there is no army, how can it be possible to seize the stronghold?

"Hmmm......"

Pondering that Zhu Mingzhong did not immediately agree to Wang Puzhi's request, but weighed the pros and cons in his heart, the kind of "franchise company" that Wang Puzhi said was the starting point of Western colonization overseas, such as the East India Company, the Virginia Company, etc., it can be said that the West has completed the overseas colonization cause by virtue of those franchise companies, but can the Chinese people accept such an enterprise?

Just when Zhu Mingzhong hesitated, Wang Puzhi tentatively added another chip and said.

"Jingluo, I heard that the eight families of the Manchu Qing Dynasty are also preparing to go to the South Seas."