From the point of view of his own profit, this person's previous thoughts were commendable, and Jian Chen knew that this person would soon make a name for himself in the Nanyang Trading Company after he returned, but this kind of emergence was a bit scary. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

After saluting the people around him, the young man said: "When I was an accountant in Mincheng, I read a pamphlet of the Progressive League, which was because of some reflections and thoughts after the orchid incident. It mainly talks about the composition of wealth, its sources and profits, currency, gold and silver, and so on. I was very impressed by this book. ”

"Later, before we went to Europe, we followed Mr. Chen to the Great Wilderness City, and their form of currency there can also be said to confirm some of the speculations in that book."

"In this case, since the first need of each shareholder is to obtain profits, and since profit is the foundation of a joint-stock company, I have to say some means by which we can make a profit on this basis."

"For example...... Some small islands in the south, which are inhabited, but very backward. From that booklet, we know that labour is the basis and source of wealth, and that from the point of view of the owner or the man who runs the farm, the profit is equal to the money that is sold after harvesting the goods, minus the rent, minus the cost of hired labor, and minus the input seeds. ”

"This is valid in Mincheng, in the capital, and in the homeland. Why, because the land already has an owner, and the rent is given to the owner of the land. ”

"On some small islands in the south, the formula still works, but the most important question has changed."

That is: whose land owns? To whom is the ground rent paid? ”

"Operating profits, although the market changes. As for ground rent, there is no need to worry about changes in the market. ”

"If we can get the land by guns, then the rent will be ours. From the point of view of profitability, at least for a short time, there is no doubt that the profit of trade is not as good as the acquisition of land rent. ”

"Secondly, on some islands, as in Thailand, the landowners of this land system live on land rent. The peasants at the lowest level, in addition to paying rent to the landowners, also had to pay state taxes and fees. If we break this feudal land model and switch to direct land rent, reducing the intermediate links, plus we can collect a poll tax, how much profit will be there? How much does it cost? ”

"The issue of cost can be considered in this way. As long as we install some locals and allow them not to pay the poll tax and all kinds of fees, they will help us collect taxes and help us maintain stability. It doesn't cost much, and it's hugely profitable. ”

Jian Chen frowned and coughed lightly, saying in his heart that this was to slap himself in the face with his own things. Theory is always a tool, the key is to see who uses it and how to use it. He didn't write the pamphlet, but the impact it had had on him was inextricably linked, and now he used it to guide the colonial system in a clear way, which is simply intoxicating.

The man glanced at Jian Chen and said with a smile: "Mr. Chen is a good person, so he is soft-hearted. It's just a joint-stock company, not calculated with good intentions, only interests are the goal. By the way, I would also like to thank Mr. Chen for letting us look at the banknotes in the Great Wilderness City, which also made me think a lot. ”

He smiled and pointed south, "Those places in the south are rich in spices, but they have nothing but spices. Since Mr. Chen was in the Great Wilderness City, relying on farm tools, grain, salt, tools, and land ownership, he was able to promote paper money, so it can be said that paper money is a medium. It doesn't have to be silver or gold. ”

"It's a simple question. If we want to control the spices of the South, what is the most profitable way? Very simple! Jamming grain and cloth, pushing paper money. As long as we can control the island, then everything on the island is enclosed, and paper money is used as a medium to buy food and cloth and everything necessary for life. And they can only exchange spices for paper money. ”

"If we can control rice and cotton, we don't even need silver as a trade. In this way, the company can save huge working expenses. Again, on the basis of these two points, plus salt, tobacco, sugar, metals, and so on, all transactions on the whole island are carried out in paper money, and paper money is controlled in our hands, in fact: paper money buys spices, and we make it once. They bought rice and cotton cloth with paper money again, and we earned it again. ”

"And for those people, they don't even have the courage to stand up to us. If they resist, the paper money in their hands will be waste paper, and they will not get anything, because they have no silver, and they will not be accepted for trading with others. What else can they do but trade with us? ”

He thought for a moment, and then said, "That pamphlet says that labor is the source of wealth. Then what we want to grab is the labor of the people on those small islands. As long as they can work, we can make a profit. Spice picking, endless, this is the wealth brought by labor. Wealth does not come from gold and silver, it is only a medium. ”

"This is the plan for the future spice trade in the south. And for some countries that already have population and arable land, the most profitable thing is to kill their monarch with guns and cannons, in exchange for us to collect land rent. Ladies and gentlemen, you can think about it, this will not affect our trade profits, and we can invest a sum of money to get the income from the land rent tax and poll tax every year. Is there anything more lucrative than this? ”

"And, when I did the math, it wasn't really much. For example, in a territory, we give taxes to a local person. Locals are responsible to us and pay the tax package. And he can still make a profit on the place he has contracted. Of course, we can come up with a rule that sets the standard for local taxation. If the bottom resists, we will kill a few tax-packers. Let the anger at the bottom be concentrated on those who pack taxes, not on us. To provoke infighting among their ethnic groups and divide their ethnic groups, it is not necessary to have any religion at all, and it can be controlled. ”

"Nowadays, ground rent is more profitable than normal profits. Moreover, without affecting the profits of trade, even lower tariffs can be controlled. ”

"So, in terms of land rent as profit, our goal should not be here, but in India. It is rich, it is said that there is enough land, and the population is large, and there are many states. Let's control there, and the income we can get is by no means comparable here. It is impossible for the profits of trade today to exceed the rent. Nor can the profits of the factories exceed the rent. At least we don't. ”

Chen Jian scolded secretly, but he had to admit that what this person said was right, unless it was a strange thing like spice trade, which could have a profit of 400 percent, the level of productivity and the size of the market at this time, this young man was right, land rent is still the first choice for the company's interests.

It can be seen that if you read more books, it is not good for Minzhi to learn interest analysis at the beginning of the year, so you can't do many things that Chen Jian wants to do, and you can't even talk about reasoning.

The young man glanced at Jian Chen, bowed his head and said, "Mr. Chen, I respect you very much, but I must remind you that your ideals or party affiliation are your business and your party's business, please don't get involved in the joint-stock company." Your only goal as a shareholder is to make a profit for the shareholder. Please think about this. Nanyang Trading Company is not the property of your Mexican Party! ”

"I never doubt your mind, but obviously when you make decisions, the interests of the shareholders come second, or even later. Of course, in the east of the ends of the earth, I agree with everything you do, including the ends of the world, you are also thinking about the future, I thought about it afterwards, but I didn't think about it thoughtfully. However, the question here, you have to give an explanation to our shareholders, what are you going to do? ”

Lan Qi snorted, wanting to refute something, but was held down by Jian Chen.

He pinched his head, got up and asked, "What are you questioning?" ”

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to remind you."

"Okay, remind me, I'll take it. So putting aside the matter of land rent in India, what do you think about the trade here? ”

"I have already said the long-term plan, at least at this time the land rent and poll tax are more profitable. And the short-term ...... I suggest that the best strategy of that Ming merchant be taken and occupy the big position. ”

"And then?"

"And then? Nowadays, the places where Ming merchants can profit are none other than Manila, Pattani, Malacca, Aceh, and Japan. If we control the Chief, we can use our navy to control the local merchant ships. They are not allowed to travel to Manila, Japan to trade, only where we control. In this way, we will be able to monopolize the trade here. Moreover, we can distribute flags, and every ship must fly our flag, otherwise we can sink or capture. ”

The young man smiled and said, "Everyone, don't ignore a problem, the merchants of the Ming Kingdom are also our competitors. Without us, they could travel to Japan on their own, so how could we profit? Everyone is now only worried about the Dutch, Portuguese, and Spaniards, but they ignore that the Ming merchants were the biggest competitors. ”

"Even if we control Pattani, after we gain a foothold, all we have to do is to prohibit the fleets of other countries from trading here, including the merchants of the Ming Kingdom. And they can only trade again through our hands, and we can make more money. Otherwise, we're going to have to compete and we're in danger of bidding. ”

The people around whispered, these words did sound very reasonable, Chen Jian and the others fermented for a while, and asked, "Finished?" ”

"Yes."

"I think you're thinking well, but you've obviously forgotten to think about a cost. If we do that, we will offend the Ming merchants, the Portuguese, the Dutch, and the Spaniards. Don't look at the Dutch now who have no intention of looking north, and are even competing with Portugal and Spain. But once we do, once the Dutch take control of the Spice Islands, they will join forces against us. Coupled with the merchants of the Ming Kingdom, do you think that a group of people who risk smuggling across the sea are really as weak as you think? ”

Glancing at the man, Jian Chen smiled and said, "I'll do the math for you, if we want to maintain such an advantage, we need at least thirty large battle ships, eighty armed merchant ships, three thousand to four thousand sailors and gunners, three thousand soldiers, sixty field guns, and one hundred and fifty managers." How much does it cost? How many years can it be recovered? Because we are doing this, we have to face the encirclement of the four countries. Even if the Ming Kingdom does not attach importance to maritime trade, but everyone, we can set up a trading company, can't those Ming maritime merchants form pirates? ”

He glanced at the young man and said in a pretended old-fashioned tone: "Young people's blood is hot and passionate, but you have to consider reality. ”

When Lan Qi heard this, she secretly pursed her lips and snickered, saying in her heart How old are you?

However, after all, Jian Chen was still qualified to say such a thing, the young man bowed his head and was silent, Jian Chen sighed and said, "Don't have such a big appetite. Moreover, we control the maritime merchants of the Ming Kingdom, who will sell the goods to? For such a big country, have you considered its production capacity? Have you ever thought about what you produce each year, and how big a market you need to sell it? When there is an oversupply, who do we sell to? If you do that, even if we stand our ground and we control it, the only market we can sell to Japan will remain. Can he eat so much in a year? Have you counted how many goods are smuggled at sea in a year? ”

Jian Chen shook his head, waved his finger again, and said, "You guys have miscalculated one thing, the rate of return." The shareholders of the Nanyang Trading Company will choose to trade with Europe, Africa and the Viceroyalty of Spain. With a low damage rate, high returns, and marine insurance, who would want to put their money here in this situation? To be clear, we don't have much demand for spices. Even if the trading company's share capital overflows and no more shares are issued, where will the capital go? ”

"It won't be here, it's just the last resort. Capital will go to the artisanal factories, workshops, silk reeling, cotton cloth factories, and even sugar cane and tobacco in the tropical archipelago. It won't flow here either. I am not saying that there will be no inflows, but that the capital here will not be able to raise the ability to control the trade that you have planned, relative to the rate of return elsewhere. ”

"There is a need for long-term operation, long-term and stable funds, and funds for at least ten years to pay dividends. So, thinking is good, but reality does not allow it. It is true that Nanyang is not our party property, nor is it my private property, but as a shareholder, I must also make it clear that we must adopt a different strategy. ”

Pretending to be flies flying, he quietly wiped a cold sweat, secretly glanced at everyone, and said that his "traitorous act" had to be explained by a reason for the benefit of the ethnic group, which was really troublesome.