Chen Jian'an sat in Zhangzhou, setting up wine and banquets all day long to entertain those who had contact with him in advance.

He can sit in peace, and he has people who are restless.

Somewhere in a mansion, several people looked anxious, waiting for some news.

Their smuggling boat was detained, which was nothing short of unprecedented. If you are robbed by the Japanese bandits, it is understandable, and if you are robbed by the rest of the pirates, you will admit it, but you are detained by someone under the pretext of violating the law, which is simply a big joke in the world. Is it true that smuggling is illegal? And is it really possible to be punished? These people are quite incredible.

After a while, a person hurriedly ran in, and several people hurriedly asked, "How is it?" ”

"Master, this Jian Chen is really hard-hearted, and he doesn't get oil and salt. After entering, you should eat and drink, and gossip, but when it comes to the seized ship, you don't talk about it. But he didn't say anything about the words of a righteous man and a gentleman, and he didn't say a word about going to Japan to trade and smuggle against national law. ”

The few people who questioned him obviously had a smuggling boat seized, and when they heard this, they couldn't help but scold: "The petty official the size of a sesame mung bean really thinks of himself as something?" How many years have been like this, why did he change as soon as he came? ”

These people obviously have a bend around it, Chen Jian's power comes from the fleet and army in his hands, not from the emperor's grant, people outside the system are the most difficult to solve, and the old methods are afraid that they will not work.

After scolding a few words anxiously, he asked again, "What does he want?" Didn't I tell you, if you want money, as long as the price is right, you can talk about it. Or is he ready to pay tribute every year, which can be discussed. ”

"Sir, he is not short of money. A hundred and ten pounds of gold and boxes of silver coins were laid there. When eating, he also asked people to throw silver coins to listen to the sound, saying that he liked to listen to the sound of silver coins falling together, which was extremely vulgar. ”

Saying this, the questioner said curiously: "Could it be that you really met a character like Hai Gangfeng who can't eat oil and salt?" Now that the governor has changed one stubble after another, and the general army has changed one batch after another, I really haven't heard of anyone really caring about this smuggling business. It's just a Fanbang Yidi, a petty official who has mixed up with the envoy of the Propaganda Minister, and he really wants to learn from that Jin Riyan? What else did he say? It's not like you have to be selfless if you really want to be honest, right? How can there be such a fool in the world, even if it is a person from Fanbang, he will not be stupid like this, right? ”

The man who reported the message said: "I didn't say anything, but when I quietly sent the money, he said that he was not here to collect money, but to bring everyone to make a fortune together." By the way, I gave a price list and asked me to bring it back to show the gentlemen. ”

The price list was not big, it was just a booklet, and there were not many words on it.

The front roughly introduces the appearance of the world, and the back is the price list of the blue and white porcelain auction in Amsterdam four years ago, the types of porcelain are clearly written, and even some things these people know better than Chen Jian, all of them are from Jingdezhen official kilns.

After reading the price list, the hearts of the two people couldn't stand it anymore, and the heart said that the little money they earned was really small compared to this group of people. No wonder those red businessmen would come here from thousands of miles, it was because they couldn't afford to make a profit, they should have thought that they would make a lot of profits, but they didn't expect to make so much money.

If you used to think about it, you can only think about it, not to mention whether there is a market for you to go to and don't know whether there is a market, not to mention the plundering of pirates and thieves on the sea, not to mention any waves and storms, etc., even if the wind and waves are calm, there is no sea bandit, there is a mountain of gold on the other side of the useless - now there are very few people who can go directly to Japan, and they can only be called first-class characters on the sea, and they can only go around from the Ryukyus, so the 90,000-mile journey around the ends of the earth is simply a fool's dream.

The first few pages are the amazing prices of blue and white porcelain, followed by the price statistics of nutmeg, cinnamon, pepper, raw silk and the like. When Chen Jian was in The Hague before, it was just in time for the Italian disaster to reduce silk production, and the price of raw silk that year simply broke through the sky.

After reading it, those people swallowed and said: "I can't imagine it, I really can't imagine that these things can be sold at such a price in Fanbang?" ”

"Think about it, otherwise how could those people from Fanbang run tens of thousands of miles? Ten miles of rice, 100 miles of salt, 90,000 miles away! ”

"But what is he trying to do? If he wants porcelain, he can buy it himself; If you want raw silk, as long as you have money, he can change it. I don't believe it, is there really anyone who believes that Wang Hua is dedicated to naturalization? Is it really thousands of miles away to pull everyone to make a fortune together? I'm afraid it's a hidden evil. ”

The messenger said, "Master, he said it." It is said that people have no foresight, but they must have near-term worries. And what do you say when the tree is planted, and when the fruit is harvested in the twentieth year, and so on? Someone also mentioned him, asking that it is good to plant trees for 20 years and harvest now, but what to eat now? ”

"What did he say?"

He said that planting trees does not hinder rice planting.

Those few people all laughed and said disdainfully: "I really think he is a moral figure, and I am convinced that Wang Hua is law-abiding, so it seems that this is nothing more than that." Although he detained the boat, he really admired it, and now he is still such a character. ”

"Master, I listened to him, I want us to also contribute some share capital, and we can make money together."

"If it's just profit, there's nothing to say, I'm just afraid he'll treat us like monkeys in the fire. I heard that the ship of He Lan Hongyi was fifty zhang long, and it was all powdered for ten miles in one shot. Although this man won three or five thousand Japanese in the Ryukyus, he is probably no match for the Hiran people, let alone the Franc man. ”

The messenger hurriedly said, "There is no need to be afraid. Not to mention the guns, Chen Jian also showed us a group photo. It is said that one of them is the ruler of the country of Helan, which basically means regent. There is also a painting of him and an old man, who said that he was the speaker of the Dutch country, and he was probably the prime minister. He said that he was a person who talked and laughed with these people, and if he didn't have a strong gun, he was afraid that he would not be qualified to do so. Otherwise, don't say a group photo, I'm afraid that he himself will become a number like the Luzon Massacre. ”

"If that's the case, there's no reason for it. He can make a fortune himself, and he has enough capital, so why should he make a joint-stock company with us? ”

Everyone fell silent, and they really couldn't figure out what Jian Chen wanted to do. No matter how you look at it, it doesn't make sense.

The concept of the joint-stock system was not new to merchants in the coastal provinces of the Ming Dynasty. The purpose behind Chen Jian's seizure of goods is also very clear to the businessmen, he is not really a law-abiding person, just to monopolize the trade monopoly in his hands.

If he is really a law-abiding domestic person, he will naturally attack him in groups. However, it has reached the point where Sima Zhao's heart is well known, and the opposition is much less than normal.

Unlike the piracy situation in the South China Sea on the normal line, Wangbei City is not Manila or Batavia, it is not the end point of trade, but only a military base for trade monopolies.

Therefore, there is no need to cultivate local pirates like the Dutch in history, cut off the sea route to Manila, and rely on robbery to increase the cost of getting to Manila, so as to force Chinese maritime merchants to divert to Batavia.

After Chen Jian obtained the legal right to trade and that official status, the pirates were already his mortal enemies. All he has to do is to become a legal pirate, and use all kinds of black and white means to force the maritime merchants to stand with him. As for where the maritime merchants go, they will naturally go to whichever side with high profits, and after everyone joins, they can escort it.

Open the sea for free trade or something, for the maritime merchants who are organized together by the clan at this time, and the organizational ability is to the limit of the family, that is, to send money to the slaughtered lambs to the foreign clans. Even if it becomes a big pirate organization, it is stronger than the current unorganized, how can a person and a family work in a joint-stock company, and they will be played to death.

Now that the situation in the South China Sea has been opened, in fact, Chen Jian does not need the shares of these maritime merchants, and now he sends back a ship to explain the situation here as an Indian Chinese company, and he can raise enough shares within a month, but in the future, Taiwan may become a base for colonialism.

Because of this, these maritime gentry or the relatives of officials are extremely unable to figure out what Chen Jian did, which is completely unreasonable. Although they said that they would rely on indoctrination to make Siyi surrender, in fact, few people really believed it, so they didn't believe in the only explanation at all.

It sounds like a good thing, but when it doesn't make sense, it feels like a trap.

After thinking for a long time, he asked, "How many people go to Jian Chen?" ”

"It's a lot of traffic. There are a lot of people, but most of them are still waiting. Although these people are Fanbang Yidi, they seem to be people who talk and count on weekdays. He also said that in the future, the share capital dividend account will be clear, and the company will also have its own law. How to distribute dividends and how to accumulate are all clear. He also said that if someone commits the great crime of illegally raiding the house in the future, as long as the heir takes the account, it will not be less. But they also know that without faith a man cannot stand. ”

Speaking of this, the messenger said, "Master, I don't know whether to say something or not. ”

"Say."

"I'm afraid that this Chen Jianding is not a good person. Now that he can be stuck in the Ryukyus, won't he be able to seize ships bound for Luzon when he becomes more powerful in the future? Speaking of which, Taizu Zu Xun, a piece of sail is not allowed to enter the sea. Even if he is caught, he can only endure this matter, at most he will scatter and beg for the ban on the sea, of course he can't trade, but if he jumps off the wall in a hurry, others don't want to go to sea. Although this man is reasonable, judging from his actions, he is also a person who will be rewarded. If the sea had been banned in the past, everyone would still be able to smuggle. If it is not beneficial to forbid the sea by tearing his face and damaging others with him, then he can really make the matter of banning the sea true at any cost. ”

They are all forbidden seas, and whether or not they have the right to control the sea, they can be divided into fake bans that facilitate smuggling and real bans that are impossible for smuggling. It is not the mercenary people who are afraid of the people, but the people who are not mercenary for what purpose, and such people cannot be reasonable, which is precisely the reason why people like to associate with corrupt officials and do not like really iron-faced and selfless officials.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I estimate that if Jian Chen wants to divide the benefits of everyone, what he is afraid of is that the time will be over, and the sea will be forbidden. This may be the only thing that makes sense, otherwise he would not have been able to share it in our favor. Now that he wants to make a profit, he must still have to transport the goods of the Celestial Empire, so naturally he has to use us. The adults of the temple can't kill him or harm him, but they can't make him money. He doesn't fancy our share capital, nor our connections, the only reason why he can share profits is that he is afraid that some people will harm others and themselves. Or maybe he wants those people to understand that when the day comes when he is not allowed to go to sea, he has the ability to turn this sentence into truth, and then he will be shooting himself in the foot. ”

Everyone smacked it, thinking that this was true.

Some words cannot be said explicitly, but their hearts are like mirrors. I feel that don't look at Jian Chen's dancing joy now, in the future, a sentence in the court will make the foundation that he has worked so hard to build come to naught.

However, they also understand that although they have the title of a consolation envoy, they are really not really people in the system, but like the chieftain in the north, but it doesn't seem to be a reverse species for the time being. Even if there is a sentence in the temple in the future, he will not be able to trade legally, and those who want to rely on real profits will not be able to reap the benefits - as for those who really ask for the ban on the sea for the sake of the world, it will not become a climate, and those who can get the benefits of smuggling in the original forbidden sea will oppose it when they can't get the benefits, and the two mouths are positive and negative, no matter how you say it.

Thinking of this, the messenger said, "I'm afraid that we are still hesitating, and someone has already joined." When the time comes, I'm afraid it's too late for us to join. He can detain the ship today, and he can do the same tomorrow, and after someone joins, he is more well-informed, and if he detains one, he will receive dividends. The ships that joined are not deducted, only those that have not joined, and they can't be beaten at sea, and there is really nothing to be done. Unless a new sea route is found, bypassing the existing route, but it is extremely difficult. Jian Chen also told the story before, and said that why the Franco machine man was able to travel thousands of miles was because he wanted to find a new route. Although he didn't say it so bluntly, he said that if these smugglers could circle the earth and go around Japan in the future, he would be powerless, and he was afraid that he would not have the ability. ”