"So, does he have any fear?"

"It seems so. He also said that if the maritime merchants could unite as one, he would be afraid. At that time, if the merchants in Fujian, Guangdong, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang coastal areas can seize the sea control, he will be a bullshit. But he also said that just like the sky falling, the collapse will definitely be finished, but it is a pity that he is from the Xia country, not the Qi country. ”

"How did he know that everyone couldn't work together?"

Because he is united with Eli, and the hypothetical unity that seems to be the fall of the heavens can only be Eli with the congregation. It's all the same, why don't others choose him and choose that unlikely thing? Everything is nothing but righteousness, and profit is weaker than righteousness, but how can merchants be organized together by righteousness? Even if righteousness is taken, what is this righteousness? I have to think of a reason, but it's hard to think of. So I think he really has no fear. ”

Several people secretly pondered to themselves, the only way to restrain him was to harm others and not to himself, and now that his momentum has been achieved, it is difficult to shake it.

I heard that many people have already started to come into contact, and these people are also starting to get anxious.

News kept coming, and every day all sorts of people came in and out of that strange building. At first, he was reserved or hesitant, but finally turned into anxious, and began to take the initiative to contact Chen Jian.

In the rest of the month, Chen Jian came into contact with a lot of people. Some are righteous lords, and some are faceless agents.

During the banquet, Jian Chen kept changing his opening remarks, but basically "a few years ago, when I was drinking with the regent of Helan"; "When I met with the Governor of Franc a few years ago"; "When I was talking and laughing with the King of Siam"; "When the King of the Ryukyus begged me for help" and so on.

Behind all these opening remarks is the ethnic group of tens of millions of people, if there is no motherland, it is a fat sheep to be slaughtered.

But at this time, it is easy for people to ignore everything behind it, and only regard it as a personal thing to brag about, which also strengthens the minds of those who hesitate.

The terms and conditions of a joint-stock company, which have been drawn up for a long time, only need to be translated and added with some specific content. The terms are detailed and clear, but they are still unreassuring, and if it were not for the company's headquarters in Wangbei City, many businessmen would be frightened, because these things can be deprived of by only a word from an official on the shore.

After the opening remarks, after three rounds of wine and five flavors, Chen Jian took the chopsticks and made a very famous analogy.

He added: "Now the sea is not calm, and thieves are rampant. It is really difficult for those who go to sea to survive to fight against the wind and waves, and also struggle with thieves. There are a lot of profits at sea, and I think there will be more and more thieves at sea in the future, and if we work together, we can ensure that the goods are not intercepted by thieves. Didn't I also say it in the Water Margin, when passing through a critical place, you have to gather enough guests to pass through together to be safe. I think if we work together, this thief won't be a threat. ”

The people at the table nodded yes, but said in their hearts: "That's nature." If you don't join this company, you're the biggest thief, isn't that obvious? The sea is vast, you say that the ship was robbed by thieves, who can tell clearly? ”

However, the people at the table are not most concerned about this, they have already chosen to come to this banquet, that is, with the idea of joining the company, the problem of thieves is no longer what they are worried about. In the future, the title of pretending to be a pirate to rob ships will not be used for you, but for us.

What they really care about is whether Chen Jian is a person who really follows the law of the country, that is, whether the company is involved in smuggling to Japan? Because what was the relationship between Jian Chen and Japan after the Battle of the Ryukyus? What if the Japanese side refuses to trade with the company because of joining the company?

Although the previous performance and speculation made them more or less aware of it, they still hoped that Chen Jian would make a statement at this time.

However, this most concerned question is also the most difficult to answer and discuss, and there is no way to say it in front of so many people, and once it is said, I am afraid that some people will take the opportunity to make trouble.

Without joining the company, the inside story will not be clear. I don't know the inside story, and I'm a little worried about the profit after joining, so I have to hesitate whether to join.

Chen Jian didn't seem to know what everyone wanted to know, and then said about the topic of thieves just now: "After talking about thieves just now, let's talk about the future." You have also seen the price list I gave you, and the profits are so high that it is impossible not to be tempted. What is this money earning? What you earn is blood money, and you can earn so much by sailing tens of thousands of miles by sea. However, despite the danger, those Helan people and Franc people have only been gone for ten years, and they can be so familiar. If they can do it, we can do it, but that's not to mention in three or five years, six or seven years. ”

"Looking at it in the near future, it is not allowed to trade in Japan, many of us are good citizens of the Celestial Empire, and the company will naturally not do such a thing that violates the law of the country."

As soon as these words came out, there was a slight buzzing sound on the table, and I said that if you sell the goods to Helan in six or seven years, we will not participate. Who can say for sure what will happen in six or seven years' time?

Jian Chen coughed lightly and changed the topic: "Looking at it closely, Luzon is a good place to go, and you can earn a lot of silver by trading. Again, there is another country in the sea to the west, called the Neon Country. They also have an abundance of silver, and I have dealings with the kings of their kingdoms, and I may charter trade. Most of the goods needed are raw silk, saltpeter, iron, ......"

He took out a small notebook and read through the bulk items of the Japanese trade, and the people at the table immediately understood this and breathed a long sigh of relief.

"It's just that there are a lot of sea thieves going to this country, and ordinary people may not be able to trade directly. Fortunately, these thieves are afraid of me, and I advise them to be kind to others and not to do these things that are disorderly. They said that we naturally did not dare to rob Mr. Chen's boat, but we also had to eat, and other people's boats may not be enough. As soon as I heard this, I was furious, and I told them to go back to farming and be a man who kept to themselves, but I didn't want them to hide in secrecy, so I sent a boat around a few times but could not find their lair, so I had to come back ......."

Everyone thinks that Japan is a market for us to trade. Since there is also silver, since the goods needed are also these, then whether this country is called Japan or not has nothing to do with us, you say that it is neon, it is neon.

When you say this, you are nothing more than intimidating others, and you still have to detain the ship if you go to Japan to trade again. Where the neon country is, no one knows; No one knows where the thief is hiding. It is your duty to detain the ship to Japan; Robbed a ship at sea, that's your ability, as long as you can't be caught, who can say that you are a thief?

As soon as he said this, the only doubts of everyone at the table were dispelled, and they praised one after another: "It turns out that there is such a country, and we don't even know about it." It seems that the world is so big, it's really incredible. This matter of going to the neon country to trade, I have to ask Mr. Chen to bother. ”

This means that since it has become a company, the company's business is the shareholder's business, which is naturally to be done. If the company makes a profit, everyone can make a profit, right? The accounts are clear and clear, and there is no mistake. I think this trade to the Neon Nation will take place this year. Originally, I estimated that I could only walk one round trip a year, but now I may be able to walk half a year more. ”

Everyone said yes, the atmosphere at the banquet gradually became warmer, the last doubts were dispelled, and the wine was delicious, the food was delicious, and the pleasure was good.

Everyone at the table thought that it was fortunate that they joined early, otherwise the company would have cut off the sea route to Luzon and Japan in the future, but they would have regretted it.

……

A little more than a month later, a joint-stock company called the Chamber of Commerce was quietly established, and its main business was armed smuggling, and it was armed smuggling in which only state officials were allowed to set fires and the people were not allowed to light lamps.

The number of shares in the first batch is not much, but there are still some small and medium-sized maritime merchants who have joined, and the rest are still waiting to be considered, waiting for more people to join when the wood moves outside the city to receive money.

Chen Jian used ships, shipping routes, pilots, and silver coins as the share capital, and the party property occupied 50 percent of the shares, and did not involve the land rent and mining of Wangbei City. He used the rest of his private property as the stock capital of the soldiers, officers, and those who had been with him before the ship.

This is in the form of a joint-stock company, so that these coastal businessmen have a clear, clear, and clear common interest of what they want. The worst organization is better than the unorganized, and when the day comes when these businessmen become familiar with the rules and regulations of the joint-stock company regarding property issues, they will also demand a change - provided that Chen Jiande guarantees that the annual rate of return is greater than the return to his hometown to buy land, otherwise it will be meaningless.

In addition to the normal shares, the rest also gave five percent of the Wanli Emperor's internal dividends in some name, which should be bribes and private taxes in exchange for tacit approval.

After such a long time, the relationship behind the seized ships has also been sorted out.

All those who have joined the company will be refunded, those who have not joined the company will be quietly returned, and those who have not joined the company and the background is not hard, all of them will be formally seized.

After discounting the goods on the ships that had neither a backstage nor joined the company, the government of Wangbei City bought them in paper money, sold them to the company at a little higher price, and then exchanged the paper money for silver, which amounted to about 50,000 taels of silver. This is still after two layers of skin.

took out 5,000 taels and gave them to the eunuchs accompanying the ship according to the process, and encouraged the eunuchs to change the banknotes, saying that they could be exchanged at any time.

The rest took out 3,000 taels and gave them to the officials in Fujian as bribes for this year, 4,000 taels were accepted as the primary school in Wangbei City, and the Enlightenment Education Fund was invested in the trading company, and 2,000 taels were deducted to buy rice to relieve the victims in Fujian in their own name, leaving 1,500 taels as this year's bonds, and finally the remaining 30,000 taels were packed into boxes.

Then he sent a boat to Dengzhou, from which he gave the money to the Wanli Emperor as an internal treasure. Although a few layers of skin have been peeled, this money is still a bit much, and the 40 percent embezzlement rate and embezzlement rate have broken through the incorruptible sky.