"Now, Taiwan is ours!" In the castle of Geranza, Liu Jun and Zheng Zhilong sat opposite each other, and the two tasted the fine wine from the Dutch cellar.

Zheng Zhilong raised his glass to Liu Jun, "Congratulations to Lord Hou for driving out Hongyi for the imperial court and recovering Taiwan." ”

"Tonghe." Liu Jun raised his glass and took a sip and tasted it slowly.

"Brother Zheng, now that Taiwan has been recovered, the Spaniards and the Dutch have been driven away, and this will be the territory of the imperial court in the future, does Brother Zheng have any plans?"

Zheng Zhilong had his own plans, and he actively followed Liu Jun to participate in the recovery of Taiwan, the biggest reason was that Liu Jun promised him that after recovering Taiwan, he would monopolize Japan's foreign trade.

"Brother Zheng, have you ever thought about starting a company?" Liu Jun asked suddenly.

"Start a company? Was there such a company as the East India Company? Zheng Zhilong asked.

Liu Jun nodded, "Almost, the Dutch East India Company, the British East India Company, the Swedish East India Company, the Danish East India Company, you see, all countries have East India Company, and they all regard East India as a mountain of gold and silver, and they all want to make a profit." As the closest neighbor of the East Indies, should we instead watch those Westerners turn against us? ”

The East India Companies of these countries were engaged in maritime trade, such as spice trade, silk trade, porcelain trade, and silver trade, and some of them mainly engaged in inter-regional trade, making a lot of profits through entrepots.

Now that Taiwan has been seized, Liu Jun also wants to intervene here. Especially when the silver production in the Americas decreased greatly and the silver inflow into Asia decreased, Japan became the largest silver producer at this time, but the Ming Dynasty is the country with the largest silver demand in the world today.

Japan, the largest silver producer, and Daming, the largest silver importer, are still hostile, and the two countries are prohibited from trade, which is increasing business opportunities and profits.

Mr. Liu intends to continue doing business in Taiwan, where the Spanish and Dutch had previously done business. To build Taiwan into an entrepot trading port, using the Zheng family's relationship in Japan, silver and other items were shipped from Japan to Taiwan, and then mainland merchants shipped Chinese goods such as raw silk porcelain from China to Taiwan to barter and earn profits from it.

However, Liu Jun can't do this business alone, he has a relationship with the upper echelons, but it is impossible to stay in Taiwan for a long time. And Zheng Zhilong has extremely strong strength in the coastal area, but what he lacks is collaborators from the top. Liu Jun feels that they can cooperate well with each other.

"I intend to set up an East India Company as well. It's called the Daming East India Company. I want to ask Brother Zheng to partner in this company, and I plan to invite more friends, as the so-called more people are powerful, what do you think? ”

Zheng Zhilong thought about it seriously, he didn't expect Liu Jun to make such a suggestion. Liu Jun had previously said that if he took Taiwan, he would be able to monopolize trade with Japan. Later, when he won Taiwan's northern Spaniards, he once proposed to Liu Jun to give Liu Jun a share, and Liu Jun said that it would only be 20%.

In the blink of an eye, now the Netherlands has been won. Liu Jun wants to start a company in partnership, which means that he is not satisfied with the original share. He didn't like this change, and he wanted to monopolize the business alone. Then even if you take out some of the money from it and give it to Liu Jun.

"Brother Zheng, take a long-term view. In the future, we will not only have to trade with Japan, but we will also have to compete with the Dutch, the Spanish, the Portuguese, and even the British in the South Seas. We also need to integrate the business circles that unite our Han people and confront them. If you want to do big business, what's the point of fighting in a small house. You say yes, right? ”

Zheng Zhilong smiled, "I don't know what specific plans Master Hou has?" ”

"That's what I thought. Let's unite those famous maritime merchants, as well as the large shipyards along the coast, and those famous silk merchants in the south of the Yangtze River, and we will set up a joint-stock company, that is, each of them will have shares and occupy shares. Establish a large company integrating silk manufacturing, shipbuilding, marine transportation, maritime protection and even reclamation. ”

Zheng Zhilong heard that there were many new terms in this, and asked, "How to buy shares, how to divide shares, and who will be in charge of the company in the future?" ”

"These are very simple, for example, we raise silver taels first, for example, we can first set the company's share capital at 10 million shares, one tael per share price, and then raise share capital. The last shareholders to contribute capital are shareholders, and we elect the members of the board of directors by the general meeting of shareholders, and then the board of directors elects the chairman and vice chairman. ”

"How many people are on the board? How many vice chairmen are there? ”

"The board of directors can be set up to 13 to 19 people, and it's good to brainstorm more people, but not too many, and it's not difficult to get bloated. There is one chairman and one vice chairman, but there can also be an additional managing director to assist. When the board of directors meets the meeting, each person shall vote one vote and pass by a majority. ”

"What power does the chairman have?"

Liu Jun patiently explained to him, "The highest decision-making body of the company is the board of directors, and in the board of directors, the chairman has the greatest authority and is the chairman of the board of directors, and he mainly has the right to convene and preside over the board of directors." During the experience of the board of directors, exercising the rights of the board of directors, representing the company externally, and having the right to sign major agreements on behalf of the company, etc., to put it bluntly, the chairman is equivalent to the owner of the shop, the big boss. ”

"How to elect the chairman and vice chairman?"

"The chairman and vice chairman must first be directors elected at the general meeting of shareholders, and they must also be shareholders. Second, in the election of the Board of Directors, the candidate with the highest number of votes among the directors shall be elected. ”

"According to the number of votes, not according to the number of shares in hand?" Zheng Zhilong asked a crucial question.

"The most shares do not mean that he is the chairman, and the chairman is the one who receives the most votes in the board of directors election. The chairman of the board of directors is the leader of the board of directors of the company and the top leader of the company. The powers of the chairman of the board of directors are within the scope of the responsibilities of the board of directors, and he does not manage the specific business of the company, and generally does not make personal decisions, and only enjoys the same voting rights as other directors when the board of directors meets or special committees of the board of directors meet. ”

"The chairman doesn't care about company affairs?" Zheng Zhilong heard another important place.

"Well, the chairman is equivalent to the owner of the shop, but the company will hire another general manager, who is equivalent to the shopkeeper of the shop. Normally, things are under the management of the general manager, but the chairman has the right to remove and appoint the general manager. The general manager can be a shareholder or not. ”

Liu Jun planned that the Daming East India Company would obtain a huge amount of funds from the beginning, unite those big businessmen as partnership shareholders, raise at least 10 million taels of silver, and collect ocean trade, port entrepot trade, shipbuilding, ocean transportation, bodyguards, reclamation, etc. From the very beginning, it had to take shape in order to achieve the ability to confront the trading companies of Western countries.

Such a large capital really surprised Zheng Zhilong, and at the same time he was a little moved.

"Brother Zheng is familiar with the wealthy businessmen in the southeast, so how about Brother Zheng contact them?" Liu Jun said with a smile, "But we don't have to pull all the rich businessmen, the most important thing is those businessmen related to maritime trade, such as shipyard owners, large silk weaving factory owners, maritime ship owners, etc., our future shareholders, first, they have to be rich, and they don't have a million net worth to pull over, and secondly, their business has to be related to our company's future business, so that we can better cooperate." Another point is that, in principle, each shareholder must invest at least 50,000 taels or more, and those below 50,000 yuan are not considered. ”

Zheng Zhilong looked at Liu Jun, "I don't know how much Hou Ye plans to buy?" ”

"I'm going to buy seven armed merchant ships, how much silver do you think they're worth?" Liu Jun said with a smile, he got seven armed merchant ships from the Spanish and Dutch, and five other warships, of which one surrendered by Spain, salvaged a Dutch warship from Penghu and repaired, and three other Dayuan won in naval battles.

Naturally, he would not sell those warships, and even Zheng Zhilong revealed a little bit of meaning before, and wanted Liu Jun to divide one or two of them, but Liu Jun ignored them. What are you kidding, such a battleship, Liu Jun is willing to let it? However, merchant ships are inferior to warships in terms of combat performance, and if they are used to transport troops in the future, it will be a bit wasteful. After all, these ships are ocean-going ships, and if you use them offshore, it is better to use sand boats, which are cheap and practical.

"I want to keep the guns on the ship, and the seven big merchant ships can be transferred to the new company at a price."

Zheng Zhilong swallowed his saliva, he knew the excellent performance of these merchant ships, if he could, how much he wanted it. "This kind of big merchant ship is not cheap in the Netherlands, and a ship costs at least more than 200,000 guilders, which is equivalent to 70,000 or 80,000 taels of silver. However, we can't build this kind of ocean-going merchant ship, so even if it costs 100,000 ships, it's still worth it. Seven large merchant ships can be worth 700,000 yuan. ”

"Then 700,000 yuan, in addition, we will hand over the castle of the base cage and the big man to the imperial court, but the real estate, warehouses, shops, etc. in the town should belong to us, and we will discount the price to 600,000, half of us, and my half will also be a shareholder of the company, so together, even if I invest in 1 million taels of silver."

"Then Master Hou will have a stake in the company."

"Haha, if there are many people who have invested in the shares, it doesn't matter if it exceeds 10 million, it depends on the specific situation. If the shares are less than 10 million, then the two of us will invest some more, at least enough 10 million. ”

Zheng Zhilong said with a smile, "Since this is the case, then I will also invest another 700,000 yuan, and my 700,000 yuan will also be discounted by the ship." ”

"I think that after the company is established, I want to choose you as the general manager of the company and be responsible for managing the company." Liu Jun said.

Zheng Zhilong immediately replied, "Then the chairman of our company is none other than Hou Ye, the sea sails by the helmsman, and our new company needs a helmsman like Hou Ye." ”

"Hahaha!" Liu Jun was very interested in this sycophant, and on the same day, the matter of opening a company was preliminarily agreed, and then Zheng Zhilong sent someone to contact those local tyrants and wealthy businessmen in the south of the Yangtze River.

Liu Jun later moved to the Batavia, a giant ship more than 70 meters long, with three gun decks and 100 and 4 cannons, which immediately became Liu Jun's new flagship and the most powerful battleship of the Beiyang Naval Division. For this reason, Liu Jun also specially designed a new ship for this giant ship, the nine-headed Jiao, which was also named Shenlong and became the flagship of the Beiyang Fleet. (To be continued......)

PS: Thank you Sashimi 1985 for your support!