Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Domain Is a Business

He Xi said: "Lu Hou, if you can't bear to make a big plan, in fact, we can't do business directly with the people of Nanyang now. ”

Lu Zhongheng said: "What's the matter? ”

He Xi said: "These people in Nanyang have all escaped from the coast. Maybe there's some kind of blood feud. The two sides have no mutual trust, and they rush south, maybe it will be a big war. ”

Lu Zhongheng said: "A big war is a big war." Can't you beat it? ”

He Xi privately felt that he might not be able to fight. After all, people are pirates for many years. People and land are familiar with each other, and there is no generation difference between the ships of the two sides. Although during the Battle of Poyang Lake, the Ming army used a large number of firearms. But at the end of the day. In this era, it still relies on hand-to-hand combat by jumping gangs.

The Ming army came from afar and was not familiar with hydrology. The number of people is at a disadvantage, and the number of wins and losses is fifty-five, which is also normal.

It's just that if he said these words to Lu Zhongheng, I'm afraid he will be unhappy. Lu Zhongheng actually represented a large number of people in the army during the Hongwu period. Zhu Yuanzhang can still stay calm. Before going to war, analyze in detail, stay calm and objective, and if you are not completely sure, you will not start a war easily. But many people below don't have this height.

They just feel that they have been winning battles before. Lao Tzu is invincible in the world.

Telling them this is of no use except to upset them.

He Xi said; "Uncle Lu, we are now a business name, and we are doing business. It's about making money. Fights began. But no one compensated us for our losses. ”

Lu Zhongheng suddenly stopped talking.

He is an old war, so he naturally knows how expensive it is to fight. Not to mention anything else, just talk about the Battle of Poyang Lake, after the first battle, the ship built by the Longjiang Shipyard in the past year was sunk. If it weren't for the capture of Chen Youliang, many ships. At that time, there were not enough ships for the sailors.

How much is that?

It's simply unthinkable.

Today's so-called merchant ships are still on paper. In total, these costs. A lot of it was taken by him. It was so heavy, he didn't even know what to do.

Lu Zhongheng secretly said in his heart: "It's a lot of trouble to make money." How easy it is to grab money. Lu Zhongheng couldn't help but miss the time when he was fighting, when he could share the profits from every time he went to the ground. It's just a pity that he spends too much. So much so that nothing remained.

"Alright." Tang He said: "He Xi, I think you have your own ideas." ”

He Xi said; "Now there's a big business. Just let us sit. That is the king of Jingjiang on the affairs of the domain? ”

Lu Zhongheng said: "Just the domain, how can this be considered business? ”

He Xi said; "According to the practice of the imperial court, generally the vassal king is the first to build the mansion. But King Jingjiang is here, but there is nothing? But the palace of King Jingjiang could not be repaired. If the imperial court sends someone to build it. The consumption is too great. In my opinion, there is nothing better than outsourcing to a firm. ”

He Xi came up with this idea. It's not for the sake of court wool. Engage in collusion between officials and businessmen. Rather, out of practical considerations, in the future, a large number of Ming vassal kings will move out, if the imperial court undertakes major projects such as building palaces. The consumption will be very large.

No other, as I said earlier. In many accounts of the imperial court, the labor cost was subconsciously ignored. Because of the existence of forced labor, the labor cost of the imperial court is almost equal to zero.

If civil engineering is carried out in the territory of the Ming Dynasty. Only need to be responsible for materials, design and other links, and there are people who really work hard.

But if it's overseas. It's different. There may not be the support of the local people, and it is very likely that the king of the Ming Dynasty is an outsider. In this way, if the imperial court still builds the palace, it will be a heavy burden. It must be known that the specifications of Prince Daming's palace even exceed many county seats. If you add the decoration inside or something. Many county towns are not as good as the royal palace.

The price is quite heavy.

He felt that he should give the vassal king a sum of money. After all, the feudal king also needs start-up capital to build the local area.

Therefore, it is not so much that He Xi is in the wool of the imperial court, but that He Xi is in the wool of King Jingjiang.

Lu Zhongheng touched his beard and said, "This is not bad." Can you suggest that the great workers of the imperial court do this in the future? ”

As soon as these words came out, Lu Zhongheng looked at He Xi and Tang He with wide eyes. "When I didn't say it." ”

He Xi secretly said in his heart: "Lu Zhongheng is simply a natural capitalist. I don't want anything for the money. There is simply no bottom line. ”

How could this be done within the imperial court? The court manpower did not want money, or rarely asked for money. But others don't have that power. Even if Daming labor is cheap, it always has to be paid. The biggest expense of many civil engineering projects is the cost of personnel, even if the wage is very low, more people is an astronomical amount.

It was impossible for the imperial court to give the power of conscription to merchants. Because this kind of power represents the control of the court over the locality, how can it be handed over.

Therefore, letting a businessman do it is destined to cost more than the imperial court.

Not to mention, the merchants did it, which infringed on the interests of the court officials, and they had no room to go up and down.

Lu Zhongheng is not a fool, he knows that he doesn't pay attention to some things, or pays less attention, thinking that his body is special and detached. I don't care, when it comes to money, he's very shrewd. How can you not understand?

However, a person like Lu Zhongheng would be the most suitable if he presided over Nanyang affairs.

Because there is no need for He Xi to say, Lu Zhongheng shouted the southern expedition to Nanyang loudly. Because it violated his interests. And to obtain benefits from foreign countries by force, and then to squeeze foreign countries with productivity. This is not your typical capitalist style.

Lu Zhongheng is simply self-taught.

He Xi put away the boring emotion in his heart, got down to business, and said: "Actually, there is a reason why I started with the construction of the Jingjiang Domain and brought the King of Jingjiang in. The ban on the sea is a major policy of the imperial court, and it should not be changed overnight. This affected the authority of the imperial court. And what we are doing now is nominally against the policy of the imperial court. ”

"And the Jingjiang Domain is different. The new policy of the imperial court. Although it has not been announced to the world now, the two uncles also know it. ”

"In the New Deal, the vassal king had all the power in the fiefdom. As long as the temple does not fall. The tributes are endless. The imperial court won't take care of other things. Therefore, the opening of the Jingjiang Domain to the sea is in line with the policy of the imperial court. Our trade with Nanyang in the Jingjiang Domain, or in the name of the Jingjiang Domain, was completely in line with the policy of the imperial court. ”

This flexible idea was not come up with by He Xi himself. It was negotiated by Yao Guangxiao, Zhan Ding and others.

He Xi didn't think much about it. But Yao Guangxiao reminded him that he could not take the imperial court's policies seriously. Yes, he has holy grace. But a lot of things still have to be done according to the rules. Otherwise, there will be trouble in the future.

This is what it is, which is completely in line with the rules of the imperial court, and it can also realize the roundabout way of your own ideas.

And in this matter, He Xi felt another benefit of sealing the overseas domain. That's policy freedom.

In the case of the Great Unification Dynasty, many times the policy cannot be acted upon. Since the Shang Dynasty reform, it is difficult to say that China has succeeded in reforming the law. A very important reason is that China is too big. In such a big country, it is extremely difficult to change the Fa.

Many actions in later generations also started from pilots.

In fact, it is difficult for the imperial court to improve the high degree of local freedom. But the vassal king is different. As long as the Ming Dynasty maintains its current size, the feudal king will be sealed. No matter how powerful he is, he doesn't dare to disobey the imperial court. Then there are a lot of policy testing grounds.

Just like now.

It was successful from the experiment of the vassal king, and then it was promoted in the country. With the size of the Ming Dynasty, even if there is no first-mover advantage, it is impossible to be thrown away. This is what the Ming Dynasty did. When the Portuguese were making trouble on the southeast coast, the Fujian sailors fought with the Portuguese.

Suffered some losses and knew the Franc cannon of the Portuguese. Within more than ten years, the Franc machine gun has blossomed everywhere in Daming. In the end of the Ming Dynasty, there is no generation difference between the Ming Dynasty and the West. Even if the West has a little technological advantage, Daming can suppress it with a super-large volume.

For example, the Zheng family is like this, even if the Western warships are very advanced. But Lao Tzu can exchange ten for one, and if he has suffered two or three losses, he will make it himself. The Zheng family has its own fleet of plywood boats. Although a little smaller.

But the Qing Dynasty was a different story. Don't get knocked on the door and don't know what the other party is like.