What is the art of speaking? It is to speak to the hearts of people.

The sixth brother used the classic lines of Brother Xiao Ma on these two former bigwigs with similar situations, which is a lore.

The two of them really didn't shirk anymore, and they both kowtowed and said that they were willing to join the city.

"Haha good!" Zhu Zhen stood up happily, personally pulled up the two of them and said, "From today on, the two of them will be the maritime commissioners of the Municipal Shipping Division." I have only one request for you, and that is to make the city bigger and stronger! Believe me, as long as you can do this, you two will definitely be able to regain their former glory. ”

"Yes." Naturally, he said everything he said.

"Come, sit down and talk." Zhu Zhen finally beckoned the two to sit down. They've been standing up and talking back before.

He gave a brief introduction to the current situation, focusing on the upcoming Zhenjiang conference. Then he pointed at Han Yike and said:

"But to be honest, my brother and I are both laymen, and if the two experts have any ideas, just speak freely and don't have any worries."

"......" The two glanced at each other, knowing that this was His Highness's level of examination. How dare you not show some real skills?

After pondering for a moment, Gu Yuanchen spoke first: "With all due respect, His Royal Highness summoned the big households in Jiangnan to hold a conference, and it will definitely be useful, but don't expect too much. ”

"How?" King Chu asked quietly.

"Because maritime trade is not the same as land trade. The more people involved in the road trade, the better. In maritime trade, the fewer people involved, the better. Gu Yuanchen said in a deep voice: "The ideal state is that there is only one on the sea. At this time, the profit can be maximized, the cost can be the lowest, and everything can be done most efficiently. ”

"Oh......" Zhu Zhen said with interest: "This statement is fresh, it's the first time I've heard it." ”

"Your Highness, what Lao Gu said is reasonable." Shen Rong on the side also chimed in: "Because maritime trade is based on huge profits. The sea is treacherous, and if you don't get it right, the ship will capsize. There are also miasma, pirates, and fanyi...... They can kill people at any time. If there are no huge profits, who wants to risk a lot of danger and travel far and wide? ”

"Makes sense." Zhu Zhen nodded and smiled: "I'm not afraid of the two jokes, this king only knows how to make money from maritime trade, but he still doesn't know how profitable it is." ”

"Let's take Japan as an example." Shen Rong said: "That island country lacks everything, but it is rich in gold and silver. So the Han family used to specialize in Japanese business.

"During the Tang Dynasty, they learned to weave silk brocade from our country, but they couldn't make raw silk. If the sea is not passable, there is no silk to weave. So the price is five or six hundred taels of silver per hundred catties......"

"How much?" Han Yike screamed in shock and hurriedly confessed to His Highness.

"Exaggeration?" Zhu Zhen asked him.

"It's an exaggeration." Han Yike said: "In Jiangnan, the most expensive is the lake silk, and it will not exceed one hundred taels of silver per hundred catties." ”

"I'm ......" Zhu Zhen couldn't help but burst into foul language, how did he say that?

With a fifty percent profit, it will take risks; For the sake of 100% profit, it dares to trample on all human laws; With a profit of 300 percent, it dares to commit any crime, even to the risk of hanging its head?

That's pretty much what it means.

In Daming, smuggling can earn 500 percent of the profits...... What crazy things can they do, let go of it!

~~

"But this is the case of my monopoly, and if there are two together, my family's profits will definitely be affected. Because of the large number of domestic production, the overseas market is much smaller after all. Then the opponent will take the initiative to reduce the price in order to sell more goods and seize my market.

"Those shrewd Japanese daimyo will also take advantage of their opponents and lower their prices against me. In the end, I had to follow up with the price reduction. This is still the case of only two companies, and the more sellers there are, the more serious this kind of bargaining situation becomes, and the windfall profits no longer exist. Shen Rong continued: "If you lose the windfall profits, overseas trade will lose the value of existence. ”

"Moreover, there are pirates, pirates, and unfriendly barbarians at sea, all of which need to be settled at great cost. The number of participating families is large, and each family is not willing to pay a high cost, and they all want to sit back and enjoy the results. The result is ......" Shen Rong paused for a moment, thinking about how to describe it.

"Three monks don't have water to eat?" Zhu Zhen answered.

"yes, that's what it means." Shen Rong nodded hurriedly and said: "In short, the more people who get a piece of the pie, the more chaotic the sea will be, and the less profitable the sea trade will be." ”

"So originally, the number of maritime merchants has always remained at six." Gu Yuanchen said: "Any latecomer who wants to join will be rejected by the six families. ”

"Good guy, get in the car and weld the dead door." Zhu Zhen's understanding of this phenomenon is far better than the two expected.

He remembered reading in a book that at first only the Portuguese could transport pepper from Asia back to Europe, the price of pepper remained high for nearly a hundred years, and the Portuguese made a lot of money for generations.

But when the Dutch and the British broke the Portuguese blockade and came to Asia, where they began to trade pepper to Europe, the price of this expensive spice soon plummeted, and within a few years it fell to parity, bankrupting more than 95 percent of the 'East India Company'......

It seems that the rules of the game of maritime trade have nothing to do with free trade.

~~

"Actually, six is too much." Shen Rong said lightly: "It takes a lot of energy every year to divide routes, share costs, and coordinate interests. But the problems are still endless, and the internal friction is very huge. ”

"Hmm." Zhu Zhen nodded.

"So you mean, it's better to eat alone?" Han Yike frowned and asked the two.

"It's not a single meal, it's a boat with only one of us at sea." The two hurriedly explained to their future bosses: "The big households and people in Jiangnan can not only supply us with goods, but also sell goods for us in China. If they want to trade at sea, they will have no problem, but they must take our ships, use our ships to transport goods, and buy and sell at the prices we have set, and they must not break the rules. ”

"Makes sense." Zhu Zhen nodded.

"Isn't this the official ship of the Yuan Dynasty?" Robben, who had not spoken, suddenly said inwardly: "How can you guarantee that you will not repeat the mistakes of the Yuan Dynasty?" ”

As mentioned earlier, the 'official-based ship' system means that overseas trade is monopolized by the government, and the government-business joint venture model is implemented. Among them, the ship and capital are provided by the government, and the government selects merchants to operate, and the profits from going to sea are seventy-three.

"Well, it seems that the capable people of the Yuan Dynasty also realized that maritime trade should be monopolized by the government." Zhu Zhen nodded and said, "And there is already a very mature method." But the result was not only unsuccessful, but also made the city completely collapse. ”

"There is no problem with the official ship system itself, the main thing is that the people who implement it are too poor. The officials sent only thought about exploiting the merchants and filled their own pockets. There is no monopoly on maritime trade at all. Shen Rong replied.

"Although the Yuan court repeatedly ordered that private people were forbidden to go to sea, there were several sea bans for this reason. However, the local civil and military forces are extremely corrupt, and as long as they give money, they can smuggle it casually. Private businessmen can go to sea at will, how can the official ship be an opponent? Gu Yuanchen also said.

He is actually the best example, he himself served as the deputy Wanhu of the Kaidao Wanhu Mansion, but the Gu family has a huge smuggling fleet......

(End of chapter)