Dagui Commercial Bank had previously acquired a lot of land in Dinghai and a number of shipyards, but because it was too busy, most of the workers were brought to Shanghai for training and work, so Dinghai was a bit shabby.

However, now that Zhao Dagui has come over with a large army, the situation is completely different.

The fleet led by Zhao Dagui arrived at Dinghai, and then people and goods were disembarked in batches and arranged according to the original plan.

"That, boss, we are rich now, how can we make money, some things that cost people's lives, in fact, it's okay not to do it, right?" Xu Wenqiang watched the workers move some particularly heavy boxes, couldn't help but smile bitterly, and said pointedly.

"Lao Xu, you really see the current situation too simply, you only see us full of flowers, and you don't see anyone sharpening knives behind you.

If we fail to develop quickly and accumulate in two years a force that will be feared by both the court and the British, we will eventually be eaten up and wiped clean, and there will not be a single bone left. Zhao Dagui said with a sigh.

"How can things be so serious? We are also the number one business house in Shanghai, and others will not be unscrupulous in doing things, right?" Xu Wenqiang knew that Zhao Dagui was full of anxiety during this time, and he had always felt puzzled in his heart.

"That's how serious it is. Zhao Dagui shook his head, unable to listen to Xu Wenqiang's persuasion at all.

At this point, Xu Wenqiang can't think about it, how can this Zhao Dagui say that he also has the grace of knowing him, and he can only assist wholeheartedly and live up to this kindness.

Thinking of this, Xu Wenqiang decided not to advise anymore, he said everything that should be said, and then he did his own thing.

It is said that ordinary people have reached the point of Zhao Dagui, from a child with nothing (or deprived of his education) to a huge rich, with millions of taels of silver in his hands, he has long been proud, wine-colored and wealthy, and married seven or eight aunts.

This Zhao Dagui is special, but he feels that the height is unbearable, and he thinks that the British and the imperial court will cooperate to deal with him sooner or later, so he is very afraid, and he wants to go further and accumulate more strength, and even do some illegal things for this.

That's right, Zhao Dagui came to Dinghai to do some illegal things that he couldn't do in Shanghai.

First of all, Zhao Dagui had so many shipyards under him, both Chinese and Western, and the accumulation of technology had reached a certain level, so he could try to build ships, but he was stopped by officials in Shanghai and did not allow him to build Western-style sailing ships in Shanghai.

Gong Mujiu inspected the shipyard in the concession three times before and after, and repeatedly demanded that Zhao Dagui was allowed to repair the ship, but it was absolutely forbidden to build a Western-style ship in Shanghai, whether it was an ordinary sailing ship or a steam ship, whether it was inside or outside the concession, it was not allowed.

As for the reason, haha, the officials of the Qing Dynasty were not allowed to make Western-style ships, do you still need a reason.

In return for not allowing shipbuilding, the government allowed Zhao Dagui to produce a small number of Chinese-style ships, but there were strict restrictions on the number, style, and tonnage, and even sent people to the shipyard to inspect them frequently, so as not to violate some regulations.

Many people may be surprised, but the Qing court is very strict in the management of shipyards, and has always closely monitored the construction of ships, and such strict management is not for Zhao Dagui alone, but for the entire shipbuilding industry.

Zhao Dagui worked hard to climb the science and technology tree some time ago, and only after a year did he get some results, and he wanted to immediately transform the research results into actual productivity, but at this critical moment, he encountered the rude obstruction of the government, and he couldn't help but be angry, and he wanted to find Gong Mujiu to theorize.

However, Gong Mujiu was extremely strong and unwilling to compromise at all, even if Zhao Dagui sent money, it didn't work, and in the end, Zhao Dagui could only give in shamefully and accept Gong Mujiu's conditions in full.

It was also Zhao Dagui who was too smooth some time ago, and regarded himself as a character, in fact, for the Qing court officials, a rich businessman was nothing, if it weren't for the support of the British, no one would want to wade into this troubled water, and there would have been officials who would have pounced on him and wanted to swallow Zhao Dagui's industry in one gulp.

In short, after encountering this setback, Zhao Dagui realized that it was not feasible to develop the shipbuilding industry in Shanghai, and he needed to find another place, and then he fell in love with Dinghai.

With the current situation, there are only two places in the entire Qing Dynasty territory that can allow Zhao Dagui to build ships freely, one is Hong Kong and the other is Dinghai, both of which are British territory, but the Stark family is still in Hong Kong, and the attitude is difficult to figure out, so Zhao Dagui can only go to Dinghai to develop first.

However, Dinghai will return to the embrace of the Qing Dynasty in a few months, and how to sort out the relationship at that time is a troublesome matter, which is the main reason why Zhao Dagui wants to obtain the official position of Dinghai Zhixian.

If it was just shipbuilding, Xu Wenqiang would not be so opposed, after all, he also understood the significance of building the Xishi sailboat to China, that is, the government was ignorant, interfered, and developed under pressure--- what he really opposed was another matter.

Shipbuilding is a bottomless pit, especially Zhao Dagui's shipbuilding, that is, whether it can be sold after it is built is a problem, so he must consider the problem of recovering costs, and then the method he came up with is very simple, that is, to make more money, relying on private silver dollars and ruined money to make up for the investment.

The profit of the private silver dollar is not small, taking the Spanish silver dollar as an example, the silver content is only six and a half cents, but the international selling price is seven dollars and one cent, in the major ports of the Qing Dynasty because of the convenience of use, many money banks are willing to raise the water two or three percent, and trade at a price of more than eight dollars.

In this way, the profit of privately minted silver dollars is about 20 to 30 percent, which is still secondary, the key is very easy to turnover, as long as it is agreed with a few big money houses, the energy source can continue to get silver ingots, and the silver dollars produced can also be sold directly, and there will be almost no inventory.

With the technical ability of the noble trading house and a large number of stone-washing machinery, the construction of Western-style sailing ships dared to be challenged, and there was no difficulty in privately minting silver dollars.

Then, the key is that it is illegal to mint silver dollars privately, and Emperor Daoguang issued a very strict order before the Opium War, not allowing people to mint silver dollars privately, and violators will exterminate several clans.

However, the emperor's order cannot reach Dinghai now, and Dinghai is an isolated island after all, as long as the secrecy measures are done well, it is unlikely that the government will even know that the silver dollar is being minted privately, which is also the main confidence of Zhao Dagui to try this project.

Moreover, Zhao Dagui still has a careful thought that he has never mentioned to Xu Wenqiang, that is, if he doesn't do something illegal, how can he cultivate the mentality of his employees to fight against the imperial court.

The profit of privately minting silver dollars is very high, and the return on investment is also very fast, which can be said to be a first-class money-making project, but compared with ruining money and casting copper, it is more than a step worse.

As I have said before, in the past, Daoguang's silver and copper exchange ratio was that one tael of silver could be exchanged for 1,000 wen, and 1,000 wen could be exchanged for 4 catties and 2 taels of copper; before and after the Opium War, silver was expensive and cheap, and one tael of silver could be exchanged for 1,600 wen.

That is to say, one tael of silver is exchanged for money, and then the money is melted and cast, and about seven catties and two taels of copper can be obtained.

However, during this period, the copper production in Yunnan was greatly affected, and the price of copper was boiling, and one tael of silver on the market could buy up to three or four catties of copper;

Looking at the price at which the British sold raw and cooked copper to China, raw copper was 30 yuan per 100 catties, and cooked copper was 40 yuan per 100 catties, that is, raw copper was one tael of silver and five catties, and cooked copper was one tael of silver and three and a half catties, and many merchants still felt that this price was very appropriate.

In addition, the price of copper obtained by destroying money can be used to cast bronze objects by three or four times.