Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 271 Decentralization of Government Affairs
"To unite with the Portuguese and the Ingguili to deal with the red-haired people? My dear brother, isn't this a bit too wild a fantasy?"

Li Guozhu felt a little unbelievable. He was relatively familiar with the relationship between Western colonizers such as Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands and Britain. Portugal and Britain were mortal enemies in Asia, and they were constantly playing rival roles from the Indian Ocean to Southeast Asia.

Although there have been constant frictions between Britain and the Netherlands in recent years, in general there has been more cooperation than confrontation, especially when facing Spanish and Portuguese forces, when they have been united against the outside world.

"It's not crazy at all. Brother, you may not know that the Ingwi and Portuguese have been traditional allies for hundreds of years. Their real enemy is the Latvian. Now that the Portuguese have been annexed by the Latvian, they have become the enemy of the Ingwi, but the Portuguese do not actually want to be ruled by the Latvian. They are planning an uprising and are preparing to overthrow the king of the Latvian..."

"Of course, the affairs of the Western world are not really important. What is really important is that the Red Hair family is now the only one in power in the Eastern Seas. The Ingguili and Portuguese have suffered greatly at the hands of the Red Hair family. The two families have long been tired of the endless fighting between them. If there is a chance to defeat the Red Hair family, it is entirely possible for them to temporarily join forces."

Lin Hai's words were certainly not groundless. It goes without saying that the Spanish and Portuguese forces were suppressed by the Dutch, and the EIC was also badly cheated by the VOC. During his last term, Cohen fought a fierce battle with the EIC fleet and even carried out the Ambon Massacre, forcing the EIC back to the Indian Ocean, leaving only the Banten Trading House east of Malacca.

Even if Lin had not acted as a middleman, the EIC would have concluded a peace treaty with the Portuguese Indian authorities seven or eight years later, when Portugal was still five years away from independence.

"Having said that, I think it's still difficult to form an alliance with the Yingguili and the Portuguese at the same time."

"This is just the best scenario. If the Yingguili people really don't want to, then forget it. I will also send people to Luzon to negotiate. With the strength of the company and the connections with the Portuguese, it will be no problem to defeat the red-haired people."

"My dear brother, please forgive me for speaking frankly." Li Guozhu continued, "Although the Ganxi La people and the Portuguese are the Red Hairs' mortal enemies, they will definitely not send troops unless they believe in the strength of the company."

"Brother, what you said hits the nail on the head. You can invite the British, the French and the English to send envoys to Jinhe to discuss trade. I will then demonstrate the strength of our company. In addition, I plan to eliminate the Dutch in Dayuan next year, preferably under the witness of envoys from various countries..."

Lin Hai then added: "As for the decisive battle with the red-haired man, that will probably be the year after next. After this battle, you can be a rich man with peace of mind."

"Brother, you've said so much, what else can I say?" Li Guozhu was too embarrassed to refuse. He suddenly remembered something and said, "But I have never been to Goa and Surat. Do you have a captain who is familiar with the needle route?"

"Don't worry, brother. I found someone who is familiar with the Western Needle Route to go with you." Lin Hai said, "You also know this person, Mr. Miura Anzhen from Japan. There is also someone familiar with the Western Needle Route in the company's board of directors. If all else fails, let him go with you."

"Since you have made all the arrangements, I have no choice but to obey." Li Guozhu smiled bitterly when he heard this. This time, Lin Hai had arranged everything for him perfectly.

"It's not over yet!" Seeing that Li Guozhu agreed, Lin Hai continued, "Your new department has another very important task, which is to attract investment. Specifically, it is to recruit overseas Tang people to invest in Jinhe Country. The company will introduce a series of preferential policies." Li Guozhu was a little confused when he heard this: "Brother, are you talking about attracting more people to do business in Jinhe Country? If there is a good business, why doesn't the company do it itself?"

"That's a good question. Currently, almost all businesses in Jinhe Country are monopolized by companies. This model certainly has its advantages, but it also has many problems..."

"Take the shipbuilding industry, which my brother is familiar with, for example. The company previously had a deputy director Qian who was in charge of the shipyard. All he did was think about how to suppress talented people so that he could have a better career. He didn't pay any attention to the shipyard business at all. This person is actually very smart and capable. If he were the owner of the shipyard himself, would this situation still exist?"

"For example, the company's Construction Division has an Engineering Bureau, which is responsible for building roads and bridges, water conservancy projects, and building houses and fortresses. It has a huge number of employees. When this department is busy, it can't handle everything, and when it's not busy, it's dead idle. The company has to support these people when they have no work to do. The company doesn't need to do this. It can just outsource all the city construction like Red Hair did in Bar City."

"In addition, Jinhe Country actually has a lot of resources, such as deer, rattan, wood, and camphor. Industries such as leather, furniture, and medicinal materials are promising, but it is not appropriate for companies to directly engage in these businesses. Management efficiency is bound to be low, employee enthusiasm is not high, and corruption is difficult to supervise. After all, the attention and energy of the company's top management is limited, and the company's equity is also limited..."

"Not to mention that Jinhe State has a large amount of land, fisheries and mineral resources, which can also be contracted out to private individuals. The company can increase its income from both resource transfer and taxation, but they are not fully developed at present."

Lin Hai said a lot in one breath. In a nutshell, it is to develop the private economy. In fact, this is also the inevitable choice for government-led capitalism such as Germany and Japan after it develops to a certain extent.

Take Japan's Meiji Restoration for example. Initially, it was a government-led campaign to develop industry and commerce to accelerate the primitive accumulation of capital. After ten years of development of the state-owned economy, an order to decentralize state-owned industries was introduced, which meant that all state-owned enterprises, except for special industries such as military industry, coinage, communications, railways, and printing, were sold cheaply to private individuals.

Huiyou Company has been developing for nearly two years, and it is in the pre-industrial era. The capital requirements of many industries are not as high as in the 19th century, so it is completely feasible to implement the decentralization of government-owned enterprises at this time.

Lin Hai said a lot in one breath, and Li Guozhu was stunned. Only then did he understand how big Lin Hai's ambition and courage were, which even his father Li Dan could not match.

Li Guozhu smiled bitterly again. To attract investment, he would have to travel all over the world. It was not as simple as just going to Surat and Goa.

However, he also understood that there was really no one more suitable than him for this matter.

Who made him Li Dan's only son? The kindness and righteousness of the old ship owner were well known to all the Tang people in Southeast Asia!
(End of this chapter)