New Shun 1730

"Did father mean that the Duke is preparing to deal with the British? But, what will he do?"

Xu Tao smiled and said: "How could I guess the government's methods? Do you know what our family did when they attacked Japan?"

This can be regarded as the history of the Xu family's fortune. Before, he was engaged in Japanese trade and Japanese smuggling, and he was at best a second- and third-rate businessman. In terms of influence and financial resources, they are completely different from Yangzhou salt merchants.

Nowadays, the Xu family is one of the core figures among the merchants in Dashun Overseas Trading Group, especially those who are related by marriage to the Lin family. Overseas trade has become bigger and stronger in recent years, and its status is no longer what it was back then.

The First World War in Japan was a turning point in the fate of the Xu family. In that battle, the Xu family helped greatly, coordinating logistics and providing money and labor.

Although there is certainly the factor that his son was beaten to death for smuggling.

But more importantly, the Xu family seized the opportunity.

"Heng'er, remember, when doing business in China, you need to hold on tightly. This is one; the second is that you must be willing to spend money. The more you spend, the more you earn."

"In the battle against Japan, our family contributed. So, we jumped up."

"How to fight, I can't think of it, and neither can you. But if we really want to fight, I don't understand this diplomacy or that principle. I only know that if you follow the prince, you will definitely make a fortune. If you invest a penny, he will make you see a penny. , The Duke of Guo is a person who pays most attention to establishing a 'model'."

"Nanyang Plantation, why don't others be optimistic about new things like oil palm, but I want you to spend money to build it? Some people laughed at me and said that this is licking the father-in-law, which is correct, but everyone can understand When you see the benefits of licking, it becomes worthless.”

"Since you are a student, you have read "Historical Records". Do you remember what Emperor Xiaowen said about Li Guang?"

Xu Heng was a new student, so he also had to learn the first four histories. Moreover, this was considered a masterpiece through the ages, so he knew it by heart.

"Emperor Xiaowen said that Li Guang was born at an untimely time. If he had been born during the time of Emperor Gaozu, he would have been granted the title of Marquis of Ten Thousand Households."

Xu Tao smiled and said: "Exactly. During the time of Emperor Wu, he could not be granted a title in his lifetime, but it was Huo Wei who achieved success. This is the attitude of the Duke towards us old men, so he scolded us all day long, saying that we are a bunch of waste, You can only sit at home and collect money. If you were born in other times, you can also gain great wealth by sitting at home and collecting money. But, as the Duke said, times have changed."

"He doesn't like the act of sitting at home and collecting money, so whoever can understand this can succeed, otherwise it will be Li Guang who can't be sealed."

"The Duke of the State has always liked to set up 'models'. In terms of trade, he has always said, 'Those who follow me will prosper, and those who go against me will perish.' If you still want to sit at home and collect money conservatively, the Duke of the State will definitely destroy your family." "

The old man's words made Xu Heng immediately connect some seemingly unrelated things before.

For example, after Dashun went to Nanyang, some wealthy Nanyang people were unwilling to sell their properties and move to Songjiang Prefecture, so their families were ruined; for example, during the previous debate over whether to go out to trade or sit at home to collect money, those who supported sitting at home The group of people who collected the money were excluded from the trading system. Relying on the huge capital of the joint-stock system, they raised and lowered prices several times, which ruined their families.

"When the father said this, his son suddenly became enlightened. He was always said to be kind and kind-faced. Although he laughed and scolded, he did not stick to trivial matters. He did not have too much airs and did not like ostentation and ceremony... Now think about it... "

"Hahahahaha... Is the Duke kind-hearted?" Xu Tao seemed to have heard some funny joke, laughing and coughing continuously.

Xu Heng hurriedly picked up the tea and served it, and tapped his father's back a few times. After catching his breath, Xu Tao said calmly: "It is true that the Duke of the country is kind, but the kindness of a woman must be said." "Shan, I haven't seen him at all. I don't think he likes killing people very much, but he fought from the Western Regions to Nanyang, so this is unreasonable."

"Don't talk about the killings on the battlefield, just talk about trade. How is Japan doing? A huge company like the Netherlands, which was almost two hundred years old, was quietly wiped out by him. Let's talk about the country, millions of canal workers, Who is responsible for the hundreds of thousands of porters in Dayuling, the hundreds of thousands of people from the Huaihe River and the Huaihe River going to Nanyang, and the tens of thousands of Tang people from Nanyang who moved to Ceylon?"

"He really doesn't rely on his connections or officialdom to kill people. He has never even attacked a single person."

“But he always said one word: route.”

"I don't quite understand the word, but I can probably figure it out."

"What is a route? Is it better to sit in the customs and collect money, or go out to trade? Is the long-term pain better than the short-term pain of moving to Southeast Asia, or is it normal for a gentleman to live far away from the Huaihe River and suffer disasters?"

"This is probably the route issue as I understand it."

"Don't go the wrong way, follow him."

"Of course I don't know what path the Duke is going to take. But now, I can be sure of one thing. The Duke will definitely attack the British, because judging from the opium matter, this is almost the same as what he did to the Japanese before. Same."

"Understand this, and you can understand many things. If you don't understand this, you will become the kind of person who is 'eliminated by the times' as the Duke said."

Xu Heng hurriedly agreed, but then said: "Although my father's idea is reasonable, today the Duke's intention seems to be to expand smuggling. My father thinks so, is it a bit too 'radical'? This war with Britain, It’s very expensive compared to Japan and the Netherlands.”

"My son also knows the geography of Southeast Asia. The only place in the UK is Bengkulu, which is not very important to this dynasty. As for the UK, there is no land route to Europe and it is tens of thousands of miles away."

"To attack Japan, we need to land on the island and enter its national city. Britain is so far away, it may seem..."

Xu Tao, an old man, is already used to new words in the new learning such as radical.

However, he was rather disdainful of his son's description of his ideas as being too radical, and instead felt that his son was conservative.

After his son mentioned many reasons and difficulties, Xu Tao only asked one sentence.

"Smuggling, smuggling. Your brother is also a smuggler. What do you do when people don't let you smuggle?"

"I don't know what other people think. But our family has experienced this kind of thing and understands it better than them."

"Making smuggling legal will prevent things like your brother being beaten to death. How can smuggling become legal?"

"Just look at Japan. After a war, it becomes legal, and it is no longer smuggling."

"Have you ever seen the Duke do anything and enjoy having his balls pinched?"

After a moment of anger, Xu Tao calmed down and said slowly: "Now our family and the Duke of our country are both prosperous and devastated."

"The Duke's route is to expand externally and trade abroad. This route has destined us to be very important. No matter who we are, as long as we continue to follow this route, we cannot be touched. Do you understand?"

Xu Heng nodded, this truth seemed understandable.

"But, you have to know that once the route turns to closed trade and pass trade...you also know what the Duke of China often says, we are all waste, sitting at home to collect money, there is raw silk tea obtained by the hard work of the people. Even fools can make money from porcelain.”

"Since even a fool can do business, are we still irreplaceable?"

"Since it is irreplaceable, anyone can do it. After defeating the Duke and changing the Duke's external expansion route, is it your turn to be the money-collecting merchant? I don't have any relatives or friends? I don't have any disciples or old officials? No. A subordinate of the disciple?"

"The Duke is absolutely right. The tea silk porcelain obtained by the hard work of the people can make money even for fools as long as the court closes itself to trade. And fools can be replaced by others."

"Therefore, when I say that both lose and prosper, I don't mean that both lose and prosper. It means that both lose and prosper. It means that both lose and prosper. "

"As long as we don't expand externally, we are all replaceable."

"Whether the Duke of Guo can continue to follow the route depends on whether the Duke of Guo can make the court more money than just doing business."

"Smuggling is equivalent to having your balls pinched in someone's hands. Let's not talk about the prince, just ourselves. Can we allow it? Can we accept it? Once someone pinches it, there will be no money to be made externally. At that time, the prince If someone messed with me and the route changed, who are you and me?”

"When the time comes, whoever takes care of things here will send their trusted people to do this."

"What do you think the Duke is talking about when he keeps calling us trash? We are idiots who can make money just by sitting at home."

"It's telling us that if we really talk about trade, it won't be our turn to make money, do you understand?"

"Can Mr. Wang's relatives and Mr. Li's nephew engage in port trade and trade where even a fool can make money?"

"Are you a relative of Lord Wang or Lord Li's nephew?"

"Tell me, if the imperial court really engages in port trade and sits at home waiting for Westerners to come to pick up goods, what will be so difficult about this business?"

"To expand externally now, we need new students to understand nautical charts, ocean currents, economics, astronomy and geography, the situation in Europe, Western languages, and price laws."

"More importantly, it requires a huge amount of capital, not a few million taels, but tens of millions of taels. Not just any adult can afford that."

"If you want to engage in port trade, what do you need to know? My father-in-law is talking to you today about tea prices and the Ostend company incident. I just want to ask you, when you were engaged in port trade, did you not understand this, and would it affect making money? "

"We are engaged in active trade now. If we don't understand this, we can't make money. We are no longer fools, so we must ensure that the route where even fools can make money, and where Mr. Li's nephews and Mr. Wang's relatives can all make money, cannot be followed. "

"This means that we must follow the government's policy. To build a navy? Support funding; to build a supply depot in Cape? Support funding; to build a cruising fleet to escort? Support funding; to go to war with Britain? Support funding money."

"Those who don't support funding are fools. It's not your turn to do business, or even the vast majority of the current company's shareholders. Do you understand?"

"Besides us, there are a group of gentry who took the imperial examination and a group of good family members from the Wude Palace. What the hell are we? We actually think that saving costs through port trade is a good thing? It does save costs and make a lot of money, but it's not your turn. What does it have to do with you?"

"It's a pity that some idiots can't even understand why the Duke scolds us all day long, calling us trash and saying that fools can make money by doing business. They still feel wronged... and don't even think about it, Duke What are you talking about?"

The more Xu Tao talked, the more excited he became. Xu Heng broke into a cold sweat and suddenly realized something in his heart.

I thought to myself, it turned out that we have always been said to be useless, and that even a fool can make money just by sitting at home... Is this what he meant?

Indeed, if you really don't take the initiative to go out and close your business to collect money, the only difficulty is to win over the other merchants.

And when we get to that point, it doesn't depend on the company's policies, nor on the skill of navigation, nor on the understanding of economics, or even on the amount of capital.

Whether you can win over other suppliers depends only on whether you are a relative of Lord Wang or a nephew of Lord Li, whether Lord Wang is a higher official or Lord Li is a higher official...

Now, those shareholders who oppose external expansion and increased cost investment are indeed fools.

Before opposing, you should first reflect on yourself:

Do I have a relative who is a minister of the six governments?

Do I have a relationship that can rely on the Tianyou Palace?

Are my ancestors nobles who followed Emperor Taizong to conquer the world?

If not, why should I take the turn for a business that even a fool can do?

For external expansion, it is necessary to establish a joint-stock system, concentrate tens of millions of taels of capital, monopolize the source of goods, cut off the strait, patrol smuggling, and support the fleet, so that everyone has the opportunity to chat and laugh with the Duke.

And if you engage in port trade, where is the need for tens of millions of capital? Build a warehouse with 10,000 taels, get the special trade permit from the court, get the deposit from the Westerners first, and then the governor of the state can say hello to get the goods first and pay later.

Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, Xu Heng said repeatedly: "Father's decades of experience are indeed incomparable to us young people."

Xu Tao sighed and said: "You are in a good time. Who knows how we were grandsons back then. I am afraid that in the past 20 years, many people have thought that everything now is taken for granted. What's more tragic is that those who have experienced it are stupidly opposed to the Duke's route of expanding the army and increasing costs."

"Alas... The Duke often said that the butt determines the head. Sadly, many shareholders now don't even know where their butts are sitting."

"Anyway, just remember this sentence. The more capital the company needs, the more important we are. If the company doesn't need huge capital to collect money, we are just rotten shit."

"The more money we spend, the more investment we need, the more important we are; the less money we don't need to spend and the more cost-saving we are, the less important we are."

"If the company needs 30 or 40 million taels of silver for turnover, we can still rest assured, and the emperor won't ask us for money during his southern tour; if the company needs 100 million taels of silver to build ships, cruise, and start war supplies, we are simply impregnable and unshakable; but if the company can make a lot of money with only 3 or 5 million taels, we are not far from being kicked out."