Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1008 Company
"San Francisco? Or Alaska?"

The prince's letter is naturally extremely fast.

The emperor returned to Beijing with a shock in his heart.

He had long heard that the Indians entered the Americas from the Bering Strait, and even made an ordinary wooden boat, which could be pushed to America by the Japanese warm current.

It would be great if we could actually colonize the Americas.

The east and west parts of North America, the eastern plains and the western mountains, have many gold mines and are also hot spots for the development of the western United States.

"If this is the case, a few sons can even be sealed in a few years."

Having made up his mind, Zhu Yixi began to write: "What my son said is quite right. This place should be America, which is the New World he mentioned."

"There are a lot of savages and a vast land, which is very beneficial to my Ming Dynasty. My son should check carefully and inquire again and again. Don't get distracted. You must focus on Arctic City..."

Putting down the pen, Zhu Yixi said, "Send this letter to the prince."

"Yes." Liu Afu agreed.

Immediately, a huge map of Kun Yu Wan Guo appeared in front of the emperor.

It is 1.9 meters long and [-] meters wide, just like a screen.

In fact, the emperor had someone make a copy, repaint it with embroidery, and turn it into a screen, which can be viewed at any time.

This is the world map jointly drawn by Matteo Ricci and Li Zhizao. It is the earliest painted world map in China. It was dedicated to Emperor Ming in the 30th year of Wanli.

At that time the map was centered on Europe, but Matteo Ricci flattered the emperor and took Ming as the center of the world, which shocked the court at that time.

It consists of three parts, the main map, including the five continents, oceans, special species, etc.; the astronomical map, geographical map; and the final explanation.

In the early years, he has been observing this map again and again, and confirmed it with the maps of later generations.

80.00% of them are relatively reliable.

Looking at it now, his fingers unconsciously rowed from Heilongjiang to the Arctic City, then to the Bering Strait, and then to America.

This is a route, a practical route.

But if the development is carried out by the power of the government, I don't know when it will be fully developed.

Therefore, there must be a pure interest group like the East India Company in order to develop as soon as possible.

Moreover, the bureaucrats are babbling, even if they have money, they are reluctant to spend it, and they only want to save money. Now that the development of Anxi and Northeast China is too late, it will be too difficult for them to go to America.

After thinking about it in his heart, Zhu Yixi ordered casually: "Let the Minister of Internal Affairs come over."

"By the way, call Wei Kuanguo over."

Wei Kuanguo, who works in Qin Tianjian, came to the villa in a daze.

After many years of summer vacation, almost all yamen have offices in Yuquan Mountain, ready to serve the emperor at any time, and Qin Tianjian is no exception.

The missionaries of the Jesuits tirelessly implemented the upper-level line, so Wei Kuangguo also held his post in Qintianjian to do things.

Only in such a highly professional institution can the identity of Xiyi not be rejected.

Wei Kuanguo was dressed in official robes and a black gauze hat, with a puzzled face.

But he didn't dare to be sloppy, and couldn't wait to follow the little eunuch.

After a while, he saw the emperor in a fish-white robe and clogs.

At this time, the emperor was full of leisure, holding the fat white cat in his left hand, and constantly sprinkled fish food with his right hand, he seemed to be in a good mood.

Wei Kuanguo was sure.

"Your Majesty, Wei Kuanguo, Deputy Supervisor of Qintian Supervisor, greets His Majesty."

"Get up!"

Zhu Yixi glanced at Wei Kuangguo, who was 63 years old, with a white beard, conspicuous brown-green eyes, and prominent facial features.

It seems that because of eating too much of Daming's diet, his appearance is not as sharp as it was at the beginning, but much softer.

It makes sense that diet changes appearance.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Wei Kuanguo's pure Beijing dialect was already better than [-]% of the common people in Ming Dynasty.

"It's no big deal to call you here today."

Zhu Yixi sat on the stone, half leaning his body, which made the eunuchs beside him change their faces impatiently, but he didn't care about it and fed the fish freely.

"On the European side, the mission should have arrived in the Netherlands, and the Holy See may have already talked about the Eastern Diocese."

Hearing this, Wei Kuangguo straightened his expression, put his butt half against the chair, and became more and more respectful.

He naturally understood the idea of ​​the Eastern Parish.

Because that's the vision he offered the emperor.

East of India, including the Dutch East India Company (Protestant), more than a dozen countries, etc., all belong to the category of the Eastern Diocese, almost half of Asia.

The archbishop is appointed and dismissed by Rome, but the vicar bishop, as well as the bishops of various dioceses, are appointed and dismissed by the emperor.

Rome got its name, and Ming got its real name.

The Jesuits kept the fruits of victory.

This is a win-win situation.

And on the surface, in order to satisfy the emperor's ambition to expand the territory, he included the Dutch East Indies into the scope of the Eastern Diocese, just to make Ming and the Netherlands conflict.

After all, the Netherlands, a Protestant country, now dominates the European seas, and if he were to fight against Ming, the church would benefit no matter what.

Heretics are worse than heretics.

"If nothing unexpected, the Pope will definitely respond."

Wei Kuanguo took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "The land directly under the Holy See is shrinking day by day. France and Austria covet Italy deeply, and the life of the Holy See is not easy."

"Yes."

Zhu Yixi nodded and said with a smile: "If there are no accidents, you will be the vice archbishop of the Eastern Archdiocese.

Wei Kuangguo had expectations for the Vice Archbishop, but he really did not expect the title of Minister of Rites.

He has been in Daming for many years, of course he knows the meaning of a servant. He is a real court official of Daming, and there are only a few dozens of officials in front of him.

"I thank the emperor Long En."

Wei Kuanguo was overjoyed, he knelt down and kowtowed impatiently, all in one go without hindrance.

"You deserve it."

Zhu Yixi was not surprised.

After staying in Daming for a long time, these Europeans got used to the etiquette of kneeling three times and knocking nine times, and the missionaries were no exception.

Now Ming Dynasty is number one in the world in terms of economy, military, population, land, etc. Under such circumstances, how can Europe, which claims to be a civilized people, continue to be proud of Ming Dynasty?
Although Wei Kuangguo is the vice-archbishop, Zhu Yixi, the bishop of the Daming Diocese, will appoint and remove Han Chinese to serve.

Although the Jesuits respected the emperor more, the Han people obeyed the emperor completely.

And it's easier to control.

As for the dioceses of Korea and Qin, the emperor would basically appoint and remove Han bishops, so as to maintain the nobility of imperial power.

After talking about this great event, Zhu Yixi got to the point:
"Dutch East India Company, you should understand!"

"I know a thing or two." Wei Kuanguo thought for a while, and said seriously: "Nowadays, in Europe, only the Netherlands establishes a company. For countries such as Spain and Portugal, it is the kingdoms that set up companies in person."

"However, the stocks of the East India Company increased greatly and made a lot of profits, causing other countries to follow suit and set up a company model."

"Generally speaking, the king will sign a decree allowing the company to buy out the trade route of a certain place, and it will be allowed to have the army, civil servants, etc., which is a huge colonial conquest institution."

"Spain's trade points in Southeast Asia and Portugal's trade points on the east coast of India were all defeated by the Dutch East Indies, which shows how powerful they are..."

In the colonial expansion of Europe, Spain and Portugal were pioneers, adopting a model of government behavior that made kings and nobles a lot of wealth.

But in this case, the disadvantages are obvious.

Bureaucratic corruption and low efficiency made it difficult to deal with the Dutch East India Company in colonization, so that Eastern trade opportunities were monopolized by it.

However, the Dutch East India Company, because of its strong autonomy, can choose to attack or defend at any time, coupled with its interests, makes it extremely ambitious.

But in Zhu Yixi's view, the Dutch East India Company also has a weakness, that is, lack of stamina.

In other words, the Dutch East India Company was too far away from the Dutch government to receive real support.

For example, the British East Indies, because of its semi-official organization, the navy and army supported it at any time, and even the British government endorsed it, but it was difficult for the Dutch East Indies to do so.

Therefore, for Ming Dynasty, the Dutch East Indies is not advisable, and the direct access to the West and Portugal is also not acceptable.

The British East Indies are the most suitable.

Hearing Wei Kuanguo's words and thinking about the form of colonial conquest, Zhu Yixi had a plan in mind.

"oh, I understand now."

Zhu Yixi nodded: "Please help me find some employees of the East India Company, or people with colonial experience in Spain and Portugal. The salary is negotiable."

"I understand."

Wei Kuanguo hurriedly responded.

He knew that His Majesty the Emperor seemed to be reluctant to part with colonial interests and wanted to carry out colonial activities.

Half an hour later, Minister of Internal Affairs Wang He came in a hurry.

Zhang Qi, the former Minister of Internal Affairs, retired and returned to his hometown a few years ago because of his old age.

After some recommendation and selection, the emperor chose Wang He.

He was born in Huizhou merchants, and he was originally part of the imperial merchant system. He has excellent management skills, especially in the business world, and is known for being stingy and frugal.

For a huge profit-making organization like the Ministry of Internal Affairs, making money is important, but frugality should not be underestimated either.

Sometimes the saved money can even be higher than the profit.

After more than ten years of expansion, the Ministry of Internal Affairs should be more stable.

Wang He, who is in his forties, has thin cheeks, slender eyebrows, and piercing eyes. He is dressed in a light blue robe and black cloth boots, and looks energetic.

Although he is the minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he is not wearing official robes, but civilian clothes.

This has been a tradition for over ten years.

The House of Internal Affairs was originally the emperor's private minister, who worked for the royal family, and the official title was just a matter of convenience and could not be communicated with the outside court.

That is to say, the minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs will not be able to transfer to the foreign court as an official at any time like the Qing Dynasty.

The imperial examination background is still the mainstream of the right path.

Because they are retainers and private ministers, the House of Internal Affairs, like Jin Yiwei, is completely handled by the emperor, without the need to consult civil servants, which is extremely cool.

"Sir, Wang He, I greet Your Majesty."

"Flat body."

Zhu Yixi nodded slightly: "How many people are there in the House of Internal Affairs?"

Wang He rolled his eyes, and then said: "There are about 120 people with official status, and there are no less than 3000 people who have food."

"In the imperial business system, there are 36 companies with a family property of more than one million, 72 companies with a family property of [-], and [-] companies with less than [-]..."

The imperial business system is an important part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

In addition to doing business, the Ministry of Internal Affairs also needs to purchase royal supplies. Naturally, it cannot do everything by itself. There must be many merchants who cooperate and let them purchase on their behalf.

Therefore, these imperial merchants are also more or less buyers, serving the royal family.

However, in the pre-Ming period, all the things used by the imperial government were either made by the government itself, or the local government paid tribute, which was a waste of money and people.

Nowadays, after going through the procedures of the emperor and merchants like this, although people can't avoid labor and loss of money, the merchants have to bear the blame, and the emperor's reputation will not be damaged.

When some imperial merchants become notorious or disobedient, it's time to kill pigs.

Therefore, for these imperial merchants, the Ministry of Internal Affairs will also count their net worth, and the intention is self-evident.

The obligation of the imperial merchants is to purchase goods for the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and at the same time they are in a semi-official status, so there is a disaster there, and the local imperial merchants have to donate money in the name of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

As for the benefits of being an imperial merchant, the title of imperial merchant alone can allow him to do business in Daming territory without hindrance, and even directly enter the government to meet officials.

Therefore, many imperial merchants basically paid for their services, just doing business for their names.

"Do you have millions of dollars?"

the emperor asked suddenly.

Wang He was taken aback, and immediately said: "For many years, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has avoided including those local rich merchants, because they were out of control, so there is no net worth of tens of millions."

"However, in the private sector, salt merchants, Shanxi merchants, and Huizhou merchants are extremely active, and there are not a few who are worth tens of millions."

"That's right, the Anhui Merchants Bank and Shanxi Merchants Bank have piled up a lot of rich people."

The emperor's exclamation made Wang He tremble all over.

As a Huizhou merchant, he certainly understood the emperor's malice towards merchants.

In the past, the eight imperial merchants of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties made Shanxi merchants suffer a lot. In the past, they could keep pace with Huizhou merchants, but now they have been suppressed for more than ten years.

Shanxi merchants were wronged. Although the eight families were from Shanxi merchants, they had nothing to do with other Shanxi merchants, and many of them were even competitors.

But the emperor will look for it, and you can't help it.

This is the power of imperial power.

"Okay." Zhu Yixi smiled lightly: "Tell the group of imperial merchants that even if they are working for the Ministry of Internal Affairs, they must abide by their duties. It is okay to make money, but the taxes that should be paid must not be less."

"Otherwise, there are good fruits to eat."

"Yes!" Wang He was shocked and hurriedly responded.

Damn it, it turned out that some black sheep evaded taxes, which annoyed the emperor.

If this implicates us, it is not a pity to die.

Afterwards, the two chatted about some money-making affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Sugar, salt, iron, ore, tea, raw silk, timber, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs have all been involved, and even monopolized the trade of cinchona cream.

The emperor finally talked about what the prince said: "There is no doubt that there are gold mines there, but the government is not suitable, so the Ministry of Internal Affairs led some imperial merchants to do it."

"By the way, you can refer to the Dutch East India Company and talk to me later."

　Difficult code words, asking for a monthly pass

　　
　
(End of this chapter)