Invincible Zhengde

Chapter 177 Salt Farm Auction
Zhu Houzhao compared the two lists, and immediately laughed. Among the two lists, half of the people on the cabinet list can be found on the list given to him by Zhang Heling, and the remaining half are not. What does this mean?
Of course, the cabinet made a balance on the list and left half of it for the nobles headed by Zhang Heling. At this time, they didn't want to completely tear their faces.

Zhu Houzhao handed the list to his father, and then said with a smile: "No problem, it seems to be pretty good, just follow the list of the cabinet!"

Zhu Youtang was taken aback for a moment, then stroked his beard and said with a smile: "Not bad, not bad, the emperor has grown up. This is very good. You can't do everything. You have to learn to leave three points. This is a good way to do it. I will send out this list right away, and Yantie Division will handle it accordingly." Zhu Youtang gave his son another appreciative glance as he spoke.

Smiling lightly, Zhu Houzhao nodded and didn't care, but sneered in his heart, come on, the more you come, the better, just afraid that Xungui's side is not enough.

Although the merchants of Daming are not conspicuous, the wealth of merchants of Daming is definitely beyond the imagination of many people.

The merchants of the Ming Dynasty regard the township as their party, and that is how the word township party came about. They joined forces to do business, and together they consolidated their strength and launched their own endorsement parties in the imperial court, which were the origins of the Qi, Zhejiang, Chu and Donglin parties.How rich are these people?A business of a few hundred thousand taels can only be regarded as a trivial matter, and a big business of tens of millions of taels can be regarded as a medium meaning.

The salt merchants in Yangzhou, led by Shanxi merchants, were able to mobilize several million taels of working capital. In this era when land property and shop owners were the main assets, they were able to mobilize millions of taels of money to invest in a business. How rich.

The smuggling businessmen along the coast are also rich people. They are able to change rice into mulberry in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. This is how capable they are.

Zhu Houzhao is just trying to make money, so naturally the more the better, the attention of these fights must be that after the salt farm is in hand, there is salt, so you can grab money as you want to make money, or increase the price if you can’t!But Zhu Houzhao will let them know what flowers are and why they are so popular.When the time comes, these people will have no place to cry. Come on, take out the money obediently.

"Father, don't worry, I know what to do." Zhu Houzhao said to his father with a smile, feeling very at ease in his heart.

After leaving Qianqing Palace, Zhu Houzhao directly ordered Liu Jin: "Send someone to the residence of the Marquis of Shouning, and hand this over to the Marquis of Shouning." Zhu Houzhao handed Liu Jin the two documents, which are Zhu Houzhao wrote, one is about the salt administration, and the other is about the secret system of officials and envoys.

Liu Jin nodded, respectfully took the document handed over by Zhu Houzhao, turned around and walked out.

After finishing these things, Zhu Houzhao can finally breathe a sigh of relief. The iron furnace at the Bingzhan Bureau has come to an end, and there are many R&D personnel left there. Zhu Houzhao can start his own steelmaking plant.The first thing to do is to build a blast furnace. This thing can often be successful if you try it. Zhu Houzhao is ready to spend money.

Zhu Houzhao believes that the old craftsmen of Bingzhan Bureau, the blast furnace steelmaking of this era may not be able to produce high-quality steel, but it can greatly increase the output.

This is actually enough for Zhu Houzhao. In Zhu Houzhao's view, whether it is plate armor or the current armor of Ming Dynasty, the defensive power is actually surplus.However, due to the production process and raw materials, it cannot be mass-produced on a large scale.Daming's good armor, such as the one he wears for himself, is the top level of protection.

But the problem is, without money, can you equip the whole army with such good armor?You need to know how many excellent equipments in history have not been assembled into the whole army, why?
Very simple, too expensive, low cost performance, what kind of equipment does the army need?Low cost, superior performance, large-scale production, and easy repair are what large-scale armaments need.For example, the AK series of the former Soviet Union is a model under this concept.Constrained by the current conditions, Zhu Houzhao felt that plate armor was the best choice.

First of all, it is easy to manufacture, direct hydraulic stamping, not as time-consuming and labor-intensive as fish scale armor, and even saves time and effort than leather armor.

This reduces the production cost, the prerequisite for large-scale equipment, and the second is light weight. Under the same weight, it can provide the best defense and is conducive to cavalry charge.

The production cost is low, the manufacture is fast, and the protection is good. If you don't choose it, what would you choose?Originally, the plate armor was supposed to shine in history, but unfortunately, when the underwater stamping and forging technology appeared, the plate armor could be installed on a large scale, and the muskets also developed rapidly. The plate armor has not yet shined. Swept into the dustbin of history.

Zhu Houzhao didn't think about using firearms to solve the problem, but the grassland is so big, and the cavalry has to save worry and effort. The difficulty of researching and manufacturing plate armor is much lower than that of guns.

The big deal is that when the gun is made, we change the cavalry to musket cavalry. That thing should be quite powerful.

There are many ideas, but the reality is that it needs to be done step by step. Steelmaking is the foundation, starting with steelmaking, so Zhu Houzhao explained the matter and left the palace, because today is the day when the salt merchants took pictures of the salt field.Under such a sunny and sunny weather, Zhu Houzhao was going to see the excitement, of course, mainly to see his own money.

After leaving the palace, Zhu Houzhao brought his entourage to the Yamen of Yantiesi. In order to appear solemn, the auction was held in the Yamen this time.

Zhu Houzhao also changed his clothes and mixed in the team with an invitation card in his hand. This invitation card is said to be an invitation card, but it is actually a salt entry qualification certificate. Although he knew it was going to be cheated of money, he was still willing to be cheated.

Beating the invitation in his hand, Zhu Houzhao hurriedly walked into the yamen, wandering around with a smile on his face, and soon Zhu Houzhao found out that some people looked at the invitations in their hands with envy. Obviously these people did not have invitations. I came here to watch the excitement.Or if they want to see if there are any bargains that can be picked up, Zhu Houzhao can only tell them, you are overthinking.

The remaining part of the people, that is, those who have invitations in their hands, their eyes are more complicated, with rejoicing, arrogance, and unconcealable distress.

A group of people stood waiting in the yard. People who usually yell and yell, don’t talk about yelling and drinking when they come here. They don’t even have time to wait for tea, let alone waiting for tea. They don’t even have the qualification to enter the house. I could only stand in the yard and wait.Although everyone was upset, but no one dared to say anything.

As the saying goes, the harder it is to obtain, the more cherished it is. These people are too aware of how they got into it.

This is how many favors have been entrusted and how much money has been spent. If you make a fuss here and get kicked out, all the money will be wasted.

With his hands behind his back, Zhu Houzhao looked around in the crowd, and soon found that these people were clustered together, Shanxi merchants, Zhejiang merchants, Huizhou merchants, etc. It was hard to say that the differences were clear, but there was not much difference.Obviously, when everyone's interests are aligned, local groups naturally emerge.Zhu Houzhao knew that Lianghuai and Changlu must be the most competitive.

Shanxi merchants, Huizhou merchants, and Zhejiang merchants, none of them want to give up these two saltworks. Shanxi merchants were kicked out in Yangzhou, and they are likely to be replaced by Zhejiang merchants and Huizhou merchants. Now they have a chance to make a comeback.Huizhou merchants and Zhejiang merchants definitely don't want to give up their interests. The Lianghuai Salt Field is at their doorstep, so how could they be willing to let go.

On the contrary, it is the Guangdong Salt Field, which must be the territory of Fujian merchants. It may not be easy for others to intervene.

But there is also a problem here, that is, do other salt merchants also want to go north, such as whether the Fujian Chamber of Commerce wants to get involved in Yangzhou, anyway, they are not far from Yangzhou.

Hilarious!
Just be lively!
Zhu Houzhao is different from other businessmen, he is very happy at this time, because he knows that these people are his big fish!

Not long after, an official from the Yantie Division came in. He was a thin civil servant in his 30s. His official uniform should be of the fifth rank. He glanced down and said, "Everyone, it's time." , please come with me!" After saying that, he turned around and led the way in front, and everyone did not dare to neglect, and hurriedly followed.

The expression on Zhu Houzhao's face was also indifferent, and he followed at the end without any pressure, shaking the invitation card in his hand, as if he was ready to do something big.

The group soon came to a room at the back, where chairs had been prepared long ago, and there was no table in front of the chairs. The cards are the same, so sit on the right number.Zhu Houzhao quickly found his seat, sat down and waited to watch the excitement.

Not long after everyone sat down, a young man came up to the stage, and he smiled and cupped his hands, and said, "Everyone, I'm making money, and I'm in charge of today's salt field auction!"

"The first thing we are auctioning is the Guangdong Salt Farm!" Qian Guangdou asked someone to hang up a map, and then said: "The total size of the Guangdong Salt Farm is 13 yuan. We have information here. You can take a look." !” Saying that, he gestured to the side, and many people started to distribute something similar to leaflets.

There are thirteen sheets on each person's side, each with a small map and a text introduction next to it.

The specific location, size, and annual output of salt are clearly stated in the text introduction. Of course, the output is all up-to-date. I have been busy with this matter, and at the same time, I have carried out detailed investigation and registration of each saltworks.

(End of this chapter)