On October 25th of the third year of Wenchang, the sky was gray, and the light became even dimmer at dusk. Snowflakes intertwined silently between the sky and the earth. The Yang family's farm seemed unusually quiet, except for the tenant farmer's house a mile away. From time to time, a few dogs barked.
Han Bi'er put on men's clothes, and Yang Yi each held an oil-paper umbrella. While talking softly, she went out to the gate of the other courtyard.
At this time, more than a dozen ordinary-looking carriages drove towards the gate of the other courtyard in the wind and snow, and the first one to get out of the car was the fat man Lin Ruhai.
A meeting led by Yang Yi, attended by twenty-six core members of the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce, and attended by Han Bier dressed in men's clothing, was held in the Yang family's farm on this snowy evening.
This meeting was called the "Wenchang Meeting" by later history textbooks, because it was a symbol of the emergence of capitalism in the Song Dynasty, the starting point of the Song Dynasty's expansion from the sea and the plundering of capital, and the clarion call for the arrival of the colonialist era.
The spacious hall was filled with incense and tea. The twenty-eight people attending the meeting were sitting together. Lin Ruhai knew that Yang Yi had called everyone from Jiangnan to the capital. There must be something important to announce. After exchanging pleasantries, they all sat quietly waiting for Yang Yi's next words.
Yang Yi, who was sitting at the top, glanced at everyone and said calmly: "In the past few years, everyone has devoted themselves to sea trade and received rich rewards. I believe everyone understands that there is something to be gained overseas. There are endless treasures, and the current situation is that as long as you can reach it, countless gold and silver treasures are there waiting for you to get them;
What I want to tell you is that this world is very big, so big that it is beyond everyone¡¯s imagination. If anyone plans to be limited to this small puddle in Nanyang, then. Please bring it up as early as possible. I will never force him to participate in the following plan. "
Yang Yi said this. His eyes once again swept across the faces of everyone in the hall, and those calm and powerful eyes made Lin Ruhai and others feel a strong sense of oppression;
Over the years, although the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce has formed a relationship with the Yang family in terms of economic interests, they have rarely had the opportunity to contact Yang Yi. This was the first time for most of the people sitting here to see this powerful and legendary man. They were already a little uneasy, and now most people didn't dare to look him in the face.
Lin Ruhai quickly came out to express his position: "We are extremely honored to be favored by the Duke. We have received a lot of care from the Duke in the past few years. Everyone is grateful for the kindness and cooperation. How can we not know what the Duke has ordered? Despite the instructions, we will definitely follow the principal¡¯s instructions.¡±
"Yes, yes, the Duke of Guo has any orders, but please give me your instructions. I will listen attentively."
Everyone echoed incessantly. The thoughts in his mind kept turning back and forth. Nanyang was now the farthest distance that the merchants of the Song Dynasty had reached, but in Yang Yi's eyes, this was just a small puddle. So, how big is his heart!
Yang Yi continued: "Most of the islands in Southeast Asia are uncivilized indigenous people, and their productivity and consumption capacity are extremely limited. Therefore, it is destined to only be used as a springboard. India, Persia, Byzantium, and Egypt are relatively developed places with large populations. This is our real goal;
When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was conquering the Xiongnu, he once said, "Where the invaders can go, I can go as well. However, hundreds of years ago, Persian merchants came to the Central Plains for trade by sea, but our merchants from the Central Plains have not yet traveled to Southeast Asia to reach India." There are none. In my opinion, this is a great shame;
We pretend to be the emperor of heaven, but we stand still and our footprints are not as far as Di Yi. We don¡¯t know anything about other people¡¯s countries. We trade with them, but we don¡¯t know that most of the benefits have been earned by them. ;
This situation must change. I can now clearly tell everyone sitting here that my goal is to make the ships of the Song Dynasty the masters of the endless ocean, to have the products of the Song Dynasty filled every shop in India, Persia, Byzantium, Egypt and other places, and to make the whole world People from all over the world will come to consume the goods of the Song Dynasty, and let the gold and silver from all over the world flow into the Song Dynasty and into our pockets, as long as you are willing to do what I say.
If these words were said by anyone else, Lin Ruhai and others would definitely denounce them as madmen and idiots.
"But what it said from Yang Yi's mouth is another story. Yang Yi is a legend in his own right. Facts have proven time and again that with Yang Yi, all unimaginable things can become a reality.
Six years ago, who believed that the Song Dynasty could defeat Xixia, Jiaozhi, Liao Kingdom, Gaochang, Heihan and other countries in succession, and expand the territory of the Song Dynasty several times?
¡°If someone had said that they could do all this six years ago, they would have been regarded as crazy.
But Yang Yi did it. In the eyes of ordinary people and even big businessmen like Lin Ruhai, Yang Yi was almost equal to a god. No one dared to doubt what he said he could do, even if he saidYou can pick the stars from the sky.
But this time, the people sitting here will become the main participants in the vision that Yang Yi showed to everyone. As long as it is achieved, everyone will also become another legend. Thinking of this, Lin Ruhai and others can't help but feel excited and excited. Incessantly.
No matter what, it is absolutely right to follow Yang Yi. This is what Lin Ruhai and others are thinking.
"My lord, please let me know what we should do."
"I solemnly remind everyone once again that if anyone does not want to participate, please do so now and I will personally send him out of the other hospital without hurting each other. But once you hear the following words, you will have no choice but to If you keep going, whoever betrays you at that time will be everyone¡¯s public enemy, so you have to think carefully.¡±
Yang Yi originally thought that some people would hesitate, but as soon as he finished speaking, twenty-six people stood up, bowed, and expressed their willingness to follow him.
"Okay, everyone, please take a seat. Let's talk about specific matters. In order to concentrate our efforts and make our business more orderly, I decided to become a Western Indian Ocean trading company;
This trading company is different from the previous loose chambers of commerce. It will be an inseparable whole and will be operated in the form of a shareholding. The profit and loss of the trading company will be shared according to the number of shares held by everyone;
In terms of management, the shareholders' congress is the highest authority of a trading company and is composed of all shareholders. On this basis, there is also a board of directors. The board of directors will serve as the permanent body of the highest authority and preside over daily production and operations.
For now, it is temporarily set that each share of the West Indian Ocean Trading Co., Ltd. is worth 50 guan. At the shareholders' meeting, each share of the shareholder has one voting right. In other words, the more shares you participate in, the more voting rights you have at the shareholders' meeting. The greater the voting rights. "
These are somewhat similar to the original business partnership. After Lin Ruhai and other people inquired about the details, they were secretly happy. The Yang family was too strong. It was impossible for them to say that they were not worried that their rights and interests would not be guaranteed.
It would be better to adopt this kind of joint-stock management, so that according to the number of shares they participate in, they can have more say. This is much better than having them completely obey the Yang family. So these people agreed without hesitation.
After there were no objections to the trading company's operating system, Yang Yi continued: "Silk, cotton, porcelain, and tea, these four items will be our main commodities for expanding overseas markets. If you have any questions about this, you can raise it on the spot and let's discuss it together. .¡±
Shen Qingwen, the richest man in Mingzhou, immediately said: "My lord, there is no problem with the three commodities of silk, porcelain and tea, but this cotton"
"Listen to me on this matter. I believe everyone has guessed the cotton cloth I am talking about. There is a small amount of white folded cloth on the market. The price of white folded cloth is now more expensive than silk because of its high processing cost and low output. Caused by this." Yang Yi said this and gestured to Han Bi'er.
Although Han Bier was unwilling in her heart, she did not dare to show it. She took out a quilt from behind the screen. When Lin Ruhai and others saw this thing, they were immediately filled with curiosity.
Yang Yi nodded and said: "Everyone, take a look at this quilt first. It is made of cotton. It is used as a bedding in winter. It is airtight, warm and comfortable. I can tell you that I have trial-produced a few quilts at home and brought two of them to you." It was put on trial sale on the market and each bed sold for 500 guan."
Lin Ruhai, Shen Qingwen and others came forward one after another and took out the cotton wool from the quilt cover to look at it. Yang Yi even let them try covering it. The fluffy and soft feeling was warmer and more comfortable than a mink fur cover. For such a big bed, From their sophisticated point of view, selling five hundred guan is still a small amount.
When they finished reading and sighed, Yang Yi said with a smile: "I can tell you one more thing. I have a technology for processing cotton. Processing cotton is much simpler than processing silk. Just this bed For quilts, the pure processing cost is less than two hundred cents."
Everyone was in an uproar when they heard about it. The white folded cloth on the market now is more expensive than silk. And such a quilt, because it is rare and expensive, can be bought for thousands of pieces, and its processing cost is less than two hundred. Wen, what does this mean?
It means that whoever masters this processing technology is waiting to get money from people with big cars at home.
"Everyone should know that cotton yield per acre is actually very high. The reason why white folded cloth is so expensive is not that cotton raw materials are scarce. If you don't have cotton, you just have to grow it. It is so expensive because the processing cost is too high. You think my processing technology How much is it worth?¡±
Lin Ruhai and others were dumbfounded, how much it was worth, who knows, anyway, with this kind of technology, it is certain to make a huge profit.
"Everyone, if I am willing to invest in the technology of processing cotton cloth and quilts, what do you think about this?How many shares is the technology worth? "
"Two thousand shares."
"Five thousand shares."
"No, it's worth 10,000 shares!" Lin Ruhai gritted his teeth and said this astonishing number, but the others didn't refute it after thinking about it.
Yang Yi couldn¡¯t help but secretly murmur after hearing this. They are all rich. According to the price just set, one share is 50 guan, which means that everyone paid 500,000 guan for this technology.
But if you think carefully, this is not too much. You must know that cotton is more expensive than silk now, and such a quilt costs one or two hundred yuan to process. It is not a problem to buy a few hundred quilts on the market.
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ps: Thanks to zh8104100017, Xiaoyao Xixi, Autumn Divine Light, Willows on the Shore of Clear Water, Raindrops Knocking on Your Window and others for their support. Thank you all.
The Western Indian Ocean Trading Company is about to be established. Dear friends, please put down your monthly tickets and actively invest in shares! .