Chapter 2572
Money is not everything, but having money can indeed accomplish many things that ordinary people cannot do. Yangzhou salt merchants with deep pockets don't have to worry too much about projects that require money to invest. As long as they feel that the project can bring them profits in the future, they can invest money in it first and make arrangements in advance.
For a risky operation like Wang Tom's organization of an advance fleet to sail to the other side of the ocean, the prospect of profit is actually not clear. However, the Yangzhou salt merchants still contributed money and efforts and actively participated. In addition to wanting to be in front of high-ranking Haihan officials such as Wang Tom and Shi Diwen, In addition to making a good impression, there should also be plans to take this opportunity to prepare for in-depth participation in Haihan military and political affairs in the future.
According to what Li Fa knew, the Yangzhou salt merchants, under the leadership of the Dai family, raised 228,000 taels of silver and made a public donation in the name of rewarding the East China Sea Fleet. Later, the money should have been used as The military expenses of the advance fleet were increased.
In addition, Yangzhou salt merchants collectively pledged a majestic-class battleship two years ago. This battleship was also included in the advance fleet establishment when it was commissioned, and was eventually named "Yangzhou", which can also be regarded as Wang Tom A special compliment to the Yangzhou salt merchants for this move. As for the personnel configuration of this warship, Li Fa did not know the details, but he thought that there should be many Yangzhou nationals among the soldiers serving on the ship.
As a reward in a sense, when the advance fleet set off, there were also two more civilian ships from Yangzhou in the team. As logistics supply ships carrying supplies, they sailed with the fleet to perform expedition missions.
Now that the advance fleet has already established a base on the other side of the ocean, it has achieved trans-oceanic colonization, and it is logical that the Yangzhou salt merchants have also set up local operating agencies and begun to engage in ocean-going trade. This step is so big that it has probably surpassed most of the peers in this era.
Tao Hongfang was a little surprised at first, but he was relieved in an instant. Since the Yangzhou salt merchants had long had official connections, it was not surprising that they would participate in the transoceanic expedition. As for engaging in ocean trade, it was no surprise to him. He had been used to seeing businessmen from all over the world since he was a child in Sanya. Many of the Western businessmen even came from the European continent tens of thousands of miles away. Now the Han people also Going out to sea to explore the unknown world in the same way is actually in line with Haihan's development momentum.
Ning Zijing raised a question at this time: "Since the Yangzhou salt merchants are determined to develop outward, and even sent people to follow the advance fleet to the other side of the ocean to expand territory, why did they rarely develop southward before this? According to me As far as I know, they don’t seem to have much industry in Hainan Island.”
Li Fa corrected: "It's not that there is no industry, it's that there is no direct industry."
Either because of concerns about unfamiliar territory or because they don’t want to compete commercially with their counterparts in the south, Yangzhou salt merchants do not invest in many industries in Hainan Island. At most, they participate in operations in the form of investment and shareholding, and rarely directly participate in operations. Show your face. Therefore, in Ning Zijing's impression, he felt that Yangzhou salt merchants did not have much presence in the southern region, especially Hainan Island, the base camp of Haihan.
But the actual situation may be far from Ning Zijing's impression. According to the information Li Fa has, Yangzhou salt merchants have actually purchased a lot of real estate in Hainan Island quietly, but very few of them are used as business projects. Most of them are real estate purchased in big cities such as Sanya and Danzhou as residences for Yangzhou children while they study or work in Hainan Island.
Although the market price of real estate in Hainan Island is no longer cheap, for Yangzhou salt merchants with abundant funds, these expenditures are indeed just drizzle. As long as it can bring convenience to their children, the money will be well spent.
As for those business projects that only involve shares but not operations, salt merchants do not need to expend energy. They only need to wait for the calculation of the accounts and dividends at the end of each year.
"You may not know that Yangzhou salt merchants are also big buyers of our country's official bonds!" Li Fa revealed another piece of news that surprised Tao Hongfang and Ning Zijing. As far as he knows, Yangzhou salt merchants have actively participated in subscribing for various bonds issued by Haihan official through Haihan Bank in the past ten years, and the total amount may be in the millions.
Tao Hongfang sighed: "They are so willing to spend money, so it's no wonder they are looked at in a different light!"
Ning Zijing said: "I just wonder if they acted like this in the previous dynasty?"
Li Fa shook his head and said: "How can the treatment in the previous dynasty be compared to today! In the early years, the Ming Dynasty was financially tight, and the Liao rates, training rates, and suppression rates collected from the people every year, fat sheep like salt merchants would have to lose a layer. Pi! Nowadays, the salt tax set by the state does not have so many messy miscellaneous items, and the cost of salt provided to salt merchants is lower than before. Only when they can make real benefits will they take the initiative to spend money to support the state. It’s more cost-effective to use it to buy bonds issued by the government and collect interest than to cast the silver into silver winter melons and bury them in the cellar!”
Regarding the allusion of silver winter melon, Tao Hongfang and Ning Zijing heard it from their parents when they were young, so they didn't find it strange. However, Yangzhou salt merchants were willing to spend their wealth to buy bonds issued by the government. This behavior can indeed be regarded as full trust in the government. Such performance will naturally win the favor of the government and even the executive committee. As long as you relax your fingers a little and leak some benefits to the Yangzhou salt merchants, it will be enough for them to eat.
When Tao Hongfang heard this, he gradually understood the mutually beneficial relationship between the Haihan official and Yangzhou salt merchants that Li Fa had mentioned before. The official provided shelter and commodity resources to the salt merchants, while the salt merchants contributed commercial channels and considerable funds to the official , both parties have gained enough benefits from the cooperation.
Of course, Li Fa also felt the interest of the two young people in Yangzhou salt merchants from the conversation, so he took the initiative to say to them: "If you want to know more about Yangzhou salt merchants, how many of them can I introduce to you later?"
Tao Hongfang hesitated and said: "Is this convenient?"
Li Fa nodded without hesitation and said: "Of course it's convenient. Someone from Yangzhou should be coming over in a few days. Can I introduce him to you then?"
"Then let me thank my uncle first!" Tao Hongfang thanked him quickly.
Tao Hongfang actually had the idea of visiting Yangzhou salt merchants for a long time, but the journey from Hangzhou to Yangzhou, which is more than 500 miles, would take several days whether by water or land, and it would take half a month to go back and forth. I was also worried that this arrangement would delay my errand in Hangzhou, so I never considered putting it into practice. But if you can meet with the salt merchants in Hangzhou, there will be no time worries. Moreover, with Li Fa in the middle of the introduction, the talks would surely be more candid and open.
(End of chapter)