Chapter 1414: Fight hard and make a fortune (first update, please subscribe)

"Extraordinary! The Ming Empire fleet launches a surprise attack on Hampton!"

"The American Great White Fleet was destroyed overnight!"

…

Even though they were separated by an ocean, when the news came that the Ming Empire had won an unprecedented victory, there was jubilation in China.

There is no other reason, the Ming Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty both belong to China. We are all one family connected by blood.

The victory of the Ming Dynasty is the victory of China!

It was natural to celebrate and cheer. Even on that day, in the capital, Nanjing and other large and medium-sized cities, millions of people spontaneously held lantern parades to celebrate the unprecedented victory of the Ming Dynasty.

The repeated victories after the outbreak of this war made hundreds of millions of Chinese people feel proud and their joy was beyond words. After all... it was the foreigners who were being beaten.

Foreign devils, you have brought so much trouble to us Chinese!

The people's emotions are sincere and simple. When the outside world is discussing, cheering and celebrating, the businessmen are also celebrating. They are not only celebrating the victory of the empire, but also celebrating new opportunities.

Li Jingye, the owner of Xingye Shipyard, knows this point very well.

On the way to the shipyard, you will pass by the palace. The so-called palace is the palace of the old heaven. When Li Jingye was at the shipyard, he could always see the bright yellow ceremonial guard in front of the magnificent palace. There were as many as three or four hundred people in the ceremonial guard.

What is the most abundant thing in heaven?

Of course there are more princes.

There were many princes in the Heavenly Kingdom, many rules, and a lot of pageantry. When he had just returned from the Ming Dynasty, he had heard a joke - in Tianjing City, even when buying vegetables, you could run into a prince with a ceremonial procession.

How many princes are there in heaven?

If not a thousand, at least eight hundred!

There were several hundred of them in Tianjing City, and several hundred in other places, so that every slightly larger city had a royal palace.

Whenever he saw the prince's pomp and circumstance when he traveled, Li Jingye couldn't help but think about the future of the Kingdom of Heaven in his heart.

What is all this pomp and circumstance?

It’s the people’s hard-earned money!

But who can change this?

In the Heavenly Kingdom, even the most humble prince would have guards sounding gongs to clear the way when he travels. What they want is dignity and pomp.

How much money does it cost in a year to support so many princes?

There are many corrupt officials in the Tang Dynasty, but there are many princes in the Heavenly Kingdom.

The two families were evenly matched, but... in the end, the Tang Dynasty won. In fact, all this was destined.

There is money to build a palace and set up ceremonial guards, but there is no money to send people to study abroad. This kingdom...

There is really no hope!

The reason why Li Jingye, who had returned from studying abroad, had such emotion was that when he went to study abroad, the Heavenly Kingdom sent 200 students to the Ming Dynasty, and ten years ago when the country was about to perish, there were still 200 students. Every time, someone wrote to the court asking it to send more people to study in the Ming Dynasty.

All the officials in the court said the same thing - no money.

How much does it cost to study abroad in Ming Dynasty?

A boat ticket plus monthly living expenses are enough, and the annual expenses are only a mere 100,000 taels... That's just two words - no money.

The Kingdom of Heaven has its own national conditions.

But what really made Li Jingye feel disappointed?

After he and many of his friends returned to China, not only were they not valued, but those in charge of the factories and the army were always the princes' cronies, even in the shipyards.

In the end, the kingdom of heaven was destroyed.

When the Kingdom of Heaven fell, where did those princes who enjoyed all the wealth and glory go?

He went to the Ming Dynasty with the looted gold and silver and continued to enjoy the wealth of the world.

Now, ten years have passed in a flash.

But everything seemed as if it had just happened.

"Ten years passed in the blink of an eye. It was so fast..."

When the car drove into the shipyard, Li Jingye once again lamented the passing of time. Looking at the huge shipyard, he didn't even know whether he should thank the Kingdom of Heaven. If the Kingdom of Heaven had not been destroyed, how could this shipyard belong to him?

How could he become the largest private ship merchant in the Tang Dynasty?

As soon as the car stopped, Deputy Manager Li Shun, who had been waiting in front of the office building for a while, came over and without waiting for him to get out of the car, he blocked the door and spoke.

"Chairman, there was a call from the United Chamber of Commerce just now."

"United Chamber of Commerce?"

The United Chamber of Commerce was formerly the "Ming Dynasty Chamber of Commerce". However, in the past few years, they have downplayed "Ming Dynasty" and changed its name to "Chinese Merchants United Chamber of Commerce". Moreover, members are no longer limited to Ming merchants. Merchants from the Tang Dynasty can also join. Li Jingye is also a member of the Chamber of Commerce.

"Who's calling?"

"It's Secretary Chen, Chairman Zuo's secretary. He said Chairman Zuo wants to see you."

"oh!"

With a pang in his heart, Li Jingye asked calmly.

"when?"

"Chairman Zuo is at the Huaxia Hotel right now."

Hearing this, Li Jingye felt an ominous feeling in his heart, but he didn't say anything. He just nodded, sat back in the car, and said to the driver.

"Go to Huaxia Hotel."

"Chairman, let's..."

Looking at the somewhat nervous Li Shun, Li Jingye said.

"Don't worry, nothing will happen."

After that, he signaled to the driver to drive. Although he seemed calm on the surface, his fingers kept tapping on his knees, as if he was thinking about something.

“It’s not easy…”

After a long time, Li Jingye uttered these words with his eyes half closed.

What does war mean to businessmen?

Of course it’s a business opportunity!

When the situation in European countries was tense, Britain, France, Germany and Russia mobilized one after another. The world situation changed rapidly. When war was about to break out, Li Jingye's Xingye Shipyard became the beneficiary of the war - a month ago, he received an order from a Hong Kong foreign company - twenty cargo ships with a net tonnage of 6,000 tons. Li Jingye got this big deal in one go, and he even woke up with a smile in his dreams.

Twenty ships, a total of 120,000 tons!

The cost of building a cargo ship is 360,000 yuan, and twelve ships cost 4.32 million yuan!

Such a huge number is placed in front of anyone, and it is impossible not to laugh out loud in dreams. The actual cost of such a transport ship is only about 200,000 yuan, which has already taken into account all expenses such as steel costs and workers' wages.

The remaining profit is also very considerable. Whenever he thought about the profit he could get from the twelve ships, Li Jingye couldn't help but grinning.

The first payment for the order was remitted on the day the contract was signed. After receiving the money, in addition to purchasing steel and other raw materials, the first thing Li Jingye thought of was to immediately expand the scale of the shipyard - since there was a war, the ships would surely be easy to sell.

Twelve ships are just the beginning, and the contract time is very tight. We will definitely not be able to build the ship without enough manpower, so we need to recruit more workers and expand the shipyard from 4,000 to more than 8,000 people. We also need to give salary increase to the old workers, not only to make them work harder for the money, but also to speed up the shipbuilding process.

Another reason is to prevent old workers from jumping ship. As we all know, after the outbreak of war, the demand for transport ships in various countries will definitely surge. Domestic shipyards will not be able to meet the demand and will definitely place orders with foreign countries.

The Tang Dynasty is definitely the best choice for all countries. Well... his shipyard has also received an order for four ships from France.

In order to prevent other shipyards from poaching our people, increasing their wages is the best option...

However, he hadn't been happy for a few days when the sudden invitation made Li Jingye feel inexplicably uneasy. What was the reason for this uneasiness?

It's because of the guilty conscience that comes from this war!

The old group is down, so I created a new book club group: 739209015. Everyone is welcome to join and discuss and deduce the plot together.

(End of this chapter)