After arriving in Jiangning Prefecture by train, Li Xin inspected the entire prefecture and held ribbon-cutting ceremonies for some factories in the Jiangning Industrial Zone.
In recent years, with the strong support of the imperial court, merchants from various regions have also invested in building factories. Local factories serving the people have sprung up like mushrooms after rain.
Especially in industries such as machine grinding, machine weaving, and machine printing, as long as you have a good eye and start production and construction early, you can make a lot of money.
After inspecting Jiangning Prefecture for two days, Li Xin visited the Ma'anshan Iron and Steel Plant.
Ma'anshan has abundant high-quality iron ore and supplies high-quality steel to Jiangning, Suzhou, Songjiang and other places, so its steel base is also very large.
In Ma'anshan, in addition to steel plants, other industries such as ordnance manufacturing are also under construction.
The ordnance factory here is an ordnance supply point for the Southeast Military Region.
Nowadays, all aspects of industrial development are on the right track.
On the tenth day of the eighth lunar month, Li Xin crossed the river and arrived at Pukou Railway Station. At Pukou Railway Station, he boarded a train and headed north towards the capital.
Steam trains of this era, while not as fast as trains of later generations, were still quite fast.
In less than two days, Li Xin had returned to the capital.
Upon returning to Beijing and getting off at the West Railway Station, Li Xin noticed a large number of bicycles and tricycles on the streets and alleys.
These are all sold by Qingyu Trading Company.
Since the bicycle was invented, sales have been booming. Especially in warehouses and shops, tricycles are widely used for transporting goods.
Seeing this scene, Li Xin suddenly thought of the era of the bicycle army in later generations.
Times have really changed!
Walking down the street, looking at the massive army of bicycles, Li Xin frowned slightly.
Bicycles of this era did not have rubber tires. That's because rubber, like sweet potatoes, corn, potatoes, and chili peppers, had not yet been introduced to the Great Qian Kingdom.
Far to the East, across the ocean!
Suddenly, Li Xin's eyes lit up.
It seems this plan needs to be put on the agenda sooner rather than later.
Upon returning to the Wuying Hall in the capital, Li Xin first summoned Hu Xueyong of the Qingyu Trading Company.
"Greetings, Your Majesty!"
Hu Xueyong quickly bowed.
"Xueyong,"
Looking at Hu Xueyong, Li Xin said, "I have a task for you. After returning from our campaign against Japan, we discovered an ancient book there. The book records that there is a vast land on the other side of the ocean to the east of Japan, rich in resources, with many things that our Great Gan Kingdom doesn't have. My idea is that Qingyu Trading Company organize a group of armed merchant ships and take some people to explore that land on the other side of the ocean."
"The other side of the Eastern Ocean?"
Hu Xueyong paused for a moment, then said, "The ocean to the east of Japan is too vast. Ships have been there before, but it was very dangerous."
"It is dangerous."
Li Xin nodded and said, "It would be best to find some steam-powered sailing ships and stock up on enough food and fresh water. It will probably take at least a month to sail!"
"So long?"
Hu Xueyong was stunned.
However, thinking of what His Majesty had said about the abundance of resources there, including many things that even the Great Gan Kingdom lacked, Hu Xueyong nodded and said, "Your Majesty, rest assured, I will make the arrangements immediately."
"OK!"
Li Xin nodded and said, "We can organize other merchants to form a new trading company. After the imperial court authorizes you to discover the new continent, you will have an exclusive right for one or two decades to be responsible for land reclamation and trade. In this way, we can also spread the costs."
"Your Majesty, this is a good idea!"
Hu Xueyong nodded and said, "I'll go and give the order right away."
After giving the order, Hu Xueyong began to gather familiar merchants in the capital to discuss the matter.
These merchants were very diligent in fulfilling His Majesty's instructions.
After all, they all knew that the current development and achievements of the Great Gan Kingdom were largely due to His Majesty's efforts. Especially in the business world, following His Majesty was a sure way to make a fortune!
Hu Xueyong didn't bother with elaborate explanations; he simply stated the Emperor's instructions, and the merchants readily agreed.
August 15th, the fifth year of Yanning.
Inside a new building at Beijing West Railway Station.
The wealthy merchants from the vicinity of the capital gathered together.
Hu Xueyong, as the person in charge, presided over this meeting.
The meeting had only one agenda item: to establish the Toyo Trading Company.
The Dongyang Trading Company operates in the New World across the Eastern Ocean. It was granted a 20-year exclusive right by the imperial court after the discovery of the New World.
After the establishment of the Dongyang Trading Company, the Imperial Family held 20% of the shares, the Imperial Cabinet held 20% of the shares, and Qingyu Trading Company held 10% of the shares.
The remaining 50% of the shares were subscribed by businessmen from the capital.
In a short period of time, the Dongyang Trading Company had raised ten million kan. All of these funds came from the merchants, while the Imperial Family and the Imperial Cabinet were only authorized and did not contribute any funds.
After the signing of the shareholding agreement for Toyo Trading Company, Hu Xueyong, as the manager of Toyo Trading Company, formulated an initial plan.
Ten three-masted sailing warships were purchased from Tanggu Shipyard, and twenty steam engines were purchased from the General Machinery Manufacturing Bureau. These were then sent to Tanggu Shipyard for refitting.
After securing a steam-powered sailing vessel, the Toyo Trading Company began recruiting sailors.
All of these sailors were signed employment contracts and began training.
In addition, Toyo Trading Company also began purchasing canned goods, dry food, dried meat and other food products.
The sailors and food were there, but it still wasn't enough.
Toyo Trading Company was also authorized to recruit personnel from retired soldiers and militia to form its armed forces.
Since the goal is to explore new continents, it is natural to deal with all the things that may happen on those continents.
Armed conflicts of this kind are inevitable.
Therefore, these preparations are still necessary!
After several months of preparation, everything was in place.
October 14th, the fifth year of Yanning.
At Tanggu Wharf, ten converted steam-powered sailing ships are all ready.
All the recruited sailors and demobilized soldiers boarded the ship.
At nine o'clock in the morning, Hu Xueyong, the head of Qingyu Trading Company and the manager of Dongyang Trading Company, came here in person to see off this voyage.
"Ling Zhenxin, have a safe journey!"
Hu Xueyong stood on the shore and waved.
"Thanks to Manager Hu's good fortune!"
Ling Zhenxin bowed and thanked her.
Ling Zhenxin was the person in charge of this voyage.
After some pleasantries, the Toyo Trading Company's fleet officially set sail.
On the deck, there was a large crowd, and Hu Xueyong could even spot a Taoist priest among them.
He is none other than Daoist Xuanhao, Wan Linghao!
What Hu Xueyong didn't know was that after Xuanhao Daoist Wan Linghao participated in this voyage, he opened up a new area for Daoism!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
