Liu Hong listened with great interest as Zhao Zhong began to tell some interesting stories.
Upon hearing Zhao Ning's explanation of his approach to overtime and outsourcing, Liu Hong couldn't help but laugh.
"Heh~, this Zhao Ning really knows how to apply what he's learned!"
Then Liu Hong looked at Zhao Zhong and said, "Go and make arrangements to have the workshops and factories under the Royal Trading Company subcontract the production of the simple and less important parts to those families and small workshops!"
This way, the factories can maximize their output, creating more job opportunities for ordinary people!
"promise!!"
"As for other matters, you can handle them as you see fit. The key is to ensure that the economy continues to circulate while generating more cyclical chains!"
Zhao Zhonggong said respectfully, "Your Majesty, please rest assured, this servant knows what to do!"
Liu Hong smiled and nodded, "That's good, go ahead!"
"This servant takes her leave!"
Soon after leaving Deyang Palace, Zhao Zhong sent people to notify Zhao Ning, the Zhen family, the Mi family, and other families that had contributed to the manufacture of agricultural tools, totaling fifteen families, to go to the Royal Trading Company for a meeting.
Everyone rushed to the Royal Trading Company as soon as possible, because they knew that Zhao Zhong had summoned them to discuss the Royal Trading Company's membership application, and everyone could hardly contain their excitement.
"Attendant Zhao has arrived!"
With a loud shout, Zhao Zhong, beaming with joy, entered the living room, and everyone hurriedly stood up to greet him.
"Greetings, Attendant Zhao!"
"Please, everyone, no need for such formalities, please be seated!"
After everyone was seated, Zhao Zhong took out more than a dozen membership application forms for the Royal Merchant Guild and had his subordinates distribute one to each person present.
"Please take a look. If you find the rules of my Royal Trading Company acceptable, sign this application form, and you will become a member of my Royal Trading Company!"
Upon hearing this, everyone hurriedly picked up the application forms and began to examine them carefully.
The application form contains the following:
Article 1: Members are required to pay an annual membership fee of 50 million.
Article 2: Members must truthfully report the income of their shops, workshops and other businesses each year, and pay commercial taxes in accordance with the regulations of the merchant guild, the imperial court and government.
Article 3: Members shall not join other commercial or business organizations.
Article 4: Members must cooperate with each other and must not compete maliciously with other members of the business. If they encounter anyone who opposes the business, they must work together to eliminate them.
Article 5: Members must obey the arrangements of the merchant guild. In special circumstances and under national projects, they must obey the orders of the merchant guild and the imperial court and must not delay or slack off.
Article 6: Members shall not engage in any illegal or harmful acts that endanger the state, such as: annexing land, evading taxes, oppressing the people, or smuggling state-controlled materials.
Article Seven: Members of the association must, in accordance with the regulations of the merchant guild and the imperial court, guarantee the payment of food and wages to Han citizens and artisans when recruiting them for labor. (Slaves are excluded.)
The above are all rules that members of the Royal Trading Company must abide by. Anyone who violates them will be immediately expelled from the company and subject to political and economic sanctions.
......
Then there are the various benefits of joining a merchant guild, such as priority in national projects, including border trade, foreign trade, coal procurement, and so on.
Furthermore, there were also monopolistic distribution rights for refined salt, ink paper, imperial wine, glass, and other commodities held by other merchants.
The last point is that members who join the merchant guild will be able to get help from the guild whenever they encounter trouble, whether within or outside the Great Han Dynasty.
After reading it, everyone sat in their seats with different thoughts, and all of them looked at the second item on the application form. The requirement to report income made them hesitate.
Zhao Ning hesitated for only a moment before signing his name. In his view, his annual income was something that the court and government officials could not hide if they wanted to investigate.
Rather than trying to hide it, it's better to be open about it and pay taxes honestly. Besides, once you join the merchant guild, with the imperial court and the emperor as your backers, no one will dare to do anything to you.
Especially those last few benefits—just getting even one of them is enough to keep your family rich for generations. With such great conditions, hesitating would be foolish.
Everyone present was shrewd and quickly grasped the key point. Without further hesitation, they all filled in their names on the application forms.
After receiving the membership application forms from everyone, Zhao Zhong smiled with satisfaction.
Zhao Zhong then had fifteen specially made merchant tokens brought out and handed them to everyone present.
Everyone carefully accepted the tokens representing their membership in the business and treasured them.
In their view, the token is not only a key to unlocking wealth, but also a symbol of status and identity. With it, you will be one of the top richest people in the future Han Dynasty.
From then on, a commercial organization was formally established, with the Royal Merchant Guild at its head and fifteen families, including the Zhao, Zhen, Mi, Wei, and Chen families, as its supporting members.
Under Liu Hong's guidance, a vast business empire officially embarked on its journey.
After the group of merchants left, they quickly obtained distribution rights for ink, paper, refined salt, imperial wine, and glass, as well as orders for the manufacture and processing of various parts.
As for the manufacturing rights of these goods, Liu Hong did not choose to delegate them, because these things were still high-end products, and it was better to wait until he and the court had earned enough profits.
Upon returning home, the merchants and powerful families immediately gathered their clan members and began preparations for the construction of shops and workshops.
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