Chapter 631 Daming's "Two-Five Plan" (Second update, please subscribe)
1873 was the final year of the Ming Dynasty's "First Five-Year Plan". In fact, by June, various industrial economic indicators had reached their predetermined targets.
In June 1873, Ming Dynasty's steel production exceeded 1.15 million tons in the first half of the year, and it would exceed 2.4 million tons by the end of the year. Don't underestimate this number, because 2/3 of it is steel and steel products. If we only look at the output of steel and steel products, then Ming Dynasty is already the world's number one. Coal production exceeded 5 million tons in the first half of the year. Although a large amount of coal needs to be imported every year, at least to some extent, the energy crisis has been alleviated.
Faced with the perfect conclusion of the "First Five-Year Plan", the "Second Five-Year Plan" was naturally put on the agenda. Unlike the previous "First Five-Year Plan" which was mainly formulated by companies, the "Second Five-Year Plan" was jointly formulated by multiple departments such as the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the Ministry of Finance and companies.
Compared with the "First Five-Year Plan", it is larger in scale and involves more investment.
"…the planned investment has reached 2.3 billion yuan, which is an increase of 1.6 billion yuan compared to the 700 million yuan in the First Five-Year Plan! This is definitely the largest investment in history!"
Minister of Industry and Commerce Fang Zhanbo said with some pride, how could he not be proud? In the world, no country has ever invested so much money in industrial construction at one time.
Such a huge investment will bring about amazing results. Once the plan is completed, the industrial output value of Ming Dynasty will more than double, thus truly becoming one of the industrial powers.
"Of course, 70% of the projects in the plan are directly invested by American companies, and the government will retain corresponding investments in these projects."
America Corporation...that is a monster created by Emperor Zhu, a huge enterprise with involvement in various industries and millions of employees.
"Well, this is the purpose of my company. The company is now a very large consortium, but its role is not just to make profits."
Zhu Xianhai nodded and said.
"A consortium is first and foremost a consortium. It does need to make a profit, but this is not its only goal. Whether now or in the future, the consortium will become the leader of Ming Dynasty's industrialization. This is its social responsibility."
What will the American company of the future become?
Zhu Xianhai is not sure, but one thing is certain: the company may change its name in the future, or it may become a larger consortium.
Maybe it will be like Samsung, not maybe, but it is actually the case.
The company not only owns more than 90% of the heavy industrial enterprises and more than 60% of the large-scale enterprises in Daming, but also owns 75% of the land in the South China Prairie, also known as the "Pampas Prairie". In addition, the company controls schools, including 4 universities and as many as 75 technical colleges. To a certain extent, the company is the country, and the country is the company.
Most of the people in the Ming Dynasty worked in the company's factories or farms, their children were born in the company's hospitals, they studied in the company's schools, they wore the company's clothes, used the company's products, lived in the company's houses, and in the end, they would die in the company's hospitals. Even their payments might be made with banknotes issued by the company's banks - the Bank of America and HSBC, which the company wholly owned, also had the right to issue banknotes.
As the pioneer of everything, the company... has long become an extremely large company involved in various industries.
Maybe, it's time to change the name.
America...that skin is no longer needed!
In fact, Zhu Xianhai has always had an idea, which is to reform the company by setting up a "Royal Consortium" to replace the American Company and unify the management of the company. Emperor Zhu does not care about the profit of the consortium. Although the company's profit is very high now, what is the most important responsibility of the company?
Of course, it is to guide and promote the industrialization of the Ming Dynasty.
On this point, the company is undoubtedly competent, and the company has indeed made great contributions to the industrial and technological progress of the Ming Dynasty!
Despite this, Emperor Zhu had no idea how to achieve that grand goal. There was probably no other example in the world where a consortium led a country to achieve industrialization.
But now, the company is indeed playing a positive role, but there are still some shortcomings.
"Ming is a big country. Although we only have a population of over 10 million, our land covers millions of square kilometers, from the Pacific Ocean to the Indian Ocean, from North America to South America. The industrialization of such a vast territory cannot be achieved by the efforts of a single consortium, so more people and capital are needed to participate."
As soon as Emperor Zhu finished speaking, the Minister of Finance Wang Youling took the lead and expressed his views first.
"Your Majesty is right. Although the company has the most advanced technology and the most factories and mines, we can also combine the strengths of many companies. There is a lot of idle capital among the people, which can also be utilized!"
In fact, the top leaders of the Ming Dynasty court have always been quite wary of the reality of the company's dominance. After all, the company is too large. It can even be said that the company almost controls all the economic lifelines of the country. From the perspective of the country, such a situation is definitely not a good thing.
So what if the company is royal property?
Who is the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty?
Who is the current company host?
Everyone is like a mirror.
The crown prince will inherit the throne of the Ming Dynasty, but what about the company? It must be inherited by Lady Elizabeth's son.
The two brothers, one holds the country and the other holds the money.
What if the brothers have disagreements in the future?
So from any perspective, no company can dominate the market alone!
If all this cannot be changed from now on, the company will only become stronger in the future.
"That's true. There is a lot of idle capital among the people! If we can put that money to use, it will definitely help the development of Ming Dynasty."
After scanning everyone, Zhu Xianhai asked in a deep voice,
"Does anyone have any ideas?"
"Your Majesty, I think we can increase government investment, and the funds can be raised by issuing national bonds. Although the Ming court currently owes a huge debt of 250 million, the court's fiscal revenue exceeds 400 million. Our finances are good. In the future, we should consider issuing bonds publicly to raise funds from the private sector. I think we can issue national bonds to the private sector, and the government can directly invest 1.5 billion yuan for key project construction."
"Are the conditions ripe?"
Looking at Wang Youling, Emperor Zhu knew what he meant by "increasing state-owned investment", which was to weaken the role of companies and increase state-owned capital. He certainly would not object to this, and his question was more about the management of state-owned enterprises than about funds.
After all, borrowing 1.5 billion is not a problem for the Ming Dynasty at all. This national debt can even be absorbed internally. How much is the bank deposit of the Ming Dynasty now? It is more than 7 billion!
Those private funds need a stable and reliable investment channel. If the imperial court wants to issue public bonds, hundreds of millions or even billions of them can be easily absorbed by the private sector.
Because Ming Dynasty has a good reputation!
The people were willing to borrow money. After all, in the past few years of the Ming Dynasty, bonds were issued for major projects such as railways, and the domestic bond market was gradually cultivated. The people benefited greatly, so they were naturally willing to lend money to the court.
What did Emperor Zhu care about?
Of course, it was the management of the enterprise! He did not want his state-owned factories to become "government-run enterprises" during the Westernization Movement.
After all, enterprises need to develop. It is questionable whether the national team can outperform private enterprises without policy support.
"Your Majesty, even if it is a company, it is managed by hundreds of professional managers. All we need is to follow the company's model and establish a government-run enterprise!"
(End of this chapter)
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