Jiangnan.

Since the Jiangnan Shipyard was built, more and more seagoing ships have been built.

The size of this shipyard is more than three times that of an average shipyard, and it is only used to build large seagoing vessels.

According to the special order issued by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, each ship can be equipped with twenty cannons.

Theoretically, civilian use of artillery is prohibited, and Zhu Ying naturally would not set this precedent, but Zhu Ying specifically allowed that as long as one was a shareholder of the Jiangnan Shipyard, he could lease sea vessels within a certain number of years.

There is no need to pay a deposit for leasing, as long as the shareholders provide a guarantee in the name of their own shares.

The gunpowder needed for the artillery has to be purchased separately.

If a ship is destroyed at sea, then the owner will have to bear the corresponding compensation. As long as there are shareholders, it doesn't matter even if the ship is destroyed and people die.

This can also be considered an incentive to encourage maritime merchants.

To put it simply, you, the maritime merchants, provide manpower, material resources and financial resources, and I will provide you with policies. You must pay the taxes you are supposed to pay, and you must also receive the profits you are supposed to receive.

At the same time, it is also necessary to crack down on illegal smuggling merchants.

Of course, the emerging maritime merchant families will certainly spare no effort in combating illegal smuggling.

After all, when it comes to maritime trade, if there are too many wolves dividing the meat, there will naturally be less meat in one's mouth. If one does not take this opportunity to eliminate dissidents, he would be acting like a living Bodhisattva.

Haijiang Wharf.

This is the newest dock, built right on the bank of the Yangtze River.

Less than five miles up the road is the Jiangnan Shipyard.

There are quite a few shipyards in the Ming Dynasty, but they are still inferior to the Jiangnan Shipyards.

Because the sole purpose was to build sea-going ships, and as many as twenty large families from the south of the Yangtze River had invested in the shipyard, many outstanding craftsmen and some extremely traditional skills were brought into the shipyard.

The large ship that is built must be extremely sturdy and luxurious.

It is said that the wood for the big ship was all specially contributed by some big families. The value of the ship bottom alone was 100,000 strings of treasure notes. They were all the best old ship wood.

Today, there is a bustling crowd at the pier.

Of course, these are not ordinary people. If you look closely, you can find that the crowd on the shore is divided into about twenty small groups, and each group has people wearing luxurious clothes.

They are not lowly merchants. According to the imperial law, merchants are not allowed to wear silk and satin.

But these businessmen actually have some achievements to their credit, at the very least they have the title of a scholar.

Each of them is the boss behind the scenes.

Whether it was the Jiangnan Shipyard, the money and expenses in the factory, or the wood for the large ships, they were all raised by these people.

In other words, the current Jiangnan Shipyard nominally belongs to the imperial court, but in fact all expenses, even those for the craftsmen, are paid by these families.

Now, each of them stretched their necks and looked at the river in the distance.

Chen family.

One of them is considered a big family in Jiangnan.

However, due to the small population, it can only be considered average.

Chen Dalin is the head of the Chen family and is now just over 40 years old.

"Father, we are almost emptying our family's wealth this time. Can we really run the business with this ship?"

"If we encounter any failure, it will be a huge blow to our Chen family."

"Maritime trade is profitable, but the risks at sea are also huge. The government doesn't care about any unexpected events. They only care about their own ships."

Chen Dalin's eldest son, Chen Qizhi, frowned and said.

There was a hint of worry in his tone, as if he was not very happy about maritime trade.

Chen Qizhi had previously been trying to get involved in this business, but even though he was the eldest son and was already in his twenties, his father had the final say in family matters.

And this doesn't mean that only my father paid the money, but the entire Chen family put all their assets into it.

Chen Qizhi obviously wanted to be more cautious and didn't want to risk it.

"Qi Zhi, there are risks in maritime trade, but the profits are not worth mentioning at all."

“It’s said to be a gamble, but in fact it’s extremely secure.”

"Who is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince? The Heroes Chamber of Commerce was created by His Royal Highness alone. The current business has reached an outrageous level."

"As long as we follow His Royal Highness's path closely, we will definitely be able to make a fortune."

"Don't worry, your father has already considered this carefully. This is the greatest hope for our Chen family at the moment."

Chen Dalin said in a deep voice.

Chen Qizhi was obviously still somewhat reluctant, and muttered, "Your Highness the Crown Prince really played a good chess game."

"It's fine if we don't pay a penny. The shipyard will become his. Even the ships built here will have nothing to do with us. We have to pay extra to rent them."

"This is so...beautiful."

When Chen Dalin heard his son's complaint, he turned around and said, "Your Highness is willing to share the profits with everyone. That's already very good."

"We are lucky to have this opportunity."

"There are countless families willing to spend money to take this path. If it weren't for some special reasons, it's unknown whether our Chen family would be here today."

“No matter how much it costs, it’s worth it.”

Chen Qizhi also knew that it would be difficult to convince his father on this point, so he could only say: "We can't be like other families and wait and see what happens first."

"madness!"

Chen Qizhi wanted to say more but was interrupted by Chen Dalin's scolding.

"You know, if I don't choose to enter now, and then join in later when I get more specific information, it will be very difficult to ascend to heaven."

"Do you think everyone is trying to be clever like you?"

"Do you know that each large ship is equipped with 28 cannons, and these cannons are allowed to be used after leaving Ming Dynasty?"

"This means that we have the ability to use firearms outside."

"Your father has applied to the higher authorities for twelve new-style matchlock muskets. When the time comes, you will bring more than twenty people of your age from the family with you to our Chen family and go out to make a name for yourself."

Chen Dalin was convinced that the direction designated by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would definitely lead to making a fortune.

As a family from Jiangnan, the Chen family has suffered a lot of oppression from the capital since the establishment of the Ming Dynasty. The heavy taxes have made the entire Chen family feel a little breathless.

Many times, we have to rely on the foundation left by our ancestors to survive.

Nowadays, let alone expansion, even being able to keep the current family business and land is a very rare thing.

This situation, of course, did not only occur in the Chen family, but was also the case for other families in Jiangnan.

Although it seems that the taxes finally fall on the heads of the common people and these big families can still live freely, the overall environment has changed. As the saying goes, when the nest is overturned, no eggs will remain intact.

Whether it is a family or a country, the people are the foundation.

When taxes became high, the aristocratic families had only two choices: either to exploit the people more severely or to reduce the rent they collected from the people.

In fact, everyone knows that exploiting the people is a long-term strategy. If you kill the goose that lays the golden eggs at this time, it will be your own family that will suffer the misfortune in the end.

Most families have implemented tax reductions for their tenants since the Hongwu period.

People are the foundation, and in order to preserve enough tenants, this is the only solution.

There were also families that exploited the peasants severely, but the resulting refugees were soon investigated by the government, and they had to bear the consequences themselves.

In the 26 years since the founding of the country, the foundation of the Jiangnan gentry has been continuously consumed, and some of them can no longer even maintain their superficial glory.

Now that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has provided a way out, everyone will naturally try their best to seize it.

Chen Dalin undoubtedly trusts His Royal Highness the Crown Prince very much.

Other noble families took a wait-and-see approach, but Chen Dalin was determined to take a gamble and try his best to cooperate with the orders of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

This time, he directly sent his eldest son to go out to sea, in order to truly open up a branch of the Chen family overseas.

Chen Qizhi couldn't help feeling a little guilty when he heard that his father had even prepared firearms.

He whispered, "Father, I have always been learning the teachings of Confucius and Mencius. We are going to do business and we are still carrying firearms. Isn't this a bit too much?"

"Why do I feel like my son is no different from a bandit when he goes out to sea?"

In the south of the Yangtze River, there is a strong scholarly atmosphere, so no one practices martial arts very much.

The fact that he brought guards and firearms with him meant that he would have to fight to the death, which undoubtedly made Chen Qizhi sweat and feel a little weak.

Chen Dalin was not angry when he saw this. He knew very well in his heart that it was unrealistic to change his eldest son from being a gentle and easy-going person into a ferocious monster all of a sudden.

But I have to say this first.

"Do you know the difference between overseas and our Ming Dynasty?"

Chen Qizhi hesitated for a moment and replied, "Our Ming Dynasty is richer and more powerful. I heard that overseas are all barren lands, but they also have their own rare goods."

Chen Dalin heard this and shook his head, "These are just superficial. Overseas, for us, poverty is one thing, after all, we sell our goods abroad, hoping to make money from these barbarians."

"The most important thing is that outside of the Ming Dynasty, there are no Ming Dynasty laws."

"This also means that if you kill someone, you only need to pay a small amount of money to get rid of him. In some places, even if you rob someone else's things, as long as you have enough people, you can only admit it."

"The same applies to you. You are carrying a large amount of valuable goods. If someone steals your goods, will you return to Daming and report to the authorities?"

"Overseas, nothing is the way to survive. The only way to survive is to have people in your hands, and people with knives, guns and firearms."

"The law of the jungle prevails, that's the real overseas."

"Those who are willing to do business with you must have someone in their corner. They will have some reservations, so we can trade fairly."

"Also, the price of the goods is not the same everywhere. If it should be expensive, you have to pay more. In some places, the price cannot be higher. You will slowly understand the reason behind this when you get there."

Chen Qizhi seemed to be thinking about something, as if he had figured something out.

Seeing this, Chen Dalin nodded slightly in his heart.

But the next sentence almost made Chen Dalin explode with anger.

Chen Qizhi asked, "Dad, if I remember correctly, I don't think you have ever been overseas. Are the things you said just hearsay?"

Veins bulged on Chen Dalin's forehead and he hit Chen Qizhi directly on the head.

"It's insulting, it's insulting..."

"You wicked son, you actually dare to doubt your father's words. Remember this clearly. You must do what I say. Do you understand?"

After being hit, Chen Qizhi immediately became much more obedient.

Although I am still a little confused in my mind, I have understood the general idea.

Seeing his son like this, Chen Dalin also knew that some things cannot be rushed, and one will naturally understand them after experiencing them.

But what needs to be prepared still needs to be prepared.

For example, saying hello to the bow of the ship first, and doing some simple exercises for the guards.

Especially firearms.

This is a good thing that Chen Dalin spent a lot of money to get.

This is not bought, it is borrowed.

Not only do you have to pay a deposit, but you also have to pay rent every month.

Although the price was high, Chen Dalin experienced it personally after this batch of firearms arrived.

The power of the matchlock gun is really great, and ordinary bows and crossbows may not be able to compare with it.

Of course he didn't know.

Because the Gunpowder Bureau continued to invest in research, the matchlock gun was updated very quickly.

The difference here lies in the maturity of a series of technologies such as fire bombs, fuses, gunpowder, gunpowder chambers, etc.

This also led to many versions of the matchlock gun, and the versions equipped in the military were naturally based on the latest and most mature technology.

Because there are more and more factories under the Gunpowder Bureau, the production speed is naturally faster, which leads to a large number of matchlock guns being produced before new technologies emerge.

It would be a waste to destroy these matchlock guns that were out of date, so Zhu Ying simply waved his hand and leased them for civilian use.

Special approval is given to maritime merchants.

Anyway, as long as it is not used within the territory of the Ming Dynasty, some special firearms quotas can be sold for this purpose, and the rental fees of matchlock guns can undoubtedly be used to fill the gaps in the Gunpowder Bureau.

It is conceivable that maritime merchants equipped with firearms will become even more arrogant when they travel to different places.

On this point, Zhu Ying naturally acquiesced.