Zhao Hao was awakened from his sleep by Li Maocai.

"If the sky hadn't been falling, you would have been dead." Young Master Zhao came out wearing slippers and a brocade robe, with anger still on his face.

"Uh... yes, Master." Li Maocai nodded fearfully, and quickly told Zhao Hao everything he saw and heard at home tonight. At the end, he emphasized: "My father asked me to come and report to Master."

"Hmm." Zhao Hao was no longer sleepy after hearing this, and paced around the study with his hands behind his back.

Li Chunfang wanted to convey three messages to himself through his son. First, Gao Gong was going to implement drastic reforms. Second, he was going to take the job of the royal shipping. Third, he was pessimistic about the change from canal transport to sea transport.

The first piece of news goes without saying. Gao Gong's reform is a prelude to Zhang Juzheng's reform. He has already prepared himself to face the coming storm.

The second piece of news was outrageous because it deviated from the historical track. In the original history, because the Yellow River burst its dike and the grain transport was blocked, in the fifth year of Longqing, Wang Zongmu, the governor of Shandong, did request to try to transport the grain by sea.

The whole court was in uproar when this statement was made, but Gao Gong knew that sea transportation was feasible. He demonstrated his superb political skills and first transferred Wang Zongmu to serve as the governor of the grain transport to suppress the opposition from the grain transport office. Then he promoted Wang Zongmu's deputy, Liang Menglong, the left governor of Shandong, to the governor of Shandong, and let him try to transport grain by sea.

Later, the trial of sea transportation was successful, and Liang Menglong began to make plans with great confidence, ready to do a big job, but Gao Gong suddenly fell from power. After Zhang Juzheng came to power, the grain transport group took the opportunity to attack sea transportation, and in the second year of Wanli, it was completely stopped.

If in the original history, Liang Menglong's shipping business only caused a few waves and disappeared in the blink of an eye, then now Gao Gong and Ge Shouli's personal actions will undoubtedly cause huge waves.

But no one else can be blamed for this, because the instigator was him, Zhao Hao.

Royal Shipping is like an elephant that has broken into the room. Can others turn a blind eye to it? Can the court, which is going crazy with poverty, not be jealous? It is also reasonable for Gao Beard to transform into Black Beard, right?

Alas, the world line has changed completely after all. Can he still solve this difficult problem without a reference answer so easily?

~~

The next day, Xishan Group headquarters in Dashilan.

On the three-story-high bronze patterned canopy, the large gilded characters written by the emperor himself had changed from "Royal Xishan Coal Industry" to "Royal Xishan Group". In fact, Mr. Zhao only needed to ask Emperor Longqing to write the last two characters and then scrape off the original ones and replace them.

But in order to have a reason to give the emperor more silver, he generously asked Buzz Buzz to re-answer the question.

The guard, wearing black clothes, leather boots, a wide-brimmed hat, and a thorn iron rod, stood on the black marble steps without looking around, not allowing anyone to approach. Unlike the previous bustling scene, the colorful glass door inside and outside was much quieter.

Because stock trading is no longer carried out here.

Following the instructions of his son, Sun Dawu bought another store across the street and opened a special "Beijing Stock Exchange". In addition to trading stocks and bonds of Xishan Group and Lugouqiao Company, the Beijing Stock Exchange also issued stocks and bonds for other high-quality shops, providing one-stop services.

Over the past three years, Xishan Group's stock price has increased dozens or even hundreds of times. Who wouldn't be jealous? Who wouldn't want to make some money by issuing stocks? But buyers are not stupid. If you just print a few pieces of paper and say that these are stocks, who would believe you?

After repeated setbacks, the big businessmen in Beijing finally realized that only by relying on the reputation of Xishan Group and issuing stocks from the "Beijing Stock Exchange" would wealthy people buy them.

However, a stock must go through layers of checkpoints before it is allowed to be traded on the Beijing Stock Exchange.

First, in order to protect the interests of investors, the Beijing Stock Exchange only accepts high-quality stocks for listing financing - only businesses that have been profitable for three consecutive years, raise funds for the purpose of expanding reproduction, and are willing to transform into a company are eligible to apply for stock issuance.

After the application is submitted, the Beijing Stock Exchange will send a compliance team to review whether the company's organizational structure, rules and regulations are formal and reasonable, whether the accounts provided are true, and whether it really has investment prospects. Even major shareholders and managers must undergo background checks to prevent hidden risks that cannot be provided to the public truthfully.

If the compliance team finds a problem, the company must immediately make corrections until it passes the review. If the company refuses to make corrections, the team will withdraw and the application will be invalidated. This step alone will keep most companies out, because in this era, most people cannot understand the concept of a public company.

But in every era there are people with outstanding vision and willingness to abide by the rules, so there are a few companies that persevere.

After passing the review, the listed company will sell 10% of its shares to the Beijing Stock Exchange at 70% of the issue price as compensation. Of course, this is also a guarantee for the Beijing Stock Exchange to gain the trust of shareholders and continue to supervise the company in the future.

Therefore, in the eyes of buyers, the stocks that can be written on the water board and listed for sale by the Beijing Stock Exchange have all been strictly screened by them and are guaranteed by the credit of Xishan Group. Naturally, they are worth investing in.

At present, the Beijing Stock Exchange has been established for more than a year, and three stocks have been listed for trading:

One is a Shanxi company owned by the old Xi'er people. They benchmark Xishan Coal Industry and have been operating in Shanxi Province for four years, with profits continuing to rise. In addition, there is the super positive effect of the Fenggong Mutual Trade recently. After one year of listing, the stock price has increased tenfold.

One was Liaodong Trade, which specialized in goods from outside the Great Wall. With the opening of sea transportation, the demand for Liaodong goods from Jiangnan was released all at once, causing the profit of this business, formerly known as Jixiang, to soar tenfold. The stock price also increased fivefold.

Another stock is the old Beijing brand "Liubiju Sauce Factory". This shop was founded in the ninth year of the Jiajing reign of the Qing Dynasty. It produces and sells six of the "seven necessities of life". Except for tea, it sells firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce and vinegar, the six necessities of life, so it is called "Liubiju".

At the end of the Jiajing reign, Grand Secretary Yan Song wrote a plaque for Liubiju, which made Liubiju famous and in short supply. The Zhao brothers, the bosses, were ambitious and wanted to sell Liubiju's pickles and soy sauce all over the country, so they also went public to raise funds.

Although they are not large in scale, they have stable operations and steady dividends. Soon after their listing, their stock price doubled.

The successful issuance of stocks by these three companies greatly stimulated the commercial vitality of the capital, and it seemed as if businessmen had something to pursue. They all began to think about how they could pass the review of the Beijing Stock Exchange and go public to raise money... Oh no, raise funds.

Currently, there are more than 50 companies waiting in line for review. In time, the number of stocks on the exchange will surely exceed 10 or 20!

~~

In the boardroom on the third floor of Xishan Group, Mr. Zhao stared at the bustling Beijing Stock Exchange through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows.

Behind him, the directors of Xishan Group were already furious because of the news from Li Maofang!

"Fuck him, Gao is so unkind!" The Duke of England angrily slammed the table and shouted, "If it weren't for us, would he have been able to make a comeback? If it weren't for us, would he have survived the court debate before the New Year? He is really a dog with a face that doesn't grow hair - he turns his back on us!"

"Damn it, if I had known this would happen, I shouldn't have helped him out!" Zhu Shimao said angrily, tilting his neck to the left.

"What nonsense are you talking about? If he doesn't come out, our sea transportation won't be successful." Duke Dingguo didn't dare to look at him, for fear that he would also have a crooked neck.

"It's only been more than a year but less than two years, and he can't sit still anymore?" The rooster was so angry that he kept crowing!

"Kill Gao and put an end to it all!" Eunuch Feng said sinisterly, "Let our family handle this matter. I guarantee that no one will know about it."

"Forget it." Duke Dingguo Xu Wenbi rolled his eyes at him and said, "He will soon be the Prime Minister, and in the emperor's heart he is more important than anyone else. If anything happens to him, he will be thoroughly investigated. By then, not only will you not have to live, but Xishan Group will also be buried with you."

"We will perish together with him!" Feng Bao gritted his teeth, his face livid. He was not angry about this matter, but was really bullied too badly by Gao Gong.

"Alright, alright." Young Master Zhao turned around helplessly and calmed down the directors and supervisors who were on the verge of going berserk, saying, "I told you this just to give you some idea, not to encourage you to fight and kill."

"Sir, do you have any good ideas?" The directors looked to the omnipotent Master Zhao.

"I thought about it all night last night." Zhao Hao pointed at his dark circles and said, "In the end, I'll just say one sentence: Let the bullets fly for a while."

"What do you mean?" How could the crowd understand such jargon?

"Don't rush to act, wait patiently for the opportunity." Zhao Hao explained: "We have been preparing for shipping for more than a year. You all know better than me how efficient the government is. They don't have any ships or sailors now. Can they do it just by saying so? Moreover, the court must first determine the organization, select the chief officer, and form a team. Then where will the funds come from? Where will the sailors be assigned? And the most important thing is - how to divide the spoils. I think if we can sort out all these things before the end of the year, even if Gao Ge Lao is very powerful."

"That's right." The directors and supervisors were relieved after hearing this and said, "That's a big government office on the same level as the six ministries. How can it be decided so easily?"

"This year has been very difficult for the millions of canal workers and the people living along the canal. If something goes wrong again, things will be delayed again." Zhao Hao said casually, "What I mean is that we still have plenty of time, and we don't want you to stir up trouble."

"Understood." Everyone nodded and laughed, saying, "Who are we? We are already obeying the law. How could we do such a thing? No, no."

"Anyway, let's wait and see what happens." Zhao Hao smiled and skipped the topic, saying, "Wait until Elder Gao has settled all these issues first, then we can talk about the fight."

As he spoke, he raised his sword-like eyebrows and said in a cold voice: "Don't worry, everyone, if we don't give you the opportunity to eat the shipping business, no one else can eat it!"

"Good! Sir, you're right!" The directors stood up and applauded, feeling that they had finally found a backbone. "We will listen to you, and do whatever you tell us to do!"

"But sir," Eunuch Ji asked with some concern, "What if Gao Huzi asks us to help build a fleet and train sailors?"

"Yes, I think he is shameless enough to do such a thing!" Everyone nodded and said, "Didn't he say that he represents the court and we have an obligation to help him? If we refuse him outright, he will definitely get mad!"

"Just push it onto me and my godmother." Zhao Hao said calmly, "You wouldn't dare to agree unless we two asked. I don't believe that Gao Huzi would dare to bring bad luck to my godmother."

"What about the young master?" everyone thought to themselves, but he dares to bring bad luck to you.

"I will leave tomorrow and sail far out to sea. None of you will be able to find me!" Young Master Zhao smiled and said, "If you can't afford to offend me, can't I just hide from you?"

p.s. It’s half an hour earlier than yesterday (and 300 more words). Keep working hard and try to finish even earlier tomorrow!