Sakai City is currently under the clutches of Oda Nobunaga, so naturally they dare not change their allegiance, otherwise they will all die.

But with Mr. Zhao's advanced knowledge, he naturally had a way to tie Sakai City to his chariot without angering Nobunaga. That was joint venture.

He planned a three-step route for Sakai City. The first step was to establish a "Sakai Trading Co., Ltd." to unify the main assets of Sakai City and unify the planning and operation of trade. This would be incredible for other cities, but it was a perfect fit for a merchant-autonomous city-state like Sakai City with a cooperative association.

The thirty-six members of the Association control more than 80% of the wealth of Sakai City. They can be directly reorganized into a shareholders' meeting, and then the equity distribution can be clarified, the articles of association of the company can be formulated, and the board of directors and the board of supervisors can be elected. Then the "Sakai Trading Co., Ltd." will be complete.

In the second step, Sakaisho Co., Ltd. will issue 100% of its shares to Jiangnan Group through a private placement. After the issuance, Jiangnan Group and Sakaisho Co., Ltd. will each hold half of the shares.

The third step is that Sakaisho Co., Ltd. will be incorporated into the group, accept the group's guidance and management, and enjoy the exclusive agency rights for Tamra Shokai's products exported to Japan on the two islands of Honshu and Shikoku, except for Onsenzu.

In addition, the agreement between the two parties also stipulates that the president of Sakaisho Co., Ltd. will be a businessman from Sakai City, and the auditor general will be appointed by the group. The group has a veto over all matters of Sakaisho Co., Ltd., including vetoing the appointment of the president.

Sen no Rikyu was very satisfied with the agreement. In his opinion, the two things that Sakai City needed most, security and trade agency rights, were both most effectively guaranteed. Although the company owned half of the shares of the Jiangnan Group, in Sen no Rikyu's opinion, it only meant that Sakai City had to hand over half of its profits to the group as the price for security and trade rights.

He did not think that the Jiangnan Group in Ming Dynasty would seize control of the entire city like the Miyoshi family or the Oda family. This was very important to the Huihe people. Sakai City was their foundation and no one could rob it.

Although it is a bit high to hand over half of the profits, only in this way can the interests of both parties be highly consistent and the group can truly help Sakai City earn more wealth.

Besides, people gain happiness through comparison. The Tamra Chamber of Commerce, which had to hand over 90% of its profits, was competing with each other, and Sen no Rikyu clearly felt the love from his father.

After thinking for a while, he signed the agreement on behalf of the Sakai Society. Zhao Hao invited the two to have lunch together and solemnly told them three things during the meal.

First, we must strictly prevent and control the influx of artillery, artillery manufacturing technology, and artillery manufacturing craftsmen into Japan.

He told the two that only if there were no artillery in Japan, the Coast Guard Fleet could maintain control of the Sea of ​​Japan at a lower cost, thereby protecting the safety of Sakai City. Once artillery technology spread, the Jiangnan Group would have to stay away from the Seto Inland Sea and control key gateways such as Tsushima Island instead. Using a safer way to protect their own routes, but in that case, they would not be able to take into account the safety of Sakai City.

"Hi." Sen no Rikyu nodded heavily. In fact, he was planning to ask Mr. Zhao for a large sum of money to buy a few cannons and put them on the walls of Sakai City to intimidate the princes. Hearing this, he quickly stopped talking about it.

"Don't worry, sir. Japanese craftsmen don't have the casting technology. They can't even cast copper coins, let alone cannons." Shimai Zongshi said hurriedly, "In addition, the island country is full of mountains. Cannons are too heavy and it is a nightmare to move them. They can only be used to defend the city. Ambitious daimyo may not be interested in them."

"Don't be optimistic." Young Master Zhao shook his head and said, "Now is a chaotic world, anything can happen. We can only maintain our advantage for a longer time by nipping all possibilities in the bud."

"Hi!" Hearing Mr. Zhao say 'we', the two Japanese businessmen were overjoyed and responded loudly.

"How long a humble businessman can gain respect depends on you." Master Zhao looked at the two with expectation.

"Don't worry, sir. Sakai's business network is spread all over the country. Any movement of the daimyo will not escape our notice." Sen no Rikyu said confidently, "Anyone who has such intentions will be attacked with all our strength."

"Without our help, those arrogant daimyo will have almost no way of obtaining artillery." Shimai Zongshi said and reminded Zhao Hao: "Unless those Portuguese..."

"I'll take care of them." Zhao Hao waved his hand, obviously he had a plan in place.

~~

In another history, Otomo Sorin obtained the "stone fire gun" from the Portuguese seven years later... that is, the Portuguese. Lao Wang followed the Japanese's invincible naming ability and called it "national collapse".

It is said that when the Shimazu family invaded Usuki Castle, the old king used the Kunibo to repel the enemy, which was the first time that a Japanese daimyo used artillery in actual combat. After that, there was still no record of Japanese lords using artillery, and even during the Imjin War that invaded Korea, the Japanese navy and army were not equipped with this "heavy and clumsy thing".

It was not until the final battle of the Warring States Period, the Summer Battle of Osaka, when the old Tokugawa used cannons to blow down the castle tower of Osaka Castle, declaring the complete victory of the Edo regime, that the Japanese army finally had an artillery unit. This also shows that they finally learned how to make cannons.

But that was 46 years ago. As we know, Japan had contact with missionaries more than 20 years ago and had long-term trade with the Portuguese. Obviously, they had plenty of opportunities to come into contact with advanced firearms. For example, they began to imitate matchlock guns at the first time. In just over a decade, "iron cannon" became the standard of the daimyo army. If a family did not have an independent iron cannon team, it would be embarrassed to say hello to others when going out.

However, they ignored the powerful weapon of artillery for more than half a century. It was not until they suffered a great loss in the Korean battlefield that they realized the importance of this thing, which shows how bad the Japanese are in affinity with artillery.

Young Master Zhao didn't want the Japanese to use artillery in advance because of him, as that would bring a lot of uncertainty to the future. So he proposed a "Proton Plan" aimed at locking down Japan's manufacturing industry. The core part of the plan was to delay the time for the Japanese daimyo to master artillery as much as possible.

His requirements were not high, as long as it was not earlier than the original historical node. By that time, the generation gap should have been formed, and it would be useless even if they had artillery.

~~

After talking about artillery, Zhao Hao turned the topic back to the trade that both of them were most interested in.

He invited the two to taste the sour bamboo shoots and fish soup prepared by Qiaoqiao, and then asked with a smile: "Have you ever thought about how to maximize the profits of Sakai Trading Co., Ltd. in the future?"

"This..." The two thought that Master Zhao was testing their business talents, so they quickly answered carefully.

"Sell the scarcest or most in-demand products," Shimai replied.

"Exclusively monopolize trade rights and control pricing power." Sen no Rikyu's answer was obviously more advanced.

But they would be mistaken. What reason would Master Zhao have to test the big businessmen who could hold up a piece of the sky in the Warring States Period? It was still unclear who was better at business.

"Both of you are right. Qian Li-san has even explained the essence of buying and selling." What Zhao Hao wants to do is to brainwash them and turn them into compradors. He smiled and said, "But there are two ways to make the products we sell unique in the market. The more passive one is to sell products that are not yet on the market. The more active one is to make the competing products disappear from the market."

Young Master Zhao picked up the wine glass and took a sip of the "Beautiful Boy" sake that Sen no Rikyu had given him as a gift. Well, it's hard to say how it tastes, but the name of the wine is very appropriate. Beautiful boys should drink beautiful boys' sake, and beautiful people and beautiful wines are also beautiful. "Try to taste it carefully. Which one is better?"

"This..." The two of them felt as if a new world had been opened up to them, and they began to ponder it with pious looks on their faces.

"Obviously it's the latter." Sen no Rikyu's level is still a little higher, otherwise why is he the chief and Shimai not?

"When selling goods that are not available on the market, you need to first get the demand from buyers. It is uncertain whether buyers will agree and how long it will take to cultivate demand. Therefore, the risk is high and the effect is slow."

"Indeed, it would be safer to make all competitors in the existing market disappear." Shimai also said with a look of sudden realization, "Besides, the sales channels are there, and sales can be increased immediately."

"Well said, you two are indeed business geniuses." Young Master Zhao clapped his hands and laughed, "So how do we run the business from now on? Do you two have an idea?"

"I understand. We will study the market carefully and start with the locally produced goods. We will try to squeeze them out of the market." Thus, the two Japanese businessmen started their comprador journey.

Mr. Zhao learned from the Tang people that Japan's handicraft industry is still very developed, among which the most important industries are silk weaving, cotton spinning, porcelain making and tea.

It just so happens that this is also the main handicraft industry of the Ming Dynasty. There is nothing that can be done about the son being like his father.

Obviously, this would not only affect the profits of Ming Dynasty products sold to Japan, but also create competition in the Southeast Asian and Western trade. In the Age of Exploration, the most important thing to avoid was free competition, so Mr. Zhao decided to train compradors in Japan and use them to strangle Japan's competitive handicraft industry.

A comprador has three advantages: a soft body, a clear voice, and is easy to be pushed down... Oh no, it should be a 'black-hearted and knowledgeable guide'.

When the interests of both parties are highly tied together, they will take the initiative to offer advice to foreign merchants to make the dumped goods more suitable for the needs of the local market. These comprador merchants are not only familiar with the local market conditions, but also have the ability to establish a sales network from major cities to remote villages, allowing foreign goods to fully compete with local goods for the market, thus resulting in a situation where "foreign goods are sold out day by day, and local goods are becoming less and less popular", strangling the local handicraft industry.

In order for the Ming Dynasty to obtain enough places to dump its products and create conditions for launching the commercial revolution and the industrial revolution, Master Zhao needs the contribution of the compradors.

"Very good, I think we should start with porcelain and cotton." He raised his glass with a smile, clinked it with the two men and said, "Within three years, I hope that only our porcelain will be on the market. Within five years, all Japanese people will wear our cotton."

"Don't worry, sir. We will do our best!" The two men hurriedly raised their wine glasses with both hands and bowed to give a military order to Master Zhao.