Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 214: Seize their land and naturalize their people, please lend me the Jinyiwei for a while! [Please subscribe]

Doing business together?
The other princes were also trying to figure out Zhu Chun's summary of Liu Kuan's words.

Zhu Biao then smiled and said, "Eleventh Brother's summary is good, but companies and joint-stock systems are much more sophisticated than doing business in partnership."

"It's like both of them are putting on a stage to perform, but one is a makeshift troupe, while the other is a troupe with its own theater and a clear division of labor. Their goals and gains are obviously very different."

Many princes nodded after hearing this.

With the help of Zhu Chun and Zhu Biao, princes such as Zhu Di and Zhu Su truly understood the usefulness of companies and shareholding systems.

Zhu Di then asked, "What suggestions does my third brother-in-law have for establishing overseas vassal states?"

Liu Kuan glanced at Zhu Di and said, "I believe that establishing a vassal state overseas can be roughly divided into two situations. The first situation is that the local natives are ignorant and uncivilized, still in a primitive tribal society, without a country."

"Under such circumstances, the feudal state will focus on land reclamation, farming, and construction in the early and middle stages. The feudal state's development will be relatively slow, but it is unlikely to suffer a major setback."

Zhu Di had made up his mind to establish a vassal state in India, so he was not interested in the first situation Liu Kuan mentioned.

On the contrary, the King of Chu, Zhu Zhen, was very interested and asked, "Why is this?"

Liu Kuan said: "Those native tribes in primitive society mostly don't know how to farm or herd livestock, but rely on fishing and hunting for a living. They also don't know how to smelt iron, make pottery, or weave cloth. It can be said that their productivity is low."

"Low productivity means we can't support many people. With a small population and low productivity, the tribe's military strength is doomed to be extremely low."

"Your Highnesses could easily dispatch a few hundred soldiers to sweep away such a tribe. However, apart from the people and a few items like furs, there is nothing of value in their tribe."

"However, not only do the natives not speak our language, they are also ignorant and difficult to tame. Even if we capture them as slaves, they are far less useful than the civilized people."

"Before the natives are educated, it will likely take quite a few people to guard and teach them. It's fair to say that if a vassal king were to go overseas and try to capture a group of natives to work, the manpower would likely be more than what would be gained."

"So, in this case, the vassal king needs to bring a group of Ming people with various skills with him first, so that he can better carry out the initial construction of the vassal state."

"During this process, military or bribery tactics were used to get a small number of indigenous people to participate in the construction by doing some simple tasks."

"In this way, once the vassal state has established a certain foundation, we can try to gradually naturalize the local natives."

After a pause, Liu Kuan said, "Actually, globally, the relatively ignorant and primitive indigenous tribes are mostly found in Southeast Asia, Australia, and Africa. In other words, only in these three places is it necessary to use my previous proposal to build vassal states."

"As for the Native Americans, although they can't smelt iron, their other craftsmanship is not inferior to some northern nomadic tribes and southern barbarians, and their military strength is not too weak either."

"Also, as you all probably learned from watching videos about America before, while the native peoples of America are mostly tribal, they do have nations, such as the Aztecs in Central America and the Incas in South America."

"So, if any of you are planning to travel across the ocean to establish a fiefdom in America, you could first try to recruit some of the natives and use them as your own."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Zhen and Zhu Gui both showed signs of interest.

They are both relatively young, only twenty years old, so the matter of establishing overseas vassal states can be delayed for ten years.

The Ming Dynasty began exploring the route to North America this year. Ten years later, this route will surely be much easier to travel. Apart from anything else, the supply stations and transit camps established along the way will make the fleets of their immigrants much safer.

Zhu Di then urged, "Third brother-in-law, should we talk about the second scenario?"

Liu Kuan said, "The second scenario is that not only does the local country exist, but its productivity, military strength, and culture have also developed to a certain level, and in some aspects are even not inferior to the Ming Dynasty."

"If you want to establish a vassal state in a place like this, you naturally need to lead the way with the army. With the current military strength of the Ming Dynasty, it won't be too difficult to deal with the armies of these countries."

"The key lies in how to govern and absorb the population after conquering the region. If we cannot absorb the local population and rely solely on immigration from the Ming Dynasty or elsewhere, the development of the vassal state will be slow."

"And the best way to absorb the population of a place is to replace the original language, culture, religion, and customs of the locals with the language, culture, religion, and customs of the Ming Dynasty."

"If the new generation of locals can identify themselves as Ming vassal states, and other than their appearance, they look no different from Ming civilians, then we can say that we have achieved initial assimilation."

"It will take hundreds of years or even longer to fully assimilate them. In other words, establishing a vassal state in the second category requires less initial investment in construction and production, resulting in large and quick profits. However, assimilating the locals is much more difficult, and is destined to be a lengthy process."

After listening to Liu Kuan's talk, Zhu Di and others seemed to understand something.

Zhu Biao understood it more quickly. He said, "Ignorant and primitive tribes, because they lack a strong religious and cultural foundation and are not broad and profound, are more easily transformed by Han culture and assimilated into the Ming people."

"Regions like Korea, Japan, and India, which have long established states and boast a long history and profound cultural heritage, have a population that is deeply influenced and ingrained by their own culture, making it difficult for them to assimilate."

"Third brother-in-law, am I correct in understanding this?"

Liu Kuan smiled and said, "Your Highness the Crown Prince is right."

After listening to Zhu Biao's explanation, Zhu Di and others understood more thoroughly what Liu Kuan said.

Afterwards, other princes also asked some questions, and Liu Kuan tried his best to answer them patiently and in detail.

As the conversation progressed, Zhu Biao, seeing that it was getting late, held a banquet in Chunhe Palace to entertain Liu Kuan and the other princes.

···
Shortly after the Mid-Autumn Festival, the five princes, Zhu Jing, Zhu Di, Zhu Su, Zhu Zhen, and Zhu Gui, left the capital one after another and traveled to various places. Under Zhu's arrangement, they participated in various activities and honed their skills. In September, Liu Kuan also opened a railway transportation company after Zhu's official decree.

On this day, Liu Kuan took the initiative to go to Fengxian Hall to ask to see Zhu Yuanzhang.

In Fengxian Hall, after Liu Kuan had saluted, Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "It's rare that you came to see me on your own initiative. Tell me, what's the matter?"

Liu Kuan didn't intend to beat around the bush and said directly, "Your Majesty, regarding the sale of shares in the railway transportation company, I still need to ask the Jinyiwei for a small favor."

Zhu Yuanzhang was curious and asked, "How do you want the Jinyiwei to help you?"

Liu Kuan said, "After all, it's unprecedented for the imperial court to establish a company and raise shares from the public. If we directly advertise and raise shares, I'm afraid those large landowners, wealthy gentry, and merchants will be suspicious and few people will come to buy shares, or even no one will buy at all."

"Furthermore, although the railway transportation company may not be profitable for several years due to the large initial investment, it will definitely be a good business with long-term profits in the future."

"It would be bad if some corrupt gentry and profiteers were to take advantage. Therefore, I have decided to select several gentry or merchants from Jiangnan who have done many good deeds and have no bad records, and have them subscribe to a small portion of the shares."

"Then have the Imperial Guards use this incident to spread rumors, saying these individuals were able to subscribe to the railway company's shares in advance because railway transportation is bound to be a lucrative business in the long run."

"In the minds of many people, the harder something is to obtain, the more precious it is. Once this kind of gossip is 'accidentally' shared with more and more gentry, landlords, and merchants, and they find themselves unable to find a way to purchase shares in the railway company, their doubts about the matter will be greatly reduced."

"In this way, after a few months, when things have brewed enough, these people will be eager to participate when the railway company goes public."

"When the time comes, I can organize a blind auction and perhaps even get a significant premium on the remaining shares to be sold to the public."

After listening to Liu Kuan's explanation, Zhu Yuanzhang asked, "What is blind shooting?"

Liu Kuan said, "A blind auction is an auction conducted in secret. The railway company's shares will be sold in many lots, and a small portion has already been subscribed to. The remaining shares are best sold through a blind auction."

Auctions have existed since the Tang and Song dynasties, and can even be traced back to earlier periods, so after Liu Kuan explained it briefly, Zhu Yuanzhang understood the advantages of blind bidding.

He couldn't help but laugh and said, "I didn't expect you to be quite clever, kid."

Liu Kuan didn't want to give Zhu the impression of being cunning, so he quickly explained, "Your Majesty, it's not that I'm clever. Whether it's spreading rumors to create a sense of rarity or blind bidding, these are all basic practices of merchants in later generations. I was just following the instructions."

"It seems that the level of commerce in later generations is indeed much higher than it is now." Zhu Yuanzhang sighed and said, "Okay, I agree to this matter. Someone from the Jinyiwei will contact you tomorrow to handle this matter."

Zhu Yuanzhang did not take the opportunity to ask anything else.

Liu Kuan successfully resigned.

···
···
While Liu Kuan was planning to raise funds from the private sector, on the first day of October, the Xudan section of the railway officially opened part of its capacity to the private sector.

On that day, relevant notices were posted on many bulletin boards in the capital, and officials from Jiangning and Shangyuan counties were sent to read and explain them to the people.

At noon, Huang Xinyi went out for a stroll with four servants. When they arrived at a crossroads, they noticed a clerk reading a notice and people watching.

As the second son of the famous Huang family in South City, he naturally disdained to squeeze under the notice board with other ordinary people, so he sent his servant to inquire.

The servant listened for a moment and then returned excitedly, "Second Master, it is said that the Hongwu Emperor has shown mercy and has specially ordered the opening of the railway, allowing ordinary people like us to ride the train and enjoy the convenience of railway transportation."

There have been many new things happening in the capital in the past two years, but the topics of Xianqiao and railways have remained popular.

After the Xudan section of the railway was opened to traffic last year, the topic of railways became even more popular, overshadowing the topic of Xianqiao.

As the second son of the Huang family, Huang Xinyi usually does nothing and is idle. He likes to join in the fun and watch strange things.

In the first month after the Xudan section of the railway was opened last year, he went there almost every day to watch it until he got tired of it and stopped going.

But I always regretted not being able to take that train and experience it.

Now that he knew ordinary people could also take the train, he was immediately excited and asked hurriedly: "Can you tell me where to take the train? How to take it? Do I need to go to the train station?"

The servant was busy flattering him, "Second Master is very wise. He wants to go to the train station. But I didn't hear how to go there."

"Then why did you come back so soon? Go and find out more!"

The servant went away happily again.

This time, the servant came back a while later and said, "Second Master, I've heard that as long as you have money and a travel permit, you can go to the train station to buy a ticket and take the train inside!"

"Do you need a pass?"

Huang Xinyi frowned.

　First update.

　　I'm late.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)