Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

"I'll go too." Other nobles said one after another.

Seeing this, Zhang Shikang quickly waved his hand.

"My dear uncles, a pile of scattered sand cannot form cohesion. I have seen your determination.

Therefore, from today on, we have to do this together."

Throughout last year, the vast majority of nobles took action, spending real money to train sailors and even purchasing nautical charts and merchant ships.

Now, one year later, their enthusiasm has not only not diminished, but they are even more excited and have the courage to go all in.

This is enough.

Since we are all working together, it is not possible for each of us to contribute our own money and work alone. We should continue to integrate them and build a tower out of nothing.

"My dear nephew, if you have any good ideas, just tell me and we can pool our wisdom. Anyway, I must board this huge ship." Taining Marquis Chen Yanzuo said.

Seeing that everyone had the same idea, Zhang Shikang continued:

“What I mean is that we should collectively invest and build a large porcelain workshop and a silk workshop first.

As for tea, we can contact tea merchants from all over Jiangnan to discuss cooperation. Of course, the tea can be put aside for now.

As for the porcelain and silk workshops, should we buy ready-made ones or set up new factories in the vicinity of the capital? We can do some research first.

But remember, we will not compete with the people for profit. If we want to make money, we will make money from foreigners."

A large group of nobles and relatives of nobles jointly run a business, and with Zhang Shikang, the most powerful official in the dynasty, leading the way, if they want to seize the domestic market, other merchants have no capital to resist at all.

For the sake of the Ming Dynasty's economic prosperity, Zhang Shikang directly blocked this loophole.

“In addition to this, we also need a person in charge and select eight assistant managers to be responsible for the daily affairs of our chamber of commerce.

Once a major decision is made, the person in charge and the eight assistant managers need to discuss and vote together, and the person in charge has a veto power. "

Zhang Shikang thought for a moment and said again.

Under the trend of authoritarianism, centralization can improve administrative efficiency for a country, and Zhang Shikang is a practitioner in this regard.

But business is not governing a country. Those who are good at trade in Europe, such as the Dutch and the Venetians, almost all take the democratic path in trade.

To put it simply, everyone elects a leadership team similar to a committee together, and with the collective wisdom, it is easier to give full play to the collective subjective initiative.

Since the capital is contributed by everyone, and all one's funds are decided by other people, it would be fine if it were Zhang Shikang, but if someone else were to take over, there would definitely be some dissatisfaction among some people.

For long-term planning, both the person in charge and the assistant manager can be elected through voting by all members of the Chamber of Commerce, which will convince most people.

However, Zhang Shikang's idea was too avant-garde and no one present could quite understand it.

"My dear nephew, this Chamber of Commerce was originally proposed and planned by you, so why don't we all just listen to you?

Don't worry, nephew. We all respect you. If anyone dares to disobey you, I, Chen Yanzuo, will be the first to disagree!" Chen Yanzuo expressed his opinion.

Other nobles and relatives also echoed the sentiments, and Zhang Shikang and the others were all very convinced.

Just from Zhang Shikang's performance in the past two years, it can be seen that in terms of power, status and relationship with His Majesty and the court, no one present can compare to him.

What made them admire him even more was that in the past two years, Zhang Shikang had been raising money for the imperial court and had handled no less than 100 million taels of silver. However, there had never been any news of Zhang Shikang taking bribes.

Some people with ulterior motives even frequently visited the Duke of England's Mansion and talked with Duke of England Zhang Zhiji and Zhang Shize, not without trying to find out whether the Duke of England's Mansion had any intention of taking advantage of the good opportunity to make some money.

But there is too much evidence that the Zhang family did not rely on Zhang Shikang's power to seek benefits for themselves.

This matter made most of the nobles very puzzled at the time. They knew the current emperor too well. As long as the emperor thought you were capable, it didn't matter if you were not capable or not.

As long as you can bring benefits to the court, even if you are a little greedy, His Majesty may not take it too seriously.

After all, emperors of all dynasties did this, such as Yan Song of the Jiajing Dynasty, Gao Gong and Xu Jie of the Longqing Dynasty, Zhang Juzheng of the Wanli Dynasty, and so on.

But Zhang Shikang didn't do that.

Having power, brains, and the emperor's favor, yet not being greedy, no matter who asked it, the nobles and relatives present felt that they could not do it.

It is precisely because of this that they admire Zhang Shikang from the bottom of their hearts, admire his character, and admire his abilities and skills.

"My dear uncles, I am considering the long-term future of our Chamber of Commerce. We are of one mind now, so I don't think it's a big deal.

But what about the future? If your descendants take over, will they still be united?

This is the unknown.

But maritime trade is a long-term plan. If it is managed well, not only can the court profit from it, but our families and descendants can also enjoy eternal prosperity. We must be cautious. "

Zhang Shikang advised.

"Which son dares to rebel when I am here? He will even rebel against the Tian Gang!

But if my dear nephew insists, I will fully support him." Xining Marquis Song Yude said.

When a group is united, the efficiency is extremely high. For the sake of future great achievements, all the nobles are very active and united.

Soon, the general framework of the Chamber of Commerce was determined.

The Chamber of Commerce is composed of sixty-three noble families in the capital. They elect one talker and eight assistants. The assistants and talkers are elected every five years and are selected from the sixty-three members.

Zhang Shikang is the first decision-maker of the Chamber of Commerce. After unanimous vote by all members, Zhang Shikang's term as decision-maker is lifelong.

Everyone believed that at the beginning of a business, the leader is the most important, and they could not accept that after five years the person in charge would be replaced by someone other than Zhang Shikang.

They would not accept anyone else being elected except Zhang Shikang.

Zhang Shikang had no choice but to agree temporarily.

Everyone was talking at once, and they were all full of anticipation for the future of maritime trade.

What everyone didn't know was that today's gathering would create a ferocious beast for the future Age of Discovery.

This ferocious beast was born in the first month of the 13th year of Chongzhen. In the following years, it relied on the powerful military force of the Ming Dynasty and the three divine trade products of the Ming Dynasty.

Reaching the East, South and West, merchant ships spread across the Indian Ocean, Australia, and North and South America, transporting merchant ships loaded with spices, silver and even gold to the Ming Dynasty, creating the legend of the Ming Empire's Age of Exploration.

This meeting is called the Chongzhen Conference in the economic history of the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, the Chamber of Commerce was just getting started at this time. Seeing that everyone was imagining the future money-making plans, Zhang Shikang smiled and said to everyone:

“Since we are a chamber of commerce, we should have a name.

I think we should just call it He Liansheng."

……