Zhao Bing was inspired by this news. The abundant wood in Nanyang and low price, which provided an opportunity for him to build a new type of warship. He knew very well that to build a warship with good performance, not only did it require reasonable design, but the cost was also an issue that cannot be ignored. At present, due to thousands of years of logging in China, there are fewer and fewer wood suitable for shipbuilding. A good material that can be used as a mast is hard to find.

Zhao Bing has been living a poor life in the past. Now he can obtain a lot of funds through maritime trade and there are low-priced wood available. This has ushered in a new opportunity. He can use imported wood to build ships, and even build shipyards in the Nanyang area to produce on-site, which can greatly reduce costs. Of course, this idea was not created by him. In the Ming and Qing dynasties of his previous life, some people set a precedent.

Interest-driven innovation can be said to be an eternal truth. In the late Ming Dynasty, ship owners who trafficked goods from the South China Sea discovered that the wood there was low price and abundant quantity, which made them ready to move. However, the Ming government, which implemented the sea ban policy, was elusive in its attitude towards this, but driven by interests, they had the intention to build ships on site in Siam.

As a result, merchants and citizens began to build ships in Siam and other places, and then continued to traffic rice and other goods. The food-scarce government also urgently needed to import rice, so the government also silently allowed merchants to build ships overseas. In addition, the domestic timber tension has led to the relocation of large-scale sailing manufacturing industries. On the other hand, the domestic private shipbuilding industry, which is restricted by cost, has also changed due to the situation, turning its development trajectory to a miniaturization, rapid, convenient and refined direction.

However, Zhao Bing first felt ecstatic and listened to Shangguan Xi's summary of commercial activities. Over the past year, they mainly operated three traditional routes: East, South and West. The trade targets of the East are mainly Japan, and the trade with Southeast Asia includes at least Batavia, Siam, Guangnan, Manila, Cambodia, Johor, Peking University and other places, which are equivalent to those distributed in today's Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and other countries.

No matter how it is said that the caravans have royal background, which is well known to the world, so the maritime caravans have prominent power, numerous merchant ships and strong capital. Their advantage at this time lies in the scale of the fleet. This time, there were more than 300 merchant ships to the East, which was a height that had never been reached in previous years. The materials sold were still mainly tea, silk and porcelain, as well as lacquerware, medicinal materials and exported printed materials, and the trafficking of the country was gold, silver, copper, Korean ginseng and sulfur, horses, horse harnesses, paper fans, brushes, etc.

In previous years, there were only a few dozen merchant ships to the East, and the trade volume this year also increased suddenly. Goryeo, a vassal state of the Mongol Yuan, was already breathless. In order to alleviate financial difficulties, she did not care whether she was suspected of "investment". She sold all the things that could be sold. Japan was not much better, and it offended the current world overlord. Although there was no such thing as an economic blockade in this era, other countries were worried about retaliation and no one dared to do business with them. It was just that some foreign merchants who did triangular trade went to sell some goods from the Song Dynasty to earn the difference.

However, the price of the "second-hand goods" sold by these merchants must be higher, and they did not know that the Song Dynasty had recovered Jiangnan. After going there, they not only lost all their money, but also could not come back. Even if they knew, they were worried that they would be chased when they passed by, so they could only accept it with their noses. But when the merchant ships of the Song Dynasty appeared, all the problems were solved, not only obtained the needs, but also sold their specialties. More importantly, the Song Dynasty was resurrected in full blood, defeated the Mongolian and Yuan naval army, and became the overlord of the sea again. They were very excited and quickly planned to come to the Song Dynasty to pay tribute and repair their relationship.

On a trip to the East, the caravan made a lot of money. After the goods were sold, the funds were also recovered one after another, with the profits exceeding five million jin. The funds have been put into the store, which gave Zhao Bing some confidence to deal with the war. The trip to the West also gained a lot. You should know that the Western market is much larger than that of the East at this time, and the goods of six or seven hundred merchant ships were sold out.

Because the current form of trade is mainly barter trade, and what the Song Dynasty currently needs are precious metals such as gold and silver, Shangguan Xi used the method of discounting gold and silver to attract customers. Of course, bartering should be appropriately increased prices. They strongly intervened in the Western market, and the influx of large quantities of goods at lower prices will naturally affect the business of some traditional merchants on this line, but they could only watch the merchant ships of the Song Dynasty make money away.

However, the merchants found that as a major scented medicine merchant, Dasong only purchased some ambergris, sandalwood, agarwood and cumin this year. Most of the funds were used to purchase precious treasures such as gems, tortoiseshell, ivory, rhinoceros horns, jade and coral, as well as cosmetics such as lavender and rose oil. However, they did not realize that this was just the beginning of the Song Dynasty's competition for the Atlantic market, and their days of monopolizing the global spice market were about to end.

However, Shangguan Xi also discovered that Arab merchants had the right time and place in the Western market. Their power penetrated almost every market and controlled the sea route to Europe. He would charge heavy taxes every time he entered and left. With this, they occupied a dominant position in Western trade. Now that their strong joining is likely to cause disputes in the future.

Zhao Bing thought it was very true that many wars occurred because of the competition for the market, and it was even more common in later generations. Although it is not possible to predict when a war will be launched now, friction will become the norm. In other words, many people are like killing their parents. Whoever grabs meat from the bowl will be anxious about you. So he thought that the risk of the war caused by this is very high, and he should start preparing for the possible war.

Shangguan Xi’s concerns are not without reason. This time, there were more than 600 ships going to the West, with a transaction volume of 30 million chunks, with an average of more than 40,000 chunks per ship. Excluding the cost of goods and losses along the way, the salary and other losses of crew members were also about 60%, so it can bring nearly 20 million chunks of profit to Zhao Bing, and these have not yet been added to the future spice business income, but this is equivalent to one-third of the current national tax revenue.

Zhao Bing believes that with the continued development of the maritime trade route, the continued expansion of the market, and the intervention of the incense and medicine market, it will definitely bring him more rewards. He will further regulate the operation mechanism of overseas trade. On the basis of the current lack of strong funds, he suggested dividing the caravan into two parts: road and sea.

On the road, some companies rely on the funds and reputation of the insurance firm to establish a business bank. They first receive public funds, purchase silk goods and local local products, hand over the goods to the marine merchant bank, then settle the bill with the insurance firm and withdraw the next shopping payment. After receiving the goods, the marine merchant bank does not need to wait for foreign trade. After returning to the flight, they check the bill with the insurance firm and hand over the goods to the road merchant bank for sale, and enter the next cycle. After the insurance firm ends each trade season, the profits are sent to the warehouse.

This form of trade is actually the inheritance and development of shops and ship merchants in private overseas trade. Zhao Bing only consolidates it with a new organizational form to facilitate control and control at all levels. The prey of the weak is also applicable in business wars. Only strict organization and cooperation can gain a foothold overseas, defeat opponents, and gain the right to speak.

Shangguan Xi responded that because the emperor had said that if he found the spices, he only had to transport some of them back to the country, and most of them would be sold to the West to earn gold and silver. So he turned to ask how to deal with the incense medicines he was transported back? Because according to past practice, the Maritime Bureau had to first withdraw 10% as tariffs, and because the incense medicines were profitable, the government classified the spices as "banned" materials. Any ships carrying spices entering the port, "those who do not come from the official warehouse shall not be allowed to trade privately", that is, they must be purchased and sold by the state.

For Zhao Bing, this was just a matter of going out with the left hand and going out with the right hand, because this matter was under the jurisdiction of the palace, and there was also an incense medicine warehouse in the inner court, which was specifically responsible for cashing out foreign tributes, as well as luxury goods such as incense medicine, gems and other shipped in the inner court. The incense medicine warehouse was specially responsible for the management and sale, and the money obtained was clearly proved to be included in the inner warehouse, as one of the income of the royal family. However, the court also obtained 10% of the tax revenue, which became an important source of national finance.

This time is different from the past. Since all the maritime merchants in the Mongolian Yuan were expelled and their property was confiscated, and the foreign merchants did not dare to take risks because of the war between the Song and Yuan dynasties. Therefore, the main force of going out to sea can be said to be Zhao Bing's caravan as the main force. The private maritime merchants just followed suit, but their trafficking in the sea also sent a signal to the foreign merchants, that is, the Song Dynasty had won and began to resume maritime trade. There will inevitably be some overseas merchants coming to trade this year, and their main goods are incense medicine and jewelry.

The caravan transported more than 800,000 kilograms of incense medicine this time, while the peak was only 400,000 kilograms. Zhao Bing knew that the large amount of goods would inevitably lead to a reduction in the sales price. On the other hand, although the royal monopolized the right to sell, he still needed to pay in full or offset it with the goods. If it were not for his own business, just purchasing these incense medicines would have ruined him.

However, this creates another problem. The incense medicines shipped by foreign merchants cannot be purchased for credit, which is an act of no integrity. Zhao Bing, as a role model for all people, must not throw people into foreign countries. This creates another problem. If you purchase it yourself, you must occupy funds. If you allow it to sell it freely, it will break the royal monopoly and impact the sales price.

Zhao Bing thought for a while and found that this incense medicine was not valuable to him, but because it was "rare", the price has been strong for hundreds of years, and it can be regarded as a hard currency. It can be used as a strategic material reserved by the state like gold. Therefore, he thought that he could reserve a part of it, and the rest would be put into the market to avoid impacting the market. However, the acquisition of incense medicine from foreign merchants had to suppress their prices and pay in paper money to let them purchase it on the market.

This can promote the circulation of paper money and solve the problem of financial difficulties. After all, part of the gold and silver that Zhao Bing earned overseas must also enter the court's financial system to be reserved as the basic gold of paper money. He also has plans to smuggle some of the incense medicines into Jiangbei area, alleviating the suffering of the shortage of incense medicines due to the loss of the sea control power of the Mongolian Yuan.

You should know that incense medicine is not used as seasonings in China, but most of them are used as additives for making incense and candles and turned into blue smoke, which is sent to the gods and ancestors in the underworld. Most people in the Mongolian Yuan believe in Buddhism, and the amount of incense and candles is also very large. They believe that incense and candles with added incense medicine can purify and express their pious heart, so they do not have to worry about sales.

Zhao Bing secretly praised himself. In the past, he used to smuggle sea salt to plunder gold and silver from the people of the Mongol Yuan, but now he can use incense medicine to empty the pockets of the nobles. These guys robbed everywhere, robbed countless gold and silver treasures, and charged a large amount of rent and tax every year. Besides, there is no gold and silver and horses to pay the bill, so he is his potential high-end customers. As for whom to sell it, of course, it is the Otu merchants. Although everyone was not very happy in the past, who had a grudge against money? As long as there is a profit, he could just laugh out the grudge!

After making up his mind, Zhao Bing asked the fragrance medicine warehouse to receive half of the spices, and Yuzhe auctioned them at the port of call to those spice merchants to get back the funds as soon as possible. He knew very well that as long as the money was transferred, he could make money. He would miss the next monsoon period by pressing on the goods. Instead, it would be more than worth the money. He could not do the job of picking up sesame seeds and losing watermelons.

"Your Majesty, what I am worried about is that if there is something happening overseas, we will find it difficult to rush to help even if we hear the news. But by the next trade wind, it will be a year later, and it will probably be too late!" After saying that, Zheng Yong sighed. He was very worried that the Arab merchants would retaliate against their caravans after their way to obtain wealth. But when they get the news here, they will be afraid that the daylily will be cold, and the culprits will have no idea where they will escape.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Shangguan Xi also responded, "It is not only affected by the trade wind, but also makes rescue difficult. It also delays a lot of business. It would be great if we could have a ship that is not affected by the trade wind, whether it is a good wind or a good wind."

"This... this is really there!" Zhao Bing was stunned for a moment and said thoughtfully.

"Is what Your Majesty said true?" Zheng Yong has been with the little emperor for more than ten years. It can be said that he has witnessed many miracles he created, but it is still difficult to believe that there are sailboats in the world that can sail in the wind and under the wind. You should know that although you can also adjust the angle of the sails and use the cooperation of the rudder plate to achieve navigation against the wind, you must constantly adjust the course and achieve it with "一" navigation. It is not only slow, but also limited by the sea.

"I have never deceived you. There is really such a ship, and the speed is more than twice as fast as the current sailboat!" Zhao Bing nodded and replied seriously.

"Your Majesty, don't make me happy. If you can build such a ship in the world, unless the gods descend to earth and Lu Ban will be reborn!" Zheng Yong shook his head a hundred disbelief, just thinking that the little emperor was looking for happiness for himself...
Chapter completed!