"Brother Qi, why are you looking for me in such a hurry?" In a mansion covering an area of ​​more than 30 acres in the south of the city, the ship merchant Qi Mao and Pang Feng, two large bosses from Maofeng freight, gathered in the living room for tea.

This house was a new house purchased by Qi Mao the year before yesterday. The former owner of the house was Wang Ben, the Marquis of Tongwu. Qi Mao bought it from the auction and spent a total of 700,000 yuan.

Since Qi Mao was personally commended by the First Emperor for his own reward as a charity merchant, while gaining fame, he also borrowed more than ten river boats to build large-scale river transport. In just a few years, he became the largest logistics business along the river. At present, Maofeng Freight has more than 30 river boats, transporting goods along the river every day, earning millions of money. However, with the implementation of the new business law, a large number of ship merchants are investing huge amounts of money to build river boats to grab freight. Maofeng Freight has a huge pressure to survive. It is urgent to find and develop a new commercial project, otherwise the pressure will become greater and greater if it continues.

"Have Brother Pang read the newspaper a few days ago?" Qi Mao asked with a serious face lowered his teacup.

Pang Feng smiled bitterly and shook his head: "I have been discussing business in Luoyang during this period. I am busy every day and never touch the ground. I have time to read newspapers and can't even get idle when I eat or drink water!"

Qi Mao handed a newspaper that was almost broken to Pang Feng: "Brother Pang, please read this front page headline!"

"Oh, it turns out that Brother Qi is talking about Yingzhou. I have heard some people talk about it!" Pang Feng took the newspaper in confusion and said, "and only took a look at it."

"What do you think, Brother Pang?"

"The theory of Yingzhou's sacred mountain is an illusory thing. Now that it is arranged by the Queen of Qinghe, it is naturally a good thing, so as not to avoid the people's alchemists jumping all day long. Brother Qi hurriedly called me back to talk about Yingzhou?"

"However, Maofeng freight has developed rapidly in recent years, but the investment is also very large. More than 30 cargo ships have 50 or 600 ship workers, which seem to have a lot of income but actually have a lot of expenses. Now several ship dealers have joined in one after another. There are endless boats and boats coming and going up and down the river every day, and the docks are almost unable to stop. Moreover, with the continuous construction of cement roads in various places, the ability to transport vehicles and horses is also increasing. If this continues, we will still be as prosperous as we are now..." Qi Mao said with a slightly melancholy expression.

"The situation is indeed not very good. This is the deal in Luoyang this time. I was a familiar merchant and had worked together smoothly in the past. This time, a Daliang boat merchant joined in. The freight fee was nearly a thousand yuan lower than that of us. I suddenly became overwhelmed. During the negotiations, I was called back by Brother Qi, so I could only let one manager manage it. But I guess the deal was going to be ruined!" Pang Feng shook his head and sighed.

"I am in charge of Xianyang and have felt this violent change since last year. The opportunity to trade by reputation alone has passed. Now, many of the money, grain and water transportation of the Ministry of Revenue cannot get a contract. If it weren't for relying on the past friendship with Qinghe Hou, the business of the Huaxia Money House would probably be unable to be kept!" Qi Mao also sighed.

"What are my plans for Brother Qi to let me look at this newspaper?" Pang Feng knew that Qi Mao would not be aimless and hurriedly asked him to come back to read a newspaper.

"You read the news carefully first!" Qi Mao waved his hand and picked up the teacup. Pang Feng had to calm down and read the front page news carefully word by word, but he was still confused after reading it.

"Brother Pang, if Qimao Transportation Industry wants to continue to develop, you have to try your luck at sea!"

"You...you mean we also build ships and go out to sea to find islands?" Pang Feng's eyes widened.

"No, why do you need to look for it? This Yingzhou is. You have finished reading the newspaper. Although this Yingzhou is not a fairy island in the sacred mountain, there are no immortal grasses for immortality, but you can see what is said above, there are a lot of sulfur and silver..."

"Ah, I know. Brother Qi is planning to build a ship to Yingzhou to find sulfur and silver!" Pang Feng woke up instantly.

"Yes, I said before that those who want to make money must observe five things: one is benevolence, two choose the place, three respond to the time, four observe people, and five distinguish things. We all followed the marquis of Qinghe to gain their current status. In recent years, we have also made tens of millions of dollars in each of them. Business opportunities are like fighter opportunities, if we don't seize them well, we will definitely lose the opportunity. We seized the river and made a fortune, but now there is a greater opportunity in front of us, which is sea transportation. I attended a symposium a few days ago. Xiao He, Cao Shen, who found Yingzhou, and the other two talked about the sailing routes to Yingzhou in detail, and they also built several huge sailboats without boatmen paddlings.

Brother Pang should have seen sailboats. The river has begun to appear on the river now, but the cost is high and the control is complex, and it has not been implemented yet. However, sailboats will inevitably become popular in a few years, because the sailboat is not only smoother and faster and more stable, and there is no need for a boatman to go against the current... In a few years, the riverboat we spent millions of money will be eliminated. This loss is both heartbreaking and unsettling. Now it is a critical moment that needs change. If we follow the conservative, the business of Maofeng Transportation Industry will inevitably plummet. But if we continue to increase investment in building a new ship, the money we have earned for several years will be lost again..."

"And the competition in river transportation is so fierce, and business will become increasingly difficult in the future. The freight cost of a ship of goods is nearly a thousand yuan less. This is a pressure that we cannot bear. After one trip, we may end up in a situation where we maintain balance of income and expenditure. If we don't make money, how can we talk about development..."

Qi Mao was very depressed, and Pang Feng was also depressed and sighed and pulled his beard hard.

As a qualified businessman, he naturally knows that business competition is inevitable, especially after the implementation of the new business law, a large number of competitors emerged in various fields. This is not only a manifestation of business prosperity, but also the thing that businessmen hate the most. Businessmen all hope that they can monopolize a certain industry, but this is impossible.

"Brother Qi, please tell me your plans. You can see business matters more thoroughly than me!" Pang Feng spoke after a long time of silence.

"I plan not to continue to increase investment in riverboat transportation, but to invest in building several sailing ships, and then recruit people to go out to Yingzhou to develop. If silver ore and sulfur can be found, I am afraid that the one ship will be transported back, and I am afraid that it will be in line with our current years of operations. What do Brother Pang think?" said Qi Mao.

Pang Feng hesitated for a minute before nodding: "But sea boats are different from river boats. I heard that the merchants from Qijun and Langya once said that they had been there. The sea boats were twenty or even thirty or thirty feet high, and could ride 300 or even five hundred people at a time. They also had to be built with huge trees with a diameter of more than five feet. Only Qinghehou had drawings. Not to mention the difficulty of building them, it was very expensive. I am afraid that a ship would require dozens or even millions of dollars, which was dozens of times the cost of a river boat. We are currently limited in financial resources, and at most one can build..."

"One ship is enough. I heard that the new sailboat not only sails smoothly and quickly, but also can withstand waves. As long as it can reach Yingzhou smoothly, it will be possible. At that time, it will be accompanied by Qinghe Hou Guard Cao Shen and Xiao He, and there will be no need to compete for business opportunities with ordinary ship merchants in the Central Plains in the future!" Qi Mao nodded without hesitation.

"Okay, since Brother Qi is willing, Pang will naturally support him with all his strength. How can we fall behind on the wealth of others?" Pang Feng nodded.

"Haha, okay, as long as Brother Pang and his unity are united, the day to make a fortune is not far away. Let's go and find a few companions to discuss it to see if they can lobby some colleagues to join. It is best to build two or three large ships at a time, so that the chance will be greater!" Qi Mao stood up excitedly.

Half an hour later, Qi Mao and Pang Feng invited five merchants whom they were familiar with each other to have dinner at the Qinghe Hotel. On the dining table, Qi Mao once again told about building a sea boat to Yingzhou to find silver mines and sulfur. Two of the merchants were not very interested. After discussing, the other three decided to jointly invest in another sea boat and form a fleet with Qi Mao Pang Feng to make a fortune in Yingzhou.

After the banquet, five merchants went to Qinghe Hou Mansion to visit Chen Xu. Chen Xu was very happy after learning about Qi Mao and others' plans. He encouraged the few people to write a warrant, asking Qi Mao to take the warrant to find Cao Shen and Xiao He, and told them that if the funds were not enough, they could borrow money from the Huaxia Money House and use the lowest commercial interest rate, which also made Qi Mao and the other two overjoyed.

At present, only the new sailing sailing ships can be built by the shipyard controlled by Cao Shen. Each one costs nearly 700,000 yuan. Chen Xu built five at one time. In addition, the first sailing ship was rushing to make. The six large ships provided free wood, but just labor costs, various steel parts and sails, each of them cost nearly 400,000 yuan. Therefore, Chen Xu felt that he could not bear the investment of more than 2 million yuan and the necessary food, drink, defecation and other ships. If he hadn't had the Qinghe Store, Shuishi Tea House, Fan's Winery and Jiangxi porcelain, he would have been unable to maintain his expenses now. A Cuju Commercial Plaza alone almost exhausted the money he had made in recent years, and he was constantly paying money inside. Until now, sailing has been a money-burning business and has not seen any reward at all.

The great voyage cannot be solely on him, nor can it be expected to rely on the emperor, because the Qin Dynasty is still poor and just started and cannot withstand this kind of tossing. Chen Xu will not blindly push the court to support this project. Only private investment will come in, and a large number of adventurers with a sense of navigation and pioneering will join this ranks. The enthusiasm for navigation will inevitably develop slowly. After the country's wealth accumulates to a certain stage, it will naturally start to form a huge navy and start to explore colonies in Southeast Asia and Europe. Chen Xu feels that at least after the first five-year plan is over, because it will take several years for Japan to complete the initial conquest and development.

Only by allowing the participating adventurers to receive jealous benefits.

At that time, there will be no need for the imperial court to mobilize, and countless wealthy businessmen will definitely join in.

The addition of Qi Mao and others was a good start.
Chapter completed!