Chapter 165: The Grand Journey

There was a slightly rapid sound of breathing in the room.

It was coming from Yang He.

Yan Wang's short sentence made his heart surge with excitement.

Establishing a merchant caravan belonging to the Merchant Association was one thing.

In the future, the caravan would even have its own fleet and guards.

What kind of dominance was this?

Swallowing a mouthful of saliva, he said, "Your Highness, can the caravan really be like this?"

Zhao Xu gave him an affirmative look.

"However, to establish such a massive caravan, I fear it will require quite a lot of manpower." Yang He was excited at first, then frowned.

His family used to have a caravan, and running a trade route required at least one hundred people.

If they were hauling a lot of cargo, they would need to increase the manpower.

Now, such a large business for the Prince's Mansion would require even more people.

Not to mention that the caravan was going to places outside of Da Song.

In this way, it would be best if the recruited people also understood business.

"I have already thought this through for you. This caravan will naturally belong under the banner of the Prince's Mansion, but we can offer some profit-sharing rights for sale, using overseas profits to attract other merchants to join the caravan. In this way, it not only solves the personnel problem, but there is also a sum of Silver to be earned, which can be used for the expenses of ships and guard training," Zhao Xu said.

The number of employees of the East India Company once exceeded fifty thousand.

Zhao Xu believed his caravan would reach and eventually exceed this number in the future.

It would be a waste to pull this huge gap in personnel from the common people of the fief.

After all, industry, construction, and agriculture all needed them.

It would be better to directly absorb people in the business trade; after all, they were not engaged in production and had business experience.

"Is what Your Highness is talking about similar to the ice-making back then?" Yang He asked.

Zhao Xu nodded.

At that time, he had taken a portion of the profits to attract the Rich Clan to use Silver to buy in, and also made them contribute their efforts.

In fact, this was equivalent to modern-day shares.

Now, he was prepared to adopt the same method for this caravan.

Let the merchants who joined the caravan provide money and effort, while he only needed to distribute some of the profits to them.

At the same time, he had another intention in doing this.

People are driven by profit.

Modern business experience proves that if you give employees shares, they will work harder and be more willing to bear risks.

By a similar logic, the caravan going out to sea is a very dangerous matter.

They might die at the hands of pirates, die in storms, or die from diseases in foreign lands.

For such high-risk matters, it is natural to have benefits that make them tempted.

"Your Highness is wise." Yang He felt a surge of excitement, "Our Yang Family is willing to be the first to provide Silver and people."

As the head of the Merchant Association, he knew very well that the Merchant Association's goods were a guaranteed profit.

According to what he knew, the overseas world was much larger than Da Song.

If they could sell the Prince's Mansion's future products to these places, they would definitely make a huge profit.

Not to mention that Yan Wang had said all overseas business belonged to the caravan.

That was even more impressive.

Most importantly, the special nature of the caravan meant that any merchant who joined was basically half-private and half-official.

This was also a temptation for merchants who had always held a low status.

"Good." Zhao Xu nodded with satisfaction.

Then he and Yang He discussed the details.

"The name of the caravan shall be Xinghua," Zhao Xu said, pondering.

"I will divide the caravan's profit-sharing rights into ten thousand shares and put one thousand of them up for sale," Zhao Xu said.

This was equivalent to the caravan's original shares being ten thousand, and he was taking out one thousand to sell to the merchants, accounting for ten percent.

After the caravan's annual profits were calculated, they would be distributed to these merchants who purchased the profit-sharing rights according to their proportions.

In the contemporary sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the assets of the British East India Company even reached twice the fiscal revenue of Britain itself.

It was evident that even if he took out one-tenth, it would definitely allow these merchants who purchased the profit-sharing rights to make money in the future.

"Each profit-sharing right will be sold for ten thousand taels of Silver," Zhao Xu continued.

Yang He's hand holding the brush shook; by Yan Wang's calculation, wouldn't the value of the caravan's profit-sharing rights be one hundred million taels of Silver? This was simply terrifying.

"Your Highness, is this a bit too expensive?" Yang He said cautiously.

"It is not expensive at all; doing business requires a long-term vision," Zhao Xu said.

Even selling them for ten thousand taels, he still felt a pang of regret.

He came from the modern era and knew deeply how terrifying the profits of the Age of Discovery trade were.

If the Xinghua caravan could extend its trade tentacles to the whole world in the future, the annual income would definitely be a terrifying number.

"Yes, Your Highness." Yang He wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Yan Wang was playing a bit too big this time.

"In addition, merchants who purchase profit-sharing rights can choose to join the caravan or not, or they can nominate their own people to join the caravan, but once they join the caravan, they are people of the caravan and must be under the jurisdiction of the merchant firm," Zhao Xu stood up and paced a few steps as he spoke.

Yang Cheng nodded and wrote it down.

"This is all I can think of for now. For the specifics, we will wait until the profit-sharing rights are sold to gather the merchants to discuss it together. Also, the profit-sharing rights will be sold with priority to the merchants in the fief," Zhao Xu said.

Zhao Xu poured out all his ideas at once, his mouth becoming dry.

After drinking a cup of tea, he returned to the Prince's Mansion.

After Zhao Xu left, Yang Cheng hesitated for a moment, then called someone over to go to the Yang Family and summon his father.

He absolutely trusted Yan Wang.

Back then, Yan Wang had them exchange their land for Silver.

At first, they had no choice but to do so.

But now, facts proved that they had done the right thing.

Not only did the Prince's Mansion compensate for their losses every year, but it also gave them various small jobs to do, allowing them to earn quite a lot of Silver.

The household was now even wealthier than before.

Now that Yan Wang had come up with this new type of caravan, although its future seemed unknown.

But those who do business must dare to take risks.

He was willing to take a gamble.

Before long, Yang Cheng arrived, and Yang He told him about the caravan.

"The things Yan Wang does are always far-sighted; this matter will certainly not be wrong, but at ten thousand taels of Silver per share, it is just too expensive," Yang Cheng shook his head.

"Father, don't blame your son for not reminding you. His Highness said that priority is given to the merchants in the fief; if you miss this opportunity, it won't come again. I am going to release this news immediately, so don't regret it then," Yang He warned.

Yang Cheng looked at his son, seeing him in his official robes, looking exceptionally dashing and elegant, and chuckled twice.

"Fine, fine, what is Silver? His Highness has treated our Yang Family well. Father will take out the family savings and buy twenty shares," Yang Cheng exclaimed.

"Good," Yang He was delighted, then continued: "Please make another trip, Father, and call Uncle Dong, Uncle Lu, and the others from the other families. Since His Highness is giving them an opportunity, it would be a waste if they don't use it."

"Mm, good, Father will go right now," Yang Cheng said.

Yang He remembered something and added: "Also, select some outstanding youths from the clan to join the caravan; there is a monthly salary, and this is half an official position."

Upon hearing this, Yang Cheng's eyes lit up.

Ever since they lost their land, many youths in the clan had been idle at home.

The most outstanding ones had become officials, while those of secondary talent were also just idling about.

Being able to enter the caravan might also be a good path forward.