I

Guangzhou, a warship docked.

Zhao Kuangbai and many navy soldiers disembarked. They had a month-long vacation and waited until the battleship was repaired before cruising again.

Zhao Kuangbai is the fourth prince, born to Liu Rushi, and has been named King of Han.

He didn't like the atmosphere in Nanjing very much. He was fully capable of getting into Jinling University, but he went directly to the Naval Academy. And he did not go to Chongming Island Military Academy because it was too close to Nanjing. He preferred to live in Guangdong and Fujian.

Zhao Kuangbai had a palace in Nanjing, but it remained vacant within a few days. After he joined the army, he was transferred to Guangzhou, so he brought Princess Han with him.

The King of Han and the King of Chu had a bad relationship since childhood.

Both have excellent academic performance and are similar in age. They are often compared by teachers. However, King Chu's biological mother is the Queen, and King Han's biological mother is Liu Rushi. Teachers and classmates inevitably favor King Chu.

As time went by, King Han became increasingly depressed and always looked melancholy when he was alone. But when there were a lot of people, he had to pretend as if nothing had happened.

The King of Han, Zhao Kuangbai, always felt that his knowledge and literary talent far exceeded that of the King of Chu, Zhao Kuangping.

But except for his father and biological mother, no one else recognized it. So after graduating from high school, he was too lazy to study anymore and went to the Naval Academy to hang out. When he graduated from the military academy, his grades at Fuzhou Naval Academy ranked second among the graduates of his class.

Now, Zhao Kuangbai is an officer and is in charge of sixty sailors.

At a young age, Zhao Kuangbai had a cigar in his mouth.

When a wealthy car came to solicit business, Zhao Kuangbai refused to sit down and insisted on walking home - after cruising on the sea for many days, all he wanted to do now was to step on the ground more.

"Stocks, stocks, you can buy shares with just one tael of silver!"

"The Indian trading company made a huge profit from one business trip, and also won an order for armor from King Shivaji of India. Now it is eager to raise capital to build armor for the king of India. Those who want to buy stocks of Indian trading companies can go to... Every year Everyone can get dividends!”

"..."

stock?

India?

Are there any orders for armor?

Zhao Kuangbai suddenly became interested and ran to the boy who was shouting along the street to ask for a leaflet for the public offering.

He was not in a hurry to go home and planned to buy some stocks.

Anyway, he had some spare money on hand. When he was crowned king, the royal family gave him some money, and his biological mother Liu Rushi also gave him some money. He also got a salary as a naval officer. In addition, there was the prince's salary. He didn't even ask for the palace guards, and all the guards' expenses were converted into silver.

The servants at home are all family members of the soldiers under his command. They are very safe and reliable, and can also bring them closer to the soldiers.

The housekeeper is a middle-aged palace maid who has no relatives in the world, so she is unwilling to leave the palace. She has served her biological mother Liu Rushi for almost twenty years.

There are also several home caretakers, all of whom are local retired navy soldiers from Guangzhou.

Zhao Kuangbai didn't want to have much to do with Nanjing, so he only went home once every winter, taking his wife to visit his parents and have a reunion dinner in the Forbidden City.

The place to buy stocks was in the business district outside the city. When Zhao Kuangbai arrived there, many people had already come to watch the excitement.

Those guys like Huang Qichong didn’t issue shares last year. After successfully returning from trade in India, he immediately placed an advertisement in the newspaper and distributed leaflets to invite people to promote it on the streets.

In the new era of Datong, Guangzhou was the first to open up the sea. The business atmosphere here is stronger than that of any other city.

Even children of a few years old know that shipping is very profitable. In the streets and alleys, there are countless legends about someone who made a fortune overseas.

In the past, maritime merchants, even if they established a joint-stock system, were partnerships between businessmen, and there was no precedent for absorbing retail investors' funds. This time it caused a sensation in the whole city. Those who wanted to obtain the dividends of sea trade but were unwilling to take risks at sea came to inquire about the situation.

The courtyard was already full of people, and Huang Qichong was there to explain in person: "This share is one tael of silver per share. Calculate the total income of the trading company every year, and then calculate the dividend per share based on the total number of shares. It was agreed in advance that the profit We won’t all use it to distribute dividends, we have to leave some part for the subsequent growth of the trading company... Only 30,000 shares will be issued this year, first come, first served, until sold out!”

"I want to buy twenty shares!"

Someone immediately yelled, obviously it was a pre-arranged request. He only heard him say: "My nephew is also a sailor. I heard that the Indian trading company has made a lot of money. Buying their stocks will definitely not make a loss!"

"I'll buy ten shares too!"

Several people rushed to buy, and other people were stimulated and crowded in.

"Stop squeezing and line up first!"

"If you want to buy stocks, you should queue up and get the lottery numbers. Each bamboo stick has a number. Once you get the number, you can go in and pay for the stocks."

"..."

The more they fight for it, the more crowded they become, for fear that the stocks will be sold out.

It is normal for this kind of thing to happen in Guangzhou.

Because there are too many legends about getting rich in sea trade, and most people are unable to participate, now they finally find an opportunity.

Zhao Kuangbai was too lazy to squeeze in with the common people. He raised his head and glanced at the second floor and saw several businessmen watching the fun. They should be the old shareholders of this Indian trading company.

Zhao Kuangbai put on his navy cap, then took out his copper whistle and blew hard - Wow!

The sharp and piercing whistle quickly silenced the chaotic scene, and everyone thought it was because the government sent people here.

Huang Qichong stood out from the crowd, cupped his hands and said, "May I ask what you are doing for me, Master Jun?"

"I want to go in for a cup of tea. Would you like to treat me?" Zhao Kuangbai asked.

Huang Qichong put on a smile and said, "Master Jun, please."

In the past few years, the customs was rectified, and the navy was also rectified. Any naval officer who dares to attack Qiu Feng must have a strong background, and Huang Qichong would never dare to neglect him.

Zhao Kuangbai was invited to the second floor, and a maritime businessman suddenly bowed: "The common people pay homage to His Royal Highness the King of Han!"

"No courtesy." Zhao Kuangbai nodded and said.

"King Han?" Huang Qichong was stunned on the spot.

The maritime merchant said: "His Royal Highness the King of Han is a low-key person and never disturbs the people. After living in Guangzhou for several years, not many people know the true face of Mount Lu."

As soon as this statement came out, other old shareholders came to pay their respects one after another.

Zhao Kuangbai said: "Sell me a thousand shares of your stock."

Huang Qichong said: "Your Highness, there is no need to be polite. You can just give me five thousand shares as a gift."

"When I say a thousand shares, I need a thousand shares. One more share won't work, and one less share won't work," Zhao Kuangbai said. "If I don't bring any money today, I will send the money tomorrow. Don't use me as a gimmick to show off, just treat it as a gimmick." Nothing happened. You hear me?"

Huang Qichong felt a chill in his vest and said quickly, "Common people, please take this seriously."

There are so many wealthy people in Guangzhou that the 30,000 shares issued by an Indian trading company were sold out in a few days.

Those who bought stocks brag to everyone about how powerful the Indian trading company is and how much dividends they receive every year. With these people giving free publicity, the name of the Indian trading company quickly spread throughout Guangzhou, and people came every day to ask where they could buy stocks.

Chaos happened!

Stocks began to be traded privately, and stocks of one or two denominations would be sold for one or two cents each, and the next day they would be sold for one or two cents each.

In just a few days, the stock price doubled, and the trend continues to rise.

This situation is very similar to China after reform. There was no stock exchange at that time, but companies could issue shares to the outside world, so private stock trading markets were automatically formed in cities such as Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Chengdu. There are no rules or rationality at all, and there is no one to supervise it. Many of them have become a game of drumming and passing flowers.

There was a similar situation in the Ming Dynasty.

The first one happened in Yangzhou, where Yan Yin was speculated as a futures ticket.

The first is what happened in Suzhou. Merchants did not sell goods, but sold delivery orders for the goods. They changed hands at different levels, and the prices skyrocketed. The government paid no attention to it until Japanese pirates invaded, causing a run on things and a lot of merchants in Suzhou went bankrupt.

It wasn't until it reached eighty taels that Zhao Kuangbai sold the stock and invested one thousand taels, which instantly turned into eight thousand taels.

And he didn't have to worry about selling. He asked his servants to take the stocks and sell them in batches. Just shout on the street, and someone will come over to ask, and then run to a bank or bank to make the payment.

This isn't chaos yet, it's just the beginning.

The huge profits from stocks have given rise to fake stocks.

Although the stocks of Indian trading companies have set up layers of anti-counterfeiting. But many buyers don't understand. They happily buy fake stocks and then sell them for a few days, only to be seen through by those who know the stocks.

The police station was overwhelmed. People came to report crimes every now and then, and they had to send police officers in plain clothes to patrol the streets.

After the birth of fake stocks, fake trading companies appeared again.

They claimed to be a certain maritime merchant and imitated Indian trading companies in issuing stocks. After defrauding a group of investors, they quickly ran away with the money, and the government could not find anyone.

Chaos returned to chaos, but many real trading companies were also tempted. These people also wanted to issue shares to raise funds!

Even mainland businessmen came to join in the fun.

Outside Guangzhou, Jiangxi Guild Hall.

Many of the tea, silk, porcelain, and cotton shipped from Guangzhou came from Jiangxi, so the Jiangxi Guild Hall was built here early.

A group of Jiangxi freight forwarders are having a meeting at the moment.

"The large sea merchants in Guangdong are not authentic. They have forced many small sea merchants to death, and now they are lowering the price. Do you really think we can't find a buyer?"

"It's an old trick, no need to make a fuss."

"Recently, there is an Indian trading company that is issuing stocks for speculation. Why don't we do it too?"

"I am a maritime merchant, and there are people who will buy the shares when I issue them. Which fool would buy our mainland merchants' stocks?"

"Have you forgotten the salt of Ming Dynasty?"

"What do you mean?"

"Take porcelain as an example. There are only so many produced every year. Especially for high-grade porcelain, we control the sales in Guangdong. We make porcelain according to different grades and shapes into something similar to salt. Things. We will no longer play with the maritime merchants in Guangdong and issue porcelain tickets to all maritime merchants."

"Porcelain ticket?"

"Yes, this year's pre-sale of next year's porcelain. If you want to buy porcelain, you must first buy a porcelain ticket, and use the porcelain ticket to pick up the goods next year. This thing is like a salt guide, which can drive up the price. The key is that we can control the supply of goods. The higher the quality of porcelain, the smaller the quantity and the easier it is to control the price.”

"What a great idea!"

"..."

Not only were stocks born in Guangzhou, but futures also popped up.

The city of Guangzhou was in a state of chaos caused by businessmen. The police went out of their way to arrest fraudsters, and even alerted Zheng Sen, the political envoy to the left.