Chengqian stood in the captain's room on the stern of Mayflower, facing Li Chaodao, who was sitting on the captain's throne, "On Hu Douzhou, our ship has been loaded with cargo, and we are about to sail south with this trade wind. This time the fleet departs from Yangzhou and will travel directly to Persia, with the middle stopping at ports such as Hangzhou, Mingzhou, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Jiaozhou, Vietnam, etc. to recharge."

Speaking of this, Li Chengqian was a little excited.

Since the establishment of Sihai Company, it has become a giant beast in just one year. It has a large number of shareholders, strong capital, and a deeper official background. The prince Chengqian and Prime Minister Li Chao are not shy away from this matter.

With the routes and experience of a group of maritime merchants such as the bearded guest, and the guarantee of revolutionary navigation technology such as the three-masted sailing ship provided by Li Chao, the company's maritime trade has been in a short time.

Tang Dynasty silk tea, paper, etc. were exported overseas, sugar and porcelain as ballasts on ships. These Tang Dynasty commodities were sold to Southeast Asia, India, Persia and other places. When they returned, they were loaded with gold, silver, spices, and slaves. They put the slaves down in Southeast Asia, put them into various plantations, and then put them on food as ballasts to return to the southeast coast of the Central Plains.

The profits of maritime trade are quite huge.

In the past, the period of going to sea was long and the risk of capsizing at sea was high, but now with new sailing ships, compass, and crossbows provided by the imperial court, it made sail safer, carried more cargo, and naturally the profits made were higher.

There are many ships and plenty of goods. They ride the monsoon and head south in winter and north in summer. They go and return, and gold and silver come in like flowing water.

Silk, tea, porcelain, sugar, and paper have all become the main exports of the Tang Dynasty and are quite popular overseas. They are exclusive products of the Tang Dynasty and can be sold at unimaginable high prices.

Especially when companies trade, they use gold, silver and other settlement units. In Southeast Asia, India, Persia and other places, the price of gold is much lower than that of the Tang Dynasty. They use silk tea and other silks from the Central Plains to ship gold back to the Central Plains. The profit is so high that Chengqian, who has been actively involved in the company's decision-making and operation, is often amazed.

"Teacher, the company's performance this year is so good that many shareholders want to pay dividends. Nowadays, our company's stocks are quite popular, and many people want to buy them, but unfortunately they are hard to come by."

Sihai Company is considered a monster in Datang, with a one-eyed family.

He specializes in maritime trade, but its size and high profits shocked everyone. Every quarter, Li Chao would ask the accounting department of Sihai Company to provide a financial report and disclose the quarterly operating conditions to shareholders. The published numbers really shocked countless people.

As a result, shareholders' confidence has naturally increased. This year, the company issued additional shares three times and raised a large amount of funds. The funds raised were all used for shipbuilding, port building, and commercial stations.

The company's expansion speed is amazing, and millions of dollars raised have been thrown into it, but the more money the company pays, the more people are interested in the company.

Many people want to take a sailboat from all over the world.

But now the company no longer easily issues new shares, and the company is not short of money.

Those who want to invest have no chance.

The company's shares can be transferred. As long as you hold the company's shares, you will naturally become a shareholder. If there are many shares, you may even be a director.

Therefore, many people who were unable to board the ship at the beginning now want to acquire shares on the market.

Unfortunately, no one is willing to sell it.

The offer price is getting higher and higher, and the stock price is rising steadily, but fewer people are selling. Some people sell it, and then they look at the skyrocketing Sihai stock price and regret it.

Although the stocks of Sihai Company are also tickets, they are different from stocks in later generations. There are not so many rules at this time. The stocks at this time are just proof of equity.

Stocks can be traded freely, and there is no special stock market, and no one can supervise them.

However, Sihai Company's stocks still have many leading the times. For example, holding stocks is the company's shareholder, but stocks are divided into several rights, especially Sihai Company's statement was made early, and the company did not promise to pay dividends on schedule.

Even if you hold stocks and Sihai Company makes money, you may not necessarily have to pay dividends.

This was established in order to leave more profits to expand and develop a company, rather than paying dividends after making money.

Now, seeing the company's financial reports released this year are extremely brilliant, many shareholders are thinking about dividends at the end of the year.

"The company also needs to build more merchant ships, and at the same time, it also needs to build ports, merchant stations, and even hire mercenaries to open up more routes overseas. These are all cost money. The profits this year are indeed quite large, but our company's expansion also requires increasing scale. Therefore, the company's revenue will be invested again this year. I even plan to issue another 5 million new shares to raise funds to accelerate the company's development."

Sihai Company was established by Li Chao, and this company is not just about making money.

Although the company is indeed very profitable, making money alone is not the purpose. In the Age of Discovery, Spain was once one of the earliest countries to colonize overseas, and even directly divided the whole world from the world map under the witness of the Pope.

Spain dug up countless silver and gold in the new world of America, making the Spanish kings and nobles rich, and the whole of Europe was scrambling to sell things to them.

However, Spain had been glorious for several years and had a long time, but in the end the country did not increase much, but was eventually defeated by the Europeans.

Why?

Because after the Spanish dug up the gold and silver and transported it back, it belonged to the kings and nobles only, and the people did not benefit. The kings and nobles had money and did not do anything to develop Spain, but were just addicted to luxury enjoyment.

As a result, Spain did not become stronger, but instead it only rose as prices and the people's lives were poorer. On the contrary, Spanish kings and nobles kept buying and buying from Europe. While providing various commodities for Spain, they developed their own industrial manufacturing system, which eventually made the country stronger. The British later beat the Spanish who could only enjoy it and looked for teeth, and the Spanish Invincible Fleet was destroyed!

If Li Chao used the support of the emperor and the court to pull the prince and a group of nobles to establish this Sihai company, he would only resell silk tea, golden ivory, make a fortune, and then disappear, then what is the difference between him and the Spanish king?

Trade is just a means, not an end.

Li Chao does need profits when engaged in maritime trade, he needs very high profits and earns a lot of wealth.

Then, he could have the money to push maritime trade further, and even build a powerful maritime fleet to colonize and explore Southeast Asia.

As long as money is used well, it will have a great effect.

If the court makes good use of maritime trade, it can obtain great profits. With money, the court can do more things and increase the burden on the people less.

To put it bluntly, money is a good thing, the key depends on whether it can be used.

"Another issuance of five million more? Then isn't our company's assets worth tens of millions?" Cheng Qian exclaimed, a company with a total of tens of millions of dollars.

"Ten million? It's far more than that. Our company has issued 10 million shares in succession, and the capital raised is 10 million. But the value of the company is more than 10 million. You also know that on the market, even the most ordinary D stocks have long increased by ten times the face value. What does this mean? It means that the market value of our company is at least ten times the issuing capital. Moreover, the D-grade stocks have increased ten times, and the C, B, and A stocks with higher authority are even more expensive."

Although Li Chao also knew that the company's stock price is very popular now and there is an inflated high in it, there is no doubt that the company is really very popular and valuable now.

The powerful and wealthy people of the Tang Dynasty are now staring at this company that has created miracles.

However, the other side of the company's popularity is the huge investment behind the company's rapid expansion. The company makes a lot of money, but invests more. If you really count it, the company is actually losing money now. Of course, this loss is just an appearance. After careful calculation, the money invested is also the company's assets, and the company still has a very hot prospect.

As the helm of such a giant, Li Chao is very proud.

If he sells his company shares in his hands now, he will definitely become the richest man in the Tang Dynasty. But who would do this?

"Is there really no dividend distribution this year?" Li Chengqian was a little disappointed.

"Are you waiting to use the money?" Li Chao asked strangely. Chengqian is currently living in the Eastern Palace. Although there is a small court in the Eastern Palace, the people in this small court are basically Li Shimin's people, and the expenses are also under the responsibility of the court and Li Shimin.

Chengqian also has some of his own industries, and the small treasury has a lot of money. Li Chao knows Chengqian's family well, and the prince is really rich.

"I originally wanted to wait for the dividends and collect one million yuan for my father and mother."

Chengqian wanted to show off to Li Shimin and his wife that he could make money, or was he really filial? But even if the company paid dividends, Chengqian would not be able to pay a million.

"I want to sell some shares." Cheng Qian didn't hide it from Li Chao, "I don't think I'm suitable to stay in the company. I plan to withdraw slowly in the next few years."

Li Chao looked at Cheng Qian with admiration.

The prince has really grown up.

"If you really want to sell, I can help you sell it. Contact the five surnames and seven sects, and the old Guanlong clans, and some upstarts in military meritorious service. They have money in their hands. I will sell the shares separately. If you have half a share in the company, it will be no problem to sell two or three million yuan."

A large number of shares are sold, and it is impossible to sell as high as a sporadic stock. But it is certain that it has risen several times compared to before. Many wealthy families have fallen in love with the prosperity of Sihai trade and want to intervene, but unfortunately Li Chao doesn't give him a chance. Now Li Chao has taken out so many shares at once, and he still has the majority of decision-making power. I believe he will grab the stocks.

Li Chao did not intend to eat it himself, nor did he intend to let the board members eat it directly.

The company's prosperity is even more popular than expected. At this time, appropriately absorbing a group of famous families in it will be of great benefit to the company in the long run. Moreover, the stocks are more dispersed, which is also conducive to Li Chao's continued control of the company.

"Teacher, if the Turks really went south in large numbers, would you lead troops to fight?"

"There are many generals who can conquer battles in the court." Li Chao said.

However, the situation continues to deteriorate so much, it may be ugly at that time.

Li Chao was not interested in commanding troops to fight, and he mainly did not want to fight for the credit. His status was high enough, and there was no need, and he should not compete for the position of commander.

He believed that as long as he did not take charge of the troops, Li Shimin would still trust him very much.
Chapter completed!