June 24, Shanhai City.

The aftermath of the Battle of Weishui gradually dissipated, and Ouyang Shuo began to get busy again.

It was early afternoon, and the scorching sun had just passed over mid-heaven, but the temperature had not dropped. The front yard of the Imperial Study is verdant and shady, and even the annoying cicada chirping in summer is extinct here.

In the corner of the study, there are basins of ice cubes to dispel heat and bring coolness.

At three o'clock, the silent imperial study suddenly ushered in a group of special visitors, Vice Minister of Finance Cui Yingyu walked in the front, followed by the three famous Daxia imperial businessmen, namely Bai Xue, the big shopkeeper of the [Bai Clan] and Song Tianxiong, the big shopkeeper of the [Song Chamber of Commerce] and Cui Shouren, the big shopkeeper of the [Cui Chamber of Commerce].

There is no doubt that this is a special meeting.

According to the system, although the three of them have some relationship with the royal family, they are not eligible to enter the imperial study.

Walking into the solemn imperial study, a strong aura of power came to my face. The three imperial businessmen are free to call for wind and rain outside, and often a small action can remind them of the huge waves in the business world.

But when he entered the imperial study, the power center of the Great Xia Dynasty, not to mention Bai Xue and Cui Shouren, the two descendants, Song Tianxiong, Ouyang Shuo's father-in-law, were a little nervous.

This meeting was not improvised, it was notified yesterday.

Before coming, Cui Shouren had probed his sister Yingyu's tone, but he didn't think that this sister was tight-lipped and didn't reveal anything. On the contrary, his father knew about it and scolded Cui Shouren fiercely.

It is a taboo for a foreign relative to interfere in politics.

"Your Majesty, Master Cui, they have arrived." Tsing Yi reminded Ouyang Shuo, who was reviewing the recital.

Ouyang Shuo was stunned, put down the red pen, looked up and said, "Here, sit down!" ”

The smile on his face makes people feel like a spring breeze.

"Thank you, the king!"

Song Tianxiong and the others did not dare to slack off, and bowed respectfully, and then sat down one by one.

Looking at the young emperor opposite, Song Tianxiong was in a trance, it was really difficult for him to correspond to the emperor in front of him and the young man in reality, it was like two people.

In addition to his appearance, Song Tianxiong can no longer find a similarity, and it is conceivable what kind of unforgettable tempering this young man has experienced in order to reach today's high position.

The fact that the children of the Song family can have one-tenth of himself is enough to make Song Tianxiong happy.

Not only Song Tianxiong was emotional, Cui Shouren was also full of thoughts, he remembered the first contact with the king, it was three years ago, the Cui family just got the news that Yingyu survived.

As the representative of the Cui family, Cui Shouren reached the first transaction with Shanhai City through the super trading platform.

At that time, the Cui family's cooperation with Shanhai City was in a condescending posture, and they didn't think about making any profits, just to repay Shanhai City's life-saving grace to Yingyu.

In just three years, it is almost like a sea of vicissitudes.

In three years, Cui Shouren went from an ordinary child who was not very favored by the family to slowly entered the center of the family, and then took charge of the [Cui Chamber of Commerce], which can be described as a winner in life.

Cui Shouren was able to have such an opportunity and stand out from the outstanding children of the family, in addition to his own ability, he was more afraid because he played the role of liaison between the family and Shanhai City at the beginning.

This alone greatly adds points to Cui Shouren.

There is no other reason, just because the people in the family can be familiar with the king in front of him, only Cui Shouren.

The wonder of life's encounters can be seen.

[Cui's Chamber of Commerce] also because of that inconspicuous transaction back then, towards a fork in the road of fate, surging and growing like a snowball, and becoming a business giant in one fell swoop.

Not long ago, the shopkeepers of several chambers of commerce who had suppressed the [Cui's Chamber of Commerce] in Dali Wangcheng specially rushed to Shanhai City and sent filial piety to Cui Shouren, just to take care of them in ocean trade.

The judgment between the two has been reversed.

Among the three imperial merchants, I am afraid that only Bai Xue's heart is like stopping water, and there are no waves.

As the old saying goes: if you have no desire, you are strong.

Husband Jun Wei Ying is in the center, and her father Bai Gui is in charge of the business school, Bai Xue really doesn't have much desire to chase wealth, what she enjoys is just a game of business and sea.

Not long ago, Bai Xue donated 500,000 gold coins to the imperial court in the name of [Bai's Trading Company] for the construction of schools in various counties and counties, which became the largest donation since the founding of Great Xia.

This incident even alarmed Ouyang Shuo, and he personally gave the [Bai's Trading Company] a plaque of "Renshang".

The three emperors had different thoughts, but Ouyang Shuo was a see-fed observer, and he began to practice the "Yellow Court Inner Jingjingjing" in the past few days, and while trying to break through the middle dantian, his divine sense perception became more and more keen.

What ordinary people think, Ouyang Shuo can basically guess one or two.

Fortunately, Ouyang Shuo didn't spy on other people's inner habits, and turned to Yingyu and said, "Master Cui, you will explain in detail about the establishment of [Huaxia Shipping Group] this time." ”

"No!" Yingyu got her fate, and only then did she announce the mystery of this meeting.

As the dynasty's ocean-going trade became more and more prosperous, and trade income increasingly became the pillars of the dynasty's finances, Ouyang Shuo had been pondering how to upgrade the entire trade system.

Previously, Sihai Qian Zhuang was ordered to launch marine insurance business, but it was just a small test.

The key to ocean trade lies in the channel, and the channel is mainly composed of two major plates: port and route, the port is the point, and it is the key to the import and export of commodities; The shipping line is the line, the lifeline connecting the port.

The focus of Ouyang Shuo's transformation is on these two major plates.

In terms of ports, Ouyang Shuo has ordered the Finance Yuan to study and formulate a separate customs department under the tax bureau to lead the import and export management of commodities.

Of course, the duties of the Customs Department are far more than simple as import and export supervision, in addition to this, the department also shoulders important responsibilities such as detecting smuggling, compiling statistics, and collecting customs duties.

For the Bactrian Dynasty, a dynasty with a large proportion of ocean-going trade, the importance of the Customs Department is self-evident. At present, it is only a new one, and when the time is right, the Customs Department will be independent from the Department of Inland Revenue.

In terms of routes, what Ouyang Shuo wants to do is integration, and it is an unprecedented super integration.

As mentioned earlier, ocean trade is also risky, and the risks are not small. In addition to rare encounters with war, there are also unpredictable dangers such as storms, tsunamis, shipwrecks, pirates, and more.

No matter how powerful the navy of the Great Xia Dynasty was, it could not clear the entire shipping lane and ensure the safety of any ships traveling to and from the shipping route. Even the real federal navy could not guarantee this, let alone ancient times when navigation technology and communication technology were very backward.

For the three imperial merchants, their family has a big business, and if they bear one or two losses, they naturally have nothing to worry about; But for small and medium-sized chambers of commerce, a single shipwreck can bankrupt them.

In this way, the enthusiasm of small and medium-sized chambers of commerce to carry out ocean trade has been greatly restricted.

At present, the regular practice of small and medium-sized chambers of commerce is to take the three imperial merchants or other super chambers of commerce on a boat, pay a certain commission, and let the big chambers of commerce help transport the goods.

Or dozens of fleets traveling together to defend against risks at sea.

Because of the non-standard operation, it still greatly squeezes the profit margins of small and medium-sized chambers of commerce. And in order to assemble a combined fleet, there is often a delay for a while, which is also a cost.

As the ruler, what Ouyang Shuo has to do is to reshape this and reshuffle the cards thoroughly, which will inevitably hurt the interests of the three imperial merchants in the process.

It is reported that just collecting commissions from small and medium-sized guilds has made the three imperial merchants make a lot of money.

At the moment, Ouyang Shuo is going to smash this job, he is ready to integrate the fleets of the three imperial merchants, plus the commercial department's own fleet, to form a super shipping group.

That is, the aforementioned [Huaxia Shipping Group].

The Group has three main businesses, namely terminals, shipping, and ship manufacturing and maintenance.

First, the dock.

There were fifteen commercial ports in the dynasty alone, and dozens of commercial wharves, large and small, were established for transshipment of goods, which was an important part of the ocean trade.

Depending on the size of these terminals, they are under the jurisdiction of the Commercial Administration or the local government.

In this integration, the use rights and management rights of all terminals will be packaged as a whole, and all will be merged into [Huaxia Shipping Group], which will be managed and operated by the group in a unified manner.

As for the Commercial Department and the local yamen, only the right of supervision and ownership are retained.

This alone is enough for [Huaxia Shipping Group] to occupy a monopoly position in ocean trade.

Second, shipping.

The integration of the fleet is not simply grouped together, but a systematic upgrade. Once integrated, the entire fleet will be subdivided according to the route, with each fleet traveling to and from a fixed route.

Even the sailing time should be fixed as much as possible.

To this end, Ouyang Shuo asked the naval command to cooperate and equip the fleet with professional navigators and captains, and at the same time set up a maritime escort team with a certain combat effectiveness, equipped with guns and artillery.

This greatly enhances the safety of the fleet and reduces the risk of navigation.

The integrated fleet will provide ocean shipping services to all chambers of commerce, and the transportation prices will be open and transparent, so as to activate the enthusiasm of small and medium-sized chambers of commerce to participate in ocean trade.

Third, shipbuilding and maintenance.

The manufacture of merchant ships and warships has long been separated. In this integration, Ouyang Shuo is ready to divest all the commercial shipyards and related maintenance factories under the Shipbuilding Division and integrate them into [Huaxia Shipping Group].

In this way, the Group has the ability to manufacture its own boats. Ouyang Shuo is even preparing to transfer a group of shipbuilders from the Ship Division to strengthen the research and development capabilities of merchant ships of [Huaxia Shipping Group].

This divestiture is not only to slim down the shipping division, but also to achieve a new level of profit in the merchant ship manufacturing and maintenance business through the commercial operation of the group.

With these three points, it is enough to make the newly established [Huaxia Shipping Group] become a giant shipping group with a scale of more than 5 million in one fell swoop, and it is a real commercial aircraft carrier.

Once the integration is complete, the group will play an important role in the ocean trade of Wangcheng.

It is even said that even the coal transportation business of the dynasty and Western Chu and Stubborn Stone City, Ouyang Shuo is ready to be included in the [Huaxia Shipping Group] and operated by the group in a unified manner.