In the cruel business competition of the Great Tang, every city had a certain level of strength, and they were like local tyrants. A person without any background might be able to work for them, but if one wanted to compete with these local tyrants in business, it would not be so easy.
There was a saying that when your road was open, others would have no way to go. If you opened a business, then others would have no way to do business.
In later generations, a certain country had been besieging the Hua Xia in order to maintain its advantage. Because once the Hua Xia completely rose, the original powerful overlord country would be finished. This could be seen from the decline of the West.
The West was the first to industrialize. They could casually produce some industrial products and sell them to poor countries at a high price. Then, they could buy raw materials from poor countries at a low price. Thus, they could realize the price scissors of industry and agriculture and accumulate wealth step by step to always maintain a rich standard of living.
However, after the rise of the manufacturing industry in the Hua Xia, they could also manufacture many industrial products needed for life. Moreover, the price was cheaper. In this way, many industrial products in the Western world could not be sold. This would naturally aggravate the decline of the Western countries and make them gradually less rich.
Zhang Batian's situation was the same. If he succeeded in establishing a foothold in a city of the Tang dynasty, then he would definitely steal a lot of business from his peers. Therefore, it was natural that he would be resisted by the original merchants, who would use various means to make it impossible for him to do business at all.
Zhang Batian, who was lacking in funds and assets, could not afford the torment at all. The disheartened Zhang Batian could only temporarily give up on business. He hated these businessmen who obstructed him from realizing his dreams. This was a foreshadowing for his future revenge on these businessmen.
Zhang Batian, who could not do business, had to unite with a group of poor fishermen and continue to fish in the south. In order to catch more valuable fish, he went further and further south and learned about the business of piracy.
Seeing that the pirates had robbed the goods of the Tang dynasty merchants, Zhang Batian was very excited and even had the impulse to join the pirates. However, after careful consideration, he gave up the idea of being a pirate, because once he entered this industry, it would be difficult to get out. He could not stand being with pirates all day long and staying in a pirate's nest. It was too different from his ideal.
But except for the business of piracy, there was no other business that could take revenge on the merchants of the Tang dynasty who had humiliated him. He thought about it and felt that it was a better way to meet and cooperate with pirates. He could provide information so that the pirates could accurately rob merchant ships.
After the robbery, he could help the pirates sell the stolen goods and get a part of the commission. This was a great benefit to him and the pirates. It could be said that he killed two birds with one stone.
Through this method, he and some of his brothers earned a lot of money and improved their status to a certain extent.
Later, the merchants of the Tang dynasty launched an increasingly large-scale overseas trade, which made Zhang Batian see a business opportunity. Although he could get a lot of money by providing information, most of it was taken by the pirates. He could only get a small part of it, so the effect of getting rich was not obvious.
Therefore, he joined the maritime trade industry. With his relationship with the pirates, he would not be robbed on the road. He only needed to pay a toll. In this way, his competitive advantage was more obvious.
In the beginning, he was still suppressed by many merchants. However, at this time, he was different. Whether it was the wealth in his hands or the strategies to deal with various problems, he was very clever. The suppression of hostile merchants could no longer do anything to him. Not only was he not defeated, but he became stronger and stronger. Relying on the relationship between maritime trade and pirates, he soon became a very powerful merchant.
After the surge of wealth, Zhang Batian realized that his foundation would be unstable if he did business alone, so he pulled out all his brothers and put them in charge of different maritime trade. Later, the Zhang's Chamber of Commerce was formed. A community of interests was officially established.
Because of the previous resentment, Zhang Batian was not willing to let more people join his Chamber of Commerce. In addition, if too many people joined, it would not be conducive to his monopoly business. A part of the profits would definitely be taken away.
After learning about the history of Zhang Batian's business and his grievances with many merchants of the Tang dynasty, Ang Lee could not help but sigh.
Originally, he didn't have a good impression of Zhang Batian. He only forgave him because he wanted to use Zhang Batian. However, after hearing Zhang Batian's story, he actually had a good impression of Zhang Batian. Although the change was still very slight, it was still a change. At least, he didn't hate Zhang Batian as much.
Ang Lee patted Zhang Batian on the shoulder and said seriously, "Well, don't cry. I believe that you are sincerely repentant. From now on, you just need to work hard. The chairman of the Chamber of Commerce of the Tang dynasty will be appointed in a few months. You just need to wait for the good news."
"Yes, Assistant Minister Li. I will do as you say."
Zhang Batian replied excitedly.
Moved, Zhang Batian even changed the way he addressed him. He called himself a subordinate instead of a commoner.
After a simple explanation, Ang Lee gave Zhang Batian the task of developing overseas workshops for the merchants of the Tang dynasty.
However, Ang Lee at least wanted to know how Zhang Batian wanted to do it and whether there were any imperfections in this method.
The discussion lasted for more than four hours and only stopped when it was time for dinner. Although Li An had thought of most of the concepts proposed by Zhang Batian, there were still some details that Zhang Batian had created that Li An had not thought of beforehand.
After this discussion, Ang Lee was even more convinced of Zhang Batian's talent. He was relieved and boldly handed this task to him. He immediately wrote a letter to the imperial court to fight for the position of chairman of the Chamber of Commerce of the Tang dynasty for Zhang Batian. In fact, the full name of this Chamber of Commerce should be the Tang dynasty's Maritime Silk Road Chamber of Commerce, or the Chamber of Commerce of the Tang dynasty for short.
After a few days of simple preparation, Zhang Batian officially began to establish the Tang dynasty's Maritime Silk Road Chamber of Commerce. Using Ang Lee as his backing, he contacted all the major merchants of the Tang dynasty along the coast. Of course, they had to be merchants related to maritime trade. He asked them to spare time to come to Malacca, then inspect the nearby countries and settle down to set up workshops.
Zhang Batian's preparation was very methodical. All kinds of orders were given in an orderly manner. Although Ang Lee did not give him enough manpower, he did not complain at all. He used these people very methodically.
With Zhang Batian in charge of the multinational investment of the Tang dynasty merchants, Ang Lee could focus all his energy on eliminating the pirates. At present, the Maritime Silk Road Chamber of Commerce of the Tang dynasty was being established in an orderly manner. Many prominent merchants of the Tang dynasty would come to the Malacca Sea for inspection. There must be no problems in terms of safety.
With the Tang dynasty's steam gunboats escorting them, the safety of these merchants was not a problem. However, if the pirates were still rampant, these merchants would not dare to invest here. After all, the pirates were too ruthless. If the factories they invested in were destroyed, who would compensate them for their losses?
Therefore, in order to stimulate more merchants of the Tang dynasty to invest in Nanyang, it was necessary to create a safe environment in Nanyang. Only when the sea was safe would the merchants of the Tang dynasty dare to invest here, thinking that they could make more money.
The Vanguard Battalion and the Dragon Martial Army spread out to encircle and suppress the remaining pirates. The Fishing Law Enforcement Ship was not idle either. They carried out an extremely severe attack on the pirates in the Malacca Sea.
The effect of the attack was very good. There was a lot of harvest every day. The pirates were captured in batches. There were old pirates under Black Wolf's command, and there were also tribal pirates who had just joined the pirate industry. Ang Lee's attitude towards these guys was to convert them into workers. After all, there was a shortage of workers in the construction of the port.
The more pirates they captured, the more workers Ang Lee had under his command. The continuous addition of these workers could ensure the construction progress of the Malacca Sea port.
In other words, the continuous attack on the pirates had the effect of killing two birds with one stone. On one hand, it purified the safe environment of the sea so that the merchants could do business with peace of mind. On the other hand, it provided sufficient labor for the Malacca Sea port and other ports that already belonged to the Tang dynasty, so that these ports could be built faster.
The establishment of the Silk Road Chamber of Commerce of the Tang dynasty went very smoothly. As soon as they heard that Ang Lee took the lead in establishing this chamber of commerce and that they could gain a lot of benefits, the merchants were willing to join and soon gathered together. Under the protection of the Tang dynasty's navy, they went to the Malacca Sea for a tour.
There were two to three hundred merchants, all of whom were rich businessmen. Their joining would make the Silk Road Chamber of Commerce of the Tang dynasty extremely powerful. A large number of merchants earning money in this chamber of commerce would be protected by the entire chamber of commerce, and it would also prevent disorderly and vicious competition.
Half a month later, after continuous fierce attacks, there were almost no traces of pirates in the entire Malacca Sea. Whether it was the professional pirates under Black Wolf's command or the poor fishermen who came up with the idea on a whim, they all obediently shrank back.
However, even so, Ang Lee did not relax the attack on the pirates. The Vanguard continued to spread out and search, and the fishing law enforcement boats continued to work to ensure that all the pirates in the sea were completely eliminated.
When the two to three hundred Tang dynasty business leaders entered the Malacca Sea, the Malacca Sea had become a peaceful sea. There was no trace of pirate activity at all. This made the merchants very satisfied and relieved, and they all had the idea of investing in this place.
Ang Lee was also very satisfied with the results of the continuous encirclement and suppression of the pirates. He also rewarded the meritorious officers and soldiers to a certain extent to encourage them to continue working hard.
After a large number of merchants arrived in Malacca, the first thing they did was to discuss for several days on how to set up workshops in these small countries, and who would be responsible for what positions, and so on.
Ang Lee also personally met with these famous merchants of the Tang dynasty and encouraged them to set up workshops in these small countries, making use of the unique natural resources here to serve the continuous prosperity of the Tang dynasty.
Businessmen were a group of people who chased after profits, and the pursuit of profits was their unchanging goal. As long as there was profit, there would definitely be businessmen. The Malacca Sea had a vast amount of projects waiting to be developed, which would naturally attract businessmen to invest here. Therefore, there was no need for Li An to say anything. As long as this area could provide them with opportunities to earn money, they would choose to invest here.
Some of the merchants completely believed in Ang Lee. After a discussion, they expressed their decision to set up workshops in Malacca. However, some of them were more cautious and decided to wait and see.
They requested to stay for a few more days and to go to the surrounding countries to carefully inspect these small countries before they made up their minds to set up workshops here.
However, everything had its pros and cons. Caution was often a good thing. It could prevent impulsive decisions from causing huge losses, but at the same time, it could also mean that they could lose the best opportunity to make money.
Whether to choose caution or boldness, everyone had their own standards of behavior. This was also related to a person's innate personality.
Ang Lee naturally had to satisfy the various inspection requests made by the merchants. He immediately sent reliable soldiers to escort them to the various small countries for inspection.
For the sake of absolute safety, these merchants couldn't act alone. They had to gather together and form a unified commercial expedition team.
The captain of this commercial inspection team was naturally the president of the Tang dynasty's Silk Road Chamber of Commerce, Zhang Batian. He was the most suitable person to lead these merchants to inspect the situation.
"Zhang Batian, as the captain of this commercial inspection team, you have a very heavy responsibility. Do you understand?"
Before leaving, Ang Lee found Zhang Batian and said.
"Assistant Minister Li, don't worry. With the elite soldiers of the Tang dynasty protecting us, nothing will happen."
Zhang Batian replied confidently.
Ang Lee nodded and said, "Good. It's good that you're confident. You're leading more than 200 merchants this time. The scale is quite large. How many soldiers do you need?"
Zhang Batian thought for a moment and replied, "Since the large number of pirates nearby have been wiped out and the countries along the way have submitted to the Tang dynasty, we won't encounter much danger. 300 Dragon Warriors are enough."
300 guards was not a lot. It was almost one soldier to protect a merchant. However, Zhang Batian specifically asked for the Dragon Warriors instead of the Vanguard Battalion. This showed that he did not trust the Vanguard Battalion, which used to be pirates. At the same time, he was afraid that many of the soldiers in the Vanguard Battalion knew him. Once they chatted, his background would be known by other merchants. In that case, he would be in big trouble.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
