Follow Me to Make a Fortune

Silence.

Deathly silence.

Over three hundred military bigwigs of the Great Zhou held their breath at this moment. Although they were rough men, their families owned hundreds or thousands of shops and manors; they knew all too well the profit behind this.

Monopoly! This was an absolute, unquestionable state monopoly!

"Your Majesty..." Zhang Jing, Duke of Ying's voice had completely changed pitch, as hoarse as a man who had thirsted in the desert for three days. "You... you brought us old subjects to see this..."

"I said I would lead you to wealth. But this pie is too big for me to eat alone. You have bled for Great Zhou, you are loyal subjects of Great Zhou! And more importantly, my loyal subjects. Therefore, I have decided to take you along to make a fortune."

"Lead us to a great fortune?"

The over three hundred generals and nobles in the room looked at each other, their heavy breathing exceptionally clear in this warm two-story building. They weren't stupid; there was no such thing as a free lunch in this world, especially one offered by this ruthless emperor who killed without blinking an eye.

Wang Hao unhurriedly sat down on a grand armchair, took a sip of the hot tea handed to him by Sun Li, and then slowly spoke.

"You have seen the reserves in the Western Hills. The coal, iron, and limestone here are enough for Great Zhou to mine for two hundred years without running out. Therefore, I have established four royal workshops here: the Royal Cement Plant, the Royal Steel Plant, the Royal Coal Plant, and the Royal Glass Plant. Plus the soon-to-be-issued Royal Bank."

Wang Hao paused, his gaze sweeping over the crowd.

"But I alone cannot swallow such a massive enterprise. For Great Zhou to be prosperous and strong, relying on me alone is not enough. It also depends on you nobles whose fates are tied to the state, and on you generals who shed blood and risk your lives for me!"

Hearing the words "fates tied to the state," Zhang Jing, Duke of Ying, and Xu Chengzuo suddenly straightened their backs, though a trace of doubt still lingered in their eyes.

Wang Hao clapped his hands. "Summon the accountants!"

Several professional accountants from the Inner Court, dressed in green robes and holding abacuses and thick account books, walked in with their heads bowed.

"Calculate for the dukes and generals how much money these factories will make in the future," Wang Hao ordered.

The leading accountant immediately cleared his throat, opened the ledger, and spoke in a voice as loud as if he were reading an imperial edict:

"Reporting to Your Majesty, reporting to Your Excellencies! Take the cement plant as an example. His Majesty has decreed a large-scale 'real estate development' in the southern part of the capital! At that time, the entire southern city will be leveled to build two-story foreign-style houses like this one, or even more high-end courtyard homes, to be sold exclusively to the capital's high officials, nobles, and wealthy merchants! For this item alone, the demand for cement and steel will be immeasurable. According to preliminary calculations, the net profit for the first three years will be no less than five million taels of silver annually!"

"More importantly!" Wang Hao suddenly raised his voice like a thunderclap. "I will announce at the court assembly that all courier stations in the world will be placed under the control of the Directorate of Ceremonial! Led by the Inner Court, we will use our own cement to build roads across the entire country! Once the roads are open, our goods can be continuously sold to every corner of Great Zhou!"

"Of course, I will also build shops around each courier station for sales. I believe the merchants of the world will see the business opportunities here."

"Continue."

"Next, calculate the coal plant. The capital has a population of five million. If they all switch to using honeycomb coal briquettes for heating and cooking, the annual net profit will be at least four million taels!"

"As for the glass plant, a half-person-tall full-length mirror costs less than two taels to make. Sold to the salt merchants of Jiangnan and the foreign states of the Western Regions, pricing it at five thousand taels wouldn't be considered expensive! This is the most exorbitant of exorbitant profits. A conservative estimate puts the annual net profit at twenty million taels!"

"Gulp."

Someone swallowed heavily, and immediately after, the entire room was filled with the sound of gulping. The eyes of all the nobles and generals had turned a terrifying blood-red, a flame ignited by extreme greed.

Even Zhang Jing, Duke of Ying, whose family owned tens of thousands of hectares of fertile land and who was accustomed to wealth, felt a wave of dizziness at this moment. How the hell was this doing business? This was clearly printing money! No, even printing money wasn't this fast!

And what was the most lethal part? The favorable policies!

The Emperor personally endorsed it, the Emperor decreed the road construction, and the Emperor decreed the real estate development! And it was being built in the southern city where the Imperial Academy was located. This was equivalent to the imperial court holding a knife to the necks of all the rich people in the world, forcing them to buy their products! This was an absolutely guaranteed, risk-free business!

"The steel produced annually by the steel plant will not only be supplied exclusively to the Ministry of Works' Armory Bureau and the Inner Court's Weapons Bureau, but the real estate development will also use a massive amount of rebar. With dedicated sales channels, the annual net profit will be no less than ten million taels!"

Every time the accountant reported a number, the bodies of the military nobles below trembled violently.

Four million taels! Five million taels! Ten million taels! Twenty million taels! Nearly forty million taels a year, almost catching up to half a year's tax revenue for Great Zhou. The key was that this thing was a monopoly!

Madness!

The eyes of all the generals in the room instantly became bloodshot, as red as rabbits'. The Emperor was not just building a mountain of gold for them; he was using state power to pave the roads to transport the gold and the channels to sell it! This was a guaranteed profit, the most exorbitant of exorbitant profits!

"Your Majesty! This subject is willing to serve you like a dog or horse! Even if my body is smashed to pieces!" The commander of the Eighth Division of the Imperial Guards, the Count of Xiangshan, dropped to his knees with a thud, tears of excitement streaming down his face.

"If you want to play, you have to follow my rules!" A devilish smile curled the corners of Wang Hao's mouth. "These four factories: the Royal Cement Plant, Steel Plant, Coal Plant, and Glass Plant. I have decided to 'issue shares'!"

"What does it mean to issue shares? It means valuing each factory at ten million taels of silver, divided into one million shares, with each share costing twenty taels of silver! Whoever buys the shares becomes an owner of the factory! The accounts will be audited every month, and dividends will be distributed quarterly according to the shares!"

Wang Hao pointed to the ground beneath his feet. "I provide the land, the secret formulas, the Inner Court artisans, plus the golden signboard of the royal family. In exchange, I will take fifty percent in sweat equity! The remaining fifty percent will be available for subscription!"

As soon as his voice fell, Sun Li, the Seal-Holding Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, who had been prepared for this, suddenly stepped forward and shrieked like a mad dog guarding its food:

"This servant, representing the Directorate of Ceremonial and all the eunuchs of the Twelve Directorates of the Inner Court, will follow Your Majesty even if it means bankrupting ourselves! For these four factories, our Inner Court will subscribe to twenty percent of each! A total of eight hundred thousand shares, sixteen million taels of ready silver, will all be transported to the Western Hills privy purse before dark tomorrow! Whoever dares to stop this servant from getting rich, this servant will confiscate their entire estate!"

Sun Li's "hype man" routine was devastatingly effective! However, the hundred thousand eunuchs in the imperial palace could indeed come up with that much money. After all, when Wang Hao raided the homes of those dozen or so eunuch leaders, he obtained thirty million taels of silver. Regardless of how these eunuchs got their money, they definitely still had a lot left.

Who did the military generals of Great Zhou look down upon the most? Aside from the civil officials, it was this group of ball-less eunuchs! Now, this group of eunuchs was actually going to dig away twenty percent of this mountain of gold right under their noses! And they were doing it legally, right in front of the Emperor!

"Leave some room for others! Aren't you afraid of being struck by lightning for hogging everything to yourself?"

The hotheaded Marquis of Kaiyang leaped up suddenly, his eyes bloodshot and the veins on his forehead bulging. Your Majesty! I am willing to subscribe! Even if I have to smash my pots, sell my iron, and pawn my wife's dowry, I will buy twenty thousand shares of the steel mill! Please, Your Majesty, give the Marquis of Kaiyang's estate a chance to show its utmost loyalty!

Get out of the way! Your Kaiyang estate is nothing! Zhang Jing, Duke of Ying slapped the Marquis of Dingyuan aside, rushed to the very front, and fell straight to his knees. Your Majesty! This old subject is willing to offer three million taels to subscribe to fifteen percent of the cement factory!

The Duke of Dingguo's estate subscribes to one hundred and fifty thousand shares of the glass factory!!

I have two hundred mouths to feed at home! Whoever dares to fight me for the coal mine, I will kill him today!

Madness! Absolute madness!

This group of top-tier cutthroats of the Great Zhou Dynasty were nearly coming to blows right before the Emperor to snatch the remaining thirty percent of the shares. Some grabbed their colleagues by the collar, while others instinctively reached for the hilts of their swords at their waists!

They knew very well that twenty taels of silver per share seemed expensive, but according to the accountants' profit projections, they would recoup their investment in two years at most. After that, generation after generation would just lie back and collect money! This was ten thousand times better than embezzling military pay or sucking the blood of soldiers, and it was entirely legal, spearheaded by the Emperor himself!

Bang!

Wang Hao slammed his palm onto the table, the massive echo shocking the entire hall into submission.

What a disgrace! Silence, all of you! Wang Hao shouted sternly.

Only then did the crowd wake up to the fact that they were in the imperial presence. They quickly knelt down in fear and trepidation, but when they raised their heads, the longing in their eyes simply could not be hidden.

Wang Hao fought back the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth and feigned a majestic tone. The remaining thirty percent totals one million two hundred thousand shares, worth twenty-four million taels of silver. Zhang Jing, Duke of Ying, and the Duke of Dingguo, the two of you will be responsible for coordinating the subscription quotas for each family. Remember, there must be no forceful extortion or hurting of harmony. If you cannot produce real gold and silver, no credit will be given!

Your old subjects obey the decree! Long live the Emperor, long live, long long live! Zhang Jing and Xu Chengzuo led the kowtowing, their voices laced with wild ecstasy. Although twenty-four million taels was an astronomical figure, if the more than three hundred noble and military families pooled their resources, they could absolutely come up with it!

This subscription conference at the Western Hills proceeded in an exceptionally brutal manner.

To fight for quotas, the military nobles who usually called each other brothers argued until they were red in the face, even digging up old grudges from several generations ago. Ultimately, under the forceful suppression of the two Dukes, Zhang Jing and Xu Chengzuo, this thirty percent of the shares was divided up cleanly.

The subscription contracts for twenty-four million taels of silver were stacked neatly in front of Wang Hao.

Wang Hao looked at the military nobles below. Although their hearts ached from the massive bleeding of funds, their faces beamed with smiles that said they were about to strike it rich. He calculated secretly in his heart.

These military commanders and nobles... The Great Zhou Dynasty has been established for a thousand years. Through annexing land, claiming pay for ghost soldiers, sucking the blood of their troops, smuggling, trading, and loan sharking, every single one of them has amassed a disgustingly thick fortune. Twenty-four million taels only grazes their skin; it does not touch their bones at all.

Once the operation of capital began, one had to squeeze the other party dry to the absolute limit in order to form the most solid community of shared interests!

Ahem. Wang Hao cleared his throat.

The crowd, which had just been immersed in sweet dreams of dividends, immediately quieted down and looked in unison at their God of Wealth Emperor.

A look of difficulty appeared on Wang Hao's face. He sighed and said, I am very gratified that my beloved subjects are so enthusiastic. However... I just suddenly thought of something. Besides coal, this cement and steel will also require massive amounts of limestone and iron ore. If these two lifelines are strangled by outside merchants, wouldn't our profits have to be shared with outsiders?

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