I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 272 The emperor takes the money and spends it, don’t even think about taking a penny home!
"Brother, you are well-informed. The Royal Group has indeed made a lot of profits this year," Zhu Houxuan said with a smile.

Zhu Houzhao was extremely excited after getting a positive answer. "I said, we have spent so much effort, so we must make a lot of money. How much silver did we make from the salt industry this year?"

"The profit of the salt industry this year is 6.35 million taels of silver, equivalent to 10.7 million silver coins." Zhu Houxuan said lightly. He already knew these figures by heart.
"So much?" Zhu Houzhao said in great shock, "I knew I made a lot of money, but I didn't expect to make so much."

"Those salt merchants and officials deserve to die!" Zhu Houzhao thought of something again, and the expression on his face changed from shock to resentment, but soon turned into excitement.

His eyes sparkled with surprise, and he rubbed his hands expectantly and said, "How much dividend can I get this year?"

"Then how much dividend does brother want?" Zhu Houzhao watched Zhu Houzhao changing his face with interest.

Zhu Houzhao observed Zhu Houxun's expression, but could see nothing. "Brother, what do you think of three million taels? I have put a lot of effort into the salt industry this year, so I want half of it."

After Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, he looked at Zhu Houxuan expectantly.
"Three million taels," Zhu Houxuan said calmly, "not much."

Zhu Houzhao heaved a sigh of relief and was about to celebrate, but Zhu Houxuan suddenly changed the subject and said, "But before the dividends are distributed, there are a few documents I want you to look at."

"What document?" Zhu Houzhao already had a bad feeling in his heart.

"Take a look at this first." Zhu Houxuan picked up a document from the table and handed it to Zhu Houzhao.

Zhu Houzhao took the document, glanced at it, frowned, and said, "Pay taxes? Salt tax?"

"Yes, the Changlu Salt Field has to pay 1.3 million taels of silver in taxes every year. You know that," Zhu Houxun said with a smile.

Zhu Houzhao felt a headache after hearing this. If he didn't pay the tax, the ministers would be annoyed to death. "This tax must be paid, then there will be 500 million taels of silver left, right?"

"Brother, please take a look at this document." Zhu Houxuan handed over another document.
"Is this the cost of building the salt field last year and this year?" Zhu Houzhao said after taking a look at the beginning of the document.

Then he quickly turned the thick document to the last page and said in surprise: "It actually cost so much money to build the salt field? 180 million taels of silver?"

"These are three salt fields including the Nanbao Salt Field. It's not a lot to spend so much money to build them," Zhu Houxuan reminded.

Zhu Houzhao thought about it carefully and found that it was true.
"Even if we deduct the cost of building the salt field, there are still more than three million taels of silver." Zhu Houzhao said unwillingly.

"Brother, take another look at this document." Zhu Houxuan took out an even thicker document from somewhere like a magic trick.

Zhu Houzhao had a bad feeling in his heart, and after hesitating for a moment, he took it.
"At the beginning of this year, I sent people to the southern coast to explore the terrain and look for a suitable place to build a salt field. The climate and terrain conditions in the south are not as good as those in the Bohai Sea, so it will cost more to build a new salt field," Zhu Houxuan took the initiative to explain.

"Currently, 12 new salt fields are planned. The remaining three million taels are definitely not enough. The Royal Bank will give the Ministry of Salt another loan." Zhu Houxuan said, spreading his hands.

Zhu Houzhao swallowed hard. This is six million taels! Six million taels! It's gone in just a moment? He thought in disbelief. He quickly flipped through the stack of documents in his hand. It was indeed the construction plan for ten new salt fields, and each plan was written in great detail.

He suddenly flipped through a plan and his eyes lit up. "Why do we need to build a new salt field in the north? Aren't there already three salt fields? Isn't the salt produced enough?"

"Not enough!" Zhu Houxuan said affirmatively, "The salt produced in the northern salt fields will still be exported to Korea and Japan in the future. These two countries have a population of about 15 million, which is a huge market. We can make a lot of money by selling salt there."

Zhu Houzhao was speechless, but he was still unwilling to accept it. "Do we need to build so many salt fields at once? Can't we build them slowly over several years?"

"We can build it slowly, but the people of the world can't wait. The people in the four northern provinces can buy low-priced salt, but the people in other places can't buy it. They are all my people, and I can't favor some over others." Zhu Houxuan said with a smile, "And every salt field that is built is a cash cow. The sooner it is built, the sooner it will make a profit."

Zhu Houzhao was convinced again.

"I heard that other factories are also making a lot of money?" Zhu Houzhao said after thinking for a while.

"That's right. Most departments have achieved profitability this year, such as the steel mill, the Ministry of Railways, the food factory, the textile factory, etc., which together have earned several million taels of silver." Zhu Houxuan said frankly.

"Ah? How much dividend can I get? Just give me 200 million taels." Zhu Houzhao said in surprise.

"We can't share that much. Although we're profitable, each factory has also borrowed a lot of money from the Royal Bank in the past two years. These loans, including principal and interest, have not yet been repaid. Most of the profits will be used to repay the loans," Zhu Houxuan said, shaking his head.

Zhu Houzhao lost his patience with these twists and turns. He said, "Don't beat around the bush with me. Just tell me how much dividends we can get this year!"

"Five hundred thousand taels!" Zhu Houxun said bluntly.

"This is too little. The Royal Group is so big now, but it only distributes dividends of 500,000 taels. This will make people laugh if people spread it out. Let's add a little more." Zhu Houzhao immediately became unhappy.

Finally, after some tough bargaining between the two, the dividends for the tenth year of Zhengde were set at 1.5 million taels of silver.

"Write me a check now!" Zhu Houzhao urged excitedly. He was quite familiar with the various businesses of the Royal Bank.
"Don't be anxious! Brother, take another look at this document." Zhu Houxuan took out another document.

Zhu Houzhao felt numb all over. He had the urge to turn around and run away, but he had no choice but to take the document.
This document shows the various expenses of the new army over the past year, including military pay, food expenses, weapons and equipment expenses, barracks construction materials expenses, training expenses, and other miscellaneous expenses.
In the end, the total cost was 1.61 million taels of silver.

"Brother, please settle the bill." Zhu Houxun still had a smile on his face.

Zhu Houzhao looked at Zhu Houxun and felt that he deserved a beating. "In the end, not only did I not take a penny, but I also gave you 110,000 taels of silver?" Zhu Houzhao's face was full of disbelief.

"You get paid for what you do, and don't even think about taking a penny home!"

(End of this chapter)