Global colonization began with Ming Dynasty pirates.

Just as Shen Wangshu was gearing up for a big splash, the Lin family on Qiluo Island was embroiled in a fierce argument.

In that room, the Lin family members, who were originally all smiles, were now in an unusually tense atmosphere. Even Lin Chengzong was looking at Lin Hao with a helpless expression.

"Hao'er, aren't you being a bit reckless? Such a large sum of money, wasting it like this... is it really necessary?"

"Father, this matter is not as simple as you think. The situation is completely different now than before."

"We used to be citizens of the Ming Dynasty, working for us was just ordinary work. But now we're considered pirates, on the opposite side of the Ming Dynasty. If we want everyone to continue working for us, the meager monthly salary we used to receive isn't enough to keep you here."

The reason for such a drastic change in everyone's attitude was that when Lin Hao mentioned the seized silver, he proposed an unbelievable distribution plan.

That is, to set aside 30% as spoils and distribute them to all those who participated in the battle. This decision immediately puzzled everyone.

Lin Hao could understand his father and three uncles' thoughts. After all, no one dislikes hard-earned money, and it's painful to give away one's own money, especially when they felt they could simply not give it away.

"Brother Hao, most of the people involved in the battle are your young men. It's just a matter of you saying a word. What objections would they dare to have? As for Ah Niu and the others, if they dare to utter a word, I'll beat them up. They've gone too far!"

"You know this isn't just a few hundred taels, it's several thousand taels! That's enough for so many things we could do! I disagree! I absolutely disagree!"

At this moment, Third Uncle was arguing with Lin Hao until his face turned red, completely disregarding the fact that he was still a patient. Several thousand taels of silver! Lin Chengfeng had never saved that much money before. The thought of so much silver being distributed to those sailors made Lin Chengbi's heart tremble with heartache.

"That's right, Brother Hao. In my opinion, we should give them a few hundred taels. A dozen taels per person would be enough, enough for their wages for a year." Uncle Er also disagreed. Giving hard-earned money to the poor is such a waste.

Lin Hao smiled. He wasn't angry at his two uncles' objections; they hadn't successfully changed their mindset yet.

"Third Uncle, you should understand that only with clear rewards and punishments can the team be more effective. We were able to seize Zhou Daye today, and we will naturally be able to seize more in the future. For example, the Shen family. Their wealth is far more than just a few thousand taels; tens of thousands of taels would be nothing to them. Moreover, Third Uncle will be the leader of the Battle Hall in the future. After the current system is finalized, Third Uncle will be the one who benefits the most."

After Lin Hao finished speaking, Lin Chengfeng was stunned, then his mouth gaped open even wider, "This... Brother Hao, do you mean we should do it this way from now on?"

"That's natural. From now on, 30% of the goods we capture from ships will be converted into silver and used as rewards for the participants. What do you think of this system, Uncle?"

Lin Chengfeng unconsciously swallowed, his hands gripping the sheets so tightly they were slightly white. He licked his dry lips. Third Uncle turned to Lin Chengzong and said, "Big Brother, I think what Brother Hao said makes a lot of sense. Why don't we do as Brother Hao says?"

"Third brother, how could you do this? You may feel comfortable, but the Lin family's profits have been greatly damaged." Lin Chengbi glared at the guy, who betrayed him because of a vague promise, which was extremely shameful.

"Second Uncle, from now on, our business hall will be the main force, and we'll also be involved in profit sharing. However, I haven't decided on the specific profit sharing ratio yet. This is a new product I've developed for the business hall. Third Uncle, what do you think?"

As he spoke, Lin Hao took out a wooden box from his pocket and handed it to Lin Chengbi.

"There's no faster way to make money than by robbery. Let whoever wants this shop location take it." Lin Chengbi opened the wooden box with a displeased look, revealing a square white solid inside.

If you smell it carefully, it also has a fresh fragrance.

"What's this, Hao'er? This new thing you made? It smells pretty good. Can we eat it?" Lin Chengbi asked, about to put it in his mouth.

"No, Second Uncle, this isn't for eating!" Lin Hao was so embarrassed. This was soap, how could he eat it?

"Can't be eaten? Then why did you make this fragrant dried tofu? What's the point?"

"Ahem, Uncle, you can think of it this way: this thing is an enhanced version of soapberry," Lin Hao replied.

"Soapberry? Although it sells in large quantities, the profit margin is very low, and it can't be sold at a high price. What's the point of the enhanced version?" Lin Chengbi said dismissively. In this era, soapberry was widely used, but in the end, it was just a mass consumer product, and not even a necessity, so it couldn't create much value.

"Hehe, Second Uncle, the cleaning power of my soapberry is dozens of times that of regular soapberry. Moreover, it can be used for more than just washing clothes. Bathing is its greatest use. After using it, you will feel refreshed and your body will smell fragrant."

Soap from this era primarily relied on plant-based foaming agents and alkaline substances to aid washing and remove dirt. Not only was its cleaning power weak, but using it for body cleaning would also leave the skin dry, tight, and uncomfortable all over.

Soap, on the other hand, is neutral. One end of the fatty acid salt is lipophilic, which can tightly bind oily substances, while the other end is hydrophilic, which can dissolve the bound oily substances into water. By utilizing this emulsification effect, it can easily remove stains without harming the body.

Bathing with soap and bathing with soapberry are completely opposite experiences.

Historically, it wasn't until the reign of Emperor Yongzheng in the Qing Dynasty that soap, which had similar functions to regular soap, began to be produced in large quantities and was immediately listed as a tribute item. However, soap required a large amount of pig pancreas, and its cleaning power was nowhere near that of regular soap.

To demonstrate, Lin Hao brought a basin of water and then had his second uncle try it himself.

"Tsk, it's really clean, and it smells quite nice too. It could probably sell for a coin, which would be pretty good."

After using it, my second uncle nodded in satisfaction. It was much cleaner than when he used soapberry before, and as my nephew said, it even smelled quite nice after washing.

After listening, Lin Hao slowly shook his head. "If it's only a few coins a piece, I'm too lazy to bother. It's not even worth the cost. My plan is to sell it for 5 taels a piece."

"What! Five taels! Hao'er, are you kidding me? What idiot would buy that at that price?"

Uncle was so startled he almost dropped the soap. Everyone stared at Lin Hao as if he were an idiot.

"Although Hao'er is intelligent, he doesn't understand everything. Business matters aren't something you can just decide to do. I think even one coin or one piece of silver is too expensive. It's just about washing it clean. Washing it a few more times won't make a difference."

Third Uncle Lin Chengfeng shook his head, also thinking that his nephew was indulging in wishful thinking.

"It seems that my second and third uncles don't think it's a good idea. What does Father think?" Lin Hao asked Lin Chengzong.

"Me?" Lin Chengzong said irritably, "Although I don't know anything about business, I know you, kid. Since you brought this up, you must have some confidence, right? Spit it out, don't hold it in."

"Hehe, no one knows a son better than his father."

Lin Hao gave Lin Chengzong a thumbs up, then picked up the soap from Lin Chengbi's hand and put it into an exquisite jade box.

"Second Uncle, if I put this soap in a jade box, name it 'Jade Skin Rejuvenating Soap,' and then... sell it to Auntie, how many taels of silver do you think she would offer?"

"Sell it to your aunt?" Lin Chengfeng was stunned for a moment, then suddenly stood up, his eyes wide open, his hands trembling uncontrollably.

"Given your aunt's personality, with this packaging and its effects, she'd buy this soap even for ten taels of silver. Since your aunt is willing to buy it, why would other wealthy ladies care about such a small amount of money!"

Lin Chengbi immediately realized the value of this. Soap might be dispensable to them, a group of rough men, but it was a different story for those ladies.

No matter the era, there is no shortage of rich people. Ordinary people have to work themselves to the bone for a few coins, but the rich and powerful don't care about the amount when they spend money.

Despite the Ming Dynasty's poverty, one-third of the world's silver flowed into China during that era. China's gentry were the wealthiest class in the world. In Jiangnan, any wealthy family would be embarrassed to go out if they didn't have hundreds of thousands of taels of silver stored in their cellars.

It's worth noting that even a small family like the Lin family, which started out relatively late in life, has only been in the maritime trade for a few years, yet they can easily come up with tens of thousands of taels of silver. One can only imagine how wealthy those large families that have been in business for decades or even centuries must be.

If this soap is marketed to the high-end market, it will sell even at a high price. After all, for truly wealthy people, the more expensive the good stuff, the more they like it, especially women.

"Haha, Hao'er, you really are the Lin family's little savior! Please make sure to leave this matter to my business hall." Lin Chengbi's statement was a complete agreement with Lin Hao's previous proposal, thus it was a unanimous vote.