Chapter 1041 Ruan Chamber of Commerce
Under the sun, there must be shadows. There are bound to be obstacles along the way. The benefits are gratifying, and there will also be people who are attracted by the benefits. These are human nature, and they are also natural principles.
As a family whose ancestors once established a kingdom, even if the kingdom has been destroyed, the family has continued in different ways. Even after it spread its branches and leaves, it became stronger than the previous kingdom.
Someone suspected that the Ruan family was a member of a time-travelling family--and in fact it was true--if their development model was revealed in the eyes of a current time-traveling member, one term would inevitably come out of his mouth: East India Company. The super predator in the colonial era of the earth, the pillar of the empire on which the sun never sets, he also used a shadow to cover up the uncivilization of the empire.
To expand commercial activities without the support of the state without being regarded as fat sheep that can be harvested regularly by powerful people, the Ruan family's two major weapons are: food and private army.
Even on a modern Earth where time travelers once lived, famine still exists in some areas. There are many reasons, too many to describe in just a few words. In Midland, where the transportation capacity and social structure are relatively backward, having enough food is still a major event for ordinary people, and it is also an important issue that the lords cannot avoid. If you don't have enough to eat, you will rebel. This is true in ancient and modern times, both at home and abroad.
Utilizing advanced technology—well, Earth's agricultural technology in the 19th century was indeed advanced enough compared to Midland's. ──The Ruan Chamber of Commerce, which grows a large amount of food, controls the lifeblood of many noble lords.
Perhaps in the past hundred years, wars, that is, man-made disasters, have decreased, but natural disasters are inevitable; not to mention the natural counterattacks of Lost Land, and the counterattacks of monsters. When these accidents occur, sufficient food can be said to be the most important key to maintaining the stability of the territory. Therefore, the importance of the Ruan Chamber of Commerce to all lords is self-evident.
Of course, it is not that no one covets this organization that has no national protection and is even richer than most countries. But the family private army of the Ruan Chamber of Commerce gave up all thoughts of stretching out their claws. Those who are unable to eat it will of course not need to mention it; those who are able to eat it will also consider whether the loot they will get after a bloody encounter has the value to offset their losses.
Gunpowder weapons, a type of weapon that a certain time traveler thought did not exist in the Lost Land, actually existed in the private army of the Ruan Chamber of Commerce. It is also a gift from the earth, and it is not a matchlock or flintlock gun, but an early form of single-shot rifle that uses a magazine and bullets.
However, these rifles did not develop well in the Lost Land. Because the ancestors of the Ruan family regard these weapons as the lifeblood of the family, they cannot hold guns without close relatives, or join the guard to protect core figures, and all the best are trapped in the family.
In terms of research and development, the investment is even smaller, or we are not worried about letting outsiders with research and development capabilities have too much contact, and those who are worried are unscrupulous descendants...Basically, what are the weapons created by the first generation? What do they look like today? It's still the same. This was also one of the reasons why the kingdom established by the Ruan family was destroyed even though it possessed weapons that transcended the times.
But even if these hot weapons have not improved for hundreds of years, they can still protect the family that has shed the shackles of the country. Utilize a small but refined core force and cooperate with local people to gain control of key resources and gain greater power and benefits.
Perhaps in terms of climbing the technology tree, the Ruan family, which has lost its first generation head, is no different from the natives of Midi. It can only maintain its status and retain the skills left by the first generation. But the family, which has already spread out, has made good use of its own advantages to build a huge business.
Today, the Ruan family is no longer just a 'family'. In order to manage the affairs of different regions in this world with inconvenient transportation, they divided their families into different places just like feudal lords. Not only are regions separated, but rights, responsibilities, and interests are also separated, resulting in a situation where each region and industry is responsible for its own losses.
There is no 'big head' in charge of all family affairs. Instead, there is an annual family meeting at the end of each year. All branches will spread the harvest throughout the year and complement each other. This kind of display and internal trading behavior invisibly puts order into all branches. The more abundant the harvest, the more people choose to trade with it. Such pursuit will certainly improve the status of the branch family in the family.
As for the two people who dealt with Lin, the two brothers Nguyen Van Viet and Nguyen Van Chao were in charge of the branch. In this Ruan family whose main industry has always been food, why should they be responsible for mining. This is because noble lords who need food may not necessarily have enough wealth to purchase it.
Even if it is barter, there must be something to trade. At this time, some lords simply used the mines in their territories as mortgages, and even used the ownership of the mines as bargaining chips.
If the mine produces natural magic metal or magic stone, this is a rare ore with a high unit price. Then the noble lord can sell it in person and then use the money obtained to trade with the Ruan Chamber of Commerce. It is conceivable to what extent the mine would be screwed up if the nobles directly pledged their ownership or even used it as a bargaining chip.
After all, these are all mines, and each one will be mined less. So how to deal with these mines was a problem that worried people in the Ruan family for a while. In the end, the method they chose was to send the family members who had offended many people at that time to separate the families and solve the two problems at once.
The branch of the two brothers Nguyen Van Viet and Nguyen Van Chao lives a hard life guarding a bunch of tasteless and abandoned mines. You must know that the mines that will be abandoned by the noble lords are not only barren in production, but are also likely to be in places where birds do not lay eggs, and transportation is extremely inconvenient.
Each generation of the two brothers' ancestors has worked hard to improve their own predicament or find some way out for these minerals. There are many people who try to escape, but no matter how they choose or how hard they try, they cannot change the fact that they are marginalized within the family.
Even after several generations of management and slight improvements, the two brothers' low status within the family has not changed.
You know, metal tools are also used in agricultural activities. However, in the past, when the Ruan Chamber of Commerce needed to purchase additional tools, they preferred to order them locally from local craftsmen. Instead of taking the trouble to transport raw ore or metal ingots from the mines under separate management, return to your own territory and then build agricultural tools.
This kind of behavior invisibly separated the two brothers' branches and made their status in the family weaker. Until someone comes along.
The Ruan Chamber of Commerce does not have craftsmen and talents who are good at metallurgy. It's just that these people are not only few, but the technologies involved are all professional skills related to rifles, and it is impossible to hand them over to a branch that is regarded as an abandoned son. This allows them to rough process the raw ore and increase its commodity value.
In order to get the Ruan Chamber of Commerce to join them, Lin established a car manufacturing and R&D center together. He taught the manpower sent by the Chamber of Commerce all the supporting technologies needed to manufacture cars without reservation.
It can be said that the emergence of Lin made up for the technical shortcomings of the branch of the Ruan brothers. Not to mention that the car is left in the middle of nowhere, which is also the most advanced and eye-catching technology.
After revitalizing the assets in their hands, the two brothers led a beautiful turnaround. However, the long-term low status also caused other branches within the family to have unnecessary thoughts.