These two people were the ones who cooperated with Li Dan the most at the moment. They were also Daming's official figures in the foreign trade.
One provided Li Dan with a large amount of goods, while the other purchased Li Dan's goods.
Li Dan wasn't very clear about the relationship between the two people.
In Li Dan's opinion, the He family's actions were like taking off their pants and farting.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs could send their own people to purchase his goods or sell them to him. The two parties could directly trade without the He family's involvement.
From this point of view, the He family was completely useless. Was it really because the He family's daughter was beautiful that the emperor gave the He family this business to take care of the He family?
Of course, Li Dan wouldn't ask this question, nor would he inquire about it.
After all, this matter had nothing to do with him. Li Dan didn't want to care so much. Anyway, it wouldn't affect him making money. As for how they made money, it had nothing to do with him.
However, since the two of them came today, it naturally had something to do with him.
Although he didn't know what the two of them wanted to talk about, Li Dan knew that this conversation was very important.
It was basically related to his future direction, or rather, it was related to everything in the future.
He didn't come to the capital for this conversation.
The emperor asked him to enter the palace, but the emperor didn't say anything. This was normal. It would be abnormal if he said anything. Li Dan understood this very well.
The attitude of Li Zhonghang and the He family was, in fact, the emperor's attitude.
"Come on, let's go in!" Li Dan called out to his nephew, Li He, and walked in.
In the hall, Li Dan saw Li Zhonghang and the He family's master, He Kuan. The two of them were very polite when they saw Li Dan. They stood up with a smile and greeted Li Dan.
"Greetings, Sir Li, Mr. He!" Li Dan smiled and greeted the two of them.
Although He Kuan's daughter had entered the palace, she had only entered the palace. She hadn't been conferred a title, so the He family naturally couldn't be said to have risen in status.
However, everyone knew that it was only a matter of time.
The relationship between the current Emperor and the Empress was stable, and the Empress had given birth to the Great Prince for the Emperor. The inner palace was very stable. It was impossible for the daughter of the He Family to do great things, but it was completely possible for her to be conferred the title of Consort or Guifei.
"Li Gong!" Li Zhonghang and He Kuan also politely returned the greeting.
The three of them took their respective seats and served tea. After exchanging pleasantries for a while, the topic gradually shifted to business.
The one who spoke was Li Zhonghang, and He Kuan cooperated with him.
"Eunuch Li, the Ministry of Internal Affairs's intention is very simple. It is to establish a Daming Maritime Trading Company."
With the promotion of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, firms in Daming had been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. It was not uncommon for people to pool their shares to form firms in Daming. Both Li Dan and Li Zhonghang knew this.
In the past two years, firms in various places had developed rapidly. In many places where the Imperial Court had not started to register trademarks and business licenses, some people had taken the initiative to register with the Tax Department.
This was because, whether it was the Ministry of Internal Affairs or other government offices, everyone was willing to cooperate with registered firms.
Most of the time, the orders from the military and the Imperial Court were based on the firm. If the firm was not registered with the Tax Department, they would not even pay attention to it.
The emergence of firms had also led to a new stage of cooperation among merchants in various places.
In this era, the Chamber of Commerce had already appeared. The guilds in various large cities were the embryonic forms of such chambers of commerce.
Now that there was a firm, it was more convenient for everyone to cooperate, which made the business in various places very prosperous.
Li Dan knew that the Ministry of Internal Affairs had the idea of establishing a maritime trading firm, but he did not know what the Imperial Court was planning. Now that he heard Li Zhonghang's words, his heart suddenly jumped.
Glancing at Li Zhonghang, Li Dan directly asked, "Eunuch Li, what is the Ministry of Internal Affairs planning to do about this matter?"
Right now, Li Dan was also very worried in his heart. If the Ministry of Internal Affairs asked for an exorbitant price, things would be very difficult to handle.
If they did not agree, things would become very bad, and if they agreed, they would lose a lot of their interests.
"This is very simple. The three of us will jointly establish a firm."
After hearing Li Dan's words, Li Zhonghang smiled and explained, "In the future, we can also take in other people. This is not a problem.
The operation of a firm is actually very simple. "
"The Ministry of Internal Affairs will be responsible for providing some special goods to ensure that the maritime trading firm gets priority in the supply."
"At the same time, the Ministry of Internal Affairs will also be responsible for coordinating the goods at the foot of the Daming Mountain to ensure that the goods are complete and run smoothly."
Speaking up to this point, Li Zhonghang added, "The maritime trading firm also needs to maintain the supply of goods to the Ministry of Internal Affairs."
Li Zhonghang looked at Li Dan and said with a smile, "This is non-negotiable."
Li Dan understood the meaning behind Li Zhonghang's words very well. In fact, during this period of time, Li Dan had already felt that the Ministry of Internal Affairs wanted to buy things.
Most of them were strategic materials, such as iron ore, beef tendons, and the like. At the very least, it was food.
Li Dan knew that these things were not what the Ministry of Internal Affairs wanted, but what the imperial court wanted. This was something that Li Dan knew very well in his heart. There was no way for him to refuse. He reckoned that if he refused, the person behind him would be gone.
"Of course, this is not a problem!" Li Dan smiled and nodded.
"As for the He family, what they need to do is to integrate other merchants and provide other goods for the maritime trading firm, such as silk and other things, to ensure the price of the goods."
"You can't sell the silk in Jiangnan for nine taels of silver, and in Guangxi for seven taels of silver. This won't do."
Monopolizing the goods!
After hearing Li Zhonghang's words, Li Dan understood. He also roughly understood why the Ministry of Internal Affairs was willing to let the He family participate in this.
Obviously, it wasn't just because the He family's daughter was sent to the palace. There was something fishy about it!
Although he didn't know what was fishy about it, Li Dan didn't dare to ask.
"This is also not a problem!" Li Dan smiled and nodded.
In fact, this still had a great impact on Li Dan, because he could only make more money by purchasing cheap things.
Now, if he wanted to balance the prices and suppress other suppliers, the best way was to control the channel.
Li Dan was very clear that he was the channel.
Once he agreed to Li Zhonghang's proposal, it meant that he had to cooperate and suppress the people who sold the goods to him at a low price. This was his loss!
Although Li Dan reacted in an instant, he still agreed immediately.
Seeing that Li Dan agreed, He Kuan raised his eyebrows. This Li Dan was really a smart person.
However, He Kuan also knew that at Li Dan's level, money wasn't that important.
After doing maritime trading for so many years, and being a pirate for so many years, Li Dan had already accumulated a lot of wealth. He didn't care about money when doing things, and he would do some things even at a loss.