In Voyage Century there are a few ways to become a rich player. One of thing you have to remember is save your money.
For a beginner, the easiest way to make money is probably just become a full time logger, miner, tailor and craftsman. You simply have to compound your material and start a booth where you can sell them.
For warriors
It is the hardest way to get rich. Since your ship gets a lot of damage, sailors die or get hurt and you have to buy plenty of cannon ball, you will have to spend a lot of money. The only way for you to make money is sell figureheads and drawings (to players) but it may take a long time before someone buy them.
For adventurers
You should get richer faster then if you are a warrior, because u don't need to spend as much silver (money in game) as Warriors. You will get a lot of money and rep from findings
For merchants
Merchant gets lots of money by doing trades. Basically, you can sell goods between cities. Check the popular channel (down left of your screen). It will tells you what is wanted in witch city. By doing that, you will get plenty of Eloquence experience and Silver.
You can also do Merchant Quests but some people get bored doing them because they are long to do.
For every king of people
Sell Treasures
Sell treasures, because there is lots of people buying treasures for reputation. You don't have to be rich to become a treasure hunter. The best type to sell is level 1 treasures because they are the cheapest to make and easiest to dig. This job is actually one of the most fun to do. You can either get the pieces from players (good price these days it 30 000 silver for one piece). Take a look at this guide to find more information about Treasure/Treasure pieces. If you want to save more money you can found them yourself. There is a few possible ways to get them. One of the best is to find a wreckage drifter (hint in the golden route = Dakar <-> Capetown) see the treasure guide for more info
Skipping upgrades
Many people get poor by spending millions on mats for ship upgrade.You can always skip any level if u want, a level 3 battleship can be upgrade straight to level 5 if the requirements are met, and it saves u tons of money. (especially higher level like 7,8,9)
Some people think u can't skip any level if you are an adventurer, because the telescope that u use to find findings require ship level. This is easy to overcome. You simply borrow a higher level adventure ship from a friend and there you go. Now you can equip the higher level telescope.