Start with Baihuguan

Sitting in the carriage was naturally Li Huan's mother, Feng Shi, his two wives Zhu Lin and Zhang Jin, and beside the carriage were the personal guards of the Li family. Among them, only the family members of Duke Qin's mansion have this honor.

Tianjin Wei

After several years of vigorous development, Tianjin Wei, which was originally the gateway to the capital, became more and more prosperous after opening the sea and promoting maritime trade.

Especially in the past few years, a large number of merchant ships have transferred a large amount of overseas goods into the capital through Tianjin Wei, which has made Tianjin Wei's status even more important.

Today's Tianjin Wei level has been referred to the state capital level. Although it is a county, the people who sit in Tianjin Wei are the prefect level officials.

The news of the emperor's royal visit to Tianjin Wei had naturally come two days earlier, and as officials of Tianjin Wei, they had naturally made preparations early to welcome him.

The day was sunny and sunny, and the road outside Tianjin City was already paved with loess. People who entered the city knew that important people were coming when they saw the group of heavily guarded soldiers outside the city gate.

Time passed quickly, and smoke and dust could be seen billowing from a distance, and soon a group of elite cavalry was galloping towards them.

As the soldiers of the Three Thousand Battalion took over the defense, Tianzi Luanjia and his party also appeared in the sight of the officials.

Under the leadership of the prefect of Tianjin, a group of officials kowtowed to the stopped emperor Luanjia to welcome the emperor.

In the luan ride, Zhu Houzhao walked down slowly, stepped forward to help the Tianjin magistrate who was prostrate on the ground, and said with a light smile: "You don't need to be formal, just get up and answer."

This man is about thirty years old, he is dressed in an official uniform, and his temperament is quite good, but he is the son of Yang Tinghe, the elder of the current pavilion, Yang Shen and Yang Yongxiu.

Although there is a saying that one should not shy away from one's relatives, Yang Tinghe, the elder of the cabinet, has never recommended his talented son to the emperor.

Speaking of which, Yang Shen was recommended by Li Huan to Zhu Houzhao. Zhu Houzhao saw that his ability was not bad, and it happened that Tianjin Wei's status was becoming more and more important, so Yang Shen was sent to Tianjin Wei to be the head. Has a good ability.

After thanking the emperor, Yang Shen and other officials stood up.

Looking at Yang Shen, Zhu Houzhao smiled lightly and said, "Is there any news about Duke Qin?"

Yang Shen naturally knew why the emperor came to Tianjin Wei, so he was not surprised when he saw the emperor asked about Li Huan's news. , this evening or tomorrow morning, Qin Guogong and his party can enter Tianjin Port."

Zhu Houzhao's eyes lit up when he heard the words: "Okay."

Because the emperor visited Tianjin Wei several times, the emperor ordered the Ministry of Internal Affairs to build a royal courtyard outside the Tianjin Wei City the year before last as a place to stay.

This time, the Son of Heaven naturally stayed in the Royal Courtyard as before.

Entering the imperial courtyard, the travel-stained group of people naturally had to freshen up. After the emperor rested for a long time, he formally summoned Yang Shen and other important officials of Tianjin Wei.

In the hall, the Son of Heaven was listening to Yang Shen's report on specific matters about Tianjin Wei Port.

"...As of this month, the Municipal Shipbuilding Department has collected a total of more than 69 taels of tax money. There are hundreds of ships entering and leaving the port every day. There are thousands of boatmen and laborers on the port alone. Compared with last year , the population of Tianjin Wei has increased by tens of thousands of people..."

Sitting there listening to Yang Shen's report, Zhu Houzhao obviously had a general understanding of the situation in Tianjin Wei.

Although Yang Shen's report is just a generalization, many problems can be seen from these reports, especially compared with the situation of Tianjin Wei last year, we can clearly feel the rapid development of Tianjin Wei.

When Yang Shen stopped, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but sighed and said, "It's only mid-September, and the Tianjin Shipping Department has already collected nearly 70 taels of tax silver. , the tax money can almost reach one million taels?"

Yang Shen nodded slightly and said: "Thanks to Your Majesty's blessings, the imperial court has vigorously developed and supported the sea trade and Tianjin Wei, so it has flourished. I don't know how many people can live a life of food and clothing because of the sea trade..."

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help showing a bit of a smile on his face, and asked some questions, and then encouraged a group of officials, and then let Yang Shen and other officials leave.

In the living room, several honorable men spoke to the emperor at this moment: "Congratulations, Your Majesty, I never thought that the annual tax payment of a small Tianjin shipping company would be as much as one million taels. The imperial court has a total of nine municipal bureaus, and even if the other municipal bureaus are a little worse, the difference is probably not too much. According to this calculation, within a year, that is nearly ten million taels of watermark."

As a veteran official, Cheng Guogong Zhu Fu couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

Listening to Cheng Guogong's emotion, Xu Guangzuo, Dingguo Duke, Zhang Lun, British Duke and other dignitaries beside him couldn't help being amazed.

Zhang Lun stroked his beard and said slowly: "If I remember correctly, last year the shipping department of the nine major cities collected a total of 8105 million taels of tax silver. If this is placed before the opening of the sea and vigorously promoting sea trade, I really dare not Imagine that the benefits of maritime trade are so great."

Cheng Guogong Zhu Fu sneered and said: "No wonder those officials in the southeast land tried their best to resist the imperial court's opening of the sea. It turned out that they knew the benefits contained in the sea trade better than anyone else. As a result, all of them All of them rely on sea trade to feed their stomachs and brains, but they have never considered the series of impacts brought about by the country's tax shortage and financial exhaustion."

"Fortunately, Duke Qin enforced the strategy of opening the sea. Otherwise, my Ming Dynasty would not be able to have the grand occasion it is today."

When all the nobles were touting Li Huan's merits in front of the emperor, a huge fleet was slowly heading towards the port above the sea outside Tianjin.

Needless to say, the huge fleet flying the Daming Dragon Flag is Li Huan and his party who have returned from the Nanyang Province.

There are hundreds of ships in the huge fleet, each big ship is full of cargo, and the draft is extremely deep. That is to say, Tianjin Wei Port has undergone dredging and excavation again and again in the past few years, and a large number of ships can enter and exit. Otherwise, it would be really difficult for so many ships to enter the port suddenly.

But even so, this time there are hundreds of huge ships alone, which is really beyond the carrying capacity of Tianjin Wei Port, not to mention there are so many large and small ships.

Not long after leaving the Royal Courtyard and returning to the Yamen, the officials of Tianjin Wei received the news from the port very quickly.

When Yang Shen received the news, he immediately sent someone to the Royal Courtyard to inform Emperor Bing about the return of Qin Guogong Li Huan, while he quickly took all the officials in the yamen and rushed to the port.

After all, when Li Huan came back, so many ships needed to enter the port. If there was no capable person to dispatch them, if something went wrong, he, the prefect of Tianjin, would really be ashamed and thrown in front of the emperor.

At this time, the officials in the port have already started to get busy. Thanks to the many ships coming and going in the past few years, the officials in the port have already been tempered. The most important thing is the large number of ships brought by Li Huan, but as long as they are dispatched properly, there is no need to worry too much.

When Li Huan's car slowly entered the port and docked stably, Yang Shen had already brought people to greet him on the shore.

Watching Li Huan and the others get off the boat, Yang Shen rushed up to greet Li Huan, bowed to Li Huan and said, "Yang Shen, prefect of Tianjin, welcomes Duke Qin back."

Li Huan looked at Yang Shen and couldn't help laughing, "It's been so many years, Mr. Yang still has the same demeanor!"

Yang Shen said with a smile: "The Duke is absurdly praised. The Duke sits in Nanyang, expands the territory and expands the land for our Ming Dynasty, and stabilizes one side. This is the greatest contribution and the most admirable."

Li Huan waved his hand and said: "Okay, you immediately send someone to arrange for the port officials to let the ships that are moored at sea enter the port one by one, and nothing will happen."

Yang Shen heard the words and said: "Don't worry, the Duke, the lower officials will definitely arrange to pay back everything."

While talking, there was a lot of movement in the distance, and just hearing that the brigade was approaching quickly, Li Huan couldn't help raising his brows, and subconsciously looked at Yang Shen.

Yang Shen was slightly taken aback, then turned to Li Huan and said, "So that the Duke of the State will know that His Majesty has come to Tianjin Wei in person. If there is no accident, it is His Majesty who has come to welcome the Duke."

Hearing this, Li Huan hurriedly looked towards the direction of the movement, took a deep breath and said to Yang Shen, "Follow me to meet His Majesty."

When the emperor saw Li Huan's figure, Li Huan had already led Jiang Bin, Chen Ang and others to bow down to the emperor.

Zhu Houzhao strode forward, supported Li Huan, and stopped Li Huan from bowing down while saying repeatedly: "It's good that Aiqing comes back, it's good to be back."

Helping Li Huan up, Zhu Houzhao looked at Li Huan carefully. Perhaps because of his cultivation, Li Huan has not changed much compared to a few years ago, but his power has become stronger.

Looking at Li Huan, Zhu Houzhao sighed softly: "In the past few years, Aiqing has opened up the territory for my Ming Dynasty and cannot return. I miss you every day in the palace. It is really hard for Qing's family to have Nanyang as it is today."

Li Huan said modestly: "Your Majesty is absurdly praised. Nanyang's success today is first of all due to His Majesty's strong support, followed by the dedication of soldiers, the effectiveness of officials, and the insignificant merit of ministers. How dare you get such praise from Your Majesty."

Zhu Houzhao patted Li Huan's shoulder with a big hand and said with a smile: "The huge Nanyang province has entered our Ming territory, the two sides communicate, and the business is flourishing. If you have no merit, who dares to take the credit for the civil and military affairs of the Manchu dynasty."

Such a situation where the monarch and ministers are in harmony is seen in the eyes of the accompanying nobles and officials, such as Zhang Lun, Duke of England, Zhu Fu, Duke of Cheng, and others all smiled.

In the distance, large ships slowly entered the port and moored. There were many flags and flags on the sea outside the port. At a glance, they were all densely packed with flags and flags. This is the first time the emperor and others have seen such a situation. , with a look of amazement.

Cheng Guogong Zhu Fu was smiling at this moment, stroked his gray beard and said with admiration: "My son-in-law, you have brought so many big ships with you this time, I think you have gained a lot."

Any fool can see that the big ships must not return empty. If they only bring people back, it is impossible to use so many ships. All kinds of rare treasures or goods brought back.

After all, in the past few years, the fleet dedicated to transporting grain formed by the Daming Royal Trading Company has gained a lot from traveling between Nanyang and Daming, not to mention the fleet returning with Li Huan.

At this moment, even the emperor couldn't help showing curiosity when he saw so many fleets, and subconsciously said: "Could it be that Li Qing brought back all the Portuguese property captured earlier?"

The news that the Daming navy fleet defeated the Portuguese naturally came back early, and the emperor also knew the news of the large amount of wealth that Li Huan had seized.

Of course, there is no specific number of wealth because it is difficult to count for a while, so even the emperor and the court only know that they have gained a lot.

All eyes could not help falling on Li Huan. Everyone knew that if Li Huan did not make a move, it would be amazing. In the past, he ransacked his home in the country, and every time he got something, people were amazed. The harvest will not be bad.

Just at this time, the treasure ship that had landed first had already started unloading, because the ship was filled with all kinds of rare treasures and a lot of gold and silver, so when unloading, a large number of Jin Yiwei personally supervised and urged Watching the coolies transfer the large boxes from the ship.

At this time, under the guidance of Li Huan, a group of people came to the front, and saw teams of coolies carefully lifting huge wooden boxes off the boat.

These boxes had a seal on them, apparently to prevent someone from opening them secretly.

When everyone looked at these huge boxes and secretly guessed in their hearts what kind of treasures were contained in these boxes, they suddenly heard a crash, accompanied by a few exclamations, and saw a small box in the shape of eight people. The burly man crashed to the ground in front of him.

Because the hemp rope was broken, the box fell to pieces, and those big men also staggered and fell to the ground.

A dazzling golden light suddenly burst out in front of the eyes, and as the box shattered, the gold ingots in the box rolled down to the ground.

This box contained a full 1 taels of gold, and it was quite difficult for eight strong men to carry it. Now, with the dense and dazzling gold ingots rolling down, the dazzling gold directly stunned countless people present .

"Hiss, a lot of gold!"

Someone looked at the gold ingots all over the floor and couldn't help but exclaim.

But Jin Yiwei, who reacted in the next moment, immediately drew his knife out of its sheath, and shouted: "Whoever dares to move will be killed without mercy!"

It is said that money is touching, not to mention these tempting gold ingots, if they are not deterred, no one can guarantee that the hundreds of thousands of coolies in the port who saw this scene will lose their minds and rush forward Loot up.

I have to say that these Jin Yiwei are indeed used to seeing all kinds of scenes by Li Huan's side. Even so many gold ingots are common to them, and they have long lost their attraction. Now they just draw their swords and stop drinking. scene.

Those who were shaken by the gold ingots also came back to their senses amid Jin Yiwei's constant shouting. Looking at the fierce Jin Yiwei and then at the emperor's guards around him, the greed in their hearts naturally disappeared.

At this moment, the emperor and the others also came back to their senses. Although the emperor was used to seeing rare treasures, he was a little distracted seeing so many gold ingots rolling down in front of him in an instant.

Taking a deep breath, Zhu Houzhao and others looked at the broken boxes on the ground, and then at the densely packed boxes of the same size on the boat not far away. There were dozens or even hundreds of boxes. Maybe they all have the same amount of gold, but they couldn't help showing horror on their faces.

Cheng Guogong Zhu Fu looked at the scene in front of him, couldn't help but blinked, and subconsciously said: "My virtuous son-in-law, don't all the boxes on the ship contain the same gold?"

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