Troubled times: Start practicing spiritual practice by taking care of your sister-in-law.

The reason for changing the warship into a merchant ship was mainly because they did not want it to be too conspicuous and thus leak the news.

Since the imperial court established the Maritime Customs Offices in four ports, namely, Chuanhai and Cangzhou, and vigorously developed overseas trade, countless merchants who smelled business opportunities have flocked to the ports to make money.

Today's overseas trade has become very mature.

Merchant ships of the Wei Dynasty are now very common overseas.

The merchant ship that Chen Mo was on had a total of three floors.

Except for the underground floor under the deck, the first floor is where the fish-scale guards live, the second floor is where Chen Mo, Yue Ruyan and two maids live, and the third floor is the command cabin.

At this moment in the command cabin, Nangong Xian took out a nautical chart, spread it on the table, and told Chen Mo the route to the Kingdom of Boliu.

"Your Majesty, we need to reach Heluo via the East China Sea, then cross the Heluo Strait, and finally reach the trade route of Boliu," Nangong Xian said slowly.

Chen Mo didn't understand, so he pointed to a sea area on the sea chart and said, "From the map, if we pass through here, won't we be able to reach Boliu faster?"

"Your Majesty, you may not know that this strait belongs to the New Porcelain Country, which has no diplomatic relations with our Great Wei. If our ships pass through this strait, not only will they be charged high tolls, but their safety will also be difficult to guarantee."

"What about passing through this sea area? I think this sea area is closer than the Heluo Strait?" Yue Ruyan suddenly pointed to another area on the nautical chart and asked puzzledly.

"To Queen Zhuang, there are many islands around this sea area and no unified country, which has led to the breeding of many pirates in this sea area. These pirates are extremely daring. No matter which country's ships pass through here, they will be robbed by them. They also raise many sea ghosts. If they encounter a giant ship that they cannot deal with, they will send sea ghosts to dive under the giant ship, drill through the bottom of the ship, and sink it. Even my Great Wei fleet has suffered losses from them." Nangong Xian explained.

"Is it possible that even the navy of our Great Wei can't deal with them?" Yue Ruyan asked what Chen Mo wanted to ask.

Nangong Xian sighed and said, "Your Majesty, Concubine Zhuang, these pirate ships are small and fast, and they are very familiar with this sea area. Once our warships pass by, they will swarm and flee, making it difficult to catch up.

Moreover, their sea ghosts are very good at swimming and can swim in the sea for more than an hour. They are also very skilled. Our soldiers are no match for them underwater. In addition, every time our navy goes there with great fanfare, it costs a lot..."

Chen Mo understood what Nangong Xian meant.

In other words, if this group of pirates encounters an organized navy, they will not confront you head-on.

If you hit me, I will run away. Not only that, I will also send sea ghosts to cause trouble underwater.

Even though our soldiers are proficient in water, they are no match for these sea ghosts and cannot catch them at all.

After all this time, after spending so much money and still seeing no effect, they might as well just bypass you.

Moreover, for warriors on land, once they get into water, especially deep water, they can exert 20% to 30% of their strength, which is considered quite good.

"General Nangong, what is this sea ghost?" Yue Ruyan asked curiously.

"They are one of the ethnic minorities living in this sea area. They have lived on the sea for generations and rarely set foot on land. It is said that gills have grown behind their ears and they can breathe in water like fish. They are no longer considered human beings." Nangong Xian said.

Yue Ruyan was slightly startled.

"Why doesn't the New Ci Kingdom have diplomatic relations with our country?" Chen Mo frowned. If he could pass through the New Ci Kingdom's waters, it would obviously save more time than passing through the Heluo waters. Passing through the Heluo waters would require a long detour.

"Uh," Nangong Xian hesitated for a moment before saying, "Your Majesty, this has to start from decades ago, and this matter is related to the Nangong family."

At that time, the New Porcelain Kingdom had not yet been unified and was called Porcelain Island. The Song Dynasty showed signs of decline and gradually lost its local power. At that time, along the coast of the Song Dynasty, especially in Sichuan and the sea, many pirates came to harass the coastal fishermen, burning, killing, looting, and doing whatever they wanted.

And almost all of these pirates came from Porcelain Island.

The Nangong family made their fortune at this time. They reorganized this group of pirates, established a navy, and wanted to develop overseas trade.

If you want to develop overseas trade, you have to open up shipping routes.

Because of this, they often confronted the Porcelain Kingdom, and thus formed a hatred between them.

After the unification of the Porcelain Island, the New Porcelain Kingdom was established, and the New Porcelain Kingdom blamed the Song Dynasty and the Wei Dynasty for this hatred.

Perhaps because it coveted the huge profits from Wei's overseas trade, when Wei tried to establish diplomatic relations with the New Porcelain Kingdom, the New Porcelain Kingdom not only demanded a huge toll, but also wanted to take a share in Wei's overseas trade.

"Ah? Where do they get such courage?" Yue Ruyan looked at the sea chart and saw that compared with the Great Wei, this was just a bug.

Yue Ruyan didn't know where the New Porcelain Kingdom got so much courage.

In this regard, Nangong Xian said uncertainly: "Maybe it was because our own country was not peaceful at the time, and the New Porcelain Country felt that we could not control them, so they dared to be so bold. And after all, we are doing business overseas, so we should avoid taking action if we can, and peace is the most precious thing."

"You said before that the pirates who attacked the coast of the previous dynasty came from Porcelain Island?" Chen Mo suddenly said.

Nangong Xian nodded.

Chen Mo said in a deep voice: "We inherited the previous dynasty. Since Porcelain Island killed the people of the previous dynasty, they killed the people of our Great Wei. If they have a grudge against the previous dynasty, they have a grudge against our Great Wei. So the New Porcelain Kingdom has a grudge against our Great Wei. Since we have a grudge, we must strike hard."

Chen Mo clapped his hands at the location of the New Porcelain Kingdom on the nautical chart.

Isn’t this a huge mountain that blocks Wei’s overseas trade? It must be flattened.

When Nangong Xian heard this, he was shocked. His Majesty was going to send troops to attack the New Ci Kingdom.

Nangong Xian couldn't help but get excited. If there was no obstruction from the New Porcelain Kingdom, how much more silver could the Maritime Customs earn every year?

It should be noted that every time the Wei fleet went out to sea, it would take at least one and a half years due to the route.

If this route to the New Porcelain Kingdom is opened up, the time it takes for the fleet to travel back and forth can be shortened.

For example, we could only go out to sea twice in three years.

After the time is shortened, you can go out to sea three times.

Going out to sea one more time means you can earn more money.

And this route, if a checkpoint is established, it will also be a treasure trove.

"I wonder when Your Majesty plans to launch a heavy attack?" Nangong Xian couldn't help but ask.

"Sending troops is not a trivial matter. Let's decide it after we go out to sea." Chen Mo has made up his mind, and these words are by no means just simple talk.

Chen Mo's fleet sailed to the Heluo Sea. As for the sea area called "Hanyang" where there were many pirates, Chen Mo planned to take a visit there when he came back.

The countries on this route in the Heluo Sea area either established diplomatic relations with the Wei Dynasty or came to the Wei Dynasty to pay tribute, considering themselves vassals, and the route was smooth. Merchant ships occasionally stopped at a country's port to go ashore to replenish supplies.

The people of this country looked at Nangong Xian and his men's attire and appearance and immediately recognized them as people from the great Eastern country. They were all extremely excited.

Of course, the reason for their excitement and enthusiasm was that in their view, the people of that big Eastern country were all rich, especially those who could go out to sea to trade, who were extremely rich.

A local vendor wearing a turban and with well-developed chest hair came up to Chen Mo and his group with a basket of green fruits on his head and started chattering.

Yue Ruyan couldn't understand the local dialect, so she asked Nangong Xian what it meant. Nangong Xian brought a "translator" with him on this trip. Nangong Xian asked the translator again, and then told Yue Ruyan: "Empress Zhuang, he said he went to see the upper state and wanted to sell his fruit to us."

"What kind of fruit is this?"

"Oil pear." Nangong Xian said.

"Avocado? A kind of pear? Is it delicious?" Yue Ruyan had never seen this kind of fruit before.

"It's just so-so." Chen Mo said. This fruit, which Nangong Xian called oil pear, was called avocado in Chen Mo's previous life. Anyway, he didn't like to eat it.

"Your Majesty, have you eaten it?" Yue Ruyan was stunned. She remembered that this fruit was not offered as tribute to the palace.

"Well, I've eaten it before." Chen Mo said.

"Oh."

Yue Ruyan didn't ask any further questions and let Chen Mo fool her.

"Would Empress Zhuang like to try one?"

Nangong Xian had eaten it before and it was a bit greasy, so it was called "oil pear".

You know, only delicious fruits and vegetables will be recorded by the Maritime Customs, and more will be purchased during the next voyage.

Only delicious fruits and vegetables were offered as tribute to the imperial court.

But there is no guarantee that Yue Ruyan will like to eat it.

Nangong Xian picked one up from the basket, wiped it with his clothes, cut a circle along the skin with a knife, twisted it in half, and removed the core.

He did not give it directly to Yue Ruyan, but gave it to the accompanying maid first, asking the maid to pass it on to Yue Ruyan.

Yue Ruyan gave half of it to Chen Mo.

After Chen Mo took it, he said, "Its skin is bitter, don't eat it, just eat the flesh."

After saying that, Chen Mo took a bite.

It’s avocado, and it tastes the same as the avocado in my previous life.

A light egg yolk flavor, slightly sweet.

I didn’t like to eat in my previous life, and it’s the same in this life.

Yue Ruyan imitated Chen Mo and took a bite, then whispered, "It tastes weird."

"Do you like it?" Chen Mo asked.

Yue Ruyan shook her head.

"Buy them all, and bring them back to the palace for them to try. Just treat it as a new experience."

If Chen Mo remembered correctly, the nutritional value of avocado is relatively high.

After a simple purchase, when Chen Mo and his party were returning to the boat, they were suddenly surrounded by a group of local women.

Translated.

It was learned that this group of women hoped that Chen Mo's fleet could take them away, and they even didn't want any money and were willing to offer themselves voluntarily.

Yue Ruyan was shocked after hearing this.

Even prostitutes charge money.

"Go! Go! Go."

Nangong Xian had them driven away, and then smiled at Chen Mo, “Your Majesty, the subjects of the Great Wei are very popular in these small countries. The women here would rather give up everything and want to go to the Great Wei, and even be a concubine, or even a slave who is worse than a concubine.

Most importantly, their government also encourages this behavior.”

There is a saying, "The moon is like smoke," but Nangong Xian can't say it directly.

That is, as long as you make it clear that you are from the Great Wei, the women here will come to you on their own initiative. Not only will they not ask for your money, they will also give you money. Even if you do not take her to the Great Wei in the end, she will not hate you.

And the greatest credit for this goes to a book.

If you want people in other countries to see a country's strength, you have to publicize it, especially to small countries overseas.

More than three years ago, Lu Yan, a well-known local knight, followed the Wei fleet to Zhongzhou.

Although the Wei Dynasty had just been established at that time and everything was in ruins, it had inherited the foundation of the previous dynasty for nearly 400 years. Lu Yan was in the capital, the most developed and populous city in Zhongzhou.

Take the houses with carved beams and painted rafters for example, they are not found in small overseas countries. Lu Yan was amazed when she saw all of this.

After traveling in the capital for half a year and experiencing the local culture and customs, Lu Yan wrote a travelogue of Lu Yan's travels in Zhongzhou as soon as she returned to her country. After its publication, it became popular all over the country.

With Lu Yan's boasting, the Great Wei became a country with gold everywhere in the eyes of the people of this country, and the people of this country were more superior than those of other countries.

In addition, Wei was the superior country in the country, so they all felt it was an honor to be able to leave behind the descendants of the Wei people.

(End of this chapter)