Do you know: I have a different surname: Wang, uncle Minglan.

Chapter 183 Fan Chunren? Just a puppet!
Just looking at age, King Wu seems to be much older than Zhao Zhen.

After all, Zhao Zhen has not yet reached the point where his hair and beard have turned gray.

But King Wu already looked like an old farmer.

However, Wei Yuan could keenly feel that under the almost rotten body of King Wu, there was a lot of energy hidden, which was far beyond the comparison of Zhao Zhen who had been out of the cold.

Later, King Wu brought Wei Yuan to the simple courtyard.

Next to the yard is a small field where many fruits and vegetables are grown.

King Wu personally brought two chairs and said with a smile:
"There are very few people coming here, and we don't prepare any good wine. This plum wine is brewed by me myself. If Commander Wei doesn't mind it, just give it a try."

Wei Yuan was not polite, sat on a chair, took the wine gourd from King Wu's hand, opened it and smelled it, then took another sip and praised:
"Yes, it's top quality. King Wu also knows how to make wine?"

King Wu said: "Suzhou fruit wine is famous all over the world. There are very few people here who can't make plum wine."

Wei Yuan said: "You are not an ordinary person."

"Fortunately, now that shipping has opened, I want to find a way for the people of Suzhou to prosper."

"Now that the salt production class has to be restructured, the people of Suzhou are having a very hard time."

King Wu nodded, "Commander Wei's words make sense."

King Wu stroked his beard and said: "It's the same. After living in Suzhou for a long time, you become half a Suzhou native."

King Wu smiled and said: "Who doesn't know that the commander of the army has soldiers? In my opinion, there is no conflict between having soldiers and having power."

"Suzhou is rich in brocade silk, and the commander-in-chief has troops. If you and I cooperate, we can do a lot."

King Wu said: "General Wei seems to be a little out of sorts."

King Wu smiled and said, "Commander Wei is really interesting."

"I drank wine, admired the scenery of Taihu Lake, and talked a lot. Your Majesty asked me to come. What do you want to say?"

Wei Yuan took another drink and said:

The plum wine he brewed was indeed top-grade, sweet and sour, but the key was that the prince brewed it himself. It would be hard for ordinary people to drink.

"You want to find prosperity for the people of Suzhou, and I also want to quell the Japanese pirates for the people of the southeast coast."

At this time, the people who want to see Wei Yuan are all related to shipping.

Dazhou finally opened up sea transportation, and it took more than a day or two for overseas countries to get silks, books and other items from Dazhou.

"I'm just here to quell the Japanese, you shouldn't talk to me."

"In the past two years, the imperial court has issued salt banknotes widely, causing Suzhou to lose more than half of its fiscal revenue."

Wei Yuan put on a thoughtful look,

Wei Yuan shook his head and said: "As the saying goes, every inch of time is worth an inch of gold. Instead of having the time to chat, it is better to exchange time for gold."

"Your Majesty wants to start a shipping business. You should discuss this matter with the Shipping Department or Mr. Fan Chunren."

Wei Yuan said: "The prince is joking, the soldiers are the soldiers of the imperial court, not my private soldiers."

"Since it's all for the sake of the people, I won't go around in circles anymore."

By then, there will inevitably be contact with merchants from the Great Zhou Dynasty.

However, this does not mean that you can do this business if you want to.

It requires permission from Fan Chunren, the envoy of Southeast Economic Strategy.

Otherwise, if we all trade with overseas countries, there will be trouble.

Although Wei Yuan was not an envoy, he had no right to interfere with maritime trade.

But he is the pacifier from the southeast. Without his permission, no ship can go to sea.

Moreover, generally speaking, before the Japanese pirate crisis has been completely eliminated.

Some larger business transactions with overseas countries require the protection of military officers, and the military takes part of the profits.

Of course, the escort here does not mean sending those caravans to overseas countries.

Instead, they were sent to safer sea areas and returned immediately.

To put it simply, if you want to carry out free trade overseas, you can't offend anyone but Wei Yuan.

"With your power, King Wu, do you still need help from me?"

Wei Yuan asked.

King Wu said: "Everyone knows that shipping matters should be done sooner rather than later. Once the storm passes, it will be even more difficult to obtain any benefits."

"If Commander Wei agrees, I, the people of Suzhou, will definitely shed tears of gratitude towards you."

If Wei Yuan did not allow certain caravans to go to sea, or did not send troops to escort them, on the grounds that the Japanese pirates had not been eliminated, it would be difficult to do shipping business.

But these things are just a matter of Wei Yuan's words.

Japanese pirates are not fools. They know who they can offend and who they cannot offend.

They dare not touch ships with military escorts.

Once the business is done, there will generally be no major problems for the caravan to follow the established route when returning.

"What King Wu means is that if the problem of Japanese pirates is more difficult, you need the Japanese pirates to escort your Suzhou merchant ships?"

Wei Yuan asked again. King Wu nodded, "I hope that the ships from Suzhou can be the first to go to sea."

This is also decided by Wei Yuan.

Everyone wants to be the first in business.

This is because once more and more merchants participate in shipping and the court gradually intervenes, it will become increasingly difficult to earn money from shipping.

But no matter what kind of business, as long as you are the first to do it, you can always make money.

“In return, I will double the price offered by businessmen from other state capitals.”

After hearing King Wu say this, Wei Yuan was moved.

How much money the army can get from each escort is considered by the Shipping Department.

Only the extra money can fall into Wei Yuan's pocket.

For example, the profit of a fleet from signing orders with overseas countries can reach one million taels.

Then according to the regulations of the Municipal Shipping Department, the troops responsible for escorting can receive a remuneration of about 30,000 taels, which is 3%.

In case of war, this share will be much higher.

This is not included in the court tax.

The profit that King Wu said would be distributed to Wei Yuan was not measured in percentage, but exactly doubled.

In other words, for a profit of one million taels, the King of Wu would give thirty thousand taels to the army and another thirty thousand taels to Wei Yuan.

Don’t underestimate thirty thousand taels.

Because of the profit of one million taels, one hundred thousand taels must be given to the court. This is still a tax on ordinary silk transportation, and one out of ten is drawn.

If it involves some relatively confidential commodities, such as weapons, ironware, etc., the tax may be 40% to 50%.

Then it has to be shared among vendors at all levels, so the actual profits obtained are relatively small.

It can be seen that King Wu was determined to start the shipping business as soon as possible.

"I'll have to wait until I get to Liang Zhejiang before I make a decision on this matter."

Nowadays, most of Wei Yuan's information about the two Zhejiang provinces comes from the Imperial City Division. He must go there in person to know the specific situation.

King Wu nodded and said: "I am very happy that you can come. As for what I want to tell you, I am not in a hurry."

"You may encounter many merchants and officials along the way to show their courtesy. You can wait for the price."

He was very confident in the price he offered.

Wei Yuan said nothing more.

After returning to the army, he first asked Yang Huairen,
"Have you seen anything unusual in the army in the past few days since my commander-in-chief left?"

It is hard to tell who is the friend and who is the enemy in the southeastern group.

It is not clear whether there are spies planted by the emperor in the new army.

In short, be cautious in everything.

Yang Huairen shook his head and said: "Everything is normal, Commander Wei, please rest assured."

"It's just that there are many noble families, officials and even merchants along the way who want to come and see you."

"The generals refused on the grounds of marching."

There is nothing wrong with merchants from aristocratic families coming to look for Wei Yuan.

When officials come looking for him, half of them want to make some money, and the other half want to gain merit.

Once you can take the lead in maritime transportation, the money you earn can be used to cover the taxes of a place for several years. Isn't this an achievement?
At that time, the Ministry of Personnel will review it, and you will be promoted to one level even if you don't say anything.

If Fan Chunren went to the southeast, he was in a situation where no one cared about him or welcomed him respectfully.

Wei Yuan is really the complete opposite.

Fan Chunren needed to go to Suzhou in person before he could be received by the local governor.

This can be regarded as the rule of the court.

But before Wei Yuan went to Suzhou, the famous families and officials in Suzhou could no longer sit still and rushed to curry favor with Wei Yuan. This was the gap between the two sides.

After all, who let Wei Yuan have soldiers in his hands? As King Wu said, this is power!

Fan Chunren? It's just a puppet!
In the southeast, Wei Yuan has the final say.

"Second order, we will go to Zhejiang and Zhejiang, but we will not reach the state capital. We will go along the coast. If there are any officials, merchants, etc. coming, we will not see them."

"I want to inspect the coastal defense affairs of Zhejiang and Zhejiang."

Although the Zhou Dynasty did not have a navy, it did have coastal defenses, that is, castles, watchtowers, beacon towers, etc. were set up along the coast.

The number of coastal defense troops is roughly the same as that of urban defense troops in important towns in Suzhou and Hangzhou, about two to three thousand people.

Of course, to the well-equipped Forbidden Army, these were all ordinary soldiers wearing cloth armor who were vulnerable to a single blow.

But even if they are miscellaneous soldiers, there is no reason why they cannot defeat the Japanese pirates.

(End of this chapter)