The Three Kingdoms Voyage

Chapter 232 The Pirate Empire Is All About It

Zhu Ya, chief minister Shen Xuan, and Zhu Ya county magistrate Wei Jing stood side by side on the pier, behind them stood a dozen guards in brand-new armor, and behind the guards, groups of three or four gathered together, chattering There are scholars who talk non-stop. Some of them fold their hands and smile with elegant attitudes, while others roll up their sleeves and gesticulate, spitting everywhere, trying to express something to others.

The well-dressed Wei Boyang and the bearded Ge Xuan stood together, talking softly, Wei Boyang had a gratified smile on his eyes, but Ge Xuan was inexplicably excited. Then the smell of alcohol sprayed out his mouth, making Wei Boyang frown.Not far away, Liu Xi with a serious face and Zhao Shuang with a dazed expression stood together, but they didn't say a word. Liu Xi was serious, but Zhao Shuang seemed to be thinking about something, as if he didn't understand what was going on before him. See.

Here are the elites of Zhuya, the scholars of Taoism Academy, they gathered together at the pier today in order to meet His Royal Highness Yue Wang who came to inspect.After the King of Yue conquered Yizhou, he took more than 1 troops to patrol the South China Sea, but he did not return to Qiantang, the capital of his country, to celebrate the New Year. Instead, he summoned all the officials of Qiantang to Zhuya. Pass.

Shen Xuan is very smart, he knows the appreciation behind this decree, and he is very excited, but he also knows that if this matter is done well, it will be a great achievement and will pave the way for his further promotion. That's all.Shen Xuan did not mobilize the crowd, and all arrangements were carried out in a concealed state. It was not until Sun Shao's navy was about to arrive at Zhuya that he notified the scholars of the Taoism Academy and led them to the pier to meet them. The people in the county town were still in the dark, they didn't know that King Yue was coming. Although the fishermen saw a lot of people at the pier, they only knew that someone important was coming, but they didn't expect that this important person would be King Yue.

"It's coming, it's coming." Wei Jing, who couldn't hold back her excitement, pointed at a boat approaching in the distance, and shouted in a low voice.

"Yes, it should be here." Shen Xuan smiled slightly, raised his hand to block the early morning sun, and looked at the place where the sea and the sky communicated. The sea was vast and glowing with golden light, and he couldn't even see it.

When the boat landed, a strong and strong man flew all the way to Shen Xuan, bowed and saluted: "My lord, the king's fleet has arrived ten miles away."

"It's hard work, go down and rest." Shen Xuan waved his hands, turned to Wei Boyang and Liu Xi and said: "Wei Jijiu, Liu Jijiu, the king is coming soon, please stop the debate and be serious."

Wei Boyang and Liu Xi nodded with a smile, turned around and ordered a few times, the scholars like a flock of ducks immediately quieted down and looked east in unison. After a while, Wei Boyang first called out: "It really is here." Then, Ge Xuan also snorted, everyone was surprised, but they couldn't see anything, just about to say, someone shouted: "Come here, I see the sail."

The scholars who were about to slander Wei Boyang and Ge Xuan pretending to be gods and ghosts didn't bother to say more, and took a closer look. Sure enough, a shadow of sails appeared in the sky, and soon, a large ship appeared, followed by countless warships. Now on the sea, it is fast heading towards the pier.

"Come, come..." Everyone cheered.

"Quiet!" Ge Xuan suddenly shouted loudly like thunder, and rolled over the heads of the crowd. The excited scholars suddenly felt their ears buzzing, and the weaker ones almost couldn't stand still, and they couldn't help shouting. His face turned pale with shock, and he became silent for a moment.

"Ge Xianweng's skill has improved a lot." Shen Xuan plucked out his ears, smiled wryly and praised.

"Hahaha..." Ge Xuan was very proud, and pretended to be modest and said: "It's okay, it's all because of greed, otherwise it should be faster."

Wei Jing curled her lips, but said nothing.

"This old warlock is showing off his abilities again." Behind Liu Xi, a weak-looking scholar snorted disdainfully.

"You're wrong." A dark-faced man with big hands next to him smiled and said, "This is not his real ability. I'm afraid that once his true ability is displayed, the few books in your Confucian Academy are not enough. He burned it."

"Also!" The scholar dismissed him, "The sage's scriptures and righteousness are all in the hearts of our students. How can he burn them out with his shocking thunder? Could it be that he is more powerful than Qin Shihuang's fire?"

"Maybe it's true." The man didn't think so, and laughed sarcastically: "At least Qin Shihuang left you a whole body, if Ge Xianweng did something, I'm afraid you would all become Zilu."

The scholar was furious, Zilu was chopped to death by someone, the metaphor of the man in the art academy was too vicious, he rolled up his sleeves and was about to fight him, but look at the man's thick arms, then look The sneering men behind him were a little short of breath, loosened their sleeves, shrunk their necks, and muttered: "A gentleman speaks but doesn't move, I'm too lazy to argue with you people."

The men giggled, and were about to sarcasm again, when Wei Boyang turned his head and glanced at him with real eyes, they immediately became honest, stood there respectfully, and tried their best to put on a gentle, courteous and thrifty appearance.Today, in order to meet the King of Yue, they all put on formal dresses, but they are usually used to wearing bunts, so suddenly wearing this long gown is really uncomfortable.

The fleet was getting closer and closer, and the boat of Zuo General Cui Qian was the first to dock. As soon as the boat docked, the [-] elites of the Fuyue General He Da disembarked first, and they lined up along the long stone road. Open, the murderous aura suddenly enveloped the entire pier, and everyone became serious.Several fishermen in the distance were startled when they saw this posture, and pointed around in the distance, but they were not afraid. Soon someone discovered the king's boat of Yue King, and the news of King Yue's visit to Zhuya spread like wildfire. Walk.

Wang Chuan approached the pier, and the long and wide gangplank was lowered. Under the protection of Shi Bao, Ao Lei and others, Sun Shao stepped on the gangplank to the shore, looking at the flat road paved with bluestone slabs under his feet. Shen Xuan who came up to salute said with a smile: "Mo Zhi, you are so generous."

Shen Xuan smiled slightly: "Reporting to my lord, this was done by calling the peasants during the slack season. In three years, Mr. Wei put stone slabs on the main streets in the city, so that they could withstand the daily trampling of cattle and horses, otherwise If not, Master Wei will have a headache for road construction every year."

Sun Shao turned his head to look at Wei Jing, and Wei Jing hurriedly stepped forward and explained: "Your Majesty, Zhu Ya established the county with Shang, and there are countless horses and chariots going to and from the docks every day. I used to use dirt roads, but Zhu Ya It rains a lot, and once it rains, it will be muddy and difficult to walk. When the weather clears, the road will become potholed and difficult to walk. Yichen and Da Si Nong discussed and hired peasants to polish the stone slabs during the slack season, and paved the main streets with stone slabs. Now it is unimpeded no matter it is sunny or rainy, and it also saves a lot of road repair costs.”

"Well done." Sun Shao turned his head and said to Prime Minister Yu Fan and Yushi doctor Lu Ji who were following behind him: "What do you two think?"

Yu Fan said in his heart, you have already said it, what else can I say?But Lu Ji smiled lightly: "Of course it is good, but the big farming order, I can speak first, since you said it was done by hired servants, it is not free, I have to check it out, you made it Does the wages meet the standards of my country? If it is discovered that wages have been deducted or abused by the people, it will violate my king's purpose of treating the people well, and then don't blame me for impeaching the two."

Shen Xuan smiled slightly: "Naturally, there is no need to talk about it. Please do your best to investigate, Doctor Yu Shi. As long as such a thing happens, Master Wei and I don't want you to impeach, and we will go to the Tingwei Mansion to plead guilty."

"Da Sinong is very confident." Yu Fan rolled his eyes with a half-smile.

"I dare not, I just have a clear conscience." Shen Xuan replied with a smile.Sun Shao brought Yu Fan and Lu Ji to Zhuya to celebrate the New Year. Naturally, he wanted Yu Fan, the prime minister, to see his achievements in Zhuya. In disguise, he said that Sun Shao was not satisfied with Yu Fan and their work. He is not a fool, of course he knows this truth, so it is reasonable to criticize Zhu Ya.The more this is the case, the more Shen Xuancai wants to make him invulnerable, so as to show his ability.

Sun Shao smiled and said nothing, he invited Yu Fan and the others to Zhuya to let them compete with each other, and now they are fighting each other as soon as they meet, although the speed is too fast, but the atmosphere is not bad, everyone is still playing cards It's easy to deal with the cards.He waved his hands and said: "Okay, you guys don't stand here any more, after more than ten days on the boat, why don't you take a rest first, and then Da Sinong will lead us to look around. Doctor Yushi should hurry up and check it out, and don’t be fooled by them.”

Lu Ji smiled, bowed and said, "Your Majesty is right, I came here with a suspicious eye, and I have to find fault with him and make trouble for him."

Everyone laughed.

After returning to Zhuya County, he lived in the palace Shen Xuan had prepared for Sun Shao.The main building of the palace is not big, just a big house, but the surrounding environment is very good, with the mountains on the back and the sea, and patches of mangrove forests on the beach, like a scarlet Great Wall, and many tall fruit trees planted on the hillside, Although it is winter now, many trees are still bearing fruit, which is an eye-opener for those Yuejun people who have never been to Zhuya. Seeing some of Zhuya's properties, but seeing it with my own eyes, I can't help being very excited.

In the next few days, under the leadership of Shen Xuan, Sun Shao led all the officials to visit Zhuya's Taoist academy, workshops, breeding plants, fishing bays and markets. Explanation of the establishment purpose, personnel scale, and annual input and output.Lu Ji, the doctor of the censor, did not forget his responsibilities while listening to him. He took the accountants headed by Lu Shan to check Zhu Ya's related accounts, and sent the censor to make an unannounced visit. I really want to pick a bone in an egg.

While Yu Fan and Lu Ji were learning scriptures and picking thorns, Sun Shao was very idle. On this day, he was walking in the mangrove forest with the tide receding. Leading a dozen or so tigers followed ten steps away, only Shen Xuan followed closely behind Sun Shao. He was barefoot like Sun Shao, his trousers were rolled up, and he was not wearing an official uniform. See, no one would have thought that one of these two young men was the monarch of the Yue Kingdom, and the other was the Da Si Nong of the Yue Kingdom.

"Mozhi, you are doing well here, even better than I expected." Sun Shao said first: "I was worried that Zhuya's production population is too small, but there are too many people eating, and food supply will be a big problem. , now I feel relieved, Zhu Ya can definitely become a model for the development of my Yue country. Mozhi, you have solved a big problem for me."

Shen Xuan smiled, lowered his head, looked at the mud squeezed out of his feet, and said after a while: "My lord, I didn't expect to be able to solve this problem at first, and I was very suspicious of the king's decision at that time. "

"Oh? Really?" Sun Shao didn't think it was disobedient, and said with a smile: "Tell me, I saw that you agreed readily at the time, and I always thought you had a plan, but I didn't expect you to have questions."

"Your Majesty must know that my Shen family got rich by running the manor, right?" Shen Xuan tilted his head, glanced at Sun Shao, with a smile on his lips.

Sun Shao nodded, of course he knew how the Shen family got rich.Not only the Shen family, but most of the aristocratic families in Jiangdong. Although they also do business, most of their wealth is still based on the self-sufficient economy of the manor. Business is not their main business, and their main content is to sell their surplus products. There are not many who specialize in sales.Because Shen You was killed by Sun Quan in the Shen family, Shen Xuan refused to be an official. Not only would he have no official salary, but more importantly, he had no privileges in doing business, so he would inevitably be blackmailed, so the business income was in his family The proportion is even smaller, and he has been mainly operating the manor, which is why he had to seek attachment to Sun Shao later.

"I've always had this concept, or rather, most people have this concept. Without population and land, how can we ensure stability and instability? How can we develop? Zhuya has land, but there is little arable land. Zhuya has people. However, there are few farmers. Under normal circumstances, if you manage a place like Zhuya, you should first teach them to farm and reclaim wasteland suitable for farming. Men farm and women weave, and they first seek food and clothing. Even if you are qualified, you may still get the highest evaluation in the performance appraisal. After three exams, promotion is not a problem." Shen Xuan said unhurriedly: "However, if you want to pass the exam within three to five years Zhuya has built a county with a permanent population of nearly [-], and more than [-]% of them are merchants who are not engaged in production. I don’t think anyone can do it, let alone food supply.”

"But you did it." Sun Shao looked at Shen Xuan with a smile on his lips.

"I was forced by the king." Shen Xuan shook his head: "In the past two years, what I was most worried about was food, and I was worried about food every day. When autumn came, the first thing I would do was to send people to Japan. Go south to buy food and prepare for the coming year, and if things go wrong, Zhu Ya will fall into panic."

"Food is the paramount necessity of the people. If there is nothing to eat, no matter how nice you treat him, he will rebel." Sun Shao stopped laughing, and he sighed. From the beginning, he expected that Zhu Ya's development would have certain difficulties. , but I didn't expect that Shen Xuan was under so much pressure at that time, and Shen Xuan never told him about these difficulties, and Shen Xuan never mentioned these difficulties when he wrote to him.

"However, I was relieved soon." Shen Xuan showed a relaxed smile: "In the autumn of the second year, I found out that my grain transport ship had just arrived in Nichinan, and they had already prepared the grain I needed. What made me even more happy was that there were merchants from Jiuzhen and Jiaozhi waiting there, warmly inviting our fleet to them, saying that their food was cheaper. That time, I bought two Before the fleet returned to Zhuya, merchants from Hepu came to our door and complained that I would go far away to buy grain in Hepu instead of going to Rinan and Jiuzhen. From the third year onwards, I There is no need to buy it, as long as I send the purchased quantity to the counties, they will deliver the food by themselves.”

"Really? No wonder you are so confident. I always ask you for food, and you transport it to Yizhou with tens of thousands of stones."

"The reason is very simple. The price we buy is five to ten times their local grain price. Even if they buy grain from other places and resell it, they can still make considerable profits." Shen Xuan said with a smile: "Even if they lower the prices of each other now, I Only give them three or four times the price, and there are still people who are eager to go after them. I have enough grain in Zhuya's granary for ten years. If the king wants grain, I can't ask for it. Otherwise, there will be no old grain in the granary. There is a way to solve it, the taste of the stored grain after three years is much worse."

"Five to ten times, the price is really not low, is your tax enough here?"

"Enough! Not only enough, but more than enough." Shen Xuan laughed: "Yue cloth from Yuejun, silk from Linzi and Xiangben, and iron from Xiapi all pass through Zhuya. The price of these goods is grain. Not to mention, the silk in Linzi can be sold for 30 million yuan per stone, and for this alone, the annual tax revenue is enough for me to buy food."

"So expensive?" Sun Shao was a little startled: "I heard from Sun Guan that they are already making a lot of money selling raw silk for a stone."

"Yeah, without such a high profit, would those Qingzhou businessmen be so enthusiastic?"

"It's no wonder that old guy is so happy every time he sees me. So the profit is so high." Sun Shao clapped his hands, and said regretfully, "If I knew it was so profitable, I would ask him for more benefits."

"It's nothing. According to Daqin merchants, these silks are as valuable as gold when shipped to Daqin. A shipment of silk back is equivalent to a shipment of gold."

Sun Shao was dumbfounded. A stone of raw silk sold for 30 yuan in Qingzhou. According to the price ratio of labor and materials, the cost of weaving a stone of silk was about 400 yuan. Now that the new loom is used, the cost has been reduced to about 400 yuan, and the selling price is [-] yuan. That is to say, before this piece of silk leaves Qingzhou, the profit is as high as [-]%, and when it is transported to Zhuya and sold to Daqin merchants, the price has increased tenfold. Taxes, the profits here are also very considerable.However, Daqin merchants transported it back to Daqin at a price of [-] million yuan per stone, but they could sell it at a price equal to that of gold. That is to say, one stone can be worth about [-] to [-] million yuan, which is another ten times.From Qingzhou to Daqin, the price of a stone of silk changed from [-] to [-] yuan to [-] million yuan, which is a hundredfold increase. No wonder some people are willing to travel thousands of miles to do this business without avoiding risks.

"Since it's so profitable, why don't we ship it directly to Daqin?" Sun Shao rolled his eyes and immediately had a new idea.

"I thought so too." Shen Xuan smiled, "However, those merchants from Qingzhou were scared when they heard what Daqin merchants said, and they didn't dare to go."

"why?"

"One is that the journey is long, and it takes about a year to come and go." Shen Xuan said, pointing his fingers, "Secondly, the sea route is dangerous. According to Daqin merchants, if they encounter wind and waves at sea, they are likely to lose their boats and die. , Everyone went bankrupt because of this. There are many pirates in the past three years, and the pirates along the way are like blood-sucking leeches, as numerous as cow hair, and more than half of the profits are made for them.”

"Hahaha..." Sun Shao laughed loudly: "Pirates? Which pirate is better than me? I want to see if they rob me or I rob them. As for the ships, I will also look at the ships of the Daqin people However, it’s really not worth mentioning. If our ship goes out to sea, its ability to resist wind and waves is much stronger than theirs. But this time, alas, before the machine is built, although we are faster than them, it is still limited. "

"If you can reduce the risk and not be afraid of pirates, even if it takes a little longer, some people will still be willing to go." Shen Xuandao: "However, if your majesty wants to go to sea, it is reasonable to lay the foundation first. This is not a simple business Those pirates are not just pirates, most of them have the shadow of officials behind them, fighting pirates is fighting against those kingdoms, you should not take it lightly."

Sun Shao chuckled: "I understand the truth about the family of officials and robbers. I am the most obvious example. This meal needs to be eaten bite by bite, and things need to be done one by one. Let me clear the South China Sea first, and then go to Daqin. However, you have to start to clean up the matters related to Daqin, at most three to five years, I will send someone to Daqin to have a look."

"Don't worry, my lord, I have already started to collect information about this." Shen Xuanlue said with a smug smile: "My lord, I found some good iron in Tianzhu, and I have handed it over to the Art Academy for research. The iron in Xiapi is even better."

Sun Shao blinked suspiciously. His impression of India was limited to Ah San and the bald monk. Does Tianzhu still produce good iron?

"For this matter, Ge Sizhen personally took people to Tianzhu, and finally brought back a few blacksmiths from Tianzhu. After two months of trial production, he finally mastered this method. Recently, he is trial producing the first batch of weapons. "

"No wonder he didn't come to see me, so he was busy with this matter." Sun Shao smiled.He has been in Zhuya for several days, and he has basically met everyone he wanted to see, but Ge Heng has never shown up, only saying that he will come in two days, but he didn't say what he was busy with, Shen Xuan didn't say anything, he really didn't Know.

"He is a bit crazy when he does things." Shen Xuan smiled: "It's the same as that blacksmith whose surname is Pu from Hanzhong."

"Hey, technical people are mostly a little crazy." Sun Shaoxin smiled sympathetically, "I wanted to go and see him, so I'd better not go, so as not to disturb him."

Shen Xuan was silent for a moment, Sun Shao actually wanted to take the initiative to visit Ge Heng, which made him a little bitter, but then he threw this thought away.Ge Heng is Sun Shao's confidant. He has followed Sun Shao since he was still in trouble. Sun Shao can achieve today's achievements. Ge Heng is the number one hero. Without the warships he transformed, how could Sun Shao rise suddenly.Sun Shao is so kind to the hero, isn't it exactly what he wants.

"Your Majesty, it's not just Nanhai, right?" Shen Xuan smiled slightly: "I heard that King Wu has been doing a lot lately."

(End of this chapter)