Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

Among the maritime merchants who escaped from Shuangyu Port after their defeat, the most famous was Xu Dong's right-hand man, who later became the renowned "Five Peaks Ship Owner" Wang Zhi.

When Shuangyu Port still existed, there were only a few small-scale pirates along the southeast coast.

Not long after Shuangyu Port was destroyed, a "Japanese pirate army" of hundreds of ships appeared, attacking and seizing cities and territories.

Did the officials of the Ming Dynasty ever consider why there were never any significant Japanese pirates before Shuangyu Port was destroyed?

Even before the Maritime Trade Offices in Ningbo and Fujian were abolished, there was no large private port like Shuangyu, and no large groups of pirates at sea.

Lu Chen felt that even if these civil officials didn't understand at first, they figured it out later.

Otherwise, how could there have been the later Longwan Sea Opening?

After the seas were opened, the large-scale raids by Japanese pirates quickly disappeared.

It's actually quite simple: who would want to live a life of constant danger if they could make money in business?

Unfortunately, it was too late to mend the fence after the sheep were lost.

In another dimension of history, the foundation established by Wang Zhi, the "King of the Pure Sea" who founded the "Song" Kingdom overseas, still existed after he was lured and killed.

Even after Wang Zhi's successor, his adopted son Wang Ao, was defeated and killed, it was merely a change of leadership; new overlords of the East China Sea continued to emerge one after another.

First it was Li Dan, then Zheng Zhilong, the last pirate king of the late Ming Dynasty.

From that time onward, the vast coastal borders of the Ming Dynasty were no longer solely under the control of the imperial court.

And the one who personally opened this Pandora's box was none other than the Xie family of Yuyao!

Lu Chen tried hard to recall the information he had read before he transmigrated.

After the imperial court closed the Ningbo Maritime Trade Office, the islands off the coast of Zhoushan, including Shuangyu, gradually became strongholds for smuggling trade.

It is now the end of the seventeenth year of the Jiajing reign, and Shuangyu Port has been officially opened to foreign trade. At this time, the person in charge should still be the first leader, Jin Zilao.

Moreover, they have already begun cooperating with the Xie family of Yuyao.

The Xie family of Yuyao were the general agents for the sale of imported goods from Shuangyu Port in the inland areas.

It will be a full eight years before the Xie family and Shuangyu Haishang Group have a falling out.

This period is the golden age for trade in Shuangyu Port.

Before long, the Portuguese will also settle in the two islands, establish trading posts, and even build churches, even earlier than in Macau.

Shuangyu Port is becoming a large international free trade port.

Of course, it is also a lawless place.

The quantity of crystal glassware produced by their own glass workshop was so large that two months' production capacity exceeded the total amount imported into the Ming Dynasty from overseas throughout the entire year.

Let alone the small town of Linqing, the entire Ming Dynasty couldn't digest it.

Forced sales will only cause prices to plummet rapidly, which is counterproductive.

Lu Chen's original plan was to shift from export to domestic sales.

Simply put, it means finding the original merchants selling Venetian glassware within the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

Then they directly impersonated maritime merchants and wholesaled the crystal glassware produced in their workshop to the other party under the name of Western glassware.

Such large-scale source distributors would naturally not only sell their goods to Linqing, but would also sell them to dozens of major cities in the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty through multiple layers of distribution.

If I were to send out one or two hundred pieces of crystal glassware to the other party each month, I should be able to handle it without causing too much of a shock to market prices.

However, this can only absorb about one-third of the workshop's production capacity.

The remaining two-thirds need to be sold overseas.

Lu Chen had originally prepared to seal up these crystal glasswares if there was no reliable way to proceed.

Now that Shuangyu Port has become a significant force, there's no need for such actions!

The remaining two-thirds of the production capacity will be exported overseas by Shuangyu Maritime Group.

After making up his mind, Lu Chen looked around and glanced at the five junior officers under his command.

He has already announced that half of the profits from the glass workshop will be distributed to the entire Linqing Imperial Guard Thousand Household Office, with everyone receiving a share.

This was done, of course, to bind the entire thousand-household garrison, from top to bottom, to his own pirate ship.

This crystal and glassware business could also be considered the slush fund of the Linqing Imperial Guard's Thousand-Household Office.

In the matter of shipping goods, these people's interests are aligned with his.

Dealing with the Xie family of Yuyao naturally requires sending a capable subordinate. Who should be sent?

Gao Ruopu is not suitable. He has been in charge of the glass workshop from the beginning, so it is not appropriate to replace him.

Moreover, the journey from Linqing to Ningbo is over a thousand kilometers, and the identity of a member of the Imperial Guard is of little use whether facing the Xie family or maritime merchants.

Moreover, since he intended to impersonate a maritime merchant, he could not use his identity as a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

He is, after all, Gao Qianhu's youngest son; it would be bad if something happened to him outside.

What about the others?

Shen Zhui, Tang Zhe, and Miao Feng were all sons of centurions. They grew up by their fathers' side and learned mainly the manners of military officers.

To impersonate a maritime merchant, one needs to lack the air of a bandit, otherwise, one will easily be exposed.

Only Qin Fang was slightly better off.

Although his mother was Gao Qianhu's cousin, his father was a notorious bandit in his early years, and even after becoming a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he still retained some of the bandit's traits.

Qin Fang had been exposed to these things since childhood, so he was bound to learn some of them.

They also know more about the shady dealings in the underworld than their colleagues.

Is it appropriate to send Qin Fang to Ningbo?

No, no!

He was indeed more suitable than the other four, but he did not yet have the ability to stand alone as a pioneer of this trade route.

Forcing him to go alone would likely result in him messing things up.

I should personally lead the group and bring Qin Fang along.

I personally took charge of developing new business routes, and he was involved in the entire process.

Once I return to Linqing, I can entrust the next delivery and transaction to him.

Moreover, there are two advantages to going in person.

Five months have passed since I took office in Linqing. When I left Biyang County, I left Chen Yunniang only two hundred taels of silver, which was barely enough to support the family of more than ten people for a year.

If something urgent comes up, it won't last a year.

Before arriving in Linqing, Lu Chen originally planned to get used to his position as the head of the Embroidered Uniform Guard for a while before exploring the ancient metropolis of Linqing.

In a big city with such advanced logistics, it shouldn't be difficult to find a merchant who can send packages anonymously.

At the time, Lu Chen never expected that Gao Mingqian, a dignified commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and a fifth-rank military officer, would fawn over him in such a way.

He would cooperate fully with whatever I wanted to do and never dared to object, making it seem as if I was his boss.

But there is one exception: when it comes to one's own safety.

Wherever I go, someone will always follow me.

Even if he dismisses his attendants, he can still sense that someone is protecting him in secret.

The merchants who could send silver have been found; they are the legendary escort agencies, and there's more than one.

But Lu Chen wasn't confident he could get rid of all the eyeliner, so he secretly put on makeup and went to send money.

The Linqing Imperial Guard's Thousand-Household Office had over 1,100 members, and Gao Mingqian had spies everywhere in the city.

But outside of Linqing, he probably doesn't have that ability!