Michael Harris has been doing business in Nanyang for several years, and he has been to Daming more times than he can count on one hand.

However, whether he was interacting with Ming officials or ordinary businessmen, he almost never heard anyone call him by his full name.

Some call him Harry, some call him Mike, and some mix his first and last name together and call him Maiha or Maihas.

Today, he was originally invited by the officials of the Songjiang City Shipping Department to make up for their empty shipping department, but he never thought that His Highness the Emperor Taisun of the Ming Dynasty could call out his full name in one breath, and his name was

The pronunciation of the last name is also very standard.

This made him feel that he was greatly respected, and even felt a bit cordial when he first heard the local accent.

Although the local accent was thousands of miles away, and still had the harshness and convolutedness of Ming Dynasty dialect, it still moved him to tears, and he wanted to kiss the other person's toes to express his inner excitement.

Zhu Yunxi took a step forward, helped Michael Harris up, and casually said a few Ming Dynasty words mixed with this English word.

Although Britain today is far less majestic than the empire on which the sun never sets in the future, basic English grammar is still in place. Even if Zhu Yunxi speaks irregularly, Michael Harris can still understand it.

"Your king of England is Charles II, right?"

"Have you finished the war with France?"

Zhu Yunxi was played directly by Michael Harris. Michael Harris never thought that someone in the distant Ming Empire would know about the affairs of a small country like England!

Over the years, he has traveled all over the country to do business, not to mention the Southeast Asia near the Ming Empire, and even the Mediterranean coast. There are still many people who have never heard of England and don't know that there is such a country in the world.

"Your highness, the wise and wise Grandson of the Ming Dynasty, your wisdom and insight really make the foreign envoy admire you!"

"Michael Harris, the envoy from Britain, is completely impressed by your wisdom!"

"You are right. When the foreign envoy left his hometown, Charles II had been the king for twelve years. As for now, the foreign envoy does not know who is the king of the foreign envoy's hometown."

"However, when the foreign envoy left home, there were already widespread rumors that the Plantagenet Dynasty was coming to an end. Both the foreign envoy and the people of England were not optimistic about King Charles and felt that he was not worthy of commanding the subjects of England..."

"As for our war with the French..."

When Michael Harris said this, there was a trace of heaviness on his face.

"I'm afraid that the foreign envoy will never hear news of the victory of his mother country in his lifetime..."

Michael Harris has always emphasized his status as a foreign envoy, which was actually a popular trade method at the time.

Because in principle, the Ming Dynasty was not allowed to trade with overseas merchants. There was only one way to trade, and that was paying tribute.

However, if you want to be eligible to pay tribute, you must have the status of an external envoy.

Therefore, they collectively made a decision that went against their ancestors, and that was to pretend to be envoys from overseas vassal countries.

Some kind-hearted merchants even know how to catch a few savages from the Southeast Asian island countries and pretend to be them, while some shameless ones just make up their identities and come to trade...

Anyway, no one can falsify these days. If you want to distinguish their authenticity, it will take a year or two just to travel back and forth to the countries they arranged.

Michael Harris has always called himself the envoy of England, but he arrived in the Ming Dynasty too late, just in time for Zhu Yuanzhang to establish the shipping department in Quanzhou, Ningbo and other places, and completely banned tribute (money fraud) from overseas vassal countries.

Fortunately, smuggling was common among the people in the Ming Dynasty, so he has made a lot of money in recent years.

If it hadn't been for a typhoon this time and he was stuck at the Yangtze River estuary in Songjiang Prefecture, he really wouldn't have wanted to go to the Shipping Department and ask for trouble.

Zhu Yunxi noticed Michael Harris' melancholy and patted his arm to encourage him.

"Then pray more to God and let God bless your country, hahaha."

When Michael Harris saw that the Ming Dynasty’s grandson actually knew about God and even made fun of God, he laughed too.

Laugh.

"God is very busy. He is also busy selling indulgences. I'm afraid he can't take care of us in England, hahaha..."

Zhu Yunxi was joking with Michael Harris while walking into the Shipping Department surrounded by a large number of officials.

Zhou Zhiqing, the official in charge of the construction of the Municipal Shipping Department, tried his best to introduce Zhu Yunxi.

"Your Majesty the Emperor, the main body of the Shipbuilding Division has been basically completed, and some buildings are ready for use. The remaining second and third phases are expected to be completed before the end of this year."

"It's just that there are very few officials in the Municipal Shipping Department at this stage, and less than a dozen rooms are used at full capacity. The entire Municipal Shipping Department already has more than a hundred vacant rooms. If it is built again, it will only leave more vacant rooms..."

The Songjiang City Shipping Department is very large, several times larger than the Songjiang Prefecture Yamen.

At that time, many people tried to dissuade him and told him to just build as many houses as he wanted. There was no need to make it so big.

It was only Zhu Yunxi who firmly believed that Songjiang would become the largest trading place in the Ming Dynasty and even the world, and the most prosperous place in the world, so he built a huge shipping department against all opinions.

After Zhou Zhiqing replaced Chang Sheng, Zhu Yunxi sent him to Songjiang Prefecture to be promoted to the Municipal Shipping Department, and made him fully responsible for the construction of the Municipal Shipping Department.

Now that I heard Zhou Zhiqing complaining, how could I not know what this guy meant?

This is because he is complaining to himself about his low official position, he dislikes the lack of future in the shipping department, and wants to be promoted!

"You don't need to worry about whether there are people in the Shibo Department, you just put up the air for me!"

"In addition, from today on, you will also be in charge of the post of Magistrate of Songjiang Prefecture."

When Zhou Zhiqing heard this, his face flushed with excitement, and he knelt down to Zhu Yunxi with a plop.

"Weak minister Zhou Zhiqing thanks His Highness Taisun for his trust. A humble minister will go through fire and water, even his body will be shattered to pieces, but he still has to repay His Majesty's kindness in knowing him!"

Zhu Yunxi smiled slightly when he heard this.

"Actually, Gu has long been interested in you and wants you to be the magistrate of Songjiang Prefecture."

"The reason why I didn't let you take on the concurrent role before was just because I was afraid that you would be distracted and delay the important task of building the Municipal Shipping Department."

"Now that the City Shipping Department is almost complete, I will naturally promote you to an official position!"

"Your next work will still be based on the Shipping Department, and the affairs in Songjiang Mansion will be left to your own devices."

When Zhou Zhiqing heard this, the joy on his face disappeared and was replaced by extremely dull and depressed...

"Your Highness Taisun, the Shipping Department has been established for some time, but no merchants are willing to come here!"

"Moreover, the imperial court does not assign officials to the ministers. Everything depends on the ministers, the ministers..."

To be honest, Zhou Zhiqing was unwilling to be promoted to the Chief Shipping Officer from the bottom of his heart.

He already knew what was going on along the southern coast of the Ming Dynasty.

Smuggling was common among maritime merchants in the Ming Dynasty, and rashly asking them to come to the shipping department to pay taxes was like murdering their parents.

Once you act too hastily, it is possible for someone to commit suicide for no apparent reason.

But it is not convenient to say these words to the emperor's grandson.

This was not because Zhou Zhiqing wanted to hide it from the emperor's grandson, but because he was afraid that if he said these things, he would harm the emperor's grandson.

When Zhu Yunxi heard Zhou Zhiqing's complaint, a knowing smile appeared on his face.

"As much as you try your best, I will help you figure out the solution for the officials!"

"Your Highness...Sage?"

Zhou Zhiqing flattered him with a questioning tone.

Although the emperor's grandson was very confident in what he said, he didn't have much confidence.

Because the old emperor has no idea of ​​delegating power at this stage, the emperor's grandson only has a righteous status, and actually does not have the authority to appoint and remove officials at will.

Not to mention providing officials for the Municipal Shipping Department, I am afraid that the post of governor of Songjiang Prefecture would have to be exchanged for a meal by the emperor's grandson.

[A book-chasing book recommended to me by an old book friend I have known for ten years,@

Shibosi has been designated as Taisun's palace.

Every day he either met with officials from Songjiang Prefecture or took Michael Harris on a tour, and never mentioned trade matters.

When had Michael Harris been so respected? In gratitude, he took the initiative to trade with Daming and became the first registered merchant of Songjiang Shipping Company.

When Zhu Yunxi heard this, he just smiled and was not very enthusiastic. This made Michael Harris feel nervous, and for a while he couldn't figure out the thoughts of the grandson of the Ming Dynasty Emperor.

According to his guess, Songjiang Shibosi was built by His Highness the Ming Dynasty Emperor Taisun. He should be very concerned about Shibosi's business. Why was he so indifferent after hearing his contribution?

In fact, the main reason why Zhu Yunxi was indifferent was because he thought Michael Harris's business was too small.

Moreover, how many cargoes from the Ming Dynasty could he transport alone?

He is now focusing on winning over Michael Harris, mainly because he wants to use this as a breakthrough to let him introduce more maritime merchants to the Ming Dynasty.

Since Michael Harris has not realized this yet, it proves that he is not mature enough and needs to be ravaged slowly.

While Zhu Yunxi was traveling around, Zhou Zhiqing was like an ant on a hot pot, worrying all day about the problems of officials and scribes in the Shipping Department.

He wanted to urge him several times, but he did not dare to offend the emperor's grandson for fear of annoying him.

But after waiting for three days, Zhou Zhiqing still couldn't help but politely mention it when meeting the emperor's grandson.

"Your Majesty the Emperor, the issue of officials in the Shipping Department that you mentioned earlier..."

"oh……"

Zhu Yunxi showed an expression of sudden realization, and then picked up a book from the table...

"Look at this, if you think there is no problem, just follow the method above!"

Zhou Zhiqing opened the book with doubts, and was dumbfounded when he saw the plan given by the emperor's grandson.

"Your Highness, if this happens, you will have a huge stake in it!"
To be continued...