Zhao Ning sat there, lowering his eyebrows in deep thought.

Zhao Guan's family refused to let him go, and neither Wang Zonglio nor Qian Yuqing dared to move.

The incense burner on the table is surrounded by green silk, and the hall is filled with elegant sandalwood.

After being mixed with extremely precious ambergris, this fragrance is more long-lasting and layered.

"Wang Zonglio?"

"I'm here."

"How much did the Shipping Company earn in the fourth year of Jingkang?"

"this……"

Wang Zongliu glanced at Qian Yuqing next to him, obviously reminding Zhao Guan that there was an outsider here.

"But it doesn't matter."

Wang Zongliu said: "In the fourth year of Jingkang's reign, the city's shipping department had an income of 980,000 yuan."

“Where does the main income come from?”

"Reporting back to the official family, the main income is divided into two parts. One part comes from overseas and is resold from the shipping department to the Central Plains. Most of them are spices. For example, the sandalwood used by His Majesty is produced in Sri Lanka. Ambergris and other

Extremely expensive items are sold by fishermen in Southeast Asia."

Wang Zongliu knew a lot about these luxury goods.

"In addition, there are many medicinal materials, leather goods, and foods that come from the countries in the South China Sea. After these enter the Central Plains, they are worth a lot of money."

"The second part is for our country to sell goods to foreign countries, such as ceramics, tea, and silk, which are extremely popular among overseas countries."

"As for Goryeo and Japan, our ceramics, tea, calligraphy and painting, and pen and ink were all purchased by dignitaries from both countries."

Zhao Ning said: "How much of my income from external sales of goods does it account for?"

"About half a million dollars a year."

Wang Zonglio mentioned a statistic casually. Of course he didn't know the real statistic, but it must be quite a lot.

In fact, by the Southern Song Dynasty, overseas trade income had reached as much as two million yuan.

What is this concept?

For an army of 100,000 people, in the official history of the Song Dynasty, the annual salary plus food subsidy was just over one million yuan.

People like Xixia, who earn 20,000 guan a year, can't even imagine that they can earn millions of guan from sea trade.

Zhao Ning looked at Qian Yuqing and asked: "Qian Yuqing, if you are in charge of this shipping company, how are you going to increase my income?"

Qian Yuqing felt like his head was buzzing. His sister had gone missing in the middle of the night, and he was suddenly announced to the palace. After many twists and turns, he finally found his sister.

I thought I could go back next, but now it seems that I still have to deal with the problems of Zhao Guan's family.

Does the Zhao Guan family stay up late at night?

Didn't you say you wanted to marry my sister?

She is in your bedroom now!

If you don't go to her, why are you asking me these questions here?

You go find her!

Qian Yuqing: What? I want to marry with the Cai family? What a waste of marriage! I still want to live a few more years!

Qian Yuqing seemed to have completely forgotten what he said to Qian Jinshu tonight.

Qian Yuqing's heart was beating wildly. It was the first time he faced the emperor at such a close distance and had to answer such extremely tricky questions from the emperor.

He has never been an official and doesn't know how officialdom works.

But the Zhao Guan family’s questions must be answered.

Trying to keep himself calm, Qian Yuqing said: "If you want to increase your income, you must expand your trade lines with overseas countries. If you want to expand your trade lines with overseas countries, you must know which countries are overseas and what they are."

Where they are, what commodities are available in the country, many commodities originate from cultivation, or the growth of the local area itself."

"Only when the court knows this can it make more reasonable arrangements."

Zhao Ning nodded and agreed with Qian Yuqing's statement.

Seeing that Zhao Guan's family agreed, Qian Yuqing secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

As a traveler, I naturally know about the countries in Southeast Asia, and I also know that most of those countries are located in the tropics.

They have their own unique climate, brewing rare plants or spices in China.

Although Zhao Ning knew something, after all, he was in the Song Dynasty at this moment. It was impossible for him to take out a mobile phone, open a map and say to everyone: Hey, guys, come here, I will show you something good.

Many times, many things cannot be easily done if you know that they exist.

In other words, more people can accomplish one thing because they use the productivity, social order and division of labor of this era in the context of a larger era.

This is also the reason why in the 21st century it is necessary to vigorously build basic transportation and basic communications.

Without these large-scale infrastructure, it was very difficult to do many things in the Song Dynasty.

Then it is absolutely impossible for Zhao Ning to throw a word to the Shipping Department, tell them that there is treasure overseas, and then sit and wait for two years to harvest the big treasure.

Of course, the maritime trade of the Song Dynasty was extremely developed in ancient history.

There were five shipping companies in the Song Dynasty: Guangzhou, Quanzhou, Mingzhou, Hangzhou and Mizhou.

There are also specialized agencies such as the Municipal Shipping Affairs and the Shipping Market. During the reign of Emperor Shenzong, the "Guangzhou Municipal Shipping Law" was even specially revised for trial implementation and was later used in various municipal shipping departments.

More importantly, the use of the compass and the advancement of shipbuilding technology allowed the Song Dynasty to further explore the ocean.

According to some historical records, the ships of the Song Dynasty could already carry five to six hundred people.

There are many private shipyards in Fujian and Zhejiang.

Zhao Ning asked: "Then how do you know the details of overseas affairs?"

"We need to inquire among the people. Most of the people who go to sea are private businessmen. They arrive in Japan as close as possible, and as far away as Jiaozhi, Champa, Balni Kingdom, and even the Lion Kingdom (Sri Lanka)."

Zhao Ning nodded. In this era, if you want to vigorously develop sea trade, without detailed maps and navigation, you can really only recruit a large number of private professionals.

Experts are among the people, this has been the truth since ancient times.

Qian Yuqing said: "This year I sent people to purchase a batch of grain between Jiaozhi and Champa. I heard that Champa is hot all year round, only slightly cold at night in winter. Rice can grow all year round, and there are large tracts of rice."

The land is so fertile that we can’t finish all the fruit on the trees, but the people there don’t know how to make wine, so there is a lot of waste.”

"If the imperial court can send many merchant ships there, we will gain a lot."

The Champa he was talking about is a small country in the south of Cochin, which is southern Vietnam in the 21st century.

The rice that is now popular in the Song Dynasty was introduced from Champa and is called Champa rice.

Champa rice is easy to grow, matures early, and is drought-resistant. It was passed down from the Zhenzong era.

Zhao Ning asked: "How do you know this?"

"I also listen to what private businessmen say. Many merchants along the coast have been doing business overseas for generations, and they have accumulated rich experience in overseas trade."

After a pause, Qian Yuqing continued: "Jinshu knows more about this than ordinary people. She has liked to listen to some overseas anecdotes since she was a child, and she has also specially collected chronicles of overseas countries. If she were here, she should be able to answer your Majesty's questions.
Chapter completed!