Chapter 7 National Disaster (Seventh)

Nowadays, it is not a new thing for the government to form a caravan. Many princes and their families have publicly formed or secretly supported the caravan, bringing goods to and from north to south. On the one hand, they earn a lot of money for them, and on the other hand, they spy on the military information of their opponents or colleagues for them.

Zheng Ziming's elder brother Chai Rong, who had been engaged in similar missions under Guo Wei's account, used to do similar missions. Zheng Ziming's future father-in-law Chang Si, also used to impose counter-espionage plans by the family caravan, and sent the whole family of Zhao Yanshou, the former head coach of the Youzhou Army of Liao Kingdom to the West. As Chang Si's future son-in-law and Chai Rong's brother, Zheng Ziming himself planned to follow the example, which was not surprising at all.

However, in the past, the caravans traveled on land and drove ships from the sea to transport goods from a long distance, but it was unheard of. Not to mention the high winds and storms on the sea, if you are not careful, you will have to feed the Dragon Prince even the cargo and the ship. It is a huge trouble to just rely on the sand boats and fishing boats to replenish supplies along the way.

Whether the port can be found, whether the port is allowed to dock, and whether the fleet will be detained after docking is unknown. How high the price is to be replenished, and how much fees it needs to be paid to enter and exit the port are all decided by the owner of the port. Every time the fleet stops one more along the way, there is an additional risk of losing all its money. (Note 1)

"It's okay to say in the south. There are many official ports and private ports. As long as you find the right person, you can clear them up! But in the north..." After a long time of surprise, the old general Fan Zheng gritted his teeth and whispered. "The Khitans may not have even seen big ships, and it is even more impossible to build a port. The brothers Han Kuangsi of Youzhou regard our Cangzhou as a thorn in their side, and it is impossible to allow the Cangzhou fleet to berth in his backyard."

"That's why I said I would explore the route myself!" Zheng Ziming had already planned the plan in his heart, took the words of the elders, and added with a smile. "By by Youzhou and go directly to deal with the Khitans in Liaodong. The more the Khitans knew nothing about the sea, the more we had the opportunity to find a suitable port on their shores. The Khitan was called a country, and the leaders of various tribes far exceeded that of the princes of the Central Plains. The caravan managed the tribes in Liaodong in the name of doing business, and they were deeply rooted in their favor. I believe that those leaders and clan elders would not reject the opportunity to make money delivered to their hands!"

"If this is the case, you can take a risk!" Although the old general Fan Zheng had never been to the Liao Kingdom, he had gained a certain understanding of the situation of the Liao Kingdom through letters with friends in recent years. He knew that his domestic organizational structure was as loose as Zheng Ziming said.

The successive emperors of the Liao Kingdom were not so much the king of a country, but rather the common rulers of all tribes. However, when plundering the outside world, they had the right to unify the heroes. Usually, they could only control the three capitals in the east and south and the small part of the area around the three capitals, and the rest of the large area of ​​the country was allowed to do their own work. (Note 2)

"From the map alone, there are indeed many places along the Liaodong coast that can be found innate good ports. However, it is easy to deliver goods ashore. If you want to deliver goods to Shangjing and Tokyo for sale, it may be ten times more difficult than going to Shangjing in the Central Plains. Not to mention anything else, just the horse thief who travels like the wind along the way is enough to make us lose both our lives and wealth!" Pan Mei's focus was completely different from the elder Fan Zheng. Soon, she questioned Zheng Ziming's idea from another angle.

"The load load of the ship is far higher than that of a carriage. So I plan to mobilize a group of good men from the army to act as swordsmen and accompany the goods." Zheng Ziming gave a solution without thinking.

"You, are you... you are so brave!" Pan Mei was stunned for a moment, then woke up like a dream. The two delicate Danfeng eyes instantly glared, but the words they said stopped halfway.

"Is Ziming planning..." The old general Fan Zheng suddenly realized, and said half of the test, and then decisively swallowed it back to his stomach.

He and Pan Mei are both rare smart people in the world. With a little effort, you can guess Zheng Ziming's true plans clearly.

Transporting goods from sea is a false alarm, at least, the delivery of goods to Liaodong is a completely pretext. Zheng Ziming's real intention must be on the swordsman team that acts as a guard for the caravan! The members of that team must be all elites selected from a hundred, and they are not afraid of personal life and death when fighting!

When the caravan became familiar with the roads in Liaodong, the swordsmen's target must be Yingzhou. Shi Chonggui, the king of the previous dynasty, was encircled there. The emperors and princes of Liu Han Kingdom wanted this person to die early and entrusted him to live. However, this person was Zheng Ziming's biological father, his only blood relative left in the world.

It is hard to rescue Shi Chonggui from Liaodong alive. Even if he succeeds by chance, the return of this person is not a blessing for the Cangzhou Army. On the contrary, the Cangzhou Army may become the target of public criticism, and every prince wants to get rid of it and get it away.

‘There are many harms but no profit!’ ‘The gain is not worth the loss!’ ‘If the former emperor returns, where will you put it?’ In an instant, countless questioning words were circling in the throats of Pan Mei and Fan Zheng. However, in the end, the two of them could not say anything, and could only look at each other with their eyes and shake their heads helplessly.

In this world, no one can care about Shi Chonggui's life or death, but Zheng Ziming cannot. At this time, the Cangzhou Army was weak in strength. Whether the young emperor Liu Chengyou or the other princes, they deliberately ignored the relationship between Shi Chonggui and Zheng Ziming, so as not to bewitch people's hearts by relying on the identity of the prince of the previous dynasty. However, when the Cangzhou Army soared into the sky one day, if Shi Chonggui was still imprisoned in Liaodong, he might "abandon his biological father to the Jedi and ignore it", it would become an excuse for all enemies to attack Zheng Ziming. No matter how he explained it, it would be difficult to clear away the crime of "unfilial piety".

"This matter must be done, no need to discuss it anymore. Please do your best to help!" Feeling the entanglement in the hearts of both arms, Zheng Ziming inserted the knife to the ground and slowly stood up straight. "But Zheng can promise that he is not sure and will never try the last step."

"Subordinate to the order!" Since Zheng Ziming said everything to this, Fan Zheng, Pan Mei and others stopped trying to dissuade them, and stood up straight and bowed.

Since the time of Lijiazhai's training, Zheng Ziming set the rule for himself and the people around him that he could express his opinions no matter what he had done before he was executed. However, after the decision was made, no matter whether the attitude of everyone was in favor or against, he had to do his best. Therefore, after returning to the government office, soon the three tasks he proposed were subdivided and detailed, and turned into military orders and government orders, and implemented as quickly as possible.

Under the protection and warning of the Cangzhou army, the crops on the land were harvested, loaded, dried, and returned to the warehouse; a large number of men who fled from the north and vagrants who were unwilling to engage in farming were recruited into the military camp, and under the supervision of Pan Mei, Tao Dachun, Li Shun and others, they began hard training; the corals, giant clams, tortoiseshells, and whale bones that were originally regarded as gods were turned into elegant and luxurious jewelry and decorations in small workshops in the city, and then loaded on a carriage and a large ship toward Hangzhou and Bianliang City as quickly as possible.

The maritime trade has just begun to explore, but there will be no results in a while. The action to open up the officialdom of Bianliang on land was immediately effective. After receiving the "respect" from Cangzhou, all of them smiled and their favor towards Cangzhou Governor Zheng is increasing day by day.

Of course, the blatant public bribery was not hidden from the eyes of Yousi. In a few days, the relevant secret reports were put on the desk of the Minister Shi Hongzhao.

"This bastard is ten times more bastard than he used to be. If I had known this, I wouldn't have been ruthless at the time and promised Chang Si to protect his life!" The veteran general Shi Hongzhao was angry and funny again. He slapped the table and shouted loudly.

"Okay, if the Empress Dowager's brothers say good things for him, Your Majesty will not be able to take the matter of his refusal to obey the imperial edict and vent his anger on others!" Lu Wen, a clerk of Shi Hongzhao, was Shi Hongzhao's confidant. He stepped forward and glanced at the secret report, and smiled and explained.

"Children Huangkou, what can he do if he takes his anger?" Shi Hongzhao immediately sneered and curled his lips when he heard this. He looked down on the reaction of the young emperor Liu Chengyou.

"It's better than trying every day to make things difficult for the adults!" Lu Wen shook his head and reminded him very carefully. "Your Majesty is getting older, so the Privy should not continue to treat him as a scoundrel. The old saying goes, when the emperor gets angry, blood flows away!"

"Okay, okay, I'll give him as much kindness as possible in the court!" Knowing that Lu Wen's words were out of kindness, Shi Hongzhao still felt extremely irritable, waved his hand hard and responded loudly. "The premise is that he should not show off his own goodness and always make jokes about why not eat meat!"

"This..., what the lord said!" Lu Wen was stunned for a moment, and bowed with a wry smile.

As Shi Hongzhao said, Liu Chengyou is definitely not a wise ruler. But no matter how stupid the emperor is, he is also an emperor. How could he endure the government's affairs for a long time and be controlled by powerful ministers?

Just as he was about to bite the bullet and persuade him a few more words, Shi Hongzhao's instructions came from his ears, "Okay, stop talking, I know what I know. Hurry up and sort out all the things that need to go through tomorrow's morning court. When the court's proposal is approved, it is better to give it to His Majesty on the spot!"

"Yes!" Lu Wen did not dare to neglect and immediately bowed his order. However, his body had just turned a little while, but suddenly turned around and reminded him in a very low voice: "Sir, the Lord Shumi, I have heard of it recently, I heard..."

"If you have something to say, say loudly, don't be like a woman!" Shi Hongzhao waved his hand hard again, as if countless flies were flying beside him.

"I heard that the personnel changes have been frequent among the imperial guards recently." Lu Wen gritted his teeth, his voice still as low as a mosquito.

"The appointment and removal of the generals of the Imperial Army are all within the scope of the authority of the emperor and Nie. I am not good at interfering!" Shi Hongzhao heard his words clearly, but he did not think that it was important. "And they just want to do whatever they want to deal with the Dragon Martial Army under my command. The Imperial Army is still far from it!"

"It is easy to hide from the bright gun..." Lu Wen was so angry that he was so angry that he forced himself to replenish his spirit.

"If I don't enter the inner palace, will they dare to assassinate the street?" Shi Hongzhao still took his reminder seriously, shrugged and responded with a sneer. "Okay, no matter what, I will thank you for your kindness. However, unless Your Majesty does not plan to take power, he will not be stupid enough to attack my husband Shu Jia in broad daylight. What's more, Guo Jiaque'er is still leading the army to take charge of Yedu!"

Note 1: During the Tang Dynasty, there were already sea trade between Japan and Silla. However, maritime trade was controlled by the southern region, and northern coastal areas were rarely involved. In addition, maritime cargo transportation also occurred between countries. China's own north and south cargo transportation mainly relied on canals and land. This situation continued until the end of the Yuan Dynasty, and the southern grain transportation channel was cut off by the Red Turban Army, so Zhang Shicheng used sea boats to transport rice from Hangzhou to Tanggu.
Chapter completed!