"...You brat, can't you tell? You are so insidious."
After hearing Liu Jin's plan, Zhang Mao couldn't help but said to Liu Jin.
"...Mr. Zhang~"
Liu Jin was speechless. How could you talk about one of your own people like this?
"Old Liu, this is a good trick, it will trick those salt merchants to death."
Zhu Houzhao also applauded. He had long disliked those salt merchants and Huizhou merchants, but now he was just a prince and had no power, so he had no way to deal with those people.
It's okay now. Liu Jin's tricks are enough to trick these people to death.
"Let's not talk about the Changlu Saltworks for now, and let's talk about the second thing."
"That's the matter of opening up the Nanyang route."
Liu Jin smiled and said, as long as others agree with the matter of Changlu Salt Farm, it doesn't matter if you don't make any money for the time being. As long as you destroy those salt merchants and occupy the market, you can make money in the future. What's more,
What's more, Liu Jin never thought of making a lot of money from salt.
There are so many profitable businesses, why do you need to be the second best salt merchant? You still have to have a conscience when doing business, and you can’t only focus on money. Once you fall into the eyes of money, you will only have money.
"Opening a route to the South Seas?"
When everyone heard this, they immediately became energetic. These people present were all the profiteers of ocean trade. Now they just go to North Korea and the Japanese country, and they can bring back boatloads of white money every month.
If the Nanyang route can be opened, according to what Liu Jin said at the beginning, the money earned will be even more, because after passing Nanyang, you can reach Tianzhu and the Middle East. When the Ming Dynasty things are shipped to these places, the price will skyrocket.
If we can do business with Europeans in the future.
This silk and porcelain are worth as much as gold.
If you want to make a fortune further afield in the future, this South Sea route must be opened up.
“It’s difficult to open a route to Southeast Asia~”
Then Liu Jin said in a low voice.
His words also made Zhang Mao, Zhu Fu, and Xu Guangzuo nod their heads. Originally, they wanted to open a route to Nanyang, so they had already found people to understand a lot of things in advance.
"It's hard?"
"Is it more difficult than going to Golden Continent?"
"I've seen the world map you gave me, Old Liu. It shouldn't be difficult to go to Nanyang. Annan is even connected to Guangxi, so we can just go south along the coastline."
Of course, Zhu Houzhao didn't know why it was difficult, so he said with doubts.
"The difficulty in opening up routes to the South Seas lies not in navigation technology, but in people~"
Zhang Mao thought for a while and replied.
"These big families and businessmen in the Jiangnan region have controlled the ocean trade in the Nanyang region. On the surface, they support the imperial court's ban on the sea, but secretly they exclusively enjoy the huge profits from the Nanyang trade."
"At the same time, they also support and collude with pirates and Japanese pirates, forming a large number of pirates and Japanese pirates in the southeastern coastal areas. Any merchant ship that is not theirs will be robbed by these pirates and Japanese pirates and lose all their money."
Zhang Mao told what he learned about the situation.
"Collude with pirates and Japanese pirates?"
Zhu Houzhao's eyes widened immediately. He never thought that this would be the reason.
"Yes, last month some of my ships went to Japan for business and were attacked by pirates. Fortunately, our ships were all manufactured by Tianjin Shipyard. They are fast and large, so we escaped."
Zhu Fu also nodded and said.
"Because we went to North Korea and the Japanese countries to do business and stole part of their business, pirates and Japanese pirates are now starting to loot our merchant ships."
"I'm worried that these pirates and Japanese pirates will become more and more numerous and bolder, so we still have to find ways to deal with these Japanese pirates and pirates."
Then Zhu Fu also talked about how the recent sea route to Japan was not peaceful. Pirates and Japanese pirates had already targeted them.
"This is unreasonable, it's so audacious~"
Zhu Houzhao became angry immediately.
"Of course they are bold, there is nothing they dare not do."
Liu Jin nodded and said, colluding with pirates and Japanese pirates, in a few decades, these pirates and Japanese pirates would even dare to go ashore directly to loot the Ming Dynasty's city, and it was often difficult for the imperial army to destroy these pirates and Japanese pirates, among which
A very important reason is that there are people who cooperate inside and outside to inform pirates and Japanese pirates.
After hearing Liu Jin's words, Zhu Houzhao fell silent. Yes, there is really nothing they dare not do. Even the imperial power dares to get involved. Is there anything else they dare not do?
"Whether we want to open up routes to the South Seas or maintain our current routes, we must deal a heavy blow to these pirates and Japanese pirates."
Liu Jin thought for a while and continued.
His words also received support from everyone, and everyone nodded.
Just kidding, the route between Korea and Japan is the lifeblood of everyone. It is the most profitable business now. If it is ruined by Japanese pirates and pirates, the good situation currently formed will be completely destroyed. Liu Jin worked hard to get it done.
The sprout of capital that has arisen may simply die out.
This is something Liu Jin absolutely cannot allow to happen.
"Old Liu, please stop being so secretive. Tell us what to do and tell us the rules."
Zhu Houzhao was very impatient and asked directly.
"We should approach this issue from multiple aspects."
"First of all, we have to figure out the origin of these pirates and Japanese pirates. Japanese pirates basically come from the Japanese country, because the Japanese country is now in the Warring States Period, and the Japanese daimyo are constantly attacking each other, which makes many samurai unable to survive in the Japanese country.
, so he became a Japanese pirate."
"As for pirates, their origins are basically cultivated by big businessmen and families in the Jiangnan area, so we can start to solve them from these two aspects."
"We can use the name of Ming Dynasty to ask Japan to restrain its warriors, otherwise we will punish Japan."
Liu Jin thought about it carefully and slowly began to tell.
The Japanese pirates are not too serious now. In a few decades, the Japanese pirates will become a scourge that cannot be wiped out completely. They harassed the southeastern coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty for decades.
Later, when the Japanese Warring States Period ended and the Tokugawa Shogunate was established and the rule and control over the Japanese was established, the sources of Japanese pirates were greatly reduced. Coupled with the Ming Dynasty's extermination, the Japanese pirates were slowly wiped out.
One of the very important points is the control of samurai by the Japanese state. The Ming Dynasty now has sufficient deterrence against the Japanese state, and it is also the nominal suzerainty of the Japanese state. The Ming court is still very useful.
To deal with the Japanese pirates, we need to be tough with both hands. On the one hand, we must resolutely exterminate the Japanese pirates who are causing trouble, and on the other hand, we must put huge pressure on the Japanese side. It will not be difficult to deal with the Japanese pirates.
"As for pirates, the most important thing is to deal with the big families and big businessmen who support the pirates. Only if these big families and big businessmen are dealt with, it will be difficult for pirates to become a phenomenon. At that time, the navy of the imperial court will be enough to deal with these pirates.
"
After hearing Liu Jin's analysis, everyone nodded. Now they understood the origin of pirates and Japanese pirates, and knew their roots. It would not be difficult to deal with them.
"Solving the pirates and Japanese pirates in front of us is nothing. If we go to the world outside the Ming Dynasty to make money in the future, then we will not only have to deal with the pirates and Japanese pirates in front of us."
"There are also pirates in the Nanyang region. In Tianzhu, the Middle East, and Europe, there are pirates everywhere, and there are so many pirates. In addition, once the profits involved are too big, not only pirates, but other countries will also have interests in our Ming Dynasty.
If there is a conflict, then it will not be pirates that we have to deal with, but the navies of other countries."
"So fundamentally we need a powerful navy that can sweep across the world to escort us and protect our interests."
"When the time comes, whether we encounter pirates, Japanese pirates or the like, or compete with other countries for interests and territory around the world, we will be tough enough and have enough power."
After listening to Liu Jin's words, everyone present nodded. Zhu Houzhao was even more excited, and his little eyes were shining.
The people this guy admires the most are generals like Huo Qubing and Wei Qing. He gets very excited when he hears about the war. In history, Zhu Houzhao personally led his army to fight against the plundering grassland army going south, and he actually won the battle.
Ning Wang Zhu Chenhao raised troops to rebel. Zhu Houzhao was even more excited when he learned the news. He personally led his troops south to quell the rebellion. However, who knew that King Ning was killed by Wang Shouren before he arrived in Jiangxi. This Zhu Houzhao actually let people go.
Chen Hao, then he will come and destroy it again.
This shows that Zhu Houzhao is definitely a war fanatic.
Now when I hear Liu Jin talk about fighting pirates, exterminating Japanese pirates, and building a powerful navy to sweep the world, my whole body feels excited.
"Yes~ yes, we must build a navy that can sweep across the world and defeat the whole world, so that no one dares to mess with our Ming Dynasty."
Zhu Houzhao clenched his fists and nodded repeatedly.
When Zhang Mao, Zhu Fu, and Xu Guangzuo looked at it, they immediately smiled. When they saw Zhu Houzhao, they saw that the nobles had great potential in the future. They had been suppressed by the civil servants all the time. It was really miserable.
Zhang Mao, a dignified prince, did most of the work of offering sacrifices to the Imperial Ancestral Temple. The entire Xungui Group had no power at all, and all power was controlled by civil servants.
It's not that they haven't thought about getting it back, but it's too difficult. Even if the emperor wants to dispatch troops and generals, he has to get the approval of the Ministry of War, let alone these noble generals.
"However, this matter requires long-term planning, and we do not have the final say. It requires the joint efforts of the entire court to achieve it."
"What we can do now is develop here first~"
Liu Jin smiled, then pointed to the location of the treasure island on the huge map in the study room.