Chapter 752 Southern Tour - Merchant with the Army
Xiao Zhuo rubbed his eyes hurriedly, stood up and followed this man.
But as soon as he took a step, he felt the boat moving under his feet. In surprise, he ignored the etiquette and shouted: "Is this boat about to sail?"
"Of course the ship is going to sail. It was enough to rest for one day in Shanghai yesterday, so why not sail today?" He did not expect that the man in front of him would actually answer his question.
"But how can the common people go back?" Xiao Zhuo asked again, not caring about disturbing the high officials.
"Don't worry, you will be put off the ship and wait until you arrive at the next city where it is anchored." The man looked at Xiao Zhuo's face and understood what he wanted to say, and then said: "After I summon you, you don't have to go back.
Shanghai Shipping Department, just go and do the things assigned to you."
"The things you have to tell me..." Xiao Zhuo pondered: 'This high official who is going to meet me still has something to tell me? What kind of thing will it be?'
He was thinking as he followed the man. Not long after walking, he came to a part of the deck. He raised his head and saw a man and a woman standing on the edge of the deck, looking at the scenery outside. He also noticed that this section of the deck
A very strange guardrail was added. Not only that, this section of guardrail is made of pure iron and poured on the deck using a special process. Unless the ship falls apart, otherwise this section of guardrail will be firmly fixed there to protect the view.
landscape people.
The man who brought him walked over and whispered something to the man and woman. The man also said something, then turned his head, looked at Xiao Zhuo, and pulled the woman over.
'Hey, isn't this man the official who the emperor came to inspect at the Shanghai Shipping Department two years ago and wandered around the Shanghai Shipping Department with Tiju? Looking at his style, he has become a high official? Can he still take it with him?
The female family members are boarding the boat?' Xiao Zhuo recognized this person at a glance and thought to himself.
When this man approached, Xiao Zhuo immediately knelt down and said, "Xiao Zhuo, a common man, I have met your lord." Although he didn't know his rank or his name, there was nothing wrong with kneeling down to address your lord.
But then he heard a voice saying: "How dare you, His Majesty is so rude!"
"What! This is Your Majesty!" Xiao Zhuo raised his head in surprise and stared at Yun He.
Yunxi waved his hand to stop the scolding Wang Xi was about to blurt out, and stared at Xiao Zhuo with interest. Observing the expression of a person who had not known his identity before knowing his identity is one of Yunxi's hobbies, especially
It's because he rarely reveals his identity in front of people who shouldn't know his identity. Last year, nothing like this happened. This made it rare for him to realize his hobby, so he stared at Xiao Zhuo at this time.
stop.
Until Xiao Zhuo realized that what he was doing was very rude, he lowered his head and kowtowed three times, saying: "Xiao Zhuo, a common man, has seen your Majesty. Long live your Majesty. Please forgive me for the crime of disrespect."
Only then did Yunxi look away and said: "He who doesn't know is not guilty, just get up."
Yunxi immediately sat on the chair that the young eunuch had just brought over. He also ordered someone to bring a chair over for Xiao Zhuo and said to him, "Sit down."
"In front of Your Majesty, is there any seat for the common people? The common people dare not sit down." Xiao Zhuo stood respectfully a foot away in front of Yunxi, lowered his head and said.
Yunxi didn't force it, let alone talk nonsense, and said directly: "I heard that in your early years, you were a person who roamed the sea and the green forest roads of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Is this true?"
"Your Majesty, in the early years Cao Min was good at martial arts and spent a few days in the green forests in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. He also had a little reputation, but he was definitely not a green forest figure. Cao Min's family did do some business at sea and had smuggled goods in the previous dynasty, but never
I have never been a pirate at sea." Xiao Zhuo thought that his experience of messing around in the green forest could not be hidden from Jin Yiwei, but it was obviously impossible for Jin Yiwei to have a branch at sea, so he argued like this.
Yunxi smiled and said: "Xiao Zhuo, you don't have to say this. I accepted Li Jiqian's surrender. Do you think you can hide your past experiences from me?"
Under normal circumstances, it would be impossible for Yunxi to know about Xiao Zhuo's past at sea. Even if the sea has now opened, it is impossible for Jinyiwei's men to install spies with high enough status in the merchant fleet at sea in recent years:
The people employed by these big businessmen are all people who have been with their families for twenty or thirty years. Outsiders cannot climb to high positions in a short time; besides, Xiao Zhuo is no longer hanging out at sea, so even if the spies climb to high positions, they may not get information about him.
news.
But who allowed Yunxi to completely surrender a group of pirates? Especially after he brought Li Sha'er into the palace, Li Jiqian and others told all the things they had concealed, allowing Yunxi to have a detailed grasp of all the famous merchants in the East China Sea.
The details of.
If that was the case, it was still impossible for Yunxi to know Xiao Zhuo's past at sea. But when he was looking at the maritime trade information, he saw the Jiaxing Xiao family in the name, and casually asked Li Jiqian about the Xiao family. Li Jiqian also
He revealed everything related to the Xiao family, including Xiao Zhuo's past. Only then did Yunxi realize that this Xiao Zhuo was extraordinary.
After hearing Yunxi's words, Xiao Zhuo suddenly felt like five thunderbolts struck his head. He knelt down and said, "The common people deserve to die. I beg your majesty to forgive me."
He thought about many things at the moment he got off the bed. He knew that if the emperor of Ming Dynasty wanted to know, he would definitely know that these businessmen doing business in Shibosi had smuggled before, but he did not take it seriously. Hongwu
The imperial court did not open the sea, smuggling was so normal, and the emperor had no way to deal with it all.
But it's different if you know you have been a pirate. Although pirates are not divided into different families, there are still some ships that are only used as pirates and robbers, and never engage in maritime trade. Such fleets are different. They belong to the imperial court.
The navy and other maritime merchants hate them very much. Even if they are now at sea, such fleets still belong to the sequence of the Ming Dynasty navy being destroyed one by one. Although Xiao Zhuo has been a serious maritime merchant, he has also been such a
pirate.
'Is His Majesty planning to kill the chickens to scare the monkeys and deal with my Xiao family? Or does he want me to be an informant to lure out those who are still working as pirates? If it is the latter case, I should...' Xiao Zhuo thought in his heart.
Just then he heard a burst of laughter, and then heard the emperor say: "You probably want me to kill the chicken to scare the monkeys, and deal with your Xiao family; or you want you to be an informant to lead out those who are still pirates. Don't worry, if this is the case
For you, I am definitely not here to talk to you in person. I don’t ask what you have done in the past, but I have other things for you to do."
When Xiao Zhuo heard this, he immediately kowtowed a few more times and said, "Common people, thank you for your grace! Long live your Majesty! Long live your Majesty!"
He was so excited. How could he not be excited when he heard with his own ears that His Majesty did not pursue his past crimes, which meant that his past black history was wiped out? As for Yunxi deceiving him, this is absolutely impossible! You have no joke! And even if you are the king,
There are jokes, but they would not be used on a small person like him.
"You get up, there is no need to kneel back and forth. It's inconvenient for me to talk to you like this." Yunxi said. He could accept the minister bowing when he met him, but he couldn't accept kneeling all the time when talking, so
Let him stand up.
Xiao Zhuo kowtowed twice more before standing up again and standing respectfully in front of Yun He.
After he stood up, Yunxi said again: "What I want to tell you is to ask you to contact merchants, whether they are merchants from the Ming Dynasty or from Fanguo, and ask them to go to Annan in November. If there is a big deal, etc.
Hold them."
"Your Majesty, please forgive the common people for being presumptuous. Please clarify what kind of big business it is. Businessmen are all profit-seeking people. If they don't know what kind of big business it is and how much profit they can make, not many people will be willing to do it.
I went to Annan to wait." Xiao Zhuo said cautiously.
"Then I will explain to you. The so-called big trade refers to the trophies obtained by the Ming Dynasty in its conquest of Annan. You can buy these trophies from the Ming army." Yunxi said.
"Buying trophies from the Ming army?" Xiao Zhuo asked in surprise.
"That's it. Specifically,..." Yunxi said.
Yunxi had been thinking about this matter for a long time. In order to save some war expenses, he decided to recruit merchants to accompany the army.
Military merchants, as the name suggests, are small businessmen who follow the army, sell various daily necessities and food, and sometimes purchase the army's trophies.
In Western countries, as early as the history of ancient Greece and Rome, there are records of merchants accompanying the army. In the world of Christianity and Tianfang Christianity in the feudal era, the army had not yet implemented a collective response system, and merchants accompanying the army were very common and considered part of the army.
Indispensable members, led by dedicated personnel. In France and some other countries, army traders are often women. Sometimes they wear special clothing and serve as nurses during battles. In the Russian army, the status of army traders was specified in the 1716 Army Regulations
were identified for the first time. They were under the jurisdiction of the Director of Baggage. In order to protect the merchants accompanying the army, special escorts were sent. The prices of the items were determined by the headquarters. According to the 1890 Field Regulations, the activities of the merchants accompanying the army under the conditions of the field were controlled by the headquarters.
The chief of guard exercised supervision. During wartime, military vendors were members of the army according to the law. By the beginning of the 20th century, there were still military vendors serving the military operations.
But China is different. China established a unified country very early, and the army also established a centralized response system early. Although there will be some particularly courageous businessmen who go to war places to do business, they are not allowed to follow the army.
, were not protected by the military, and were killed as spies more than businessmen who made money.
Yunxi was not interested in establishing a system of military merchants that was exactly the same as in the West, but he still felt that military merchants were necessary.
The army will get a lot of trophies when fighting, but because it is difficult to carry, many things can only be discarded and destroyed, and only some gold and silver items are preserved. But if there are merchants accompanying the army, many things can be sold to them, not only
The soldiers received additional benefits, and the court also saved some money - according to regulations, a portion of the captured loot had to be handed over.
At the same time, Yunxi also planned to reduce the number of Annan people by selling Annan slaves during the war. It was okay to massacre all the captured Annan people, but Yunxi always felt that this was not good. Annan is always the country most similar to the Ming Dynasty, and the people of Annan
It is also most similar to the people of the Ming Dynasty. It is okay to kill some to frighten the locals, but it would be too wasteful to kill them all. So he planned to sell the rest of the prisoners of war during the war, which could not only reduce the number of Annan people, especially the strong men, but also
To cover the expenses of the court.
Such things can only be done during a war, not after a ceasefire. No matter what you do to the enemy during a war, you can understand that there will not be too many people to criticize you; but when the war is over, you will definitely do it again.
There will be many people to blame.
Moreover, the Ming Dynasty did not want to treat Annan as a colony, but as a native land. After the war, it could not do such a thing for the purpose of appeasing the locals. Therefore, Yunxi could only let the merchants accompanying the army purchase prisoners of war during the war.
Moreover, Yunxi also had another purpose, which was to turn war into a profitable business. Since the Song Dynasty, war in China has become a thing with no profits and net losses. This is why emperors in the past dynasties were unwilling to fight.
, in addition to worrying about the rebellion of generals who are good at fighting, there is also the reason that the cost of fighting is too high and cannot be recovered. When fighting becomes a profitable business, the emperor's enthusiasm for fighting will be greatly increased.
Xiao Zhuo listened to Yunxi's explanation and bowed his head in silence. What Yunxi said to him was beyond his expectation. He never expected that an emperor would talk to him about selling trophies. In his
I have the impression that no official of the seventh rank or above would say such a thing anymore. Wouldn’t His Majesty the Emperor’s straightforward words lead to the impeachment of hundreds of officials?
However, he did not think about it for long. Whether the emperor would be overwhelmed by the officials' memorials or not, it had little to do with him. He did not even consider whether this matter was feasible, and immediately agreed: "Your Majesty, common people
After getting off the ship, I immediately went to find the businessmen I know and asked them to go to Annan in November to do this big deal!"
Even if His Majesty's idea doesn't come true, as long as he works hard for the Emperor, he will never suffer a loss. Being able to be seen by the Emperor is more useful than anything else.
Yunxi also immediately praised him and said: "Then I will leave this matter to you, Xiao Zhuo. As long as you serve me, I will not begrudge you any rewards. Even hereditary official positions are not a problem."
"The common people will live up to their orders." Xiao Zhuo paused and then said: "But Your Majesty, if other businessmen want the common people to prove this, what should the common people do?"
Yunxi had long expected that he would ask this question, so he took out a piece of paper with writing on it and asked Wang Xi to hand it to him and said: "With this, you will definitely win the trust of other businessmen."
Xiao Zhuo only took one look and said: "The common people understand that having this item is enough to win the trust of other merchants."
Yunxi told him a few more things, and finally said: "You must not tell the merchant that I told you this matter, do you understand?"
