At the beginning of the lanterns, the lights were dim, the horns in the barracks were bursting, but the conversation in the conference hall had not yet dispersed, and before that, Liu Feng had also talked to Xu Fu about maritime trade, but he had not understood it in detail.

But at this moment, in Xu Fu's mouth, he heard about the most prosperous side of maritime trade at this time, and he had to say that Xu Fu was a talent, he not only knew the key to the current maritime trade, but also knew the entire history of maritime trade.

This maritime trade has existed since ancient times, Qin had Xu Fu to the east of Japan, bringing thousands of boys and women and "hundred workers" at the same time, but also brought the Central Plains silkworms and advanced agricultural technology, therefore, the Japanese respect Xu Fu as the "god of silkworms".

In the Han Dynasty, there were records of exchanges in Southeast Asia, and such a historical material was preserved in the "Geographical Chronicles of Hanshu 61", the meaning of which is roughly as follows: from the Han Dynasty to the south of the country, Xuwen, Hepu and other places, can trade with overseas countries, its navigation through the capital of the Yuan country (now northeast of Sumatra), the country of Yilu (near Bago in Burma), the country of Chenli (along the Irrawaddy River), the country of Fugandu Lu (the country of Burma, the country of Tang Bi) and the navigation channel of the Huang Kingdom (southwest of Madras, India), further south to the country of Chengbu (about present-day Sri Lanka); On the way back, we pass through Dzongpi (west of Singapore) and then end the voyage in Xianglin County, the southernmost part of Ninan County.

When introducing maritime trade, it is inevitable to pull out the famous Silk Road on land, which is a communication line between Eurasia and has played a huge role in promoting commercial and cultural exchanges between the East and the West in history.

However, there are also insurmountable defects, that is, the Western Regions are often cut off by nomads, especially in the Hexi Corridor, where wars are frequent, and control often changes hands.

The biggest advantage of maritime trade is that there is no need to worry about being blocked by the enemy, and none of the countries and regions that pass along the way have the strength to confront the Celestial Empire, especially those unruly nomads, who can no longer threaten the trade routes of the Celestial Empire.

Moreover, the Maritime Silk Road also has a characteristic, that is, the cost is low, the profit is high, and the people can participate in a large number, which greatly promotes the prosperity of the Maritime Silk Road.

Therefore, there are also four major ports, Guangzhou Port, which is known as the largest port in the world, came into being.

The scope of maritime trade has covered East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia and East Africa, and its scope is unprecedented. After the middle of the Tang Dynasty, China expanded its voyages to the Persian Gulf and opened up shipping routes to East Africa. By the middle of the Tang Dynasty, with the Great Eclipse having its capital in Baghdad, there was a new breakthrough in China's shipping routes to the Persian Gulf. After Gao Xianzhi's defeat in Central Asia, the Tang court's understanding of the Maritime Silk Road was further deepened, and it also actively promoted the development of maritime trade.

Exchanges with East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia have long existed, and they are still continuous and have a tendency to strengthen during the Tang Dynasty. During the Tang Dynasty, many Silla merchants came to Tang to trade, from Dengzhou, Muping and Wendeng on the Shandong Peninsula to Yangzhou and Chuzhou in the Jianghuai area.

Japan sent Tang envoys to China dozens of times, with a maximum number of more than 500 people, "nominally as tribute, but in essence the main purpose was to exchange tribute for silk rewarded by China." The fact that the two countries had begun to use currency in their trade exchanges showed that their exchanges were very serious, and at the same time, trade with Southeast Asian and South Asian countries also flourished because of the passage of the Persian Gulf route.

In terms of the size of the Maritime Silk Road, it is assumed that the amount of trade alone has reached a considerable amount.

In the late Tang Dynasty, Guangzhou was the largest foreign trade port, from the point of view of the number of ships, the number of ships coming to Guangzhou every year was uncertain, there were twenty or thirty ships in the few, and there were more than 40 ships in general, and the large and small ships that came to Guangzhou to trade in the five years of the Great Calendar amounted to more than 4,000 ships. If the loading capacity of each ship is 50 tons, the throughput of Guangzhou's foreign trade goods will reach more than 200,000 tons this year. That's a lot in this day and age.

Xu Fu said, "With the prosperity of maritime trade, there are more and more types of traded goods. Persian traders brought precious stones, corals, agate, spices, medicines, flora and fauna from East Africa and Southeast Asia. ”

"Exchange Chinese silk, porcelain, paper, rhubarb, etc. In the Tang Dynasty, the Southern Zhao exchanged goods with Myanmar through the transportation line, such as silk, glazed poppy, amber, light beads, sese, sea shells, etc. ”

"Trade between Silla and the Tang Dynasty flourished, with all kinds of metal crafts, silk fabrics, high-end robes, tea, and books being shipped from China to Korea, and gold, silver, ginseng, and furs presented to the Tang Dynasty by Korean envoys. The trade between the Tang Dynasty and Japan was mainly the export of silk, porcelain, copper and iron, and the import of silver. ”

Liu Feng nodded frequently, and listened with relish, not interjecting a sentence and asking a question.

Seeing that Liu Feng listened energetically and listened carefully, Xu Fu took a sip of tea and continued to introduce to Liu Feng, "With the outbreak of war, the various festivals and degrees have divided and attacked each other, and the ports in Dengzhou, Jiaozhou, Laizhou, Haizhou and other places have been destroyed, and the maritime trade in the north has been curbed. ”

"And most of the sea trade in Fanyang Mansion today is to take Silla, Japan and other places, but although the Japanese route is lucrative, if the timing is not right, it will also lose money, Japan will break out from time to time war, if you just encounter war when you dock, it will be troublesome. Moreover, the people of Japan and Silla were small in number, poor, and had very low spending power, which could not meet the needs of maritime trade. ”

"Therefore, the maritime trade still has to go out, take the South Sea route, most people start from Yangzhou, Hangzhou, Quanzhou, Guangzhou and other places, along the South Sea all the way to Persia and even further away in the Red Sea region, there are many countries and regions along the way, so that there are many types of goods traded!"

After listening for a long time, Liu Feng only heard the grand occasion of sea trade, but did not hear the danger of sea trade, and in this era, even if the navigation technology has developed, the navigation experience is rich, the monsoon is used to drive the sea ship, and the sun, moon and stars are used to determine the direction of navigation. But the risks of maritime trade are significant.

Sea navigation is different from inland rivers, the wind and waves are uncertain, the sea monsters are infested, and the lives of people are in danger at all times. If you are not familiar with sea navigation, it is very likely that there are no bones, but the huge profits still stimulate many businessmen to take risks.

Gu Ziyong was the unlucky guy in the maritime trade, and before he could carry the goods to sea, the ship was destroyed and people died.

The reason why Liu Feng wanted to understand the maritime trade in detail was because in the past year, the merchant groups in Fanyang Mansion had only conducted several maritime trades, and the profits were not as impressive as they imagined.

And now with the full investment in the renovation of the Grand Canal, Liu Feng is a little unable to make ends meet financially, so he wants to personally grasp the maritime trade and make it his most stable source of income.

Xu Fu gave Liu Feng a detailed introduction to maritime trade, and he was also thinking about Liu Feng's trouble, why should he understand maritime trade so much, is it to revise the policy of maritime trade?

But looking at Liu Feng in contemplation, he didn't dare to open his mouth to disturb, until in the middle of the night, Liu Feng suddenly asked, "Then Gu Ziyong is usable?" This was asked to Xiang Yuwen Jiayou and Xu Fu.

Xu Fu was stunned for a moment, and Yuwen Jiayou replied in surprise: "My subordinates are not familiar with Gu Gongzi, so I don't dare to judge arbitrarily!" ”

At this moment, Xu Fucai seemed to react, groaned for a while, and said in a straight voice: "This person is a seedling who does maritime trade, has a calm temperament, and can take charge alone!" ”

After finishing speaking, he smiled awkwardly and said, "If it weren't for that, I wouldn't dare to promise to send him two more ships!" ”

Liu Feng said meaningfully: "In this case, this person belongs to my Fanyang Mansion, and I will visit him tomorrow!" ”

Yuwen Jiayou hesitated and said, "Envoy, is it a bit hasty to act like this!" “

Liu Feng said seriously: "Don't be hasty, you can be praised by Xu Dashan, it can be seen that this person is extraordinary, and he will be taught a certain test!" ”

When Yuwen Jiayou heard this, he saw that Liu Feng did not seem to be cheating, and he no longer dissuaded him.

Liu Feng thought in his heart, but he couldn't confess to him, since the establishment of Fanyang Mansion, it has not been worried about finances, but with the pace of expansion getting faster and faster, it is necessary to find more and more stable financial sources to meet the growing needs of Fanyang Mansion.

Maritime trade is definitely a stable source of finance, but if you want to truly understand maritime trade, you must experience it yourself, so Liu Feng went to Gaocheng Port in person, and he wanted to use a new person to manage maritime trade matters.

The next day, without waiting for Liu Feng to look for Gu Ziyong, he heard the news and came, but it was Mao Sui who recommended himself to get an errand related to maritime trade in Fanyang Mansion, which made Liu Feng speculate for a while whether it was Yuwen Jiayou and Xu Fu who leaked the news, but this is not the time to investigate.

Gu Ziyong looked extremely thin, and looked a little haggard, his eyes were deeply sunken, and at first glance, Liu Feng did not have a very good impression of him, and he was a little suspicious of his ability.

But during the negotiation, he learned that Gu Ziyong was proficient in three languages, Persian, Ceylon, Chenla and other languages, and Silla and Japanese were also proficient.

This made Liu Feng look at him with admiration all of a sudden, and Gu Ziyong's understanding of sea trade was not weaker than Xu Fu, and in his introduction, Liu Feng's concept of sea trade became clearer and clearer.

When it comes to the end, it is also necessary to involve the key points, Liu Feng did not haha, and said bluntly: "XX gives you ships, goods, and funds, and you run it a few times first, so that you can see how capable you are?" ”

Gu Ziyong did not retreat, straightened his chest, and said loudly: "Never live up to the high expectations of the king!" ”