Xiao Zhuo hurriedly rubbed his eyes, stood up and followed this person.

But as soon as he took a step, he felt the boat move under his feet. He was astonished and disregarded etiquette, and shouted, "Is this ship going to be opened?" ”

"Naturally, the ship is going to be sailed. Yesterday it was enough to rest in Shanghai for a whole day, why not sail today? He didn't expect the man in front of him to answer his question.

"But, how can the grass people go back?" Xiao Zhuo didn't care about disturbing the officials, and said again.

"Don't worry, you'll be put off the ship and waited for the next moored city." The man looked at Xiao Zhuo's face and understood what he wanted to say, and said, "After Zhao meets you, you don't have to go back to Shanghai City, just go and do the things that have been explained to you." ”

"Explain to me......" Xiao Zhuo muttered: "This senior official who wants to meet me still has something to explain to me?" What will it be? ’

He thought as he followed the man. He didn't walk long when he came to a part of the deck, and when he looked up, he saw a man and a woman standing on the edge of the deck, looking out at the scenery. He also noticed that this section of the deck was strangely guardrailed. Not only that, this section of the guardrail is still made of pure iron, and it is poured on the deck with a special process, unless the ship is scattered, otherwise this section of the guardrail will be firmly fixed there to protect the people watching the scenery.

The man who came with him walked over, whispered something to the man and the woman, and the man also said something, then turned his head, looked at Xiao Zhuo, and pulled the woman over.

"Hey, isn't this person the official who came up to inspect the Shanghai City Shipping Division two years ago, and walked around the Municipal Shipping Division with the promotion of **? Look at his style, is he a big official? Can you still bring your female dependents on board? Xiao Zhuo recognized this person at a glance and thought to himself.

When this person approached, Xiao Zhuo immediately knelt down and said, "Xiao Zhuo, a grass man, I have seen an adult." "Although I don't know his rank, and I don't know his name, there is nothing wrong with kneeling down and addressing your lordship.

But then he heard a voice say, "Bold, seeing Your Majesty so rude!" ”

'What! This is Your Majesty! Xiao Zhuo raised his head in surprise and stared at Yun deadly.

Yun waved his hand to stop Wang Xi's reprimand, and stared at Xiao Zhuo with interest. Observing the expression of a person who didn't know his identity before at the moment he knew his identity was one of Yun's hobbies, especially since he rarely revealed his identity in front of people who shouldn't know his identity, and there was no such thing in the whole of last year, which made him rarely able to realize this hobby, so he kept staring at Xiao Zhuo at this time.

Until Xiao Zhuo reacted that he was very rude to do this, he lowered his head and kowtowed three more times, and said: "Xiao Zhuo, a grass people, has seen Your Majesty, long live Your Majesty, long live, long live." Please forgive Your Majesty for the sin of disrespect to the grass people", Yun Cai retracted his gaze and said, "Those who don't know are not guilty, you get up." ”

Yun immediately sat on the chair that the little eunuch had just moved, and ordered someone to bring a chair for Xiao Zhuo, and said to him, "You can sit down." ”

"In front of Your Majesty, how can there be a seat for the grass people? The grass people did not dare to sit. Xiao Zhuo stood respectfully in front of Yun and bowed his head and said.

Yun was not reluctant, let alone nonsense, and said directly: "I heard that you were a character who was rampant on the sea and the green forest roads in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Zhejiang in the early years, but is there such a thing?" ”

"Your Majesty, in the early years, because of his good martial arts, the grass people spent a few days in the green forests in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and they also had a little reputation, but they were by no means green forest figures; The grass people's family did have some business at sea, and they used to smuggle goods in the former dynasty, but they never worked as pirates at sea. Xiao Zhuo thought to himself that his experience in the green forest couldn't be hidden from Jinyiwei, but Jinyiwei obviously couldn't have a place at sea, so he retorted.

Yun smiled and said, "Xiao Zhuo, you don't have to say this, I accepted Li Jiqian's refuge, do you think your past experience can still be hidden from me?" ”

If it was a normal situation, Yun naturally would not have known Xiao Zhuo's past at sea. Even if the sea has been opened now, it is impossible for the men and horses of Jinyiwei to insert a high-ranking spy in the fleet of sea merchants in recent years: the people who can be used by these big merchants are all people who have been in their homes for twenty or thirty years, and outsiders cannot climb to a high position in a short time; Besides, Xiao Zhuo is no longer messing around at sea, even if a spy climbs to a high position, he may not necessarily get news about him.

But who let Yun Quanquan surrender a pirate! Especially after he accepted Li Sha'er into the palace, Li Jiqian and others told all the things they had concealed, allowing Yun to grasp the details of all the famous maritime merchants in the East China Sea in detail.

If this is all there is to it, it is still impossible for Yun to know Xiao Zhuo's past at sea. But when he was looking at the maritime information, he saw that there was the Xiao family in Jiaxing on the name, and asked Li Jiqian about the Xiao family. Li Jiqian also confided in all the things related to the Xiao family, including Xiao Zhuo's past. Only then did Yun know that this Xiao Zhuo was not ordinary.

Xiao Zhuo listened to Yun's words, and suddenly like five thunderbolts, he knelt down and said: "The grass people deserve to die for their crimes, please forgive your majesty." ”

He thought about many things in the moment. He knew that if the emperor of the Ming Dynasty wanted to know, he would definitely know that these businessmen who traded in the city had smuggled before, but he didn't take it seriously. The Hongwu Dynasty did not open the sea, smuggling was too normal, and the emperor had no way to deal with it all.

But knowing clearly that you've been a pirate isn't the same. Although there is no separation between maritime merchants and pirates, there are actually some ships that are only used as pirates to rob and never do maritime business. Such a fleet is different, the sailors and other maritime merchants who belong to the imperial court are very disgusted with them, even if the sea is now open, such a fleet also belongs to the sequence of the Ming sailors seeing one and destroying the other. Although Xiao Zhuo has been a serious maritime merchant, he has also been such a pirate.

'Your Majesty is trying to make an example of the monkey and dispose of my Xiao family?' Or do I want to be an informant to lure out those who are still pirates? If the latter is the case, I should ......' Xiao Zhuo thought to himself.

At this moment, he heard a burst of laughter, and then heard the emperor say: "You probably want me to kill chickens and monkeys and dispose of your Xiao family; Or maybe you can be an informant to lure out those who are still pirates. Don't worry, if this is done to you, it will not be me myself who will speak to you. I don't hold you accountable for anything you've ever done, there's something else for you to do. ”

When Xiao Zhuo heard this, he immediately kowtowed a few more times and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty!" Long live Your Majesty, long live, long live! ”

He was so excited. How can I not be excited to hear with my own ears that His Majesty does not pursue his past crimes, which is equivalent to the erasure of his former black history; As for Yun deceiving him, it is absolutely impossible! No jokes! And even if you have jokes, you won't use it on a small person like him.

"Get up, you don't have to kneel around. If you're like this, it's inconvenient for me to talk to you. Yun said. He was able to accept the minister's prostration when he met him, but he could not accept that he kept kneeling when he spoke, so he was allowed to stand up.

Xiao Zhuo kowtowed twice more before standing up again and standing respectfully in front of Yun.

When he stood up, Yun said again: "I want to explain your matter, is to let you contact the merchants, whether it is a merchant of the Ming Dynasty or a merchant of Fanguo, let them go to Annan in November, there is a big deal waiting for them." ”

"Your Majesty, please forgive the grass people for taking the liberty of what kind of big deal, please make it clear to Your Majesty. Merchants are profit-seeking, and if they don't know what kind of big deal it is and how much money they make, there will definitely not be many people willing to go to Annam and wait. Xiao Zhuo said cautiously.

"Then I'll explain it to you. The so-called big deal refers to the spoils obtained by the Ming Dynasty in the expedition to Annam. You can buy these trophies from the Ming army. Yun said.

"Buying trophies from the Ming army?" Xiao Zhuo asked in surprise.

"That's it. Specifically,......" Yun said.

Yun had been pondering this for a long time, and in order to save some money on the war, he decided to recruit the merchants who accompanied him.

Accompanying merchants, as the name suggests, are small merchants who follow the army on the march, selling all kinds of daily necessities and food, and sometimes buying the army's spoils.

Western countries, as early as ancient Greece and ancient Roman history there are records about military traders, in the feudal era of the cross and Tianfang world, the army has not yet implemented the system of collective response, military traders are very common and are considered to be indispensable members of the army, led by a special person. In France and some other countries, military traders are often women. Sometimes they wore special costumes and also acted as nurses during the battle. In the Russian army, the status of military traders was first established in the army doctrine of 1716. They are under the jurisdiction of the Commissioner of Baggage. In order to protect the military traders, special escorts were dispatched. The price of the item is set by Command. According to the 1890 Wild Ordinance, the activities of military traders in the field were supervised by the Chief of Guards of the Headquarters. In wartime, according to the law, the merchants who accompanied the army were members of the army. Until the beginning of the 20th century, there were still military traders who served the army in combat.

But China is different. Although there will be some particularly bold businessmen who go to the places where the war is fought to do business, they are not allowed to follow the army forward, nor are they protected by the army, and they are treated as spies and killed more than the merchants who make money.

Yun 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 loot when fighting, but because it is not easy to carry, many things can only be discarded and destroyed, and only some gold and silver are preserved. But if there are merchants with the army, many things can be sold to them, not only can the soldiers get additional benefits, but the court can also save some money, according to the regulations, part of the captured booty must be handed over.

At the same time, Yun also intended to reduce the number of Annamites by selling them as slaves during the war. It is certainly possible to slaughter all the captured Annamite, but Yun always thinks that this is not good. Annan is always the country that is most similar to the Ming Dynasty, and the people of Annam are also the most similar to the people of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, he planned to sell the rest of the prisoners of war during the war, which could not only reduce the number of Annamite people, especially the strong men, but also make up for the expenses of the imperial court.

Such a thing can only be done at the time of war, not after the armistice. No matter what you do to the enemy in a war, it is understandable that there will not be too many people to pick on them; But when the battle is over, there will definitely be many people who will blame it if they do it again.

And the Ming Dynasty did not want to treat Annan as a colony, but as a local, and after the war, it could not do such a thing for the purpose of appeasing the locals. Therefore, Yun could only let the merchants with the army buy prisoners of war during wartime.

And Yoon has another purpose, which is to make the war a lucrative business. Since the Song Dynasty has come, the war in China has become a matter of no net loss of income at all, the reason why the emperors of the past dynasties are unwilling to fight, in addition to the fear of the rebellion of the generals who can fight well, there is also the cost of fighting is too large and can not return to the original. When the war becomes a lucrative business, the emperor's enthusiasm for fighting will be greatly increased.

Xiao Zhuo listened to Yun's explanation and bowed his head and remained silent. What Yun said to him was too much he expected. He could never have imagined that an emperor would tell him about selling booty. In his impression, officials above the seventh rank don't say such things. Could it be that His Majesty the Emperor's straightforward speech would not cause impeachment from the hundred officials?

But he didn't think much about it. It doesn't matter if the emperor will be drowned by the officials' twists and turns, or if he won't be drowned, it has little to do with him. He didn't even think about whether this matter was feasible, and immediately agreed: "Your Majesty, after the grass people get off the ship, they will immediately go to the merchants whom the minister knows, and let them go to Annan in November to do this big deal!" ”

Even if His Majesty's idea does not come true, as long as he works hard for the emperor, he will never suffer. It is more useful than anything else to make the emperor look at it.

Yun Ye immediately praised him and said: "Then this matter will be handed over to Xiao Zhuo, as long as you serve me, I will never hesitate to reward." Even the hereditary official body is not a problem. ”

"The grass people will not be dishonored." Xiao Zhuo paused, and then said, "But Your Majesty, if other merchants want the grass people to prove this, what should the grass people do?" ”

Yun had long expected him to ask this question, so he took out a piece of paper with words written on it, asked Wang Xi to hand it to him, and said, "If you take this, you will be able to win the trust of other merchants." ”

Xiao Zhuo only glanced at it and said, "The grass people understand, having this item is enough to win the trust of other merchants. ”

Yun explained a few more things to him, and finally said, "You must not tell the merchant that I have confessed this matter to you, do you understand?" ”

"The grass people understand."

"Then there's nothing wrong with me, you can step down."