After Xiao Zhuo retreated, Wang Xi immediately said to Yun Xi: "Your Majesty, why did you choose this person to recruit other merchants and slaves, but why did Your Majesty personally talk to this little businessman?" Although His Majesty told him not to say that it was His Majesty who confessed, it may not be accurate. ”

Wang Xi was very sad for his emperor. He has been serving Yun Xi for so many years, and he has also learned some words in order to organize the bookcase and manage the palace, and understands that the emperor and the ministers will be discussed by the officials when they talk about money, but they can still reluctantly accept it; can talk directly to the merchants, and also order the establishment of military merchants, but it exceeds the bottom line set by the ministers for the emperor.

"If I don't tell him about this directly, I don't feel at ease." Yun Xi explained, "I sent my trusted people to talk to the merchants, and if they didn't leak the secrets at all, the merchants wouldn't believe them; If you want to be convinced, they will definitely leak secrets, it is better for me to say it myself. ”

"However, in order to win the trust of the rest of the merchants, Xiao Zhuo's matter of recruiting the merchants accompanying the army is His Majesty's will will still leak out. Although His Majesty is not in the capital, the hundred officials will still give advice, and even send the recital to the place where His Majesty is. Wang Xi said.

"It's okay, I've already found the person to give this order. Li Jian, the deputy commander of the army of Annam, will take on this matter, and Zhang Wen will also acquiesce that the matter will not fall on my head. ”

"The silk silk with these words written on it that I gave to Xiao Zhuo just now is also signed by Li Jian, not my will or edict." Yun Xi said.

How could Yun Xi take the initiative to take on such a big thing as talking to the businessman in person and setting up a merchant to accompany the army, so that he was not attacked by the civilian officials? Now is not the crisis moment when the country is about to be wiped out, he must find someone to take the blame.

Of course, Yunxi will not sacrifice the person who bears the blame like some emperors in the late Ming Dynasty, so that no one will be willing to bear the blame for the emperor in the future. Zhang Wen is just acquiescing, and he is a meritorious nobleman of the Ming Dynasty, and the fledgling officials will not target him, and most of them will set the main target as Li Jian.

Yun Xi will ignore the advice of the officials on the grounds that 'the war is imminent, it is not appropriate to change generals', and when the war is over, it is estimated that the ministers' most concerned thing is not the merchant with the army, and at that time, he can be fooled by punishing him casually. Yun Xi will also find a reason to give him a knighthood to appease him.

"Then why didn't His Majesty let him recruit merchants to talk about it?" When Wang Xi was stunned, Li Sha'er, who was sitting next to Yun Xi, suddenly asked.

"Li Jian is reluctant to meet the businessman in person, and besides, I am not very comfortable with him, afraid that he will mess things up." Yun Xi said again.

After explaining the matter clearly, Yun Xi glanced at Wang Xi and hugged Li Sha'er back to the cabin.

When Yunxi walked away, Wang Xi immediately said to a few small eunuchs serving nearby: "Today's matter, you must not reveal it!" If I hear the news, I'll throw you all out of the boat and feed the fish!" ”

……

……

“…… Big brother, this is the way it is, Li Jian, the deputy commander of the army of Annam, asked me to board the ship and ordered the matter. In the courtyard of the Xiao family in Jiaxing, Xiao Zhuo, who was sitting on the side, said to a person sitting on the main seat.

"Big brother, since it is the news brought back by the seventh child, it is impossible to be fake! Lao Qi will deceive outsiders, will he deceive his own family! Believe it or not, we will gather all the big ships of our family and go to Annan to make this big deal. Sitting next to Xiao Zhuo, a big man who was also very strong said.

"Yes, big brother, since Lao Qi said that he saw Li Dudu with his own eyes, there will be no fake." Another said.

The people in the room were talking about their opinions, and although there were differences, they all felt that it was worth trying. But slowly, their voices faded away, and everyone looked up at the man sitting on the throne.

The person sitting on the throne looked about forty years old, his appearance was very ordinary, his stature was not high, he was very thin compared to Xiao Zhuo, and everyone present looked far more like a leader than him, but this person was the patriarch of the Xiao family in Jiaxing, Xiao Qiao.

Xiao Qiao sat in his seat and waited until everyone stopped talking before he said, "Seventh brother, did you really see Li Jian with your own eyes, not an official under him?" ”

"I did see Li Jian himself!" Xiao Zhuo nodded.

"How could such a big official discuss with you about recruiting merchants with the army like this? Even if he had this mind, he wouldn't have told it himself. Xiao Qiao said.

"Because this matter was ordered by a larger person." Xiao Zhuo said.

"Bigger people? Bigger than Li Jian? Who could there be? Xiao Qiao was stunned for a moment, and then guessed: "Could it be Marquis Zhang?" ”

"Listening to Li Jian's meaning, he is bigger than Marquis Zhang." Xiao Zhuo said.

"Bigger than Marquis Zhang? Can it still be the emperor? Someone suddenly interjected.

"Listen to what Li Jian means, that's the case." Xiao Zhuo said calmly.

"What! Is it really the emperor? I'm just saying it casually. The man who had just interjected opened his mouth wide in surprise and lost his voice.

The others were not much better than him, and they all spoke loudly to express their surprise, although Xiao Qiao, who was sitting on the main seat, did not say anything loudly, but he also spread out on the chair and didn't know what he was thinking.

After a long time, Xiao Qiao came back to his senses and said to Xiao Zhuo, "What you said is true? ”

"Anyway, that's what Li Jian meant." Xiao Zhuo said.

After another half a while, Xiao Qiao said again: "Although it sounds like a story, this story actually makes sense. Because Li Jian was ordered by the emperor, he didn't dare to let the officials below do it, so he personally ordered it with you. It makes sense why they found you, you have been mixed in the green forests of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, maritime merchants and pirates, and it is estimated that they found you. So it's eighty percent true. ”

"Our family has done this deal." Xiao Qiao finally said.

He immediately ordered: "Second brother, you go and sell all the goods you can sell as soon as possible." It is certainly not possible to go to Annam to buy the spoils of war of the big-headed soldiers in barter, and you can only buy them with gold, silver, copper coins and treasures. The big-headed soldiers are all dirt buns, and they probably can't recognize the value of our treasures, so after selling the goods, they will all exchange them for gold, silver and treasure money, and they can bring as much as they want. Remember to find a remote place to exchange the treasure money at the lowest price. ”

"Third child, are we familiar with the generals of this army? If there is a familiarity, hurry up and find a relationship. ”

"Fourth, bring all the people who have done business with the big-headed soldiers before, these big-headed soldiers may not be easy to talk to, so you have to be careful."

……

"Old Seven, you go and call all the boats that our family can call back to gather, and then go to the sea off Annan together."

Xiao Qiao finally said to them: "According to what Lao Qi brought back, the army will start fighting in October, and it is estimated that there will be spoils in November." We've got to hurry, or we won't be able to get the first course. Let's get busy, brothers. The seventh stayed, and I still have something to ask him. ”

The brothers present said yes and left the room. Soon, the room that seemed to be very lively was soon left with only the two of them.

Xiao Zhuo moved his body, changed to a more relaxed posture, and asked lazily, "Big brother, what else do you want to ask?" ”

Xiao Qiao didn't answer immediately, but walked down from the main seat, sat next to Xiao Zhuo, and looked at him carefully before saying, "Old Seven, although what you just said sounds fine, I always feel that you are hiding something. ”

"Big brother, how could I deceive my own brother." Xiao Zhuo said with a smile.

Xiao Qiao suddenly laughed out loud, and laughed for a while before saying, "Old Seven, if you didn't talk like that just now, I'm not sure if you're hiding something; But when I heard you smile like this, I knew that you must be hiding something. ”

"You've been like this since you were a child, you laugh like this when you lie, at first you were the least likely to be seen by your uncles, but then every time we played together, the uncles asked you what happened."

Xiao Zhuo scratched his head before he said, "I did hide some things from everyone, but I had to hide them. There is no harm to the family. But since the eldest brother asked, I ......"

As soon as he said this, he was suddenly interrupted by Xiao Qiao: "You don't have to say it, big brother believes you." And since you don't say it, there must be a reason not to say it. But remember, since you don't talk to your family, you can't talk to other businessmen either. ”

"Big brother, I know."

After saying this, Xiao Zhuo thought of something again, and asked, "Big brother, I'll stay at home for a few more days, and then go to find others after our own fleet is formed?" ”

"Not necessarily." Xiao Qiao said with a smile: "The spoils obtained by the 600,000 army attacking Annam, not to mention our family, even the merchants of the entire Zhejiang Province may not be able to eat a piece, not only should you not delay, but you should immediately go to those families that have a good relationship with our family, and everyone will have a big meal together." Remember, to make a deal is to make money for everyone, unless the deal is too small for a second person. ”

"Got it, big brother. Then I'll go find someone who is familiar with our family after dinner. Xiao Zhuo said.

"Go ahead."

……

……

"Patriarch, someone from the Xiao family came and said that there was a big deal in Annan?" Yan Zhenzhi's clansman, Yan Xiu, said in surprise to one person.

"Yes, Xiao Zhuo came over and said that there was a big deal in Annan, buying booty from the army of the imperial court. It was Li Dudu, the deputy marshal of the imperial court's expedition to Annam, who ordered him to recruit, what, yes, it was called a merchant with the army. The patriarch said.

"Is this true? How else can a high-ranking official of the imperial court do such a thing? Yan Xiu still couldn't believe it.

"He showed us a silk silk with the signature of Governor Li on it." The patriarch said again.

"Then why don't you hurry up and go to Annan to make money? If you finish going, you won't make a lot of money! Yan Xiu said. And going right away.

"But, what if Xiao Zhuo talks nonsense? Even if it's not his nonsense, what if he changes his mind at the Annan Imperial Court? Isn't it a trip for nothing? The patriarch said. He was also talking about the concerns of most people in the family.

"If you run for nothing, you will run for nothing! How can you make money by trading without taking risks! What's more, now our family also has some capital, even if we run for nothing, we can hold on! "Yan Xiudao.

But the patriarch who told him about it still hesitated. Yan Xiu shouted: "Where is the momentum to risk going to Fusang to do business with the borrowed money!" Our family is not yet at the time when we can make money by doing business in peace, so if we don't take risks, we may be back to the same state in a few years! ”

The patriarch was finally persuaded by him and said, "Then our family will do this business!" ”