Now, in Rizhao Port, there are as many as 15 ships of all sizes under the name of the Xu family, but the sailors of the Xu family, not counting the prisoners, can only drive away 5 smaller ships, and the remaining ones, even if they start to dispatch and train sailors now, will not be able to act for at least the past year.

When the ship stops at Rizhao Port, it will have to pay money to the Zhang family, as well as the maintenance of the hull, which has no harvest for the time being, but has to pay a lot of upfront costs, which is a burden for the current Xu family.

Therefore, the Zhang family believes that the Xu family can sell some of the ships that they don't need to them, and the money and grain obtained can be used to offset the berthing expenses and sailor training fees, so that before the sailors are trained and the fleet can carry out the next operation, the sea ships are at least not a money-losing commodity for the Xu family.

"The reasons given by the Zhang family are very sufficient." Xu Shiyang thought about it and said helplessly: "How much money do they pay to buy a boat?" ”

The brothers had a headache about how to use these ships in the future, and it seemed that selling them directly to the Zhang family for cash seemed to be a solution.

"Bidding according to the ship's type, condition, and size seems to mean that it is consistent."

A material is a unit of volume used on a ship, and one material is equivalent to ten cubic feet.

The large ships captured by Xu Shiyang are roughly calculated to be between 2 and 3 hundred materials, and the medium-sized ships are around 100 materials, and the five bird boats of the Xu family are almost like medium-sized ships.

"Their price is not good, a big ship is only 2 or 300 yuan, which is too low." Xu Shiyang shook his head and said, "I mean, no matter how big or small the boat is, it will be doubled." ”

"Let's gather the existing sailors on the new big ship, and transfer some people from home, I think, so that at least five large sea ships can be maintained, and the original five bird ships and the five medium-sized ships caught this time will be sold to the Zhang family."

"Another option is that they can rent these ships from us, and the rent can be cheaper."

"Will they say yes?" Xu Shiliu hesitated: "This price is too high, right?" ”

"How can there be a bargain when you do business?" Xu Shiyang said with a smile: "In addition, you can remind them that without our starry night help, his Zhang family still doesn't know what the fate will be, not to mention that they also robbed a lot of boats this time." ”

"Also, according to tradition, our family has traveled hundreds of miles to save them, and the Zhang family should give the opening fee, let's count it for the sake of the upcoming alliance, but they have to know what they take advantage of, right?"

……

Liaodong and Tartars don't like to fight in the spring, because at this time, after a winter, the war horses are too thin, and if they are used ruthlessly, the loss of a batch of war horses will outweigh the losses.

But when the enemy comes, you should not fight, and you will not succeed.

At the beginning of the year, I don't know if I was hungry, about 20,000 herdsmen from seven tribes in Modong Tatar suddenly crossed the Liao River and went deep into the Dajin territory to fight grass valleys.

When Dajin led the troops to drive away, there was chaos in the rear, and the Khitan, Bohai, Goryeo and Han minions who were not in shape and were oppressed by the Jurchen nobles rose up in a big way, and when the main force was exhausted, the Liaozhong Plain at the core of Dajin was in chaos.

Eventually, the Jin army drove away the Tatars, who had a higher proportion of horses and came and went like the wind (probably because they had had enough), and then immediately returned to the division and crushed the disorganized and ineffective slave rebels.

The chaos was indeed pacified, but the Dajin Kingdom suffered heavy losses after this blow.

The western part of the border with the Tatar steppe was swept away by the Tatars, and in the ensuing war, the Jurchens lost almost 2,000 soldiers.

In the Liaozhong Plain, which is the core area, the losses of troops were not very serious, but the economic production was completely ruined.

In retaliation, the Jurchen army carried out a retaliatory massacre of the slaves, and the result was a sharp decline in population, all artisan workshops were suspended, and this year's agricultural production was close to being scrapped.

Whether God rewards you this year or not, a great famine is a foregone conclusion.

If there are no other additions this year.

Since you are going to starve if you don't have a supplement, you have to go find something to replenish!

At the end of April, the Great Khan Wanyan Wu begged to buy the country's various Bo Jilie (originally the meaning of the great chief, now equivalent to the commander of ten thousand commanders) and Meng'an (equivalent to the commander of a thousand soldiers) issued an order: After the autumn harvest this year, enter the customs and plunder!

In fact, they had just looted once last year, and if they went again this year, they might not be able to grab much.

But in this situation, there is no way to do it without looting, at least you have to catch some minions to replenish the labor.

……

Just when the Jin army made up its mind to enter the pass again this year to plunder, several local wealthy clans of Juzhou and Rizhao generation in the south of Qi Province held an alliance ceremony outside the private port of Rizhao.

The ceremony stipulates that Xu and Fan of Juzhou (the one who occupies Juzhou City, and their head of the family also rushed over after hearing the news), Zhang, Wang, Ding, and Bao of Rizhao, a total of six families, swore in front of the ancestral tablets of each family that no matter what dangers they encounter in the future, the six families will advance and retreat together and never break their oaths.

The main ones who presided over the ceremony were the heads of the families, and Xu Shiyang could only be regarded as a witness, but this was enough for him.

The six families are united, and the area of control is roughly equivalent to two counties, and the subordinate Ding Da is about 12,000 to 15,000.

Although there is no provision for the high and low families to belong, but with such an alliance, the six families are already the most powerful force in the entire Qi Province.

This is a good step forward, after all, unity is always more powerful than division.

……

After the alliance ceremony, the Xu family, to be precise, Xu Shiyang personally, and the deal with the Zhang family was almost negotiated.

Perhaps after forming the alliance, the Zhang family felt that they should show some trust, and they made it clear to Xu Shiyang that the sea ships they bought this time would not be used by themselves, but would be sold to some sea owners operating near Jiangnan.

These sea owners are also merchants and thieves, and they do not refuse all the ships that come, and if they sell ships, they can make a profit, and they will go to Jiangnan to do business in the future, and if they meet at sea, it is easier to talk.

This kind of honesty won Xu Shiyang's favor, and he also wanted to leave some contacts with the sea lords in Jiangnan - the real sea lords were all big warlords with hundreds of ships and tens of thousands of pirates, and it was much more useful to talk to them at sea than to find the government.

As a result, the two families took a step back, and the Xu family concentrated their crew and sailors on 5 large ships, and the remaining 10 medium-sized ships were resold at the same price per material.

But the Zhang family can't sell to the next customer in their own name, no matter which way the sea owner finally takes these ships, the Zhang family must sell them in the name of the six alliances, so that each of the alliances can show their faces in front of the powerful sea owners, and they will be easy to deal with in the future.