…

"Our big opportunity is coming?"

Xu Derong and others looked at each other!

Seeing that no one understood what Wang Zezhen meant by this, Xu Derong asked, "Prince, I don't know what this means?" ”

Wang Zezhen said: "Shang is the leading wise monarch in ancient and modern China, how could he come here for no reason to expand his territory? ”

A maritime merchant said: "We also think so, although the emperor does not want to, the Han people and the clam fight, so that the Hu people and fishermen benefit, and did not enter the Central Plains, but if it is not for far-reaching intentions, it will not come here to expand the territory, after all, this is far away from Liaodong." ”

Wang Zezhen looked at the man and said: "You are right, you are right, you will destroy the Liao Kingdom, destroy the Taifeng, destroy Goryeo, destroy Japan, and be invincible. ”

Without waiting for others to answer, Wang Zezhen asked and replied to himself: "Shang personally traveled westward and mobilized more than 100,000 troops to destroy the Li Dynasty, Cham and Khmer in a row. ”

Wang Zezhen's words did not surprise Xu Derong and others.

This is a clear thing, except for this maritime international trade with huge benefits, what can labor Li Yan's master?

Xu Derong pondered for a moment and said, "The Great Emperor wants to monopolize this maritime trade? ”

This is what Xu Derong and they are most worried about!

Li Yan has thousands of seagoing ships, tens of thousands of excellent shipwrights, and the key is that he also has strong military strength, and has cut off the trade routes between China and the West, so Li Yan definitely has the strength to monopolize this maritime international trade.

And once Li Yan monopolizes this maritime international trade, then they not only lose a huge way of wealth, but also the danger of bankruptcy, you know, many of their money can be pressed on the merchant ships and goods that were detained by Li Yan, if Li Yan wants to monopolize, it is absolutely impossible to return their merchant ships and goods.

Wang Zezhen said with a smile: "You are a monarch, not a businessman, how can you plunge into business and lose a lot because of a small loss?" ”

Hearing Wang Zezhen say this, Xu Derong and the others breathed a sigh of relief.

However, there was still a maritime merchant: "But I heard that the Emperor has a large merchant fleet......"

Wang Zezhen said: "There is such a merchant fleet that is also doing maritime trade, but you can rest assured, this does not affect you, how big the maritime trade is, you all know that the merchant fleet on the one cannot eat all the shares, and the merchant fleet on the one is currently only engaged in glass, soap, and fine iron, and it does not conflict with your business." ”

Hearing Wang Zezhen say this, Xu Derong and others were really relieved.

After a while, Xu Derong said: "Then I don't know what the big opportunity is that the prince said?" ”

Wang Zezhen looked around and said, "Shang intends to break the monopoly of the big food merchants, so that we Chinese merchants can directly trade in the West." ”

Hearing Wang Zezhen's words, Xu Derong and the others' eyes suddenly lit up!

For a long time, the greatest benefits of international trade between the East and the West have been seized by merchants such as Dashi, who have cut off trade between China and the West, so that both Chinese and Western merchants can only earn a small part of the profits.

If Li Yanzhen can break the monopoly of merchants such as Da Shi, then both Chinese and Western merchants can gain greater benefits.

Let's ask, how can Xu Derong and others not yearn for it?

Xu Derong cautiously asked, "Does the Emperor really have this plan?" ”

Wang Zezhen said: "Otherwise, why did you come here in person?" Why fight the Khmer and other countries? ”

Xu Derong thought for a while and said, "Now is indeed a good opportunity to break the monopoly of big food merchants. ”

Wang Zezhen looked at Xu Derong and asked, "How do you say this?" ”

Xu Derong said: "More than two hundred years ago, *** established the Fatimid Dynasty in Tunisia, conquered more than a dozen countries, and then moved the capital to Cairo, because its clothes are still green, we Chinese call it 'green clothes'." In addition, Mosul and Aleppo established the Hamdan dynasty; The Persians and Turks established the Samanid Dynasty, the Baiyi Dynasty, the Ghaznavid Dynasty, the Seljuk Empire, and the Ayyubid Dynasty, which were also considered to be the Great Food World, and the merchants of these countries were the Great Food Merchants who monopolized the trade between the East and the West. ”

After a pause, Xu Derong continued: "More than a hundred years ago, the empire was divided, and the actual ruling area was limited to Baghdad and its surrounding areas. Later, the Seljuks came, and the Seljuk grandson, Tughluk Berk, captured Khorasan and then conquered all of Persia and entered Baghdad. Caliph al-Qa'im named Tughluk Burk as sultan and "king of the East and the West". Since then, although the titular ruler of the Great Eclipse World is still the caliphate, the real power has passed to the Seljuk sultans. Tugrilberg's nephew and successor, Arp Arslan, defeated the Byzantine army at Manzikert and captured the Byzantine Emperor Romanus IV, and most of Asia Minor, which belonged to Byzantium, was at the height of the Seljuk Empire. ”

Speaking of this, Xu Derong's tone softened and said: "If it was that period, even the Great Emperor would not be able to break the monopoly of the Great Food Merchant, because the Seljuk Empire was too strong at that time, but fortunately, the Seljuk Empire has begun to decline now." ”

Wang Zezhen said: "Declined? What's going on? ”

Xu Derong said: "There are many reasons. There were Crusades; After the death of Malikshah, the sons were divided and the empire was torn apart; There are also the countries of the former Great Food that constantly rise up to challenge the authority of the empire, and so on...... In short, although the Seljuk Empire is still the ruler of the Great Eclipse World, it has sunset, and over the years, in order to maintain its rule, the Seljuk Empire has been constantly fighting with the surrounding Qarakhanid Dynasty and the Western Heavenly Kingdoms, creating a lot of killings and contradictions. ”

Many of the things Xu Derong said were unheard of by Wang Zezhen.

Wang Zezhen tasted it for a while before saying, "Duke Xu seems to know a lot about the Great Food World?" ”

Xu Derong said: "Don't hide it from the prince, Xu once tried his best to unite a few friends of the Western Heaven Kingdoms to break the monopoly of the big food merchants and win more benefits for the Chinese merchants, but unfortunately, because there was no strong military support, it ended in failure." ”

Hearing Xu Derong say this, Wang Zezhen suddenly remembered that Li Yan was looking for someone who was proficient in the Western Heaven Kingdoms and the Great Food World to be his staff, and then looked at Xu Derong and said, "Isn't this person more of the talent you want." So he said to Xu Derong: "I don't know if Duke Xu has any plans to become a leader, if so, I can introduce Duke Xu to the Eastern Emperor." ”

When Xu Derong heard this, he was overjoyed!

He went to the sea to do business because he didn't have the opportunity to be out of the list.

And in this era, no matter how rich a merchant is, he is still an inferior person, and the superior class is those who are high.

To be honest, there is no shortage of money Xu Derong for, no matter how much it is, it is just a number for Xu Derong, and he just wants to do something that will go down in the ages.

And if he can be here for Li Yan and help Li Yan break the monopoly of the big food merchants, he will undoubtedly achieve his goal.

However, although Xu Derong was very willing to come out, he still hesitated a little and said: "Xu is a businessman, can the emperor use me, a despicable person?" ”

Not only Xu Derong, but other maritime merchants also think the same way - although they are rich, but the general environment dictates that they can't help but feel a little inferior.

Wang Zezhen said with a smile: "You are too underestimated in employing people's spirit, as long as you can help you, you will not be stingy with rewards." ”

Hearing Wang Zezhen say this, Xu Derong cheered himself: "It's a big deal to continue to come back as a maritime merchant, what's the harm in seeing the Eastern Emperor?" ”

At this time, a maritime merchant asked, "Prince, I wonder how the emperor can return our merchant ships and goods?" ”

……