In the sixteenth century, a century of great geographical discoveries and colonialism, and in Europe was also the era of the Reformation, various new theological ideas emerged one after another.

Under the leadership of Emperor Longqing of Ming Muzong, the Ming Dynasty broke Zhu Yuanzhang's policy of closing the country and began to allow private individuals to go to sea to do business.

To be sure, this did have an effect on the progress of China from the peak of feudalism to capitalist progress at that time, but the vast territory of China and the idea of the Chinese that imperial power is granted cannot be easily changed, even in the Ming Dynasty, the era when feudalism developed to its peak, it was also difficult to shake.

However, the Europeans were quite evenly matched with each other due to their large number of countries, just like the Hundred Years' War between Britain and France, which lasted for more than 120 years, and finally only ended up with a national power consumption, but no one could destroy anyone, so the Europeans, with the support of navigation technology, set their sights on the map, the land outside Europe.

And China did not do this, perhaps China's Confucianism from ancient times to the present, perhaps because the Chinese are too proud to look down on those "uncivilized" places, in short, China did not embark on the road of colonialism under the world trend, however, this is also the beginning of China's backward world, hundreds of years later, when the artillery of foreigners knocked on the door of this self-contained country, people sighed for a long time, but did not know that this situation was determined as early as three hundred years ago.

Zhang Fan understands this, but now he is at the beginning of this era, people are ambitious, and although Zhang Fan is not a patriotic and angry youth, however, every normal Chinese, or every country wants to become strong in their own country, this is beyond doubt, now Zhang Fan has this kind of mind, and has a little bit of this ability, and since seeing the two people from Portugal, Zhang Fan's heart can no longer be stopped.

However, Zhang Fan's heart is not without a trace of care, after all, if he really intends to do this, China's colonialism road will be opened, and when the time comes, in the future, China will also be crowned with the hat of an "Eastern Power", Zhang Fan has been thinking about this matter for a long time, however, the various influences of the year, China was invaded, the people were slaughtered, and the old photos of women and children being insulted flashed in his mind one by one, so Zhang Fan made up his mind.

However, now the imperial court allows private individuals to go to sea to do business, but there is no intention of preparing the official to come forward, and Zhang Fan is not willing to come forward by himself, so he wants to borrow the power of this Zhao Xiande.

"My lord, you summoned the grass people to come here, I don't know what to discuss with the grass people," Zhao Xiande asked a little nervously.

The two of them are now in the same room, and there is no one else, and there are Jinyi guards guarding the house, all of which makes Zhao Xiande a little nervous.

"It doesn't have to be like this, this official just wants to ask you some questions this time, it's not a trouble," Zhang Fan said with a smile, "Sit down,"

Zhao Xiande thought about it, although he is now worth millions, but if a person of Zhang Fan's status wants to move him, just one look, thinking of this, Zhao Xiande also calmed down, sat down, and said: "If the adults have anything to ask, just ask, the grass people must know everything, and they will say everything,"

"Okay, this official is a person who likes to be cheerful," Zhang Fan smiled and said, "I guess you can guess in your heart what this official is doing in Jiangnan,"

When Zhao Xiande heard Zhang Fan's words, he was stunned at first, he thought that Zhang Fan wanted to ask him about overseas things, but he didn't expect that it was about these, Zhao Xiande was a little difficult to answer, he was not worried about what Zhang Fan would do to him, but worried about those people......

Zhang Fan saw his appearance and knew what he was worried about, so he couldn't help but say: "Don't worry, my conversation with you today will never be known by a third party, and the official promises you, if you have any trouble, as long as you don't do it yourself, I can protect you," Zhang Fan said that this sentence was not a lie, and it was still useful for him to keep this Zhao Xiande.

When Zhao Xiande heard him say this, he thought about it in his heart, and felt that Zhang Fan must have already known something if he said this, and it was not good to hide it by himself, so he made up his mind and said: "Since the adults said so, the grass people will also say it directly, and the purpose of the adults coming here, the grass people can also know a little bit about it,"

"Is it because when you got off the boat, those people didn't accept your red envelope," Zhang Fan said suddenly, he also listened to Liang Chao tell him, and now he wants to shock Zhao Xiande again.

Sure enough, as soon as Zhao Xiande heard Zhang Fan's words, his face immediately showed a surprised expression, he didn't know that Zhang Fan, who was in charge of Jinyiwei, was now panicking about Zhang Fan, but after the panic was admiration, after all, there was such a figure with good hands and eyes who said that he could save himself, then he had nothing to fear, and the bold Zhao Xiande said: "My lord is really well-informed, and the grass people see it from here,"

"Hehe," Zhang Fan chuckled twice and said, "Tell me, how much silver you spent in the first two years,"

Zhao Xiande didn't think about it, he still had some talent for doing business, and the account in his heart was very clear, and he said: "My lord, the grass people didn't have much capital in the first year, but when they came back from going to sea, they brought back things worth three million taels of silver, and after removing the cost paid by the grass people, they earned about two million taels,"

When Zhang Fan heard it, good guy, 100,000 taels of capital, plus more than half a year's hardships and adventures, there was actually a thirty-fold profit, although the others returned to India until the rest of the year, but there must be a lot.

Zhao Xiande didn't see any surprised expression on Zhang Fan's face, and couldn't help but faintly admire Zhang Fan in his heart, so he continued: "But after the grass people came back in the first year, in addition to the 500,000 taxes and silver handed over to the imperial court, after various expenses, there were about two million taels left,"

"One and a half million taels," Zhang Fan sighed slightly in his heart, he couldn't help but wonder how much these people were greedy, you must know that although Zhao Xiande has a big family and a big business, he is the most successful one among the people who go to sea, but he is not the only one who goes to sea, so Zhang Fan really doesn't dare to think about that specific number.

Zhao Xiande naturally didn't know what Zhang Fan was thinking in his heart, and continued: "In the second year, the grass people continued to go to sea, and that time the grass people had a lot of capital, but they were a little greedy and insufficient, although this business was hard, it was easy to do, so the grass people chartered two boats by themselves," Speaking of this, Zhao Xiande was a little embarrassed, he thought that Zhang Fan would despise his businessman's profit-seeking nature like those officials.

Zhang Fan didn't have the slightest intention of looking down on him, his previous life himself was born in an era when the economy decided everything, and he was born in an economic major, where would he have this kind of thought, even if he is now full of sage books, this concept has not changed: "No need to do this, the duty of a businessman is to make money, there is nothing to be ashamed of,"

Hearing Zhang Fan say this, Zhao Xiande also let go of the burden in his heart, and continued: "That time the grass people's capital spent millions, bringing a lot of fine porcelain, tea and silk, many princes and nobles and even the royal family in Europe are people who want to save face, seeing that the grass people brought a lot of better things than last time, they don't seem to care about the money at all, they just care about buying from the grass people, and when the grass people come back, this million is more than the last time, about 50 million taels, but most of them are gold gems, gold is better, And these gems are not very easy to value here, so the grass people have no intention of selling them, but just collecting them,"

"It's understandable," Zhang Fan nodded and said, but he was still a little shocked in his heart, after all, where is this business, it's just a money grab, "Then how much did you spend after you came back last year?"

Although Zhao Xiande knew that the five people came back to eavesdrop, he still looked left and right, and then came to Zhang Fan's ear quite mysteriously and whispered a number.

Zhang Fan was a little shocked at this time, he was only a little shocked when he heard that Zhao Xiande had made so much money, after all, it was his own hard-earned money earned by his own hard work and the consciousness of burying the sea at all times, but these officials who enjoyed their success did not need to take any risks at all, as long as they looked at him with a word and took away the total amount of the imperial court's taxes for seven or eight years from him alone, which is really too much.

Seeing Zhang Fan's shocked face, Zhao Xiande was also very helpless, but this was the actual situation, and he couldn't talk nonsense.

"The official knows these things in his heart, as long as you don't spread them," Zhang Fan said, Zhang Fan didn't mean to blame him, after all, he was just a businessman, an ancient businessman, and he didn't take the initiative to bribe, but those people took the initiative to reach out, Zhang Fan didn't plan to do anything about him.

"Yes, the grass people know," Zhao Xiande said, to be honest, he was very disappointed when he heard Zhang Fan say this at the end, he bribed a lot of those officials, although it didn't hurt his property, but how could anyone be willing to hand over the blood and sweat he had earned at the cost of his life for no reason, listening to Zhang Fan end so lightly, he felt that there was no hope for this Qin Cha.

"I just said that I'm looking for you not only for these things, but also for other things," Zhang Fan said, "This official plans to do a big thing, and needs your assistance, how about it, are you interested in joining Jinyiwei, it can be regarded as half a foot in your career,"

Hearing Zhang Fan's words, Zhao Xiande was completely stunned,