Chapter Twenty-Seven: A Great Harvest, The Enemy in the Shadows

The Age of Discovery can indeed bring huge profits to the country, but it is also important to note that the opening of the Age of Discovery will not only give birth to more maritime merchants, but also give birth to another profession - pirates.

The profession of piracy can be said to have existed since ancient times, but it is irrefutable that it was the opening of the prelude to the Age of Discovery that this ancient profession can be regarded as completely rejuvenated.

Pirates and maritime merchants are a companion profession, and if there are maritime merchants, pirates will appear, and even sometimes at sea, maritime merchants will occasionally make a cameo appearance as pirates, come to a black to eat black, and eat the peers they meet. Anyway, the environment on the sea is unpredictable, as long as it is not seen, it can be pushed to the sea, it is said that there is a tsunami, can anyone really check it?

In order to prevent piracy, and at the same time to consolidate the rule of the colonies, a strong navy was necessary.

However, now that Datang's navy is on the right track, it will only take three years at most for Datang's fleet to be taken into account by all the ports along the entire Datang coast.

However, with the beginning of the Age of Discovery, more and more territories were discovered, and even in the depths of the ocean, there were three continents, Australia and the Americas, waiting for their first landers. Although it has not yet been discovered, with the development of nautical technology, it is only a matter of time before it is discovered.

Datang's territory is getting bigger and bigger, and another thing is very necessary, that is, the way of contact, after all, the land of Datang in the future will be far away from thousands of mountains and rivers, if there is no fast and fast way of contact, I am afraid that someone over there will rebel, and it is estimated that no one knows about it here.

The earliest long-distance communication information contact method should be the current transmitter, but the current transmitter needs to use wires, many of Datang's territories are overseas, it is obviously impossible to set up wires in the past, and the wires are very easy to be destroyed, and it is impractical to use.

Since the current transmitter is not good, then a radio transmitter is needed, or even directly on the phone.

Li Zhen himself studied mechanical design, and he also dabbled in machinery and electronics, he knew the principles of transmitters and telephones, and he could also make them by hand. But unfortunately, Datang's technology has obviously not developed to that extent - not to mention anything else, at least the metal wire drawing technology has not been studied. Without metal wire drawing technology, it is naturally impossible to make wires, and without wires, what electronic technology is there to develop?

Now that the Age of Exploration has begun, some things must be implemented as soon as possible, and when I go back to Chang'an this time, I can arrange it.

However, this is all a matter in the future, and it is imperative to mobilize the enthusiasm of the people for sea exploration, which is actually not difficult - although Chinese culture has always paid attention to the golden mean, focusing on safety, but the Chinese people have never lacked the spirit of adventure, otherwise there would not be a thing of exalting the top and cutting off shares to serve the king, but this spirit was emasculated by Confucianism (this is another hateful thing of Confucianism). But this kind of castration is not irreversible, as long as you come up with enough huge profits and enough bait to make everyone's hearts move, what is the castration of Confucian thoughts?

And now, Li Zhen is in front of the people, showing his harvest, and at the same time, it is also showing the wealth of Luzon to everyone.

As boxes of goods were put on the dock, Li Zhen waved his hand, and immediately a guard opened the box, and the contents of the box appeared in front of everyone, and the dock suddenly boiled.

"God, that's gold, right? That's a lot of gold, and the fleet has found a gold mine. ”

"That's at least fifty cases, right? With so much gold, there will be no loss when you go to sea from now on. Not only did you not lose money, but you also made money. ”

"The gold alone has already paid off, so isn't the rest pure earning?"

"Look, that's copper, right? Why is there so little copper? There was only one box. ”

"Nonsense, there's all gold, who still has copper? This box is estimated to have only been used as a sample to show His Highness. ”

"What's that twig?"

"You smell the air, is there a fragrance? That's the work of those branches and leaves—it's spices. ”

"Oh my God, the fleet actually found Spice Island, and this time it really made a fortune."

"Also, it's a silver mine."

"There are so many rare furs, they must be very precious animals."

"I've never seen this wood before, but since it can be looked at by the fleet, it must be excellent wood."

"Hey, there are even animals, curious animals."

"What a lot of treasures, that's a big pearl, right? There are so many pearls, and so many more. ”

"It's worth sailing this time, if only we could go to sea."

“……”

As the same harvest was revealed, the people were completely in an uproar, and the representatives of the major chambers of commerce hidden among the people were even more excited and uncontrollable, especially a group of people who were the most excited.

"I didn't expect it, it was just an ocean voyage, and Li Zhen found such a good treasure." The first middle-aged man said lightly, but the envy in his eyes could not be erased.

A chubby man next to him, who looked like a businessman, asked excitedly: "Childe, you said, if we go to sea with the fleet, can we also get such a rich return?" ”

"This depends on the meaning of our Royal Highness King Yue." The middle-aged man looked at Li Zhen, and a strong killing intent suddenly erupted in his eyes, but then he was noticed by a guard beside Li Zhen, and immediately turned his head to see, but he found nothing.

"What's wrong?" Li Zhen asked lightly.

"I don't know what's going on, my subordinates suddenly sensed a powerful killing intent just now, but when I looked back, I didn't find anything." The guard hurriedly replied, as Li Zhen's personal guards, they naturally have their own unique skills, and this person's unique skills are a powerful sixth sense - as long as the people around him are locked in the eyes, he can quickly detect and quickly lock the enemy's location.

The last time Li Zhen was ambushed and assassinated by Hongnong Yang, it was because he warned him in advance and let Li Zhen dodge in advance, otherwise in an unguarded situation, the first wave of bow and crossbow attacks on Li Zhen is estimated to be unable to dodge, and that time he may really have to explain there.

"It doesn't matter." Li Zhen waved his hand calmly, not caring at all, but in his heart he had raised his vigilance to the top, today is a good day, the fleet has returned, and the harvest is innumerable, and within a few days, it will be spread throughout the entire Datang, and then the Age of Exploration will completely open the curtain, and the wheels of Datang will completely change the course and enter another magnificent and more prosperous road.

But today is also a dangerous day, the docks are crowded with people, and no one knows how many enemies are hidden inside, these enemies are very forbidden to eat their own flesh and drink their own blood, and no one can guarantee that they will not take advantage of this rare opportunity to secretly attack themselves. Although Li Zhen has spread spies all over the docks, he still can't guarantee his safety 100%.

And in the crowd, the merchant also put down the hand that was pressed on the middle-aged man's head: "The subordinate is in a hurry, and I ask the son to forgive me." ”

"I don't blame you, it's me who exposed my murderous intentions." The middle-aged man lowered his head and slowly retracted his killing intent: "I'm sorry everyone, because of me, I almost exposed everyone." ”

"Childe, don't talk like this, Li Zhen has a deep blood feud with us, not only Childe, but even we almost didn't suppress the killing intent in our hearts just now." A man dressed as a samurai said in a deep voice: "It's just that I didn't expect Li Zhen to have such a character around him, this feels really unusual, it seems that you have to be careful in the future." ”

"Let's not talk about this, let's talk about the present." Seeing that the atmosphere was a little dull, the merchant interrupted everyone's conversation and turned the topic back: "What did Childe mean by what he just said?" Why do we have to act according to Li Zhen's intentions? ”

"Isn't that easy?" The warrior glanced at the merchant with disdain, and said in a sullen voice: "Now the new route was opened up by Li Zhen, and Luzon Island was also discovered by the fleet under his command, and Li Zhen still has a powerful navy in his hands, if he chooses to open this route, then the whole world will have the opportunity to go to Luzon to pan for gold." But if he chooses to close this route, and only allow the imperial court or even only the fleet of the Yue Wangfu to go there to make money, do you think with the strength of his Yuezhou fleet, who else would dare to break into the blockade line of the navy and grab business with him? ”

"This ......" The fat merchant didn't expect that he would be preached by the big boss he didn't look down on on weekdays, and he was immediately unconvinced: "Then you say, what kind of attitude will King Yue have, and whether he will open the route or block the route." ”

"Nonsense, it must be a blockade." The warrior said without thinking: "You don't want to think about it, just one voyage, you can get so many things, if you come a few more times, then Li Zhen will not be able to send it?" Besides, he opened up this route himself, so why should he share it with others? ”

"Makes sense." The fat merchant nodded thoughtfully: "I didn't expect you to learn to use your brain, Wu Li." ”

The warrior Wu Li suddenly looked like an arrogant little rooster, and said proudly: "Nonsense, Uncle Ben is already very smart, but he usually doesn't like to argue with you." ”

"Cut, you still gasp when you say you're fat?" Seeing Wu Li's smug appearance, the fat businessman said with disdain: "How do I think that Li Zhen will open the route?" What about sharing Luzon's resources? ”

Wu Li said disdainfully: "Why do you think it's so beautiful?" A fool would do such a thing. ”

"No, I think Li Zhen will do that, too." The middle-aged man suddenly raised his head, looked at the various goods that had been piled up into a mountain, but were still unloaded from the ship, and said in a deep voice: "Although we all have enmity with Li Zhen, there is one thing that cannot be denied, that is, Li Zhen's vision is indeed long-term enough, when others are still thinking about the gains and losses in front of him, he has already looked into the distance and focused on the layout of the future, which even I am ashamed of." Maybe he will really take the initiative to open the route and give up the possession of the Luzon Islands as Lan Xun said. ”

"But why is that?" Wu Li naturally didn't treat his son-in-law with the tone of a businessman, so he just asked strangely: "If Li Zhen opens the route, then there will be countless people going to sea to pan for gold, although Li Zhen has the largest number of merchant ships, but someone competes with him for profits, and it will interfere with his navigation business after all, he has no reason to train competitors for himself - anyway, the location of Luzon Island is only known to him, and there is a powerful fleet to escort him, isn't it good for him to make a fortune behind closed doors?" Why do you have to find yourself uncomfortable? ”

"Maybe it's because I'm worried that I'm forced by the world's public opinion?" Lan Xun, a fat merchant, guessed: "After all, he also discovered the island before Yin, but in the end, didn't he still be forced by the family to release the mining rights?" This time I guess it's because of that. Childe, are you right? ”

"When the heat is not the reason." The middle-aged man shook his head: "Now that the battle for Silver Island has passed, the major forces of the Tang Dynasty have been greatly injured, and all the forces need to heal for a period of time." At this time, they can't wait for the court to never notice them, so how can they take the initiative to provoke the court? If they really provoked the imperial court at this time, then they would really have to face the imperial court's million-strong army, and everyone would have to die at that time. ”

"What do you mean ...... that childe?"

"I wonder if you've noticed?" The middle-aged man didn't answer and asked, "What was the first thing Li Zhen did after he came to Yuezhou?" ”

"This ......" Most of the people shook their heads in unison, Li Zhen has been coming to Yuezhou for more than a year, and in the past year or so, he has also done a lot of things, if he doesn't check the information, who will remember what the first thing he did?

"I remember, it should be the establishment of Yuezhou City, right?" Lan Xun is in charge of the money in the organization, as a middle-aged man's money bag, he always needs to pay attention to the information of the world, but he vaguely remembers this matter.

glanced at him approvingly, and the middle-aged man nodded and said: "That's right, it's the City Division, if I'm not mistaken, the reason why Li Zhen established this City Division should be for today." ”

"What do you mean?" This time, even the merchant Lan Xun was a little puzzled, the city is just a tax collector, what does it have to do with the sea route?

"I mean, Li Zhen didn't establish the city department for such a small tax at all, his purpose was actually to make heavy profits after the opening of sea routes."

"You can think about it, Liu Renliang just went to Luzon Islands and got such a big benefit, which shows that Luzon Island is not small, and may not even be smaller than a Dao in Datang, and the resources are extremely rich - if such a place is only mined by his own forces, it is estimated that it will not be mined in a hundred years. But how could Li Zhenyu set his eyes on a small archipelago all his life? How can there be only one Luzon Islands when the sea is so big? ”

"Childe, what do you want to say?" It's a pity that what he said may still be a little too subtle, and none of his people even understood it.

Unlucky, the arm is inflamed, it hurts and heats, it's like a fire, I have to rest for a while when I write, and I don't know if I can get it out today, so don't wait, if I can get it out, I'll send it, if I can't get it out, I'll make it up tomorrow.

(End of chapter)