Hearing the words of foreign expansion, Zhu Chongli said to Li Yue with a wry smile: "Fang Jinguo is not rich, and the army is not strong, so he has to make peace with it." ”

Li Yue knew that Zhu Chongli had misunderstood what he meant, so he smiled slightly and said, "Your Majesty! The minister naturally knew that with the current military strength of the imperial court, it would be difficult to compete with Beiyou. The foreign expansion that the minister said was not on land, but on the sea. ”

"At sea?" Zhu Chongli suddenly became interested.

"The strength of the Han and Tang dynasties is closely related to the Silk Road. The silk, porcelain, tea and other goods produced in China sell well overseas, and our Daliang has merchants who have set foot in Japan, Goryeo, Champong, Mayi and other dozens of small countries in the South Seas, and they can earn dozens of times the profit back and forth. ”

Zhu Chongli immediately nodded and said, "That's right!" The profits of maritime trade were indeed staggering, and the annual commercial tax collected by the imperial court from the two cities of Quanzhou and Guangzhou accounted for one-tenth of the annual revenue of the national treasury. ”

"Therefore, Weichen thought that the imperial court should come forward to organize a trading house specializing in maritime trade, so as to maximize the interests of maritime merchants and expand its territory in the South Seas."

Zhu Chongli felt that at this moment, Li Yue seemed to have pushed open a window for himself, allowing himself to have a feeling of sudden enlightenment, and he couldn't help but stand up from the dragon chair and paced up.

Li Yue also stood up and continued to bow down and play: "Your Majesty! The countries of the South Seas have fertile soil and vast land and sparse population, and if they can be included in the territory of Daliang, there are three advantages. First, we will move the rich to the fields and the poor to have no place to stand, and then we can move the landless people to the newly expanded territory to alleviate the contradiction between man and land; Second, the royal kings can be divided overseas and defend the beams; Third, the imperial court can send redundant officials and redundant personnel overseas to assist the kings. ”

Zhu Chongli was dumbfounded when he heard this, as long as this Li Yue made a move, it would be extraordinary. His idea solved the three stubborn diseases that plagued the imperial court at once.

After the relocation of the Great Liang to the south, the land area shrank, but the population continued to increase, so the land annexation and the gap between the rich and the poor became increasingly acute.

The problem of the children of the clan of Daliang is equally serious, these descendants of the royal family are not allowed to lead troops, cannot live outside the national capital, and although they can participate in the imperial examination to enter the office, they cannot serve as prime ministers. As a result, these dragon sons and phoenix grandchildren have become idle people with empty collars. At present, the children of the clan who are registered under the Zongzheng Temple are close to 60,000, and their monthly money alone is a large expense of the national treasury.

If it weren't for the change of difficulty, Beiyou would have almost wiped out the children of the clan of Taizong of the Great Liang Dynasty, and all of them were taken captive to the bitter cold place outside the pass, and the number of the children of the clan would definitely exceed 100,000 by now. Even if Beiyou didn't capture Fengzhou, Daliang would have been eaten by these princes and grandsons.

As for the bloated institutions of the Great Liang Imperial Court, the people are superfluous, and the officials are redundant, which is known to everyone. Li Yue's idea solved the three major problems that plagued the Liang court in one fell swoop.

"Good! Good! Good! Zhu Chongli excitedly said three good things in a row, and then sat back on the dragon chair and asked, "How is this matter implemented?" ”

Li Yue replied: "Your Majesty, although the profits of the maritime merchants are huge, the wind and waves are very strong, and the ships are often in danger of capsizing when they go to sea. All imperial courts should first set up shipyards and assemble skilled craftsmen to build sturdy sea-going ships suitable for ocean voyages, so as to minimize the risks. ”

As soon as he heard that he was going to build a sea ship, Zhu Chongli groaned. Of course, he knew that it would cost a lot to build a ship.

Li Yue knew where the emperor's concerns were, so he said, "Your Majesty, it is indeed quite expensive to build a sea ship, but the cost is worth it. Not to mention the huge wealth brought by maritime trade, shipbuilding alone can help many people who have lost their land to find a new way to live. The ships built by the imperial court could also be sold to maritime merchants, and the profits were also very considerable. ”

After hearing this, Zhu Chongli said that it was impossible at that time, especially thinking of the rolling wealth that the sea merchants could bring, it was enough to make him excited.

In order to make the emperor make up his mind, Li Yue struck while the iron was hot and added a fire and said: "Your Majesty, although the initial investment is huge, there is no need for the imperial court to bear it alone. According to the regulations of Daliang Bank, it can issue shares and raise funds from the private sector. The imperial court only needed to mobilize craftsmen and support them by reducing or exempting some commercial taxes. There are many merchants in Quanzhou who are interested in maritime business, but they are suffering from the lack of sea ships suitable for sea navigation, and the imperial court can cooperate with them. If this happens, the whole of Nanyang will become the backyard of my beam. Hundreds of small countries in Nanyang will also submit to the feet of the saint, coming to the court every year and paying tribute every year. Your Majesty will surely become the first emperor of the ages. ”

The big cake painted by Li Yue for Zhu Chongli has already made Zhu Chongli salivate, Zhu Chongli is in the prime of life, and he is working hard, how not to look forward to the grand scene of all countries coming to the court.

Zhu Chongli clenched his hands and said to Li Yue with a torch-like gaze: "Okay, I have agreed to this matter, but now that the treasury is stretched, if Li Qing can raise funds from businessmen, I will let the Ministry of Industry fully cooperate with the mobilization of craftsmen." Establish a shipyard first, and build sea ships as soon as possible. ”

Zhu Chongli seems to be generous, but in fact, he is very limited to Li Yue. In this era when everything is inferior and only the reading is high, craftsmen are just lowly servants, even if tens of thousands of people are mobilized to Li Yue, I am afraid that no minister in the court will care about the whereabouts of these people.

However, Li Yue is already very satisfied, these craftsmen are all technical talents! As long as there is talent, other things can be thought of in another way.

The main problem has been solved, and Li Yue excitedly reported the last thing: "Your Majesty, the imperial court should also send an army that is good at water warfare to protect the safety of our merchant ships on the sea." Of course, the scale doesn't have to be too big, two battalions of people can do it! ”

Zhu Chongli fell into deep thought, he had already regarded Li Yue as the future prime minister in training. So far, Li Yue's financial management has made Zhu Chongli very satisfied, if he can be trained in the military, he will be a talented Wang Zuozhi who is both civil and military in the future.

Moreover, Zhu Chongli felt that the probability of success was still very large, Li Yue was originally born at the head of the Guardian Army, and several firearms he invented when he was acting as the Weapons Supervisor were all powerful, which showed that Li Yue was by no means as ignorant of military affairs as other courtiers.

Thinking of this, Zhu Chongli spoke: "The men and horses of the Lin'an Guardian Saint Army are up to you to choose two battalions, and they are under your control. ”

This was somewhat unexpected by Li Yue, who had thought that the emperor should choose another general to lead this army. Facing the emperor's trust, Li Yue thanked him: "Thank you, Lord Longen!" Even if Weichen is full of liver and brain, he will also brave the wind and waves to open up thousands of miles of sea frontier for my beam! ”