At the end of the year, before the Yamen was sealed, the emperor finally made a decree to separate the ordnance workshops under the Guanxi, set up a separate ordnance supervisor, and sent the ordnance supervisor with Li Buqi as the authority, that is, the acting chief. Li Buqi recommended Cheng Jun and other seven officials and craftsmen as first-class petty officials.

Although the ones he recommended were all lowest-level petty officials, after all, let these people step into the official career, and there was a difference from their original identity, so it is no wonder that everyone in the junior officials of the three divisions is looking forward to having such a good boss as Li Buqi.

However, whether it is the establishment of the ordnance superintendent or the confirmation of whether the person recommended by Li Buqi can become an official, it will have to wait for the imperial court to operate normally again in the next year. Li Buqi also sealed the seal and went home, busy with some personal affairs wholeheartedly.

Zhe Yinghui has always been Li Buqi's heart disease, so the Yang family asked the Zhe family a few times, but there was no response? What's the matter with a big girl hiding in her own house? And when Zhi Yinghui saw that the wind was calm, he became bold, and ran to Li's house to play in three days. Li Buqi saw that something was going to happen if this continued, so he personally wrote a letter for the steward of the Zhi family who came to deliver the goods and gifts to bring it back, and at the same time, the letter also asked the Zhi family to collect some oil from Yanzhou and Western Xia and transport it to Bianliang.

Zhou Qing also returned to Bianliang in a hurry to report that he led two ships to sail north along the coast of Japan this time, and sure enough, he found the big island that Li Buqi said, the island is just like Li Buqi said, the land is vast and sparsely populated, and there are only a few very white-skinned Ezo people, which is definitely a place to establish a good foundation. What's even more surprising is that following the instructions of the Ezo people, continuing north from this large island, there is a large island in the near future, which the locals call "Kuno" Island. The island is said to have harsh winters, but it produces some of the finest fur and a large number of seals, which makes both boats fully loaded.

In addition, Zhou Qing said that when they sailed along the coast of Japan, they went to Izumo, Himi and other places, and the locals mostly traded gold, silver, copper and iron, and heard from the locals that these metals were all produced in the local mountains, and it was speculated that it may be the location of the big silver mountain that Li Buqi said. This corroborates with the information obtained from Tsushima Island, and Li Buqi is ready to find someone who knows how to find minerals to take a look next year, so that the Japanese can mine the silver as soon as possible, so as to add some precious metals to the Great Song Dynasty for trade.

Zhou Qing almost danced to report to Li Buqi the amount of all kinds of furs and gold and silver that he had brought back, and in addition to the repair costs of the ship damaged due to the storm, it was estimated that he could earn thirty or forty thousand yuan on this trip. This expedition was all invested by Li Buqi and Zhou Qing with the money earned from the previous trade, which means that the money is their own, and they don't have to share it with the emperor and nobles.

Li Buqi just smiled when he looked at Zhou Qing's eyebrows and asked, "Do you remember your original ambition?" Now you're satisfied with a little money? ”

Zhou Qing said: "I dare not forget the past. Even if a person like me has some money, it is exploited by those who are officials. With such a great world overseas, it is better to break out of your own place. But if you don't have money, you're afraid that you won't be able to do it. ”

Li Buqi said: "Yes, that's the truth. Now let's plan what to do next. ”

Zhou Qing had already thrown himself to the ground for Li Buqi's admiration of the five-body body, and immediately said: "What the official says, I will do." ”

Li Buqi said: "This time the ship that ran Liaodong entered the port of Goryeo, and almost let the Goryeo people detain it, and every year there will be Goryeo maritime merchants going back and forth between Goryeo and Myeongju, and soon the Goryeo people may know about our going to Liaodong, so that the Liao country will also know soon." The Liao State will inevitably send envoys to interrogate me, and the Song people will invade the Liao land. With the temperament of the officials and ministers, they must be tolerant of the Liao State, and it will definitely not be possible to sail like this blatantly. ”

"So from now on, you must gradually put up a special banner, nominally using Tamna as a base, so that the Liao State will not be able to blame me for the Great Song Dynasty. Moreover, sooner or later, Goryeo will know about our entry into Tamna, and it is very likely that troops will be sent to attack, so Tamna here must prepare to fight the Goryeo people. Only by keeping Tamna can the route to Liaodong and Japan be unimpeded. Therefore, the ships going to Japan in the past two years will be led by others, and you will first help the stone leaders to make Tamna Island have the ability to protect themselves. ”

Zhou Qing said: "When I came back, the stone chief and Luo Xiucai on the island followed the arrangement of the officials to practice light and strong day by day, and they already had some appearances, but there were still too few people, and the weapons were mostly simple knives, harpoons and hunting bows. Even if I left all the iron to them to build weapons, it was still not enough. ”

Li Buqi said: "Tamna Island is 200 miles away from the Goryeo Sea, so the water war is still the first. In the future, no matter where you go, the navy is indispensable, so you still need to train a navy to come out. After the New Year, you will immediately return to Dengzhou, either in Dengzhou or in Michigan, to build a ship that can be used to fight at sea. However, there was no good port in Tamna, so the warships were mainly sturdy small boats. Your big ships are still stationed in Tengju and regularly transport personnel and supplies to Tamna. ”

Zhou Qing said: "Dancing with weapons in Dengzhou is easy to alarm the government. There are several islands off the coast of Dengzhou, and many homeless people gather on them. It's better to occupy it, and the government can't control it. ”

Li Buqi knew that Zhou Qing was talking about the Miaodao Islands, which was in line with his plan. He took out a map he had drawn and spread it on the table, found the location of the sea off Penglai, and said, "You are talking about this place, right?" There's another money in front of me. Just now, the imperial court ordered to reduce the logging of large trees in various places, especially in Shaanxi. However, it is always necessary to build a house, but the demand for large wood is difficult to reduce, so the demand for large wood will exceed the demand even more. ”

Li Buqi pointed to the location of Lushun Dalian on the map: "This is the place of Suzhou and Fuzhou in the Liao Kingdom, I sent people to explore this place and see that there are towering giant trees, and there is a good port, after cutting down the big trees, you can throw them into the sea and tow them to Dengzhou by boat, you can also go straight to Jishui." ”

Zhou Qing asked puzzledly: "But although the big wood is expensive, it is far less profitable than a trip to Japan." And the Liao State will definitely not allow us to cut wood, why should the officials do this? ”

Li Buqi said: "Because under the nose of the Great Song Dynasty, we have some things that are not easy to do, but there is no need to have any scruples when we go to Liao to recruit people who are willing to go overseas to make a living." ”

Zhou Qing was also born in the military, and he immediately understood when he heard Li Buqi say this, he said: "After the Chinese New Year, I recruited people who dared to fight among the fishermen in Dengzhou and other places, trained them, and sent people to Suzhou to investigate. It's just that if you want to go to the Liao country, it is likely to fight with the Liao people, but this weapon must be used. ”

Li Buqi had already planned: "Don't worry." I'll get you a batch of military weapons and armor from the arsenal. ”

In Zhou Qing's heart, Li Buqi always had a way, so he didn't ask Li Buqi how to get the weapons and armor out of the arsenal, but just listened carefully to Li Buqi's arrangement. When he heard Li Buqi describe to him again the glory that the Maritime Empire could achieve, Zhou Qing had no other thoughts, and just had one thought - everything that listens to Li Daguan will earn a permanent inheritance for future generations.