(Recommended reading: A small town along the canal at night.

Li Hongyu's big boat was quietly parked on the dock of the town, and Chai Shixiu led the cavalry to camp at the dock to protect Li Hongyu's safety.

In the dead of night, a few figures quietly disembarked from the boat, and after merging with a dozen or so figures on the shore, they entered a silent town.

After a while, a carriage drove out of the town, escorted by a dozen knights, and soon disappeared into the night.

In the speeding carriage, Li Hongyu, who was dressed in casual clothes, leaned on the wall of the carriage and closed his eyes to recuperate, opposite him was Lian'er, curled up in the corner of the carriage and fell asleep, while Naren Toya fell asleep with his legs pillowed.

Li Hongyu decided to make a private visit to find out what the merchants gathered in Yangzhou really thought about overseas trade, and to find a way to dispel the doubts of those merchants who had scruples, all of which he could not obtain as a messenger.

Since Li Hongyu used a stand-in when he was in Liaodong, this operation can be described as a familiar one, and his stand-in in Liaodong will replace him in the role of the minister of the Qincha this time.

At dawn, the carriage drove into a small town and stayed at an inn.

"Hongyu!" When Li Hongyu led the sleepy-eyed Naren Toya into a guest room, Zhao Yulong, who had been waiting in the room, smiled and lit the oil lamp in the room, and then stepped forward and gave Li Hongyu a warm hug.

"Cousin, this is Naren Toya." After exchanging a few words with Zhao Yulong, Li Hongyu introduced him to Naren Toya, who was following him.

"County Lord." Zhao Yulong smiled and saluted Naren Toya.

"Hello cousin." Naren Toya learned that Zhao Yulong was Li Hongyu's cousin, and shouted sweetly.

"Hongyu, there is really you, even the little Mongolian girl can be deceived by you." Zhao Yulong glanced at Naren Toya, who had a bumpy figure, and whispered to Li Hongyu with a smile.

"It's a marriage given by the emperor, a marriage given by the emperor.

Li Hongyu sneered, and explained with some embarrassment that he had never thought that he would bring back a wife from a trip to the grassland.

"I'll disturb your rest." Hearing this, Zhao Yulong glanced at Naren Toya, who was full of tiredness, and said to Li Hongyu with an ambiguous expression, "I have prepared what you want, and we will see you in Yangzhou at that time." ”

"See you in Yangzhou."

Li Hongyu also smiled and hugged Zhao Yulong again, Zhao Yulong waited for him here for two or three days, and after seeing him, he would leave overnight, and then he would replace Zhao Yulong and become the boss of the caravan left by Zhao Yulong, which was his new identity in Jiangnan.

The guys in the caravan were all carefully selected by Zhao Yulong, who did not know Li Hongyu and was familiar with business at the same time, and the key tone was still very tight, specially used to cover Li Hongyu's identity.

Early the next morning, Li Hongyu led the caravan on the road, except for a few men left by Zhao Yulong, more than a dozen escorts who accompanied him dressed up as bodyguards.

Those guys only knew that Li Hongyu was Zhao Yulong's friend and business partner, named "Li Sheng", and they didn't know anything else, and they didn't want to know, they were very satisfied with their current life Under Zhao Yulong, they had a good salary, and they wanted to lose this errand when they were full.

Naren Tuoya naturally became Li Hongyu's concubine, named "Naya", with Naren Tuoya by his side, Li Hongyu is equivalent to an extra favorable identity guarantee, so that he is more like a businessman, usually businessmen will always take a concubine to take care of when they are out and about.

However, Li Hongyu does not expect to be taken care of by Naren Toya, but more that he wants to take care of Naren Toya, who is elated and full of curiosity about everything in Jiangnan.

Of course, the specific task of taking care of Naren Toya fell on Lian'er, who was sold into the Spring Pavilion since she was a child, and she was well-behaved and sleek, enough to deal with those interpersonal interactions on the market.

Lian'er was very grateful to Naren Toya, not only for rescuing her from the fire pit of Yingchun Pavilion, but also for her family to enter the new army camp to do things, and since then she has lived a worry-free life.

Therefore, Lian'er is very loyal to Naren Toya, and she is well aware that she has been in the same boat with Naren Toya, and Naren Toya's fate determines her fate.

Yangzhou.

Yangzhou was known as Guangling, Jiangdu and Huaiyang in ancient times, with a long history, brilliant culture, prosperous commerce, it can be described as outstanding people, it is the richest place in the Ming Dynasty, and has the reputation of "Huaizuo Famous Capital, Zhuxi Best Place".

Due to the convenient transportation near the canal, Yangzhou gradually became the commercial hub of the Ming Dynasty after the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, and merchants from the north and south of the river gathered here every year to discuss business.

Yangzhou City not only has Yangzhou prefect Yamen and Yangzhou Wei Command Envoy Yamen, but also has two Huai Yandao Yamen and Caoyun Yamen and other yamen, it can be said that the Ming Dynasty has the largest number of yamen in addition to the two capitals.

In addition, the four major non-governmental business organizations of the Salt Merchants Association, the Grain Merchants Association, the Tea Merchants Association and the Cloth Merchants Association are also located in Yangzhou, which influence the direction of the Ming business community.

Zhao Yulong's current goal is to join the Cloth Merchants Association, and only in this way can he continue to expand the cloth business, otherwise he will be blocked by the members of the Cloth Merchants Association, which is not a scene he wants to see.

Because Yangzhou has a large number of yamen and commercial guilds, so Yangzhou's entertainment life is the most colorful, especially Yangzhou's green building is extremely famous, and the triennial Oiran conference attracts famous businessmen and dignitaries from all over the country to come to join in the fun.

The so-called Qing people are the saying that spread from the joy of the south of the Yangtze River, because the Jiangnan is rich, the cultural grade and spiritual realm of the prostitutes are very high, and then gave birth to the kind of versatile Qinglou women to cater to the appetite of those prostitutes.

Facing the colorful world of Yangzhou, Naren Toya was completely shocked, the bustling street market, the crowded crowd and the magnificent buildings, this is simply an incredible place for her to live on the grassland.

Zhao Yulong has rented a house for Li Hongyu in Yangzhou City, which is not only conducive to hiding Li Hongyu's identity, but also convenient for Li Hongyu to act.

Li Hongyu's current identity is a businessman from Huguanglai, except for the birth of salt, other businesses are done, because salt is the most profitable industry in the Ming Dynasty, so it has long been carved up by interest groups, if there is no acquaintance to lead, it is difficult for outsiders to meddle in this field.

Moreover, Li Hongyu was not interested in the business on the salt road, and the main purpose of his visit this time was the quota for overseas trade, and he did not want to make extraneous complications.

When Li Hongyu came to Yangzhou City, his stand-in had already arrived under the escort of the new army, and now he traveled to the mountains and rivers every day accompanied by local officials, and did not pay any attention to overseas trade.

Because Li Hongyu is a messenger, those officials in Yangzhou naturally did not dare to slack off, and did their best to accompany Li Hongyu's stand-in for recreation, anyway, the expenses of receiving Li Hongyu do not need to be paid by them, and the four major chambers of commerce in Yangzhou City will share this cost equally, which is also an unspoken rule with a long history in the Yangzhou market, officials and businessmen benefit each other, and each takes what he needs.

In fact, compared with Li Hongyu's status as a chaplain, his status as a Hanlin made everyone even more fearful, because Hanlin's impeachment effect was the largest among the officials, and it was most recognized by the emperor, and they didn't want to provoke Li Hongyu in the court, so they entertained them carefully.

When he arrived in Yangzhou City, Li Hongyu naturally went to the restaurant teahouse and Qinglou to make friends with merchants from all over the world, originally this time was the time when the world's merchants gathered in Yangzhou City, and the holy decree of the Wanli Emperor before the year made merchants from all over the world rush to Yangzhou City to see the excitement.

This made the inns in Yangzhou full for a while, and many businessmen had to rent and live in people's homes, and they didn't want to miss the good show of overseas trade.

Over the past few days, Li Hongyu made many friends with merchants in Yangzhou City, and at the same time, he also had an understanding of the views of the Yangzhou business community on the opening of overseas trade by the imperial court.

Generally speaking, businessmen are full of expectations for overseas trade, and everyone knows that overseas trade will bring huge profits, and once they can participate in it, it is equivalent to having a cash cow.

However, the merchants were still deeply worried about this matter, after all, the Wanli Emperor had just issued a holy decree, and everything had to be done by the Customs Department led by Ran Xingrang and Li Hongyu.

Everyone is very worried about this, after all, everyone knows the style of the imperial court's yamen, not only the efficiency of work is procrastinated, but also corruption is rampant, God knows that the customs department can start overseas trade in the year of the monkey.

In addition, the merchants feared that overseas trade would become an excuse for the Customs Department to reach out to the merchants for money, and that they would face endless trouble.

Besides, even if the Customs Department really wanted to open overseas trade, it would be very difficult to deal with pirates at sea in the first place, and a strong sailor would be needed to ensure the smooth progress of shipping, which would require money, and a lot of money.

In the eyes of the merchants, the Customs Department will definitely reach out to those merchants who have purchased quotas to exterminate the pirates, which is a routine used by the imperial court, and everyone has long been surprised by this.

As a matter of fact, if the Customs Department wants to carry out overseas trade, there is another dangerous enemy, that is, smuggling syndicates engaged in maritime smuggling.

In a word, the overseas trade affairs of the Customs Department have a long way to go, and although the merchants of Yangzhou are interested in this matter, they do not have much hope, and many people think that this is a move by the imperial court to collect money.

This situation has long been expected by Li Hongyu, so Li Hongyu is not surprised by this, nor is he in a hurry, all he has to do is to persuade the fourteen businessmen to pay money, and he doesn't care about the rest.

The reason why it will be fourteen is because Li Hongyu is ready to drag Yang Xiaotian into the water, so that Yang Xiaotian will also participate in overseas trade, not only because the Cao Gang controls Cao Yun will play a vital role in the transportation of goods in the future, but more importantly, Li Hongyu appreciates Yang Xiaotian's personality.

Li Hongyu, a gang leader who is willing to sacrifice himself to save his subordinates, believes that he is worthy of engagement and cooperation, and will be a staunch ally at that time.

For Li Hongyu, the Cao Gang is an important part of overseas trade, and he began to want to support one of the various forces of the Cao Gang, and now it seems that there is no need to be so troublesome, Yang Xiaotian just meets his requirements, and saves a lot of unnecessary entanglements.

Speaking of the Cao Gang, the current situation of the Cao Gang is not good, because Li Hongyu exerted pressure on Niu Shangwei in Huai'an, so Niu Shangwei began to put pressure on the Cao Gang, in addition to the gang leader, the Cao Gang also has deputy gang leaders, incense masters and other high-level leaders, let those people give him an explanation, otherwise not only the Huai'an Mansion, the Cao Yun General Army Yamen and the state capitals along the coast will crack down on the Cao Gang.

Niu Shangwei didn't want to fall out with the Cao Gang, the Cao Gang was involved in too many entanglements of interests, but he didn't want to see Li Hongyu play the matter to Emperor Wanli, in that case, it would be him and the relevant stakeholders who would be unlucky.

Therefore, if the Cao Gang can't give Niu Shangwei a satisfactory answer, Niu Shangwei will definitely unite with other people in the yamen to completely eliminate the Cao Gang, so as not to be poked out by the Cao Gang.

The Cao Gang is now in chaos, everyone knows that the Cao Gang is facing a life-and-death catastrophe this time, and Yang Xiaotian's forces have been suppressed by hostile forces, and the Cao Gang in Yangzhou alone has had two fires in the past few days.

This was somewhat unexpected by Li Hongyu, he didn't expect the factional dispute within the Cao Gang to be so fierce, but there was no turning back when he opened the bow, and he could only wait and see how things would develop before making a decision.

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