The sudden appearance of such a large fleet outside the port, especially the huge body of the Sea King, really frightened the people of the port of Hormuz, when the ships of the maritime merchants entered the port, no one on the dock dared to come up, not even the pilot boats, they all hid in the distance and watched.

But this atmosphere lasted less than half an hour, and after the Arabic interpreter stood on the wharf with a microphone and shouted, and took out the porcelain, ironware, tea, and silk from the chest, soon local merchants came up to inquire about the details, and then the crowd gathered more and more, and some even ran to the city, and in a short time more big merchants were called, and the wharf where the three merchant ships were docked was surrounded by water.

Hong Tao's escort fleet did not enter the harbor, and took the remaining three merchant ships to lower their sails outside the harbor and cruise slowly. Until dark, the wharf is still crowded, with the gas lights on the merchant ships, the wharf is a night market, you can buy first-hand oriental goods, any local merchant will not give up, even if you have to stay up for a night.

The Persians seemed to prefer to trade goods by land rather than the Arabs, who were keen on maritime trade, so their merchant ships rarely appeared in the port of Kalamba, and they usually bought second-hand or third-hand goods from Arab merchants on the other side. Now that the merchant ships of the Great Song Dynasty have actually sent themselves to the door, they have no intention of rejecting them, nor do they have the feeling that they are wronged by their peers, they only feel that Allah is too merciful, the merchants of the Great Song are too cute, and the service is too good.

"How many of you are?" Early in the morning of the third day, Hong Tao was squatting on the deck with a bowl of soybean milk, a piece of oil cake, and a plate of shredded pickles for breakfast, when two small boats rowed out of the port, and the three maritime merchants who docked at the port yesterday climbed aboard the Sea King with smiles on their faces.

"I'm waiting for Your Majesty's blessing. It's really a big profit. More to come. The merchants in the vicinity will rush over when they hear the news, and the more people they come, the more valuable our goods will be, hehehe......" A maritime merchant began to report to Hong Tao.

"This is a good thing, don't worry about doing business boldly, as long as you can stand up, the Royal Navy will support you if there is a problem. Are they all dancers that you bought? The goods are good! I said that the old ones, if you have money, you can't make it. It's enough to raise a few at home, but don't spoil your body by singing every night. Hong Tao walked to the side of the boat with the bowl in his hand, stretched his head and rushed down to take a look. On the two dinghys sat seven or eight young women, and although they all covered their bodies with robes, Hong Tao could recognize them at a glance, they were all Persian dancers.

These dancing girls are not too new to the Jinhe Kingdom and the Great Song Dynasty maritime merchants, and the Jinhe Kingdom has planned to import these dancers from the port of Kalamba a few years ago, mainly to balance the gap between men and women in the Jinhe country. And these Southern Song Dynasty maritime merchants are also close to Zhu Zhechi, they secretly bought one or two from the port of Kalamba at first and took them home to hide, and then they became more and more bold. If anyone doesn't have a few Persian dancers at home, they are embarrassed to say that they are maritime merchants who run the open sea. These dancing girls are not just concubines. It is also a valuable gift given to each other in the business field, and it is even sent to the official's house.

At present, there is a great demand for Persian dancers in Guangzhou, Quanzhou, and Qiongzhou ports, and if it weren't for Hong Tao's clear opposition to human trafficking, some maritime merchants might have changed their careers to become human traffickers. This thing is faster than selling any goods to make money, and the Persian dancer who is not very valuable in the port of Kalamba arrives at the port of the Great Song Dynasty, and it is dozens of times the profit as soon as it changes hands. Moreover, the dancing girl is more insured than other commodities, and it will not be overstocked in her hands, and she can use it herself if she can't sell it. Hong Tao is also blind in this regard, he is not against buying in small quantities, as long as he does not blatantly sell in large quantities.

"Your Majesty thinks these are okay?" As soon as the maritime merchant heard that Hong Tao praised the dancing girl he bought, he immediately became interested, and came to Hong Tao's side to discuss the appreciation of women in a whisper. At this time, the identity of the emperor had disappeared, and the two of them had become equal exchanges between the two of them.

"Well, look at the pigtailed one, although he is wearing a burqa, he can't hide his graceful figure. The legs, mainly look at the legs, and the lines below the waistline are smooth or not...... Her price in Guangzhou is worth at least ten gold coins, and if the dance foundation is good, the price will have to be doubled. A rare stunner, Boss Zhu has a good eye! Hong Tao took a bite of the oil cake and commented very professionally on a Persian dancer on the maritime boat, which made the maritime merchant nod his head non-stop.

"Originally, I was afraid that the three of us would not look down on you, Your Majesty said so, we can rest assured, come on, come up, come up, it is a creation to be able to get on this big ship, it is much better than accompanying us on a small cargo ship. Behave well, don't think about it, it's okay to be a concubine. But what happened next surprised Hong Tao, these two boats of dancing girls were all given to him by maritime merchants.

"No, why did you suddenly remember to give me a gift? Let's talk straight, don't beat around the bush and go around in circles with me, I can do what I can do without giving gifts, and if you can't do it, you just give me the queen here, and I can't do it. You are all old people in the company, and I don't need to talk about the rules of the company. "Hong Tao likes beautiful women, but he hasn't reached the point where his legs are weak when he sees women. And if he wants it, he can find it himself, and he doesn't need to be sent by others. There is no profit and you can't afford to be early, and you have to be a little more attentive to dealing with these businessmen.

"Of course I do, of course I do. Your Majesty can rest assured that it is to express our gratitude, and there is absolutely no other meaning, let alone cause trouble to Your Majesty. It's not that we heard that the Marines fought a big victory in Muskar Harbor a few days ago, but we lost a few people, and we don't feel too bad about it. Over the years, His Majesty and the brothers of the navy have escorted us to run around on the sea, and we don't understand the big truth, but we can still tell who is good for us. We can't help with the war, but we can't close our eyes and pretend not to see. They don't dare to accept money and gifts to the brothers in the navy, and they don't lack our three melons and two dates, and Your Majesty doesn't lack it, this is a heart, Your Majesty accepts it, and we will be more down-to-earth in our hearts, what do you say. "The three maritime merchants are all profiteers among profiteers, and their mouths are no more stupid than Hong Tao's, and their words are affectionate and righteous, not to mention how touching.

"Well, you're going to go around in circles with me, aren't you? Come on, send them back to the dock with me and the boat. These words can fool others, but they can't blind Hong Tao, the more emotional they say, the more it is a lie. It's a waste of time to talk to them, and the most effective way to deal with businessmen is to play around. Xiucai is unreasonable when he encounters soldiers, and businessmen are still unreasonable when they encounter soldiers.

"Don't, don't...... Your Majesty, Your Majesty, let's be honest......" As soon as they heard that they were about to be blown off the ship, the three maritime merchants immediately stopped spitting lotus flowers.

"Then tell me, what the hell are you looking for me!"

“…… Belch...... We want to form a caravan here and transport our goods all the way to the far west. In the past two days, we have talked with the merchants here, and they said that there are many countries in the west and north, and the people there have never even seen porcelain bowls, let alone His Majesty's sugar and whale oil. If we could get our goods there, a shipload would cost more than ten times as much as it does now. Under the gaze of Hong Tao's sharp little eyes, the three maritime merchants no longer cared about it, and finally told the real reason for currying favor with Hong Tao.

"This is not an easy task, there are many countries in the north and west, but bandits abound here, and even officials will make temporary cameos, I'm afraid your goods will not be able to go to those countries, and the goods brought by the two will be all gone." I can protect you on the sea, but I can't do anything on land. Hong Tao was very surprised by the words of the maritime merchants, he knew that these maritime merchants were bold and reckless, but he never expected that they would be so bold and would use the Persian Gulf as a base to spread to the whole of Central Asia, Eastern Europe, Northern Europe, and Western Europe. Don't say it's them, even I don't dare to think so, the price is too high.

"Where would we dare to involve Your Majesty to protect it personally, if Your Majesty can sell the villains some weapons, and then let the Governor Bo's subordinates help the villains train a team of bodyguards, the villains will be grateful. As for the danger...... In fact, running around on the sea is more dangerous than anywhere else, and compared to the sea, no matter how vicious the robbers are, they are just people, and we can deal with them. The maritime merchants were not frightened by Hong Tao's words, they had already thought about the consequences and were mentally prepared.

"I understand and admire your mood and courage very much, as you said, if you can establish a trade route on land, the profit is indeed very large, but I still think that the strength of you alone is not enough. Making money is a good thing, but it also has to be worth it, I make a suggestion for you to see if it works. ”

"Let's not put our stronghold here, but in Muska Harbor, which is the territory of the Ayin family, and we are more familiar with the connections and roads. According to the model of the Straits Company, everyone forms a new company, and then purchases weapons, trains personnel, and purchases goods in the name of the company, and the profits obtained are shared by the shareholders in proportion to their capital contributions. In this way, everyone can have the strength to work together, which is better than fighting alone. In the territory of outsiders, you can't survive alone, how many people should understand this truth, right? Hong Tao fully affirmed the pioneering spirit of the businessmen, which is also the mindset that he has worked hard to instill in them over the years.

There are many interests in the world, don't limit your eyes to your home and your own neighborhood, as long as you have the courage and ability, you should keep exploring new markets and new opportunities. However, exploration is not a haphazard adventure, all factors must be taken into account to minimize the danger as much as possible. In this regard, it must be beyond the power of the maritime merchants to do it themselves, so it is the turn of Jinhe Kingdom to make a move. As long as it succeeds once, it is equivalent to providing a new idea for all the merchants of the Great Song Dynasty. Once the number of people who dare to take risks increases and the number of successes increases, a boom will soon be formed, and their goals will be achieved.

(To be continued.) )