The reason why Shi Wuwei was still thinking about this pirate leader was after three months. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 info because during these three months, he has been thinking about the connection between the other party and the first emperor.

Moreover, he also came up with two possibilities.

First, he believes that the legendary Chen Zuyi is likely to be Emperor Jianwen himself. In other words, the first emperor assumed the name of Chen Zuyi, wanting to accumulate power, so that he could take the opportunity to counterattack the Central Plains and regain the throne in the future. Because what the pirates who had become merchants in Java did was undoubtedly to show that the other party wanted to provoke a war and control the entire sea.

Second, he believed that if Chen Zuyi was not the first emperor, then with the other party's position as the overlord of the sea, it would be impossible not to know about the escape two years ago. Not only that, but deep down, he was even more suspicious. It is doubtful that this Chen Zuyi has already established an alliance with the first emperor of Wu Shu.

Because the power of either of these two people alone will not be able to fight the other Ming Dynasty. Therefore, the first emperor must rely on the help of this group of pirates, and this Chen Zuyi must have received some benefits from the first emperor.

Anyway, all in all, the two possibilities he envisioned revolved around this overlord of the sea.

Therefore, he must first understand what kind of person the other party is.

And when Mo Changkong thoughtfully denied Su Wushi's contemptuous words, he began to introduce the pirate's background.

Chen Zuyi, a native of Chaozhou, Guangdong, is about 40 years old. He was originally the master of a well-known sect in the rivers and lakes, so his cultivation was not low, at least in the realm above the three grades. But during the Hongwu period, because of his arrogance and domineering, the disciples in the sect were also the same, so he offended all the sects in the south of the Yangtze River. In the end, this person fled overseas with his disciples and became a pirate. According to the oral accounts of the people in this sea area, this Chen Zuyi was very arrogant, and was guilty of passing by the guest's ship and robbing the property."

At this time, when Mo Changkong mentioned the name of Taizu Hongwu, Shi Wuwei ruled out the first possibility he had guessed.

Because since the other party was already a bully in the sea when Taizu was alive, then this person could not be the first emperor himself.

"Hmph~, the master of a dignified sect has done such a despicable deed, it is really a shame for us and other people in the rivers and lakes!". Su Wushi said indignantly.

Seeing that the senior brother of this Dao sect was so indignant, Mo Changkong also continued to smile and said, "Haha, although many people regard it as a shame in the rivers and lakes, there are also many exiles in the rivers and lakes who defect to him and make him an example."

"Why is that?". Shi Wuwei said suspiciously.

"Let me just say this, just because this Chen Zuyi dares to be recognized and shouted with the court and the rivers and lakes, and dares to openly provide shelter for those outlaws, this already requires great courage. Not only that, but I don't know if a few people ever knew that when Taizu was alive, it was because of the rampant thieves in this sea, and whenever a merchant ship went out, it would be nine out of ten ships. Therefore, Emperor Taizu ordered to close the country and cut off the pirates' financial routes. Moreover, Emperor Taizu once ordered a reward of 500,000 taels of silver to capture this Chen Zuyi." Mo Changkong continued.

"What! 500,000 taels of silver? ”。 Shi Wuwei was shocked.

"Five hundred thousand taels of silver? How much? ”。 Su Wushi didn't know the concept of the silver tael because he lived a worry-free life in the Taoist Sect all the year round, so he spoke up.

Shi Wuwei saw that Su Wushi and the little monk were looking at him puzzled, so he said, "When you are a first-class official in the court, you can earn a year, but it is only more than two hundred and thirty taels of silver."

As soon as these words came out, I saw Su countless open his mouth and said in shock, "What!! So many? ”。

However, just when several people were still marveling at the preciousness of this bounty, Mo Changkong smiled, and then said, "Haha, these 500,000 taels are just a few decades ago. Now, after King Yan ascended the throne, he has raised this bounty to 7.5 million taels of silver."

After speaking, Mo Changkong stopped speaking and looked at Shi Wuwei and the others.

"Seven....seven....seven million five million silver? ....How much is that? ”。 At this time, Su Wushi's mind was already a little dazed by these silver taels. I saw him turn his face sideways, looked at Shi Wuwei, and stammered.

But don't say that he, even Shi Wuwei, who has always been thoughtful, has been shocked by this bounty at this moment.

"Hahaha, guess how much my taxes are for the rest of the year?". Mo Changkong continued to look at the shocked expressions of several people and said.

However, how could a few people who were in the rivers and lakes know the taxes of this imperial court.

So, after a while, Mo Changkong continued, "My Ming Dynasty's annual tax revenue is only 11 million taels of silver. In other words, the imperial court took out seventy percent of the tax revenue to arrest the pirate. So, Brother Wushi, do you still think that this Chen Zuyi is an ordinary pirate? ”。

"It's... This...".

For a while, Su Wushi didn't know how to speak. But then, he suddenly remembered what the other party had just said, and said, "Eh, didn't you just say that the imperial court has ordered the closure of the sea and the sea?" So why bother with these pirates? ”。

Seeing this, Mo Changkong also shook his way with a smile, and said with a little deep meaning, "Although this seal of the forbidden sea cuts off the pirates' financial routes, at the same time, it also cuts off the financial routes of the imperial court, and it is not a long-term solution."

"Brother Mo, how do you say this?" Shi Wuwei asked.

Everyone in the world knows that the Southern Song Dynasty is weak, but they don't know that during the Southern Song Dynasty, the annual tax revenue of the imperial court has reached 140 million taels of silver, and 100 million is 10 million. Therefore, this financial resources have exceeded our dynasty by more than ten times. Most of the taxes of the Ming Dynasty came from grain taxes and salt taxes. However, during the Southern Song Dynasty, only 30% of the tax revenue came from the grain and salt tax, and the remaining 70% was the tariff obtained from trade with merchants from the Western Regions or the South Seas. Therefore, it is conceivable that under the closure and prohibition of the sea by the imperial court, a large amount of wealth has actually been lost." Mo Changkong sighed.

Subsequently, Shi Wuwei began to make a rough estimate in his heart.

If, according to what the other party said, seventy percent of the taxes of the Southern Song Dynasty court came from customs duties, that is, nearly 100 million taels of silver. And the 7.5 million taels of silver under this bounty are simply not worth mentioning compared to 100 million taels.

"No wonder the imperial court will reward this Chen Zuyi with a lot of money, it turns out that he wants to restore commerce and trade...". Shi Wuwei thought to himself.

But he still didn't know anything, so he said, "I don't know why Brother Mo knows such things?" ”。

When Mo Changkong saw the other party's question, he began to shake the treasure fan in his hand again, and said with a smile, "In business, my Mo family is originally a businessman, and there have been many ships coming and going in this sea area. It's just that in the past few decades, piracy has been extremely rampant, making it impossible for Kenben to trade in this sea, and it has also caused huge losses to my Mo family. Therefore, I believe that the first purpose of His Majesty's fleet to go to sea is to wipe out all the pirates."

However, for what Mo Changkong said at this time, Shi Wuwei did not dare to agree. Because he knew that even if the purpose of the imperial court's trip was to fight pirates, it was definitely not the first priority.

"In business?.. It seems that what is said is not wrong..". Shi Wuwei thought to himself.

He suddenly understood one thing, and that was that when people think about problems, they tend to think in the direction of their own benefit.

This Mo Changkong is a businessman, so he believes that this trip to the West is to fight piracy and resume trade.

And he did nothing to take revenge, so he firmly believed that this time he went to sea for the first emperor.

……….