Chen Zizhen's first letter had already been transmitted north along the post station after the news of the Ryukyus was confirmed. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 He was already very sure of the accuracy of the news, and Jian Chen kept sending people back to bring back the news first, and some merchants who had returned from Ryukyu also brought the news back.

These businessmen are illegal smugglers, but many things are also turned a blind eye. What Chen Zizhen wants to know is only the true result of the Battle of the Ryukyus, and now everything in the monthly report may not be credible, which makes him careless.

As one of the biggest figures in Fujian, Chen Zizhen's performance can affect the development of many things.

But Fujian's big names are not the only ones.

At this time, the home of another big man in Fuzhou City also ushered in an envoy sent by Chen Jian.

After the tax supervisor Gao Caiping retired from the people around him, he met with the people sent by Chen Jian in high spirits.

He was also often involved in the illegal smuggling of Japanese trade, so he saw things more clearly than some officials. No matter how much trouble the Ryukyus side makes, it will not affect the trade of the Japanese side, but will make the trade more profitable.

If something so big happens, the ban on Japanese trade will be even stricter.

The stricter the ban, the higher the profit from smuggling, and Gao Cai knows this very well.

After greeting for a while, the envoy gave some of the property that Chen Jian had looted in the Ryukyus that had not been claimed by the owner, and Gao Cai also accepted it happily.

The two sides have exchanged many times, and some things can be said blatantly.

"This time you did a beautiful job, our family really didn't expect to be able to do it so happily, and the Japanese people didn't dare to think about Ryukyu again for decades. In this way, I can also show the Holy Lord your merits and thoughts, after all, they are different from those Hongyi. ”

"Then thank you Grandpa Gao."

"Then what did Jian Chen ask you to say?"

"That's the case, please forgive me Gonggong Gao, I'll say some things directly."

"Straight to the point."

"Selling goods from here to Japan is very profitable, and I think Gao Gonggong is also aware of this. Those spices, sumacy and other goods, Fujian is not much, transshipment in the past will not get any benefits, the south of Siam, Malacca and other places these goods are numerous. However, goods such as raw silk can still be exchanged for white flowers and silver in Japan. ”

Gao Cai is also involved in smuggling in Fujian, where can he not know what is valuable and what is not, nodded and said: "I still know this." ”

According to the confessions of the Japanese who invaded Ryukyu, they also captured Ryukyu in the name of Ryukyu tribute, but secretly manipulated the tributary goods to make a profit. As the saying goes, scarcity is expensive, if there are more of these goods, I am afraid that it will be difficult for the stock fleet we discussed before to make money. ”

Gao Cai sneered: "This Japanese man is really cunning, I am afraid that he also has actions in North Korea, and he wants to trade and pay tribute, but he has done such a rebellious thing." After this incident, I will give you a package ticket, and they will never have the opportunity to pay tribute again. I've heard that the governor has already played this matter, so naturally I'll write some and send it to me. ”

The envoy thanked him repeatedly, and said: "Father-in-law Gao, the two most profitable sea routes today are one to Luzon and the other to Japan. There are silver mines thousands of miles away in Luzon, and the money is not bad, and silver is like water. Another sea route to Japan is also very profitable. If you want to make money, there are two ways to go, so Mr. Chen sent me to discuss with my father-in-law. ”

Gao Cai said: "There is no one else around, but it is." ”

"Grandpa Gao, we are different from that Hongyi and Lan. They are not allowed to trade, but we have a high father-in-law to operate, and I am afraid that trade can be done nine times out of ten. ”

Gao Cai laughed and said: "This is also because you are measured and have done a few beautiful things, otherwise I really don't want to say it." ”

"Mr. Chen said that a word can be a good thing, and a word can be a bad thing. Let's just say that the story of Zhao Zhilianpo back then was not a matter of the messenger's words? Therefore, Mr. Chen said that we must not mess with the high father-in-law, and the gold and silver that were negotiated at the beginning must be given no matter what. ”

This was said bluntly, but Gao Cai was very useful, and asked: "I also think this thing can be done, so what does this matter have to do with those two sea routes?" ”

"The first sea route to Luzon, if this is not allowed, if our joint-stock fleet wants to make money, we must use some means to prevent maritime merchants from trading in Luzon. It is robbery, robbery, burning, killing, all these means must be used. Otherwise, the people of Luzon have more money, and the goods sold to us earn less, and the more they earn when they sell to Luzon, it is precisely the profit that can be tripled, even if they take the risk of Ling Chi, there are people who do it. ”

Hearing what this person said interestingly, Gao Cai also smiled and said: "Businessmen seek profits, there is no need to hide it, but this is really the case." ”

"Yes, but if you can trade, it's different. We can go directly to Luzon to trade, we have many ships and guns, and we are not afraid of sea bandits and thieves, others will not be able to compete with us. However, if you eat too much and don't leave soup for others, you will always attract envy, so you also ask Gao Gonggong to come forward and find some big businessmen and maritime merchants to participate in the shares, so as not to give birth to some right and wrong. ”

"Right or wrong? What can be right and wrong? I don't know how many people impeach me every year, aren't we still doing well here? ”

"Yes, it's just that it's not good to make too many enemies. If these people are disgruntled and fund the pirates and pirates to secretly rob us, this is also a big loss, isn't it? Gao Gonggong, don't go all the way to fish. We have people there who raise sheep and shear them every year and sell them, and the wool of a sheep is more expensive than the meat of the sheep. In order to make a fortune, we must always pay attention to some means. ”

Although Gao Cai said that he was tough before, he also knew that his life was not too satisfactory now. Officials everywhere are impeaching them, and some of the things they have done in Fujian are really excessive, and there are really many cases of ruining countless families and ruining people.

He said this only to show his male aggression and pride, and although he was once a male, he could only be satisfied psychologically rather than physically.

The envoy's words were very clear, and Gao Cai thought for a moment and asked, "As you say, if there are bandits on the Luzon Sea at sea, it will be beneficial to us?" They don't dare to grab our fleet, and after a long time, personal merchant ships will not dare to pass? ”

"Exactly. It's just that this bandit is far above the sea, so it's hard to say who it is. As many people join us, it is natural to protect the interests of their shares. In addition, there are many people who participate in the shares, and there are gunboats to escort them, and if they want to plunder, it is not a few families that can oppose us. ”

Entering the country is honest, leaving the country is a thief, this kind of thing is a little talk, Gao Cai understands. I also understand that if I do this, I really need to pull more people into the shares, otherwise the interests of too many people will be touched, and those people will inevitably join forces.

Officials impeached him and privately organized pirates to compete for the dominance of trade, which really had to be guarded against.

"What about the other sea route to Japan?"

"Gonggong Gao, I'm afraid that going to Japan to trade is against the laws of the Ming Dynasty, right?"

"That's nature. In the past, it was not allowed, but now that the Ryukyus incident comes out, I am afraid that it will be more strictly controlled. It's just that no matter how strict the management is, it won't prevent those people from desperately seeking profits. Didn't you just say that? Those profiteers have three times the profits to be made, even Ling Chi is not afraid. ”

The envoy smiled and said, "Now when you go to Japan for trade, you must go through the Ryukyus." Except for the Portuguese in Macau, I am afraid that there are few who have the ability to go directly to Nagasaki without going around the Ryukyus. Moreover, if the merchant ships of Guangdong and Fujian wanted to trade with Japan, they had to pass through the sea between Tamsui chicken coop and Fujian. So what Mr. Chen means is that if Gonggong Gao can do one thing, I am afraid that he can use it as a share capital of tens of thousands of taels of silver. ”

"What's the matter?"

"Help the activities, let us cruise between Ryukyu and Tamsui, and intercept all smuggling ships going to Japan for trade. On the one hand, this can be regarded as a strict prevention of the Japanese Emperor, and it can be regarded as a high father-in-law to share the worries of the Emperor of Shenzhou and intercept the Japanese and the sea, but it is far better than expelling them after going ashore. On the other hand, the only people who were able to trade in Japan were the Portuguese from Macao. Mr. Chan said that he would take care of the Portuguese and promise that he would be expelled from Japan in the near future. And this matter of cruising Freshwater Ryukyu will have to worry about the high father-in-law. ”

This is obviously the fact that there is a trade monopoly under the pretext of righteousness and brightness. Jian Chen had already explained this point carefully before sending the envoys, especially with those in the fleet who were going to participate in the trading companies here in the future.

After the Ryukyu affair and the tributary affairs, the position of these people cannot be placed in Luzon Spain and the Dutch in the south. They can only do entrepot trade between China and Japan, and their own position is to do monopoly trade.

Needless to say, the difference in profits between entrepot and direct sales monopoly was also used by Chen Jian to make clear the importance of going to Beijing to "pay tribute": that is, for the sake of profit, you can temporarily put down your country and your own glory, especially on some ideological matters, so as not to make too many disputes, so as not to waste all your previous achievements.

The formation of an armed fleet of ships in Asia, 3,000 locally recruited and hired flintlock soldiers from China, two forts of Ryukyu and Wangbei Castle, and bribes and some infiltration and good deeds from the Fujian magistrates, attracted the big merchants of Fujian to join them, and began to infiltrate the trading fleet with shares, rights, contracts, and the like.

If the above points are achieved, the trade monopoly with the Ming Dynasty and Japan as the main line can basically be controlled. By the time the Dutch freed up their hands and wanted to set foot in it, Ryukyu and Wangbei Castle were in hand, and the fleet was in hand, and they could only return with a feather in hand.

As for the Spaniards, what they did was very different from what the Dutch did in history. The Dutch were entrepot traders, and wanted to support pirates to prevent maritime merchants from trading with Manila by force. Because they didn't have as much silver as Spain, and they had to rely on smugglers to get what they wanted.

On the other hand, Chen Jian's side is not entrepot trade, on the contrary, he can squeeze out those private smuggling ships and exchange money from Spain, which has a huge amount of silver. As long as some big businessmen in Fujian are recruited to join the gang and use force to ensure safety and success rate, they will be less resisted and resented, and it will be extremely difficult to rely on those people to fight for trade dominance.

The crux of these matters is two things: trade licensing and anti-smuggling law enforcement powers. This is a legitimate thing, with these two things, many things are much easier to do, and there will not be too much "righteousness" opposition.

It will take some time for Gao Cai to fall, and if Gao Cai falls, those shares will naturally fall into the hands of Chen Jian. Now the bigwigs of the Ming Dynasty cabinet are busy with the most critical party struggle, and the matter here can still be active for the time being, and if it is delayed for a few more years, it will really be necessary to stand in line in the party struggle: standing in line is not participating in internal affairs, it can only be regarded as political donations.

has said this, Gao Cai also knows very well what the bottom line of what he wants to do is the bottom line.

I thought to myself, with the help of the Ryukyu incident, there is still a good chance that this matter will succeed. One key is what Chen Zizhen said, the other is the communication between his side and the inner court, and the other is like this, it would be better if he could make some money from the inner court.

After thinking about it, the envoy said, "Grandpa Gao, there is one more thing. Mr. Chen has already sent people back to China to find some talents from the mine and the glass factory. ”

Gao Cai nodded and said, "This is a good thing." Now that Fujian has just experienced a catastrophe, there are countless displaced people, and if the matter of opening a mine and factory is done well, it can be regarded as a living person. Rest assured, there are already eyebrows, and it won't be long before there is news. Even if there is no Ryukyu matter, the matter of your entry into Beijing to pay tribute is nine times out of ten, let alone the matter of Ryukyu. You also go back and tell Jian Chen and let him prepare early. Some friends over there in Nanjing are also active, you can rest assured. ”

The envoy hurriedly said: "Since this is the case, if it becomes a friend, I will thank those friends in Nanjing, I will go back and tell Mr. Chen, naturally I can't lose everyone." By the way, Mr. Chen also asked me to send a humming car to Grandpa Gao, and there were not many on this boat, so he gave Grandpa Gao a first. It will be delivered in a few days. ”

Although Gao Cai didn't know what a humming car was, he also knew that there were rare things in the hands of these people, and they were not many things on the ship, so they were also unique when they thought about it, and they were secretly happy in their hearts.

And when he said something about the future trade, the messenger asked the plum to quench his thirst and draw bread to satisfy his hunger.

PS: Today's shift, these days are hot and cold, forgive me.