After listening to Zhang Yunqi's narration of the southern sea trade, Zhao Xun could only sigh.

"Looks like it's more powerful than I thought! My Xiaoguo army is going to strengthen maritime trade. Northern...... Due to the difference in terrain, only merchant ships from Yizhou, Silla and other places can appear, and the so-called Fanren sea ships have not yet appeared. I thought the Xiaoguo Army was already good, but it was much worse than the south! ”

Now, many merchants from Silla, Yizhou and other places come to trade in the territory under the jurisdiction of the Xiaoguo Army, from the land of Youzhou, the Shandong Peninsula, to Yangzhou in the Jianghuai area, there are their footprints. Trade between Luo and the Tang Dynasty flourished. All kinds of metal crafts, silk fabrics, high-end robes, tea, and books were shipped from Dayan to Silla. Those who returned from the Silla Peninsula were gold, silver, ginseng, and furs.

As for Yizhou, that is, the Wa Kingdom conquered by the previous dynasty, the trade output was silk, porcelain, copper and iron, and the input was silver. Among them, Zhao Xun's White Feather Firm has done this. Because of the Youzhou gold and silver coins formulated by Zhao Xun, the copper coins exchanged for huàn had no other purpose than to melt into copper coins. Later, after listening to the merchants, they turned to sell it to Yizhou, after all, it is more cost-effective to exchange it for silver, which can be used to melt into copper coins.

Through guò sea vessels, there are more and more types of trade goods. Persian traders brought precious stones, corals, agate, spices, medicines, flora and fauna from East Africa and Southeast Asia. Exchange Silk, porcelain, paper, and other items for Dayan.

"No wonder Murong Cheng threw away the two guards lightly, it turns out that he is getting richer and richer!" Zhao Xun couldn't help but sigh. Originally, Tang Xian's two guards fell into Qingzhou, and after the Xiaoguo army was designated as a traitor, Zhao Xun thought that the imperial court would mobilize a large army to go north to support, at least the Yangzhou naval army would go north, who knew that the imperial court directly stripped the two guards who did not obey the military order, and formed a new guard from the new. It turned out that this Murong Cheng was really not short of money, and of course, it was also related to Tang Xian's killing of Murong Cheng's envoy and the detention of the general of the navy.

Because of the sea trade, but also make some port cities extremely prosperous, the most dazzling in the north is the Laizhou City in Qingzhou, of course, it may be the east of the Lingzhou Prefecture in the future, maybe soon, it will be called the East City. However, this is not as good as the Guangzhou Mansion in Jiaozhou in the south. Guangzhou belonged to Nanhai County in the Han Dynasty and the previous dynasties, and during the Han Dynasty, there were not many households and it was still a barren land. However, it is precisely because of the great opening of the sea channel in the former dynasty and because of its geographical location that it has been quite prosperous by sea trade alone, and it is now the largest city in Jiaozhou. The former small county of Guangzhou has now become the capital of one party.

It can be said that Guangzhou is now the center of Dayan's overseas trade, and there are ships from all over the country sailing out of Guangzhou and into the port.

Zhao Xun didn't expect that the current Guangzhou Mansion would be so powerful, which was completely beyond his expectations.

The rise and prosperity of maritime trade routes is not accidental, but has a strong background of the times, and various factors are destined to prosper maritime trade places.

One of the most critical factors is that Dayan has lost control of the Western Regions. In the previous dynasty, to the west of Liangzhou, there was another state, but it was lost from the hands of Dayan. As a result, the overland Silk Road, which emerged in the Han Dynasty, was blocked, making it impossible to meet the needs of trade between the East and the West.

Of course, this is only one of the reasons. Overland trade is highly susceptible to social politics. To the west of Liangzhou, there are still many forces and countries, and if there is a slight change, the caravans will not be guaranteed security, and who will dare to trade at will?

Secondly, land transportation is strictly restricted by natural conditions. The road is far away, and the environment and climate are harsh. The single means of transportation, coupled with the strict dependence on natural conditions for the goods transported, made land transportation increasingly abandoned. If you want to get rich, you need to build roads first, but it's not just talking. The emergence of sea transport has better solved the above problems, and has many advantages that land routes cannot reach, so sea routes have become increasingly prosperous and eventually replaced land routes. Become the main mode of transportation.

In addition, it is also related to the current situation, because in the last few years of the imperial court, the war has not been good, disasters have been repeated, and taxes have increased. Many people in coastal areas have taken boats to other places to do business, or to take refuge. Wealthy families also moved south one after another to avoid the turmoil in the DPRK and China, and went to the eastern region to make money.

Zhao Xun believed that his policy of encouraging and protecting foreign businessmen would greatly arouse the enthusiasm of businessmen.

Of course, the risks of maritime trade are very large, and sea navigation is different from inland rivers, with uncertain winds and waves, and the lives of people are always in danger. If you are not familiar with sea navigation, it is very likely that there are no bones, but the huge profits still stimulate many businessmen to take risks.

Zhang Yunqi basically talked about some situations of sea trade and talked to Zhao Xun, which opened Zhao Xun's eyes.

After a long while, Zhao Xun said: "In this way, you are in charge of the Qingzhou branch, and I will send someone to assist you." Maritime trade, none of my subordinates are familiar with you, so this white feather firm is in the Qingzhou branch, and you have a plan. We can't help but get involved in this sea trade. ”

Zhang Yunqi said: "Subordinates receive orders!" We must live up to the trust of the Metropolitan Governor! ”

This is really a big profit, Zhao Xun can't just watch, just learn, but also learn. The real money and silver from abroad, no matter what, can be brought back, which is much more valuable than making money from the people who farm.

As soon as the Xiaoguo Army was established, the war was endless, and it has been worrying about finances. Although due to the monetary reform, a lot of balances have been recovered. However, because of the new policies of the Xiaoguo Army and the projects that have been implemented in various places to benefit the people, as well as the acceptance of displaced people, the finances of the Xiaoguo Army have already bottomed out day and night. It's not a deficit, but it's not much better. It was this action that was too big at once, and it was necessary to implement a new policy in Jizhou to reduce or exempt certain taxes. The logistical pressure on the army increased suddenly, and it also made Zhao Xun terminate the operation against the guards. Even the original plan to let the Eighth Government Army train in Jiaodong Mansion was not implemented, so it was evacuated from Qingzhou hungry.

There is no doubt that this maritime trade is definitely a stable source of finance, and no enemy can completely cut it off. If he didn't seize such a good opportunity, Zhao Xun really couldn't forgive himself. If you want to really understand maritime trade, you have to experience it yourself. It is an eternal truth that you will never know that you have to do it. You don't need to be proficient. But at least some basic knowledge is required. Otherwise, God knows how those men will deceive themselves. No, there happened to be a capable person, how could Zhao Xun not seize the opportunity.

Despite this, Zhao Xun still asked the caravan of twenty-two sea ships, including the fifteen sea ships under Zhang Yunqi's command, to be equipped with some weapons. Among them is the Earthquake Thunder. These seven ships were the same ships that the Xiaoguo Army had captured the pirates and merchants who provided assistance to the guards. Moreover, they are all large sea ships, each about 20 zhang long, and if they are loaded with people, they are enough to fit five or six hundred people.

Among the seven big ships, except for one of them, the rest were not detained by Zhao Xun, nor were they given by the Xiaoguo Army and the Navy, and the Twenty was bought by the Ministry of Internal Affairs at the time of the public auction. As for that one, it is naturally a gift from the Qingzhou Navy Army. Originally, all the sea ships were given away free of charge, but Zhao Xun refused and accepted one. and the remaining nearly 30 seagoing vessels of all sizes were auctioned to the public to support the conduct of maritime trade. As for the money harvested, in addition to a part of the reward to the navy, the other part was used for the construction of the harbor.

Zhang Yunqi's matter was quickly investigated, and the Shadow Division reported that what Zhang Yunqi said was true. Zhao Xun appointed such a new person as the head of the party, so he naturally would not be hasty.

The twenty-two ships of the White Feather Merchant Maritime Trade Caravan under the Ministry of Internal Affairs will naturally not be the original Zhang Yunqi's manpower, and the natural branch of the department is all from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the guards of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are all carefully selected, as well as some retired soldiers and sailors!

On the tenth day after Zhao Xun evacuated Qingzhou, the guards who sneaked to Langya Mansion launched a surprise attack on Yanzhou, and in just five days, the Yanzhou Mansion Army was fighting with the Xuzhou Army, and it was unknown why, Dongping Mansion, the northernmost part of Yanzhou, was captured by Tang Xian. Tang Xian officially set up his own banner and called himself the general of the Tang Army. Because the imperial court stripped us of the number of our army, simply, I don't want it anymore, I call it myself.

The move of the former guards, which is now more suitable to be called the Tang Army, caught both the Yanzhou Mansion Army and the Xuzhou Army Li Chi off guard, and they didn't know what was going on, and Tang Xian's army took the largest mansion in Yanzhou. The location of this province is very important, it is located in the northeast corner of Yanzhou, bordering Qingzhou to the north and Xuzhou to the southeast. In other words, it can attack the Xuzhou Army and the Yanzhou Prefecture Army at any time. Xu Jie, the governor of Yanzhou, and Li Yi, the general of Zhendong of the Xuzhou Army, both stopped fighting and waited for Tang Xian's move. Tang Xian saw that the Xuzhou army and the Yanzhou army had no action, and no longer continued to attack the city, but began to incorporate the Dongping army and rectify the place, and there was a great tendency to settle down in the city.

Li Yi and Xu Jie both scolded, especially Xu Jie, originally the Xuzhou Army and the Xiaoguo Army ignored their own existence and led the army into their own territory, and Tang Xian, who was defeated by this remnant of the army, also came to bully himself, which was simply looking for death. It's a pity that he didn't directly mobilize the army to attack the Tang army in the north when he was angry. Because Murong Cheng's military order was to operate against the Xuzhou Army, he had to cooperate with the actions of the Yangzhou Army.

Zhao Xun didn't have anything to pay attention to the guards, no, it was the movements of the Tang army, but Tang Xian didn't do much. simply led the troops to move south, especially after Dongping Mansion was taken, the Tang army's actions became more rapid. Cao Bin, the governor of Qingzhou, didn't say much, one left, and the other came. The Tang army withdrew, and the Qingzhou army took over after it. As if to send off a guest, he sent it out of the northern provinces of Qingzhou.

Although the war was over, the Qingzhou Prefectures were also taken over by Cao Bin. But Cao Bin also had a big head for a while, and he had to clean up the mess after the war. Cao Bin, who couldn't figure it out, asked Zhao Xun for a way, and Zhao Xun directly asked him to attack those officials, wealthy businessmen, and big families who had a bad reputation on weekdays and were not benevolent.

The charges are ready-made, colluding with the Tang Army and plotting against him. Kill what should be killed, without scruples. Anyway, our names are all traitors, so what else is there to care about? As long as the common people support, the soldiers, horses, money, and food will be guaranteed. When you enter, you only need to announce the charges to the public, so that the people know that what you have done is for everyone. The Tang army has withdrawn, and the Xiaoguo army is on the side, so what is there to fear?

After hearing what Zhao Xun said, Cao Bin was not ambiguous, and directly dealt with a large number of notorious guys, the crime? There are too many, and every time you kill one, it is definitely a cheer for ten thousand people. So, money and resources are available. Of course, this can only treat the symptoms, not the root cause. While resuming production in various prefectures and counties after the war, Cao Bin cooperated with the maritime trade of Lingzhou Prefecture to encourage the people to participate in the work.

Because of the need to rush to build ships day and night, many shipyards have appeared in Lingzhou Mansion, so workers naturally need a large number of them. In addition, the Xiaoguo Army has regulations on the factories in the places under its rule, with a maximum working time of one day and a minimum salary, so the situation of shifts appears, and the demand for workers is much larger, so that it can also solve the problem of a group of Qingzhou disaster victims.

Speaking of shipbuilding, he also brought a group of merchants who specialized in selling giant trees, and they put the giant trees from Silla and the northern land, opened the red river, floated into the sea, tied them into large rafts, and dragged them directly by boats. A shipload of goods plus dozens of giant logs was enough for them to earn a lot more. Among them, the people of the Millet Tartar, especially the people of the Millet Sect, cut down the most.