"You have considerations, what considerations do you have?"

Shi Kefa didn't care about Yang Chao's casualness, and waved his hand to blame.

Yang Chao said with a smile: "Master Shi is not in a hurry, and listen to the official slowly." ”

Shi Kefa said: "Don't sell the guanzi, say it quickly." ”

Yang Chao asked: "Dare to ask Master Shi, is it important for the last general to do maritime trade for the imperial court?" ”

Shi Kefa nodded: "Nature is important." ”

Yang Chao asked again: "If you don't have a boat in your hand, can you do it?" ”

Shi Kefa nodded again: "Naturally, I can't do it." ”

At this time, Shi Kefa's expression changed slightly, but he still blamed: "Then you shouldn't go to grab the quarrying warship." ”

Yang Chao shook his head: "No, the quarrying warship really has to be robbed." ”

Shi Kefa's face turned bad again: "Ridiculous! Quarrying is an important place for river defense, if the Shangjiang (Anhui waterway) is lost, and the thieves go east along the river, only quarrying can be guarded, how dare you snatch the quarrying warship. ”

Yang Chao said with a smile: "Forgive the last general to be brave, the last general will dare to speak, if the thieves go east, the quarrying will not stop the thieves!" ”

Shi Kefa hadn't noticed that he was already a little flustered by Yang Chao's incident, and he had been influenced by Yang Chao when he talked to Yang Chao, and he was happy and angry.

As soon as he heard Yang Chao say that quarrying could not stop the thieves, Shi Kefa's thoughts were suddenly involved in the more important river defense matters, and he actually forgot about Liu Kongzhao's problem.

He immediately asked, "How can this be seen, you can tell me quickly." ”

For the civil officials of the Jiangnan people, and even for the entire imperial court, Zhang Xianzhong's eastward march along the Yangtze River is not unfounded, but a real threat, Zhang Xianzhong once burned the Fengyang Emperor's mausoleum, captured Luzhou, Hezhou, and approached Nanjing. It went all the way to Jiangpu in the north of the Nanjing River.

And in the past few years, it has been tossing back and forth in Henan and Huguang, and now it occupies Wuchang, if it really goes east. Zuo Liangyu can't stop him in Jiujiang, and Anqing and Wuhu behind him must not be able to stop him. Quarrying has become the last river barrier in the west of Nanjing, if Zhang Xianzhong cannot be stopped here, then Nanjing will be infested by thieves.

Yang Chao sighed: "Isn't this obvious enough? The last general sent a thousand people, and one person was not injured and easily captured twenty warships, but what if it was replaced by a thief? ”

Shi Kefa was immediately stunned: "This, this!" ”

He didn't know what to say, Yang Chao sent a thousand people. robbed the heavily guarded quarrying twenty warships, if Zhang Xianzhong sent someone to do this, wouldn't he be able to directly seize the shipowner and enter Nanjing.

Yang Chao continued: "These boats are in the hands of Uncle Liu, so they can only be prepared for Zhang Xianzhong. Don't you know that since Uncle Liu took office, he has stayed in Nanjing every day, singing songs and making fun every day, and the quarrying and river defense has long been abolished. It's not the last general to boast, these ships are left in the hands of the last general, what a thief, a thief. Come one and kill the other. If it stays in Liu Kongzhao's hands, it can only be an enemy! ”

Shi Kefa was intimidated by Yang Chao's words, he was not a strong-willed person. It's easy to be led away by the words of your subordinates, which was like this in Huai'an in the past, and is still like this in Nanjing.

"But quarrying is also a must."

Shi Kefa sighed, even if what Yang Chao said was true, in a place like quarrying, if he really didn't send troops to fortify, Shi Kefa really didn't dare to rest assured.

Yang Chao continued: "From the point of view of the last general, the defense of the quarrying river is not in the ship, but in the artillery. And quarrying has always been to prevent the north but not the west. Heavy artillery was added to Niuzhu Mountain, and no one could cross the river. But the thieves attacked from the west to the east. Boats are useless, only cannons. ”

Shi Kefa frowned and said, "But it's better to have a ship than not to have one." ”

Yang Chao said again: "Don't worry, my lord. If these ships are in the hands of the last general, no one will be able to come from the river to attack Nanjing. Zhang thief can't do it, Li thief can't do it, and no thief can do it! ”

Yang Chao said with confidence, which made Shi Kefa less worried, sat down gently, and thought slowly.

Yang Chao didn't give him time to think, and continued quickly: "Dare to ask Master Shi, if these boats are returned to Uncle Liu, will he use them to grab the last general." Last time I grabbed the last general, but I grabbed some goods, these goods are just merchants' and it doesn't hurt, if these goods are the emperor's, they are going down to do sea trade, what should they do? ”

Shi Kefa was stunned again: "This, this!" ”

Yang Chao helped the emperor to make money in sea trade, he couldn't tell anyone, and Liu Kongzhao couldn't do it, so if Liu Kongzhao had a boat in his hand and had a bad relationship with Yang Chao, robbing Yang Chao was certain, no one dared to guarantee that he wouldn't rob it next time, if Yang Chao pulled the emperor's private goods and was robbed, it would be really difficult to deal with it at that time, and if it wasn't good, the emperor could only pinch his nose and admit it, and this was not only the emperor's money, but also the military salary for Liaodong and the disaster relief silver for the northwest.

Yang Chao said again: "So these ships must not be given to others, only to the last general, otherwise this sea trade will not be done." Even if Uncle Liu didn't rob it, as long as these ships were in the hands of other water battalions, there were also those officers who looted for personal gain, and such things have happened in recent years, not to mention anything else, that is, Cui Wei, the in-law of Gu Zhaoji, the commander of Caojiang, also robbed the ship of the last general. ”

Gu Zhaoji's matter, Shi Kefa has heard of it, Zhang Xianzhong is making trouble, Gu Zhaoji stayed in the quarry and did not dare to attack, so he was deposed by the emperor and replaced by this Liu Kongzhao, but he also did not act.

Shi Kefa couldn't help sighing: "These nobles are not enough to succeed, and there are more than failures!" ”

Yang Chao stood up at this time: "Master Shi, please listen to the words of the last general." ”

Shi Kefa nodded: "You say." ”

Yang Chao said: "Quarrying the river defense, as long as the land camp is rectified and cannons are added, it is enough to stop the thieves from attacking the east." And the last general can also rush to help at any time, and the last general dares to ask Lord Shi to leave this batch of ships in the last general's camp as a backup. ”

Yang Chao asked for his life, and at the same time insisted on returning the ship to Liu Kongzhao, and at the same time told Shi Kefa that these ships were useful in his own hands, and Yang Chao was willing to act as a backup, and if the thieves came, he was willing to attack.

Shi Kefa really couldn't settle down when he heard it.

But there are still other worries: "I'm afraid that the sincere man will not give up, and I'm afraid that he will sue the saint." ”

Yang Chao said: "The last general thinks that His Majesty can make his own decisions. ”

Shi Kefa sighed: "I'm afraid that the Holy Lord will not be able to adjudicate it." ”

This is indeed a difficult problem, and it is probably difficult for the emperor to deal with it, on the one hand, it is a nobleman who has passed down the country for three hundred years, and on the other hand, it is a fast-rising general, and it is difficult for the emperor to suppress it.

Yang Chao said with a smile: "This is going to bother the adults to write to His Majesty to explain the inside story." The last general is not unreasonable. It was because Uncle Liu grabbed the last general's ship first, and the last general returned the color. In the end, we will do maritime trade on the Yangtze River, if we can't deter all forces on the river. I'm afraid that the trouble is endless, if I can give the sincerity Bo Liu Kongzhao a disappointment this time. A warning to others as well. ”

Punish someone as a warning to others!

Yang Chao wanted Shi Kefa to explain this truth to the emperor, and he must deter the large and small forces along the Yangtze River, whether it is the various water camps or local heroes, so that they dare not move Yang Chao's boat, so that they can do sea trade with peace of mind.

Yang Chao also proposed that Liu Kongzhao provoked himself first, and then he used his colors to kill chickens and monkeys, which also gave the emperor an impression that this was a personal grudge between the two parties. It was because of personal disputes, not other reasons, that the emperor was also at ease.

Shi Kefa nodded: "This official will play the Ming Sheng, and let the Shengshang decide." ”

Shi Kefa actually found that he didn't know how to judge, so he left it directly to the emperor to deal with it.

told the emperor that Liu Kongzhao robbed Yang Chao's ships and goods, and Yang Chao went to rob Liu Kongzhao's warships, but Liu Kongzhao did not return the goods to Yang Chao, and Yang Chao refused to return the warships to Liu Kongzhao, and Liu Kongzhao could only use these warships to loot merchants. can't prevent thieves, Yang Chao uses these ships to do maritime trade, and it is guaranteed to be able to stop the thieves. Shi Kefa took a look, this is probably the context of the matter.

But is this really Yang Chao's consideration, Yang Chao really robbed Liu Kongzhao's ship out of revenge and deterrence of outsiders, and then coveted these big ships and wanted to do sea trade, so he refused to return the ship to Liu Kongzhao?

Of course not, at least not exactly, or rather, not the main purpose.

These ships are really important, but there are no such ships. Yang Chao can also make his own. It is indeed important to deter forces along the river, but there is no such thing as Liu Kongzhao. Yang Chao will also find other ways to deter outsiders. But Liu Kongzhao jumped out, and Yang Chao didn't need to be polite. Just borrowed the strength to borrow Liu Kongzhao's chicken to set an example for other monkeys.

But hidden in this, there are deeper considerations, which are directly aimed at the emperor.

Emperor Chongzhen.

Yang Chao had the impression that Emperor Chongzhen was not a responsible emperor, this emperor was good at everything, tough enough, diligent enough, simple enough, but he was unwilling to take responsibility.

Yang Chao wants to help the emperor smuggle to make money, the emperor doesn't have a penny, he doesn't even give the empty policy, he has to do it privately, secretly, that is, people like Yang Chao who want to change the general trend of history, are willing to do this kind of thankless thing, and replace it with any other general, who has no benefits of his own at all, and the ghost is willing to do it.

The most important thing is that to do this, we will offend many people and infringe on the interests of many people.

Among them, there are the wealthy families in the south of the Yangtze River, there are civil official groups, and even these nobles, it can be said that the three major forces of the Ming Dynasty have been offended at once, and when these people unite, it is a wave like an overwhelming sea, it is conceivable that these wealthy families, civil officials and nobles who have been offended by their interests will definitely impeach Yang Chao endlessly, and it is not difficult for them to find evidence, because if they want to do maritime trade, this kind of thing cannot be hidden.

At that time, if the emperor is not merciful and refuses to bear the charge of collusion, and puts the responsibility on Yang Chao's head, just like killing Chen Xinjia, if he wants to kill Yang Chao and be angry, Yang Chao can only cry without tears.

Therefore, Yang Chao simply gave the emperor a problem first, telling the emperor that if he wants to do sea trade, he must have ships, and he grabbed these ships to do sea trade, but the purpose is not to see the emperor's attitude at all, to see if the emperor will protect Yang Chao and suppress Liu Kongzhao because he wants to use Yang Chao to make money.

If the emperor did this, even if he did not give Yang Chao the right to officially open the sea, it would be enough for Yang Chao to prove his strength to the Zheng family, and let the Zheng family believe in Yang Chao, and he would have to cooperate with Yang Chao, so that even if he did not have public power, Yang Chao would be able to strongly insert himself into the sea trade.

If the emperor doesn't do this, this time he chooses to stand with a noble like Liu Kongzhao and put pressure on Yang Chao, Yang Chao will not sit still, with 5,000 strong soldiers in his hand, Yang Chao believes that the emperor will at least not ask himself, and it is a big deal to force himself to hand over those ships, so that Yang Chao does not have to think about it, it is your emperor who does not give boats, and you can't do sea trade without ships, this kind of work that offends people, you go to find someone else to do it, Yang Chao will only continue to follow his own pace step by step, slowly develop his power, and change the general trend by his own strength.

It can be said that this is a big gamble, the situation of Yang Chao will be different immediately after winning the bet, you can cut into the sea trade, get huge profits, like the struggling Ming court to provide life-saving silver, just like a tube of blood transfusion to a dying patient, so that he can survive the weakest time, and only after a sigh of relief can he have a chance to recover slowly.

There are also great benefits to Yang Chao himself, Yang Chao is equivalent to mastering the power on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River at once, no one dares to provoke him, he can do what he wants, although the profits of the sea trade are handed over to the emperor, but the normal commercial profits belong to Yang Chao, Yang Chao can even take the opportunity to expand the current financial resources ten times and a hundred times, if there is money, you can raise troops, and the strength in your hands can be expanded ten times and a hundred times, if Yang Chao has 100,000 strong soldiers in his hands, then what are you afraid of?

Even if he loses the bet in the end, it is just the same as in the past, but he has completely offended Liu Kongzhao's forces.

So how to do it, everything depends on how the emperor decides. (To be continued...... ）。