Chongzhen's twelfth year of January five to the O'Barro fleet returned, the news immediately in Qingzhou and even the entire Shandong, as well as the provinces south of the Yangtze River have caused a strong sensation, although Pang Gang has announced that Shandong, Henan, Hubei provinces under his command, but did not stop the normal flow of population, merchants around the Ming Dynasty can still be free to travel within the three provinces, even if the merchants around the country are hated Pang Gang's tax rate of two out of ten teeth, but can not stand the economic prosperity of people here, many things are only available here in Shandong, Moreover, the three provinces of Shandong and the Ming Dynasty are originally of the same origin, where can we stop the exchanges between various places? As a result, the news flew quickly to various places like wings.

Walking on the wide and neat streets, looking at the bustling crowds on the streets, Lillian and James and a group of sailors from the Netherlands were like Grandma Liu who had just entered the Grand View Garden, everything was so surprising to them.

Like a curious baby, Lillian pointed to the crowd in front of her and asked her boyfriend, "Oh dear, there are so many people here, you see, how can they still have so much enthusiasm to play on the street in such a cold weather?" ”

"Oh, it could be them them"

James couldn't say a reason for a long time, and finally had to ask for help from Kong Lin who was walking behind them with his eyes.

Today is the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, Kong Lin, who has just set foot on the land of Daming, is still quite excited, and he didn't notice the problem of this little couple just now, but now seeing the curious eyes of James and Lilian, his mind turned, and he also knew their thoughts.

Kong Lin smiled dumbly and said: "Actually, it's nothing, these days are the biggest festival of our year, called the Spring Festival, just like Christmas over there." ”

"Oh"

As soon as Kong Lin said this, James and Lilian immediately understood.

Zams rolled his eyes, and then said, "Boss, since these days are the biggest festivals of the year in your country, shouldn't you invite us to a few drinks?" Brothers, do you say? ”

"Right"

The more than a dozen Dutch sailors who followed Kong Lin to Daming had been adrift on the sea for more than half a year, and the birds had long faded out of their mouths, and they all began to coax after listening to James's words at this moment.

Hearing the sound of everyone's coaxing, Kong Lin, who wanted to go to the General's Mansion to report the situation to his brother-in-law after settling these Dutchmen, couldn't help but smile helplessly, "Okay, you gluttons, today your boss I will be the east, please have a few drinks." ”

"Long live Boss Yay!"

The sailors, who had received Kong Lin's promise of a treat, let out a burst of cheers and walked briskly towards a restaurant in front of them

Just when Kong Lin led a group of employees to kill the restaurant, Pang Gang also met with Lin Feng and Mo Hui who had returned from the envoy in the Zhou Palace.

In the living room, Pang Gang looked at the two people sitting in front of him, and said with a smile: "Lin Feng, Commander Mo, your envoy this time was very successful and did a good job, and you already know about the fact that we have broken away from the Ming Dynasty and established ourselves as kings, right?" ”

Someone told Mo Hui and Lin Feng about Pang Gang's self-establishment as king as soon as he stepped on land, and when they heard Pang Gang ask, the two of them immediately stood up and wanted to salute Pang Gang again, but were stopped by Pang Gang, Pang Gang smiled and said: "Okay, don't look at this king has become self-reliant, but our rule is that our nephew plays lanterns - as usual, now you should report the results of this trip to this king!" ”

"Yes!" Lin Feng respectfully bowed, and then excitedly reported: "Lord Qiyu, our mission to the Netherlands this time is indeed very successful, the tea, silk and porcelain we brought to the Netherlands are sold very successfully, not only the Dutch merchants came to buy it, but even the merchants of England, France and Portugal have gone crazy, and the silver we earned this time is gone." ”

Pang Gang couldn't help but move his index finger and asked, "Oh? How much did we make this time? ”

Lin Feng and Mo Hui glanced at each other, and then Lin Feng smiled and said, "My lord, you definitely don't believe it, the things we stayed in Obaro this time sold for a total of more than 8.6 million taels of silver!" ”

"What?" Pang Gang only felt dizziness in his head, and said in a trembling voice: "How much did you sell?" ”

Lin Feng: "My lord, our batch of goods has sold a total of more than 8.6 million taels of silver!" ”

"More than 8,600,000 taels of silver?"

Pang Gang shook his head vigorously, trying to keep himself calm, but his trembling hands couldn't calm down, he remembered very clearly that this time he went to Obaro, in addition to the goods loaded by those merchants from Shandong, Pang Gang himself also let people load nearly 800,000 taels of silver. According to what Lin Feng said, the silver earned on this trip is ten times the profit, and it is difficult not to get rich now.

Now the Ming court's annual tax is only four million, Lin Feng casually went to Oubaro and obtained twice the profit of the entire Ming Dynasty's financial revenue, this result made Pang Gang happy and at the same time also felt sad for the Ming Dynasty, he casually sent people to Oubaro to make seven or eight million taels of silver, but a country with a population of nearly 200 million can't even make up the military expenses of four or five million taels of silver a year, how sad it should be, how helpless.

Chongzhen, who was sitting in the Forbidden City, was racking his brains every day to find a way to spend money on military expenses, and even the expenses and food in the palace were saved again and again, but there was still no way to make up for the required military expenses, but the bureaucrats and gentry outside were still spending all day drinking, but they were reluctant to take out even one or two silver to pay taxes.

Seeing that Pang Gan's expression was wrong, Lin Feng hurriedly asked, "Lord Wang, what's wrong with you?" ”

"Well, this king is fine." Pang Gang waved his hand, he sat on the soft couch and thought for a while and asked, "Then have all the merchants who followed Obaro back?" ”

Lin Feng nodded: "It's all back, those sub-businessmen have made a lot of money now, they have made hundreds of thousands of taels less, and millions of taels have earned more, but the biggest one is still for us to earn." Speaking of this, Lin Feng couldn't help but feel a little proud.

"Well, good!" Pang Gang took the lead, turned his head and asked Mo Hui again: "Deputy Commander Mo, what did you gain from this voyage to Oubaro?" ”

Mo Hui nodded cautiously: "Lord Qiqi, this time to go to sea is indeed a huge harvest, the last general has not only seen the cruelty of the sea, but also anything can happen at sea." But what makes us even more frightened are those Obaro pirates, who are so bold that they dare to rob the warships of the imperial court, if it weren't for the strength of our ships and guns, maybe we would really have to suffer. ”

"yes!" Pang Gang nodded heavily, the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were the era of the rise of maritime trade in the Western world, and the maritime power of various countries sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, the current Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and later England decades later, all started by relying on maritime trade, if our Chinese nation stays in their own acres and three-points of land to sit in the well and watch the sky, and wait for another one or two hundred years, it will be too late to catch up.

Thinking of this, Pang Gang's heart moved, and he asked: "Lin Experience, Deputy Commander Mo, after you go back, you will write about this trip to Obaro, as well as how we should build our sailors and how to trade with Obaro in the future, and write a note to me again, this king should read it carefully, understand?" ”

"Yes!"

Lin Feng and the others got up in unison and replied loudly.

"Okay, the two of you have been at sea for more than half a year, and you are also very tired, hurry up and go back to rest, this king has specially approved your ten-day vacation, Deputy Commander Mo, you will return to the building after fifteen, Lin Feng, you are the same, come to this king after fifteen."

"Yes!"

The two of them saluted Pang Gang in unison before walking out of the living room.

After Lin Feng and Mo Hui were in the living room, Pang Gang waved his hand excitedly to the sky, made a V-shaped gesture representing victory with two fingers towards the sky, and hurriedly ran to the backyard.

trotted all the way to the backyard, and when he saw the many maids and servants in the backyard looking at him with some surprise, Pang Gang remembered that his current identity was no longer a small person, but a dignified prince, so he coughed lightly a few times and slowed down his pace and walked towards the inner courtyard.

When Pang Gang walked into the big room in the inner courtyard, he heard bursts of laughter from inside, and after Pang Gang entered, he saw that it was Kong Ruolan who was learning to walk with her eldest son Su Peng, who had just been a toddler, while Wei Manyao was holding the second Su Ming to breastfeed, Chen Yuanyuan, Li Xuezhu and Ling'er Qiao'er were helping on the side.

There are only two children in this room at this time, but there are six mothers, none of whom have any experience with children, they are very busy, seeing the happy appearance of all the women, Pang Gang is also very happy and walked down with a smile, quietly looking at the two sons.

Soon, Su Peng walked towards Pang Gang, Pang Gang hugged his son with a smile, lifted him up and kissed him on his pink little face, but it was estimated that the beard on his face was too prickly, which made Su Peng cry.

Kong Ruolan heard her son's crying, and hurriedly hugged the child, and glanced at her husband coquettishly, as if she was blaming him for making her son cry, and said while coaxing her son: "Oh, my son is good, my mother comes to hug me, don't cry." ”

Pang Gang touched his nose in embarrassment before saying, "This Ruolan, your brother is back, you know, right?" ”

"What, big brother is back, really?" Kong Ruolan, who was coaxing her son, heard this, and the expression of surprise on her face could no longer be hidden, and she walked quickly to Pang Gang's side, staring at Pang Gang with big eyes and said, "Lord Wang, is the eldest brother of the concubine really back?" ”

"Of course, when did I lie to you?" Pang Gang smiled bitterly: "I just arrived this morning, I also went to Lingshanwei to do business, and when I came back, someone reported to me, now your eldest brother should be in Qingzhou City." ”

"Thank goodness." Kong Ruolan breathed a long sigh of relief, "Now my mother is finally relieved, the eldest brother is finally back." ”

Seeing Kong Ruolan's relieved appearance, Pang Gang was a little unhappy, and said depressedly: "Look at your appearance, it seems that your eldest brother is going to the Hongmen banquet, but he is just going to a long distance, as for it?" ”

"What the prince said lightly." Kong Ruolan was very rare to talk to her husband once, "It's not that the prince doesn't know how far away Obaro is from us, a round trip is more than a year, and there are strong winds and waves on the road, but the concubine body used to hear people, but whoever goes out to the ocean, if you can come back half of the ten ships that are fateful, if the eldest brother of the concubine has three long and two short, what should I do with the concubine's father?" ”

As she spoke, Kong Ruolan's eyes turned red.

"I'm wrong, can't I be wrong? I'll never let your big brother go out again. Pang Gang, who was most afraid of seeing his daughter-in-law's tears, quickly raised his hand, shook his head and stood up, just wanted to sit in the study, and suddenly a maid came to report: "Lord Qi, the uncle of the Kong family asks to see." ”

"Oh, invite him in."

didn't wait for Pang Gang to speak, when he heard the eldest brother coming, Kong Ruolan on the side hurriedly asked the maid to invite someone in.

After a while, Kong Lin, who was dressed in a short suit, strode in, and when he saw Pang Ganghou, he quickly knelt down on one knee and said in a deep voice: "Kong Lin has seen His Royal Highness King Zhou, and he has seen His Royal Highnesses the princesses. ”

Seeing Kong Lin coming, Pang Gang was also very happy in his heart, stepped forward to help him up, and said with a smile: "It's all my own family, what's polite." Shilin, your mission to Obaro this time must be a big gain. ”

Kong Lin also said with emotion: "Thanks to the blessing of the prince, the grass people's harvest from Obaro this time is really expensive, it can be said to be an eye-opener, I didn't expect that in addition to our Central Plains, there is such a continent overseas, and there are so many countries and so many people on this continent, it is really amazing." ”

"Come, tell us what you've gained from a trip to Obaro."

After Pang Gang pulled Kong Lin to sit, Kong Ruolan hurriedly handed over the child to Ling'er and made a cup of tea for her eldest brother.

Kong Lin took the teacup, thanked him with a smile, and took out a gold chain from his arms and handed it to Kong Ruolan and said, "Sister, this is a little bit of heart for my nephew, don't dislike it." ”

Kong Ruolan pursed her lips and smiled, and did not shirk, and accepted it in front of Pang Gang.

After handing over the gold chain to his sister-in-law, Kong Lin turned around and said to Pang Gang: "Lord Wang, this time"

Pang Gang interrupted Kong Lin's words with a wave of his hand, "What is the name of the prince, they are all from their own family, and they are at home, so you can still call me the word." ”

"This" Kong Lin hesitated for a moment before nodding and said: "Okay, so I will call you the word, Chaodong, this time I went to Obaro to really increase my knowledge, originally I thought that we have a lot of land in China, and we have everything, but when I got to the land of others, I realized that the original idea was so ridiculous, not to mention anything else for the time being, let's just say that now Obaro is full of heroes, and all countries are flocking to expand their own sailors, by the way, they are called the navy, and the business and trade exchanges between countries can be said to be endless. It's much stronger than ours, and I estimate that if we don't catch up, it won't take a hundred years for us to be left far behind by them. ”

"yes!" Pang Gang nodded heavily, "These kings are all knowing, but now our main energy is still on land, as for the establishment of a large-scale sea force, we can't rush it." ”

Kong Lin wanted to say something, but he couldn't help it, he also knew that Pang Gang's current difficulties, the development of everything is always focused, if too much attention is paid to the development of the navy, then the development on land will inevitably be affected Although he is a relative of Pang Gang, he is a businessman after all, if he always points fingers at military affairs, don't say that others will gossip, even Pang Gang will be disgusted.

Finally, Kong Lin asked: "Chaodong, I have gained a lot in Obaro this time, and I plan to form a fleet by myself to deliver goods to Obaro for a long time, what do you think?" ”

"It's feasible, the purpose of me letting you go to Obaro is to let everyone have more contact with the outside world, don't always keep your eyes on our one-acre and three-point land, you can think of forming your own fleet to go to Obarro, it's good." After hearing Kong Lin's words, Pang Gang was very happy and nodded in appreciation.

"But the road to Obaro is full of pirates, and our sailors can't always escort us all the way, so I just wanted to ask if the government can sell us some big ships and artillery, so that we can protect ourselves." Kong Lin looked at Pang Gang, and said his request very apprehensively, "You want to form your own armed merchant ships?" Pang Gang's face slowly deepened.

Looking at Pang Gang's frowning brows, Kong Lin was very worried, and he also knew the difficulty of this matter. Since ancient times, there has been a saying that "chivalry violates the prohibition with martial arts", and the imperial court is wary of the Jianghu sects that have force, not to mention the sale of warships and artillery, which have great lethal firearms to individuals, in the Western Han Dynasty, the general Zhou Yafu bought 500 pairs of armor privately, and Emperor Wenjing clicked him without saying a word, which shows how suspicious the rulers are of people who have armed forces privately.

That is, Pang Gang, if he had changed to another official, he would have turned his face as soon as he heard this request made by Kong Lin. Why do you want to buy warships and artillery, what do you want to do, do you want to rebel?

However, the thinking of our king of Zhou from later generations is different from ordinary people, Pang Gang also thinks that if the current businessmen are unarmed and float across the ocean to Obaro with goods, it will be simply giving the goods to those pirates in vain, thinking about it, Pang Gang nodded and said: "I agree in principle to this matter, but the purchased artillery must be filed with the government, what is it used for, and there must be regulations on how many cannons are equipped on each ship, otherwise the government has the right to directly punish them, and even punish them for treason!" ”

In the end, Pang Gang's expression was very serious, "You are my relative, you should abide by the rules, I don't want you to be sued by others to come to me one day, then I will recognize you, but the law of the country will not recognize you!" ”

Seeing Pang Gang's grim expression, Kong Lin knew that his brother-in-law was not joking, so he quickly retired after Nuo Nuo's agreement

(To be continued)