Zhao Yan hurriedly invited Princess Dening's mother and son to the inner house, and it happened to be dinner time at this time, so Cao Ying and their gifts to Princess Dening immediately asked people to send dinner, Princess Dening was not polite to Zhao Yan, she came at this time, originally wanted to have dinner here at Zhao Yan, speaking of which, the food in Zhao Yan's house was very appetizing for her and Shu'er, which is also one of the reasons why she often brought Shu'er to Zhao Yan.

After eating, Zhao Yan asked Princess Dening: "Eldest sister, what is wrong with the business in the south, why is my brother-in-law in such a hurry?" ”

"Yes, if there is anything for the stewards to deal with, why do you have to go to my brother-in-law himself?" At this time, Princess Shoukang also rushed to ask, and Princess Bao'an and the others next to her also looked at Princess Dening.

Hearing Zhao Yan ask about this matter, Princess Dening couldn't help but sigh and said: "This matter is very complicated, if you want to explain this matter, you have to tell you about the situation at sea first......

Anyway, there was nothing to do, so Princess Dening and Zhao Yan explained in detail the shape of the sea, as well as the troubles her business encountered in the south.

Speaking of the emergence of the maritime trade industry, but also accompanied by the rise of another industry, that is, piracy, even in later generations, the profession of piracy is still very prosperous, even 10,000 tons of cruise ships may be hijacked, for which countries have to send additional warships to defend their own fleets, not to mention + like the Great Song Dynasty This relatively primitive era of maritime trade, maritime piracy is even more rampant.

According to Princess Dening, although the maritime trade of the Great Song Dynasty is very prosperous, it is also under great threat from pirates. The power of these pirates is relatively small, after all, the sailors of the Great Song Dynasty are not vegetarians, and often sweep pirates along the coast of the Great Song Dynasty, which also makes it impossible for a large number of pirates to survive around the coastal area of the Great Song Dynasty, and only those relatively flexible small pirates can survive under the sweep of the official army.

Princess Dening's fleet was very large, with a total of more than thirty large ships. Those small groups of pirates along the coast didn't dare to have any ideas when they encountered such a large fleet, and at most they bullied those small cargo ships that were lonely. However, if you go to the open sea, the pirates there will be much stronger, after all, it is impossible for the sailors of the Great Song Dynasty to stay away from the Great Song Dynasty to conquer and suppress, and the small countries in the South Seas are powerless to conquer and suppress the pirates, and even some small countries directly collude with the pirates to provide safe ports and water supplies for the pirates, and the pirates will hand over the looted goods to these small countries to deal with. It can be said that the wolf bèi is a traitor.

It is also the above complicated situation that makes the farther away from the Great Song Dynasty, the stronger the power of the pirates, especially on the sea route to the South Seas, there are several powerful pirates, these pirates sit on the ground as kings, and collect tolls from passing fleets, if any fleet dares not to pay. It will definitely be robbed by the ship with the goods, and even the people will be killed. It can be said that the means are extremely cruel.

Princess Dening's business in the south is very large, and the fleet often travels between Nanyang and the Great Song Dynasty, so the steward she sent to the south often deals with those pirates, speaking of which, the steward is also very capable, and the relationship with pirates from all sides is handled well, plus there is Princess Dening as a backer behind her. made those pirates scruple about the reaction of the Great Song Sailors, so they also gave some face, every time Princess Dening's fleet passed by, they only charged half of the toll, and the two sides were safe.

But not so long ago. One of the pirates had a civil strife, the original pirate leader was killed, and another pirate took the position of leader, and the new pirate leader seemed to have a holiday with the steward sent by Princess Dening, and as a result, Princess Dening's fleet no longer sold any face, not only to charge the full amount of tolls, but also secretly sent people to attack Princess Dening's fleet, without any reason, and even made Princess Dening's fleet lose a few ships, and now the fleet has hidden in the port of Guangzhou and dare not go to sea, Haimao's business also stopped.

"That's how things happened, the sea trade in the South Seas accounted for the majority of our family's business, and now it has stopped, and the family has suffered heavy losses, your brother-in-law rushed over this time, just to talk to the new pirate leader, if it really doesn't work, we are willing to pay more tolls, and it can be regarded as spending money to buy a peace, but if the toll is raised for him, I am afraid that several other pirate leaders will have to increase the toll, so that there will be a lot of expenses every year." Princess Dening finally sighed.

"It's so lawless, eldest sister, you are the princess of the Great Song Dynasty, how can you give in to a group of small pirates?" Princess Shoukang slapped the table and shouted when she heard this, her face was also full of annoyance, she didn't expect that there were still people in this world who dared not to take the princess of the Great Song Dynasty in her eyes.

"What if you don't accept softness, overseas is not under the jurisdiction of the Great Song Dynasty, and those pirates are even more lawless, so the identity of our princess is not of much use at all." Princess Dening sighed again at this time.

"Eldest sister, why don't you tell Daddy about this, and then let the imperial court lead troops to exterminate those pirates, so that the merchants at sea will no longer be blackmailed?" Princess Bao'an said at this time, but she obviously didn't know anything about these things, and she thought things were a little too simple.

"Those pirates are entrenched in the open sea, our Great Song Dynasty's power can't reach there at all, and it will cost the master's money to dispatch the army, plus this matter is the eldest sister's private matter, I'm afraid my father will not agree to send troops." Cao Ying explained to Princess Bao'an, but her face also showed a little annoyance, after all, those pirates didn't take Princess Dening's fleet in their eyes, it was a provocation to the Great Song Dynasty, as the daughter of Jiangmen, she couldn't wait to destroy those pirates immediately.

"What Sister Ying'er said is that although my Great Song Dynasty's sailors are powerful, they are mainly to protect the safety of the coast, if it is an expedition of laborers, whether there can be results or secondary, in case other pirates take advantage of it, I am afraid it will cause a lot of losses." Princess Dening also said that she is also a well-informed woman, so naturally she will not be willing to delay state affairs because of her own private affairs.

However, as soon as Princess Dening's words fell, Zhao Yan, who had not spoken, suddenly shook his head and said, "It's not appropriate!" Sister, have you thought about it, if you increase the toll for those pirates this time, what will be the consequences in the future? ”

"What does the third brother mean?" Princess Dening was stunned for a moment when she heard Zhao Yan's question, and she didn't understand what Zhao Yan meant for a while?

"It's very simple, the eldest sister's fleet should be regarded as the largest group among the maritime merchants of my Great Song Dynasty, and there is also your princess as a backer behind it, now even the eldest sister and your fleet have to submit to those pirates, and even increase some tolls, then those pirates will think that our maritime merchants of the Great Song Dynasty are weak and can be bullied, I am afraid that when other maritime merchants pass by in the future, they will also be asked to increase the toll, so that the burden of my Great Song maritime merchants will be heavier." Zhao Yan opened his mouth to explain at this time.

Hearing Zhao Yan's words, Princess Dening couldn't help but show a guilty look, and after a while, she said helplessly: "But this is also a helpless thing, after all, those robbers are many powerful, and their temperament is also very fierce, it is really not something that I can resist as a maritime merchant, except for grievances, there is really no other choice." ”

Seeing Princess Dening's guilty look, Princess Bao'an couldn't bear it, and immediately said to Zhao Yan: "Third brother, you have always been very methodical, the eldest sister's fleet was bullied by pirates at sea, naturally you can't bow to pirates like this, do you have a way to get the best of both worlds, it is best to be able to keep the eldest sister's business, and to combat the arrogance of pirates?" ”

"Yes, yes~, third brother, you have the most ghost ideas, hurry up and help the eldest sister find a way!" Princess Shoukang also said eagerly when she heard this.

"This ......" Zhao Yan was a little hesitant at this time, he didn't have no choice, when he said the above paragraph just now, he actually already had an idea, but this idea is not very mature now, and he doesn't know if it can succeed, so if he sues Princess Sù Dening now, if he can't succeed, wouldn't it make her happy in vain?

Thinking of this, Zhao Yan immediately spoke: "Eldest sister, don't worry about this matter, I have an idea but I need to prepare, if it is feasible, not only can I help you solve the current problem, but also don't have to worry about bandits in the open sea in the future!" ”

"Really, third brother, do you really have a way?" Princess Dening couldn't help but be shocked when she heard Zhao Yan's words, she also knew Zhao Yan's character, if she wasn't sure, she would never say these words to coax herself.

"Hehe, eldest sister, don't worry, husband, he has always disliked talking too much, since he said that there is a way, he must have his own ideas, and when he does it, he will naturally give the eldest sister a surprise." At this time, Cao Ying also smiled, but while she was talking, she was thinking about how to extend her business to the sea trade by taking this opportunity?

The next morning, Zhao Yan got up early as usual and practiced the health skills he learned from Cao Yan, saying that Taoism still has a lot of good things, such as this health skills, Zhao Yan has just started practicing, he already feels clear-headed and flexible, the whole person is a lot more energetic, and even the exercise in bed feels handy, and he no longer feels as tired as before.

After breakfast, Zhao Yan took Shu'er and Zhao Hao and others to prepare to go to school, but at this moment, Princess Shoukang and Princess Bao'an suddenly had to go to school to listen to the class, speaking of which, they had not been to Zhao Yan's class for a long time, but today they suddenly wanted to go, which made Zhao Yan can't help but glance at Princess Bao'an, because he suddenly thought that he would come to listen to the class today, and he invited him personally. (To be continued......) R1292