In the history of the dynasties of the Central Plains, the sea trade of the Song Dynasty should be regarded as very famous, many shipwrecks in the coastal and Nanyang areas of China in later generations are from the Song Dynasty, and even some docks of the Song Dynasty can be excavated in the coastal areas, which can build dozens of meters long sea ships, and it can be said that the navigation technology is very advanced.

However, the great development of the Song Dynasty was mainly in the Southern Song Dynasty, when the Central Plains fell into the hands of foreign races, and the small court of the Southern Song Dynasty was in a corner of peace, and did not dare to develop to the north, so that in the end it could only look overseas, and it was that period that made the sea trade of the Great Song Dynasty grow in a straight line, and before that, although the sea trade in the Northern Song Dynasty also increased compared to before, it was far less than the Southern Song Dynasty, which was also one of the reasons why Zhao Yan was sure to persuade Zhao Shu.

I saw that Zhao Shu also pondered for a long time after listening to Zhao Yan's words, the current imperial court is indeed very short of money, especially he wants to prepare to make a move on Western Xia, and has secretly invested a large amount of financial and material resources, it can be said that the finances of the imperial court are also a little tight, if there is one more way to make money at this time, it is also a good thing for the imperial court.

Zhao Yan saw that Zhao Shu was silent in thought, and he couldn't help but be a little anxious in his heart, and after thinking about it for a while, he spoke again: "Daddy, my Great Song Dynasty has been peaceful for a long time, especially in the south, and I haven't experienced war for a long time, and my war preparedness has already been very relaxed, even the small Yue Li Dynasty dares to covet the land of my Great Song Dynasty, so the armament of the south must also be strengthened. It can be said that it kills three birds with one stone! ”

Hearing Zhao Yan's persuasion again, Zhao Shu finally reacted at this time, only to see him frown and say: "Yan'er, it is feasible for you to unify the maritime merchants and send warships to escort them. It's just that if this matter is directly intervened by the imperial court, it seems a little inappropriate, right? ”

"This is easy to do, if the court is not willing to come forward directly, it can find an agent from the maritime merchants. For example, I think the eldest sister is good, first of all, her family's fleet is also the top among maritime merchants. In addition, she is the princess of the Great Song Dynasty, and she is considered to be half of the court, if she comes forward, she can quickly organize the maritime merchants, and it can be convenient for the court to control. Zhao Yan said with a smile, and also recommended Princess Dening, after all, no matter what aspect it is, Princess Dening is the best candidate.

"How can this work? Your eldest sister is a woman, how can she come forward to do such a thing? However, Zhao Shu objected, but he only objected to Princess Dening's inability to come forward, but he did not oppose this agent system, which shows that he had agreed to Zhao Yan's construction in his heart, which also made Zhao Yan very excited.

"If the eldest sister can't do it, let the brother-in-law come forward, anyway, the brother-in-law has nothing to do at home, and the eldest sister is behind him to help him, and the final effect is the same." Zhao Yan said with a smile, if this maritime merchant's guild is organized. In the future, it is likely to grow into a giant similar to the later East Indian princesses, so it is best to keep it in your own hands.

"Well, that's a viable option. But I still have to discuss this matter with the ministers, and I don't think it's a big problem! Zhao Shu finally nodded and said, in fact, he also guessed at this time that Zhao Yan came to him to say that this matter must have something to do with Princess Dening, but he didn't ask much, after all, Princess Dening is also his daughter, and if there is anything good, he must naturally think of his own daughter first.

"Daddy is wise!" Zhao Yan also hurriedly praised at this time, and at the same time, he finally breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, as long as the maritime merchants were organized. Coupled with the escort of the Great Song Dynasty's warships, those pirates entrenched in the sea may only be able to flee from the wind. Where do you dare to charge any tolls?

Next, Zhao Yan chatted with Zhao Shu for a while, and then got up to say goodbye. After all, Zhao Shu has to review a large number of recitals every day, and Zhao Shu didn't keep him anymore, but when Zhao Yan was about to leave, Zhao Shu suddenly said: "Yan'er, the Queen Mother's body is a little unwell these days, you might as well visit her and talk to her!" ”

"The retainers obey!" Zhao Yan was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then immediately bowed down and said. The relationship between Zhao Shu and Empress Dowager Cao has always been bad, especially some time ago in order to fight for power, which made the two very stiff, but now Zhao Shu took the initiative to ask Zhao Yan to visit Empress Dowager Cao, which means that the relationship between the two has eased, thinking of this, Zhao Yan can't help but breathe a sigh of relief, after all, the disharmony between the two palaces is not a good thing for the Great Song Dynasty.

At that moment, Zhao Yan went out of Zhao Shu's bedroom, and then went to the Empress Dowager Cao under the leadership of an inner attendant, speaking of which, Zhao Yan had not had much contact with the Empress Dowager Cao before, and even deliberately avoided each other, afraid that he would be involved in the battle between the Empress Dowager Cao and Zhao Shu.

Empress Dowager Cao lives in the palace of Baoci Palace, which is also the palace where the Empress Dowager of the Song Dynasty lived, located on the west side of the Funing Palace, Zhao Yan is still here for the first time, when he and the attendant who led the way came to the Empress Dowager Cao's bedroom, there happened to be an old attendant who came out of the palace, and the attendant who led the way in front immediately took the initiative to step forward and said: "The little one has seen Xu Nei, the king of Guangyang County came to the Queen Mother to say goodbye, and asked the maid to say goodbye!" ”

This Xu Neishou is seven feet tall and has no white face, because he has been lying down with his head down, which makes people unable to see his appearance, but you can see that he has a lot of wrinkles at the corners of his eyes and forehead, coupled with gray hair, people can see at a glance that he is definitely not young.

When Xu Neishou heard the four words of Guangyang County King, his body was obviously shocked, and he immediately raised his somewhat cloudy eyes slightly and glanced at Zhao Yan, and quickly lowered his head and saluted him, and said in an old and somewhat sharp strange voice: "The villain will go to report to the Queen Mother, please wait for the County King!" ”

After Xu Neishou finished speaking, he turned around and entered the main hall, but Zhao Yan behind him suddenly frowned, because just now at the moment when the other party raised his head, he suddenly felt that the other party was a little familiar, which made him a little strange, and asked the inner attendant who was leading the way next to him: "What is the name of this Xu Neishi, and what is his identity?" ”

"King Qiyu, Xu Nei's name is Xu Dezu, he is the first close attendant around the Queen Mother, he used to be very powerful in the palace, and many people were afraid of him, but now the Queen Mother no longer manages government affairs and palace affairs, and Xu Neishou also concentrates on serving the Queen Mother!" The chamberlain who led the way replied in a low voice.

"He's Xu Dezu?" Zhao Yan said to himself in surprise when he heard this, for the name Xu Dezu, he has heard people talk about it several times, and the first person to talk to him is Huang Wude, who is in charge of the Imperial City Division, when the Empress Dowager Cao refused to hand over power, it is said that it was this Xu Dezu who was behind his back, but he didn't expect that after Zhao Shu took power, this Xu Dezu was still alive, which shows that the Empress Dowager Cao favored him.

After a while, that Xu Dezu came out again to invite Zhao Yan in, and Zhao Yan also took this opportunity to look at the other party a few times, but Xu Dezu kept his head down, and Zhao Yan only felt that the other party was a little familiar, but he thought that he might have seen it in the palace inadvertently before, so he didn't pay much attention to it.

As soon as Zhao Yan arrived at the main hall, he heard a burst of women's laughter inside, especially Princess Shoukang's voice was the loudest, and there were also the voices of Princess Dening and Princess Bao'an, as well as the laughter of Empress Dowager Cao, which sounded very lively.

At that moment, Zhao Yan strode inside, and just saw that Princess Shoukang seemed to say something interesting, which made the Empress Dowager Cao laugh, which made Zhao Yan finally understand why the Empress Dowager Cao loved Princess Shoukang so much.

Before Zhao Yan walked over, Empress Dowager Cao had already seen him, and greeted him with a smile: "The third brother came just in time, your third sister was saying that you would make a birthday cake, you used the cake to paste her face on her birthday last time, and it just so happened that the birthday of the old body has also arrived, don't forget to make one for me at that time!" ”

"The grandson visits the grandmother, the grandmother's birthday grandson will naturally not forget jì, and there will not only be a bigger cake, but also other carefully prepared birthday gifts, in order to talk about the grandson's filial piety!" Zhao Yan also stepped forward with a smile and saluted, Empress Dowager Cao is not only his nominal grandmother, but also Cao Ying's aunt and grandmother, which can be regarded as a kiss and a kiss, and he was able to marry Cao Ying at the beginning, thanks to the nod of Empress Dowager Cao, so Zhao Yan also showed great respect for her. ”

"Hehe, the old body doesn't need other birthday gifts, I just want you and Ying'er to hug a big fat boy quickly, this is the best birthday gift for me!" Empress Dowager Cao joked at this time, which made Princess Dening and Princess Bao'an next to her laugh.

"Grandmother, don't you know, Sister Ying'er is crazy about having children, and she is looking through medical books during this time, and she plans to find a few prescriptions suitable for childbirth." Princess Shoukang also opened her mouth at this time and laughed, they also knew about Cao Ying's desire to have a child, and they would make fun of it from time to time.

Empress Dowager Cao didn't laugh when she heard this, but said very seriously: "What kind of medical book is Ying'er reading, there is already a recipe for pregnancy promotion in the palace, wait for me to have someone copy a few for Yan'er to take back to try!" ”

"Thank you...... Thank you grandmother! Zhao Yan said with some tears and laughter, it is strange to say, when he was with Xue Ning'er and Yelusi, they all quickly got them pregnant, but Cao Ying did not move for a long time, and Cao Yan had already helped them take the pulse and did not find any problems, which also made Zhao Yan only blame himself and Cao Ying's bad luck.

Next, Zhao Yan and Princess Shoukang accompanied the Empress Dowager Cao, since the Empress Dowager Cao let go of power, she also seemed to have become much more cheerful, and she was very happy to chat with several grandchildren, and laughed heartily from time to time. It's just that Zhao Yan, who was laughing, didn't notice it, but there were always a pair of eyes quietly looking at him in the corner of the hall. (To be continued) R466