Repaired for a few days on the island side with fresh water and coconuts. The flotilla had a meeting.

"When we go to the country of Wolf Tooth Cultivation, we have to go through the Three Buddhas, and the people of the Three Buddhas like to show off their strength. When we pass through the strait, they will send ships to attack us. Cai Youcan introduced the situation.

"And how did you cross the strait last time?" Zhao Yichang accurately grasped the key point.

Cai Youcan replied embarrassedly: "Last time...... The ships of the Srivijaya came to attack, and we sank a dozen of their ships. Then Sriwijaya did not send ships to attack us. ”

“…… In other words, we probably don't dare to go to the port of Sriwijaya to anchor? Zhao Yichang still accurately grasped the key point.

"Probably." Cai Youcan replied embarrassedly. After saying this, he hurriedly added, "There are a lot of ports over here. Sriwijaya just doesn't allow others to cross the strait, and if you go to their port to do business, as long as you are willing to pay taxes, you can do it. ”

At this time, it was too hurtful to be honest, and the guys from the non-Zhao family's fleet looked at each other. At this moment, Zhao Yichang laughed out loud, "I know Zhao Zhizhou's character, if he makes everyone lose money, he will definitely not coax everyone to come." At this point, I believe in Zhao Zhizhou. This Brother Cai, you might as well tell the truth, what are you going to do. ”

Li Hongjun remained silent, and when he saw that there was a clear attitude of support, he said: "This island is our stronghold. If you are not at ease, you can leave some of your goods on the island. Let's go to the Wolf Tooth Repair Country to trade first. Then we did trade in neighboring countries. ”

The expressions of the people around him were different, some were discouraged, some were uneasy, and some were panicked. Li Hongjun saw these expressions, and he said to everyone in a calm voice: "This is just the first step in opening up the South China Sea, everything is difficult at the beginning, but you should think about it, where did you have the opportunity now." Now that you're here, let's give it a go! ”

On the seventeenth day of the first month of the third year of Jingding, the westward fleet set off. The fleet consisted of 100 ships, and the other fifty remained on the edge of the island waiting for news. The fleet was loaded with silk, tea, porcelain, iron pots, and cotton cloth.

When passing through the Strait of Malacca, I don't know if the military ships of Sriwijaya remembered the appearance and flag of Zhao Jiaren's fleet, or they were frightened by the size of the fleet, and there were no military ships to intercept it.

After several days of headwinding, the fleet finally arrived at its destination, the Wolf Tooth Xiu Country in the northwest of the Strait. It is an exotic city, built against the hills. There were many ships in the harbor, and when they saw such a large fleet coming from the east, many of them were so frightened that they immediately anchored. Zhao Yichang looked at the panicked harbor and couldn't help laughing at the bow of the ship. At this moment, he felt that the fleet had really come to the right place.

By the time the fleet left, it was March 18, and every ship was full of cargo. The choice of each fleet is different, and spices are naturally the largest part. There were many big food merchants and Tianzhu merchants who came to the country of Wolf Tooth to do business, and the fierce navy of Sriwijaya and the ferocious toll tax made them reluctant to cross the strait. Unexpectedly, he suddenly met the merchants of the Great Song Dynasty, and these people and the merchants of the Great Song Dynasty came to a trade that was extremely satisfactory to both parties, and spices were naturally the bulk of them.

Zhao Yichang also helped the shipowner buy a lot of spices, but his own choice was the same product as Zhao Jiaren's fleet, tin. The tin ore of the Great Song Dynasty is very limited, and now the origin of imported tin in the Great Song Dynasty is Dali, and the price is flying to the sky. However, there are not many buyers of tin, so many merchants are not interested in this thing. Zhao Yichang didn't care, there was a city in the Great Song Dynasty that always felt scarce about metal, and that was Lin'an. As a member of the Zhao clan, Zhao Yichang has no strange feelings about Lin'an.

On March 20, the merchants of the Great Song Dynasty said goodbye to Tianzhu and the Great Food Merchants who were trading in the Wolf's Tooth Repair Kingdom. The two sides agreed to meet again in January next year. So the fleet sailed into the strait again.

This time at the east entrance of the strait, the military ships of the Sriwijaya Kingdom finally appeared. The Zhao family's flotilla in charge of guarding couldn't help but say that it was a cannon, and all the Sriwijaya warships were sunk not long after. Ignoring the bastards churning in the water, the Great Song merchants on the fleet sang songs, ate curry rice, and rode away in the wind and waves.

Back at the base, the fleet did not continue to do business elsewhere. This time it has earned enough, the Zhao family's fleet is powerfully armed, but the merchants are not. So the fleet repaired and began to head north.

The first to go was the merchant fleet, behind the Zhao family's warships. When the fifth flotilla left, a man suddenly appeared from the hill of the island. He was unkempt, but he was dressed in the clothes of the Zhao family's fleet. The clothes were dirty, and I don't know how long it had been since they had been washed.

This scared the people in the fleet. The troops are strictly managed, and personnel who are lost must be reported immediately. Someone suddenly appeared, and the one in charge of leading the army was punished.

Hurry up and settle the tortured brother, and everyone finds that no one knows him. Only then did I know that the culprit had been found in the mysterious theft in the camp in the past two months. This is a crew member in the No. 5 fleet, and because he was chased and killed by the shipowner, he fled to the island and hid. This man was hungry and could not light a fire, so he had to eat coconuts and wild fruits for a living. They couldn't stand hunger, and he would sometimes sneak into the camp under construction to steal some food to eat.

This person began to cry from the beginning of telling his story, crying as he spoke, crying as he cried. After finishing speaking, he begged the Zhao family fleet to take him back to Quanzhou. In any case, he had to bring home the news of his brother's death. As Zhao Jiaren's subordinate, the brothers in the fleet are very sympathetic to him. On the way back, I took him back to the Great Song Dynasty with him.

By May, the fleet had arrived in Canton first. After a short rest, we headed to Quanzhou. Officials and citizens have not seen a fleet of this size for a long time, and they are naturally happy. And Zhao Jiaren was overjoyed but learned of the murder this time, and he hesitated a little.

The thing is simple, the confession is very powerful. Zhao Jiaren called the people of the fleet, which happened to correspond to the navigation record. The next thing is the question of whether or not to take on the case. If it is from the perspective of the poor, of course this case will be accepted. If you look at it from the perspective of a rich person, you have to take into account the attitude of investors.

Zhao Jiaren already had an idea in his heart, so he invited Sima Kao, who was in charge of telling the case, and informed Sima Kao of the matter. After listening to Zhao Jiaren's narration, Sima Kao immediately replied: "Brother Zhao, this matter must not be let go. If you spare this man today, he will not only dare to kill the people on his own ship, but dare to be a pirate and kill people! At that time, I am afraid that you will regret that you did not get rid of this scourge today! ”