When the autumn wind rose in October, the weather began to get cooler, and Zhao Jiaren's old father-in-law, Qin Huchen, was still sweating profusely when he arrived at Zhao Jiaren's residence. Zhao Jiaren, who greeted him at the door, immediately ordered the old gentleman to fetch water and wash his face as soon as he entered the door.

I wiped my face and washed my hands with pancreas. Qin Huchen went straight to the back, and soon saw his grandson crawling around in the small fence on the ground. Seeing his grandson, Qin Ti smiled and couldn't see his teeth. However, Qin Tidian's daughter, Qin Yuzhen, looked at her father's clothes that didn't look very clean after running a long way, and she stood in front of her father, "Dad, I'll change your clothes for you." ”

Qin Tidian had already learned about the 'bacteriology' of changing hands from his wife, and he gradually developed the habit of washing his hands with pancreas. Even though he was not very satisfied with his daughter's request, he did not refuse. Zhao Jiaren, who was standing behind Qin Tidian, saw his wife's gaze looking at him, and hurriedly raised his thumb to express his support and appreciation for his wife. Zhao Jiaren also doesn't like to suddenly pop in from outside and play tricks on his son.

And Zhao Jiaren looked at the guy who was following Qin Tidian with suspicion, it was a man who looked like he was about thirty years old, and he didn't know what he was doing. Judging from the relative position between him and Qin Tidian, it can be seen that this guy is very close to Qin Tidian.

There is a mother, who is stronger than people. Even in the face of her grandfather, the old lady still has the absolute right to speak. Qin Tidian only hugged him for less than five minutes, and Qin Yuzhen asked her son to go back. Zhao Jiaren took advantage of the situation to invite his father-in-law to the flower hall to talk. At this time, Qin Tidian pointed to the one behind him and said, "This is my nephew, he has also been to sea." ”

"Oh." Zhao Jiaren already roughly understood Qin Tidian's thoughts, and at this time, he brought someone who had gone to sea, and he must have wanted to make a fortune in this southward caravan.

"My nephew is doing business in Lianghuai, and he also has some friendship with local businessmen." Qin Tidian gave a more informative piece of information.

Zhao Jiaren greeted the Qin businessman, and then fell silent for a while. There are many merchants in Lianghuai Road, although they do not have as much money as Liangzhejiang Road and Fujian Road, so there is no problem for them to take out hundreds of thousands of yuan to invest in shipping. However, Zhao Jiaren didn't want to do this, he was no longer short of money, and letting the outside funds come in at this time might dilute the profits of the south.

After thinking about it, Zhao Jiaren asked, "I don't know how much Brother Qin is going to invest this time?" ”

"If Zhao Zhizhou agrees, I want to take a thousand pieces of silk to the South China Sea to try my luck." Qin Shang said.

Zhao Jiaren almost wanted to roll his eyes, a thousand horses of silk would occupy the space of several boats. This one's appetite is really not small. Probably seeing Zhao Jiaren's dissatisfaction, Qin Shang said with a smile: "There are five hundred horses in this that I borrowed money from Uncle Zhao to buy." ”

After glancing at his old father-in-law, who pretended to be calm, Zhao Jiaren was sure that the Qin family finally had the intention to invest their wealth in Zhao Jiaren's shipping. This is not a bad thing, if the business is to the point that even your family can avoid it, then the ability to do things is too much of a failure. And Qin Tidian is also very smart, he found a peer of Zhao Jiaren to talk to Zhao Jiaren about this matter. If he talks as an elder, Zhao Jiaren can probably only accept a hundred horses.

"We have a rule in the nautical guild that if we don't have a boat ourselves, we use someone else's boat, and we have to rent the boat." Zhao Jiaren began to talk about his conditions, and when he spoke, he looked at his old father-in-law, Qin Huchen.

Qin Huchen smiled and waved his hand, "It's all your young people's business. I'm just here to help you get to know. There is no need to talk about this matter in such a hurry, I would like to ask San Lang, when are you going to enter Beijing? ”

As soon as the third year of Jingding ended, Zhao Jiaren would return to Lin'an, and the imperial court would arrange an errand for him. And Zhao Jiaren already has his own plans, he doesn't look forward to the high-ranking officials in Lin'an, there is Jia Yidao, there is definitely no room for Zhao Jiaren to speak in the Lin'an court. This time, he wanted to be the governor of Fuzhou and the pacification envoy of Fujian Road. If it really doesn't work, Quanzhou Zhizhou can do it too. Only in this way can he continue to open up the South China Sea. There is no way to effectively control Quanzhou in Lin'an.

"I wonder when Taishan will go to Lin'an?" Zhao Jiaren asked.

"I'm going to go early, and I'll go when the time comes." Qin Huchen replied, "There are still some old friends in the capital, so it's not bad to meet them early." ”

"I'll probably be later." Zhao Jiaren gave a response. There are so many things at this time, and going to Lin'an a day later can be more complete.

After communicating some news, Qin Tidian went to see his wife. Zhao Jiaren and Qin Shang talked. This nephew of Qin Tidian has a clear purpose, that is, he wants to participate in sailing. As for earning more and earning less, that's not the point. Of course, Zhao Jiaren couldn't be really too dark, and he also gave a relative price. Although it can't compare with the shareholders' profits of several hundred percent, as long as the ship carrying Qin Tidian's silk sinks, how can he make a hundred percent profit.

The days passed like this, first the old father-in-law returned to Fuzhou with his mother-in-law, and then a large amount of cotton arrived. Tianzhu and the Great Food Merchants showed great interest in cloth, and even some were close to the interest in silk.

By the beginning of November, Yuan Hongjie, who had been stationmasters in Qingyuan Mansion and Haizhou, led seven or eight monks to meet Zhao Jiaren. As soon as they met, Yuan Hongjie confidently introduced the monk to Zhao Jiaren. Those monks have a lot of Dharma names, and Zhao Jiaren can't remember them too much after hearing them. Looking at the tall and short monks, Zhao Jiaren asked in as solemn a tone as possible: "Are you willing to go to the Sinhala country that Master Xuanzang talked about?" ”

"For such a meritorious deed, we are willing to go." The great monks immediately made their attitude clear.

"If it's voluntary, that's the best." Zhao Jiaren replied with satisfaction. The Wolf Tooth Xiu Kingdom is west of the Strait of Malacca, and Zhao Jiaren has broken through the control of the Strait of Malacca by the South China Sea power Sriwijaya when he was doing business there.

The Sinhalese country is Sri Lanka, located on the southernmost island of the South Asian subcontinent. Being able to establish a stronghold here, Zhao Jiaren could trade directly with merchants from all over the Indian Ocean. Before the discovery of the Spice Islands, it was the most important source of spices. Zhao Jiaren even considered buying land in that Buddhist country to grow spices. As a Chinese with strong roots, Zhao Jiaren never considered predatory exploitation, hoping to obtain endless spices through agricultural methods. This is also the foundation of Chinese civilization that can last for thousands of years.

As long as it can be grown from the soil, the Chinese can make it flourish.

By December, the fleet was heading south with a full load of cargo. This time, the fleet did not go to Guangzhou, but went south from Guangzhou. Instead, it went directly south from Quanzhou. Now that the charts are getting more and more complete, Zhao Jiaren's first destination is the Dongsha Islands, and then to Scarborough Shoal. Then head to Song Quandao, which is the Natuna Islands. From the Natuna Islands, cross the Strait of Malacca and arrive at the country of Wolftooth.

After the fleet set off, Zhao Jiaren received the holy decree. Zhao Jiaren was asked to personally escort the last group of river warships, and bring another 10,000 tribute candles to Lin'an.

This request caught Zhao Jiaren a little off guard, generally speaking, the Great Song Liuguan returned to Lin'an after New Year's Day. Unless there are special circumstances, there is no such surprise attack, and the Venerable Master is usually called and left. And this reason is particularly weird, it is actually to escort the warship and bring a new tribute candle.

The tribute candle was originally a task for the Zhao family in Quanzhou, but in fact, everyone knew that this matter had fallen on Zhao Jiaren's head. It became Zhao Jiaren's personal offering to the official family. What is the meaning behind this matter?

It was really a little unclear, and Zhao Jiaren couldn't help but talk about it with retired official Sima Kao. Sima Kao had a cold, and he wore a common hairband around his head, wrapped in a thick cotton jacket. After hearing that Zhao Jiaren was concerned about his physical problems, Sima Kao said sullenly: "Brother Zhao, since I read bacteriology, I have been doing hygiene according to what I said above. It has been more than a year since I accidentally got sick from the cold. If it was before, I always got two or three diseases. Next time I have to dry my hair, because if I don't dry my hair, I will get the wind and catch a cold. ”

With the frequency of contact with bacteria in ancient times, as long as they can wash their hands carefully, drink boiled water, and do not eat raw food, their lifespan will not be very short. Zhao Jiaren didn't want to care about Sima Kao's body, so he told Sima Kao about this strange holy decree.

After hearing this, Sima Kao smiled, "Brother Zhao is worried that Jia Yidao is making trouble inside, right?" ”

Zhao Jiaren did not answer immediately. In recent years, he has indeed given gifts to Jia Nidao in accordance with the rules, but the relationship between the two has really cooled down a lot. This is also something that can't be helped, at that time, Zhao Jiaren worked hard, and Jia Yidao was also climbing to the pinnacle of power. No matter how strange Zhao Jiaren's request is, as long as Jia Nidao feels that it is good for him and can help Jia Nidao move forward as well, Jia Nidao will take it seriously.

Seeing Zhao Jiaren's ugly face, Sima Kao said with a smile: "Now that Prime Minister Jia is in power, he not only cracks down on dissidents, but also controls the government with all his might. I also corresponded with friends in the DPRK and China, and when they talked about Jia Xianggong, they used the word "bahu" the most. ”

Zhao Jiaren can certainly understand this. The pacification of the two Huai made Jia Nidao and Zuo Prime Minister Jia Nidao not the same person at all, and after becoming Zuo Prime Minister, Jia Nidao no longer needed others to help him go to the next level. Now Jia Xianggong wants to drive others to work hard for the policies he expects. Zhao Jiaren is not stupid enough to think that he can still maintain friendship with Jia Xianggong.

Wiping his nose, Sima Kao continued: "But no matter how domineering Jia Rudao is, he can't move the official family. This edict is so strange, I always think that the official family wants to see Brother Zhao. ”

"The official wants to see me?" Zhao Jiaren was a little puzzled. He didn't have any feelings about the current official family, and in history, the official family would have to drive west in two years. For such an existence, Zhao Jiaren was not interested in clinging to it at all.

"Brother Zhao, have you heard that King Lizhong is the crown prince, and there is a lot of talk in the court." Sima Kao reminded.

After Sima Kao's reminder, Zhao Jiaren remembered that there was indeed such a thing. King Zhong was the later Song Duzong, and Zhao Jiaren spent most of his time as an official in his last life. Looking back now, this Song Duzong actually has no bad deeds, but Song Duzong's feelings about power are completely unworthy of being an official.

In the first year of Jingding, Wu Qian, the then prime minister of Zuo, publicly asked Zhao Jiaren whether King Zhong was suitable to be the crown prince. There is actually only one reason why he can ask this, that is, Wu Qian feels that King Zhong is not suitable to be the crown prince. Although Zhao Jiaren agreed with Wu Qian's idea at that time, he didn't want to get involved in this matter. In addition to Zhao Jiaren's own plans and never willing to make extraneous branches, there is also 'foresight'. Song Lizong was determined to let King Zhong succeed to the throne, and those who opposed King Zhong as the crown prince were all attacked. And Jia Yidao is also one who firmly supports the succession of King Zhong.

"What does the matter of King Chung have to do with me?" Zhao Jiaren asked Sima Kao.

Sima Kao smiled, "Brother Zhao, I was also defending the city in the Battle of Ezhou back then. The real great credit in the city is Gundam, and it is Xiang Shibi and others. If it weren't for them, Ezhou would have been attacked by the Mongols long ago. When these people talked about Brother Zhao, they were also very impressed. All the generals in the city know that if there is no Zhao brother to isolate the river. The Mongol army has long since let go of the fight. They were afraid that they wouldn't last long. The official family is an extremely intelligent person, and it is impossible not to know this. And the official family's actions towards Brother Zhao are too unkind. Don't you think that's weird? ”

Zhao Jiaren has never considered it from this perspective, no matter what the official family thinks of Zhao Jiaren, Zhao Jiaren himself has done too many things that are worthy of being attacked. Maybe he felt a little indebted in his heart, Zhao Jiaren instinctively thought that Song Lizong did not have a good impression of him. However, what Sima Kao meant did not sound like that.

"Is it difficult for the official family to test my loyalty, and is it ready to be of great use?" Zhao Jiaren made a joke along with Sima Kao's meaning.

There was not the slightest joke in Sima Kao's expression, he coughed lightly a few times, and then said: "I don't know anything else, the official family is definitely not a person who has to make inches." I think Brother Zhao might as well go to Lin'an as soon as possible. The previous losses have been eaten, what can I do if I suffer more losses? ”

After listening to Sima Kao's suggestion, Zhao Jiaren felt a little clearer in his heart. He is actually prepared, if he can't become the governor of Fuzhou, he is ready to take sick leave. Things are so important at this time, what can you do if you don't have to be an official for a few years.

When he returned to his residence, Zhao Jiaren informed his wife that he was going to Lin'an. Qin Yuzhen was stunned after hearing this, "San Lang, are you going to the capital so soon?" ”

Zhao Jiaren shook his head, "It's not to go to work, it's just to go to the capital." You don't have to go, just stay home and wait for me to come back. ”

An unhappy expression flashed on Qin Yuzhen's face. Zhao Jiaren gently held his wife's hand and sighed regretfully. The two are together every day, and it is inevitable that sometimes they will have some awkward trouble because of some trivial things. But this is the first time that they have been separated for a few months. At this time, all that was born in Zhao Jiaren's heart was melancholy.

But Zhao Jiaren is an official after all, and if the court has an order, he has to obey. Not to mention that this is still a holy decree.

Fortunately, at this time, the ship had been assembled in Huating County, at the mouth of the Yangtze River. Jeju Island also took advantage of the north wind to send 100,000 candles here. Pick out 12,000 and transport them.

On December 15, Zhao Jiaren was ready to set off. On the first day when he was about to leave, Qin Yuzhen said to Zhao Jiaren with a firm attitude: "No matter what, I have to go with you!" ”

Looking at his wife's excited expression, Zhao Jiaren sighed: "Okay, let's go together." ”