Li Yan looked at the sky, it was already very dark, who would come to see him at this time? Could it be Zheng Hongkui, shouldn't it, they only separated during the day.

"Let him in, um, to search." Li Yanzhi commanded.

In this strange place, I don't know if the person who comes is friend or foe, so it's better to be careful.

After a while, a man in a black robe was ushered into the barracks, with a hat covering most of his face.

The person who came stretched out his hand and took off the hat, revealing a clear face, but it was Liu Mao, the Fujian inspector he had just seen during the day.

"Mr. Li, it's polite." Liu Mao smiled and arched his hands.

"Why are you the Patrolman?" Li Yanzhi said with some surprise.

The civil and military journey, the two sides should not be people on the same road, this Liu Mao actually came to visit at night, so Li Yanzhi couldn't imagine it at all.

Liu Mao didn't speak, but handed Li Yanzhi a secret letter sealed with fire paint.

Li Yanzhi subconsciously took it and looked at the intact fire paint: "Lord Liu, who are you?" ”

"Just open it and see it." Liu Mao said lightly.

Li Yanzhi tore open the envelope, unfolded the letter paper, looked at it intently, and couldn't help but feel excited, and his body stood up straight all of a sudden.

The letter turned out to be written by the emperor himself, and it was covered with Zhu Youzhen's private seal.

Zhu Youzhen didn't say anything else in the letter, that is, he told Li Yanzhi that Liu Mao could be trusted, and then asked Li Yanzhi to open up the situation in Fujian as soon as possible, and the Royal Maritime Trade Company must see profits this year.

Li Yanzhi couldn't help but smile bitterly, as soon as he arrived in Fujian, the emperor sent a letter urging him, what a shortage of silver!

"Since Lord Liu is his own person, he should already know about the Royal Maritime Trade Company, I don't know what advice he has?" Li Yan asked politely. Since Liu Mao came with the emperor's secret letter and came to Fuzhou for some time, he should know much more about the situation in Fujian than he does.

Liu Mao smiled bitterly: "Don't dare, in fact, I haven't been in Fujian for much time, and my knowledge is very limited......

After being summoned by Zhu Youzhen, Liu Mao did not delay much, and after getting the official documents, he immediately went to Fujian to take up his post. He has the court documents in his hand, as the supervisor of the imperial history, Zhu Youzhen gave him a brocade guard waist card, which can call the resources of the post station at will, so the speed is very fast, and it only took more than half a month to get to Fuzhou.

After arriving in Fuzhou, Liu Mao set out to understand the situation in Fujian, and only had a rough idea, and then Li Yanzhi came.

After thinking about it carefully and organizing the wording, Liu Mao said slowly:

"In this Fujian, the peaks and mountains are towering, the hills are continuous, and there has always been a saying that there are eight mountains, one water and one field. There are many mountainous areas, little cultivated land, and serious land annexation, and the people live a much more miserable life than in other provinces. Fortunately, there are many excellent harbors in Fujian, and it is difficult for the people to feed themselves from the ground, so they look to the ocean.

Compared with ploughing the fields, the profits at sea are much greater, although the wind and waves at sea every year have the news of the ship's capsize and death, it still can't stop the people from running to the sea.

People in other places are full of fear in the face of the sea, only here in Fujian, regard the sea as a smooth way to earn wealth, and the vast majority of Fujian people are full of yearning for wealth on the other side of the sea. ”

Li Yanzhi couldn't help but interject: "The sea is so stormy, are the people here really not afraid?" ”

On the way to Fujian, Li Yanzhi still has palpitations in his heart due to the hurricanes and waves he encountered, and it is hard for him to imagine that some people would like the unpredictable, dangerous and life-threatening ocean.

Liu Mao shook his head: "If the wind and waves are big, the benefits that can be obtained are even greater, big enough to make everyone forget the danger of the wind and waves." ”

"As long as you load a shipload of goods and transport them to Japan or the South Seas, you can exchange them for half a shipload of silver, and the benefits of sea trade are ten times and a hundred times that of farming. This is all the profit brought by sea trade! ”

"Of course, for many ordinary people, they can't afford to build or raise sea boats, but they can also partner with others to buy shares, engage in some iron pots, porcelain, needles and threads, and sell them overseas is several times more profitable, far stronger than hard farming, what are the risks you are afraid of?"

"Landless people, who have no money to engage in trade, can also go to sea ships to become sailors, and go out to sea, and they can earn tens of taels or hundreds of taels of silver back and forth, which is worth the income of giving people land for several years. There are those fierce people, who simply go to be pirates, rob ships and rob people of wealth, and return to their hometown to become good citizens again.

If you don't want to be a sailor, you don't want to be a pirate, there is a way. Overseas there is a terra nullius, the land is fertile and there is no need to pay taxes to the government, the harvest in more than a year is better than a few years in Fujian, if you are not afraid of leaving your hometown, you can find a way to live overseas casually, and the days are much more leisurely than the Ming Dynasty. ”

"In a word, all the people go to the sea! This is Fujian! Liu Mao concluded.

Li Yanzhi was shocked when he heard it, he is from Jiaodong, and his home is not far from the sea, but most of the people in Jiaodong regard the sea as a dangerous road and have never heard of this situation. It's insane!

It seems that the profits of this sea trade are really huge, no wonder Your Majesty wants to open a royal sea trade firm in Fujian!

At the beginning, Li Yanzhi was very incomprehensible about being appointed as the chief soldier of Fujian, in his opinion, the Praetorian Guard was to fight the Tartars and destroy the Jiannu, what could he do if he went to a place like Fujian?

Now, Li Yanzhi finally understands the emperor's distress.

The interests of maritime trade are so huge, the imperial court can't get much benefit from it, who will be the emperor and can tolerate this kind of thing?

That's why the emperor made himself the chief soldier of Fujian, responsible for the royal sea trade, and the purpose was to control the sea trade in the hands of the royal family! Controlling the sea trade meant harvesting a large amount of silver every year, which was much better than stealing the house. With silver, you can raise soldiers, you can provide disaster relief, you don't have to repeatedly levy salaries to force the people everywhere to have no way to live, and the life of the court will be much better.

In an instant, Li Yanzhi figured everything out, and suddenly felt a great responsibility on his shoulders!

"But how do you go about it?" Li Yanzhi muttered.

"Mr. Li also understands the complexity of the matter, right?" Liu Mao smiled bitterly, "The huge profits of sea trade naturally make countless people flock to it. However, whether it is the Oriental or South Sea routes, most of them are in the hands of the local gentry, who rely on the sea trade to earn huge profits every year, and will never allow others to compete! ”

Liu Mao was born in imperial history, and he is the best at peeling off the cocoon, although he has not been in Fujian for many days, and he has not found much news. But according to the known information, coupled with the understanding of the officialdom and the temperament of the gentry, Liu Mao clearly felt that around the benefits of sea trade, a huge net has been formed in the whole of Fujian, and everyone here is in the net.

The Royal Maritime Trade Company, although it has the emperor as the backstage, it is not easy to break through this big net!