In the historical memorabilia of the Ming Dynasty, Shen Yichen only knows very little about Guo Yan's construction of the next treasure ship, and there is no historical perspective of God.

The reason is that such major events in the West should be known to the whole country according to common sense, and the historical books and records should be recorded in detail for future generations to comment.

But in fact, it is completely the opposite, "History of the Ming Dynasty" and "Records of Yingzong" can hardly find any description of the next sea ship, and later dug up Guo Yan's epitaph, so that this history can be seen again.

Therefore, Shen Yichen was completely unaware of Guo Yan's shipbuilding progress and the allocation of shipbuilding funds from the imperial court.

After all, he has too many things to care about, and people's energy is limited after all, and being able to lay out in advance to let Xu Fengyuan be awarded an official in Fujian is already the operational limit of a low-level civil official who has been in the office for a few years!

"How much money have you made in the past few years of smuggling with the Japanese slaves?"

Although Zhu Qizhen is a pit goods, Shen Yichen can't be a shopkeeper.

Not to mention the emperor's order, as a courtier, he had to get from this helplessness. Just talking about the advent of the Age of Discovery, backwardness will be beaten by this kind of national fortune competition, no matter how big the difficulties are, Shen Yichen will not be able to ignore them.

If you don't have money to build a ship, then find a way to make money!

This is not the first time Shen Yichen has done this kind of thing, when he went out of the town of Shandong and lacked the river ICBC, Jiangnan merchants, local large households, the government secretary's office, and even the imperial court salt field, he had gone through the wool from top to bottom.

Now it's a big deal to repeat the old tricks, and anyway, I'm not a perfect minister with flawless morals.

However, considering that Fujian still has the need to counterbalance the rebellion and maintain stability, Shen Yichen can't put his mind on the local government and big households for the time being, so he can only mobilize some funds from Xu Fengyuan to restore the normal operation of Fuzhou Bao Shipyard first.

"I've earned about 100,000 taels of silver, but I don't have a penny in my hand now."

As soon as Xu Fengyuan heard Shen Yichen ask this, he probably knew what he thought, and his face was sad.

"A hundred thousand taels of silver is a lot, how can there be no money?"

During the Orthodox Dynasty, there was no large inflow of overseas silver, and inflation was suppressed very well, and more than 100,000 taels of silver were equivalent to the top banknotes of the imperial court such as Linqingguan, and the tax silver taels obtained in a year were definitely not a small amount.

Xu Fengyuan doesn't have any hobbies of luxury and corruption, and he can't spend more than 100,000 taels of silver, so he has to have some "surplus grain" in his hands, right?

"Brother Shen, you don't know anything about the situation in Fujian in Beijing."

After finishing speaking, Xu Fengyuan sighed heavily.

"In recent years, natural disasters in Fujian have been serious, but the officials of the political department have reported good news but not bad news for the sake of the assessment of the officials, resulting in the imperial court not knowing the actual situation at all. When all kinds of disasters come, not to mention disaster relief and people's relief, even the most basic taxes have not been reduced, and they are increasing every year, and the people are miserable! ”

Hearing this, Shen Yichen's expression was a little heavy, the climate disorder brought about by the Xiaoice River period, Daming has been plagued by disasters in various provinces in recent years.

The difference is that some magistrates love the people and will report the true situation of the disaster to the imperial court in order to obtain disaster relief funds and tax exemption for the following year. And some other corrupt officials and corrupt officials, who don't care about the life or death of the people under their rule, whitewash the peace in order to obtain the three-year assessment rating of the Ministry of Officials, as the capital for their own promotion.

After all, in other places, "the people are not happy", and the people under your rule "live and work in peace and contentment", compared with each other, it seems that the governing ability is extraordinary.

"The year before last, the imperial court reinstated the provincial tax department, and the miners and furnace masters under the leadership of Ye were once again under the pressure of levying harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes, so I took the initiative to change the share of smuggling proceeds and gave the bulk of the profits to the Fujian miners, after all, they were in a much more difficult situation."

"Then restart the Taiping Shipyard and help Guo Tongzhi build auxiliary ships for the next fleet, which will also require a lot of money."

"In the end, a large amount of grain and grass was recently transported to Leader Ye, and the last bit of money in his hand was almost spent. The livelihood of the people in Fujian is difficult, and I don't want to be a corrupt official who is a party to the disaster, and now I can't make ends meet. ”

After listening to Xu Fengyuan's "complaints", Shen Yichen nodded silently, he could understand the other party's difficulties.

That's why, a good official is always harder to be than a bad official. When you carry the people under your rule on your shoulders, it means that you have shouldered a heavy responsibility.

Even if Shen Yichen himself is the same, if he doesn't consider the lives of the 100,000 righteous soldiers in Fujian and the consequences of the fires, he doesn't need to do so many things to "ask for his own hardships".

He reported to the emperor that he requisitioned the troops of Beijing and Jiangxi and Zhejiang provinces, annihilated the rebellious ministers and thieves in Fujian who dared to rebel in one fell swoop, and reaped the merits of quelling the rebellion and returned to the dynasty, winning the emperor's trust and the praise of hundreds of officials.

As for Fujian, which was full of devastation after the war, Guan Shen Yichen, a high-ranking Beijing official?

This is called a success!

Since they didn't want the people of China to be miserable, the lack of funds for the construction of the Western Fleet could only be scavenged from other places.

The slave who is stupid and has a lot of money is always the best choice for Shen Yichen!

"Is the bulk of the profits from the maritime smuggling trade still in the hands of the Japanese slaves?"

Shen Yichen asked, in the past few years, he has focused all his energy on the open and secret battles in the center of the imperial court, and he has hardly paid much attention to the smuggling trade.

"Yes, the trade model is the same, we send the goods to the island through intermediaries, and the transportation links are controlled by the Japanese slaves, and the profits are in their hands."

"The obedient intermediary contact can be recruited, and as for the handling fee of one out of ten, it will be waived in the future."

Although Shen Yichen didn't pay much attention to the smuggling trade, he still remembered the trade process that Canghuotou told him back then.

At first, Ye Zongliu and others had no smuggling channels at sea, so they could only find some intermediaries to contact the Japanese invaders, and then send the goods to the offshore islands, where they were transported to the Japanese by their own sea ships to sell them.

At that time, the middleman commission was set up, which was 1 out of 10.

Speaking from the heart, the proportion of 1 out of 10 in this illegal smuggling industry is really not high, and there are no channels to meet 3 out of 10.

It is precisely because he is in a reasonable range that Shen Yichen has not cared about it over the years, and it is a long-term business for everyone to earn money together.

However, after Xu Fengyuan joined the smuggling trade, the goods sold to the Japanese kingdom changed from low-value-added goods such as pottery, coarse linen, and crops to high-value-added goods such as porcelain, silk, and tea.

The profit brought by one out of ten is very considerable.

If you have money, you can endure it, but if you don't have money, Shen Yichen didn't even let go of the emperor's banknotes, and now the middleman still wants to collect money from himself?

"They've made a lot of money over the years, and it's time to stop."

Xu Fengyuan nodded, now that he has a direct connection with the Japanese slaves, he can completely skip the middleman link.

"In addition, we will also take down the most profitable sea transportation, and the Japanese slaves who are willing to accept cooperation will stay, and those who are not obedient will be sent to the sea to feed the fish."

Shen Yichen said this sentence expressionlessly, he not only wanted to save intermediate links, but even sea transportation did not intend to let go.

At that time, he was poor and had no ships and no people, so he had to use the ships of the Japanese pirates to transport goods to the Japanese country for trade. Now the treasure ship cannot be mobilized, but the grain ship and ship of the Taiping Shipyard are in the hands of Xu Fengyuan.

Even if it is just a supporting ship for the next treasure ship, for other countries in this era, it is still a giant ship that dare not look directly.

The Ming Dynasty during the orthodox period, not the Qing Dynasty during the Xuantong period, it has the only ocean-going fleet in this era.

Xu Fengyuan understood what Shen Yichen meant, but the problem was that he didn't have the lawlessness of the other party. The ships supporting the next fleet of the Taiping Shipyard are in their own hands, but they are official ships of the imperial court!

Using the official ship of the imperial court to openly smuggle with the Japanese slaves, I am afraid that I don't even dare to think about it on others, Shen Yichen really plans to do it?

"Brother Shen, the next official ship is used to smuggle with the Japanese slaves, there is no way to hide this matter, if the court investigates it, what should it do?"

"Then don't let the court know."

"Don't let the court know?"

At this time, Xu Fengyuan was completely blinded, even if it was not a complete fleet, if these ships wanted to start, they would probably need thousands of sailors.

There are many people, not to mention thousands of people, how can they not let the court know?

"You have served as Changle Zhixian for many years, and with this batch of ships in your hands, you should have some trusted sailors, right?"

"Some, but not enough to fully control the fleet."

"Leave enough people to trust, and I'll make up for you the rest."

"Forgive me for being stupid, Brother Shen, how do you make up for it?"

Facing Xu Fengyuan's blank face, Shen Yichen replied with a smile: "When the war in Fujian is over, so many miners and furnace players have been recruited, and they have to arrange a place for them to go." ”

For Ye Zongliu's miners, to be honest, Shen Yichen has been planning for a long time, and the high-quality soldiers of the Qi family army in later generations, let them return to be a farmer after recruiting, which is really a bit overkill.

Rather than fighting the Japanese in a hundred years, it is better to take action now to prevent the problem before it happens.

Conquering overseas may be the most suitable destination for them!

Hearing that Shen Yichen turned out to be this arrangement, Xu Fengyuan couldn't help but applaud and exclaimed: "Brother Shen is worthy of being the third yuan and the first, and his ability to strategize can be called Kong Ming in the world, recruiting an miner to serve as the next sailor, it is a double win, and it also saves you from worries!" ”

"Brother Xu has said it, it is up to people to make things happen, and it is not so simple to recruit peace after all."

After that, Shen Yichen sighed, the dream is very plump, and the reality is very skinny. There is still a long way to go if you want to realize your strategy.

After some planning, the night fell unconsciously, and that night Shen Yichen, Ye Zongliu, and Xu Fengyuan did not say anything about the situation in Fujian, but recalled the past years and talked about wine.

Because the three of them knew very well in their hearts that after tonight, they would not know if there would be a similar opportunity in the future.

In the early morning of the second day, Shen Yichen came out of the inn and went to the Changtai School Palace to inform the teacher of the results of the discussion.

The morning dawn in the sky, but there were already students rushing to the school in twos and threes, and they saluted extremely respectfully after seeing Shen Yichen. After all, in addition to the identity of the senior brother, there is also the honor of the Ming Dynasty, and there are not many scholars in the world who regard Shen Yichen as their lifelong goal.

In Lin Zhen's residence in the backyard of the school palace, Shen Yichen stood in front of the door and knocked on the door of the courtyard, and it was the master Huang who opened the door.

"The student has seen the teacher's wife."

Shen Yichen hurriedly bowed.

"To the north, your teacher is already waiting for you."

There was a hint of choking in Huang's voice, and when Shen Yichen looked up, he saw a pair of red eyes, obviously crying.

Just when Shen Yichen wanted to ask what was going on, Lin Zhen's voice came from the courtyard.

"It's coming north, come in."

"Yes, Teacher."

Shen Yichen answered, and strode into the courtyard gate.

I just saw Lin Zhen walking out of the room with a burden, maybe he was weak, or he was heavy, and he stumbled when he crossed the threshold.

Seeing this scene, Shen Yichen hurriedly rushed over to support Lin Zhen and took the burden in his hand.

"Teacher, you are sick, and you can tell the students if you have something."

"It's okay, you should have negotiated with Leader Ye yesterday, right?"

"Well, but Leader Ye is only one of the leaders of the rebel army, and the students are ready to invite the teacher to negotiate with the Quanzhou Mansion to recruit peace."

"I guessed that this would be the case, and I can set off at any time."

After that, Lin Zhen also pointed to the burden in Shen Yichen's hand, he was ready.

However, Shen Yichen was not as free and easy as Lin Zhen, he said with hesitation: "Teacher, Chief Ye told the students yesterday that he can't guarantee absolute safety in Quanzhou Mansion. After all, the vast majority of the rebel army has a lot of blood debts with the imperial court, and in their eyes, our identity is the minions of the imperial court. ”

"What, do you think you'll be afraid to back down as a teacher?"

Lin Zhen still smiled lightly: "Life is rare for seventy years, what else can't you see?" ”

"In the early years of the teacher, he was appointed by His Majesty as the champion of the Xuande five-year Gengxu Branch, and he could be an official who did nothing, and he was responsible for what he had learned."

"Now that the wind is in its last years, how proud and honored it is to save my hometown from the flames of war, how can I be afraid to retreat?"

From Lin Zhen's words, Shen Yichen felt the teacher's excitement and excitement. Perhaps for him, it is already satisfying to be able to do something for the king's court and his hometown in the last stage of his life.

Life and death are at stake, and they have long been put aside.

"The students know that the teacher is not afraid of life and death, but if something really happens, I ......"

"To the north, you are the third yuan and the first, the big man who guards one side, how can you be such a mother-in-law. Don't forget that the safety of the people of Fujian can be tied to you alone, what is the result of being a teacher? ”

"The affairs of the family have been settled, let's go immediately!"

Lin Zhen also understood Shen Yichen's worries, but he didn't care at all, and even planned for the worst, and even explained the future to his wife and children.

That's why, Shen Yichen knocked on the door and saw the red eyes of the master, as a wife and mother, after all, there was no way to be as free and easy as Lin Zhen.

"The Sword Comes"

"Yes, Teacher."

Shen Yichen nodded heavily, then put away the last trace of unbearability in his heart, picked up his bags and walked towards the outside of the courtyard with his head held high.

For ordinary people, whether it is procedural justice or outcome justice, it is a dilemma that torments conscience.

But for a person like Shen Yichen who controls thousands of lives and deaths, there is actually only one choice in front of him.

That is the importance of family and country!