Everyone listened to Wu Liang and Zhou Tian's description of the hardships of the southward journey and the interesting anecdotes of the journey, and they all listened to it with relish, from noon to dusk, and then everyone reluctantly dispersed.

Two days later, at the urging of Zhuang Shaoyou, Zhou Tian and Wu Liang organized a large fleet, including a four-masted warship and five three-masted merchant ships, a total of five ships, to sail to Xiangping with high-grade seafood and specialties purchased from Huiji County.

In less than a month, the four merchant ships paid 40,000 taels of silver in commercial taxes, and finally received the urgent need, and hurriedly sent all the rewards owed in the last war, and gave the soldiers half a month's vacation to go home to accompany their families and relax their nerves tense due to the war.

Half a month passed quickly, Zhou Tian returned to Yudi with three ships, and the remaining three three-masted merchant ships with the remaining Jiangnan specialties went to the grassland along the White Wolf Water to trade, this time Zhou Tian brought back 100,000 taels of silver, as well as two ships of Liaodong specialties, ready to be transported to Jiangnan for sale next time.

Zhou Tian made a trade plan, applying to set up a large warehouse at the northern wharf of the province, which was specially used to store the special products purchased from Liaodong and the grassland, and then trafficked to the Jiangnan District by large ships, and the goods purchased from the Jiangnan also existed here, and when the time came, the small boats were sold to Liaodong, the grasslands and the Yellow River Valley.

Zhuang Shaoyou did not hesitate to approve this suggestion, and asked Zhou Tian to build the warehouse as large as possible and as perfect as possible, intending to build the warehouse into a trade port, although the geographical location is somewhat lacking, but it is the best choice at this stage!

After coming back on Sunday, Zhuang Shaoyou let him rest at home temporarily, and did not let him sail to Jiangnan again. You have to give people some freedom, don't you? Moreover, Zhou Tian's business is a landlord, and now he needs his help to do another thing - popularize corn.

This year's weather is warm and hot, at the end of April, the weather has begun to have a hot meaning, the south wind begins to blow, ink stone and ink soil come to find Zhuang Shaoyou, you can plant corn!

Zhuang Shaoyou convened everyone to discuss and prepare to reclaim new fields in Yuqi County to plant corn, but how to make the people accept it?

Finally, it was decided to re-issue the preferential policy - the new crop promotion order

Those who are willing to plant corn will be provided with arable corn seeds by the county government, and fifty percent of the harvest will be handed over at the time of harvest, and the land will be owned by individuals after five years, and the land tax will be exempted for the next three years, and the corn can be kept for themselves or sold to the county government at an official price after harvest.

As soon as the decree came out, there were few responders, but soon the news came out that Zhou Tian, a big landlord and big businessman, took the lead in applying for 2,000 hectares of corn fields!

Suddenly, the enthusiasm of the people and the landlords was much higher, and within three days, a total of 3,000 hectares of new fields were approved, although it was less than expected, but it was enough.

As for not letting the soldiers go back during the farming season, it was carefully calculated, and the soldiers had unified command over the fields, and the efficiency was much higher than that of small-scale farming based on households, and more fields could be cultivated, and the food consumption and combat rewards for soldiers as soldiers, as well as subsidies for the New Year's Festival, were more cost-effective than farming at home.

In addition, the requirements for labor intensity have dropped a lot now, and the new farming method of the Mo family has become popular, so that the majority of women, half-grown children, and the elderly with a certain ability to work can participate in the work, so each household can rest assured that men can serve as soldiers in the army.

The cultivation of corn this time was named summer ploughing, corresponding to spring ploughing, Zhou Tian's 2,000 hectares of fields, other people's 3,000 hectares of fields, and Juntun fields of 3,000 hectares, a total of 8,000 hectares of corn, less than ten years of all the cultivation was completed, so far, counting the 23,000 hectares of wheat fields for spring ploughing, a total of 31,000 hectares of fields, and more than 40,000 hectares of fields on the west bank of the Shahe River have been cultivated.

After the end of summer ploughing, the second wave of caravans returned this year, paying 30,000 taels of commercial taxes, which was more than 10,000 taels less than the first trip, but this was also expected, after all, trade was too frequent, and profit margins and goods output would be affected.

…………

In late May, the first four-masted merchant ship was launched for sea trials, and Zhuang Shaoyou was also very happy to go to observe, and Ink excitedly introduced the various indicators and performance of this merchant ship:

Four-masted merchant ship, 15 zhang long, wide zhang, 3 zhang high, draft 1 zhang 2 feet, hanging four crosssails and three longitudinal sails (spinnakers),

You can travel 380 miles a day with a good wind and water, and 100 miles a day when sailing against the wind, which is 20% slower than a four-masted warship, and similar to a three-masted warship!

In the case of armament, the bow of the ship is still vacant for the release of goods, four small catapults in the stern with a range of 500 paces, and a total of ten repeating crossbows on both sides of the ship.

The cargo space in the hold is 1,200 square meters, which is twice that of the three-masted merchant ship, and the standard crew on board is 100 people. ”

Zhuang Shaoyou was thrilled when he heard this, and in the future, more and more merchant ships will be launched, and then the entire coastal rivers will have their own fleet's footprints!

"Ink, when will another four-masted merchant ship be launched?"

Ink groaned slightly: "It will take half a month!" ”

Zhuang Shaoyou shook his head, forget it, don't wait, let Zhou Tian and Wu Liang run again!

Two days later, Zhou Tian and Wu Liang again organized a fleet of ships, including a four-masted merchant ship and two four-masted warships, carrying special products purchased from Xiangping and the grasslands and the Yellow River valley to the south of the Yangtze River.

The two warships are equipped with a full number of 100 sailors, which can not only be used as bodyguards, but also can train troops by the way, increase their experience in ocean voyages, and can also be porters, killing multiple birds with one stone! As for the little grain consumed, it is a drop in the bucket compared to the huge profits brought by trade!

There are fewer wars and more comfort in the south of the Yangtze River, the people are generally wealthy, and there are few things like starvation in the north, and the handicraft industry is developed, such as jade, Suzhou embroidery, Biluochun in the north of Yangzhou, silk and porcelain in the south of Yangzhou, and Longjing in West Lake. The exquisiteness of handmade products alone is more than a grade higher than similar goods in the Yellow River in the north!

At the same time, Jiangnan merchants gathered, trade developed, metropolis specialties are rich and abundant, it is very convenient for the newcomer Zhou Tian fleet, as long as you find a few big cities to buy special products, you don't need to run like the north to break your legs to go everywhere, although the cost of buying will rise slightly, but it is not worth mentioning compared with the profits brought by selling to the north!

After Zhou Tian left, Zhuang Shaoyou planned the existing eleven three-masted merchant ships, divided them into three groups, and traded in Liaoshui, Bailangshui and the Yellow River, so as to stagger those merchants so that the merchants would not be too concentrated and disturb the market.

Although there were more and more merchant ships, because there were very few specialties in the city, in order to facilitate the control of commercial taxes, all merchant ships were controlled by the county government and not privatized.

However, with the increase of merchant ships and the expansion of trade, privatization is the trend, so it is imperative to develop a set of effective commercial laws in order to protect tax benefits, but there is no need to rush it.

Just when all the work was being carried out in an orderly manner, news came from Gongsun Yan in Xi'an Ping that a Goguryeo delegation went to Xiangping to pay a visit to Gongsun Du on the second day.

Almost at the same time that Zhuang Shaoyou received Gongsun Yan's summons, similar news from the Intelligence Department also came, and a Goguryeo delegation headed for Xiangping, which further confirmed the accuracy of Gongsun Yan's information.

Zhuang Shaoyou couldn't help but laugh: This Gongsun Yan really repaid himself with free things, although there is an element of artificiality, but at least the attitude is good, and it is also to convey goodwill to himself, after all, he gave him five warships last time, even if it is second-hand, it is worth three or four thousand taels of silver!

The point is, there's nowhere to buy that thing if you have money!

Xiangping City can build a brig, but the ship can't drive to the water at all, the center of gravity is too high, and it will definitely capsize when it goes to sea! The sailing ships of Goguryeo are considered to be unique in shape, relatively close to nature, and go the same way as the boats of the river, while the shipbuilding skills of the original area and the Jiangnan region are based on the standard: high, large and wide, Zhuang Shaoyou sneered at this, and gave a comment: fake, big and empty.

That ship can't be used at all, what building ships, fighting ships and the like, it's all nonsense, excessive pursuit of tall and mighty and manned, and does not conform to the laws of nature, it is destined to be eliminated by nature!

However, it is also helpless, shipbuilding has developed to meet the needs of the war, so it is this route, after all, the water war in this era is still based on short-handed combat, carrying more people, the ship is higher than others, condescending, and naturally has an advantage!

Moreover, the Mo family is also unique, and they can study for hundreds of years, and carry such a large bed crossbow and catapult to the boat, so the Mo family and Zhuang Shaoyou are basically Zhuang Shaoyou taking advantage.

But there is no way, who let the Mo family live without Zhuang Shaoyou? It's like a super beauty, if you don't marry you, you can't live, and in the end you can only be cheaper.

The shipbuilding skills of the Mo family have been held at sea for 400 years, and they have been forced out by the sea, and if you build an unreasonable structure, you will have to capsize! The sea is both brutal and reasonable, as long as you follow its path, you can be unimpeded, if you insist on going against the sky, do not talk nonsense, pat you over!