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Cixi also left overnight. He did not return to Guangzhou, but wanted to take a warship to Malacca Port.↗, it has now become the headquarters of several forces in the Southern Song Dynasty's maritime merchants. Although the maritime merchants left at the same time, they would disappear in an instant when they installed their homes on the ship, but they still missed their hometown very much. They just left to live a better life after they came back. If they did not achieve this goal, they would never look back.

Compared with the rush of maritime merchants and the Jinhe Empire, the Southern Song Dynasty court did not seem to care much about this large-scale strike. Thinking about it, if you look through history books, you may not find an uprising dominated by merchants. Since ancient times, people have believed that merchants value profit but neglect righteousness. Rebellion is a very passionate business that can be calculated by a copper coin, because the risk is too great.

The imperial court did not even send special officials to see the specific situation, but only ordered local officials in Guangzhou and Quanzhou to strictly control it. The royal fleet of the Song Dynasty also went south to Quanzhou on schedule. This time, the arrival of this time was not more than ten sea boats, but thirty whole ships.

Since last year, I saw the huge benefits of ocean trade. I touched the jewelry and copper coins in a cabin with my own hands, and the eyes of various forces in the fleet have turned red. They wished they could run three times a year to be satisfied. Since they could not run more, then double the number of ships in a single time, so that we can make enough money at one time! To increase the number of ships at one time, it must be a large sea ship that can run long voyages. This difficulty is quite great for the Southern Song court. But they still came up with it. If they could use this spirit to resist the Mongols, Hong Tao would probably be able to ride a boat to America, so what else would he worry about?

"Brother Shi, this time we can raise so many big ships, all thanks to your master's strong support. My master has sent a letter to remind me that the money you get from going to Southeast Asia will be paid by your master first. If you can buy a few big ships from the navy, you will definitely be able to make us respected next year." The composition structure of this royal fleet is very complex, similar to what Hong Tao guessed. There is only one royal ship that really belongs to the official family, and most of the remaining ones are occupied by some senior families in the court. Among them, there are two most, one with the most surnames, one with the surname Shi and the other with the surname Zhao.

At this time, the two middle-aged people sitting on the stern of the boat drinking tea were the manager of the Shi family and the Zhao family. The fat white man sitting at the beginning was called Zhao An. He was originally a relative of Zhao Fan and had always helped Zhao Fan manage the family industry. After Zhao Fan's death, he became Zhao Kui's confidant. He was sent to this fleet by Zhao Kui, representing the interests of the Zhao family. The long-bearded and thin man sitting at the beginning was named Shi Hong. He was an important official in the court, a bachelor of Huawen Pavilion, and the nephew of Shi Songzhi, the right prime minister. Like Zhao An, his role also represents the Shi family in charge of the fleet.

Who is Shi Songzhi? We mentioned earlier that he served as the commander of Jinghu when Duanping Luo and regaining the three capitals, and was also a magistrate of the border. His uncle is even more famous, and he was Shi Miyuan, the prime minister of the Southern Song Dynasty who was powerful. Otherwise, the magical thing about genes, his uncle is a firm peace faction, and in his generation, he is even more determined than his uncle.

In order not to let the army heading north win the battle, as an official of the Southern Song Dynasty, he actually cut off the food and supplies of the troops in the front without hesitation. The reason was that Emperor Lizong did not listen to his suggestions to negotiate with the Mongolian Empire. At the same time, he was unwilling to see Zheng Qingzhi succeed in the issue of Duanping and entering Luoluo, so it would be difficult for him to bring Zheng Qingzhi down again. It would be said that the Southern Song Dynasty courts were all such people, and they could only see ghosts without defeating the battle, and they could not take care of anything for their own selfish interests. Compared with him, Zhao Fan was a witch.

However, Zhao Fan was not unfair. He was not as strong as Shi Songzhi. Many ministers in the court were Shi Miyuan's old friends, and it was not surprising that they were with Shi Songzhi. Even if he cut off the supply of food and grass for the frontline soldiers, partly causing the failure of Duanping and entering Luoluo, Emperor Lizong still did not dare to deal with him. He even promoted him to the right prime minister and placed him specifically with Zheng Qingzhi to make trouble.

So, the kind of emperor there are all kinds of ministers. You can't blame these ministers for being too selfish. You emperor always thinks about how to mix sand in ministers, play checks and balances, and regard your throne as more important than the national interests. Follow the example. It is reasonable for the ministers under your command to protect the family and sell the country. This is called the upper beam not being straight, the lower beam is crooked, and the same lineage is inherited.

Zheng Qingzhi led the Southern Song Navy to defeat the Mongolian Navy. No matter what role the Royal Fleet played in it, anyway, the credit was due to Zheng Qingzhi, and no one else could rob it. Emperor Lizong could not sit still at this time. It was said that winning a battle was a good thing, but letting Zheng Qingyi win such an honor reminded him of Shi Miyuan before, for fear of turning himself into a rubber stamp again.

What should I do? In order to check and balance Zheng Qingzhi, Emperor Lizong began to lean towards Shi Songzhi. The burden of rebuilding the Southern Song Navy was handed over to the right prime minister to handle it. At the same time, he also listened to Shi Songzhi's suggestion and formed a fleet in the name of the royal family to occupy a place on the Nanyang route. According to Shi Songzhi's statement, it was necessary to fill the national treasury to benefit the military construction of the country.

It sounds very nice, but in fact it is not the case. The Southern Song Dynasty is very unique. Its attitude towards business is very relaxed and no longer suppresses the status of merchants. Many senior officials of the court are from businessmen's families, so it is not surprising that officials' families are doing business. The reason why Shi Songzhi wanted to build this fleet was not to raise military expenses for the Southern Song navy, but to take this as an opportunity to establish his own small circle in the court and then confront Zheng Qingzhi.

To put it bluntly, it is a community of interests. Is there anything more beneficial and common than investing together to do business? So Shi Songzhi was the first to bring Zhao Kui, the younger brother of Zhao Fan, the former commander of the Southern Song Dynasty naval commander, and some other officials who share the same language and common pursuits, and brought out the fleet.

When he went to Southeast Asia for the first time, due to the indulgence of the maritime merchants, the fleet made great profits. This not only attracted some officials in the North Korean government who had not had a firm position to surrender, but also severely attacked the pro-war faction headed by Zheng Qingzhi, and made Emperor Lizong very happy.

How could Shi Songzhi not use such a good thing that kills three birds with one stone? Since going to Southeast Asia so much to gain both fame and fortune, why not make the scale bigger? As for whether it will affect the income of maritime merchants and the taxes of the country, who cares about it? We are officials! They represent the court, and a group of small merchants dare to fight against the court? This is unscientific! Since ancient times, the people have not fought against officials in this land in China. This people did not include merchants before, but now they are barely counted.

As the commander of the Southern Song navy, with the support of Emperor Lizong, Shi Songzhi was not worried about the sea ships at all. It just so happened that the Southern Song navy was replacing new warships. As for the old ships in the past, let’s deal with the shareholders of his merchant fleet. As for whether it would affect the combat effectiveness of the navy, who would consider the annoying issue? The Mongolian navy will not come for a while. The Jinhe Empire is an ally of the Song Dynasty. What are the allies doing? Isn’t it just for cheating?

"Before the Prime Minister came, I told us not to provoke the troublemakers of the Straits Company. A few days ago, the Jinhe Empire created a powerful weapon called muskets, and the thousands of powerful soldiers of Wang Shixian and his son were wiped out with just three hundred warriors. The court has basically decided to buy a batch of muskets, and then the generals of the Jinhe Empire were responsible for training. It is necessary to train a warable army for the court within one year. Whether the Northern Expedition will be decided is still unclear. This matter was controlled by Zheng Xiang and his gang. If you want to fight against them, this fleet must control the sea trade, which is the big boss of the court's taxes. Only when we are effective can the Prime Minister gather more knowledgeable people and suppress the arrogance of the war-oriented faction in the court."

If Hong Tao heard this, he would have to vomit blood. The two countries had not yet concluded the matter of musketeers, and he himself didn't even know what the Southern Song Dynasty court thought in the end. Such a relative of the prime minister's family was already very evident. No wonder Cixi was confident that she would be able to take people into the camp of the Southern Song Navy in a few months to outline the graphics of the new warship. It seems that this is not a bragging thing. The Southern Song Dynasty court was just a big colander.

"But these unruly people have really stopped the market. If they go and join hands with merchants from Nanyang Port to strike, wouldn't we have no goods to buy or sell? What should we do?" Zhao An was not as well-informed as Shi Hong's information, and he was not very concerned about the situation in the court. He was more concerned about whether the goods on the ship could be sold at a high price and whether he could purchase enough goods when he came back.

"Hey... we are the royal merchant ships of the Song Dynasty, who dares to make things difficult for us? As for the Qiu Ba in the Port of Malacca, they are just lackeys of the Jinhe Empire. This time we will not go to the Port of Malacca to unload goods, but go directly to the Port of Kalamba. Although the journey there is far, the goods are richer and the profits are higher. Those unlucky people can't even persuade the merchants in Kalamba to stop the market together, right?" Shi Hong was obviously prepared and did not care about Zhao An's concerns.

"I have heard from the Marine Merchants in Mingzhou talk about Kalamba Port. As Brother Shi said, there are more goods there and the prices are more suitable. However, Kalamba Port is long and we don't have ships to guide the route, and we don't have territorial waters that are familiar with the route. I'm afraid we can't get there..." Zhao An actually used to be a Marine Merchant, who was rushing goods between Mingzhou and Japan. He understood much more about the sea than Shi Hong's land merchants. After hearing Shi Hong's decision, a layer of worry immediately appeared on his face, but he covered up his face very well and instantly changed his smile.
Chapter completed!