“You mean…”
Hearing him say this, Shao Bowen was completely stunned.
“You want to know where the Pu family’s spices actually come from?”
“Of course I want to know. Anyone who finds out this secret would… My lord, you…”
“That’s right, I happen to know this secret…”
Upon hearing Han Mo’s words, Shao Bowen almost jumped out of his chair.
“My lord, this is not something to joke about!”
After taking several deep breaths, Shao Bowen’s voice began to tremble as he spoke.
“You all always thought the Pu family’s spices were bought from overseas at great expense. In fact, you’ve all been deceived by them. They didn’t spend a single coin on their spices; they picked them all themselves…”
“Picked them themselves? My lord, don’t joke. Do you really think they are radishes in a field?”
After listening to Han Mo’s words, Shao Bowen felt his head wasn’t quite enough.
He didn’t need to explain how precious spices were in the Great Song Dynasty.
Whether it was commoners or wealthy families, these things were indispensable when eating meat.
Spices, especially the few high-grade ones, were sold in Bianliang City for almost the equivalent of gold.
How could such precious items be picked by oneself…
As he thought of this, Shao Bowen suddenly realized: it was true, no matter how precious these things were, they still grew out of the ground!
“My lord, you mean to say you know where they pick these spices from?”
Trembling, he uttered these words, and Shao Bowen’s eyes were about to fall out of their sockets.
“Of course I know, and I can even find it on a sea chart…”
“I, you, this…”
After Han Mo finished speaking, Shao Bowen suddenly felt he couldn’t speak anymore.
Even if Han Mo knew in the past, it was useless because he didn’t have any ships. But now it was different; Han Mo held over 400 large ships.
If they could really find the origin of these spices as Han Mo said, then it wouldn’t be long before Han Mo became the wealthiest man in the entire Great Song Dynasty.
“Why are you so excited, sir? They are merely some worldly possessions!”
Seeing Shao Bowen’s flushed face, Han Mo smiled indifferently.
“Merely?”
Hearing this, Shao Bowen really wanted to give this kid a blow to the head.
Not to mention expanding the scale, just according to the Pu family’s original scale, they would have made tens of millions of strings of cash at least every year!
You must know that the entire Great Song Dynasty’s annual revenue was only about 50 to 60 million strings of cash.
If they really controlled this business, it would be wealth equivalent to the state!
“My lord, do you have other ideas?”
After taking several deep breaths, Shao Bowen managed to calm himself down.
“That’s right, I just don’t know if you dare to venture overseas!”
Han Mo spoke as he reached out to pour Shao Bowen a cup of tea.
“You want me to…”
Thinking of this, Shao Bowen couldn’t help but swallow hard.
“That’s right, I want to establish a new trading company, and you, sir, will be the manager of this company!”
“My lord, aren’t you afraid that I…”
Seeing Han Mo’s serious expression, Shao Bowen’s eyebrows twitched uncontrollably.
“Afraid of what, sir? You think too much. Since I am entrusting this matter to you, it is naturally because of your character. Moreover, haven’t you already calculated the scene of heaven and earth collapsing?”
After listening to Han Mo’s words, Shao Bowen fell silent again.
“Your meaning is to…”
“Divert the disaster eastward!”
“What is the plan?”
“Establish a base in the southeast, expand overseas, conserve strength, and await the opportune moment!”
Facing Shao Bowen, Han Mo spoke without any reservation.
“Within the Great Song, the strength that Your Lord can accumulate is probably very limited!”
After hesitating for a moment, Shao Bowen said directly.
“Who said we would accumulate strength within the Great Song? Japan, Goryeo, and Java can all become places for us to accumulate strength!”
“Whoosh—”
After listening to Han Mo’s words, Shao Bowen felt his breathing become difficult.
If these words were heard by others, they would surely be beheaded!
“As long as this official promises that the court’s money and grain are not a problem, no one will notice the affairs of the entire southeast coast! As long as we have enough money and grain, you can naturally recruit enough people to go to Java, Japan, and Goryeo!”
After a full quarter of an hour of silence, Shao Bowen finally calmed down completely.
Han Mo’s plan was indeed very crazy, but he had to admit that if it were supported by the spice trade, this plan might really be realized.
After all, the profits brought by spices were too great!
As long as Han Mo could hold the position of Commissioner of the Maritime Trade Bureau for the Southeast Coastal Regions, all matters concerning the coast would be decided by him alone.
With the support of enormous profits, there would be no shortage of coastal officials who would flock to Han Mo.
The southeast coast itself had very little arable land, and with the annexation of powerful families over the years, countless commoners had lost their land.
On the one hand, they had lost their land, and on the other hand, they did not have enough industries to support them, which led to many of them becoming refugees.
These people gathered in the major coastal cities, which were an unstable factor for any city.
If this problem could be solved, it would also be a good thing for the local officials.
After all, when people are extremely hungry, they have no ethics or morals. To fill their stomachs, they can do anything.
And at this time, if Shao Bowen were to offer a large amount of money and land as an enticement, even if it were overseas, there would be people willing to take the risk!
Once they left the land of the Great Song Dynasty, the subsequent matters would be much simpler.
At this point, Shao Bowen suddenly realized that Han Mo’s move to acquire the position of Commissioner of the Maritime Trade Bureau for the Southeast Regions at a high price was a divine move!
Holding these two positions, even if he destroyed the Kingdom of Java, Bianliang would not receive any news!
“Your Lord’s mentioned spice origin, could it be in the Kingdom of Java!”
After a long silence, Shao Bowen suddenly spoke.
“That’s right, though not exact, it’s not far! I just don’t know if you dare to do this!”
Han Mo did not hide anything about this, after all, the vast sea was so vast that even if he told them where it was, they wouldn’t find it.
“I dare to do it, but I don’t know if the next Son of Heaven in Your Lord’s mind is still Prince Xin?”
Shao Bowen suddenly raised his head sharply as he said this.
This question had been troubling him for a long time, and he really wanted to know the answer.
“It took me several years to understand one thing: when we hold sufficiently strong power, even pawns can jump out of the chessboard and become new players!”
“Your Lord is wise! Shao is willing to serve with all my might!”