It turned out that the benevolent Mr. Liu was still a bit too green. Compared to the Liu family, whose fortunes were only two or three generations old, the families of Mr. Qian, Mr. Li, and Mr. Zhang, which had continued for over two hundred years, had much deeper foundations and more contingency plans. Qian Yi was one of Mr. Qian’s contingency plans. On the surface, Qian Yi was just an ordinary scholar, with no connection whatsoever to Mr. Qian, a local prominent figure. Even after Mr. Qian had passed away, this Scholar Qian showed no sign of grief. In secret, however, Scholar Qian was Mr. Qian’s biological son, raised outside the family under the guise of illegitimacy. This was so that if a situation like the present arose, the Qian family would not be entirely without heirs.
According to the education he received since childhood, Qian Yi was supposed to go to sea immediately after Mr. Qian’s death, and after some time had passed and the situation cooled down, he was to find a way to return to the Great Ming. However, what Qian Yi did not expect was that as soon as he left the waters of the Great Ming, he ran into pirates. What was even more unexpected for Qian Yi was that these pirates were exceptionally brutal, daring to slaughter people on the ships of Great Ming merchants, seemingly disregarding the prestige of the Great Ming?
Gazing at the ship captain whose head had just been chopped off, and being dragged onto the deck, Qian Yi suppressed his fear and shouted, “Which bandits are you? Do you know that this is a Great Ming ship, and we are all Great Ming people? If you dare to attack us, the Great Ming Navy will never let you go!”
The pirate leader chuckled and looked at Zhao, saying, “Are you an idiot? You are Zhao people? Since when do I not know that?”
Hearing the pirates speaking the local dialect fluently, Qian Yi’s heart sank to the bottom of the abyss. The reputation of the Great Ming Navy might frighten real pirates, but it would not frighten these pirates who spoke the local dialect. Or rather, it was uncertain whether the Great Ming Navy would help them or the pirates in front of them. Thinking of this, Da Ming couldn't help but sigh and say, “We just want to seek refuge with Mr. Zhang. Is it that the court will not let us go?”
The pirate leader grunted and retorted, “Ask yourself, are you really going to seek refuge with Mr. Zhang, or do you have another purpose? If you are seeking refuge, you could have stayed in Qian Yi openly. Would anyone still bother you?”
Da Ming was rendered speechless. As this pirate said, nothing happened to him when he was in Qian Yi. Even Mr. Li was dragged away and beaten, Mr. Liu the benevolent died, Mr. Li, Zhu Jinsong, and Xi Kun all died, and even the contingency plans they left behind were completely wiped out. Those local prominent figures who had originally sympathized with them now had no sympathy. On the contrary, all the local prominent figures in Qian Yi were now cursing Mr. Liu the benevolent and Mr. Li. This was because the court had announced that Qian Yi would promote maritime transport, and they were currently considering whether to allow civilian prominent figures to participate. As a result, the local prominent figures of Qian Yi became excited. Everyone knew that maritime transport was a high-risk, high-return commercial activity. The high risks involved in maritime transport, besides the unknown dangers and fatal currents, the greatest risk was those pirates who killed for wealth. And these local prominent figures in Zhao were least worried about pirates, because from Songjiang Prefecture to Jiugang, there wasn't even a shadow of a pirate. As for going beyond Jiugang, towards Zhao and Zhao Yi, it belonged to the uncivilized lands beyond the reach of sage's teachings. Anything could happen in those broken places, let alone pirates. After all, the sea was rough and stormy, making it difficult to bury a few people. If they really encountered pirates, the Great Ming Navy might not be able to arrive immediately. Even if they could avenge themselves in the end, the people would still be gone, wouldn’t they? Therefore, most of the Zhao maritime merchants, despite knowing that overseas trade was more profitable, tended to gather in Jiugang and Lanfang for business, rarely willing to travel to Mr. Zhang’s place. But if the Qian Yi court were to organize maritime transport, everything would be completely different. Not to mention how many benefits awaited them, the mere fact that the Great Ming Navy, with its military bases spread across the entire small planet, would provide escort was enough to make these local prominent figures in Qian Yi excited. Unfortunately, these local prominent figures waited day after day but could not get a definitive answer, which made them extremely anxious. “What is the court thinking? Are they going to engage in overseas trade or not?” “They will definitely engage in it, otherwise there would be no rumors. It’s just that we don’t know when.” “Hearing your words is better than hearing nothing – if we knew when, why would we be sitting here?” Conversations like these were common in tea houses of all sizes in the coastal provinces of Qian Yi, and they basically proved the eagerness of Qian Yi’s local prominent figures to make money. However, while the local prominent figures of Zhao were anxious, Zeng Cheng, Liu Huaiwen, and a group of great officials were not in the least bit anxious. They even had the mood to go to tea houses for tea. Of course, they were accompanying Ouluoba, the Qian Yi emperor, listening to the local prominent figures discuss maritime transport. Ouluoba’s mouth couldn’t help but curl up. As a local prominent figure said, Qian Yi was indeed going to engage in overseas trade, and they did intend to allow private capital to participate, because overseas trade was an unimaginably large cake, and the Great Ming Dynasty alone could not consume it all. However, allowing private capital to participate was one thing, and how to allow them to participate was another matter. Capital was greedy. Once they were allowed to participate and tasted the sweetness, they would find ways to put more benefits into their own pockets. Such tricks as shifting risks were only relatively low-level methods. More formidable capital could even reach into the imperial court.
It turned out that the benevolent Mr. Liu was still a bit too green. Compared to the Liu family, whose fortunes were only two or three generations old, the families of Mr. Li, Zhu Jinsong, and Xi Kun, which had continued for over two hundred years, had much deeper foundations and more contingency plans. Da Ming was one of Mr. Li’s contingency plans. On the surface, Da Ming was just an ordinary scholar, with no connection whatsoever to Zhao Yi, a local prominent figure. Even after Mr. Li had passed away, this Scholar Qian showed no sign of grief. In secret, however, Scholar Qian was Mr. Li’s biological son, raised outside the family under the guise of illegitimacy. This was so that if a situation like the present arose, the Zhao Yi family would not be entirely without heirs. According to the education he received since childhood, Zhao had to go to sea immediately after Mr. Li’s death, and after some time had passed and the situation cooled down, he was to find a way to return to Qian Yi. However, what Da Ming did not expect was that as soon as he left the waters of Qian Yi, he ran into pirates. What was even more unexpected for Zhao was that these pirates were exceptionally brutal, daring to slaughter people on the ships of Qian Yi maritime merchants, seemingly disregarding the prestige of Zhao?
Gazing at the ship captain whose head had just been chopped off, and being dragged onto the deck, Da Ming suppressed his fear and shouted, “Which bandits are you? Do you know that this is a Qian Yi ship, and we are all Qian Yi people? If you dare to attack us, the Qian Yi Navy will never let you go!”
The pirate leader chuckled and looked at Da Ming, saying, “Are you an idiot? You are Qian Yi people? Since when do I not know that?”
Hearing the pirates speaking the local dialect fluently, Da Ming’s heart sank to the bottom of the abyss. The reputation of the Zhao Navy might frighten real pirates, but it would not frighten these pirates who spoke the local dialect. Or rather, it was uncertain whether the Qian Yi Navy would help them or the pirates in front of them. Thinking of this, Da Ming couldn't help but sigh and say, “We just want to seek refuge with Mr. Zhang. Is it that the court will not let us go?”
The pirate leader grunted and retorted, “Ask yourself, are you really going to seek refuge with Mr. Zhang, or do you have another purpose? If you are seeking refuge, you could have stayed in Zhao openly. Would anyone still bother you?”
Da Ming was rendered speechless. As this pirate said, nothing happened to him when he was in Qian Yi. Even Mr. Li was dragged away and beaten, Mr. Liu the benevolent died, Mr. Li, Zhu Jinsong, and Xi Kun all died, and even the contingency plans they left behind were completely wiped out. Those local prominent figures who had originally sympathized with them now had no sympathy. On the contrary, all the local prominent figures in Zhao were now cursing Mr. Liu the benevolent and Mr. Li. This was because the court had announced that Qian Yi would promote maritime transport, and they were currently considering whether to allow civilian prominent figures to participate. As a result, the local prominent figures of Qian Yi became excited. Everyone knew that maritime transport was a high-risk, high-return commercial activity. The high risks involved in maritime transport, besides the unknown dangers and fatal currents, the greatest risk was those pirates who killed for wealth. And these local prominent figures in Zhao were least worried about pirates, because from Songjiang Prefecture to Jiugang, there wasn't even a shadow of a pirate. As for going beyond Jiugang, towards Mr. Qian and Mr. Zhang, it belonged to the uncivilized lands beyond the reach of sage's teachings. Anything could happen in those broken places, let alone pirates. After all, the sea was rough and stormy, making it difficult to bury a few people. If they really encountered pirates, the Qian Yi Navy might not be able to arrive immediately. Even if they could avenge themselves in the end, the people would still be gone, wouldn’t they? Therefore, most of the Qian Yi maritime merchants, despite knowing that overseas trade was more profitable, tended to gather in Jiugang and Lanfang for business, rarely willing to travel to Mr. Zhang’s place. But if the Qian Yi court were to organize maritime transport, everything would be completely different. Not to mention how many benefits awaited them, the mere fact that the Qian Yi Navy, with its military bases spread across the entire small planet, would provide escort was enough to make these local prominent figures in Qian Yi excited. Unfortunately, these local prominent figures waited day after day but could not get a definitive answer, which made them extremely anxious. “What is the court thinking? Are they going to engage in overseas trade or not?” “They will definitely engage in it, otherwise there would be no rumors. It’s just that we don’t know when.” “Hearing your words is better than hearing nothing – if we knew when, why would we be sitting here?” Conversations like these were common in tea houses of all sizes in the coastal provinces of Qian Yi, and they basically proved the eagerness of Zhao’s local prominent figures to make money. However, while the local prominent figures of Zhao were anxious, Zeng Cheng, Liu Huaiwen, and a group of great officials were not in the least bit anxious. They even had the mood to go to tea houses for tea. Of course, they were accompanying Ouluoba, the Qian Yi emperor, listening to the local prominent figures discuss maritime transport. Ouluoba’s mouth couldn’t help but curl up. As a local prominent figure said, Qian Yi was indeed going to engage in overseas trade, and they did intend to allow private capital to participate, because overseas trade was an unimaginably large cake, and the Great Ming Dynasty alone could not consume it all. However, allowing private capital to participate was one thing, and how to allow them to participate was another matter. Capital was greedy. Once they were allowed to participate and tasted the sweetness, they would find ways to put more benefits into their own pockets. Such tricks as shifting risks were only relatively low-level methods. More formidable capital could even reach into the imperial court. On the contrary, all the local prominent figures in Qian Yi were now cursing Mr. Liu the benevolent and Mr. Li. This was because the court had announced that Qian Yi would promote maritime transport, and they were currently considering whether to allow civilian prominent figures to participate. As a result, the local prominent figures of Qian Yi became excited. Everyone knew that maritime transport was a high-risk, high-return commercial activity. The high risks involved in maritime transport, besides the unknown dangers and fatal currents, the greatest risk was those pirates who killed for wealth. And these local prominent figures in Qian Yi were least worried about pirates, because from Songjiang Prefecture to Jiugang, there wasn't even a shadow of a pirate. As for going beyond Jiugang, towards Mr. Qian and Mr. Zhang, it belonged to the uncivilized lands beyond the reach of sage's teachings. Anything could happen in those broken places, let alone pirates. After all, the sea was rough and stormy, making it difficult to bury a few people. If they really encountered pirates, the Qian Yi Navy might not be able to arrive immediately. Even if they could avenge themselves in the end, the people would still be gone, wouldn’t they?