Chapter 31                                                             �

Wang Zongyuan said: "Then the money and food below?"

Zhou Mengchen said: "The tax should be collected. Thunder, rain and dew are all the kindness of the king. How can we say these things on behalf of Your Majesty? Just telling the people below that if it really doesn't work, you can delay it."

If possible, Zhou Mengchen is actually willing to give some tax relief to the people of Jiangnan. As Zhou Mengchen said, the emperor has not ordered the exemption from punishment, and only you are here to be a good person, which is a taboo.

Secondly, Zhao Wenhua's mess left Zhou Mengchen with no money. Every penny was very important to Zhou Mengchen at this moment. It was impossible to be so generous.

"How do you arrange the time matter?" Wang Zongyuan said.

He could see that Zhou Mengchen avoided the issue of time many times, and it was obvious that he had a lot of ideas about it.

Zhou Mengchen said: "You have been thinking about at least three months from Jiangnan to Beijing. How did these three months come from?"

Wang Zongyuan said: "This is the time it takes to pass through the canal, and it usually does not last longer than that."

Zhou Mengchen said: "Then why not walk the canal?"

Wang Zongyuan said in surprise: "If you don't walk the canal, where are you going?" The Grand Canal was originally for the transportation of canals, which means transporting so much grain to the capital every year.

So it becomes a habit to go through the canal.

Zhou Mengchen said: "Travel by sea."

Wang Zongyuan pressed his eyebrows and said, "How can this work? This is four million stones of food, how many ships are needed, how many guards are needed, and now Japanese pirates are rampant. Once a mistake occurs, you, my family and your family will not be able to block this hole."

Zhou Mengchen said: "I have thought about what you said, but the best route from Jiangnan to Tianjin is only more than ten days. This saves me so much time and how much freeing up things."

Wang Zongyuan said: "But----"

Zhou Mengchen said: "There is nothing. Shipping is the best solution, and in this way, the consumption will be greatly reduced. It will benefit us without any harm."

The navy that Zhou Mengchen wanted to establish was a navy that could sail far away. In Zhou Mengchen's opinion, it is natural for this navy to sail to Tianjin. Since we want to establish a navy, whether it is a ship or a person, we must prepare. The early or late preparations are the same. Why not use this sea transportation as an excuse to prepare first.

Of course, Zhou Mengchen was not prepared for this matter.

In fact, he has already encircled a maritime force that can be recaptured.

The reason why it is not called a pirate force is that this force is still abiding by laws and regulations and respects the court, that is, the Shachuan Gang.

The Shachuan Gang is a business gang that specializes in shipping in the north. Its power is much worse than other merchants, such as Hui merchants, and only Wang Zhi faction, such as Fujian merchants, Guangdong merchants, etc.

It also has something to do with the territory they occupy.

Generally speaking, the water depth in the northern seas is relatively shallow, so the sea is generally divided by the estuary of the Yangtze River. Sand boats travel in the north and blessing boats are used in the south. Sand boats are suitable for moving in shallow places.

However, the northern commerce cannot be said to be too developed. At most, it is just trade in North Korea, so it is unlikely to make huge profits. In this way, the situation of the Sand Boat Gang can be imagined. Although there are many ships, compared with those of Wang Zhi, they are much less powerful. Their foundation is built on Chongming Island and can be regarded as a person who can be controlled.

If the Sand Boat Gang could be brought under Zhou Mengchen's command, there would be manpower and ships.

Of course, this is also beneficial to the Shachuan Gang. The biggest benefit is probably that Zhou Mengchen can provide Shachuan Gang with a future and a future that is open and upright.

With his obsession with being an official in this era, Zhou Mengchen thought that most people would not refuse.

In fact, in Zhou Mengchen's opinion, the Shachuan Gang is easy to deal with, but the one that is really difficult to deal with is Fujian Maritime Business.

In fact, what Zhou Mengchen really felt was the Japanese pirates from Fujian.

Many people have verified that the so-called Japanese pirates are all Chinese, and there are both right and wrong. For example, the Japanese pirates plundered in Jiangsu and Zhejiang have Chinese and Japanese. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is true that three or four out of ten Japanese pirates are.

But it's different in Fujian.

Because the competition in Fujian is too fierce, the Japanese pirates cannot get in. Who is the person who can't get in? They are the pirates in South Australia, Anping Maritime Merchants, and Fuqing Gang. There is no title of Fuqing Gang in this era, but it does not prevent the people of Fuqing from starting to explore the world in this era.

Become a very powerful force among Fujian maritime merchants.

These people were also classified as among the Japanese pirates, which is actually very unreasonable. It is not an exaggeration to say that the Japanese pirates are all composed of Chinese people.

Now Fujian is calm. In fact, these people, such as the 24 Generals of Yuegang, and many other famous and famous maritime merchants, are busy doing business and have no time to control the court.

If only a small number of people in Zhejiang secretly colluded with Japanese pirates, then in Fujian, it would be like everyone who was responsible for officials from the court to the gentry, and the people. The bandits in the mountains knew that running to the sea was much more profitable than making money.

When Zhou Mengchen just saw the information from Fujian, he felt that Fujian was not the land of the Ming Dynasty, which was really unimaginable.

In history, the only level of the Longqing switch is Yuegang, and Yuegang is a private port. Before Yuegang opened, there were the so-called twenty-four generals of Yuegang, which shows that Yuegang was clearly a gathering place for pirates.

As for whether the Yuegang switch was a political turn in the court, or a compromise between the Ming Dynasty and Fujian pirates. When it comes to Yuegang, there is only one tax that is almost insulting, tens of thousands of taels a year. Zhou Mengchen felt more and more that this was the latter.

Zhou Mengchen also had to agree with one thing, that is, he really wanted to quell the Japanese pirates and could not use all his force.

Recruiting surrender is also a must.

However, there are standards for recruiting surrenders. Only those who do not collude with the Japanese to invade can have the qualifications to recruit surrenders. The Sha Boat Gang is also innocent in this regard. Of course, Zhou Mengchen did not think much about whether they were innocent or not at sea.

After all, the imperial court prohibited the sea and some behaviors at sea were illegal, which gave the sea its own rules and very cruel rules. This was also something Zhou Mengchen could tolerate.

The Sand Ship Gang is also preparing to surrender Fujian pirates.

All kinds of thoughts finally made Zhou Mengchen decide to promote the shipping matter.

Of course, Zhou Mengchen also knew that this thing was risky. But the risk was not insurmountable. Zhou Mengchen thought that as long as he was prepared and sailed on the coast, the sea was vast, it was not easy to intercept the fleet.

Although there were some dangers for the first time, Zhou Mengchen thought to clean up the sea first.

Wang Zongyuan didn't know Zhou Mengchen's thoughts, and was silent for a while and said, "Once there is a mistake, you and I will never be doomed. Is this possible? I will try my best to do it and try to complete this thing by the end of this year. If it really doesn't work, I will think about shipping again."

Zhou Mengchen said: "It's good."

Wang Zongyuan said: "If adults must transport it by sea, maybe they can find someone."

Zhou Mengchen said: "Who?"

Wang Zongyuan said: "Taizhou Wang Zongmu. He is the same subject as me, and now he is the deputy envoy of Jiangxi Dixue. I don't have a deep relationship with him, but after hearing his comments, he particularly favors shipping. He has also studied shipping and planned sea charts. He has a deep attainment in this regard. I don't know who the Shachuan Gang is, but this matter is always done by the court. If an adult does the shipping, it is appropriate to use Wang Zongmu."

Zhou Mengchen said, "Wang Zongmu, I've recorded it."

Now Zhou Mengchen is eager to seek talent. As long as he is talented, Zhou Mengchen wants to achieve great things. If Wang Zongmu really has a specialist in shipping, Zhou Mengchen will not only use it, but also use it.

Zhou Mengchen could not always govern the six provinces here, and he would always leave in the future. The later generations may not be as powerful as him, but he was already preparing to build an overseas yamen to manage all maritime affairs. Zhou Mengchen has not yet determined who the yamen will give to and who will do this matter. If Wang Zongmu is really talented, Zhou Mengchen will naturally not be stingy in promoting him.
Chapter completed!