The world is bitter and cold in the north, and the spring breeze has quietly blown in Jinling City.

Hou Xuanyan was covered in spring breeze and laughed constantly. He was surrounded by wealthy merchants and gentry in Jinling City.

All the tax-resistant families were cleaned up, and the industrial vacancy they left was soon replaced by those obedient families. Jiangnan's commercial taxation has reached a new level. Today, the Duke of Yue issued a wide invitation and invited them to visit Jinling together to celebrate.

Wu Jikun donated 300,000 yuan to provide relief to refugees who fled from the north. When Hou Xuanyan saw him, he reached out to pull him to his side just like he saw his relatives. The others were very jealous and wanted to go back and gritted their teeth and bought this kind of treatment.

Wu Jikun is an authentic Jinling native, and every street is very familiar. He smiled and introduced to Hou Xuanyan: "Master General, look ahead, there is the place where Zheng and Eunuch Zheng built treasure ships during the Yongle period of this dynasty. It was formerly called Longjiang Shipyard."

Hou Xuanyan looked up and saw seven rivers in front of him that were so straight that they could only lead to the Yangtze River. The seven rivers were not too far away from each other, and they looked quite spectacular.

"The atmosphere of Yongle is indeed well-known." Hou Xuanyan looked at this big hand and praised. Emperor Yongle's courage was different. Anything left behind had a huge feeling. It makes people imagine how powerful the Ming Dynasty was at that time.

Hou Xuanyan became interested and said, "I have heard that our treasure ships were the best in the world at that time. It turned out that they were all made from here. Let's go and take a look."

Wu Jikun looked a little embarrassed, but when he saw Hou Xuanyan's enthusiasm, he still followed him forward.

Walking into the dock is completely different from the magnificent view outside. Several docks appear at the junction of the pond. Each dock ranges from ten to thirty feet, and the length is 160 or 70 feet. There is no empty boat in the dock. There are sluices, wooden bridges, and stone cities on the dock, but it seems that weeds are everywhere and desolate.

In the middle of the dock, there are many naughty children playing here. They are all descendants of boatmen. You can see that they are very poor at the sight of their passing. Waiting for a pair of eyes, looking at these uninvited guests.

Hou Xuan's intentions are unsuccessful. There is no need to introduce it at this time, and we also know that this place has been abandoned for a long time.

Wu Jikun smiled bitterly and said, "The shipbuilding craftsmen are all passed down from father to son and son to grandson. After a lifetime, they can't eat. They have to find some small workshops and do some wooden work secretly."

He said, and took his eyes to watch Hou Xuanyan. All this was not disguised, and it all came into Hou Xuanyan's eyes.

Hou Xuanyan Zhan Yan smiled and said, "I said that today I'm traveling to the river, why did you take me to the desolate and vegetation that grows everywhere? Haha, it turns out that I'm waiting for me here."

What a person Wu Jikun is? He had long seen that Yue Guo was very open and supported these emerging things. He could see from the last spinning wheel. He did not hide it, and laughed and said, "Duke, although this dock is abandoned, there are still many craftsmen who retain the skills of his ancestors. The ships that are coming and going in Songjiang Prefecture are not enough, so why should we place a good dock and let it grow water plants?"

Hou Xuanyan stood up and looked back. Everyone behind him stared at him with hopeful eyes in his eyes. It was obvious that these people were very hungry, and cargo ships traveling to and from Japan were making money every day, and more and more people were involved in maritime merchants. But there were only a few merchant ships produced every year. How could these business opportunities be seen among them, those who have been immersed in business for half their lives?

Hou Xuanyan never minds that others make money. It’s not that if you make too much money under my rule, I will be jealous. This is also the reason why he is very popular with these merchants. As long as the commercial tax is paid on time and no fraudulent accounts are made, the Duke of Yue can be regarded as the best person in power when dealing with merchants.

Hou Xuanyan pondered for a moment, and had a certain plan in his heart, but he just didn't say it. He smiled humbly and said, "I've been walking a lot today, and my stomach is empty. I'll find a place to have a meal first before talking about it."

The merchants were anxious to listen to his arrangements and had good skills to divide this piece of fat. Who knew that the following suddenly disappeared and was so anxious that they scratched their heads.

After all, Wu Jikun is an old fox. He knows that as long as the Duke of Yue agrees to reopen the dock, he will never gain nothing as the largest merchant in Jinling.

He bent over and smiled, "The grass people have prepared a banquet long ago. They are in the pavilion by the river, please invite the Duke."

Hou Xuanyan followed them to a pavilion with high eaves of mahogany by the river, and two personal guards stood behind them one on the left and one on the right.

Wu Jikun clapped his hands and dozens of maids outside the pavilion, like butterflies, placed dishes one by one. Except for a few top-notch merchants, other merchants were guarding the pavilion. Hou Xuan spoke: "Although it is elegant in the pavilion, it is better to have fun alone than to have fun. It is better to go outside and place it on the ground and make everyone lively, which is interesting."

Wu Jikun's eyes lit up, and he looked at Hou Xuanyan's eyes with more admiration, and said, "Since the Duke of the Kingdom has such a good mood, let's go outside to have a drink with the Duke of the Kingdom."

Although the businessmen who were originally staying outside were not a wealthy family, they were all rich.

I saw the maid inside, carrying wine and vegetables to the green grass by the river, spreading it with fine silk satin.

Hou Xuanyan squatted on the ground casually and said, "Come on, sit down, let's eat and talk."

The merchants felt warm and squatted on the ground politely. Hou Xuanyan reached out and teared up a piece of meat that was made of inexplicable. It was made of fancy and beautiful. It was bitten and juice overflowed and melted in the mouth.

"Longjiang Dock, I'm going to contract out. Whoever you have this intention can take this opportunity to mention it to me."

Everyone's hearts were stuttering, as if they had drunk wine, a chubby, white-faced middle-aged man asked, "Duke, why do you call a contractor?"

"I will hand over the dock to you. As long as I give me three warships every year, or when I need them, I will drive them out as soon as possible. At other times, the ships I build are your own. If there are more than three, even if I want you to build a ship, I will pay you a reward. My skills in the shipbuilding workshop in Songjiang can also be shared with the Longjiang dock. What I want is your business capabilities."

Hou Xuanyan heard this saying in later generations that selling any state-owned enterprise on the verge of bankruptcy to private individuals can make a huge profit. In this era of great voyage, merchants are destined to be pioneers. If they blindly take over the big responsibilities and cannot mobilize the enthusiasm of these profit-seeking people, even if they drive away Manren, they are destined to fall behind. After all, they have tried their best to drive Manren away from China, not to be the second Kang Mazi.
Chapter completed!