My life skills in Daming Liver

Inspector Wang entered Nanping City with the caravan, but he didn't know that Su Ze, whom he wanted to see, had already taken leave of absence and returned to Changningwei.

After Wang Daokun entered Nanping City, he did not alarm the government, but stayed directly in an inn.

He first asked the book boy to buy the latest issues of "Surprise", and then asked the book boy to go to the bookstore to inquire whether "You Xue Qiong Lin" and "Gu Wen Guan Zhi" were in stock, and he asked him to collect information about famous young scholars in the local area.

Wang Daokun's job was to inspect schools. In addition to presiding over the provincial examinations in Fujian, he also had the responsibility of picking up the school administration in a province. He was like an imperial envoy sent by the imperial court to inspect the local cultural and educational work.

At this time, Su Ze had returned to Changningwei.

County schools have one day off at the end of each month, and one day off at the end of the month.

These days, Su Ze didn't have any vacations. During his vacations, he was always asking Hai Rui for his homework, and he also had time to help Hai Rui teach in the middle of the month.

Taking advantage of the end of the middle ten days, Su Ze asked Hai Rui for a six-day vacation and returned to Changningwei.

Hai Rui saw that Su Ze was studying hard and knew that he was a very self-disciplined person, so he granted him a vacation.

In the past, it took Su Ze a full day to return to Changningwei from the county seat on Jiu Auntie's donkey.

Later, it took half a day to ride the rough horse that Hai Rui had borrowed.

Now, riding Yu Zongyuan to the good horse, it only takes less than two hours to return to Changningwei from Nanping County.

This time Su Ze not only came back by himself, but also brought canned black tea. He returned to Changningwei this time to go to Yuegang.

Selling black tea, buying more guns and cannons, and collecting western books are the main tasks for Su Ze to go to Yuegang.

With the restoration of order at sea in Fujian, Lin Mojun's income from robbing merchant ships by pretending to be a deer king has gradually declined.

But Su Ze is also very clear that they are not real Japanese pirates after all. The current situation in Fujian is actually caused by the common expectations of the three parties, not because of the strength of King Deer's tiger skin.

No matter how big the tiger skin of King Lu is, can it be as big as Xu Feng and Wang Zhi's tiger skin?

It's not that the Anti-Japanese War in Zhejiang is intensifying, it's not as peaceful as Fujian.

Su Ze's rule of only robbing merchant ships not flying the Yuegang flag maintained the interests of smuggling merchants, and even reduced the escort costs of these merchants.

At that time, the supervisor Zhu Wan broke through Shuangyu Bay. With such a huge contribution, Zhu Wan himself was deeply trusted by the emperor. In the end, he was framed and suspended for suicide. The power of Fujian smuggling businessmen can be seen.

The "Deer King" did not intrude on the local area, saved the face of officials from top to bottom in Fujian, and maintained the state of "nothing happened in the sea and borders".

However, this stable relationship will definitely change with the situation of Zhejiang's anti-Japanese war.

As long as the anti-corruption situation in Zhejiang is reversed, the officials of various departments in Fujian will definitely have new ideas.

And once the Zhejiang Japanese pirates retreat, some of them will naturally flood into Fujian, which will inevitably destroy the tacit understanding between the "Deer King" and the government's maritime merchants.

So now is a rare honeymoon period, and it is also the most suitable period for doing business. This is why Su Ze also went to Yuegang before the provincial examination.

"I also need to go!"

Lin Mojun said immediately when she heard that Su Ze was going to Yuegang.

Since getting engaged, Lin Mojun's attitude towards Su Ze has been as usual, and Su Ze has quickly adjusted his mentality.

But Lin Mojun strongly demanded to go to Yuegang with her, Su Ze was still a little uncomfortable.

"I'm either going there as King Deer, or I'm going to Moon Harbor disguised as a merchant ship to inquire about the situation."

Lin Mojun said firmly: "I know, I will go with you."

"You went, what to do at sea?"

Lin Mojun curled her lips and said, "I don't need me at sea. I just need to patrol regularly under the banner of King Deer. Now there is no ship in Fujian sea that can be robbed."

Su Ze thought about it. A place like Yuegang where there are mixed fish and dragons is really not safe. Lin Mojun is obviously a good helper because of her high martial arts skills.

That being the case, Su Ze also said straightforwardly: "Then trouble Baihu to go with me."

In addition to Lin Mojun, Lin Deqing, the shopkeeper of the bookstore, went to Yuegang with Su Ze this trip.

Since Jianyang's publishing industry was destroyed by Japanese pirates, it still hasn't recovered.

Although Lin Deqing has a dull personality, he is not good at attracting new customers like those shopkeepers who can get acquainted with others.

But he has a down-to-earth and stable personality, and he is also very particular about rules. Instead, he has won the trust of scholars in Nanping County and often asks him to help find books.

Yuegang is not only a port for foreign trade, but also a hub for Fujian's trade with the north.

When Jianyang's printing business was booming, it only took 15 days for new books published in Zhili in the north and south to appear in Yuegang.

The huge vacancy in Jianyang publishing industry made Lin Deqing keenly grasp the opportunity.

Books were a huge profit in the Ming Dynasty, and pirated books were even more profitable.

Lin Deqing is going to Yuegang to see if there are any best-selling books in Zhili in the north and south, and bring them back to Nanping City for Yao Chun to pirate and print them for sale.

Su Ze didn't expect Lin Deqing, an honest man, to be so business-minded, but he still supported his idea.

In addition to Lin Deqing, Su Ze also brought Uncle Lin Qishu, a farming expert.

Although the seedling degradation of potatoes and sweet potatoes has not yet occurred, Su Ze still needs to make preparations early.

Hybridization is also a way to prevent seedlings from degenerating. Su Ze is going to look at the market in Yuegang to see if there are any plant seeds from South America.

In addition to potatoes and sweet potatoes, peppers and corn in South America are also very good crops. At the same time, there is also a cash crop that Su Ze really wants to get—tobacco.

Of course Su Ze doesn't plan to plant tobacco to poison the people of the country, but it can be exported!

Tobacco is an extremely profitable product, and the export of tobacco from Fujian in the Qing Dynasty replaced tea, porcelain and silk and became the most important export product of the Qing Dynasty.

The climate and soil in Penghu are also suitable for growing tobacco. The earliest colonization movement in Penghu also started with the cultivation of cash crops such as sugar cane and tobacco. Only such profitable products can attract investment from other landlords and wealthy businessmen. Su Ze alone Or the strength of Changningwei, it is difficult to complete a large-scale colonization movement.

In addition, Su Ze also brought the old priest Pierre with him. After looking at the moon with a telescope, the old Pierre managed to recover and regained his faith in God.

In these years, the missionaries in the East are very adventurous to be honest, and the basic level of missionaries is the intellectual class in the West. Su Ze also wants to abduct some Jesuit missionaries to Changningwei through Pierre.

As for the method of abducting people, let Pierre "show his own testimony" and say that he "convinced" a knight lord of the Ming Dynasty, converted to Catholicism, and established a Catholic stronghold in the southern coastal knights of the Ming Dynasty. These fanatical missionaries Aren't you rushing over here?

In order to ensure safety, Lin Mojun also brought 30 well-trained bird gunners, and a group of them boarded a merchant ship robbed by King Lu, hung the flag of Yuegang, and headed south to Zhangzhou.

With the experience of the last voyage, Su Ze was finally free from seasickness. He looked at the sea scenery with a telescope, but soon got tired of watching it.

"If the journey is smooth, it will only take two days to reach Moon Harbor."

Relying on Captain Alfonso's chart, Lin Mojun quickly deduced the voyage.

Yuegang is now Haicheng County, Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province. Zhangzhou and Nanping are one in the south and one in the north of Fujian. If you go by land for less than half a month, you will definitely not be able to get there.

But the sea transportation is so convenient. According to the notes of the Ming Dynasty people at that time, it only takes 15 days to travel from Yuegang to Malacca with the wind, so the convenience of sea navigation can be imagined.

In the eyes of modern people, taking a boat is not a convenient way to travel, but in the 16th century, sailing boats were like airplanes, which greatly shortened the distance of the whole world, making places that could not be reached in a lifetime become Coordinates on the nautical chart.

The peak period of all this was the empire on which the sun never sets. Relying on sea power and advanced navigation technology, the British raced around the world and established a huge maritime empire.

After sailing for a day and a half, the number of ships in the surrounding waters gradually increased.

These ships are all flying the flag of Yuegang, but they still keep a cautious distance from each other. The probability of encountering pirates at sea these days is much higher than that of their peers.

Relying on the "Deer King" to maintain order, the large pirate gangs are gone now, but they are not in order. Seeing that the moon is dark and the wind is high, merchant ships can also play pirates. Anyway, the sea is vast, and you can only blame yourself for being robbed. .

Although Su Ze's ship is not big, it is equipped with two Flang cannons and one Hongyi cannon. Originally, Su Ze was looking forward to a sea adventure, but he did not expect that the passing ships would move far away. Didn't come over blindly to rob.

Seeing Su Ze's dejected look, Lin Mojun said, "You don't seem to be disappointed that you weren't robbed?"

Su Ze shook his head quickly, and Lin Mojun said: "Next time I will take you to rob, the sea here is not suitable for robbing, next time I will take you to a better place."

"Why is it not suitable for robbery?"

"It's close to the coast, and it won't be fast after the robbery is over. There are also many hidden reefs nearby. If it runs aground, the loss outweighs the gain."

major!

Lin Mojun turned her head away when Su Ze looked at her, and said angrily, "It's not that you have led me into trouble. Now that I go out to sea, I spend all day thinking about where to rob and how to gain the upper hand. It's all your fault!"

When the two were arguing, the watchman shouted, "I saw the port!"

Su Ze took out the binoculars, and sure enough, he saw the fort built on the mountain in the distance. This is the defensive fort built by Yuegang with a lot of money.

The people on the boat naturally cheered, and Lin Mojun didn't have time to quarrel with Su Ze, so she directly took over the rudder and prepared to drive the boat into the port.

Seeing the ships on the sea, Su Ze was also amazed. Yuegang is indeed the largest port in the east at present. It is really spectacular that the ships waiting to enter the port can line up in long queues.

Seeing the fast-moving fleet, Su Ze finally knew why Yuegang disappeared from the long river of history after a short period of glory.

Moon Harbor is not a good seaport. It is a port where rivers and seas meet. The channel to enter the port is very narrow, the throughput of the port is not large, and there is a hidden reef area that is easy to run aground.

It can be said that this port has been a smuggling port from the beginning. The reason for its rise is that it is backed by the hinterland of Fuzhou, Quanzhou and Xiamen, and its location is easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Because of the sea ban, better ports such as Fuzhou, Quanzhou, and Xiamen cannot dock. For safety, they can only dock at Yuegang.

After the opening and closing of Longqing, the foreign trade channel resumed, so merchant ships would naturally prefer to stop at large ports with better navigation.

However, according to the normal historical development, Yuegang still has nearly ten years of prosperity. After the Japanese pirates were basically put down in the thirty-seventh year of Jiajing, it ushered in the most prosperous period.

After understanding this point, Su Ze's sense of expectation for Yuegang has dropped a lot. After all, Yuegang is only a small fishing port. The port conditions are similar to those of Quanzhou in the Tang and Song Dynasties, when "ships are connected and boundless." There is no way to compare the natural big port.

The hardware strength of Yuegang is indeed not good, but the software is still good.

When it was about to enter the port, a small boat came to guide Su Ze's ship into the port. Under the guidance of the pilot ship, the ship entered the moon port in an orderly manner.

Father Pierre has also been to many major ports in the world, and he still praised Yuegang: "Moonport is the most orderly port in the world. I really can't understand why Ming Dynasty is so unwilling to open its port."

Su Ze also couldn't figure out why the Ming Dynasty banned the sea. When it gradually approached the Yuegang Wharf, the charm of the city began to show.

There are a large number of bare-chested wharf laborers in the port. As long as they give money, they can move any goods from the ship, even things like artillery.

There is a row of buildings along the coast, and the Moon Harbor Chamber of Commerce is among them. The Chamber of Commerce with the Moon Harbor flag flying is the tallest building in that row.

In addition, Su Ze also saw the cross sign, the crescent moon sign, and various flags that Su Ze could not name.

"Yuegang actually allowed you to set up a church?"

Father Pierre said: "Of course not, it's their Portuguese business house, and they hung up the flag themselves."

Su Ze nodded. All orthodox Chinese empires have a very strict attitude towards foreign religions. During the Kaiyuan period, the number of Manichaeism in Quanzhou Port increased greatly in the Tang Dynasty. Li Longji announced the ban on religion and expelled all Manichaeism in Quanzhou Port. believer.

These Westerners are doing business well. If they are really allowed to preach, the government will not turn a blind eye.

"What about them?"

Pierre gritted his teeth and said, "That's Ottoman's shop."

"Can the Ottomans also come to Daming?"

"It's all the damned Spaniards. Manila allows the Ottoman ships to dock so that their ships can reach Moonport."

Su Ze quickly understood that the Portuguese wanted to monopolize the route to the East, and in Southeast Asia and East Asia, the Spaniards and Ottomans who wanted to break the blockade were allies.

But you, Pierre, a Frenchman who is a filial son of the Catholic Church, what right do you have to blame the Spaniards?

When the merchant ship arrived at the port, since there was a shop, there was no need to search for Xiyi all over the street. Su Ze paid someone to carry the black tea and headed towards the shop.