Rebirth: Overthrow Song Dynasty - Chapter 627

“Caomin wait, see your majesty!” In the Quanzhou government office, hundreds of businessmen knelt down together and said in unison.

“Flat yourself!” Zhao Chen said.

At the moment, hundreds of businessmen stood up together. They looked at the young man in bright yellow dragon robe standing on the steps, and many people showed excitement in their eyes.

Many of these businessmen are retired military youths!

Since the Battle of the Gold Fight, soldiers have retired from the army one after another. These soldiers have been tempered in the army, and they are firm-minded, daring to take risks, and daring to open up. Many people even start a business business after returning to their hometowns, and the soldiers are extremely united. They help each other, and now the merchant group composed of veterans has accounted for nearly a quarter of the scale in Quanzhou.

Looking at Zhao Chen, they felt as if they were still in the army. The Emperor Song who led them to victory after victory was still in front of them, and some businessmen couldn’t help tears.

“This Quanzhou government has limited places, and I can’t entertain you well, come here, and get stools. Let’s have a good chat in this yard today.” Zhao Chen said.

At the moment, there were guards and government officials to fetch the stools. The merchants hesitated for a while, and finally sat down. Zhao Chen was also sitting there. Yu Yunwen and other ministers of the Ministry of Oceans were beside him.

“Overseas trade is very profitable, isn’t it?” Zhao Chen smiled as he looked at these businessmen.

“Your Majesty, we just made some hard money, but it’s better than farming in our hometown.” A man in his thirties sneered. He was a soldier who retired from Liu Qi’s army.

“Did you encounter difficulties when you wandered on the sea all year round?” Zhao Chen said.

“Generally there is no difficulty. When we started business, we didn’t have the capital. Later, we borrowed money from banks in various places. The business has gradually improved. Now, there is only one difficulty.” The man said.

“What’s the problem?” Zhao Chen said.

“Your Majesty, we go to the South China Sea to do business, where there are a lot of pirates! When I first went to sea, nearly half of my brothers were killed by pirates, and our goods were robbed by pirates!” the man said .

“Is the pirates in the South China Sea very rampant?” Zhao Chen frowned and said.

He has never received any relevant news! In fact, over the years, he was concerned first with the powerful enemies in the north and then with the basic system of the country. Things like South China Sea pirates would never be brought to him.

“Yes, Your Majesty, South China Sea pirates are very rampant! In the waters south of Annan, there are hundreds of pirate groups, large and small, and some of them unite to control the waters. If we want to pass the waters, we must give them a huge number of pirates. Travel expenses! If you don’t pay, it’s inevitable that people will die. They are very cruel. They often arrest my Han merchants and hang them in the scorching sun. There are many pirate camps in the South China Sea. The corpse of a Han businessman!” a 50-year-old businessman stood up and said.

“Your Majesty, there are Tianzhu merchants and Arab merchants in the South China Sea. Some of them colluded with pirates and deliberately detained our cargo ships. Then those Tianzhu merchants and Arab merchants transported and sold the goods, and then evenly shared with the pirates!” The more than years old businessman said.

“Have you ever reacted to the government?” Zhao Chen said.

“We have reacted to the government, but the government is helpless! There are too many pirates in the South China Sea. They are everywhere, and it is difficult for the government to encircle and suppress.” said the 30-year-old businessman who had spoken before.

“The local government really can’t help it! But we still have more than 100,000 navies in Song Dynasty, especially after the establishment of the Ministry of Oceans. The Council of Government knew that the ocean is related to the country’s transport, and paid great attention to maritime affairs! In the past few years, the navy has been in the north. The main reason is that Goryeo and Dongying are too close to Yenching. The Koreans looked at Liaodong, and there were Japanese pirates in Dongying. Under such circumstances, the navy’s primary task was to destroy Goryeo and Dongying! Now Korea and Dongying are gone, and the navy is finally gone. You can take your hand out to protect the interests of my Dasong merchants!” Zhao Chen said.

what!

The businessmen below all showed surprise smiles on their faces.

Zhao Chen thought for a while, and when he drew on the ground, it turned out to be a rough map of the South China Sea and West Asia. These maps come from his previous memories on the one hand, and from the collection of the Government Council over the years on the other.

“Which one of you will stand up and draw the sea line you often walk?” Zhao Chen said.

Someone stood up and began to mark the sea line on this map.

In this era, sea trade has been very developed. Merchants of the Song Dynasty set off from various ports and piers across the country, and finally passed through Annan and Malaysia, then crossed the Strait of Malacca into the Indian Ocean, and then reached Ceylon, which was the private interception of later generations, and then went north. Arrived in Guri! Kuri is where Kozhikode in later India is located. In this era, it is the center of world trade! Chinese businessmen, Indian businessmen, Arab businessmen, and European businessmen eventually went there and traded goods there! Famous nautical heroes such as Zheng He and Dakama in history have all been to Guli.

“Guri is in the hands of aliens. They levy a lot of taxes on us. This is very unfair to us. We can’t compete with local businessmen!”

“Your Majesty, it’s not just Guli. Starting from the South China Sea, as long as we stop and supply, we will be exploited!”

“I think pirates are the most hated!”

The businessmen started talking in a rush.

“I understand!” Zhao Chen said with a long sigh.

The businessmen stopped immediately, and they gathered around Zhao Chen, waiting for Zhao Chen to speak.

“This sea route is related to the interests of the empire! In Quanzhou, countless people are working. Except for some of these items, they are shipped to China, but more are shipped overseas. Not only Quanzhou, but Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Pyongyang, Kaijing, countless cities. There are people working in China, and many of them are shipped overseas! But overseas, our businessmen have encountered so much exploitation, and our money has been robbed by some robbers! I will not allow such things to continue to happen! There is no time to take care of it. Now that the domestic politics is stable, the system is perfect, and the annual harvest of food is increasing, it is time to deal with them! The territory of the empire is not only the ground, but also these sea routes! Yu Yunwen, you have a good discussion with the Ministry of Oceans. Now, how many soldiers and horses are needed to control these sea routes, how many materials, food and grass need to be used, and those cities that need to be occupied. Do you want to use civil officials to manage these places? When you go back, you will discuss with Wang Shu and the military department, and then act as soon as possible. “Zhao Chen said.

“Weichen abides by the decree.” Yu Yunwen nodded and said.

In the midsummer season of the 15th year of Xuanwu, Wu Lin and Wang Gui led two treasure ships, eighteen second-class blessed ships with a captain of more than 60 meters, more than 300 medium-sized warships, and more than 500 small warships. A total of 120,000 navies set off from Korea, Tianjin, Dengzhou and other places, heading southward in a mighty way.

In mid-June, the fleet was resupplying in the Quanzhou area. At the same time, more than a dozen experienced Quanzhou merchants and sailors boarded the warship to give directions to the fleet.

When the fleet left the ocean, cheers were everywhere. It was the first time that the merchants and people in Quanzhou saw such a large naval fleet, and for the first time they saw the strength of the imperial navy with their own eyes.

At the end of June, the fleet entered the South China Sea area.

There are hundreds of large and small pirate teams in the South China Sea, but among them, more than a dozen pirate teams are the largest. The fleet is divided into more than ten troops, and they respectively rush to the camps where these more than ten pirate teams are located, and first destroy their land strongholds. .

After more than a month, the Song Army Navy was almost devastated, and the pirates on the ground couldn’t match them.

In August, more than 700 pirate ships, large and small, gathered in the waters east of Kuala Lumpur.

They know the seas here very well. It was raining heavily this day, and they got news of a Song army fleet going south!

This Song Army fleet consists of more than 150 warships. There is no treasure ship inside, only a large blessed ship.

The heavy rain affected people’s sight, and this Song fleet did not know that it had been targeted by the pirates!

In the afternoon, they were attacked by more than 700 pirate ships!

Above the sea, the waves are rough, the rain is like a column, and the pirate ships surround it like a colony of ants!

The pirates had swords in their hands, and some had bows and arrows in their hands. They were getting closer and closer to the Song fleet. They thought that the Song fleet would retreat, but the Song fleet rushed up!

boom!

A loud and earth-shattering noise came over, almost deafening. The pirates didn’t know what was going on. Only the sharp-eyed pirates saw fire flashing across the lucky ship in the middle. Suddenly a huge appeared on the sea where the pirates were. The water column, the surrounding two small boats collapsed suddenly!

This is the thunderbolt artillery of the Song Army, but the most primitive artillery!

In the heavy rain, the pirates surrounded them, and the Song Army went straight forward to attack!

The Song Army’s attacks were dominated by thunderbolt artillery, rockets, fireballs, Song crossbows, etc. Even in heavy rain, the flames of rockets and fireballs were still difficult to extinguish! There are also huge crossbow arrows on the bows of all warships! This crossbow arrow is similar to the city guard crossbow, but it is much larger. Each crossbow can shoot three huge arrows with thick fingers at the same time, and one arrow can shoot through the pirate boat!

Sometimes, the Song Army warships will even directly rush up arrogantly! In the violent collision, the Song Army battleship was unharmed, while the pirate ships were smashed into pieces one after another!

Above the sea, shouting and killing sounded loudly, and more and more pirate ships were crushed! An overwhelming rain of arrows fell from the sky, and the pirates screamed and fell into a pool of blood one by one!

In less than half an hour, the pirates began to rout, and Song Jun was chasing them closely behind! Song warships are much faster than them, and it is difficult for pirates to escape!

It was not until October that the Song Army completely eliminated the pirates in the South China Sea. After that, the Song Army established ports and wharves at the five most important strongholds in the South China Sea, including the later Malacca.

In November, 10,000 army troops from the north were transported to these five piers. The State Council sent officials to establish customs here to further control the sea line.

Until the first month of the 16th year of Xuanwu, Wu Lin and Wang Gui once again led the fleet through the Strait of Malacca, all the way west into the Indian Ocean.