Mid June. The Qingyuan Mansion of the Song Dynasty was also the famous trading port Mingzhou. According to the practice of the Song Dynasty, after the emperor ascended the throne, the location of his late residence was promoted from prefecture to prefecture, so the current official name of Mingzhou became Qingyuan Prefecture.
The weather is very good today. There is a gentle breeze blowing on the sea, the sun is shining, and the waves are carrying golden scales. Countless towering sails rise and fall with the waves, making the queue of neatly moored boats show a dynamic rhythm at the same time.
Between the sides of giant ships such as Red Horse and White Harrier, which are as tall as city walls, there are also small warships such as loach ships, ten-foot ships, and mackerel ships going back and forth.
On Lanshan Island, close to this sea area, there is a town called Liaofang. In the town, merchants, sailors and fishermen gathered. These weathered sailors gathered lively in taverns outside several large warehouses on the island, waiting for the upcoming opportunity to sail.
They were not stingy with the money in their hands, bought wine and drank heavily, greeted random people they were familiar with but not familiar with, and feasted on all kinds of fish cooked in various ways.
This city alone, which relies on land-based consumption, pays as much as 710 taxes to the court every month.
The amount of tax attributable to the Municipal Shipping Department far exceeds that. There are a total of fourteen such markets on the three islands of Yin County.
Yin County itself is only one of the four counties under Qingyuan Prefecture in Mingzhou. It can be seen that there are real mountains of gold and silver seas on the sea road, and it is true.
High up in Li'aofang, there is a luxurious restaurant that can overlook the naval warships. In the restaurant, the two of them sat opposite each other, drinking and chatting.
"Since the Tang Dynasty, this place has been a big country in the southeast, with three seas and three vertical seas, connecting Haidai in the north and controlling Korea and Japan in the east. When Emperor Gaozong of this dynasty visited the south, he stationed in Lin'an, and Qingyuan Mansion was particularly important. . Dinghai County under the jurisdiction of the prefecture is the center where the North and South Sea Roads meet. Its situation is facing the ocean to the east and the sea is open, making it an excellent location for the navy to station."
"So after the establishment of Qiantang in the Song Dynasty, the coastal system was first established in Dinghai, Mingzhou. Later, the Xupu Navy was set up in Pingjiang, Ganpu Navy was set up in Jiaxing, the Navy was set up in Dinghai, Mingzhou, and there were many naval forces. Distributed throughout the country and used as Lin'anxing's maritime defense gateway."
"When the Dinghai Navy was first established, there were 60 ships and more than 4,000 sailors, subordinate to the famous general Xu Wen and Xu Da Dao. Unfortunately, not long after, Xu Wen led dozens of warships across the sea and returned to the puppets. Qi, and later in the Jin Kingdom, they were under the command of troops and horses on the Shandong Road. The person sent by the imperial court to clean up the situation and review the navy again was another northerner, Ma Kuo, who was then the deputy privy capital. Ma Kuo was in charge of coastal control. After appointing the deputy envoy, he organized and trained soldiers, added warships, and re-expanded the Dinghai Navy to hundreds of warships and 10,000 troops. Later, the Dinghai Navy moved to Xupu and was transferred to the Yuqian Navy. The re-established naval force of the Department of Construction is still an indispensable maritime force along the coast." At this point, the young man who spoke used his elbows to drive, with a look of pride on his face: "Brother Zhou, look at this Can the navy be majestic?" Zhou Keshan, who was sitting opposite him, smiled and said: "When going in and out of the wind and waves, it is like walking on flat ground, and the sound is far-reaching and can be heard thousands of miles away. When I was traveling between Gaoyou, Chuzhou and other places in Huaidong, I have also heard people praise the strength of Dinghai's army spread across both the inner and outer oceans. This is the Great Wall of the country. Without Mr. Boke to assist Zhang Tiju in stabilizing the sea frontier, how would it be possible for merchants like us to run around and make profits?" This young man's name is Lu Wu, whose courtesy name is Boke, and he is from Xixian County.
He was a Jinshi for the fourth year of Jiading, and served as the chief secretary of Wucheng and the magistrate of Dangtu County. In recent years, because he had disobeyed Shi Miyuan by writing letters and speaking out, his official career was not smooth. He was temporarily promoted to the east of Zhejiang and appointed as the procurator of the coastal system. Zhang Liang's friends were running around behind the scenes.
Although this person is just a staff member, his position is actually extremely critical and he has great influence along the coast. Since the opening of the Jubilee Festival, the imperial court, under the pressure from the Kingdom of Jin, has greatly weakened the construction of the maritime navy, and huge amounts of wealth have been invested in the various navies along the river.
Therefore, the various navies under the Coastal Planning and Construction Department are often in a panic. Fortunately, Lu Wu suggested to Zhang Liangpeng that when the various navies went to sea to suppress the bandits, all the pirate boats should be given to the army. This opened up an opportunity for the various navies to make money.
Since then, the various navies of the Song Dynasty have actually entered a stage of self-sufficiency. For example, the Dinghai Navy, which is a close neighbor of the city's shipping department, has collaborated with each other to make money at sea.
In this regard, the imperial court could only acquiesce. At this moment, the grain smuggling trade led by the Ding Navy was greatly affected by Shi Xiang's order.
On the surface, the huge amount of materials cannot pass the level of the Municipal Shipping Department; but secretly, it is the navy under the Coastal Shipping Department that actually implements the interception of maritime merchant ships.
For this reason, Zhou Keshan met and negotiated with Lu Wu many times through Zhang Kai's relationship half a month ago. From Zhou Keshan's perspective, you, the Qingliu people, are Shi Miyuan's mortal enemies and are against him in everything.
Previously, you were frightened by the changes in the political situation in Dajin, so you just yelled a few words. Now that Shi Miyuan wants to block trade with Ding Haijun, why don't you change your tune?
Shouldn't smart people secretly support this trade and use huge amounts of trade proceeds to arouse the response of the whole court and slap the Prime Minister in the face?
How could there be any reason to work together with Shi Xiang to oppose Ding Haijun? Zhou Keshan has always been good at communicating with others. He invited him to drink wine several times and explained his story repeatedly.
Lu Wu was embarrassed to be cold-faced, so Zhou Keshan gradually tried to find out the thoughts of Lu Wu and others.
In the eyes of these gentlemen in the Song Dynasty court, there was absolutely no room for communication between the Dinghai Navy of the Jin Dynasty and the Dinghai Navy of the Song Dynasty; the Coastal Construction Department and the Shipping Department of the Song Dynasty, and even many gentlemen, had no relationship with the powerful officials of the Jin Dynasty. There is absolutely no room for communication.
The Qingliu people's proposal to block the grain trade actually had nothing to do with the Marshal Du of the Kingdom of Jin.
They just want to set off a trend in the DPRK to suppress the powerful and support orthodoxy. Once this trend occurs, it will slap Shi Xiang in the face every moment.
As for whether the powerful ministers of the Jin Kingdom will suffer losses, whether they will be angry after suffering losses, and whether they will react after being angry, what does that have to do with all the virtuous ministers?
The imperial court of the Song Dynasty traveled south for hundreds of years. It was possible for the Qingliu people to cut off the Sui coins, and it was possible to raise troops for the Northern Expedition. But couldn't they just block sea trade?
Anyway, the person in power is Shi Xiang, and Shi Xiang is undoubtedly a traitor. So in contrast, what we say and do is upright and without scruples.
If any problems arise after the implementation is implemented, it will naturally be dealt with by the Prime Minister. Shi Xiang believed that he agreed with the Qingliu people's call to block trade, which would cause dissatisfaction among the high-ranking clans who relied on sea trade.
The two parties confront each other, causing chaos in the court, and no one can benefit. But he doesn't understand, do we gentlemen care about the chaos in the court?
What does the chaos in the court have to do with us? When the court is in chaos, there is a chance to clean it up. If the court is in chaos, Shi Xiang himself will be in dire straits.
As long as the Prime Minister Shi's position can be shaken, it will be victory! The stormy waves in the court are also a victory! Even if the Prime Minister was furious about this, he would at most demote a few officials and ministers, so what?
Are there not many political opponents who have been kicked out of the court by Prime Minister Shi in recent years? When Lu Wu made it clear, Zhou Keshan could only smile bitterly.
This kind of confrontation between two parties, involving an unrelated third party, is the most troublesome. Both parties use the third party as a weapon of attack, but they do not care about the interests of the third party, nor the consequences of the damage to the third party's interests.
Lu Wu really has this confidence. Today he specially made an appointment with Zhou Keshan here to let Zhou Keshan see with his own eyes the huge scale and tyrannical strength of the Dinghai Army of the Song Dynasty. He wanted Zhou Keshan to know that this kind of strife within the Song Dynasty was not the result of the north. Within the Kingdom of Jin, a Han warlord who appeared out of nowhere could intervene.
After all, the northern Han'er's hands could not reach the south, and there was no force at sea that could shake the Song navy.
This unreasonable disaster, the Marshal of the Kingdom of Jin behind Zhou Keshan, is destined to suffer, there is no way!
Lu Wu raised the wine pot with rare courtesy and poured wine for Zhou Keshan. The clear wine stirred in the jade porcelain cup, making a pleasant sound.
And Lu Wu said in a deep voice: "Mr. Zhou, you might as well bear it for a while and stop making trouble!"
