In Jijiazhuangzi, Li An was hurriedly found by the old housekeeper as soon as he returned to his residence.
"Sir, something happened!"
Li An was stunned for a moment, but ignored it. Instead, he put down the book in his hand and asked: "What happened? Speak slowly, the sky will not fall."
The old housekeeper was a little anxious when he heard this and said: "It's the emperor. The emperor has decreed that all private merchant ships with a weight of more than 3,000 stones should be gathered in Mingzhou and Dengzhou ports. He said that they will be converted into warships and sent to the battlefield."
"Now none of us can hide anymore. What should we do?"
No wonder the old housekeeper was anxious. They were traveling under the guise of others. Over the years, they had accumulated more than ten large ships worth more than three thousand stones. If they were commandeered by the emperor, all their secrets would be revealed.
"Recruiting merchant ships?"
Li An frowned and said to himself: "Is there anything else we don't know about this naval battle? That it has already reached the point of recruiting private merchant ships?"
"Yes, sir, not only us, but also all the major families have been informed by the imperial court that all ships with a size of more than three thousand stones must be combined, otherwise they will be punished for delaying the war opportunity!"
Li An walked back and forth a few times and said directly: "Here, hand over all the merchant ships to the court!"
"this........."
Now it was the steward's turn to hesitate. If they handed over all of this, their efforts over the years would be in vain. These are more than a dozen large ships worth more than 3,000 stones, and they are still ranked high even on the sea.
Moreover, the court may sound nice, but if the war goes against their will, all their ships will be in vain.
"rest assured!"
Perhaps knowing what the old housekeeper was thinking, Li An suddenly smiled and said, "If we were just recruiting private ships, I would still be worried that the imperial court would renege on its promise, but the ships of the aristocratic families have all been recruited, which shows that the imperial court has never thought of going back on its word." . Once it fails to be fulfilled, even my second uncle may not end up well!"
"Tell me, if the imperial court can come up with a plan, it must have a commitment, otherwise it will be in vain to mobilize the world's ships. This is unjustifiable. If there is no interest trend, it will be a ghost."
The old housekeeper hesitated and said: "I heard that there is compensation. It is said that anyone or a family who donates a ship can choose an overseas territory not exceeding ten miles in radius after the war is over, and will be protected by the Tang Dynasty... ..."
Li An was shocked and said in disbelief: "How is this possible?"
The old housekeeper also smiled bitterly and said: "Who says it's not the case? When the old slave heard the news, he was also shocked and thought someone was talking nonsense. But now everyone in Chang'an knows that it doesn't look like a lie. "
"What a great gesture!"
At this time, Li An had to admire the court's courage, and it was a generous move. A territory of ten miles in radius may not sound big, but this territory is comparable to the size of a town.
If it were developed into fields, it would be more than 100,000 acres of land. After this calculation, who would dare to say that the territory is small?
Based on the calculation that ten acres of land can feed one person, this can feed at least more than 10,000 people. In this case, who would dare to say that the imperial court is stingy?
But the more this happened, the more he understood one thing. That is my good husband, Ji Song, the Duke of the Kingdom of Nan, who is definitely in big trouble at sea. He can make the emperor make such a decision and pay such a price. It can be seen that the enemies at sea have put great pressure on him!
"Then young master, we should..."
Li An waved his hand and said excitedly: "Don't we always want a piece of our own territory? Isn't this an opportunity? The ten-mile radius is indeed a little small, but who can say for sure in the future?"
"Tell the people below to fully cooperate with the court's arrangements. No one is allowed to violate the rules. Once this master finds out, you will know the consequences."
"It is more appropriate. I am a member of the royal family of the Tang Dynasty first, and then other identities. The court must not be delayed in this matter."
The old housekeeper was startled when he heard this, but said nothing more. But the light in his eyes has some indescribable meaning!
"Old slave, you obey!"
....................................
At Zheng Qian's residence, he knew the news from the court relatively early. But he didn't make a decision immediately. He is the head of the Zheng family and represents the interests of the entire Zheng family. He cannot ignore the interests of the family for the sake of his own feelings.
Today, all the principals of the Zheng family in Chang'an came to Zheng Qian's residence. Their trip was to decide whether to respond to the imperial decree. After all, they are at the key point of exonerating overseas. Once the ship is handed over, it is unlikely that they will be able to make a difference at sea in a short period of time. This is not something they can endure.
"Let's all talk about whether we should respond to the imperial court's call or not!"
Zheng Qian did not pretend to be mysterious, but said directly: "You all know the matter. The fate of the Pei family is right in front of you. The person our family sent out was called back by me some time ago. I wanted to have a good talk, but Who would have thought that he died suddenly and suddenly."
He said with some sadness: "He did quite well outside. I was also influenced by the Pei family at the beginning, so I asked him to come back. I didn't think about what to do with him, but he himself... .”
"Hey, this is all my fault. You shouldn't be impatient."
Seeing that Zheng Qian was so hypocritical, everyone was looking at his nose and his heart, as if they didn't hear anything.
"But the head of the family doesn't have to be like this. The incident with the Pei family has sounded the alarm for us. The man had something in his heart. He committed suicide and apologized to save his face. Moreover, his family has also been well settled. The head of the family has done his best to be benevolent and righteous. Don’t worry about it!”
The Zheng family is in a period of decline. There are very few outstanding members of the family, but this speaker is a rare talent of the Zheng family in Xingyang. When he heard what he said, Zheng Qian sighed and said: "But after all, it is because I am eager. , which caused such an incident, but the person is no longer here, so I can only make good arrangements for their family."
"Doesn't he have a daughter? I happen to have a good relationship with Mr. Xi. I'll write to you about this and let the child go to a women's school!"
Everyone looked at each other in shock when they heard this. Although they didn't know what they were thinking, they said: "The master of the house is kind!"
"Since everyone has no objections, this matter has been decided. Regarding the ships, we will implement them according to the imperial court's orders. However, in order to make up for everyone's losses, the territorial clans mentioned by the imperial court will not need them, and everyone will divide them according to their contribution. Come on!"
"Thank you, Master, we will definitely not neglect this matter!"
Everyone was overjoyed when they heard what Zheng Qian said.
The Zheng family is now controlled by Zheng Qian. Apart from their own private property, they can't touch anything else in the clan. They thought they would get nothing this time just like before. But who knew that the owner of the family would be so generous.
According to the Zheng family's size at sea, they may not be able to occupy a hundred miles of land this time. That is millions of acres of land. Even if it is divided among everyone, there will definitely be no less.
People who were still a little resentful towards Zheng Qian were actually a little grateful.
After everyone left, the new housekeeper stepped forward and said, "Master, are you taking it too easy on them? That's hundreds of miles of territory, so just divide it up like this?"
Zheng Qian glanced at him, stood up and said, "Not only them, but you old people will also have a share. They are all dedicated to the family and have worked hard without complaint. How can I favor one over the other?"
"A land of hundreds of miles? This was a country that could be established before the pre-Qin Dynasty. Your Majesty is quite generous!"
When the housekeeper heard this, he knelt on the ground excitedly and said loudly: "This old slave will die for the master of the house!"
"Get up, who can't die? Let's all live well, the good days are yet to come!"
Zheng Qian smiled and patted his shoulder and said, "Go ahead and do what I told you. You don't have to worry about the rest."
"Yes, old slave, please resign!"
Watching the housekeeper leave, Zheng Qian squinted his eyes and didn't know what he was thinking. The previous housekeeper passed away some time ago. It was said that he died of a stroke, but who knows?
.................................................................
As soon as the imperial decree came out, everyone started to move. Everyone who had business at sea hurriedly convened at home to discuss the matter, and some even tried their best to find out the inside story.
However, the Pei family's maritime chief openly rebelled against the court, which sounded the alarm for them. Everyone knows that the emperor did not involve the Pei family in a big way this time, which was a sign of respect for them.
Otherwise, with the hundreds of years of marriage between the five surnames and Qiwang, no one can escape if they really start to argue. This time, only the chief culprit will be punished, and the others will be dismissed from office at most, which is considered to be merciful.
And they also found that the overseas principals were a little restless, so they took advantage of this to make changes and beat them. They don't want to make wedding clothes for others like Mrs. Pei.
In the end, whether it was for the reward from the court or because they didn't want to irritate the court at this time, the aristocratic families were very cooperative this time, which made Xie Lian, who was originally responsible for this matter, relieved.
If the aristocratic family ignored the imperial edict, he would be in great disgrace this time, and he might become the scapegoat for it.
Fortunately, Pei's incident has given everyone in the family some ideas about overseas affairs. I believe they will never hand over their rights to a certain person after this time.
In the face of interests, especially in the face of huge interests, all loyalty and family affection have become a joke!
The Pei family has now become the laughing stock of the family. Not only did she make a wedding dress for others for nothing, but now she is almost implicated in the charge of treason. This is a huge blow to the Pei family.
It is foreseeable that for a period of time in the future, Mr. Pei will have no other choice but to lie dormant.
Half a month later.
With the arrival of the imperial edict, all aristocratic families and civilians received the news. At first everyone didn't take it seriously, but after hearing that the court would give out land as reward this time, everyone couldn't sit still.
Fortunately for the big family, they have enough background to conquer cities and territories at sea, just like the Pei family. A territory was established in a short period of time. At the same time, other aristocratic families are not to be outdone, and I am afraid that it will not be long before they have their own territory.
But the small and medium-sized aristocratic families are different. They do not have the foundation expected by the five surnames, let alone such large manpower and material resources. What they do more on the sea is to establish a stronghold as a foothold on the sea.
But this time the court used land as a reward to requisition his merchant ships, and the territory would be recognized and protected by the court in the future. This was much better than fighting on his own.
After so many years at sea, they finally understood it.
The land they fight for life and death in the Central Plains is worthless overseas. It is everywhere. Those indigenous people have no talent for farming at all, and this land is simply a waste of natural resources in their hands.
In this era where clan is the link, doesn’t that family have tens of thousands of clan members? If they have a territory overseas, at least they will no longer be short of land in the future. The increasing population of the tribe every year is no longer a burden, it will be the cornerstone for them to expand overseas.
Although the territory of Shili Land is not large, it is definitely enough for them to use for decades or even hundreds of years. Because they have the protection of the imperial court, they don't have to worry about safety issues, which is the most important thing.
Wasn't the reason why I didn't dare to occupy land wantonly before because I was worried about being hacked?
But now as long as it is registered with the imperial court, it is land protected by the imperial court. Basically no one dares to take the risk of defying the Tang Dynasty.
Therefore, after learning about this, all families with some ambition are ready to fight. They thought it was impossible for Datang to lose.
The leader of the army this time is Ji Song, Duke of the State of Xi. With this person here, are you still worried about losing? In addition, the imperial court is now mobilizing the whole country to support Duke Xi. With the size of the Tang Dynasty, it is difficult to lose!
One month later, that is, one and a half months after Ji Song went to sea.
In the Tai Chi Hall, Li Shimin was sitting on a dragon chair and listening to Xie Lian's report!
"Your Majesty, since the edict was issued, people from all over the country have gathered to respond to the call of the imperial court. Aristocratic families, powerful people, and maritime merchants have all enthusiastically signed up. So far, Dengzhou has gathered more than 500 large ships of more than 3,000 shi, and 53 ships of 5,000 shi. . Mingzhou is no less generous, with more than 700 large ships of more than 3,000 shi and nearly 100 ships of 5,000 shi. There are more than 100 participating families. Some people gather together more than ten ships, and many families join forces to form one family. Sign up in name. Judging from this, the number of participating families is probably no less than 300, which can be said to be all the famous families in the Tang Dynasty."
"Your Majesty, do we want to restrict such behavior? After all, they themselves do not have such strength. Isn't this unfair to others?"
Li Shimin smiled when he heard this and said: "No, the court didn't consider this matter before. Since it has been registered, there is no need to worry about it. But this is also a good thing. The more people involved, the better it is for us. But We can’t let a big family dominate, otherwise how can the court manage it?”
Hearing the emperor say this, everyone laughed!
Those who can participate in this discussion are the emperor's confidants, and others will not be known at all.
But your majesty is right. The more people involved, the more complex the maritime forces will become in the future. They are all Central Plains families. In the past, the five surnames and seven hopes were weighed down on everyone and they were breathless. But now, as long as you go overseas, who cares who you are? One company may not be their opponent, but if several companies join forces, they may not be worse than them.
In the Central Plains they were hampered everywhere, at least in the court they were at a disadvantage. But now they are focusing on overseas development, and the constraints no longer exist. Who else are they afraid of?
In the past, the imperial court acted as a righteous cause, so other small and medium-sized families had to compromise. Now that everyone is on the same starting line, who is still afraid of who will come?
There are many smart people in the family, and they must have seen the imperial court's intention of using them to contain them. In this way, they feel even more confident. As long as the court doesn't interfere, what else do you have to worry about?
