Please ask me to be the emperor

It is said that Huang Sunmao said goodbye to Zhang Shun, left the capital, selected warships and manpower, and then rushed to Lushun in a mighty manner.

After arriving in Lushun, I visited Tianjin Commander-in-Chief Zhao Liangdong, who reluctantly lent him the "Fengzhou Sail Battleship" for "a few days."

Huang Sunmao was well-informed, but he was shocked when he saw the Fengzhou sailing battleship for the first time.

Not only because the ship is big, but also because it is densely covered with artillery.

There were nearly a hundred Hongyi cannons, divided into three layers, with their black muzzles pointing to both sides.

He could imagine how spectacular it would be when these artillery salvos fired.

Suddenly, Admiral Huang Sunmao of Denglai understood that this ship was not only used by His Highness King Shun to intimidate Dongjiang Town and North Korea, but also to intimidate his own people.

Regardless of the large number of warships under his command, once he encounters a dozen of these "giant ships", he will become a living target and be sent to the bottom of the sea with a volley of fire.

Thinking of this, he boarded the sailing battleship in fear, and then led the fleet to the Dongjiang River.

From Lushunkou to the northeast, we passed through Sanshan Island, Guanglu Island, Changshan Island, Shicheng Island, Ludao Island, and Zhangzi Island, with a journey of no less than two thousand miles.

It was true that we encountered wind and waves along the way, but this sailing battleship was treading on flat ground and was not affected by these wind and waves at all.

After finally arriving at Pidao, Huang Sunmao had just gotten off the boat when he was greeted by Shen Shikui, the commander-in-chief of Dongjiang, who had already received the news, and his nephew Shen Zhixiang.

"Master Huang, it's been a long time since we last met!" Shen Shikui met him respectfully.

"Just call me Admiral. Now I am Admiral Denglai Navy!" Huang Sunmao said in a businesslike manner.

"By the way, you did a good job this time. His Highness King Shun ordered me to send 5,000 shi of food, 3,000 jins of gunpowder, 2,000 pieces of cloth, 8,000 cannons, and 100 barrels of lead. Please check them later. .”

"Weichen, thank you for your grace!" After hearing this, Shen Shikui quickly bowed in the direction of the capital, and then asked, "Then let's open the market?"

"Open the market? What market is open? This time, I am on a mission to North Korea in the name of His Highness. Where can I find goods to trade with you?" Huang Sunmao sneered.

It turns out that since the middle of the Ming Dynasty, envoys generally engaged in "private trade" or "entrained trade" when traveling.

Like this time Huang Sunmao came to Dongjiang, the ship must have carried a large amount of silk, green cloth, grain and other trade supplies.

In addition to "public trade", many of these materials belong to Huang Sunmao's own "private trade".

Both sides have long been aware of this, so Dongjiang Town, which has just experienced war, urgently needs to conduct a "private trade" and clear out the materials in hand.

As a result, Huang Sunmao unexpectedly rejected the matter.

"伱" Shen Zhixiang was furious when he heard this, and was about to step forward to argue, but his uncle Shen Shikui reached out to stop him.

"In that case, Shen won't force it!" Shen Shikui said with a smile, "Then please ask Admiral Huang to go to the island to rest first!"

"That's fine!" Huang Sunmao nodded naturally after hearing this, and then went to Shi Shiran.

"Uncle!" Shen Zhixiang's eyes were split open when he saw this, and his eyes seemed to burst out with fire, "I voted for King Shun earlier, and King Shun treated me very well."

"Why did the other side turn against each other right after they finished exerting their efforts? This guy must be the one who got in the way. He must not be spared!"

"What nonsense are you talking about? I don't want to live anymore!" Shen Shikui interrupted quickly after hearing this.

At the beginning, the reason why he, Shen Shikui, took refuge with Zhang Shun was that the "imperial court" would mobilize troops and generals to block the Eastern captives for him.

As a result, I never expected that when the fight broke out here, not only did they not have any soldiers, but they started to attack cities and territories in Jinzhou and Jinzhou.

This is really "if you don't eat the mutton, you will become a mess".

As for dissatisfaction, Shen Shikui must have it in his heart.

However, no matter whether the rebels are willing to join the battle or not, Donglu will attack and destroy Dongjiang.

So no matter Shen Shikui is willing or not, he has no choice but to resist to the end. There is no way around it.

However, what Shen Shikui never expected was that Huang Sunmao, the former deputy envoy of Denglai, suddenly changed into the admiral of Denglai Navy of the rebel army.

Not only did this guy become the naval admiral of the rebel army, he also had to abandon his direct trade with North Korea. This was what Shen Shikui really couldn't bear.

It turns out that Dongjiang Town is isolated overseas, located at the crossroads between Donglu and North Korea, and it is difficult for the Ming army to reach it.

Therefore, the Ming court allowed it to open trade with North Korea to raise the necessary supplies.

However, after the two Khans of Lao Nu and Hong Tai, the economy of Hou Jin Dynasty was in a mess and was basically on the verge of collapse.

Therefore, this time it was nominally a trading port between Dongjiang and North Korea, but in fact it became a trading stronghold for Donglu, North Korea and the Ming Dynasty.

Or to be more precise, it became a stronghold for Donglu to "sell stolen goods".

Under the leadership of Hong Tai, the Donglu robbed precious metals from the Ming Dynasty, and then took them here to exchange for grain, cloth and other daily necessities at high prices.

The general process is that Houjin merchants exchange ginseng, leather goods, gold and silver from North Korean merchants for silk, green cloth, grain and other materials.

Then, North Korean merchants exchanged ginseng, leather goods, gold and silver and other items from Dongjiang merchants for silk, green cloth and grain.

Dongjiang merchants then resold ginseng, leather goods, gold and silver to the mainland.

At that time, there were natural and man-made disasters, and inflation was serious in both Jin and North Korea. Among them, in the Later Jin Kingdom, there was even a situation where "a dou of grain was worth eight taels of silver". You can see how profitable this trade was, and it naturally aroused the covetousness of others.

This is the root of the tragedy of Mao Wenlong and Dongjiang Town since the town was opened.

But now Dongjiang Town has just experienced the war, and it has a large amount of ginseng, leather goods and silver in its hands with nowhere to trade, but it never expected that Huang Sunmao would play such a trick. How could Shen Shikui not be annoyed?

"Uncle, what do you think we should do?" Shen Zhixiang said angrily.

"What should I do? Cold salad!" Shen Shikui sneered and couldn't help but make up his mind, "Since they want to push me to death, how can I just sit back and wait for death?"

"The big deal is, the fish will die and the net will break!"

"Okay, that's good!" Shen Zhixiang was quite excited when he heard this. He pulled out his sword and said fiercely, "I'm going to select people and chop this guy up."

"Why are you chopping him up?" Shen Shikui was frightened to death and quickly stopped him, "You want to die, but you can't bring the entire Dongjiang Town to be buried with you!"

"Ah? If you don't kill him? How come you are so angry if you don't kill him!" Shen Zhixiang said angrily.

"No, this time I just want a letter from this town. Keep it so he can't eat it and carry it around!" Shen Shikui then realized that his nephew had misunderstood what he meant, and couldn't help but explain with a smile.

"What, uncle wants to make this route public?" Shen Zhixiang was stunned when he heard this, and then understood what Shen Shikui meant.

"Then if that's the case, wouldn't it mean that our Dongjiang is doomed?"

The material foundation of Dongjiang Town is to earn excess profits from sea trade.

If this route is made public, the imperial court will definitely take action on this trade route.

"Whether Dongjiang is finished or not depends not on you or me, but on him!" Shen Shikui pointed to the east with a smile.

"My uncle was also a businessman in the early years, so he naturally knows the pros and cons."

"Everything has its ups and downs. The Dongjiang River prospered because of the Donglu, and it will naturally decline because of the Donglu."

"Now that King Shun has Tianzong's resources, he first defeated the Ming Dynasty and regained control of the Eastern captives. Now he is pressing forward step by step, with the intention of taking all Liaodong."

"Once Liaodong is captured by King Shun, where will it be impossible to open markets and trade?"

When Shen Zhixiang heard this, he was stunned, and suddenly turned pale and said: "Are you saying that the court will no longer need Dongjiang in the future?"

"Yes!" Shen Shikui nodded and said firmly, "If the imperial court is strong and Liaodong is unified, of course there is no need for Dongjiang."

"If Donglu is strong and the world is in chaos, there will naturally be no need for Dongjiang."

"Only when two tigers fight against each other, regardless of victory or defeat, can Dongjiang have the value of existence."

"However, Dongjiang cannot determine the general trend of the world at all, so naturally it can only obey the general trend of the world!"