Rebirth: Overthrow Song Dynasty

"Cao Min waits to see His Majesty!" Hundreds of merchants knelt down in the Quanzhou government office and said in unison.

"Stay flat!" Zhao Chen said.

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

Many of these businessmen are retired military youths!

Since the War of Extermination of Gold, soldiers have retired from the army one after another. After training in the army, these soldiers have a firm mind, dare to take risks, and dare to open up. They help each other, and now the merchant group composed of ex-soldiers has accounted for nearly a quarter of the size of Quanzhou.

Looking at Zhao Chen, they felt as if they were still in the army. In front of them was the Great Song Emperor who led them to one victory after another. Some businessmen couldn't help but burst into tears.

"The space in this Quanzhou government office is limited, and I can't entertain you well. Come and get a stool. Let's have a good chat in this yard today." Zhao Chen said.

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

"Overseas trade is very profitable, isn't it?" Looking at these businessmen, Zhao Chen smiled.

"Your Majesty, we are just earning some hard money, but it is much better than farming in our hometown." A man in his thirties laughed and said, he was a soldier who retired from Liu Qi's army.

"You have been wandering at sea all year round, have you encountered any difficulties?" Zhao Chen asked.

"Generally, there is no difficulty. When we started our business, we had no capital. Later, we borrowed money from various banks, and our business gradually improved. Now, there is only one difficulty." The man said.

"What's the problem?" Zhao Chen asked.

"Your Majesty, we are going to do business in the South China Sea area. There are a lot of pirates there! When I went to sea for the first time, nearly half of my brothers were killed by pirates, and our goods were also robbed by pirates!" the man said. .

"Are the pirates in the South China Sea very rampant?" Zhao Chen frowned and asked.

He has never received relevant news at all! In fact, over the years, what he cared about was the strong enemy in the north first, and then the fundamental system of the country. Things like pirates in the South China Sea would never come to him.

"Yes, Your Majesty, the pirates in the South China Sea are very rampant! In the sea area south of Annan, there are hundreds of pirate groups, large and small, and some of them unite to control the sea area. If we want to pass through the sea area, we must give them a large number of passes. Travel expenses! If you don’t pay, you will inevitably die. They are very cruel. They often arrest my Han businessmen, hang them in the hot sun, and die in the sun! There are many pirate camps in the South China Sea. The corpse of a Han businessman!" A businessman in his fifties 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 the goods away, sold them, and then shared them with the pirates equally!" A forty Said the Yu-year-old businessman.

"Have you responded to the government?" Zhao Chen said.

"We have reported to the government, but there is nothing the government can do! There are too many pirates in the South China Sea, they are everywhere, and it is difficult for the government to encircle and suppress them." The businessman in his thirties said before.

"The local government really can't help! However, there are more than 100,000 navies in the Song Dynasty. Especially after the establishment of the Ministry of Oceans, the Government Affairs Council knows the relationship between the ocean and the country's destiny, and attaches great importance to ocean affairs! In the past few years, the navy has been in the north. , mainly because Koryo and Dongying are too close to Yanjing, the Koreans are eyeing Liaodong, and there are Japanese pirates in Dongying. Under such circumstances, the first task of the navy is to destroy Korea and Dongying! Now that Koryo and Dongying are gone, the navy is finally You can free your hand to protect the interests of my Dasong merchants!" Zhao Chen said.

ah!

The merchants below all had surprise smiles on their faces.

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

"Which one of you stands up and draws the sea line you often walk?" Zhao Chen said.

At that moment, someone stood up and began to mark the sea line on the map.

In this era, maritime trade has been very developed. The merchants of the Song Dynasty set off from various ports in the country, and finally passed through Annan and Malaysia, and then crossed the Strait of Malacca into the Indian Ocean, and then arrived at Ceylon, which is the private interception of later generations, and then went north Arrive at Guli! Guri is where Kozhikode of later India is located, and in this era, it is the center of world trade! Chinese merchants, Indian merchants, Arab merchants, and European merchants all eventually went there to trade goods there! Famous nautical heroes such as Zheng He and Da Gama in history have all arrived in Guri.

"Guri is in the hands of foreigners. They tax us a lot, which 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 along the way, we will be exploited!"

"I think pirates are the most hateful!"

The merchants talked in a hurry.

"I understand!" Zhao Chen said with a long sigh.

The merchants stopped immediately, and they surrounded 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 goods, they are shipped to the country, and more are shipped overseas. Not only Quanzhou, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Pyongyang, Kaijing, countless cities There are people working in China, and many of them are going to be 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! It used to be I have no time to take care of it. Now that the domestic politics is stable, the system is perfect, and the annual grain harvest is increasing, it is time to deal with them! The territory of the empire is not only the land, but also these sea routes! Yu Yunwen, your Ministry of Oceans has a good discussion Let’s take a look, how many soldiers and horses are needed to control these sea routes, how much supplies, food and grass need to be used, and those cities need to be occupied. Do you want to use civil servants to manage these places? After you go back, you will have a good discussion with Wang Shu and the military department, and then act as soon as possible .” Zhao Chen said.

"My minister obeys the order." Yu Yunwen nodded and said.

*** ***

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

In mid-June, the fleet was replenishing in the Quanzhou area. At the same time, more than a dozen experienced Quanzhou businessmen and sailors boarded the warship to guide the fleet.

When the fleet left the ocean, there were cheers everywhere. It was the first time for the merchants and common people in Quanzhou to see such a large naval fleet. It was 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 there are more than a dozen pirate teams that are the largest. The fleet is divided into more than ten groups, and they rush to the camps where these more than ten pirate teams are located, and destroy their land strongholds first. .

After more than a month, the Song Army's navy was almost destroyed, and the pirates could not match them on the ground.

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

They are very familiar with the sea area here. It was raining heavily that day, and they got news that a Song army fleet was going south!

This Song Army fleet consisted of more than 150 warships. There were no treasure ships in it, but only a large blessing ship.

The heavy rain affected people's sight, and this Song Army fleet didn't know that it had been targeted by pirates!

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

On the surface of the sea, the waves are rough, the rain is like pillars, and the pirate ships are surrounded like a colony of ants!

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

boom!

There was an earth-shattering loud noise, which was almost deafening. The pirates didn't know what happened. Only the sharp-eyed pirates saw that there seemed to be a flash of fire on the lucky boat in the middle, and a huge monster suddenly appeared on the sea where the pirates were. The water column suddenly collapsed, and the surrounding two small boats collapsed!

This is the Thunderbolt Cannon of the Song Army, 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 mainly thunderbolt cannons, 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 bolts on the bows of all battleships! This crossbow is somewhat similar to the city defense crossbow, but it is bigger. Each crossbow can shoot three huge arrows as thick as fingers at the same time, and one arrow can shoot through a pirate's boat!

Sometimes, the warships of the Song Army would even rush up directly and brutally! During the violent impact, the warships of the Song army were safe and sound, while the pirate ships were smashed into pieces one after another!

On the sea, the sound of shouting and killing was loud, and more and more pirate ships were smashed! The rain of arrows fell from the sky overwhelmingly, and the pirates screamed and fell in a pool of blood one by one!

In less than half an hour, the pirates began to retreat, and the Song army was chasing them closely! The ships of the Song Army were much faster than them, and it was difficult for the pirates to escape!

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

In November, 10,000 troops from the north were transported to these five piers, and the Government Affairs 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 across the Strait of Malacca, all the way west into the Indian Ocean.