Looking at the sea level from the tall buildings of the port of Guangling city, a mast slowly rose from the sea level, followed by the body of the ship.
"Why is it a small boat!" The people over there looked at the small boat cruising on the sea level and asked in puzzlement.
One must know that when they went out to sea, it was a large fleet, but now it has become a small boat.
"Don't worry, don't worry! Isn't that right behind it! " The people who saw it earlier shouted to the people below.
Those who were able to see it earlier were naturally able to see it from a high vantage point. After all, the higher one stood, the farther one could see.
They also saw the scene behind the small boat.
Many large ships followed closely behind. Soon, many masts rose into the air.
"Look!" Although the size of the fleet was not as grand as when they set off, all the ships were upgraded, and the wind and rain did not look bad.
But it was also this that brought a sense of vicissitudes to the entire fleet, which made the entire fleet contain a kind of connotation.
The common people have never seen such a scene, and they were all stunned.
In the fleet, there were naturally flag signals to the defenders in the port of Guangling.
"Quick, quick, quick! The Navy is back, quickly open the gate and let the Navy enter the port! " The originally closed waterway gate slowly opened, and the three thousand cannons that were originally going to be pulled out were also retreated.
"Let's go, come with me to welcome our heroes back!" Liu Mang stood up and said to the Xuzhou Provincial Governor Chen Deng.
"Ah!" Chen Deng was also stunned. Originally, the appearance of His Royal Highness King of Han here was already very surprising to Chen Deng. It was enough to see the enthusiasm of His Royal Highness King of Han to go out to sea.
But he did not expect that His Royal Highness King of Han would actually want to personally come out to welcome them.
This kind of treatment, even some of the old people in Yangzhou did not have.
The heavens didn't want to be beautiful. The clouds began to roll, and the dark clouds had also reached the top of their heads. Light drizzles began to fall.
For ordinary people, being exposed to the sun and rain is no big deal. But for Liu Mang, it is not the same.
"Your Royal Highness, let's wait here for their return!" Guan Hai on the side stopped Liu Mang. If they went out in the rain, they might catch a cold.
"Catch a cold?" Liu Mang smiled. Although Liu Mang's status was very high, he was not pampered to this extent. One must know that before he had this family business, Liu Mang was also a man who risked his life. At that time, Liu Mang also had to go to the battlefield. There were even a few times when Liu Mang almost lost his life.
Therefore, Liu Mang did not care about the rain at all. Not to mention, for the Yangzhou Army who had just returned to the port, they had experienced the tempering of the sea, and they were heroes.
The ships were getting closer and closer to the port. The first ships to enter the port were not the Sovereign Class warships. These Sovereign Class warships were battleships, and they entered the port to replenish their supplies. Not to mention, this was the largest ship in Yangzhou Army.
After entering the port, how could other ships enter?
Therefore, the first ships to enter the port were not the warships, but the merchant ships.
On the Gailun ship, a middle-aged man could be described as high-spirited.
Although his face had turned from yellow to black because of the sea breeze, one could still see the smile on his face.
This man was Sun Wen, the merchant from the Sun family who came from Jiao Province, or Sun Wen who had nothing to do with the Sun family of Jiao Province.
At that time, this man could be described as cutting off his means of retreat and sinking his boats, and he put all his wealth into it, just to hitch a ride to the sea.
At that time, he was laughed at as a fool, but today, he came back.
"Wangcai ship, enter the port!" Naturally, there were people shouting over there, and immediately, the officials of Xuzhou City came over. Some of them entered the Wangcai ship and registered the things on the ship, and some of them arranged and planned there, such as how many people were on the ship, just in case, and so on.
There were also some porters, who were called by the officials of Xuzhou City to prepare to unload the goods.
"The head of the Sun family!" The officials of Xuzhou City were not stupid, since they were in charge of the port, they naturally knew about the period when Shouchun happened in Yangzhou, and Sun Wen was an example.
This Sun Wen seemed to be very valued by the lord.
Therefore, the Yangzhou officials of the port did not dare to be arrogant, and shouted to Sun Wen over there.
Sun Wen was also a tactful person. These port officials did this not because of Sun Wen's face, but because of His Royal Highness King of Han. Sun Wen couldn't be so shameless. After all, the King of Hell was easy to deal with, but the little ghosts were hard to deal with. Sun Wen didn't want to give face to the port officials.
Sun Wen did not dare to be arrogant, and he hurriedly went forward to the port officials, and even prepared a few banknotes in his hand.
"Daren, you have worked hard, you have worked hard!" While smiling, Sun Wen stuffed the banknotes in his hand into the hands of the port officials.
These officials were all experienced people, but when they saw the banknotes in their hands, they were stunned.
Why? Because Sun Wen stuffed the banknotes with gold Lü Bu, which were worth hundreds of gold.
If it was just a banknote, then it would be fine, but this Sun Wen, as long as they knew his name, these seven or eight officials all had a share.
All of a sudden, seven to eight hundred gold was thrown out.
This was not a small amount. That day, for a few hundred gold, the Sun family broke off relations with their brothers. A few hundred gold could be compared to half of the Sun family, but it was given away by Sun Wen just like that. His eyes did not even blink.
These port officials wanted it so much. That was gold Lü Bu ah, even if they worked for eight to ten years, they would only be able to get this amount of salary. Now that they could easily get it, it would be a lie to say that they were not moved.
However, it did not matter if they were moved or not. Now, no one dared to ask for it.
"Sun family head! This matter must not be done! " One by one, the port officials began to speak righteously. Their sleeves were clean, and each one looked more like an upright official than the other.
"What's wrong? Everyone!? Could it be that you think it's too little? " Sun Wen looked at these Guangling port officials doubtfully. There was no such thing as a non-greedy official in this world. As the saying goes, a good dog cannot change its habit. Even if you don't do anything, the people below you will take the initiative to pay filial piety.
This was unavoidable. These officials suddenly became saints, and did not even want a hundred gold. Sun Wen could only think of one thing, and that was, did these officials think it was too little?
Thinking about it, this was the only reason that made sense.
Gritting his teeth, Sun Wen whispered to his subordinates. Very quickly, a small wooden box was brought over and opened. Inside was a stack of gold Lü Bu. This wooden box looked like it was waterproof.
Sun Wen added a gold Lü Bu each, and that was a total of one thousand six hundred gold. It was really a large sum.
However, his nephew still did not want it. Those port officials still did not want it. There must be a demon behind this.
Just when Sun Wen was feeling uneasy, a voice rang out, "Haha, our Sun family head is really forthright. This bribing of officials is calculated with a hundred gold!"
A young man slowly walked out from the side, followed by his personal guards.
"Your, Your Highness!" Sun Wen's eyes were sharp, and he immediately recognized who this young man was. Wasn't that the master of Yangzhou, His Highness King of Han, Liu Mang?
Sun Wen finally understood why these port officials did not want the gold Lü Bu. It was not that they did not want it, nor that they thought it was too little, but that they did not dare to take it.
This big boss was behind them, so who would dare to take bribes?
"Since the Sun family head is so generous to give you gold notes, how can we let down the Sun family head's good intentions!" Liu Mang walked to the front and said to the port officials and Sun Wen.
"We don't dare!" Many port officials knelt down together with Sun Wen in front of Liu Mang, saying that they did not dare to do so.
"What's there to be afraid of? If I let you take it, just take it! This is our Sun family head's good intentions, so don't let him down! " Liu Mang took the small wooden box from Sun Wen, opened it, and handed the gold notes to the port officials one by one. He could clearly feel that these port officials' hands were trembling. Who was Liu Mang? He was his boss. Now, he was caught red-handed by his boss.
How could this be? Now, the port officials even wanted to kill Sun Wen.
Liu Mang gave each port official three gold notes, but there were still some left. Liu Mang simply asked Guan Hai to slim down. That was still a few hundred gold points.
"This is the first time, and I also hope that this will be the last time!" Liu Mang's complexion was like the weather in June. Just a moment ago, he was still pleasantly asking the port officials to accept the money. But now, his complexion had changed.
The port might have been a government office in the past, but it was different now. Once the sea route was developed, Liu Mang knew that it would be a very big piece of meat. The Silk Road on the Sea.
How much wealth did the Silk Road bring to the Great Han Dynasty?
Guangling Port could be said to be the most important port in the entire Yangzhou. Even if some ports were developed in the future, Guangling Port would not have an innate advantage.
Therefore, the position of the port officials was very lucrative.
If a person knew how to run a business, he would be able to get five thousand gold in a year or so.
These seven or eight people added up to more than ten thousand gold. People were greedy. For the sake of money, they would do many dirty things. Therefore, Liu Mang had to kill them before they sprouted. The Silk Road was too important for Liu Mang.
Liu Mang did not pay much attention to it before, but now, he noticed that too much power would bring about corruption.
"Let the Ministry of Justice and I send some officials!" Liu Mang said to the subordinates beside him. If he did not want corruption, he could only watch over it and restrict it. The procedures were supervised and the responsibility was distributed to everyone. These people did not dare to do anything because they wanted to take pictures of themselves.
As for letting the Ministry of Justice do it, Liu Mang's inspection department was not fully established yet, so he could only let the Ministry of Justice do it for the time being.
"Your Highness!" Sun Wen trembled with fear as he looked at His Highness King of Han. Those officials had almost lost their lives. They did not report their positions, but Sun Wen was shocked. The reason why Sun Wen was able to rise was inseparable from Liu Mang's help.
Without the five thousand gold that Liu Mang had given him, Sun Wen would have been dead.
On the sea, one of the boats that Sun Wen rented sank. It was rented with Sun Wen's money. Without Liu Mang's financial support, Sun Wen might not have been able to return.
Therefore, Sun Wen was both respectful and afraid of Liu Mang, the King of Han.
He was respectful because His Highness King of Han had given him a new life. He was afraid because everything was given to him by Liu Mang. If King of Han was unhappy, Liu Mang could take back everything that belonged to Sun Wen.
Take back everything that belonged to Sun Wen? Liu Mang would not do that! The sea route was related to the future of Yangzhou. He would do everything possible to encourage Sun Wen to go out to sea. How could he take back everything that belonged to Sun Wen?
He also wanted Sun Wen to be a role model. He wanted the world to envy and hate him, so that they would join in the opening of the sea route. Liu Mang could now send warships to open a new route, but he could not do it in the future. How long would it take to clear the route?
Only by encouraging the people to do business with small capital and huge profits could those adventurers, businessmen, and even nobles be moved. As long as there were enough benefits, their lives were nothing.
Ships set out one by one, and then the route would slowly appear.
Liu Mang had already made plans. Even if Sun Wen lost money on this trip, Liu Mang would take out money from his treasury to make up for the loss.
However, it was obvious that the harvest had already exceeded Liu Mang's expectations. "Tell me, how much did you get from this trip?" Liu Mang asked Sun Wen.
"Replying to Your Highness, we got a total of 39,512 gold and five ships of provisions! As for the rest, there are countless supplies! "Sun Wen said to Liu Mang.
"Thirty-nine thousand five hundred and twelve gold?" Liu Mang was also dumbfounded. 39,500 gold! Rounding it up, it was 40,000 gold. How much did Liu Mang give him? It was 5,000 gold. This was eight times the profit.
This did not include the value of the five ships of provisions. If he sold the provisions, he could get thousands more gold.
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