"Thirty-nine thousand five hundred and twelve gold?" Liu Mang was also dumbfounded. Thirty-nine thousand five hundred gold! Rounding it up, it would be forty thousand gold! How much did Liu Mang give him? That was five thousand gold! That was eight times the profit!
This did not include the value of the five ships' provisions. If he sold the provisions, he would be able to get another thousand gold!
"Are you serious?" Liu Mang looked at Sun Wen in disbelief.
"How would this commoner dare to deceive Your Highness!" Sun Wen said respectfully to Liu Mang. He then gestured to the people behind him. Naturally, someone brought the account book over.
Liu Mang really saw the numbers in the account book. Sun Wen was a meticulous person. The numbers in the account book were accurate to one gold!
Five thousand gold! Even if he used all five thousand gold, it would be eight times the profit!
"It's not five thousand gold, it's only two thousand five hundred and sixty gold!" A young man who looked very similar to Sun Wen said.
"This is?" Liu Mang looked at the young man.
"Your Highness, this is my son! Hurry up and kneel before His Highness! "
"There's no need. Why is it only two thousand five hundred and sixty gold?" Liu Mang asked Sun Wen's son.
"That's because there are no more ships!" When they first went out to sea, there were not many merchant ships in Yangzhou. The large merchant ships that were hundreds of tons were all modified Gai Lun ships. As for the other ships, they either did not have enough tonnage or were too tall and had too many superstructures. Such ships could still be used in the river, but out at sea, they were more difficult to use than a piece of wood. If they were not careful, the entire ship would be lost.
This Sun Wen was only given a few more ships because of Liu Mang's favor. Even so, those ships were not enough to fit all the ships.
"This commoner wants to go out to sea like this. Buy a few more ships!" Sun Wen said to Liu Mang. With ships, he could earn a lot of money.
More than ten times the profit!
"En? Filial piety fee? "Liu Mang saw the filial piety fee column over there. It actually said three thousand gold!
What a great deal of money.
"Hehe, hehe!" Sun Wen's face was incomparably awkward. Everyone naturally knew what this filial piety fee was. It was a bribe to bribe the higher-ups.
"Boss Sun, you are really rich!" Liu Mang said grumpily.
"Since you've earned 40,000 Gold, shouldn't it be time for you to pay me back?" Liu Mang asked with a smile.
"Of course, of course!" Sun Wen quickly nodded. However, this made things difficult for him.
"Your Highness, this!"
"What's the matter?" Liu Mang was still thinking about this harvest.
"I don't know if Your Highness can dispatch the Featherwood Guard with me!" Sun Wen said to Liu Mang.
"How dare you!" Guan Hai stood up. "The Featherwood Guard is Your Highness's personal guard. How can we lend them to you, a businessman!"
"Why do you want the Featherwood Guard?" Liu Mang asked doubtfully.
"Your Highness, this financial matter is very tempting. I am afraid that some people will risk their lives for money!" Sun Wen explained.
"All of it is gold?"
"En!" Sun Wen nodded.
"Good, the Featherwood Guard. I can't go with you. Your Xu Province's Provincial Governor is here. Why don't you ask him?" Liu Mang pointed to Chen Deng and said.
"Men, come with me to the Martial Police Department. Dispatch two thousand armed police to clear the way!" Chen Deng was also a person who would make a move.
For Yangzhou, the armed police was a paradise for retired soldiers. At the same time, it was also a paradise for reserve soldiers.
Outside Guangling City, there really was an armed police force.
Two thousand soldiers and horses entered Guangling's port. Although there were no sabers in the armed police force's hands, the bayonets were still shining with a cold light.
"Sun family head, go!" Liu Mang said to Sun Wen.
"Ai!" Sun Wen nodded. Only then did he let his son lead the armed police to his merchant ship with a smile on his face.
Liu Mang let Chen Deng send two thousand armed police. He thought that it was enough. However, Liu Mang soon knew that he was wrong. He had to continue dispatching troops and horses.
Because the scene in front of him was too sensational.
You have seen gold before! But have you ever seen so much gold? A total of forty thousand gold. The entire ship opened the plywood, which was shining with golden light.
I have seen a lot of gold. Back in Yangzhou, when His Royal Highness King of Han had his people accept Lu Bu's payment, he took out a lot of gold.
But have you seen gold the size of a human head?
Even Liu Mang's family had their eyes opened. The smallest gold that was transported from the ship was the size of a fist. The normal ones were the size of a watermelon. The biggest one was actually a small gold mountain. More than ten burly men carried it out of the ship.
The commoners, merchants, and nobles at the scene were all dumbfounded. Just a rockery like that probably cost a few thousand gold. Therefore, they all had the same thought, and that was that the Sun family had struck gold, struck gold.
Sun Wen seemed to be very satisfied with the expressions of the people below. When Sun Wen went out to sea, everyone looked at him with disdain.
There were many sarcastic remarks, and some even cursed Sun Wen not to come back. But now, he used facts to prove it and completely shut those people's mouths.
When the gold mountain was transported in front of Liu Mang, Sun Wen waved his hand and let people slowly put down the gold mountain. He walked in front of Liu Mang and knelt down.
"Your Highness. It is all thanks to you that I, Sun Wen, am where I am today. It is all thanks to you that I, Sun Wen, am able to have my current glory. A drop of water should be repaid with a gushing spring. This golden mountain is a special gift to Your Highness. Only you are worthy of it. Please accept it, Your Highness!" Sun Wen kowtowed to Liu Mang.
A gold mountain. Liu Mang couldn't help but shake his head. In his previous life, Liu Bei had a big dream. That was to hold a gold mountain and eat for a lifetime.
Now, it actually came true.
However, although the gold mountain was good, Liu Mang was not a person who had not seen the world.
"This gold mountain was obtained by you, Sun Wen. If I, Liu Mang, accept it, what is the difference between it and bribery?" Liu Mang said to Sun Wen.
"This?"
"If you have the heart, then go to the sea a few more times and bring back more food. Build more roads, bridges, schools for the people of Xuzhou and Yangzhou. Do more good deeds! This should be enough.
Repay me! " Liu Mang said to Sun Wen.
"Yes!" Sun Wen saw that Liu Mang was not going to accept it, so he immediately knelt down and nodded. "This commoner will definitely listen to Your Highness's orders."
"You don't need to call yourself a commoner!" Liu Mang suddenly said to Sun Wen.
Sun Wen was stunned at first, then he secretly rejoiced. Could it be that His Highness, King of Han?
That's right. Liu Mang already had a plan. Once the first batch of people came back with a huge amount of vitality, then the people behind would naturally come one after another.
Even if they could not get the profits of the first batch, they would still be able to get several times the benefits. In this way, there would naturally be more people going to the sea.
Just like the Silk Road in the past, this sea route required one to go to the sea and experience the wind and waves of the sea. The original Silk Road also required one to go through the desert. It was also a challenge and a struggle.
After the opening of the Silk Road, there would inevitably be an endless stream of merchants coming and going. In this way, there was bound to be a management organization.
Today, Liu Mang finalized it.
"From today onwards, starting from Guangling Port, the Maritime Administration will be established. It will be under the Ministry of Revenue. All disputes at sea and all permits to enter and leave the port will be in charge of the Maritime Administration!" Liu Mang said to the crowd over there.
"Sun Wen, you will be the Master of the Maritime Administration! Rank 5! "Liu Mang said to Sun Wen.
Sun Wen was ecstatic. He was simply unable to contain his joy. What kind of person was Sun Wen? He was a merchant. Even if Yangzhou placed great importance on merchants, it was impossible to change this deep-rooted tradition all of a sudden. Therefore, for many people, merchants were lowly people.
Therefore, when Sun Wen returned, he had a big harvest. He planned to spend a lot of money to pave the way for his son, letting his son enter Yangzhou University first and then become an official.
But even so, if his son wanted to stand out in the official circle, it would take a lot of time.
But now, it was different. Although Sun Wen did not know the specific functions of the Maritime Administration, he still knew that it was a rank 5 official.
In Yangzhou, what was a rank 3 official? That was the Minister of each Ministry. That was the rank 3 official. Chen Deng, the Governor of Xuzhou Province, was a rank 4 official. As for the rank 5 official, it was the Governor.
Now, Sun Wen had become an official with the same rank as the Governor. How could he not be happy?
"Thank you, Your Highness! Thank you, Your Highness!" Sun Wen was so excited that he could not help but kowtow to Liu Mang.
"Okay, okay! You can go now! "Liu Mang waved his hand and said to Sun Wen.
If the other side continued to stop Sun Wen, they would be bleeding profusely.
The merchants behind also disembarked from the port one by one. Regardless of whether they were big merchants or small merchants, as long as they went out to sea, they would not lose money.
Even if one of the two ships that went out to sea and one of them sank, after selling the food on that ship, they would still be able to cover the cost. It was equivalent to going out to see the world.
The Mi Family received the highest amount of gold in one go. The other nobles also received tens of thousands of gold. The Zhang Family, a nobleman from Yan Province, was originally just here to buy soy sauce. However, they were also dumbfounded by the amount of gold they received.
He did not use the five thousand gold that Liu Mang gave him to go out to sea. Instead, he used the cloth that was piled up in the warehouse on the ships. Just like that, he earned ten thousand gold.
However, it was precisely this 10,000 gold that caused the Zhang Clan Head to cry his heart out. He regretted it so much that his intestines turned green. If he had listened to His Highness King of Han's words back then, he would have exchanged the 5,000 gold for goods and ships. If he had sold them, he would not have made any less than the Mi Clan.
"You're back?" Liu Mang did not leave. He had been waiting for someone. This person was the Observer, Liu Neng.
"Your Highness, Liu Neng did not fail his mission and returned with a full load!" Liu Neng said to Liu Mang.
This time, Liu Neng had finally played a big role. The entire caravan added up to almost 600,000 gold coins. There was also a huge amount of food, enough to last Xu Province for half a year. This was only the first time they had gone out to sea.
"Did you get anything?" Liu Mang continued to ask.
"Yes!" Liu Neng nodded. He told Liu Mang about the changes in the past few days.
After they entered the Southern Sea, the two small countries of Fu Nan and Lin Yi were still wary of the Great Han Empire's ships. Liu Neng sent a few envoys ashore, but they were all detained by the city lord of Fu Nan Country.
In the end, Liu Neng used a ship's cargo in exchange for the city lord's generosity. He opened the port and allowed the Great Han Empire's caravan to enter the city.
Instead of calling it a city, it was more like a small fishing village. It was dilapidated. It was not that there was no one to build it, nor was there a lack of materials. It was just that they were lazy!
In the two countries of Fu Nan and Lin Yi, Liu Neng finally learned something new.
What did it mean to not be full but not starved to death? Their soil was so fertile that it could ripen twice a year, or even thrice. Therefore, as long as they casually sowed seeds, they would basically reap the harvest. Some lazy people didn't even need to farm and directly planted wild rice in the wild.
Reaping without sowing would naturally make people lazy.
"They are really two different types of people from our Great Han Empire!" Chen Deng lamented at the side.
If there was such fertile land in the Great Han Empire, these commoners would have planted all the places that could produce rice.
The commoners would definitely not waste a place.
The city would also become bigger and bigger. The commoners could only save their food or sell it and expand their family business step by step. They would not be idle like this.
This was the hardworking nature of the Great Han Empire that had been passed down for thousands of years.
When they arrived there, everything that the Yangzhou Army brought was novel. Cloth? Ceramics? There were also tools.
They were not interested in working things like scythes and shovels. On the contrary, they were interested in the pieces of cloth, the shoes, and some other things for fun.
This made the merchants who brought farming tools suffer a great loss. In the end, they could only turn the sickles into knives to kill people and sell the shovels as pig iron.
Even so, it was still very profitable.
The people there treated gold as if it was worthless. Although dog-head gold was not everywhere, the gold that the Fu Nan nobles took out to trade was all dog-head gold.
"There is a gold mine?" Liu Mang thought of such an idea.
"En!" Liu Neng did not do nothing. He also sent people to Fu Nan and Lin Yi and indeed found traces of gold vaults.
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