Ang Lee's purpose for going south this time was to completely open up the Maritime Silk Road. Not only did he want to open it, but he also wanted to station a large number of troops along the way to carry out necessary maintenance on this important route and make it a safe and stable road to wealth.
Ang Lee could not tolerate the merchants' doubts at all. However, no matter how good his words were, they were not as persuasive as actions. Therefore, Ang Lee did not intend to explain too much. He only expressed his decision slightly and let the merchants see his actions.
In fact, the merchants were already very happy that the imperial court could send troops south. They did not dare to ask for too much. As long as the imperial court dealt a heavy blow to the pirates, even if they could not wipe them out, the pirates would definitely be more low-key in the future. This was already good for them.
Ang Lee wanted to know the losses of the merchants in Guangzhou and how many of the merchants in the city had engaged in maritime trade and whether they had encountered pirates.
"How many of you are traveling merchants?"
The traveling merchants that Li An spoke of referred to the merchants who engaged in maritime trade, and the concept of traveling merchants was relative to those who did business on the sea.
There were also different types of merchants. Traveling back and forth to sell goods at multiple trading points was traveling merchants. Traveling merchants meant traveling, and sitting merchants meant staying in one place without moving. They bought goods from traveling merchants and then sold them to the local people to satisfy the daily needs of the people and earn a certain amount of profit.
In many areas, traveling merchants and sitting merchants could not do business at the same time. This was the rule of doing business. Traveling merchants could only wholesale goods to sitting merchants and let them sell to the people. This was also convenient to send out goods and faster to complete business.
However, many of the merchants in Guangzhou were now merchants. When they saw that some merchants earned more wealth than they earned in ten years, they naturally felt very unbalanced in their hearts. Therefore, they all had the idea of going to sea to do business.
Unfortunately, they did not have the connections of the older generation of traveling merchants. They were not familiar with pirates and did not even know which sea areas had pirates. Often, they would encounter pirate attacks nine out of ten times when they went out to sea. The losses were extremely heavy. Some made a little money, and some lost money. There were even merchants who lost their family fortune and committed suicide.
"Assistant Minister Li, most of us are local merchants in Guangzhou. However, we have been traveling out to sea for the past few years. It's a pity that pirates run amok. It's not easy to do business out at sea. If we're not careful, we'll lose our lives."
An old merchant frowned as he spoke.
"Isn't that so? The sea is fraught with danger, and the most terrifying are the pirates. "
"People like us are better off. At least we can keep our lives, and many of us have made some money. However, many of our peers have been ruined by pirates, and some have even lost their lives."
"This one has not dared to go out to sea for half a year. I can only obediently do business in Guangzhou and watch others make money."
Several young businessmen followed suit.
When Li An heard this, he found it interesting and hurriedly asked, "Watch others earn money? What is the meaning of this? Who are you watching? "
After saying this, he looked at this young merchant's to speak.
"Replying to Assistant Minister Li, it's the group of merchants from the Zhang Chamber of Commerce. I don't know what's going on, but they're always able to return safely from sea trade. They've almost never been harassed by pirates.
. "The young merchant said with some jealousy.
As a merchant, watching others make a lot of money while he could not even drink the soup was definitely a feeling of envy.
"Oh, the traveling merchants of the Zhang Chamber of Commerce are very powerful! They can't even touch the pirates. "
Ang Lee grinned. He felt that there must be a story behind this. The experiences of these merchants and the traveling merchants of the Zhang Chamber of Commerce were completely challenging probability.
... "Assistant Minister Li, this is true. The president of the Zhang Chamber of Commerce is called Zhang Batian. When he was young, he was a fisherman who went out to sea to fish. He was good at making friends with heroes. Later on, for some reason, he stopped fishing and became a traveling merchant. In just a few years, he made a lot of money. He has more than a dozen big houses in Guangzhou, and the furnishings of his houses are also very exquisite."
Another merchant said.
"A fisherman who changed his profession to traveling merchant and made a lot of money. It seems that he is a capable person. Then why don't you join the Zhang Chamber of Commerce? Isn't it good to make a fortune together? "
Ang Lee asked curiously.
"Yes, I did. Zhang Batian didn't like me. He told me to be a good merchant and not to wade in the muddy waters of traveling merchants."
A young merchant spoke without thinking. After speaking, he hurriedly covered his mouth with his hand, lowered his head, and retreated to the side.
"Assistant Minister Li, this old man has also talked with Zhang Batian face to face. According to him, if there are too many traveling merchants, there is no guarantee of profits, so he is not willing to help us. Later on, we insisted on becoming traveling merchants, but he did not say anything. It's just that we can't avoid the pirates, so we can't compare with him."
An old merchant said.
"Then why do you think Zhang Batian and the others can always avoid the harassment of the pirates, but you can't?"
Ang Lee asked curiously.
"Assistant Minister Li, Zhang Batian is an old fisherman who is very familiar with the situation in the sea. He is also good at making friends with heroes. Perhaps these heroes know the pirate leader, but we are only guessing. There is no substantial evidence to prove that they are related to the pirates."
"Yes! Assistant Minister Li, although this Zhang Batian does not share his traveling experience with us, he has done a lot of good things in Guangzhou. In the eyes of the people, he is a great philanthropist. I have never heard of him doing anything bad. "
"Also, Zhang Batian's merchant fleet does not choose the time to go out to sea. They do not take shelter from the wind and rain. Once, my merchant ship followed behind. A few days later, we encountered a huge wave. We could only go to Zhancheng to take shelter, but Zhang Batian's merchant ship continued to sail. They were not afraid of the waves capsizing their merchant ship."
Several merchants began to talk at once.
After hearing so much, Li An became more and more interested in Zhang Batian who wanted to meet him. Needless to say, this old man must be a very powerful person, and Li An was almost certain that this guy must be related to the pirates. Otherwise, no matter how familiar he was with the sea, it was impossible to avoid the pirates' robbery every time.
After talking with the dozens of merchants for an hour, Li An had already understood most of the situation. He waved his hand and asked the merchants to return. He promised once again that he would not let the pirates off so that these fellows could feel at ease.
"Fei Yu, send more people to investigate this Zhang Batian. The more detailed the better."
Before Ang Lee met Zhang Batian, he had to investigate this person's background carefully to see if it was consistent with what the merchants had said just now. This was to prevent the merchants from talking nonsense out of jealousy.
"Yes, Big Brother. I will do it now."
Li Feiyu personally went to investigate this matter and sent more than a hundred men.
Soon, the results of the investigation were reported. It was basically the same as what the merchants had reported just now. Zhang Batian was indeed a very prestigious merchant. Moreover, he had done a lot of good things in Guangzhou and was well received by the poor people.
However, Ang Lee always felt that there was a problem. The more a person did good things, the more likely there was a problem. He did it deliberately to make up for the guilt in his heart.
Since ancient times, hypocritical people were the most common. Corrupt officials of various dynasties and generations liked to go to temples and burn incense. They prayed that they would not be exposed and that they could always be corrupt officials, greedy for more and more money.
In addition to corrupt officials, the rich were also very keen on doing charity since ancient times. Especially merchants who suddenly became rich, because they were afraid of being envied and hated by others, they all chose to do charity to appease the jealousy of others.
Even criminal groups that were similar to the underworld would choose to do some charity when they were large enough to reduce their sins and put on a hypocritical cloak.
"Are there many fishermen in Guangzhou? Where do they usually fish?"
Ang Lee looked at the small official beside him and asked.
"Assistant Minister Li, there are not many fishermen in Guangzhou. There are more fishermen in Leizhou and Yazhou. Altogether, there are tens of thousands of fishermen! Some of them fish in the coastal waters, but there are also many who go thousands of miles south of Yazhou to fish. There are fewer people there and more fish. "
The small official hurriedly answered.
"Tens of thousands of fishermen, not a small number! They even go thousands of miles south of Yazhou to fish. Aren't they afraid of encountering pirates? "
Ang Lee asked.
"These fishermen are all poor. Their fishing boats are generally not very big. There is nothing to rob. The pirates at most go on the boat to look at the fish and shrimp. If they see something good, they will take it and then leave."
The small official hurriedly said.
"Yes, that is true. There must be many fishermen among the pirates. If they want to eat fish and shrimp, they can also fish themselves. There is really no need to rob the fishermen."
Ang Lee suddenly felt that he was stupid to ask such a stupid question.
Pirates, merchants, and merchants. Ang Lee had just arrived in Guangzhou and came into contact with these three forces. They were all chasing after interests. However, the pirates' behavior endangered the interests of the Tang dynasty and must be eliminated. If the merchants' behavior harmed the interests of the Tang dynasty, Ang Lee would not let them off easily.
In the evening, Ang Lee enjoyed the beautiful singing and dancing while tasting delicious food. From time to time, he enjoyed the pleasure of being fed by beauties.
The beauties selected by the Governor of Guangzhou were very fresh and young. The most important thing was that they were more sensible. The beauties accompanying Ang Lee were not reserved at all. From time to time, they would throw coquettish glances at Ang Lee. The meaning of seduction was very strong.
Ang Lee was not polite. He hugged the two fresh beauties and entered the bed. Ang Lee's status had reached this level. There was no need for him to have any scruples. Even if he was sued to the Emperor for his conduct, it would not matter. At most, the Emperor would just laugh it off.
Li An got up early in the morning and stretched himself. The service of the two girls last night was pretty good, which made Li An quite satisfied. He felt that his whole body was a lot more relaxed.
"Assistant Minister Li, Zhang Batian is here."
Ang Lee was stunned for a moment and hurriedly said, "Invite him in."
Soon, a shriveled old man came in alone.
"This commoner, Zhang Batian, pays respect to Assistant Minister Li."
Ang Lee hurriedly stretched out his hand and said, "No need to be so polite. Please sit down."
"When this official came to Guangzhou, I heard that there was a great philanthropist, Zhang Weng. Is it you?"
"It is this commoner. Helping the villagers is what I should do. I can't be called a philanthropist."
Zhang Batian modestly replied. From time to time, he would secretly look at Ang Lee, trying to understand Ang Lee through observation.
Although Zhang Batian already had a clear understanding of Ang Lee's background and who in the entire Tang dynasty did not know Ang Lee, he had only heard about him from others. He had never seen Ang Lee before. This was the first time he had seen Ang Lee. He had to observe him personally. With his decades of life experience, he could still see some clues.
"This official heard that you are the leader of Guangzhou's merchants. You have been doing business for decades and have never been robbed by pirates. Is that true?"
Ang Lee looked at Zhang Batian and asked.
"This old man is just a small figure. I can't be considered a leader. My peers flatter me too much. As for pirates, I often encounter them and have been robbed, but only a few times."
Zhang Batian calmly replied, neither servile nor overbearing.
"Oh, you often encounter pirates, so why do others say that your caravan has never suffered any losses?"
Ang Lee continued to ask. He felt that this Zhang Batian was very interesting. He actually dared to speak the truth boldly.
"To tell Assistant Minister Li the truth, this old man has traveled much more than ordinary people on the sea, so I can be considered familiar with pirates. I can pass by by paying a toll fee. Generally, I won't be robbed. However, I often encounter many groups of pirates along the way, so the toll is not small."
Zhang Batian continued to answer in a manner that was neither servile nor overbearing. He had no intention of hiding anything.
This was because he could see that Ang Lee was confident and was not easy to fool. If he talked nonsense and said that his caravan had never encountered pirates, Ang Lee would definitely not believe him. In that case, he would be embarrassed. If he directly told the truth and said that he had been blackmailed by pirates, Ang Lee could do nothing about it. After all, the imperial court could not make decisions for merchants. What was wrong with merchants being blackmailed by pirates?
"Haha! It seems that the pirates still give you face. If it were any other merchant, they would have robbed you directly. You only have to pay the toll. "
Ang Lee said in his heart, unconvinced.
"Not necessarily. There are many types of pirates, and they all have different temperaments. Some only need to pay a toll, and all merchants can pass as long as they pay. Some pirates are extremely savage, and like to kill and rob. It takes a lot of effort to deal with them."
Zhang Batian replied.
"What kind of effort?"
Ang Lee asked curiously.
"This is a trade secret, but since Assistant Minister Li has asked, this old man doesn't dare to hide anything. So, we'll cater to their whims. After being robbed this time, we'll directly send a few ships of goods over and beg them to be magnanimous and not kill for the goods. We'll also promise that we'll pay a toll each time. If we come a few more times and have a little more patience, we'll eventually get the job done. Although this is suspected of colluding with pirates, merchants like us are no match for pirates. Otherwise, we'll suffer even greater losses.
Zhang Batian pretended to be helpless.
"Oh, it seems that you don't have it easy! Since your Chamber of Commerce can build a good relationship with pirates, why don't you agree to other merchants joining you? Isn't it good to make money together? "
Ang Lee asked.
"Assistant Minister Li, the Tang dynasty and the overseas market are limited. The more merchants join, the less guaranteed the profits. Assistant Minister Li should understand the principle that the rarer something is, the more valuable it is."
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