Father can be an enemy country

Chapter 321 Six Great Merchants
In the small courtyard, the flowers and trees are scattered, and the sandalwood is dense.

Shen Liuniang made Zhu Zhen a cup of tea.

"Your Highness is back so early?"

"Well, there is a temporary change, so I'll be back first." Zhu Zhen picked up the teacup and took a sip.In this environment, people are a lot more refined.

"I have something to discuss with you."

"It seems that His Highness is going to do something big." Shen Liuniang's eyes lit up brightly.

"Oh, how did you see that?" Zhu Zhen asked after looking at her.

"Your Highness is not the same as before. He looks refreshed and full of energy." Shen Liuniang smiled and said, "Thinking about His Highness's age, it is natural that he has to start a career."

"Oh, hahaha, you dare to make fun of this king." Zhu Zhen was stunned for a moment before he understood, and couldn't help laughing: "This king is indeed planning to start a career, I wonder if Liu Niang would like to help me?"

"Both arms are fine." Shen Liuniang nodded without hesitation.

"Okay." Zhu Zhen then roughly told Shen Liuniang about the situation of the Shipbuilding Department, and then asked her: "I heard that your Shen family made its fortune through maritime trade?"

"Not all." Shen Liuniang briefly described the history of the Shen family's prosperity:
"My family originally lived in Nanxun Town, Wuxing. There was a plague one year, and the whole family moved to Zhouzhuang. At that time, the plague and war continued, and the population loss in Zhouzhuang was severe. Our family opened up wasteland and occupied the land that lost the owners and tenants. Owned. In this way, a lot of fields were accumulated. Then they were improved and water conservancy was built to turn the barren fields into good ones.

"By the time my grandfather Wan Sangong inherited the family business, the Shen family had already owned thousands of hectares of fertile land. The grain produced was sold to those sea merchants, who then transported them to the north. But my grandfather was always very unwilling, because the sea merchants Relying on the monopoly of shipping, they kept the purchase price very low, and let them earn most of it.”

"Then he should build his own boat and transport the grain to the north to sell it." Old Sixth said wisely.

"Grandpa thought so at first, but the sea surface was controlled by the six big merchants at that time, and the Shibo Division was in their hands. Even the navy of the Yuan Dynasty had long been their minions. So only the six big merchants and the merchants attached to them , to go out to sea, and the rest have no way."

"Grandfather's various attempts ended in failure, but he is a man with great foresight and resilience. Now that he has identified the road of maritime trade, he must go through it no matter what."

"How did he get through?" Zhu Zhen was most concerned about this.

"After careful research, he found that Lu Deyuan, one of the six big merchants at that time, was old and had no heirs. Several nephews were also waiting to eat their own money." Shen Liuniang continued:
"Grandfather tried to make friends with Lu Deyuan. It just so happened that Lu Deyuan had already wanted to retire. However, no one in the family was worthy of a big responsibility. He was eager to find a helper who could help him with his business. After the two of them did business together several times, Lu Deyuan I think my grandfather is the one I need.

"Grandfather worshiped him as a foster father and inherited his maritime business. He accumulated enough capital through grain shipping, then built large ships, expanded the fleet, and expanded his business to Southeast Asia and the West. Since then, my family has made a lot of money. So much so that it was rumored that my grandfather had dug a cornucopia."

Shen Liuniang spoke clearly, and soon presented the history of Shen Wansan's fortune to Zhu Zhen.

"Understood." Zhu Zhen nodded and asked, "Are the six big merchants still there?"

"Shouldn't you be here?" Shen Liuniang said uncertainly, "I heard all these things from my father before he was alive. As far as my family remembers, it was already Hongwu. Then the Shen family was moved to Fengyang, and now they are all ruined It has nothing to do with the sea."

"In addition, there is the Gu family who suffered similarly to us, and it seems to be among the six big merchants." Shen Liuniang recalled: "The head of the Gu family is called... Gu Yuanchen. When he was in Fengyang, he often visited my house, and I don't know if he is still there. what?"

"Gu Yuanchen." Zhu Zhen wrote down the name, because Lao Liu also mentioned him.And Lao Liu also mentioned another person. "Where is Yin Shaozong?"

"I only heard about him from my father. I heard that his family has sailed huge ships to and from the ocean for generations. It should be one of them. But I don't know where he is now, whether he is dead or alive." Shen Liuniang said uncertainly:

"Then there are Shanghai Tang family, Songjiang Zheng family, Qingyuan Ni family, Fushan Cao family, Hangzhou Xie family... I heard that these seem to be big merchants at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, but which ones are the six big merchants and which ones are not. I don't know."

After finishing speaking, she quickly explained: "Actually, even in the Yuan Dynasty, the theory of the six sea merchants was not on the table, especially the various families in it often kept their identities secret."

"Yes." Zhu Zhen nodded, expressing his understanding.Desperate at sea, lawless, not only has a bad reputation, but is often involved in the underworld.Naturally, the well-known heirs of poems and books would not admit it.

"This is all gossip I heard from my family when I was young, so I can't do it right." Shen Liuniang emphasized again.

"Then investigate it clearly!" Zhu Zhen said in a deep voice, "Which companies are led by Jiangsu and Zhejiang maritime merchants? How do they operate, and how deep is their collusion with Japanese pirates?"

After a pause, he said quietly again: "Is there any collusion with the officers and soldiers... and, is there an umbrella in the court?!"

"Yes..." Shen Liuniang hurriedly replied, but she was also confused: "I can count on the Golden Lotus Court, I'm afraid I won't be able to find out the information His Highness wants."

"Yeah." Zhu Zhen nodded and asked, "Golden Lotus Courtyard, can you go away?"

"It's already on the right track, it's okay to go away for a while." Shen Liuniang said.

"That's good." Zhu Zhen pondered for a moment and said, "I brought an old man named Wang Dayuan back to Beijing. He is very familiar with the situation at sea, but he hasn't been in the sea for many years. I am going to let you be my representative. , and go with him to investigate the problem just mentioned."

"My family knows." Shen Liuniang couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when she heard that there were still experts.

"Go to Changshu, Suzhou, Taicang, Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Ningbo for a while, and see for yourself the real situation of maritime merchants in those places, and just report back before the end of the year." Zhu Zhen stared at her without blinking and said:

"This matter is of great importance, you must be careful!"

"Understood." Shen Liuniang hurriedly responded with a straight face.

"In addition, I will give you a Xiaoqi guard to keep in touch at all times. If you are in danger, you should call for help in time, and you don't have to be afraid of revealing your identity." Zhu Zhen instructed again.

"Yes, yes." Shen Liuniang couldn't help pursing her lips and said with a smile: "Your Highness really cares about us servants."

"I'm just afraid of delaying the business." Zhu Zhen coughed in embarrassment, got up and said, "Nothing else, I'm leaving."

He had to go and see if Deng Qianhu had completely disarmed.

(End of this chapter)