My father Zhu Gaoxu

Chapter 263
"13 taels of gold, 2307 million taels of silver, and six boats of various spices..."

Holding the account book, Zhu Zhanhe probably inspected the gold, silver, treasures and goods on board, and the more he looked at it, the more excited he became.

Compared to Zhu Zhanhe, other people were even more unbearable. Zhu Yong opened his mouth wide, and his saliva was about to flow out. Xu Jingchang, Zhang Chang and others stepped forward to stroke the gold and silver in the box, muttering incessantly: "Get rich! Get rich!"

Even Zhu Zhanji was absent-minded for a while, but he quickly asked Zhu Zhanhe with some doubts: "Zhanhe, only part of your fleet has returned, why is the income so high?"

Zhu Zhanji once had a detailed understanding of the voyages to the West, and clearly knew Zheng He's income from each voyage, and the gold, silver and goods in front of him almost caught up with Zheng He's income from one voyage.

You must know that the merchant fleet has a total of fifty ships, but now only ten ships have returned, and the remaining forty ships have not returned. In other words, if all the merchant fleets return, it is estimated that their income will exceed that of Zheng He's fleet. several times.

"Brother, think about it, the purpose of our merchant ships and Zheng He's voyages to the West is completely different. Zheng He is an envoy, and his main task is to go to overseas countries. The transaction is just a matter of convenience, and sometimes he has to send a large number of gifts. "

Zhu Zhanhe paused at this point, and then said again.

"Although Zheng He's treasure ship is large, in order to ensure deterrence, the ship is mainly loaded with troops and supplies. The space left for the goods is actually not large, so the amount of goods they carry each time is not much. Compared with Underneath, our merchant ships are purely for making money, there are fewer people on board and more cargo, and when they arrive at the port, they are only for trading, so we can naturally earn more money!"

"I see!"

Zhu Zhanji was also surprised when he heard the words.

"Of course, the prerequisite for merchant ships to successfully trade with overseas countries is that Zheng He's fleet can provide sufficient force protection, so the troops on board are also necessary."

Zhu Zhanhe explained again.

However, in his view, this situation is still abnormal now. If a large number of troops need to be brought along with him every time he goes to the West for business, the cost will be too high.

Therefore, for Zhu Zhanhe, all the opposing forces on the route will be cleaned up in the future, and even the forces that may pose a threat to merchant ships are all under their attack. Only in this way can the safety of the entire route be guaranteed.

After visiting the nine merchant ships, Zhu Zhanhe immediately asked people to prepare a carriage, and transferred all the gold, silver, treasures and goods on board to the carriage.

Originally, you can also take the water route from Tianjin, and then go to Tongzhou and then take the land route, but in this way, you need to transfer the goods to the small boat in the inland river, and then transfer the small boat to the carriage. It is very troublesome, it is better to go directly by land .

The goods of the nine large ships required too many carriages. Fortunately, Zhu Zhanhe had already prepared in advance, and each family did not lack manpower and horses. Therefore, it took three days to transfer the gold, silver and goods on the ship to a In one carriage after another.

Of course, in order to ensure the safety on the road, Zhu Zhanhe, Zhu Yong and the others also dispatched the guards from their own mansion, which were not only protection but also supervision, so as not to prevent someone from guarding and stealing.

The day after Zhu Zhanhe visited the merchant ship, he bid farewell to Zhu Zhanhe and the others and set off for Nanjing, but he didn't know what Zhu Gaochi would do with Zhu Di when he came to Beijing in the future?

The car was already installed, and Zhu Zhanhe was about to take people back to Beijing, but in the evening of this day, Zhang Fu and Mr. Qi suddenly found him.

Before, Zhu Zhanhe, Zhang Fu, and Mr. Qi came to Tianjin together on a sea boat. Some of the grain they transported needed to continue northward and be transported directly to Liaodong. .

"Meet the prince!"

Zhang Fu and Mr. Qi went forward to salute.

"You don't need to be too polite, is this trip to Liaodong going well?"

Zhu Zhanhe asked with a smile.

"It's going smoothly. Liaodong is no different than other places. Some seaports will freeze in winter, so the food needs to be transported before winter, so our task is also relatively heavy, and we have added another shipment during the period."

Zhang Fei reported immediately.

"That's good. Xia Shangshu and I have talked about it. He is very optimistic about our shipping. After this year's autumn grain comes out, it is estimated that at least half of it will be distributed to us. In addition to grain, there may be other supplies. Then you will be busy!"

Zhu Zhanhe said with a smile.

With the emergence of the advantages of sea transportation, Xia Yuanji also attached great importance to it. Not only did he increase the proportion of grain transported, but he also specially allocated some money to them for the construction of new grain transport ships and the training of crew members.

"With a prince sitting in the court, our shipping will surely shine!"

Zhang Fu was also very surprised when he heard the words.

No wonder others said that there are people in the court who are good at being officials, and with Zhu Zhanhe as the big Buddha, Zhang Fu felt that his journey by sea would be safe, no matter what, Zhu Zhanhe could help them deal with it.

"When are you planning to return to Taicang?"

Zhu Zhanhe asked again.

"Originally we planned to go back two days ago, but we heard that your son is coming, and Mr. Qi also has a proposal, so we changed our plan and planned to ask your son for instructions."

As Zhang Fu said, he turned his head and glanced at Mr. Qi next to him.

I saw Mr. Qi stepping forward and said: "My son, our trip to the north is mainly to transport grain. Now after the grain is handed over, the cabin is suddenly empty. If we go back now, we can only go back empty, isn't it too much?" wasted?"

"It's indeed a waste, what do you think?"

Zhu Zhanhe nodded in agreement, and then asked Mr. Qi again.

"Actually, it's not my idea, but when we were in Liaodong, some businessmen came to us, hoping to use our boats to transport some specialties of Liaodong to the south. They were willing to pay for the shipping fee. At that time, I was very concerned about this. Quite tempted, after all, instead of going back empty-handed, it’s better to earn some money to subsidize it.”

Mr. Qi looked at Zhu Zhanhe at the end.

He would like to agree, but he has no power. After all, their ships are official ships. If they help merchants transport goods, if they are reported, they may be labeled as public-seeking. It is said that he and Zhang Fu are married, even Zhu Zhanhe will be implicated.

"This is indeed a good thing that kills two birds with one stone, but I can't make the decision. How about this, you wait a few more days in Tianjin. I will discuss it with Xia Shangshu after I return to Beijing. Then I will ask Grandpa Huang for advice. As long as Grandpa Huang Allowed, of course there is no taboo!"

Zhu Zhanhe thought for a while before replying.

(End of this chapter)