If you want to develop ocean-going trade, the most important point, which is also the basis of everything, is the need for a suitable port!
Although Liu Ruyi is currently the general of Zhendong and the commander-in-chief of Shandong, the area he actually controls is from Linqing City in the west, to the junction of Caishi Town and Laiwu in the east, and Jining City and the surrounding area in the south!
In this era, the administrative region of Shandong was different from that of later generations. Although the two coastal prefectures of Dengzhou and Laizhou were under the name of Shandong, they were not governed by Shandong! The imperial court had separate governors of Denglai in these two places.
Together with General Denglai, he took charge of the affairs of the two governments.
Therefore, Liu Ruyi can’t get involved in Qingdao, the best port in future generations, for the time being!
However, under the rule of Shandong, there was still a port under Liu Ruyi's name. This was Antonwei, located several hundred miles east of Jining City, which would later become Rizhao City!
Anton Guard was established mainly to defend against Japanese pirates. Although its seaport conditions are not as good as those of Qingdao City, with many suitable military ports, it is extremely suitable for use as a trade base!
The most important thing is that the terrain of Andongwei to the east is flat and the official roads are intact. If Liu Ruyi sends troops from Jining, it can be reached in a day and a half at most, which is very conducive to Liu Ruyi's control of the situation!
At present, the situation in the Ming Dynasty is corrupt, and Anton Guard has long existed in name only. The original establishment of a thousand households now has less than a hundred people!
After handling the trivial matters in Jinan City, in early June of the twelfth year of Chongzhen, Liu Ruyi took his mother Zou, Xiao Zixin, Zhu Qingxu and other female family members, escorted by the elite Qiancai Stone Army, to Andongwei for inspection and play.
!
Unlike other strategic locations in Liaodong, although Liu Ruyi is the commander-in-chief of Shandong, the location of his main troops is not necessarily fixed!
For example, if Wang Tingchen was the former commander-in-chief of the garrison, his station would be the former garrison. This was not sloppy at all! But later, Liu Zeqing was promoted to the commander-in-chief of Shandong, and his station was in his hometown of Feixian County!
Of course, this is a scene that only occurred under the unique historical conditions of the late Ming Dynasty!
During the Hongwu period of Taizu, this would have been almost impossible!
In Liu Ruyi's concept, the navy will be the focus of future development, so Liu Ruyi also attaches great importance to this trip to Anton Guard!
Not only were a thousand troops accompanied by them, but they also included Liu Hanyi, Lao Song, the chief steward of Prince De's Palace, Zhang Laocai, the chief shopkeeper of Jibei Commercial Bank, Tao Zhu, the head of the Tao family in Xincheng, and the wealthy businessmen of the major wealthy families in Jinan City. Basically, they were all accompanied by their heads!
This time, plus the accompanying servants and servants, the number of people exceeded 2,000. It was so majestic and huge that it was comparable to a royal family outing!
The large group of people went south from Caishi Town to Jining, then turned eastward from Jining City, heading straight for Anton Guard!
Zou and Xiao Zixin were a little better, but Zhu Qingxu, Chun Yunu, Qing'er and the other girls had never seen the sea before. They were all excited to see the most spectacular sight in the world!
Qing'er, in particular, turned into a chirping little oriole, circling Liu Ruyi every day, which made Liu Ruyi secretly feel guilty!
After several years of hard work, I only focused on my career, but I left my family far behind. Now, I just took them on a trip, and they were already so happy!
Since half of this trip was a trip, everyone, including Liu Ruyi, was very relaxed and walked around until they arrived at their destination seven days later!
~~~~~
Antonwei is located on the north bank of the Xiuzhen River estuary, adjacent to the Yellow Sea. It is located in Laoye Mountain, Guanshan Mountain and Bijia Mountain. It is surrounded by three mountains in the center. It is majestic and dangerous!
Although it is now depopulated, its majestic appearance can still be seen through its huge architectural structure!
The name of Qianhu in Antonwei is Zhang Lei. Although he is only in his early thirties this year, he looks like an old man in his fifties and sixties!
He has dark skin and is quite tall, but he is as skinny as a stick. You can tell at a glance that he is malnourished!
Upon learning that his immediate boss Liu Ruyi had arrived, Zhang Lei hurriedly brought all the people from the guardhouse, old and young, to greet him!
"The humble Antong guard guarding thousands of households~Zhang Lei, see General Zhendong, the general is well!" Zhang Lei kowtowed to Liu Ruyi respectfully, obviously very nervous.
Liu Ruyi smiled and helped him up, and asked: "Zhang Qianhu, how come this An Dongwei is so dilapidated? Why? But the imperial court did not pay enough money in time?"
When Zhang Lei heard this, he fell to his knees on the ground, kowtowed desperately and said: "General, I am humbled by my humble post. I have been humbled by my humble post without pay for more than three years! If, if this continues, all the military households will flee!"
However, even if you hold such a humble position, I’m afraid I won’t be able to defend this acropolis!”
After Zhang Lei finished speaking, hundreds of men, women, and children behind him fell to their knees on the ground!
"General, please do a good job! Give us a salary! If this continues, our wives, daughters, and children will all starve to death!"
"General, general..."
These ragged military households were simply worse than the refugees in Linqing City. Liu Ruyi couldn't help but sigh deeply!
On the side, Zou and Xiao Zixin couldn't stand it anymore and hurriedly advised: "Ruyi, they, they are too miserable! If you can help, then help them!"
Liu Ruyi nodded, but looked at the wealthy businessmen accompanying him!
How could these wealthy businessmen not understand what Liu Ruyi meant? It was obvious that Liu Ruyi wanted them to pay for it!
However, no one took the lead, and everyone did not dare to covet her, so they all set their sights on Liu Hanyi!
Liu Hanyi hurriedly cleared his throat. He knew that this was his brother, giving him a chance to show off. "Fellow fellow villagers, your experiences have deeply touched me, Liu! This time, General Zhendong,
The purpose of recruiting merchants like me is to do more practical things for the fellow villagers! Well, I, Liu Hanyi, on behalf of my Licheng Liu's Trading Company, will invest 50,000 taels to improve the lives of the villagers! I can also be considered the Liu family.
A little thought from the trading company!"
"We, the Jibei Commercial Bank, have invested thirty thousand taels and are willing to serve General Zhendong!" Zhang Laocai hurriedly followed!
Tao Zhu, the head of the Xincheng Tao family, gritted his teeth and said: "My Xincheng Tao family is willing to invest 40,000 taels and swear to the death to serve General Shock!"
"My Jinan Wang family is willing to invest thirty thousand taels and serve General Zhendong!"
"We, Jinan Huang's Trading Company, are willing to invest ten thousand taels!"
"…………"
In just a moment, dozens of wealthy businessmen collected more than 600,000 taels of silver!
Liu Ruyi couldn't help but be a little speechless!
In the era of the late Ming Dynasty, it was not that there was no money, but that there was too much money, which fell into the hands of these dignitaries and wealthy businessmen! These people had the most generous profits and the best resources, but they
Either don't pay taxes or pay less taxes. In this case, the court can only collect taxes from the people. How can it collect money?
"Thank you all the gentlemen for coming! I am here, but I want to thank all the gentlemen on behalf of my fathers and fellow villagers! Zhang Qianhu, why don't you thank all the gentlemen quickly?" Liu Ruyi looked at this picture of Qianhu.
The door was like a wooden stake, dumbfounded on the spot, and quickly winked at him.
Only then did Zhang Qianhu come back to his senses and hurriedly kowtowed to everyone and said, "Thank you, great masters, thank you, great masters!"
Liu Ruyi had a cordial conversation with the people and asked his soldiers to distribute some food to the people. Then he was accompanied by Zhang Lei and arrived at the Andong Acropolis.
The Acropolis is not too big. It is basically a strategic defense facility based on bluestone. There are tall forts set up at several key high places. However, these forts have long been in disrepair and are rusty.
It is stained and stained, and at first glance, it seems that it has not been used for many years!
However, the overall structure of the Acropolis is still there. It was built entirely according to the model of a defensive fortress. It has a wide view and a dangerous terrain. As long as it takes a little rest, it will definitely be restored to its original state!
"Old man, how is the terrain here? Is it to your liking?" Liu Ruyi stood on the fort in the mountains and smiled at Mr. Feng beside him.
As a geology expert, Liu Ruyi will definitely not let a precious talent like Mr. Feng sit idle! And because his precious granddaughter Qing'er is pregnant, the more Mr. Feng looks at Liu Ruyi, the more he likes her!
"As you wish, this place is a geomantic treasure! Look, the Acropolis is surrounded by mountains and the green trees are enchanting. They have taken the spirit of heaven and earth! Look at the foot of the mountain here and along the mouth of the Xiuzhen River. There are flat mouths on both sides.
If the land is used to build a port, this is the best! These forts can cover dozens of miles around, and I also saw that there seems to be a fort on the small island ahead.
, even if we station troops here, it will be just fine!" Mr. Feng is also very satisfied with the terrain here!
Liu Ruyi couldn't help but smile and nodded.
Nonsense, this is the so-called richest man in Shandong in later generations - the dedicated wharf of the giant company XX Steel. How can it be worse?
However, what Liu Ruyi was worried about at this time was not the geography of Anton Wei, but the ships and sailors!
You know, the shipbuilding craftsmanship of the Ming Dynasty has been almost completely sealed since Monk Sanbao made seven voyages to the West!
Now it is almost impossible to find those original shipbuilding drawings and craftsmanship!
The shipbuilding craftsmanship of the Ming Dynasty can no longer be compared with that of our ancestors. The exquisite skills of those craftsmen have almost been lost!
If the ‘Carpenter Emperor’ Zhu Youxiao were still alive, he might still have some creative ideas, but right now, this is no longer possible!
Mr. Feng seemed to have seen through Liu Ruyi's thoughts, and couldn't help but smile: "Ruyi, you kid, don't have a big appetite! The treasure ship of the Three Treasures Eunuch is a spiritual creature that dominates the creation of heaven and earth. It can only be encountered but cannot be sought! However,
, I heard that in the Nanyang area, the shipbuilding craftsmanship of those Folangji people is also extremely exquisite! Now that you have money, are you afraid that you will not be able to find ships and sailors? "
Liu Ruyi nodded and then remembered the Portuguese man he saved in Jining, Luis Pete!
It’s just that this guy’s letter has been sent out for so long, why haven’t I received a reply?
Is it possible that his uncle, the Governor of Macau, has forgotten him?