Li Er was not discussing anything else, but the recent sea trade.
Because of the grand strategy of encouraging merchants to export products to accumulate gold and silver, Li Er had to pay a certain price.
One of them, of course, has the funds needed for the Forbidden Army to frequently dispatch in the South China Sea, but this is still a small amount. After all, the Zhongzuo Institute is gradually becoming prosperous due to trade, and many of the infrastructures above have begun to make profits.
Naturally, this profit is not directly collected from tolls. After all, Li Er has made it clear that he wants to encourage merchants to go out to sea trade - he said that he will give rewards and charge no fees.
On the Zhongzuosuo Island, there are many restaurants, "luxury hotels", jewelry shops and other commercial institutions. Although these institutions look very "private", they are actually state-owned assets.
Due to the prosperity of the Zhongzuo Institute, this part of the business area naturally generates a lot of income, which greatly eases the military expenditure pressure of the South China Sea Forbidden Forces.
But merchants must also be encouraged to bring goods outside, and rewards must be given for this.
Li Er's goal is to collect overseas resources. He must first collect gold and silver. Of course, the reward will not be in the form of gold and silver, but the output of many factories run by Li Er under the name "Old Li" and the output of many factories of the Ministry of Industry.
You have to pay for the goods, but that's not the point.
The point is, giving rewards is still giving money, and giving money...giving money is still giving money.
What does it mean to give money? It means that others receive rice with tears, but the money in your pocket will continue to be spent.
This part of the expenditure is also not a small amount! Even because some time ago it was found that it is not easy to guide merchants to go overseas and guide them to bring goods abroad, the intensity of this reward is not small.
All in all, it costs a lot!
And if the expenditure is huge, the money must come from somewhere, and now it is naturally a problem.
Li Er was discussing matters with Wei Zheng, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Duan Lun and others at this time, and naturally they were talking about this matter.
Moreover, the prestige of the imperial court cannot be lost, and it is difficult to withdraw or discount this reward. If it is maintained, it will be a great test for Li Er and others.
Test... is torture.
But just when Li Er and others were thinking of a solution as if facing a formidable enemy, with constipated expressions on their faces, suddenly...
The chamberlain called out, "Your Majesty, there's something going on on the phone!"
It's a miracle that such a primitive phone can make calls, let alone be equipped with a ringtone. At this time, Li Er's phone call relies on high-level personal service. The loyal and reliable chamberlain is personally watching the whole process twelve hours a day and night.
.
And Li Er was also stunned, thinking about where the report needed to be made... Except for the few places with telephones arranged by him, such as Lingzhou and Hangzhou, there were no other places to report by phone.
Since the report is arranged by oneself, the time is of course fixed, and the content to be reported is also specified.
It's not time to report at this time, so wouldn't it...
Isn't it an urgent report?
Li Er was stunned for a moment, then reacted and looked at the waiter nervously, "Where is the memorial?"
"Report to Your Majesty, Zhongzuo Office!"
"Zhongzuo Institute? Urgent report..."
When Li Er heard that it was Zhongzuo, his heart suddenly thumped.
The South China Sea is not peaceful recently. In addition to pirates, there are also various naive merchants who are disobedient and do not follow the master of the Tang Dynasty. It is very difficult to deal with.
Although Chai Shao can fight, his troops are insufficient after all. This sudden emergency call... Could it be that something happened to Zhongzuo?
The chamberlain guarded the phone. Li Er did not use the phone to talk to the chamberlain. Wei Zheng and others also heard the words "Zhong Zuo Suo".
Wei Dufangduan and these guys are all the top elites of the Tang Dynasty. They have such keen awareness. They immediately realized like Li Er that something might have happened in the South China Sea...
Everyone feels like they are facing a formidable enemy!
Li Er took the call with an extremely solemn expression...
The person opposite is indeed Chai Shao.
but……
Chai Shao's voice...surprisingly seemed very relaxed?
It even has the kind of high-spirited flavor that makes an old man talk about being a teenager...
"Haha, Your Majesty! Someone is here to report to Your Majesty!"
?
Li Er was stunned for a moment.
Damn...
This is Chai Shao.
I hurriedly called over. I was wondering what was going on in the South China Sea, but it didn't seem to be the case...
Then why are you harassing me like this? Looking for fun? You old boy, aren't you...
For a moment, Li Er's mind seemed to be blank, but a large number of mental activities passed through it.
And in the midst of these momentary mental activities, Li Er's heart skipped a beat again.
Wait, although Chai Shao can fight, he also has his own style as a general. This guy is a reckless man who uses all kinds of cleverness and is not afraid of death. He relies on these two points to fight.
A reckless man smiling happily does not necessarily mean a great victory, it may also mean that he is about to die...
Li Er's heart suddenly skipped a beat.
I'll wipe it, please don't...
But in a hurry, Chai Shao talked about the recent gains, especially the gains from the wave of military operations last night.
Chai Shao was well prepared for this military operation. It can be said that Chai Shao did a lot of work in order to let his subordinates put aside their psychological burden and worry about being regarded as thieves by the people.
He was doing work for the soldiers and captains one by one, and he was also painstakingly searching for people from all walks of life, especially the famous ladies and aunties, to ask for advice on the art of makeup and disguise...
The purpose is to dress up the elite Imperial Guards of the Zhongzuo Institute and perfectly complete this pirate role play.
The final result was also very good, because not only was the military operation successfully won, but Chai Shao's spies operating in Binhai prefectures and counties around Hangzhou reported that there were no strange rumors - which meant that the disguise of the Forbidden Army was very easy.
Success, and not being discovered!
This is because the Forbidden Forces pretending to be pirates to carry out plunder is absolutely easy to cause criticism. Once it is leaked, it will be known to the whole world. There is no situation where the news is leaked but the spies fail to find out.
Since there is no news, then it can be sure that there is no leak!
In this regard, Chai Shao simply boasted about himself, and then talked about the harvest. This time, it was because the value of the harvest was too huge that he called Li Er to report urgently.
And Li Er...
At first, everyone thought that the Zhongzuo Station had been taken down by some pirates or powerful armed merchants, but the goods were gone immediately. However, after hearing this, I realized that this was not the case. Something happened to the Zhongzuo Station... completely
It's because I think too much.
and……
Not only is there no bad news, there is good news.
Not just one piece, but a lot of them!
The first good news is, of course, that the disguised actions of the Imperial Guard were not discovered and did not cause an uproar in public opinion.
Second, these ships were plundered, and the harvest was huge.
Because the fleet of Wang Jing and others is extremely large, and because they go out to buy exotic goods from overseas and bring them back to sell...
Most of the assets on the ship are the precious metals that Li Er desires most, gold and silver!