Zhang Zhongjian waved his hand and said: "No, money is very attractive. If it's like you said, you can't play with it at all, so you still have to share some profits. You can't pay the cost, but it's less than what I get. What if?
If word spreads, others will think that I am bullying my apprentice."
"Okay then, just do as the master says." Lin Xuan nodded.
Zhang Zhongjian pondered for a while and said: "Autumn and winter to March of the following year are the best times to go to sea. It will definitely be too late this year, but you can start building ships. You can select some people and follow me back when I go back next year. Wait
We can set off in the autumn and winter next year.”
The main driving forces of ancient ships were manpower and wind power. In autumn and winter, especially winter (November to March of the following year is the winter monsoon period). Because in this season, the northerly wind (mainly northeasterly wind) prevails in Lingnan, and the northeast monsoon will
This allows ships departing from Lingnan to sail southward with favorable winds.
Lin Xuan nodded and said: "I will start building the ship as soon as possible. It should be no problem to set off next autumn."
…
"What are you doing here?" Li Shimin looked at Lin Xuan and said angrily.
Lin Xuan smiled and said: "Your Majesty, I naturally come to your Majesty for good reasons."
"A good thing?" Li Shimin was stunned and asked, "What a good thing?"
"It can bring at least tens of millions of dollars in revenue to Datang every year." Lin Xuan said.
"What!" Li Shimin stared at Lin Xuan.
Liuli has brought him more than 10 million yuan in income so far, but after so long, his income has begun to decrease.
Even so, Li Shimin was very satisfied.
Now Lin Xuan told him that he had another idea worth tens of millions, which was still the least.
So what is the maximum number?
Twenty million dollars or thirty million dollars?
Thinking of this, Li Shimin looked at Lin Xuan with burning eyes and said, "Be specific."
"Your Majesty, I heard from my master that there is an overseas island full of spices that are more expensive than gold in the Tang Dynasty. No one collects them, and they all rot on the island." Lin Xuan said.
"It's impossible to bring an income of 10 million yuan to the Tang Dynasty just from spices, right?" Li Shimin said calmly.
The entire country of the Tang Dynasty must have spent more than 10 million yuan on spices every year, but as a large amount of spices flowed into the Tang Dynasty, the price of spices would definitely become lower.
But even so, a few million dollars a year is still no problem.
Although Li Shimin was passionate, he didn't want Lin Xuan to see it.
Lin Xuan nodded and said: "Spices alone are naturally not enough, but the ships that go out to sea to pick spices are empty when they go out to sea. If they are filled with goods on the ship and traded with other countries, they will bring full goods with them when they come back.
Your Majesty, do you think the ship's spices can bring tens of millions of dollars in revenue to Datang?"
Li Shimin asked: "Your master knows about that island, but others don't know about it? Is there any hidden secret in it?"
Although he was very eager for wealth, he did not let it go to his head.
Spices were valuable not only in the Tang Dynasty, but also in other places. It was impossible that other people didn’t know about the island that Zhang Zhongjian knew about. Why didn’t anyone go get it?
Lin Xuan said: "Your Majesty, my master does not know where the island is, he just heard about it."
Li Shimin glared at Lin Xuan and said, "Are you entertaining me?"
Damn it, I was happy for a long time, but you told me it was just a rumor, weren't you kidding me?
"I don't dare. There was a fisherman before. When he went out to sea, he encountered a strong wind and his boat was blown to an island. He saw that the island was full of spices. The fisherman didn't know the spices, so he just picked some and brought them back. When you know
After finding the spice, the fisherman regretted it and went to the sea many times to look for it, but never found it. My master Chen accidentally saved the fisherman. In order to repay his kindness, the fisherman told my master the approximate location of the spice island.
." Lin Xuan began to make up a story.
There was no way. He knew that the Maluku Islands in Indonesia were rich in spices, but he didn't know the specific location of the Maluku Islands. He only knew a rough idea.
If you want to fool Li Shimin into exploring with him, you can only make up a story to make Li Shimin believe it.
After Li Shimin listened, he thought carefully.
According to what Lin Xuan said, looking for Spice Island is not a castle in the air.
With an approximate location, as long as you spend some time, you have a high chance of finding it.
Li Shimin pondered for a while and said, "Tell me, what do you need me to do?"
Lin Xuan said: "Your Majesty, the cost of shipbuilding can be paid by me, and the sailors can be trained by my master. Your Majesty only needs to provide me with some shipbuilding craftsmen."
In this era, most skilled craftsmen were recruited by the imperial court.
There are craftsmen who can build ships among the people, but those who can build sea-going ships are very rare.
Lin Xuan went to look for it by himself, but he didn't know when he found it.
Li Shimin frowned. The Tang Dynasty had no navy, and even the navy was very rare.
The Maritime Silk Road was established in the Han Dynasty, starting from Lingnan.
However, although Lingnan belonged to the Tang Dynasty, the imperial court did not have strong control over Lingnan.
At the end of the Sui Dynasty, Feng An occupied Lingnan. Although he later surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, Feng An's reputation in Lingnan was very high, and he was called the King of Lingnan, which is evident from this.
There were rumors before that Feng An intended to rebel, and Li Shimin originally wanted to send troops to conquer, but was later persuaded by Wei Zheng.
In order to appease Feng An, Li Shimin sent ministers to express condolences.
Feng An naturally knew that someone was accusing him of treason, so in order to show his loyalty, he sent his son Feng Zhidai to Chang'an as a hostage.
Even so, Li Shimin simply could not tolerate the existence of a state within a state within the Tang Dynasty.
He originally thought that Feng Ang was old and that after Feng Ang died, the court would be able to control Lingnan peacefully.
It is simply impossible to ask Feng Ang about the craftsmen who built sea ships without sharing some of Feng Ang's interests.
Among other things, Guangzhou Haikou in Lingnan is the largest outlet to the sea in the Tang Dynasty. If you want to go to the sea from Guangzhou, Feng An is an obstacle that cannot be bypassed.
If a portion of the benefits were given to Feng An, it would undoubtedly make the Feng family stronger. Li Shimin was naturally unwilling to do so.
Li Shimin hesitated for a while and told Lin Xuan his concerns.
After hearing this, Lin Xuan wanted to say that Feng An would never rebel at all. Don't ask me how I knew that. That's how it was recorded in the history books.
But can he say that? Unless he thinks his life is too long.
Lin Xuan thought for a while and said, "Your Majesty, you mean that the second son of Duke Geng is in Chang'an now?"
Li Shimin nodded and asked with some confusion: "What are your plans?"
"Your Majesty, since you don't want to give too many benefits to Duke Geng, naturally you can't go to Duke Geng directly. I want to talk to Duke Geng's son directly." Lin Xuan said.
He specifically said that he did not want to share too much benefit with Feng An, but he just told Li Shimin that it would be impossible not to share it at all.
Li Shimin was silent for a while and asked: "Are you sure?"
"That depends on His Majesty's bottom line." Lin Xuan said.
Li Shimin's face changed. After a long time, he finally said: "10%, no more than 10% at most. If it is less than 10%, I will mark your merits as a great achievement."
Lin Xuan breathed a sigh of relief. Li Shimin's answer was quite acceptable.
Lin Xuan pondered for a while and asked: "I wonder how much your Majesty wants?"
Zhang Zhongjian has already taken 20%, and Feng Ang is taking 10%, which means 30%. If Li Shimin wants too much, his work will be in vain.
Li Shimin glanced at Lin Xuan and said, "I want 60%."