As Guo Ning's status became higher and higher, more and more people responded to his words. After he became the emperor of the Zhou Dynasty, he would sometimes summon his officials and tell a joke that was not very funny, and dozens of officials would laugh. , as if hearing the most interesting story in the world.
As for the arrangements for important military and political affairs, as soon as he opened his mouth, there were countless people who fawned over him and expressed their determination by patting their chests.
Seeing this kind of situation too often can become annoying. Therefore, when there are really important arrangements, Guo Ning always summons a few close ministers and relevant important ministers to announce them in a small area, and it is the same today.
At this time, Guo Ning's words came out, and the hall became very quiet.
Guo Ning turned around with some doubts, and then heard Han Xuan cough slightly and asked: "Will the successors use troops?"
Du Shisheng said: "In the next few months, it will be the time when the business in Korea's Licheng Port is booming. If Yin Chang makes too much noise there and it affects this year's business... the loss will not be three to five years. It can be made up for."
As the country prospered, the income of the imperial court increased rapidly. However, the garrison on the northern border faced a formidable enemy. Many generals were proposing further changes in uniforms, arming every soldier to the teeth, and raising military pay and pensions. high.
Then the navy also kept asking for an increase in the number of large ships. This is because even if the confrontation with the navy of the Southern Dynasties is not taken into account, the scale of various trading houses and even pirates is expanding. If the navy does not invest money, there is no guarantee that the situation will be unstoppable one day. .
All these require large and continuous capital investment. No matter which one is hundreds of thousands of expenditures, not to mention the expansion of factories and ports, and the expansion of staffing, it is a bottomless pit that swallows money. .
Compared with the Jin Kingdom, which had a rough land, the Zhou Dynasty had a lot of financial resources, but its economic conditions were not unlimited.
Moreover, with the development of industry and commerce, various trading houses themselves gradually gained political influence. On the one hand, trading houses acted according to the will of the court, and on the other hand, if they wanted to make money, they must have their independence.
So many people have been recruited from the Song Dynasty this year, almost everyone can read and write, and many of them are homeless dogs, unlike ordinary scholars. With a little training, they can invest in shops, guilds and strongholds in various places. Here, many business bank executives hope to use this resource to launch a new round of expansion.
Including Yelu Chucai, Li Yun, and Du Shisheng, who started participating last year, they all felt that the commercial bank's demands were reasonable.
Since the Song State in the Southern Dynasties had limited control over industry and commerce, its most powerful person in the court, Shi Miyuan, was more willing to use commercial interests to satisfy the expansion of his own political power. Therefore, to a certain extent, the merchants of the Zhou Dynasty were almost free in the Southern Dynasties. Action.
The only hidden danger is that we don’t know how long Shi Miyuan will be in power. But because of this, why shouldn’t we seize the opportunity to seize land and make money now?
At this time, Guo Ning suddenly suggested that he had already planned to get involved in the Japanese country in Haidong or even further away... It was inevitable that everyone would be a little suspicious.
Goryeo was not the enemy of Zhou Dynasty.
For several consecutive years, the merchants of Zhou and Goryeo have cooperated happily on the sea. The Koryo fleet helped the Zhou get rid of the restrictions on grain trade imposed by the Song state in the Southern Dynasty. The two companies jointly maintained the most maritime trade. The material output and transshipment at the northern end also shared huge profits on this golden road that exceeded anyone's expectations.
Distance is the biggest factor that affects input costs. Goryeo is close to the sea everywhere, and local output can easily be connected with shipping. Therefore, although the territory is small, it has sufficient advantages in maritime trade and the output of profits is also huge.
In contrast, if we were to display military power in Goryeo, the amount of human, financial and material resources consumed would be unimaginable.
At that time, the Sui Dynasty conquered Goguryeo three times, and the Khitan conquered Goguryeo three times. At most, they claimed to have used 400,000 iron cavalry, but they did not get much benefit. Not to mention the Jin Kingdom. Many Jurchen tribes, including the Wanyan tribe, were once Goguryeo.
After several small-scale fights between the two parties, did the Jurchens choose to rush into the Central Plains?
The current military regime of the Great Zhou Dynasty does not care about fame and status, and only cares about profits in overseas affairs. It is good to succeed if this step is taken, but if it affects the original cooperation, is it worth it? What price must be paid for success?
"It doesn't cost anything."
Yelu Chucai answered on Guo Ning's behalf: "Yin Chang is the one who was deprived of his official position; the one who was taken by Yin Chang is a fugitive from the Song Dynasty. Whether this is successful or not, no additional support is needed... Please
You guys are preparing in advance, just as a precaution."
After a pause, he looked at Guo Ning's expression and said, "But I am absolutely sure that this matter will definitely come true."
It was rare for everyone to hear such an unequivocal guarantee from Yelu Chucai. Han Xuan suddenly felt much more relaxed; Wang Shixian next to him also looked relieved and breathed a sigh of relief. Du Shisheng touched his increasingly sparse beard and smiled.
Voice.
As the business system becomes larger and larger, it is not an appropriate solution for Li Yun to be in sole control of the business. Therefore, except for a number of firms directly under the Left and Right Division, the management functions for other merchants have recently been gradually transferred to Du Shisheng.
Du Shisheng is a bit old and is not in good health, but he is more than capable of supervising the remote control work. Due to his unique political acumen, cooperation between many business firms and all parties will be smoother, including with Yelu
Chu Cai's coordination.
Seeing that no one had any doubts, Guo Ning waved his hand: "That's it, let's go."
In the Great Zhou Dynasty, a big man who was an official in Nanjing and stayed behind was demoted. In anger, he set up a trading company and went to sea, intending to do business between Shandong and Goryeo. The story soon spread.
Some maritime merchants are worried that the already fiercely competitive trade routes may not be able to accommodate a new shark. Others feel that the resigned officials are just toothless tigers and it is no big deal.
As for the maritime merchants with a background in the Song Dynasty in the Southern Dynasties, most of them admired the crispness of the northern warriors. The dignified third-level officials tried their best to seize power on stage, but when they stepped down, they rolled up their sleeves to make money, without hiding anything.
, not as secretive as the scholar-bureaucrats in the Southern Dynasties.
With the help of certain people, this news quickly spread to Goryeo.
The Wang Dynasty of Goryeo was established in the Later Liang Dynasty of the Five Dynasties of the Central Plains. At that time, the Central Plains was in chaos and the rulers had no time to take care of the Eastern Fan. Therefore, Goryeo overstepped the etiquette system and imitated the royal system of the Celestial Dynasty. For example, the capital was called the "Imperial Capital"; the palace was called
"Imperial City"; the king's order is called "Edict"; the king's successor is called "Prince"; the king's mother is called "Queen Mother", etc. Only the king himself does not dare to call himself emperor, but calls himself "King".
These transgressions have been followed for hundreds of years. For hundreds of years, the people of Korea have become accustomed to them, while the Song people or other foreign merchants who came to Korea opened their eyes and pretended that they did not exist.
However, if a former high-ranking official of the Zhou Dynasty came to Goryeo and saw these things, would he be touched?
It is said that the Great Zhou Dynasty was a powerful and ferocious military regime. The name of this former high-ranking official was Yin Chang, who was also a murderous bandit in Shandong. Will he make a big fuss about this and use it as a reason to turn around in the Great Zhou Dynasty?
After hearing the news, officials at Lisung Port in Goryeo did not dare to ignore it and wrote letters for several days. In particular, they pointed out that envoys from the Central Plains departing from Dengzhou usually sail eastward via Zhifu Island to Ongjin, Haeju in Goryeo Kingdom, and then pass by land.
Haizhou, Yanzhou, and Baizhou go directly to Kaicheng, the imperial capital.
This route is too long in the mainland of Korea, and there are too many opportunities to explore everywhere. If someone comes from this way, plans must be made early to lead him to Yecheng by sea.