Great Tang Southern Emperor

Fourth, and the most important point, you said before that you would take advantage of the army and not have to declare and pay taxes, and the Department of Shipping would not dare to investigate you, but have you ever thought about it?This is considered tax evasion, once or twice the court may turn a blind eye, but do you think they will let you do this after a long time?If the court keeps ignoring you, it will be even worse, because it is tantamount to a bad start. Those merchants already think that the tax collection by Shibo is too powerful. If you dare to take the lead in using the power of the army to evade taxes, those who feel distressed The merchants who are about to cry will definitely put their chamber of commerce under the name of the army.From then on, if the city ship department fails to collect taxes, it will inevitably lead to the emptiness of the treasury and the collapse of the domestic economy. The army is busy with business and neglects training, which will also lead to a lack of armaments. If something goes wrong at this time, you will be a sinner through the ages.

And the last one, the imperial court expressly prohibits officials from doing business, Liu Rengui is just playing around the corner, but you dare to do business openly, is it really okay to so blatantly provoke the imperial court's laws?Do you think the imperial court will spare you if they find out?I'm afraid your father will be the first person to tie you up and escort you to His Majesty and His Highness the Crown Prince... Oh my god, I'm exhausted after talking so much, let me drink some water first..."

After talking so much in one breath, what Li Mingxin said was that his mouth was dry. He quickly took the kettle from the hand of the guard next to him and poured it vigorously. , Hiccup a comfortable full belch.

"..." Cheng Chuliang didn't speak all the time, because he was really embarrassed by Li Mingxin's words. Already aware of his end - I'm afraid he is not even ready for the preparations, and he will be reported to the court by the political commissar, and then he will wait to go back to jail.

Especially the last one, although they are all for business, Liu Rengui's kind is still within the court's acquiescence, but Cheng Chuliang's is really blatantly slapping the court in the face, no matter how outstanding he is, He will also be killed by the court to scare the monkeys... Thinking of his end, Cheng Chuliang felt his back was wet, he was just frightened...

"How? I persuaded you?" Li Mingxin smiled lightly: "But don't be afraid, haven't we done it yet? Let's just imitate Liu Rengui. If he doesn't take us, then we will imitate others, etc. After you are proficient in the business, you can grab business with him, and by the way, you will just avenge us for being cheated, which is really satisfying."

"But will Liu Rengui allow us to do business with him?"

"You don't have to worry about this. Do you think that the shipping industry can be supported by a fleet?" Li Mingxin said with a smile: "You are too underestimating the current maritime trade of our Tang Dynasty. If nothing else, Let’s just say that we already have three overseas colonies… counting the Spice Islands and Tianzhu, this is already five overseas territories, and one or two fleets of these territories cannot be eaten by random.”

Chapter 1009 A Big Cake

Chapter 367 A Big Cake

What Li Mingxin said is not wrong at all. In fact, the maritime trade of Datang is very developed now, and all the merchant ships coming and going on the sea are Datang's merchant ships. According to the statistics of last month, the average daily number of ships staying in Yuezhou Port is More than one hundred ships, and this number is gradually increasing-the hundred ships here are all large ships that can sail on the ocean, and those small fishing boats and passenger ships are not counted.

These ships travel between Nanyang, Borneo, Luzon, and Datang, and they transport rare treasures from overseas. However, the sea is not safe, and the situation of black eating black happens from time to time, and a large number of warships are needed everywhere. ——It is conceivable what a huge market this is, not to mention Liu Rengui and his Yuezhou fleet, even if Liu Rengui is equipped with a few more fleets, he will not be able to eat such a big cake.

Among other things, with the above three overseas sites alone, feeding three or five fleets is just like playing, and it is not difficult to come to seven or eight fleets. If you count the Spice Islands and Tianzhu, even if you count this number The fleet is multiplied by two, and the profits in it are enough to feed them.And what's even better is that this business can only be done by the navy. Unless those merchants have their own armed merchant ships, this is the exclusive business of the navy. Others can only watch and stare, but there is no way to snatch it .

This is also the reason why Li Zhen dared to set up so many fleets along the coast. After all, as long as the imperial court puts up a shelf, the navy can support itself-but this also has a disadvantage, that is, it will lead to the navy becoming more independent, and even Under the control of ambitious people, it is possible to break away from the court and treason.

But this is the last thing Li Zhen and the court are worried about, because the navy is a firepower-oriented arm and is very hungry for supplies. Pinched in the hands of the court.As long as the imperial court does not build arsenals overseas or in coastal areas, the navy will be considered a mutiny. There will be no supplies and no docking places. In the end, they will have only one way to go, and that is to wait to die at sea. A fleet can easily destroy them.

"The Chief of Staff is right." Li Daoyun also added with a chuckle next to him: "The sea today is not peaceful. Dao also heard that a fleet returning from Southeast Asia disappeared in the South China Sea, and their products were sold by another trading company from the fleet - you must know that the trading company specializes in the Luzon line ah.

You can imagine how chaotic the sea is, but warships and firearms are military weapons and are not allowed to be owned by civilians. This means that if they want to sail safely on the sea, they can only ask for a warship escort—just Dengzhou The fleet is far in the north, and this business has been taken over by the Yuezhou Fleet. In order to sail smoothly, those merchant ship owners have stepped on the threshold of the Yuezhou Fleet.

However, there were too many orders, and Liu Rengui couldn't take them at all. This also caused some ship owners who couldn't wait to take the risk of sailing alone. As a result, they would often be blackmailed by their peers.So you don’t have to worry about the lack of business, Commander. A mere Liu Rengui can’t eat such a big piece of cake. By joining us, we can not only make money for ourselves, but also guarantee the interests of the merchants. We can also conduct training on various sea conditions during the convoy. , Enhancing our combat literacy is really killing three birds with one stone. "

"Snapped!"

Cheng Chuliang was so excited when he was told that, he clapped his hands vigorously, and said loudly: "Okay, since you all said so, let's do the same. Since Liu Rengui can do it, there is no reason why we can't do it. After we go back, we will start picking up business." ——Ge Laozi, not only do we have to do it, but we also have to do it to compete with the Yuezhou Fleet, and it is best to grab all their business, that would be the best."

"You're right to think so." Li Mingxin said with a smile: "However, it is probably impossible to win Liu Rengui's business, unless you can unite a few more fleets to lower the price together. With so many fleets, lowering the price is harmful to others. After all, it is easy to lower the price, but it is very difficult to raise the price. This is purely destroying the market, and there is really no need for it.”

"Let's not talk about this, let's go ashore quickly." Cheng Chuliang thought for a while, and finally remembered the business, and said with a little worry: "I don't know how the loss of Dingxiang Island is. This kid Zhang Jianzhi was killed by the enemy." He was killed, my young master, I have worked so hard to save him, so I can't come here in vain."

Both he and Zhang Jianzhi used to work under Li Zhen's command, and they even worked as partners once, and their relationship was very good. If Zhang Jianzhi died like this, he would be very sad.

"Don't worry, the resistance at the port hasn't stopped before we came. It is very likely that Governor Zhang is still alive. After all, he is the highest officer of Dingxiang Island, so there is no reason for him to die before someone else.

It's just a pity that the pier was burned, otherwise it would be much easier for us to land, if only we could come a day earlier. "Looking at the wharf with only a piece of wreckage left, Li Mingxin was a little depressed. If there is a wharf, it will be very simple to land a warship or unload a merchant ship.

But it’s no longer possible now, and we have to use small boats to send them to the island bit by bit. Warships are better, as long as people go on it, but there are a lot of high-quality goods on the merchant ships—for example, this time Lingnan A lot of machinery and equipment were sent to Lilac Island, including iron and steel smelting equipment and cement firing equipment. These are very heavy goods. Originally, it was very simple to pass heavy unloading machinery such as cranes on the wharf, but now with the The wharf was destroyed, and so were all these machines.Without a wharf, it can only be transported by small boat, but the loading capacity of the small boat is limited, and these machines may have to be disassembled, which is very troublesome.

"Don't worry about that, let someone prepare a boat, and we'll take the marines, doctors, and medicines up first." Of course Cheng Chuliang knew that the unloading would be troublesome, but he couldn't do anything about it, but the top priority was not these cargoes. There must have been a tragic battle before, and the wounded must not be too few, so nothing is important right now, doctors and medicine are the most important group - of course, there are probably still enemies left on the island who were not killed by intensive bombing , so the role of the Marine Corps is also very important, and it also needs to go up.

Chapter 1010 See you at the end

Chapter 368 See you at last

The shore is very quiet—in fact, it’s not quiet at all. Under the saturated bombardment just now, everyone was either killed or stunned, and those who were alive and able to move have already fled. Today’s pier In addition to the dead and those pretending to be dead, there was only gunpowder smoke all over the sky and the embers still burning slowly on the embers that were still making 'crackling' sounds.

In a small boat, Cheng Chuliang led 1000 people to Dingxiang Island first, and while clearing out the remaining enemies, he looked for the living: "Are there any living people here? If there are any, call me, Zhang Jianzhi! Zhang Mengzhi General (Zhang Jian's word is Meng Jiang, not a fierce general)? Are you still alive? If you are alive, tell me quickly, I, Xiao Cheng, brought someone to rescue you, are you still alive?"

"Squeak!" Cheng Chuliang's inquiry was not without effect, and there was a weak response from a certain corner.

It was very quiet on the shore, so this 'squeak' came into Cheng Chuliang's ears very clearly, which shocked him a lot: "Damn, did I hear it wrong? I seem to really hear someone squeak ...Zhang Jianzhi, Zhang Mengjiang? Is that you? Are you still alive?"

"Captain, don't be ridiculous, isn't the person over there? It looks like it should be one of our own." Li Mingxin pointed to the outskirts of the warehouse area, where a man in a Tang armor and covered in blood was leaning against the warehouse wall. Seeing Cheng Chuliang looking over, he immediately gave a weak smile: "General Cheng, it's been a long time."

"You are... Zhang Hui? How did you become like this? Where is your son? How is he? Is the injury serious?" Seeing this person, Cheng Chuliang felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity, but it was a pity that his face was covered Covered in blood, Cheng Chuliang didn't recognize it for a while.It took him a long time to identify the person who came suddenly. Isn't this Zhang Jianzhi's bookboy Zhang Hui?He had partnered with Zhang Jianzhi before, and he was very familiar with the people around him. Zhang Hui was Zhang Jianzhi's little follower, and Cheng Chuliang naturally knew him.

But seeing Zhang Hui like this, while Cheng Chuliang was happy to meet an acquaintance, he also became more worried-even the book boy was injured like this, so Zhang Jianzhi, the master, can survive?I'm afraid not to die is to be seriously injured, right?Thinking of the current situation of his old partner, Cheng Chuliang felt a little sad.

"..." Just as Zhang Hui opened his mouth to speak, Cheng Chuliang hurriedly said, "You better stop talking, hurry up, doctor, bandage him up."

Hearing Cheng Chuliang's instructions, a military doctor immediately stepped forward to wipe his wound, disinfect and bandage him, and within a quarter of an hour, the work was done.

Only then did Cheng Chuliang ask: "Okay, tell me now, what is going on here? How did you get hurt so badly? How is Zhang Jianzhi?"

"This...my son is fine, he is fighting the fire ahead...By the way, General Cheng, you should hurry to help, the warehouse is full of explosives, it is half full, and the outside is all set on fire by the enemy. If there is a fire, it may explode at any time—there are only less than a hundred people available around my son, so you should hurry to help, otherwise, if the fire is not put out in time, we will all die here if the warehouse blows up." Zhang Hui remembered After seeing Zhang Jianzhi, he hurriedly urged Cheng Chuliang to say.On the contrary, he deliberately evaded his own problems, because the wounds on his body were not left by the enemy, but were purely accidentally wounded—it is said that since he received Zhang Jianzhi's order, he brought a few people here In the previous investigation, they happened to encounter Cheng Chuliang's saturated bombardment. What's more, a shell exploded near them... People are fine, but the power of the aftermath of the shell should not be underestimated. Those brothers were lying on the ground. Zhang Hui was stunned by the shock wave of the shell when he was dodging the shell, and Zhang Hui's reaction was a little slow. In the end, he was hit by a large amount of sand, gravel and soil in the aftermath of the shell, and he was directly beaten into a blood gourd... Unlucky, he was really embarrassed to say it outside, so he simply avoided it.

"What? Half of the warehouse's explosives are roasting on the fire?" Everyone was shocked by Zhang Hui's words, and Cheng Chuliang subconsciously ordered the army to retreat. This is half of the warehouse's explosives. Even if he was not killed on the spot by the explosion, the energy generated by the explosion was enough to kill everyone within a 500-meter radius. It was absolutely powerful and undeniable.

Of course, it is definitely impossible for Cheng Chuliang to push back, not to mention his relationship with Zhang Jianzhi, just say that if he retreats like this today, it will be fine if the warehouse accidentally blows up, but once the fire in the warehouse is successfully If it is extinguished, then Cheng Chuliang's reputation of being timid and fearful will be spread. I am afraid that he will be despised by others in his life. How can he have the face to see Jiang Dong's elders again?Even if Jiang Dong's elders could forgive him, his bad-tempered father would beat him to death.

"Everyone listen to my order, hurry up and fight the fire with me."

"Yes." Everyone suddenly agreed.

There was no need for others to lead the way. Cheng Chuliang found Zhang Jianzhi relying on the rising flames: "Hahaha... General Zhang Meng, are you still alive?"

"Cheng Chuliang? How could it be you?" Zhang Jianzhi was carrying a wooden bucket to fight the fire, when he heard the voice and turned around, he was immediately surprised: "Why are you here?"

"What are you talking about? If I don't come, you will really die with this warehouse." Cheng Chuliang took the cask from his hand: "You guys rest for a while, I brought a thousand brothers, and then there are more There are more people coming, let us do the firefighting, you are all wounded, let the doctor show you first, don’t really die.”

"Why didn't you come earlier? You came only after I had the fire under control." Zhang Jianzhi complained. He managed to control the fire on his side, but Cheng Chuliang came. Fortunately, it was only for firefighting and not for fighting. Otherwise, Cheng Chuliang would be stealing the credit, and Zhang Jianzhi would hate him to death.

"What can I do? I just came here too, and I came to rescue you immediately after defeating the enemy... You still complain about me. If I hadn't arrived in time, you really have only a dead end." Cheng Chuliang yelled : "Okay, okay, you don't talk, stop first and let the doctor show you, and leave the fire fighting to us."

"Okay." Zhang Jianzhi was also happy to rest, and what Cheng Chuliang said was true. There are more than 200 people on his side who are all injured, and less than 100 people can move. If the treatment is delayed, it will really be impossible. Do you know how many people will die?

Chapter 1011 Heavy casualties

Chapter 369 The Huge Casualties

Half an hour later, the open fire was finally extinguished. Fortunately, it did not cause an explosion, but this was not enough. The temperature around the warehouse was still frighteningly high. As long as flammable objects entered, it was likely to catch fire again, so we had to take the opportunity to move the warehouse Fortunately, half an hour has passed, and more than 3000 marines have come down from the fleet. Cheng Chuliang can finally rest for a while and talk to Zhang Jianzhi.

"I said your injury is alright?" Zhang Jianzhi had already been bandaged and was sitting on the opposite warehouse wall to rest. Cheng Chuliang casually threw a jug of wine over and sat down himself at the same time.

"I'm fine, and I didn't suffer any injuries at all, but the brothers really suffered a heavy loss this time..." Zhang Jianzhi took the wine but didn't move, just shook his head with an indelible sadness in his eyes, In the previous battles, he had always been in command from the rear, and did not play in person. His injuries were more likely to be burnt while fighting the fire.

Just because he himself is fine, it doesn’t mean that others are fine. It’s okay if there are less than 100 people who are still alive. Most of them have suffered minor injuries. No inflammation, rest for a month is almost the same.

However, the more than 100 people who were unable to move suffered heavy losses. Some people even forcibly took a breath and did not pass. Now that the reinforcements arrived, the breath suddenly dissipated, and the whole person swallowed silently. .Among them is the Li San who showed others what it means to be strong, that is, the captain of the Yuwei Port Patrol Team. After confirming Cheng Chuliang's identity, he closed his eyes forever with a smile...

Except for Li San, there are several other people who are in the same situation as him, and there are dozens of people who have not survived despite the desperate efforts of the ship doctor. Count all these losses, In the wharf patrol team of 1000 people, after a day and night of hard work, only more than 150 people survived, and more than half of them were disabled, and even less than a hundred people could really return to the team at the right time...

Cheng Chuliang couldn't say anything, so he could only pat Zhang Jianzhi's shoulder hard, and said in relief: "This is something that can't be helped, and you don't mind, they are soldiers, they died in battle, and the shroud of horse leather is their home in the first place. What's more, the performance of the patrol team this time is very good, showing the world the demeanor of my Tang Dynasty warrior, and I will replace you in their place to ask His Majesty for credit afterwards, which can be regarded as an explanation for their efforts..."

"I don't need to worry about this, and what's your business here? Even if I'm not qualified, there is still the prince. What's your business? What I'm worried about now is how to explain this matter to the prince? I personally promised the prince to bring them back intact..." The identity of this patrol team is not simple, they were all Li Zhen's personal guards in their predecessors, and they belonged to the tenth rate of the East Palace, the serious prince pro-military.At that time, Li Zhen only left a total of 1000 people for Zhang Jianzhi (the exploration team was not, the exploration team was sent by the Saren Fleet later, a total of 5000 people).These people were not incorporated into the Dingxiang Island garrison at all, and their relationship is still in the East Palace. They planned to replace them after a while, but no one thought that things would develop to this point. There are only more than 100 disabled people left, and all the rest died in battle. What if Li Zhen knows about this?