In the Shangkou, Jiangzhou, Wang Shao, who was ordered to go on a mission to Chen State, stopped here for a short time and talked with officials such as Hongzhou General Manager Wei Wen at the official office to learn about the losses of Hongzhou merchants in Chen State and Jiankang during the merchant ship attack, and to learn more about what happened at that time.

Only by understanding the whole story of the matter can we negotiate with Chen State. If Wang Shao wants to do this, he must first understand his own opinions. After arriving in Jiankang, he will listen to the other party’s opinions and explanations.

Not long ago, several Hongzhou ships were loaded with tea and other goods to Chen Guojiankang, and were moored at the mouth of the Qinhuai River on the Yangtze River west of Jiankang. They were later attacked. These people set fire to the ship, and the goods on the ship were burned.

After learning about it, Wei Wen, the general manager of Hongzhou, immediately sent an envoy to Beijing to report the matter. At the same time, another incident happened.

In Kuaiji County, Yangzhou, Chen Guodong, the sea ship of the Zhou Guo Maritime Bureau was detained by the officials of the Chen Guo when they were moored to the harbor. According to the report of the Maritime Bureau, the officials of the Chen Guo detained all the personnel on the ship in the name of arresting pirates.

Zhou and Chen have a good relationship and started a trade with each other. Zhou's ships frequently traveled between the two countries, which was a mutually beneficial situation. Now this happens, it is unbelievable.

Prime Minister, Qi Wangyu Wenming immediately sent Wang Shao to Hongzhou to understand the situation, and then went downstream to Chen State to attack.

Wang Shao had to negotiate with the Chen State during this trip and confirmed that the reason why these two things happened was whether there was a problem with the Zhou State or whether there was a problem with the Chen State.

So Wang Shao stayed in Jiangzhou to listen to what the officials in Hongzhou said and understand the actual situation of the Zhou and Chen markets, so that he could have a clear idea and prepare for further measures to take next.

After learning the details of the two countries' trade, Wang Shao found that the situation was more serious than he thought.

The so-called seriousness does not mean that Hongzhou ships suffered heavy losses in Jiankang this time, but that huge interests are involved behind this matter.

The Hongzhou General Administration Office was established for only a few years. It was originally the jurisdiction of Jiangzhou, Chen State. Now the states have recovered very quickly, so the commerce and trade are very prosperous. Many local specialties are sold to other places, bringing large income to the powerful households.

Not only that, the specialties transported from Lingbiao were sold to various places through Hongzhou, and many merchants made great money by this, and the owners behind the merchants also gained huge benefits from it.

Not to mention the overseas fragrant medicines on Lingbiao, the Hongzhou General Administration itself has exported products to Chen Guo, that is, Fuliang's tea.

Fuliang's tea has been famous in the south of the Yangtze River for hundreds of years. With the emergence of a new technology called "fried tea", tea that was "fried" into "scattered tea" is much more popular than the traditional "towel tea".

The specific reason is said to be directly related to the way of making tea. Tea made with loose tea is better than tea made with "cooked" with ball tea.

Wang Shao didn't drink much tea, so he didn't understand why "making tea" and "making tea" were so big. However, through conversations with Hongzhou officials, he learned that the tea tax collected from the tea trade in the Hongzhou General Administration was an amazing number.

In other words, tea trade is a major source of tax revenue for the Hongzhou General Administration. The reason why the taxes paid by the General Administration over the past two years has increased year by year is that it is due to the prosperous tea trade.

Now, the ships in Hongzhou are attacked in Chenguo, and the losses of goods on the ship are second. Once safety is not guaranteed, merchants, including tea merchants, have concerns about selling goods to Chenguo.

This will affect the mutual market and in turn affect the interests of many people, not to mention that the commercial tax of the Hongzhou General Administration will be significantly affected, which is not good news for officials of all sizes.

The court will conduct assessments of local officials every year. The assessment results are related to promotions. Only when the tax revenue is sufficient can local governors, county magistrates, and county magistrates have the financial resources to build water conservancy, encourage farming and sericulture, and resettle the widows, so as to increase the chance of getting good results in the assessment.

Once trade is damaged and government taxes are reduced, it means that parents and officials can use less public funds, and it will be difficult to make a difference in office.

Therefore, when Hongzhou ships were attacked in Chen State, in addition to the directly damaged merchants snatching the earth, the officials of the Hongzhou General Administration were also filled with righteous indignation. The atmosphere Wang Shao felt in the mouth can be described as "exciting crowds".

Officials from the Hongzhou General Administration requested Wang Shao to argue with reason after arriving in Chen State, and asked Chen State to severely punish the murderer, compensate for the losses, and ensure the smooth progress of the Zhou and Chen State's trade.

These requirements are reasonable. Wang Shao expected, but he did not expect that except for the Maritime Bureau, the Hongzhou General Administration Office would have such a fierce reaction to the attack on the merchant ship.

That would be great!

Wang Shao knew that the more excited the crowd, the better he would be to take a tough attitude towards Chen State, and the court would act better.

The maritime ship of the Maritime Bureau was in Kuaiji County, Yangzhou, Chen Guodong. Chang'an could feel the anger of the maritime commander, Bin Wang Yu and Wen Wen clearly. Not only Bin Wang, but many people were also very angry. The reason was that if the maritime trade was affected, many people's interests would be damaged.

Ships with wide range of ridges and tables must transport white sugar, fragrant medicine and other specialties northward. They must pass through the coastal port of Chen State and have to stay for a short time to replenish fresh water and repair it.

The sea ships along the Qingxu coast have to transport ice, cloth, silk, raw silk, porcelain and other items southward and pass through the coastal port of Chenguo in the middle of the journey. Therefore, the accident of Zhouguo's sea ship at Chenguo Port means that this important route has become unsafe and has a great impact on maritime trade.

Although Chen State seized the personnel on Zhou State's ship in the name of capturing pirates, this kind of thing was all in the other party's verbal conversation. That is to say, any sea ship berthing at the port of Chen State may be called a pirate by the officials of Chen State, and then arrested people on this grounds.

This possibility makes everyone in danger of the maritime businessmen, and the impact of trade routes not only affects the "performance" of the Maritime Trade Bureau, but also affects the taxes paid by the Maritime Trade Bureau to the national treasury, but also affects the interests of many people.

Many people in Qingxu have invested in maritime trade, while many people in Henan have already paid deposits, waiting to send goods such as incense and medicine to Guanghai ships, and then sell them elsewhere to make huge profits.

Now, if there is a problem with the route, it is very likely that the fragrant medicine and white sugar in Jiaoguan will not be transported to Jiaozhou by sea, and the delivery date is long-lasting, which will cause heavy losses to many merchants who borrow money and their owners behind it.

If it was a few years ago, this would be nothing, because the scale of maritime trade is not large, and there are not many powerful households and officials involved.

However, since the Maritime Bureau opened several trade routes, more and more Qingxu and Henan merchants participated in it, and the complex relationships were finally connected to the ministers in the court.

Therefore, when the news of the accident in Chen State was heard back, the crowd was excited, and many people were looking forward to King Bin coming forward and asking Chen State for an explanation.

And this is a situation that the Prime Minister doesn't want to see.

It is not that the Prime Minister does not want to attack Chen State, but that the Prime Minister hopes that the court will attack Chen State by the court rather than the Maritime Bureau.

King Bin was in charge of the Maritime Trade Department and the Maritime Trade Department, and it was justified to attack. King Bin had been in Huangzhou for many years, and the trade ties between Huangzhou and Hongzhou were closely linked. Hongzhou merchant ships were attacked in Chengu, which affected the mutual trading between the two countries, Hongzhou and Huangzhou. It is reasonable for King Bin to attack this.

But in this way, King Bin is very likely to take the opportunity to lead the military use of Chen, which is a situation that the Prime Minister does not want to see, and Wang Shao is well aware of this.

Therefore, when he was on the mission to Chen State, the Prime Minister made a final statement, that is, the negotiations must be broken, so that the court has an excuse to use troops against Chen. Then, the Crown Prince of Qi, Yu Wenli, happened to take on the heavy responsibility and lead the troops to pacify Chen.

The Maritime Bureau must not find an excuse to "engage border provocations without any means", and the King of Bin has the opportunity to get involved in Pingchen's great merit.

In short, when Wang Shao went to Jiankang, the Prime Minister asked him to make trouble. For Wang Shao, this was easy and absolutely no problem.
Chapter completed!