Zhou Zhong followed the bald man onto the largest sea-going ship docked at the port. The ship was loading goods. Although it was packed very tightly, it could be seen from some gaps that all the goods were in pieces.

Silk, there are several other ships that are also loading. If these goods are all silk, then the volume of cargo shipped this time is really amazing.

The ship Zhou Zhong boarded should be the largest ship in the entire port. The hull was about ten feet long and tall and sturdy. The upper deck looked like a basketball court. Follow the bald man into a relatively independent cabin entrance at the stern of the ship.

, there are two spacious cabins inside, which seem to be used for the residence of relatively high-status people on the ship.

I saw the bald man walking to the cabin door on the left, then reaching out and knocking on the door to report: "Miss, Mr. Zhou is here!"

"Please come in, young master!" As a familiar woman's voice came from the cabin, Zhou Zhong walked over and opened the door and walked in. He found that there were three people in the cabin, among which Xie Lingyun was sitting on a low table.

Behind her, she was making tea with a leisurely expression, but there were two women standing behind her. One of them was naturally the little maid who counted beads, and the other was an ordinary-looking middle-aged woman, standing there with slightly squinting eyes.

He was closed, as if he didn't care at all about the outside world.

When Xie Lingyun saw Zhou Zhong coming in, she raised her eyes and pursed her lips and said with a smile: "Master Zhou, please sit down. The little girl has just learned the art of tea from her mother. I wonder if the young master would like to appreciate it and taste the little girl's tea-making skills?"

Hearing Xie Lingyun's invitation, Zhou Zhong was not polite. He strode over to sit opposite her and said, "Miss Lingyun is a very kind person, so the tea she brews is definitely wrong. It's a pity that Zhou doesn't know how to taste tea. I'm afraid."

It will only waste the tea that Miss Xie carefully brewed."

Xie Lingyun couldn't help but be a little surprised when she heard Zhou Zhong, who had always been lukewarm towards her, suddenly say something praising her. Then she smiled and handed the tea cup to Zhou Zhong and said: "Young Master Zhou is too polite, but actually the little girl doesn't either.

I like to drink tea. In my opinion, tea is nothing more than to quench people’s thirst. The taste is secondary. This cup of tea is given to the young master to quench his thirst!”

After hearing this, Zhou Chong was no longer polite. He reached out to take the tea cup and drank it in one gulp without any gesture of "tasting" it. This made the little maid behind Xie Lingyun, Suan Zhu, couldn't help but mutter in her heart: "You really don't understand the charm of the boy, what a shame."

You are a scholar, but I didn’t expect you don’t even know how to taste tea.”

"I don't know why Miss Xie went to Shuangyu Port this time. Does Miss Xie have to personally take care of such a small matter as escorting the ship?" Zhou Zhong put down the tea cup and said immediately. Generally, big smugglers like the Xie family,

They all have a large number of trustworthy stewards under them. When a smuggling ship sails on the sea, these stewards are usually responsible for escorting the ship. Xie Lingyun only needs to make arrangements at home. Only the small smugglers will personally escort the ship.

Regarding Zhou Chong's question, Xie Lingyun thought for a while and replied: "Actually, it's nothing. It's just that there is a problem with the transaction between our Xie family and the Japanese country. The other party asked me to go to Shuangyu Port for negotiation. It just so happens that Mr. Zhou is going too.

So I took the liberty of putting you on my boat."

"Japanese country?" Zhou Chong couldn't help frowning when he heard the name. He came from a later generation and had an instinctive aversion to this country. Then he couldn't help but asked curiously, "I wonder what the Xie family did with the Japanese country."

Business?"

I saw Xie Lingyun chuckle after hearing this, and replied casually: "The Japanese country is currently in a state of war. In addition, the country is small and poor. Almost everything is needed in the country. Porcelain, cloth, and even food are what the Japanese people need most. And

The Japanese country itself also produces silver and sulfur, coupled with some handicrafts unique to the Japanese country, the annual transaction volume is very large, and it is no exaggeration to say that the Japanese people are actually the most profitable!"

"Oh, it seems that Miss Lingyun knows the Japanese country very well. I just heard that the Japanese shogun is now in control of the government, and the king's power has been reduced. Is this true?" Zhou Zhong asked deliberately. Thanks to the great efforts of the Japanese in later generations.

Propaganda, especially the influence of some Japanese games and animations, Zhou Zhong has a relatively good understanding of the history of Japan's Warring States Period, but now he wants to hear, how much does the Xie family, as the representative of the Ming Dynasty smugglers, know about the Japanese state?

When Xie Lingyun heard Zhou Zhong's question, she showed a faint smile and said: "The situation in the Japanese country is indeed more complicated. It is very rare for Mr. Zhou to know the shogunate."

When he said this, Xie Lingyun gave Zhou Zhong an appreciative look. After all, as a scholar, it was extremely rare for Zhou Zhong to know some situations overseas.

Then Xie Lingyun introduced: "However, the shogun's control of the Japanese government was decades ago. Since the Meiying Rebellion, the shogun's prestige has not been as good as before. Ten years ago, shogun Ashikaga Yoshisai

He led an army to attack the Hosokawa clan, but was deposed by the Hosokawa clan. From then on, the shogun's prestige was completely lost, and he became a puppet of the daimyo in various places to control the government."

Zhou Chongliao was surprised when he heard that Xie Lingyun introduced the situation of Japan in such detail. The other party seemed to know as much about Japan as he did, and even because of business needs, Xie Lingyun must have a comprehensive understanding of Japan.

There is no way to compare with her. At most, she knows the direction of the development of the Japanese situation in advance than Xie Lingyun.

When talking about the Japanese country, Xie Lingyun seemed to have thought of another thing. She frowned slightly, and then said to Zhou Zhong solemnly, "Since we are talking about the Japanese country, we have to mention the Japanese pirates. Regarding the Japanese pirates, Xiao

The woman has something to warn Mr. Zhou!"

"Japanese pirates?" Zhou Chong frowned when he heard the name, and then asked with some confusion, "I was deeply affected by the Japanese pirates in the early days of my reign, but then the Japanese pirates disappeared, why are there still Japanese pirates now?"

Hearing Zhou Zhong's question, Xie Lingyun smiled coldly and said: "The war in Japan was in chaos, and the warriors and people in the country were bankrupt. In order to survive, these people had no choice but to go to sea and become pirates. In these years, the war in Japan has not stopped, but has intensified.

, so the number of people who go to sea to be pirates has not decreased, and is even increasing. However, these Japanese people are now smarter. They stick together to form large and small forces, and make huge profits through smuggling between the Ming Dynasty and the Japanese country.

, but bandits are bandits, even if they do business, they still maintain the habit of pirates. If nothing else, there are forces composed of these Japanese pirates in Shuangyu Port."

Hearing that the power of the Japanese pirates had penetrated deep into the coast of the Ming Dynasty, Zhou Zhong could not help but frown even more tightly, and said in a heavy voice: "Why, are those Japanese pirates very powerful? How are they compared to your Xie family?"

Hearing that Zhou Zhong was once again testing the power of his family, Xie Lingyun couldn't help but roll her eyes at him, then turned around and replied: "Those Japanese pirates are indeed very powerful. There are five or six Japanese pirate forces in the entire Shuangyu Port. Among them

The most powerful one is called the Ashikaga Chamber of Commerce. Although it is called the Chamber of Commerce, it is actually a group of brave and fierce pirates. If they cannot do business with others, they will fight with each other. Therefore, ordinary people are rarely willing to provoke them, and they will fight with you.

My father Zhou Hai has the same power, and he is also one of the four top powers in Shuangyu Port!"

Hearing that a small group of Japanese pirates dared to claim lordship on the coast of the Ming Dynasty, Zhou Zhong couldn't help but get angry and wanted to drive these people out of the Chinese land immediately, but he soon calmed down. Now the Ming Dynasty

, they don’t pay attention to the coastal areas at all, and they are alone, so there is nothing they can do. The most important thing now is to make themselves stronger.

However, Zhou Zhong didn't notice that even when he was angry at the Japanese pirates, Xie Lingyun had been quietly observing his reaction. When she saw Zhou Zhong's anger, the scheming woman nodded slightly.

, a few subtle smiles could not help but appear on the corners of his mouth.

Next, Xie Lingyun explained to Zhou Zhong the distribution of Japanese people on Shuangyu Island. Speaking of which, these Japanese people are not monolithic. Some forces are even incompatible with each other, such as the most powerful Ashikaga Chamber of Commerce, the leader of the Chamber of Commerce.

He was a member of the Ashikaga family, the shogun. Because he was unwilling to be oppressed by the daimyo in Japan, he fled to the sea and became a pirate. It is said that he still maintains contact with the Ashikaga family.

Several other Japanese chambers of commerce are not simple either. They are supported by daimyo within the Japanese kingdom, either openly or covertly. It is precisely because of this that the relationship between the Ashikaga Chamber of Commerce and several other Japanese chambers of commerce is extremely bad, and fights will break out from time to time. In addition,

There are also some Japanese who are unwilling to join their own country's chamber of commerce, and instead work for Ming merchants.

Finally, Xie Lingyun added that there are not only Japanese but also Koreans in Shuangyu Port. Their situation is similar to that of the Japanese. They also make a living by smuggling in the Ming Dynasty and other countries. Due to some historical reasons between the two countries, the Japanese and Koreans

There are also constant conflicts between Korean chambers of commerce. However, there are fewer Koreans than the Japanese and their power is relatively weak. Therefore, they have been suppressed by the Japanese. If some Han chambers of commerce had not helped the Koreans from time to time, they would have been destroyed by the Japanese long ago.

Already.

At the same time, in a carriage parked in a remote corner of the port, two thin and dirty figures were sitting in the carriage. One of them said in a very clear voice: "Sister, I just met the man who saved us once.

Mr. Zhou is here, I wonder why he is here?"

The other person ignored the other person's words, but sighed softly and said: "Little sister, we have been in Songjiang for many days. These smuggling ships are not willing to let strangers like us on board. It seems that they have escaped overseas.

It’s impossible, and we don’t have much money anymore, so we can only find a way to settle down in Songjiang Mansion first, and hope those people won’t chase us here again!”
Chapter completed!