Outlaws of the Marsh

Chapter 599 The Seljuk Empire (please subscribe!)

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"Our big opportunity is here?"

Xu Derong and the others looked at each other in blank dismay!
Seeing that no one understood the meaning of Wang Zezhen's words, Xu Derong asked, "My lord, what do you mean?"

Wang Zezhen said: "Shang is the foremost wise monarch in ancient and modern China, how could he come here for no reason to expand the territory?"

A sea merchant said: "We also think so. Although the emperor didn't want it, the Han people fought with snipe and clam to benefit the Hu people and fishermen, and they didn't enter the Central Plains, but if they didn't have far-reaching intentions, they would not come here to develop After all, it is far away from Liaodong."

Wang Zezhen looked at the man and said, "You're right. You have destroyed the Liao Kingdom, Taifeng, Koryo, and Japan. You are invincible. If you didn't want the Han people to kill each other, you have already ruled the Central Plains. Your wisdom and courage are overwhelming." In the world, why would you come here to expand the territory for no reason?"

Without waiting for others to answer, Wang Zezhen asked himself and answered: "My superiors personally traveled westward and mobilized 10,000+ troops to destroy the three countries of Li Dynasty, Champa, and Khmer. Naturally, what they did was the maritime trade that can strengthen the country and enrich the people."

What Wang Zezhen said did not surprise Xu Derong and others.

This is a clear thing. Apart from the lucrative international trade at sea, what else can Li Yan do?
Xu Derong pondered for a while, and said: "The emperor wants to monopolize the maritime trade?"

This is what Xu Derong and the others are most worried about!

Li Yan has thousands of large ships and tens of thousands of excellent boatmen. The key point is that he also has strong military strength and has cut off the trade channels between China and the West. Therefore, Li Yan definitely has the strength to monopolize the international trade at sea.

And once Li Yan monopolizes the international trade at sea, they will not only lose a huge source of income, but also face the danger of bankruptcy. You must know that many of their money will be put on the merchant ships and goods detained by Li Yan. If Yan wants to monopolize, it is absolutely impossible to return their merchant ships and goods.

Wang Zezhen smiled and said: "The superior is a monarch, not a businessman. How could he be so devoted to business and lose the big because of small things?"

Hearing what Wang Zezhen said, Xu Derong and the others breathed a sigh of relief.

However, there was still a merchant who said: "But I heard that the emperor has a huge merchant fleet..."

Wang Zezhen said: "There is such a merchant fleet that is also engaged in maritime trade, but don't worry, this will not affect you. You all know how big the maritime trade is, and the merchant fleet above cannot take all the shares. Moreover, the merchant fleet on board is currently only engaged in the business of glass, soap, and refined iron, which does not conflict with your business."

Hearing what Wang Zezhen said, Xu Derong and others were really relieved.

After a while, Xu Derong said: "Then I don't know what the great opportunity the prince is talking about?"

Wang Zezhen looked around and said, "Shanghai intends to break the monopoly of big food merchants, so that we Chinese merchants can directly go to the West for trade."

After hearing Wang Zezhen's words, the eyes of Xu Derong and others lit up immediately!
For a long time, the biggest interests of the international trade between the East and the West have been seized by businessmen such as Dashi who cut off the trade between China and the West. Therefore, both Chinese businessmen and Western businessmen can only make a small part of the profits.

If Li Yan can really break the monopoly of Dashi and other merchants, then both Chinese merchants and Western merchants can gain greater benefits.

Just ask, how could Xu Derong and others not yearn for it?

Xu Derong asked cautiously: "The emperor really has such a plan?"

Wang Zezhen said: "Otherwise, why did you come here in person? Why did you want to take down Khmer and other countries?"

Xu Derong thought for a while, and said, "Now is indeed a good opportunity to break the monopoly of the big food merchants."

Wang Zezhen looked at Xu Derong and asked, "How do you say that?"

Xu Derong said: "More than 200 years ago, Mao Zedong established the Fatimid Dynasty in Tunisia, conquered more than a dozen countries, and then moved the capital to Cairo. Because its clothes are still green, we Chinese call it 'Green Clothes Dashi'. '. In addition, Mosul and Aleppo established the Hamdan Dynasty; the Persians and Turks established the Saman Dynasty, Baiyi Dynasty, Ghaznavid Dynasty, Seljuk Empire, and Ayyubid Dynasty. It can also be regarded as the food world, and the merchants in these countries are the food merchants who monopolize the trade between the East and the West."

After a pause, Xu Derong continued: "More than 100 years ago, the empire was torn apart, and the actual ruling area was limited to Baghdad and its surrounding areas. The grandson of Tughlukbek occupied Khorasan, then conquered the whole territory of Persia, and entered Baghdad. Caliph Kaim named Tuglukbek as the sultan, titled "King of the East and West". Since then, Although the nominal ruler of the Great Food World is still the caliphate, the real power has fallen into the hands of the Seljuk Sultan. Alp Arslan, the nephew and successor of Tughrilbek, defeated Byzantium in Manzikert The army also captured the Byzantine emperor Romanus IV, so most of Asia Minor, which belonged to Byzantine, belonged to him, and the Seljuk Empire was extremely prosperous at that time.”

Speaking of this, Xu Derong's tone eased, and said: "If it was that period, even the great emperor would not be able to break the monopoly of the big food merchants, because the Seljuk Empire was too powerful at that time. Fortunately, the Seljuk Empire Now it's starting to fade."

Wang Zezhen said: "Did you fall? What's going on here?"

Xu Derong said: "There are many reasons. There were the Crusades; after the death of Malik Shah, there were disputes among the princes, and the empire was torn apart; and the original kingdoms continued to challenge the authority of the empire, etc... In short, although the The Seljuk Empire is still the ruler of the Dashi world, but it has already set in the west. Moreover, in order to maintain its rule over the years, the Seljuk Empire has continued to war with the surrounding Karahan Dynasty and the Western Heaven kingdoms, creating many With regard to massacres and conflicts, if the emperor stands up and shouts, it is very likely that the kingdoms of the Great Food and Western Heaven will respond to the emperor, and then overthrow the rule of the Seljuk dynasty."

Wang Zezhen had never heard of many things that Xu Derong said.

Wang Zezhen tasted it for a long time before saying, "Grand Xu seems to know the world of Dashi very well?"

Xu Derong said: "To tell you the truth, Xu once overestimated his own strength and wanted to unite with a few friends from the Western Paradise to break the monopoly of the big food merchants and win more benefits for the Chinese merchants. Unfortunately, because there is no strong military support, and ultimately ended in failure.”

Hearing what Xu Derong said, Wang Zezhen suddenly remembered that Li Yan was looking for someone who was proficient in the countries of the Western Paradise and the Great Food World to be his staff, and then looked at Xu Derong and said in his heart, "Isn't this person more the talent that God wants." , So he said to Xu Derong: "I don't know if Xu Gong has any plans to become an official. If so, I can introduce Xu Gong to the Eastern Emperor."

When Xu Derong heard it, he was overjoyed!

He went into business because he failed the ranking and had no chance of becoming an official.

But in this era, no matter how rich a businessman is, he is still an inferior person, and the upper class is those taxis who are superior.

To be honest, Xu Derong already has no shortage of money, no matter how much it is, it is just a number to Xu Derong, and now he just wants to do something that will last forever.

And if he can become an official here with Li Yan, he can help Li Yan break the monopoly of the big food merchants, and he will undoubtedly achieve his goal.

However, although Xu Derong was very willing to become an official, he still hesitated and said: "Xu is a merchant, can the emperor use me, a despicable person?"

Not only Xu Derong, but other sea merchants also think so-although these merchants are rich, but the general environment makes them feel inferior.

Wang Zezhen said with a smile: "You are too underestimating the courage of the employer. As long as you can help the superior, the superior will not be stingy with rewards."

Hearing what Wang Zezhen said, Xu Derong cheered himself up: "At worst, I will continue to come back as a sea merchant, so what's the harm in meeting the Eastern Emperor?"

At this time, a sea merchant asked, "My lord, how can the emperor return our merchant ships and goods?"

……

(End of this chapter)