Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong, having made up their minds to make a journey to the South Ocean, made a lot of preparations for it.
Ling Zhaowu, after being informed of that legendary island on the South Ocean, found his interest piqued and decided to go with them.
Jiahe Chamber of Commerce had also been trying to expand into maritime trade in recent years, but the major maritime trade routes were between the Fangcun Kingdom and the Great Wen, and the one through the South Ocean was still exploratory. Ling Zhaowu planned to take advantage of this opportunity and finalize all the details of this trade route while voyaging south with the Great-Wen navy.
As usual, the intelligence network of Jiahe Chamber of Commerce would be expanded with its network of trade routes. At the end of the day, it was Ling Zhang that the intelligence network served, which meant that it served the imperial household, so Yuwen Tong naturally had no objection to helping them open a trade route, which was a favor he could do them without extra effort.
Leaving aside the intelligence reports and the dividends Jiahe Chamber of Commerce paid the imperial court on a yearly basis, the present owner of Jiahe Chamber of Commerce was his father-in-law, and anybody except for those incurably insensible ones knew that Ling Zhaowu was not a person to be trifled with.
And Ling Zhaowu had always had a very good sense of propriety. After all, Ling Zhang was the real boss of Jiahe Chamber of Commerce. He had never done anything against the best interests of the Great Wen behind Ling Zhang’s back. He always let Ling Zhang make all the big decisions, and letting Ling Zhang be the decision-maker meant that Yuwen Tong also had a say in important affairs.
…
Aside from Ling Zhaowu who would go with them because he wanted to open a trade route on the South Ocean for Jiahe Chamber of Commerce, Ling Maomao and Mr. Mu would also be joining them on the journey.
Ling Xingzhong naturally became apprehensive as it came to his knowledge that his eldest son and his two grandsons were all going to the South Ocean.
The purpose of this journey was to rescue Ji Yanlai’s father, and the Millennium Pavilion had very close ties with the Ling family, so he felt it inappropriate to try to dissuade them. He just cautioned Ling Zhaowu in private that the latter must take good care of his two grandsons and make sure that they would come to no harm.
“Don’t worry, Father. We’ll be traveling on naval vessels, which are the strongest. Also, we’ll be in the company of the best swimmers. Nothing could go wrong. I guarantee you I’ll bring them back safe and sound.” Ling Zhaowu made his birth father a promise.
Ling Zhang also promised Ling Xingzhong that he would take good care of Ling Maomao.
Compared with the worried Ling Xingzhong, Ling Zhaowen was much more relaxed and merely cautioned them that they must be cautious, pay heed to experienced sailors and must not do anything risky. Even Fu Caiwei believed that it would do them a power of good to go on a voyage and see the world, and she went to a Buddhist temple where she prayed to the Buddha and got some lucky charms which she then gave to Ling Zhang and the others.
Ji Yin, Ji Yanlai and Ji Xiaocong also got a lucky charm apiece.
Ji Xiaocong was very thankful to Fu Caiwei when she gave him an amulet. “Thank you, Mrs. Ling.”
Ling Maomao fastened the amulet around Ji Xiaocong’s neck for him.
Smiling, Ji Xiaocong looked at him. “Brother Maomao, I learned some amazing swimming skills during the years when I was on the island. I’ll protect you if anything happens.”
Ling Maomao did not find Ji Xiaocong’s words hurtful at all. “Okay. I’ll take your word for it,” he said.
While saying this, he gently tucked the amulet into Ji Xiaocong’s collar, believing it’d be safer there.
Ji Xiaocong smiled happily, stroking the amulet inside his robes on his chest.
Ling Zhang, watching this on the side, was surprised that the friendship the two of them had struck up with each other in their childhood had not changed a bit during the past so many years.
…
When the Ling family began to make preparations, some people in the Marquess Fuan’s residence also got busy.
Yuwen Jin, ever since he had come to know that Yuwen Tong and Ling Zhang were going to the South Ocean with the navy, had been bent on joining them, but he had got married not long ago, so Yuwen Tong did not agree.
Yuwen Jin had been badgering Yuwen Tong for days. “Please take me with you, cousin. I promise I’ll follow your every order and won’t do anything you don’t want me to. I can protect you and Brother Zhang!”
With a disapproving face, Yuwen Tong sniffed, “It’s been only a couple of months since your wedding. Stay at home and keep your new missus company.”
Yuwen Jin’s face crumpled up. “She’s the last person I need to keep company.”
Yuwen Jin had been delaying getting married for years before his wedding was finally held earlier this year, and the series of events that had eventually led to their marriage were such that everybody who heard about them pulled a wry face. In short, it had not been for romantic love that they had married each other, and it wasn’t an arranged marriage. In a sense, they did have feelings for each other, but the most important reason for their marriage was a bet they had made.
Ling Zhang had burst into laughter when he had first heard about the bet the two of them had made. That had been his first time hearing of people getting married to honor their bet. Originally he had wanted to persuade Yuwen Jin to think twice, because getting marriage was no joke, but Yuwen Tong had stopped him, saying that that bet the two of them had made suggested there was indeed some chemistry between them, that otherwise Yuwen Jin wouldn’t have compromised like that, considering he had been insistent on staying single for so many years. Ling Zhang had felt that Yuwen Tong had a point and thus had stayed out of it.
In fact, over the past few months, though Yuwen Jin and his new wife had always been bickering about something or other, people could tell that they did see each other as marriage partners, that their bickering was actually an unconventional method to spice their marriage up.
However, though outsiders saw it this way, Yuwen Jin himself felt otherwise. It struck him that he had married a real dragon. On top of that, the two of them quarreled all the time, so Yuwen Jin believed that his wife would be very happy to learn that he was going to the South Ocean.
Yuwen Tong looked at him and inwardly shook his head, finding it difficult to talk sense into his second cousin’s thick skull.
Yuwen Jin kept pestering Yuwen Tong to let him join them on the journey, but the latter refused to budge an inch on the issue. Apart from Yuwen Jin being a newly-wed, Yuwen You’s health which had not been very good during the past half a year was also part of the reason, and Yuwen Tong was not inclined to worry the old man.
Having realized that trying to convince Yuwen Tong wouldn’t get him anywhere, Yuwen Jin returned home to plead with his grandfather. Nobody knew what he had said to Yuwen You, but the old man actually went to the palace with the intention to persuade Yuwen Tong into agreeing.
“Sire, please allow that mulish guy to go with you. I’d be worried if you have nobody you feel close to in your company during the journey except for His Highness and your bodyguards. Obstreperous as Yuwen Jin is, these years you’ve seen with your own eyes what he’s capable of. I’m sure he’ll prove helpful if anything happens,” said Yuwen You.
As Yuwen You had come in person, Yuwen Tong naturally relented.
Just like this, Yuwen Jin’s name was added to the list of people going south. The matter was rather urgent, so Yuwen Tong and Ling Zhang, after making arrangements for things to be handled properly in the capital city, immediately departed, heading south with the others.
They traveled south on fast horses along an overland national road, which was a quicker way to get to the naval base in the south than traveling by boat.
After the Great Wen subjected the other two countries to its rule, the coastline of the Luohai Kingdom had been incorporated into that of the Great Wen. There were in total five major naval bases along the new coastline. This time around it was the one in Haizhou that they were heading.
Haizhou navy, after receiving an order from Yuwen Tong, had got everything ready as quick as they could. When Yuwen Tong and the others had arrived, the large fleet soon set sail, voyaging south.
One of the reasons why Yuwen Tong had specially designated Haizhou navy to provide protection for him during his journey to the island was that he wanted to test the naval force. Owing to the arrival of the envoys from the couple of southern mini-states, Yuwen Tong had come up with the idea of devoting major efforts to developing maritime trade, and to do that, he needed his naval forces to protect the merchant ships, because when maritime trade started booming, pirates were guaranteed to show up, and those exiled people from island countries in the south or further east would try to rob merchant ships passing by. Therefore, the naval forces must be strong enough to protect them and serve as a prop of the government, ensuring steady development of maritime trade.
As a result, this time Yuwen Tong planned to test the navy’s strength and see if they were competent to carry out the duty of protecting merchant ships.
Ling Zhang knew what Yuwen Tong was trying to do, so after boarding, he accompanied Yuwen Tong to different parts of the vessel to take a look.
The vessel they were on was one of the largest and strongest. In total, there were three such vessels among this fleet, and all others were medium-sized ships.
“Earlier this year some caravans of the Chamber of Commerce got on a ship of another trading company and traveled south. They said that the first half of this southward route is pretty safe, but the nearer to those island countries on the South Ocean, the more dangerous it gets. Apart from undercurrents, we also need to watch out for pirates infesting those waters. These days hardly any merchant ships dare go south unaccompanied. They always sail in groups for fear of encountering pirates,” said Ling Zhang, walking with Yuwen Tong on the vessel.
Both of them were wearing close-fitting casual clothes, which were rippling constantly in sea breeze. Yuwen Tong said, “Those pirates are exactly what I’m worried about. Presently our first priority is still to foster better relations among our people who used to be subjects of three different countries. And then there’s also the matter of further improving their livelihood. If the issue of piracy is too difficult to tackle, we’ll have to shelve the plan of developing maritime trade and bide our time.”
After all, it had been merely five years since the unification of the Great Wen. The major task facing the imperial court was still to help the people restore their lives, encourage them to develop agricultural production, rebuild their communities and nurse the wounds caused by war. Though Jiahe Chamber of Commerce had been secretly funding the government, it did not have enough money to support the whole country. There was no way they could develop maritime trade without investing a large sum of money in it, and eliminating the pirates and maintaining a navy certainly required money as well. In a word, they were in dire need of money.
Right now their top priority was to rebuild strength and make money.
Ling Zhang understood what Yuwen Tong meant. Actually he did not expect Yuwen Tong to figure out a way to have the maritime trade of the Great Wen start booming during this journey. “The Chamber of Commerce will join hands with the merchants living in coastal areas and go south with them. Even if we don’t have what it takes to rid these waters of pirates in the near future, we must not be kept in the dark about the situation here. It’s best if we keep abreast of all the latest developments of it.”
Yuwen Tong inclined his head. “It pains me to see you and your father go to such trouble.”
Ling Zhang glanced at him, wondering why he was being so courteous. Then he twisted his head back and found his father walking towards them. No wonder Yuwen Tong had suddenly become so glib.
…
Ling Zhang understood what Yuwen Tong meant. Actually he did not expect Yuwen Tong to figure out a way to have the maritime trade of the Great Wen start booming during this journey. “The Chamber of Commerce will join hands with the merchants living in coastal areas and go south with them. Even if we don’t have what it takes to rid these waters of pirates in the near future, we must not be kept in the dark about the situation here. It’s best if we keep abreast of all the latest developments of it.”
