"Elect me as the head of the general program?" Zhao Xingde was slightly surprised.

"Exactly," Xu Xiaoyun looked directly at the gaze of the other side, and said in a deep voice, "Lord Zhao is deeply expected, and the maritime merchants are worried that the imperial court will send someone else to deal with this matter in the future, and the latecomers will no longer recognize the terms agreed with the lord today, so they have discussed this additional condition, hoping that the lord can serve as the head of the general program of the major commercial houses, and even if the court changes generals in the future, Lord Zhao will have a reputation to maintain the terms agreed today." He looked calm, as if the merchant's election had nothing to do with him. Zhou He, who was next to him, frowned, and turned his gaze to the sea outside the cabin. Ma Yuan, Feng Mi and the others looked at Zhao Xingde expectantly.

Zhao Xingde, who was also a general of the Xia and Song states, served as the governor of the Southwest Sea Division, which was the result of a compromise between the Kwantung and Kwanti courts. Although most of the officers and men of the naval division were Song people, including Zhou He and Xu Xiaoyun, they were all resistant to the implementation of the military order to recruit merchant ships from Kansai. They also knew that it was impossible for Zhao Xingde to resist the execution of military orders. Xu Xiaoyun promoted the businessmen to nominate Zhao Xingde as the head of the general program, and took the protection of the people's interests as the guide, and faintly put him in a position that might be opposed to the Guanxi court. Since the voyage to sea, all the officers have gathered together to discuss and talk almost whenever they have time, and they are very familiar with each other's means and intentions, at first Xu Xiaoyun only discussed with a very few people and planned to promote Zhao Xingde as the head of the general program, and when the matter was made public, people like Zhou He, Feng Mi, and Ma Yuan, who were shrewd, guessed his intentions in a very short time.

In this regard, most of the officers of the Song State were happy to see what happened, and they either openly or secretly stood on the side of support.

Du Fujiao stood with his waist upright near the door, and when Zhao Xingde gathered to discuss matters, he was always in charge of guarding.

Although this military affairs is boring, it has great superiority, Du Fujiao has always regarded himself as Zhao Xingde's most trusted officer, and most of the time, he is "modest" and "not out of the limelight", however, this time, his eyes seem to be more excited than the officers of the Song State. If Zhao Xingde agrees to serve as the head of the general program of all maritime merchants, although it cannot fully compensate for the huge blow to the price of South China Sea bonds caused by the military government's requisition of merchant ships, it can restore people's confidence to the greatest extent. Du Chuijiao knew very well that in the long run, if he could really get the navigation rights and trade rights west of Longzhu Island, not only would the Song State Commercial Bank that accompanied the army westward this time not lose money, but would make a lot of money. In that case, not only will his South China Sea bonds not be lost, but he will also seize the opportunity of falling prices to buy large sums of money.

"Dare to do it, agree, my lord." Du Fujiao said silently in his heart.

"The leaders are worried that if the Kansai Imperial Court sends someone else to deal with this matter, I am afraid that the lord does not know the suffering of us as well as Lord Zhao, in the eyes of some high-ranking people, we businessmen are just strings of money, when we want to use it, we will come, when we don't use it, we will go away, and we will scold, like Lord Zhao, who understands things well and can convince the public, it is really rare to meet another one. Therefore, after everyone summed it up, they sent the old man to plead with him cheekily. ”

You Yongjie's temples were white, I don't know whether it was intentional or unintentional, he wiped the corners of his eyes with his sleeve.

He took out a neatly folded recommendation book from his arms, presented it to Zhao Xingde tremblingly, and said: "This is the record of the eighty-three leaders who went to sea jointly elected Lord Zhao as the head of the general program, and there were seventy-five who agreed, and everyone signed and drew the pledge. Behind each of these heads were countless boat people, sailors, and thousands of their families. How many people's net worth and lives are pinned on adults. I only hope that adults will put the people first, and never abandon us. ”

You Yongjie looked at Zhao Xingde with a look of anticipation like a long-term drought and a rainy day.

Zhou He's face sank like water, and he secretly said to an old fox, turning his gaze to the side. He was responsible for monitoring Zhao Xingde for the Song court, but the maritime merchants elected Zhao Xingde as the head of the general program, which did not interfere with the interests of the Song court. And the eldest princess of Wu lived in Yangzhou all the year round, although she did not ask about foreign affairs, but the people in the palace of the eldest princess of Wu had some relationship with the businessmen in Yangzhou and other places, especially during the battle of Guangzhou, the eldest princess of Wu tried her best to save the situation and won the hearts of the people in the southeast. Zhao Xingde has a deeper relationship with these maritime merchants, and he faintly echoes what the eldest princess did, which is beneficial to himself or to the eldest princess of Wu.

Liu Zhijian sighed in his heart, Xu Xiaoyun and You Yongjie's calculations can be described as a conspiracy.

The Xia court did not prohibit nobles and sergeants from doing business, but on the contrary, the royal family and the founding prince were the behind-the-scenes proprietors of Fuhaixing. Zhao Xingde's acceptance of the recommendation of the head of this general program is not unavoidable from the perspective of laws and regulations. However, this position pushed him to a position that might be opposed to the Xia court. If it is on land, it is not necessary to worry about the conflict between a general or a founding prince running an industry and the military politics of the imperial court, but at sea, the power of the Xia State is extremely weak, and the control of the Southwest Sea Division almost completely depends on Zhao Xingde's personal influence, and once Zhao Xingde and the Southwest Sea Division lose their lives, let alone deprive the Song State of the right of navigation and trade west of Longzhu Island, it will be a problem for whoever is in charge of the entire Southwest Sea.

In the White Tiger Hall, some of the generals kept persuading, and some talked in a low voice, but all eyes were focused on Zhao Xingde.

He took a cursory look at the recommendation book presented by You Yongjie and found that this was not an ordinary persuasion article.

The first part of the proposal details the terms of the alliance between the 83 maritime merchants. The first place in the general outline is the heaviest, and it has a general plan, but it does not have much power. The merchants also elected eight archdeacons, and the majority of these eight deacons agreed to appoint a grand treasurer, who in turn appointed the treasurer to handle all aspects of the affairs. The head of the general program cannot interfere with the appointment of the chief treasurer by the eight deacons. However, if the head of the general program objects to the chief manager of the houses nominated by the chief manager, the chief manager can only be replaced until the head of the general program agrees. In this way, neither the head of the general program, nor the eight deacons, nor the chief treasurer can monopolize power. In the second part of the recommendation letter, the rights and responsibilities of the maritime merchants who joined the alliance are listed in detail, and in general there is not much difference from the joint stock trading, the stronger the maritime merchant, the greater the power to elect the head of the general program and the eight deacons, and correspondingly, the more maritime merchants, the more money they pay for the business alliance. It is only in the third part of the recommendation book that the names of the people who elected Zhao Xingde as the head of the general program are listed in detail, as well as the hand-stamped stamps of each person.

Zhao Xingde first skimmed through it, and then looked at it again from beginning to end, his gaze getting colder and colder.

The generals who were still persuading at the beginning are now silent. Zhao Xingde occasionally raised his head and looked around at the people around him. Xu Xiaoyun felt that his gaze was as sharp as a knife, and it seemed to have some heavy light, and the whole person was like a cannon loaded with cannonballs, pressing down the gaze of the encounter every time, and falling heavily on the carefully concocted recommendation book. Xu Xiaoyun couldn't help but feel worried in his heart, Zhao Xingde usually gives people the impression of being modest and generous, in Xu Xiaoyun's eyes, he is even better than most civil officials in the imperial court, and it was not until this time that Xu Xiaoyun realized that his iron face and short beard revealed a terrifying majesty.

Under this invisible majesty, many generals even secretly held their breath.

"You," after a long time, Zhao Xingde put down the recommendation book, looked at everyone, and sighed bitterly: "Do a good job." ”

............

On the other side of the deck, the merchants were anxiously awaiting the results.

Some sigh, some sullen, and some expectant.

Yan Yuexi, the chief treasurer of Fuhaixing, made a pot of tea in a place with few people, and sat opposite Tang Qiantang, another archdeacon. When Tang Qiantang heard this, he looked suspicious. Behind Fuhaixing is the court of the Xia State, how can he conspire with the merchants of the Song State to disobey the military order? He looked left and right, lowered his voice and said, "These people want to put Lord Zhao on the stove to roast, they are easy, but such a thing, how can we Fuhaixing participate casually?" Even if the head office doesn't ask, aren't you afraid of the five mansions asking for guilt? He and Yan Yuexi have a good relationship, it is impossible for him to betray his friends to protect himself, and he doesn't know how to act, so that the two of them can escape from this disaster.

"Old Tang, don't be impatient," Yan Yuexi was idle when she arrived, and motioned to Tang Qiantang to drink tea first to dissipate the anger.

"The sky is falling, and there is a tall man on top of it," Yan Yuexi said slowly, "The decision of a major matter depends on Lord Zhao's own idea." Even if the top is investigated, it is not us who is the leader among the businessmen, but just conforming to the herd, how much responsibility can we have? He said lightly, how could Tang Qiantang be so easy to fool the past, and put the teacup down dissatisfied.

"You consider the reaction of those people in the Five Mansions, but have the people in the Five Mansions who issued military orders considered the situation of our Fuhaixing?" He sighed heavily, and was about to refute, but Yan Yuexi handed the teacup back to him, shook his head, and sighed, "In business, our more than 100-year-old store in Fuhaixing does not rely on pleasing those people who are like a marquee, but is solid, and earns them a lot of money every year!" Make a lot of money, this is the foundation of Fuhai Xing! These war-hungry men forcibly requisitioned merchant ships, and if there was no adequate compensation, the trip would be a big loss. For the head office, this trip is just a test of the waters, regardless of success or failure. However, for you and for me, the opportunity in front of you must not be buried in vain. ”