A month ago, Ujiya brought a caravan from Great Xia to Calicut. After paying sufficient port taxes, they obtained trade permission from the ruler of the region, Zamorin, and successfully established trade relations with several local nobles. They also bought a piece of land near the port and had their nephew stay there to observe the local market conditions.
"Xia, since you've traveled all the way from the west of India to Southeast Asia, you must have been here before, right?"
"I have indeed been here, but I don't like the people here. They are not friendly to outsiders at all and only care about money."
Qin Mo remained silent. The degree of commercialization in a city is directly proportional to the degree of indifference among people. The more developed the commerce, the more indifferent people become. Even relatives only talk about money. How will they treat you, an outsider?
“Shia, this is the kind of place where we have room to maneuver. Using wealth as a weapon is far more effective than resorting to force. By the time the rulers realize something is wrong, we will have already won over most of the people. That will be the time for us to make our move.”
"Qin Mo, your army is so powerful, why don't you just attack directly? I don't believe these people can stop your advance."
"Alas! We are short-handed! From Taiwan to Southeast Asia and then to India, it's a journey of tens of thousands of miles. If we rely on force to resolve everything, our caravan won't be able to reach the Western Continent in a short time. Time is of the essence!"
Qin Mo's current army numbers 50,000, which sounds like a lot, but after being deployed from the mainland, Luzon, and Southeast Asia, it has dwindled to less than 20,000 by the time it reaches India. Qin Mo plans to extend these troops all the way to the Persian Gulf. If he were to conquer each city-state one by one, the sheer number of local conflicts would be enough to drive him crazy.
Qin Mo's talent development plan has long been on the right track. The naval academy of the high-ranking officials has been expanding its enrollment, and the Marine Corps has also begun to be built up on a large scale, striving to double its strength within a five-year plan.
The most important internal affairs school also opened, specifically for those cunning merchants to teach all sorts of tricks, such as sowing discord between princes, between the king and princes, and between the local king and queen. All these dirty tricks were given a new name and passed on to the high-achieving students as "expansion courses" to cultivate a new generation of pioneering management talents.
Shia's mind was clearly not keeping up with Qin Mo's train of thought. Her beautiful big eyes were a little confused. She was actually a bit like Wang Yushi, straightforward and fond of using her fists to express herself.
"Shia, which place here wasn't very welcoming to you last time you came here?"
Shia perked up and pointed, "It's that neighborhood over there. There are lots of shops, lots of delicious food and beautiful things to see, but they look down on people. Let's go and wreck their place!"
"Alright, let's go wreak havoc!"
Qin Mo brought Shia to the commercial district of Calicut and took out weapons to cause trouble—copper coins, silver coins, and even gold coins.
Under Qin Mo's endless barrage of weapons, all the merchants knelt down and surrendered, calling him "Your Excellency" repeatedly, even more affectionately than a son calling his father.
Qin Mo recalled the Chinese immigrants to North America in her past life. As long as you opened a factory and hired locals, providing them with income and wages, they would never discriminate against your skin color. Instead, they would treat you as a good boss. If anyone discriminated against you, they would even fight for you. This... is the power of money.
"See that, Shia? Force can conquer a land, but it can't conquer people's hearts. But money can. As long as you can make them money, you are their...king." Want to chat about *Sailing and Conquest* with more like-minded people? Follow "or" on WeChat to discuss your favorite books with other book lovers.
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