In the small courtyard.

Zhao Hao asked softly, "Why are they reacting so strongly? Wouldn't it be better for them to just take over a fleet and have fun with it themselves, just like the Xiang family did?"

"Haha, that won't work." Zhao Liben shook his head and said, "The nine great families are ultimately land-based families. Although they have made endless wealth through maritime trade, they are still full of fear of the sea. They dare not send their children to the sea to take risks, so they can only rely on the five major fleets to conduct maritime trade."

"But they were afraid that the five fleets would become too big and give rise to another Wang Zhi, so they strictly controlled the size of the five fleets." Then Zhao Liben explained: "They stipulated that the construction of new ships, recruitment of sailors, and even the purchase of weapons and equipment for the five fleets must be approved by King Jinghai, and they are not allowed to purchase them privately."

"If everyone has their own fleet like the Xiang family, then all restrictions will be lifted - from any perspective, each family will do their best to strengthen their fleet."

"I see." Zhao Hao suddenly realized. No wonder each company had to be isolated from the five major fleets. It turned out that this was to prevent the fleets from colluding with any one company to become bigger.

"So before a new King of the Sea is chosen, the Eight Great Families can only watch the chaos on the sea continue and trade is cut off, but they can do nothing."

"That's right. So over the past six months, the situation has not improved, but has gotten worse." Zhao Liben laughed.

"It is said that one fleet fled to Fujian and joined Lin Daoqian. Another fleet was hired by the Japanese village chief to help his village fight."

"Village chief, village war?" Zhao Hao was stunned for a moment before he realized that Japan is now in the "glorious" Warring States Period.

Come to think of it, the big fool of Owari should have occupied Mino and raised the banner of "spreading military power throughout the world", right?

When I think about it, I feel a little excited.

Unfortunately, in the eyes of the Ming Dynasty literati, Oda Nobunaga was just a county governor, and Tokugawa Ieyasu was at most a village chief... No one would be interested if I told them this.

He returned to the point and asked Zhao Liben: "Then Grandpa, when should we get involved?"

"No hurry, let them continue to waste time." Zhao Liben shook his head decisively and said in a deep voice: "We will continue to practice our internal skills. When the positions of the nine great families are completely worthless, it will not be too late for us to make a shining debut as the great savior."

As he spoke, he made a wishful calculation and said, "When we were playing mahjong just now, I said that you played that card well. It was actually the Jiangnan Company. You used a company to tie the Taicang Wang family and the Wuxi Hua family to the chariot. Add to that Xueying and our trump card, and the support of the Yangzhou Hui merchants. Although our Zhao family has a shallow foundation, its strength is enough to get a seat in the nine major families!"

"My grandson feels that a mere position in one of the Nine Great Families may not satisfy grandpa's appetite." Zhao Hao smiled faintly.

"That's right!" The old man nodded heavily and waved his hand domineeringly: "Originally, I just wanted a position. But now, I find that the so-called aristocratic families are nothing great - look at those idiots in the Xu family, aren't they also coveting the position of King of the Pure Sea? Why can the monk touch it but I can't?!"

"Grandpa is so domineering. The title of King of Jinghai must belong to my Zhao family!" Zhao Hao also felt heroic when he heard that. The grandfather and grandson got so excited that they competed with each other in boasting.

"What's King Jinghai? He's just a nominal king of the sea. If my Zhao family wants to be the king, then we'll be the real king of the sea!" Zhao Liben excitedly patted his grandson's thigh.

"Yes, the King of the Four Seas!" Zhao Hao also patted his grandfather's thigh excitedly.

"My dear grandson, be gentle."

"Grandpa, please be gentle..."

"No, I mean you're exaggerating a bit."

"It was my grandfather who said I wanted to be the King of the Sea..." The image of 'Tidal Sea Spirit' appeared in front of Zhao Hao's eyes.

The song "Yi Jian Mei" was still ringing in my ears.

"Well, okay, let's be realistic." Zhao Liben shook his head, shook off his unrealistic fantasies, and said seriously: "Let's first aim for King Jinghai. Even if we can't achieve 'aim for the best and get the middle', it's acceptable."

"Grandpa is right." Zhao Hao nodded, and actually felt that the burden on his shoulders was much lighter.

Alas, he is still too proud. He doesn't even take his position as one of the nine great families seriously... It's all because the Xu family is not strong enough.

"Grandpa just said that the biggest problem of our Zhao family right now is that our foundation is too shallow. No matter how powerful those shareholders are, they can only play a supporting role. In the end, we still have to rely on our own strength to accomplish things!"

"Well, it's a good idea to start with the Dongting Chamber of Commerce." Zhao Liben praised. "If we can get control of the Dongting Chamber of Commerce through Liu Zhengqi, it will be of great help to us to take root in Jiangnan. In addition, if your Jiangnan Company can replicate the miracle of Xishan Company, it will be a natural thing to take over that position!"

"Great minds think alike." Zhao Hao couldn't help but patted the old man's thigh again. "Grandpa, just wait and see. Jiangnan Company was born to create miracles!"

"You clearly said that this company was made up..." Zhao Liben moved his legs away inconspicuously, gasping for breath.

"Did I say that? Haha, no. We are serious about starting a company." Zhao Hao blinked with a serious face.

"Okay, you're telling lies with your eyes open. You're just like me in my old days!" Zhao Liben slapped him back.

Zhao Hao rubbed his legs vigorously. The old man praised him as a cover, mainly to fight back...

"How long are you going to stay on this island?" Seeing that it was getting dark, Zhao Liben stood up to avoid being attacked again. "You don't really want to be the owner of the island, do you?"

"How could that be? We'll go back to Kunshan after the first shipload of cement is fired." Zhao Hao also stood up and said with a smile, "It seems that grandpa is still worried about father."

"Nonsense, I don't care who he is." Zhao Liben snorted and walked out of the yard with his hands behind his back.

"Alas." Zhao Hao smiled bitterly. He was so arrogant and willful at such an old age.

~~

Next to the stream behind the camp, Uncle Xu was squatting there cleaning the toilet with two bunches of grass leaves stuffed in his nose.

He thought that emptying the toilet was much better than smashing stones, but he was the only one who emptied all the toilets in the camp with 1,500 people.

Mr. Xu, who had been living a life of luxury since childhood, had someone to help him wipe his butt, let alone empty the toilet. How could he possibly do such a disgusting thing?

At first he naturally swore to die rather than obey, but he could not withstand Tong Zigong's Thousand Years of Killing!

If that move is used repeatedly, it can really make people forget their identity, lose their dignity, and be willing to do anything to avoid experiencing the "pain of a thousand years of death" again.

When Master Xu kept vomiting and finally got used to the stench of the toilet, and emptied the night incense of fifteen hundred people, he thought he was finally free today.

But I was horrified to learn that I had to clean all 150 toilets myself and then send them back to the barracks before everyone went to bed.

If you don't clean the toilet, you will be killed for a thousand years...

Oh my god!

It took a whole morning to empty the toilet, and it took even a whole afternoon to scrub it!

There are still more than fifty left when it gets dark. After I finish brushing, it’s time to empty the toilet again…

At the end of the day, I can’t live without the toilet!

ps. The third update is here. Wow everyone, 1,600 votes have been added all of a sudden, and there are still 4,000 votes! That is about the normal 2,000 votes!!

I will write the fourth update soon! Come on, come on, come on!!!