Chapter 821

He was not a rigid person, but out of respect for Qin Mu.

In Zheng Chenggong's mind, Qin Mu was an Emperor with great wisdom. Every move of Qin Mu's signaled the direction of the future.

Because of his inner admiration, he was particularly serious on the surface.

"Your Majesty, please speak; I guarantee to complete the mission successfully!"

Qin Mu held up two fingers.

"The first thing: collect as much silk produced by the silk-rearing households in the Jiahe, Lin'an, and Huzhou areas as possible."

This was a very stimulating mission.

As soon as Zheng Chenggong heard it, he became excited, and the flames of battle ignited in his eyes.

He also understood the inside story of this matter very well.

Huating is adjacent to Jiahe, making silk collection very convenient.

It's just that these silk-rearing households were basically working for those large aristocratic families. The silk they produced could only be sold to the aristocratic families who were their proprietors.

Raising silkworms and planting mulberry trees—most of these investments were from those aristocratic families.

The silk-rearing households themselves had no decision-making power.

Wanting to cut off the aristocratic families and snatch the silk first was not an easy task.

But Zheng Chenggong was not afraid of these things.

"Your Majesty, can military means be used?"

Qin Mu shook his head.

"If military force were to be used, would there be a need to collect silk? You might as well go and rob them directly!"

Zheng Chenggong smiled awkwardly; he had originally intended to rob them.

But seeing the Emperor's intention, it seemed he didn't agree with him doing that.

Qin Mu was not old, but he put on an old-fashioned air and educated Zheng Chenggong earnestly.

"Zheng Chenggong, these commoners will all be Great Qin commoners in the future; be a little patient with them. Silk-rearing households are controlled by aristocratic families, which, to put it bluntly, is all because of money.

Go back and find Yu Huatian, let the Embroidered Uniform Guard help you get the land deeds for the mulberry fields, and wouldn't that solve it?"

Zheng Chenggong nodded repeatedly.

He understood the Emperor's intention: buying silk was just a beginning, not the final mission.

The true purpose was to use the silk-buying matter to build Huating city into a large-scale trade port, right?

Sanhan had a trade port, and Zheng Chenggong was very familiar with the operation of such things.

It's just that the trade port in Sanhan was too deformed, mainly selling some disobedient Goguryeo and Sanhan people to the Japanese islands as coolies.

And the trade port to be built in Huating would be for normal buying and selling business.

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty; I will definitely do this well and build Huating into the largest trade port!"

Qin Mu nodded in approval.

It was best that Zheng Chenggong could understand his intentions.

He was worthy of being an ambitious figure capable of carving out a territory; he had the vision.

"The second thing: organize a merchant fleet. This merchant fleet will only do one thing, which is to dig porcelain clay from Changnanzhen and transport it back to Luo Yi."

"Porcelain clay?"

This time, not only did Zheng Chenggong not understand, but even Wu Meiniang and Yue Fei didn't understand what the Emperor wanted to do.

What kind of clay is porcelain clay?

This kind of clay had never been heard of.

And why go specifically to Changnanzhen to dig it? Is it any different from other places?

Qin Mu hadn't been to Changnan yet, but he had prepared a bag in Luo Yi and took it out for Zheng Chenggong.

Opening it, it was a pure white, dry, fine powder.

"Your Majesty, what is this porcelain clay used for?"

Qin Mu thought for a moment and still told Zheng Chenggong and the others.

"Porcelain clay can be used to fire a type of utensil that is denser and more delicate than pottery, and white in color. It is called porcelain."

Porcelain?

Zheng Chenggong still didn't quite understand the importance of this matter.

In Great Tang trade, the volume of ceramic transactions had always been quite high. Exquisite painted pottery was even more sought after by people everywhere.

It's just that this thing wasn't that magical either.

He really didn't understand why the Emperor was going to such great lengths to engage in this thing.

Seeing Zheng Chenggong's expression, Qin Mu knew he didn't understand.

He specifically gave another instruction.

"Remember, only choose porcelain clay that is purer and whiter than this. It must be of higher quality!"