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Seeing that he seemed to have an idea, Lin Wuchen said, "Why not? Who wouldn't want to do this when doing shipping business?"

Shen Zhixiu then expressed his thoughts. Song Hongshen and Lin Wuchen looked at each other, and both of their eyes lit up.

Lin Wuchen didn't expect that his visit to the Shen family would solve the most important issue in the sea transportation process.

If what Shen Zhixiu said is true, then all merchants engaged in maritime transportation will save a huge amount of money every year.

Song Hongshen did not expect that the Song family found a way out of their dilemma.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that Shen Zhixiu's idea was good, and he suddenly felt a sense of fighting spirit.

The more the prince tried to stop him from going to Fujian, the more he wanted to go. He first seized the command of the Fujian navy and then came back to settle accounts with the prince.

Since the prince cannot tolerate the Song family, the Song family can no longer stand by and watch in the battle for the throne. He wants to see how the prince will ascend the throne without the support of the Song family.

People like them, if it really comes to a life-and-death situation, not to mention a prince, even the emperor can be brought down.

Song Hongshen entered the Shen family's gate in a rage, and left the Shen family with full confidence.

Lin Wuchen was worried when he entered the room, but his lips curled up when he left.

After leaving the Shen family, Lin Wuchen returned to the Lin Company, wrote secret letters and asked people to send them out.

When he handed the last letter to his subordinate, he hesitated for a moment.

But he still handed the letter over and said, "Send this letter to the Bai family."

For several days, the Song family father and son acted as if nothing had happened. They did not go to the Ministry of Revenue to ask for money, nor did they mention this matter again.

Emperor Xuande was secretly disappointed and felt that Song Hongshen's move completely disregarded the safety of the southeastern coast.

If he really cared about this matter, he shouldn't be so calm. At least he should go to the palace to negotiate, or confront the Ministry of Revenue with a tough attitude.

Even if the court could not come up with the money, he should still find a way to share the court's worries.

When the prince saw that Song Hongshen had no reaction, he thought that he had given up the matter in a fit of anger. He was overjoyed and kept advising Emperor Xuande to change the commander-in-chief of the southeast for several days.

In the blink of an eye, it was early September. On the evening of the first day of September, Lin Wuchen knocked on the gate of the Shen family's west courtyard.

Not long after, Wen Zhu left the Shen family and secretly went to meet Song Hongshen.

Song Hongshen was relieved when he received the news from Wenzhu. He saw that the emperor's patience was about to run out.

If Lin Wuchen didn't make any more moves, he would not be able to hold on. Fortunately, the third young master of the Lin family was very capable, so he would have someone to rely on when he went to court tomorrow.

The next morning, Song Hongshen went to the palace as usual.

As soon as the morning court session began, an official from the Crown Prince's party stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, the Southeast Navy has been waiting for a general to take office. I wonder when the King of Loyalty and Bravery will leave for Fujian?"

"If I don't take up my post again, I'm afraid trouble will easily arise in the army."

Emperor Xuande looked at Song Hongshen and asked, "What does the loyal and brave king say?"

Song Hongshen stepped forward and replied, "Your Majesty, it is not my intention to delay the trip. But the Ministry of Revenue cannot allocate money, so I have to find a way. That's why I haven't set off yet."

As soon as he finished speaking, the prince asked, "Think of a solution? How did King Chungyong think of a solution?"

"In the past few days, I have seen Prince Chungyong go out for a drink or to spar with others. A few days ago, he went out of the city to race horses with His Royal Highness Prince Ning."

"The way the King of Loyalty and Bravery thinks of this really impresses me."

After that, the prince said to Emperor Xuande: "Father, I think this incident shows that King Zhongyong is indifferent to the affairs of the Southeast Navy."

"If he cared about this matter, he would not spend his days drinking and having fun knowing that the treasury was empty and the shipbuilding could not be successfully completed."

"As a subject, I eat the emperor's salary but don't know how to be loyal to the emperor. I ask the emperor to replace the commander of the southeast."

Many people present agreed with the prince's words.

The officialdom requires a lot of knowledge. As an official, you may not have enough ability, but you must have the attitude.

Just like this time, if they were Song Hongshen, even if they knew that the treasury was empty, they would still do something to save face, to prove that they cared about the court and worked hard to share the worries of the emperor.

However, Song Hongshen acted as if nothing had happened. Although the responsibility lay with the Ministry of Revenue, it did affect the emperor's opinion of him.

After the prince finished speaking, Song Hongshen glanced at him meaningfully, "Your Highness, how do you know that I have no loyalty to the emperor?"

After that, he asked Shen Zhixiu, "Sir Shen, does the Ministry of Personnel evaluate people based on their political achievements, or does it focus on who does a good job in saving face?"

Shen Zhixiu replied expressionlessly: "The Ministry of Personnel evaluates everything based on performance."

The prince sneered, "What's the point of King Zhongyong showing off his eloquence in this Qianyang Palace? If you really have a way, just say it. If I have wrongly accused you, I will apologize to you."

Other officials from the prince's party also spoke out, saying that King Zhongyong was not worthy of being the commander-in-chief of the southeast because of his character.

Song Hongshen raised his head, looked directly at Emperor Xuande, and said solemnly.

"Your Majesty, all the merchant ships of the Great Zhou Dynasty now leave from Fujian. There are many pirates on the sea, and their merchant ships are often attacked by pirates."

"I have contacted merchants with shipping businesses these days, and they have agreed to raise funds to cover the cost of building new warships."

"We just need to escort the merchants while we train the navy to prevent them from being attacked by bandits."

"I think this will achieve three goals at once. First, it will reduce the losses of merchants. Second, it will eliminate pirates at sea. Third, it will train the navy in actual combat."

In Song Hongshen's view, this method has advantages and no disadvantages.

Especially in naval training, only actual combat with real swords and guns can achieve real results.

When he led the army to Liaodong, the Marquis of Zhenbei told him that there were no bandits in Liaodong. All the bandits were dealt with by the Marquis of Zhenbei. Every attack on the bandits was like a drill for the Liaodong soldiers.

Song Hongshen's words caused an uproar among the court officials in the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Since ancient times, among the four classes of scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans, merchants have the lowest status. Although the Great Zhou Dynasty attaches great importance to commerce and does not suppress merchants as much as the previous dynasty, the status of merchants is still low.

It was unheard of for the imperial army to protect merchants' merchant ships.

Looking back at the dynasties before the Great Zhou, there has never been such a thing.

However, a few pragmatic old officials' eyes lit up, and the more they thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. If they could take the opportunity to further expand the maritime transport business, it would also be an opportunity for the improvement of the national strength of the Great Zhou.

The prince, however, frowned and angrily said, "I thought the King of Chungyong could come up with some good ideas."

"According to what King Zhongyong said, what has the navy of the imperial court become? Are they lackeys of the merchants?"