"There will be employees of the newspaper to go to your mansion for an interview later, and compile your experience in the Mediterranean into a report and promote it." Chu Yun stood up and sent Li Jinde out of the mansion and informed him of a news.

"It's really embarrassing to say something like being caught and treated as a coolie. It's better not to report it..." Li Jinde waved his hands repeatedly after hearing Chu Yun's words.

He was caught as a coolie in Algiers and suffered a lot, and this matter was not very glorious.

"It's okay, don't worry, describe your experiences without worrying about it, and publish them after the newspaper processes them. Don't you suggest that more people should be encouraged to go to the West to explore the market? Although history is created by the vast masses, the masses need heroes. If your experience is widely promoted after artistic processing, it can give everyone a target to imitate, and the wave of trade to the West may arise again." Chu Yun said.

"..." Li Jinde couldn't help feeling guilty.

He did nothing during the period when he was caught in the Mediterranean. If he could be promoted to be a hero by the newspaper, it would be a shame...

"Do you think it is to build momentum for us to go to the West to develop the market, don't be psychologically burdened. And as the first Chinese to take the initiative to lead the fleet to Europe, what if you are a hero?" Chu Yun patted Li Jinde's shoulder, which made him even more flattered.

You should know that the people in front of him were those who held the power of the empire, countless armies, factories, and fleets were built by him from scratch.

In fact, the principal of 30,000 taels of silver invested by Li Jinde in Western companies has appreciated. As Western companies establish factories in London and begin to make continuous profits, the stock prices of Western companies are becoming more and more valuable. If Li Jinde now sells the stocks originally worth 30,000 taels of silver, it may be possible that more than 100,000 taels of silver will be acquired.

It is precisely because of Chu Yun that Li Jinde's wealth has accumulated faster and faster.

Li Jinde is the representative of the maritime merchants. He represents a rapidly rising group of merchants in the empire. Unlike the inland relying on mules, canals, and manpower to turn over goods, maritime merchants rely on large sailing ships, and the amount of goods to turn over is huge each time.

Currently, there are three main maritime trade circles, the Beiyang trade circle, involving Jiangnan, Gyeonggi, Liaonan, Goryeo, Japan, and Ryukyu. The Nanyang trade circle involves Jiangnan, Guangdong, Yizhou, Indochina Peninsula, and Spice Islands. The Western trade circle is basically a trade with the South Asian subcontinent and Europe.

The volume of trade at sea is increasing day by day, and there may be hundreds and thousands of large sailboats conducting turnover trade in three trading circles!

This is an inevitable development, especially the Beiyang trade circle and the Nanyang trade circle are within the territory of the empire, and are basically in a state of free trade. The circulation of goods within the empire through large sailing ships and the operation of resources at high speed and efficiency is also inseparable from maritime commerce.

The dozens of military ships in the Navy are incomparable to the thousands of large sailboats in the civilian state.

After sending Li Jinde away, Chu Yun returned to the pavilion in the backyard and walked. He wanted to consider sending more soldiers to Europe to intervene in the civil war in Britain. But the question is how many soldiers should be sent to Europe?

If too many soldiers sent, the cost will be very high, and supply will be a big problem, and it will cause vigilance and disgust among European countries. If too small, there will be no big difference if the sending is not sent.

"It would be great if we could have a minion army in the West. It would not only reduce the cost of sending expeditionary forces, but also reduce the fear of the West for us, just like the Turkish mercenaries in India."

Chu Yun thought of the management method of the East India Company, and it was a very effective way to reduce military expenditure by hiring Tumen soldiers on the Indian Peninsula.

However, it is another question to recruit vassals from which country or city-state to recruit troops from.

"Sir, the Astronomy Academy reported an important news. They inferred that the astronomical phenomenon of Venus transiting to the sun will occur this year, which will last for six hours. This astronomical phenomenon may cause panic in some rural areas or towns." At this time, Ella brought news from the Astronomy Academy.

"Venus transits the sun?" Chu Yun was a little surprised.

After he arrived in this world, he did not notice astronomical phenomena. He mainly used the Astronomical Academy to study latitude and longitude, improve navigation technology, and serve agriculture.

Astronomical phenomena did not seem to be a surprise to him.

However, it may cause a lot of panic for ordinary people in this era, especially by some folk warlocks to spread some unfavorable rumors and disrupt stability. Especially for stars like Mars, which are not very auspicious.

"Let the people of the Astronomy Academy calculate the exact time, and then the Imperial Heaven Supervision will issue a notice to all prefectures and counties in advance, so that they can monitor those warlocks of the martial arts world. If someone dares to use astronomical phenomena to deceive the people, they will be arrested after the evidence is conclusive." Chu Yun had to beware of ordinary people being used by feudal superstitions.

At present, a few primary and private schools and middle schools have been established in various places. The university halls are only owned by Beijing, Nanjing and southern Liaoning. The illiteracy rate is extremely high, and it is indeed easy to cause panic due to astronomical phenomena.

"The civil war in Britain may break out soon. We need to send an army to Europe, but the number of people is difficult to grasp. It would be great if we could have a vassal army in Europe. It is too late to train the vassal army now." Chu Yun was only a little worried about the phenomenon of Venus transit, but he was not worried. After all, some special astronomical phenomena will inevitably occur every century. He told Ella about what he is paying more attention to now.

"Sir, are you talking about minions like hiring Japanese warriors and Indian Tumen soldiers?" Ella asked.

"Yes, we need a group of cheap local soldiers to reduce the cost of our courage to do Western affairs. You should know that we provide higher military pay, pensions, allowances, and various important materials to soldiers stationed overseas also need to be transferred through the sea, and they will be arranged to return to the local land for a period of time. For example, the cost of soldiers and mercenaries stationed on the Indian Peninsula reached 10 to 1, which means that the cost of sending a soldier can recruit 10 mercenaries locally." Chu Yun made a rough calculation, "In fact, many times our elite soldiers do not need to come forward. Even cheap mercenaries can complete the task well and spend less."

"Sir, why not transport a group of local mercenaries to Europe for combat while the fleet traveled from its homeland to Europe and passed through India?" Ella thought for a while and replied.

"..." Chu Yun's eyes lit up after her reminder, "Good wife, why didn't I expect it!"
Chapter completed!