If you traveled back to ancient times, while others ate Guanyin clay, you would actually have giant

Hou Zhenghao was ultimately not found. Li Tiancheng even summoned Zhou Wu to the palace and comforted him for a while, as Zhou Wu now had a heavy responsibility.

"Your Majesty, rest assured, I will definitely expedite the research and development of firearms upon my return."

"Good, as expected of a pillar of our Great Dragon. Guards, come here."

Soon, a eunuch came forward carrying a sword in both hands.

"Zhou Wu, I bestow upon you a personal sword, which can be used to slay all treacherous and disobedient officials."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Zhou Wu doesn't feel anything yet, but he will gradually realize the weight of this sword later.

Having already lingered too long in the capital, Zhou Wu left the palace and boarded the ship heading home.

Heading south, the fleet headed straight for the South China Sea islands.

. . . . . .

South China Sea islands.

Stepping onto the South China Sea islands again, although winter has arrived in Beijing, the weather in the South China Seas remains as warm as springtime. This is because, given the geographical location of the South China Sea islands, there is no such thing as cold weather.

Zhou Wu sat in the carriage, looking at the city that was already taking shape.

"Indeed, there is strength in numbers, and businessmen are indeed profit-driven."

With the addition of merchants, the city's construction changed daily, and some shops even began to open for business.

The workers who built the city and the people of the tribes also constituted a significant consumer force.

The carriage slowly came to a stop in front of a large mansion, with the plaque prominently displaying the name "Zhou Mansion".

This is Zhou Wu's home on the South China Sea island. Today is the first time he has set foot here. However, Li Baiwei and her family had already moved here when Zhou Wu was still in the capital.

"My husband, you've worked hard."

Li Baiwei, accompanied by a group of servants, waited at the door early in the morning. This was a way of expressing gratitude to the head of the household for their hard work in this era.

Li Baiwei was unaware of what had happened to Zhou Wu in the capital; she simply assumed that Zhou Wu had stayed in the capital for so long because of work.

Zhou Wu was too lazy to say anything; saying anything would only cause his family more worry.

Zhou Wu was eager to move his family to the South China Sea not only to make it easier to manage the many affairs on the island, but also because the weather there was mild and spring-like all year round, except for the hot summer.

Zhou Wu had a few days of leisure at home when a servant delivered a visiting card.

"Someone, go and fetch Yuanliang."

"Yes."

The visiting card was sent by a merchant on the island, who wanted to discuss some matters with Zhou Wu. Therefore, Zhou Wu had his servants fetch Yuan Liang to participate.

. . . . .

"Do you know what these merchants are trying to say?"

Zhou Wu has been away from the island these days, and Deng Yuanliang has been in charge of everything on the island, which is why Zhou Wu called him over in advance to get a sense of the situation.

"Sir, this is a good thing."

Upon hearing that the question was about this matter, Deng Yuanliang was immediately overjoyed.

"Good thing? What good thing?"

"them..."

"My lord, they have arrived."

Just as Deng Yuanliang was about to speak, a servant came to report that the merchants had arrived and were in the council hall.

"My lord, you'll find out when you get there."

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Deng Yuanliang briefly kept everyone in suspense.

So Zhou Wu, with a look of doubt on his face, went to the council hall to discuss matters with representatives of various chambers of commerce in the South China Sea.

"See my lord."

The members of the chamber of commerce were chatting enthusiastically when they saw the person in charge arrive, and they all stood up and bowed.

Although those who are doing this are all of Zhou Wu's uncle or even grandfather's generation, Zhou Wu is an official and the lord of the South China Sea island.

Although the social status of merchants has improved to some extent in recent years thanks to Zhou Wu's advocacy, they are still not old enough to dare to put on airs with the government.

"Don't be shy, please sit down."

"Thank you, sir."

"I wonder if you have any suitable topics to discuss this time."

Zhou Wu got straight to the point; there was no need to beat around the bush in this situation.

The representatives below looked at each other, but no one spoke up first.

"Hey everyone, you weren't so reserved before, you almost came to blows!"

Deng Yuanliang spoke, but Zhou Wu didn't quite understand what he was saying.

Weren't you just saying something good? Now you're saying you almost got into a fight? What's going on?

"Then this humble old man will dare to speak on behalf of my colleagues in the Chamber of Commerce to Your Excellency."

An elderly man with white hair appeared to be the oldest person present. After the old man spoke, no one else had any objections, indicating that he held some prestige among the group.

"Please speak, Mr. Ge."

Zhou Wu took a closer look. He had seen the old man a few times before, and Zhou Wu even remembered his name.

Upon hearing that Lord Zhou actually remembered his name, Old Ge's dry, old face instantly turned as red as if he had been injected with chicken blood.

"You flatter me, sir. We've all been in Nanhai Island for quite some time now, and we've witnessed its development from nothing to something. We've grown attached to it, and the fact that we chose to come here early shows that we're optimistic about the future of Nanhai Island."

"Thank you all for thinking so highly of me. I, Zhou Wu, thank you all in advance."

Although it is said that no merchant is without guile and that merchants are driven by profit, it must be said that society cannot function without merchants. It can be said that without merchants, the pace of human history would be much slower.

"We've all seen how hard the lord has been working for the development of the South China Sea Island. But we've all been busy too, thinking about how to develop the island as soon as possible. So we've discussed it and come up with a few suggestions that seem feasible. We'd like the lord to take a look."

As expected of someone who has lived to such an old age, Old Ge's words were truly impeccable, both lowering his own status and elevating Zhou Wu's rank.

"Please speak, Mr. Ge."

"Yes, the following are some new channels that everyone has discovered recently, which are some plans to improve the progress and visibility of our South China Sea development. Please take note, sir."

Zhou Wu nodded, signaling the other person to continue.

"Firstly, Nanhai Island is adjacent to Niujia Town in the interior and is also the southernmost island of the Great Dragon Empire. Compared with Niujia Town, it has superior fishery resources. Therefore, we earnestly request that you take the lead in integrating the fishery resources of your fiefdom. Fishing operations can be carried out in the South China Sea, and Niujia Town can serve as a transit port for transporting goods to the interior. In this way, neither will be delayed."

“Niujia Town’s fishery resources are near-shore resources. Although there is no shortage of fish, it is indeed far behind the South China Sea islands. I have considered your suggestion before, and I think it is feasible. I will make arrangements as soon as possible.”

"Thank you, sir."

In fact, after fishing was shifted to the South China Sea, these businesses also had the opportunity to participate and get a share of the profits.

"Secondly, Nanhai Island is more suitable as a trading port than Niujia Town. It has convenient access to sea transportation and can travel to and from almost all the surrounding countries."

"Needless to say, it won't work."

Zhou Wu refused outright.

"What is this, sir?"