After a night without words, the two emerged from the space early the next morning, riding horses towards the southern port of the Peacock Dynasty.
Red Cloud was too conspicuous, so the two chose two horses that appeared very ordinary to ride, although even the ordinary horses in the space were tall and handsome, drawing attention on the road.
Of course, no one who lacked tact came to perform a roadside robbery for the horses.
Yang Zhenshan and Yu Qingyi had no intention of acting weak to deceive; both rode tall horses, wore brocade outfits, and adorned themselves with valuable accessories. Most importantly, one had a long sword hanging at the waist, and the other had a long spear hanging from the saddle.
With this attire, anyone who wasn’t foolish could tell that the two before them were extraordinary people, and considering their aura, just Yang Zhenshan’s eyes made ordinary loafers dare not look directly at him, let alone provoke them.
Thus, they had never encountered anyone seeking trouble along their journey.
The two traveled south along the Cangyuan River, passing through several cities, where they would also explore. The Peacock Dynasty was very prosperous, especially the further south they went.
The reason for this prosperity was that Tunwu City in the south of the Peacock Dynasty was the final destination for Da Rong’s mercial ships on their long voyages.
To the west of the Peacock Dynasty was the Jialuo Dynasty, and to the west of Jialuo was the Da Yue Dynasty. The Da Yue Dynasty was a dynasty not weaker than Da Rong, but Da Yue’s silk weaving and ceramic craftsmanship were far inferior to Da Rong’s.
Da Rong’s silk and porcelain were among the Da Yue’s most favored goods. Of course, Da Yue also had many excellent products, such as cotton, cotton cloth, herbs, tobacco, etc., all of which were needed by Da Rong.
Therefore, Tunwu City in the Peacock Dynasty had bee a trade transfer station between the two dynasties, further flourishing merce in the southern Peacock Dynasty, making Tunwu City the most prosperous port city.
However, in recent years, merce in the Peacock Dynasty had declined significantly, mainly because Da Yue was at war with the Martial God Temple.
The impact of the war between these two major forces was immense, affecting not only the mercial prosperity of the Peacock Dynasty but also Da Rong’s maritime trade.
Da Rong’s silk and porcelain could no longer be sold to Da Yue, affecting not only maritime trade but also Da Rong’s domestic silk weaving and ceramics industries.
Of course, some industries were unaffected, such as medicinal materials, armaments, various minerals, and so on. These industries closely related to war were profiting greatly from the conflict between the two major forces.
However, these industries could not replace the silk weaving and ceramics industries, nor were they enough to fill the void left by the decline in silk and porcelain’s contribution to maritime trade.
This did not greatly affect the Yang family’s business. Although they previously dealt in silk and porcelain trade, their main trade products were minerals, medicinal materials, furs, and jade from northeast Da Rong. Now the Yang family had also formed a close cooperation with the Zhu family, and the armaments forged by the Zhu family were also among the main products of the Yang family’s business.
Yang Zhenshan and Yu Qingyi easily found the Yang family’s merchant ships after arriving at the port of Tunwu City.
"Over there!"
On the bustling port, Yu Qingyi pointed to five merchant ships flying the Yang flag.
Yang Zhenshan nodded slightly, "Let’s go!"
Then, the two came to the dock in front of the merchant ships. There were several guards holding weapons on duty, and even before they spoke, someone recognized them.
"Island Master, Madam!" A man who looked around thirty excitedly called out when he saw them.
Yang Zhenshan smiled and stepped forward, saying, "And you are?"
The guards immediately gathered around, the leading man saluting and shouting, "Ninth Guard General Flag Xie Yan of the Merchant Guild’s escort, paying respects to the Island Master and Madam!"
The Star Moon Island Navy and Merchant Guild’s escort were different. The Star Moon Island Navy was organized by the battalion-post system, including squad leaders, platoon leaders, team leaders, post-chiefs, overall heads, and thousand manders.
The Merchant Guild’s escort was organized according to Da Rong’s garrison system, which included small flags, general flags, and hundred households, with no thousand households, and above hundred households was a mander.
This structure was because the Merchant Guild’s escort followed the fleet, and a fleet of five large ships with two hundred households of escort was sufficient, with each fleet having a mander.
Currently, the Yang family’s Merchant Guild had twenty-eight fleets, divided into eastern and western sections. The western fleets numbered eighteen and traveled routes including the Li Sheng Dynasty, Desheng Dynasty, Lv Sheng Dynasty, and various dynasties in the south of Da Rong, including fleets destined for the Peacock Dynasty, which were also western fleets.
The eastern fleets numbered ten, primarily navigating routes east of Star Moon Island, including Divine Wood Island, Tianming Island, and Longdan Dynasty.
Each fleet was made up of two Da Fu Ships, three medium-sized Hai Cang Ships, and several smaller vessels, with the fleet personnel numbering over ten, more than one hundred sailors, dozens of workers, and over two hundred escorts, totaling around four hundred personnel.
In other words, the personnel of the Yang family’s Merchant Guild fleet alone amounted to nearly ten thousand people.
The Star Moon Island Navy had already expanded to two thousand people, yet the navy no longer needed to escort the fleets because the Yang family’s Merchant Guild’s reputation had already been established, with few forces daring to intercept the Yang family’s fleet.
Currently, the Star Moon Island Navy’s main duty was to patrol the sea regions surrounding Star Moon Island, spending most of the time around Star Moon Island, only rarely engaging unless a fleet was attacked.
The fleet escorts before them were all young people who had migrated from the Tenglong Guard to Star Moon Island in previous years. Now these young people had grown up, either joining the Merchant Guild as fleet escorts or joining the Navy.
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