Chapter 1526 Situation in the South China Sea
The Ministry of War Yamen.
During the check-in period, Fang Jun and Su Dingfang were sitting on the floor. The scent of tea lingered on the low table in front of them, and there were a few ordinary pastries placed on them.
Fang Jun stretched out his hand to pour half a cup of tea for Su Dingfang, and asked with a smile: "Have you had a smooth journey along the way?"
Su Dingfang sat on the floor mat, bowed slightly to express his thanks, and said, "Don't worry, Erlang. The reason why the general personally escorted the rice to Chang'an this time is because he was worried that someone else would make a mistake and cause trouble to Erlang..."< br>
At this point, he raised his eyes, looked at Fang Jun, and said softly: "Fortunately, I did not disgrace my life."
Fang Jun narrowed his eyes slightly, raised his hand, and said with a smile: "There is no need to mention this matter again. Brother Dingfang is doing something. How can I still be worried at all? Come on, come on, have a taste of this tea. This is this year's Mingqian tea." , excluding the expenses of supplying the palace and the favors, I only have a dozen kilograms left here, and I usually don’t want to drink it, so I hide it in the ice cellar.”
Fresh tea leaves should be kept fresh in ice cellars. This is already common knowledge among the nobles of the Tang Dynasty.
Su Dingfang was slightly startled and said curiously: "No way? Tea trees are now planted all over Longhong Spring. Even the Mingqian tea production won't be so small, right? I kept my promise of good tea, and not long ago I bought several kilograms of Tibetan tea at a high price. No one is allowed to drink when they get up. Jiangnan is hot and humid, so a large amount of saltpeter is specially prepared to make ice and store tea..."
Keeping promises is Pei Xingjian's word.
Compared with rough people like Su Dingfang and Xue Rengui, Pei Xingjian, who was born in the Pei family in Hedong, was a member of a serious family. His food, housing and transportation were extremely luxurious and very particular... As Su Dingfang said, Jiangnan is hot and humid. Fresh tea leaves are difficult to preserve, and they do not freeze in winter. It is impossible to dig cellars to store ice. Saltpeter can only be used to make ice to store tea. In one summer, the cost of making ice is several times more than the cost of buying tea... …
Fang Jun laughed loudly when he heard this: "Brother Dingfang doesn't know. The so-called Mingqian tea on the market is just the top-grade Yuqian tea. Although it is top-grade, the difference in quality is not small. It's just normal. Commercial methods are aimed at those ordinary people who have money and no place to spend, but still have to pay attention to appearance. ”
Su Dingfang didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "The Mingqian tea that I treasured as much as I kept the promise is just the Yuqian tea? Fortunately, every time he entertained me, he cherished every bud and leaf and was reluctant to let go of it. If he knew about it, wouldn't it be wrong? Don’t you want to be so angry?”
Fang Jun smiled and said: "Pei Shouyue is arty, who can complain?"
Su Dingfang smiled, thinking that he would tell Pei Xingjian about this when he returned to Huating Town. He wondered how embarrassed the boy who usually looked like a child of aristocratic family would look.
The two drank tea, talked and laughed softly, and Su Dingfang reported some situations of the navy.
"Jiangnan Shipyard now has more than thirty senior craftsmen, all of whom are shipbuilding experts from shipyards all over the world. Not only has the speed of shipbuilding been greatly improved, but the quality has also improved a lot. Erlang ordered us to record various aspects of the warships every time we go to sea. Data, we He did not dare to neglect, and recorded these data every time, and then handed them over to the shipwrights. Nowadays, the newly launched warships have been improved in many places. The warships are more stable and faster when encountering wind and waves when they go to sea. ”
Fang Jun nodded with satisfaction.
After all, he was not a shipbuilding expert. There would inevitably be flaws in the ship drawings he drew based on his past life memories. He had no choice but to build the ship and discover the unreasonable parts through sailing and naval battles, and gradually improve it.
Thinking of this, he called in a close confidant and ordered him to rush back to his room and bring over a drawing and a book from his study drawer.
The general left after the order, and Fang Jun asked: "What's the situation over there in Lin Yiguo?"
Su Dingfang said: "It's generally stable, but Fan Fanzhi and Fan Zhenlong have a lot of complaints about the increasing number of Han merchants..."
When the troops of the Chen La Kingdom came to the city, Fan Zhenlong had no choice but to sign an "Agreement under the City" with Fang Jun and sold Da Nang to the Tang Dynasty, which became the permanent territory of the Tang Dynasty and stationed naval forces.
Fan and his son also wanted to regret it at the beginning. After all, allowing the invincible army of the Tang Dynasty to be stationed on the side of Sanghabuluo City, the capital, would sooner or later be a serious problem! However, Fang Jun's attitude was extremely tough at that time, and he had the intention of starting a war immediately if they disagreed. The Fan family and his son had no choice but to agree due to the military power of the Tang Dynasty.
Although they were unwilling to do so, in the view of Fan and his son, even if the Tang Dynasty stationed troops in Da Nang, as long as the Lin Yi Kingdom honestly regarded the Tang Dynasty as the Celestial Kingdom and continued to pay tribute during every year and festival, the Tang Dynasty would not be able to do anything. Reason to be cruel to Lin Yiguo.
After all, what the Tang Dynasty cares about is the rice of Linyi State, and even if it is interested in the vast territory of Linyi State, it cannot be held after it is occupied, so why bother? As long as the Linyi State continuously supplies the Tang Dynasty's high-quality rice, the relationship between the two countries can be maintained for a long time. What's more, the Linyi State also needs the help of the Tang Dynasty to intimidate the surrounding countries such as Chenla.
However, within a few days, Fan and his son could no longer sit still...
They had calculated countless things, but they had not calculated that the Han people were building so fast and that their population was so large!
The construction of Da Nang shocked all the Linyi people. The originally desolate and desolate harbor was changing rapidly with each passing day visible to the naked eye. The Han people built brick kilns in all the clay-producing places near the harbor. Make blue bricks, and then use warships to transport shiploads of something that can be quickly solidified by mixing sand and using it to cast the green bricks on the seaside. In just half a year, a huge building was built. The harbor has basically taken shape.
Then, countless merchant ships swarmed in under the guidance of the navy!
The area near Sanghapura City is the richest, most prosperous and most populated area in Linyi State, with developed commerce. Many local merchants are descendants of the Han people and are connected by blood with the Han people. Therefore, when merchants from the Tang Dynasty shipped silk, glass and other commodities one by one, they quickly reached cooperation with the local merchants.
Han merchants brought glass, porcelain, silk and other commodities, sold them for a sky-high price in Linyi State, and then took away the rice, precious wood, and... copper and gold produced in Linyi State one by one!
The Fan royal family is on pins and needles!
If development continues at this rate, within a few years, all the wealth of Linyi State will be concentrated in the hands of the Han people, and the local indigenous people will be reduced to the lowest level of labor. By that time, why will the Tang Dynasty's army come to occupy the land?
Linyi Kingdom has long become the domain of the Han people!
However, the person who worries the Fan royal family the most is the seemingly harmless "extraterritorial authority"!
It is precisely because of this "extraterritoriality" that merchants of the Tang Dynasty can be said to have traveled sideways in the Linyi Kingdom. And who can travel thousands of miles to Linyi to strive for wealth and honor, who is a humble gentleman? To put it bluntly, they are just a group of desperadoes who risk their lives for wealth!
Most of these people are lawless. It is common for them to commit crimes and commit crimes. They act unscrupulously wherever they go, but the laws of Lin Yi State are helpless. Even if the Tang people kill people, they can only be punished by the Tang people themselves. Lin Yi State has no choice but to punish them. If Quan intervenes, the most he can do is arrest the criminal and hand him over to the Tang army.
However, Liu Rengui, the top officer of the Tang Dynasty Navy stationed in Da Nang, condoned these criminals. If the Han people fought with each other, the naval officer would be severely punished. If the situation was serious, he would have his head chopped off as a warning. Follow your example, but as for the Tang people bullying the people of Linyi...then just pretend it doesn't exist and don't even bother to deal with it.
In this way, the merchants of the Tang Dynasty became more and more wanton and unscrupulous!
Fan and his son were so angry that they gnashed their teeth every day and wished they could kill all the Tang people to vent their anger!
However, the dozens of Tang Dynasty warships and thousands of tigers stationed in Da Nang made the Fan family fearful and did not dare to act rashly. Especially the iron lumps in the hands of the Tang Army that would trigger thunder from the sky if thrown into the enemy formation with black smoke, which made Fan and his son dare not take a step beyond the thunder...
Fang Jun listened to Su Dingfang's narration, pondered for a moment, and said in a deep voice: "Send a letter to Liu Rengui and ask him to impose more restrictions on the behavior of Han merchants. If it is too unscrupulous, it will easily lead to ethnic antagonism, which will have a negative impact on our major events. Too many obstacles... Forget it, he must not understand even if I tell him, wait until the water The Normal Academy was established, and all the navy generals came back to study and learn how to colonize overseas... In addition, he told Liu Rengui to be careful of the Fan family and his son jumping over the wall in a hurry. If necessary, they can strike first, and they must not make the Han people in Linyi country Received no harm at all”
Su Dingfang felt a chill in his heart and said hurriedly: "Here!"
At this moment, the man who had just returned home to pick up the books returned, placed a thick stack of drawings and a book in front of Fang Jun, and then bowed and left. (End of chapter)