Luo Youdu discussed the matter of Quanzhou Port with Fu Zhaoxin again, and asked: "How are the Hu merchants in Quanzhou now?"
Fu Zhaoxin said: "Since the Peace of the South China Sea, the number of Hu merchants coming to the West has increased day by day. They have brought a large amount of Western goods, mainly spices, pepper, medicinal materials, gold, silver, and pearls. They also applied for the imperial court to grant them a piece of
Land, let them build warehouses and stack goods."
Luo Youdu immediately laughed and said: "What a wonderful idea. Do you think I, Dayu, belong to the Tang Dynasty?"
Luo Youdu didn't catch the Song Dynasty constantly being evil. The Tang Dynasty had little experience in dealing with maritime trade, so things didn't go well.
The place where Westerners live is surrounded by the sea. The birthplace of their economy and culture is in the Mediterranean Sea. Maritime trade is the most common thing for them.
Before the Tang Dynasty, the focus of expeditions was in the Western Regions, and there was insufficient understanding of the ocean. The core external interest was the Silk Road.
As for Guangzhou's Tonghai Yi Road, most Westerners came to Guangzhou to do business, and there are few records of Chinese people going to sea to do business.
Therefore, no matter what the poem or whatever, it records the similar trade scene of Guangzhou Port’s giant ships towering into the sky and thousands of ships competing for the lead.
During the reign of Emperor Daizong of the Tang Dynasty alone, more than 4,000 Arab merchant ships arrived in Guangzhou every year, and a large number of foreign businessmen from West Asia and even Africa entered and exited Guangzhou.
In order to accommodate these foreigners, the imperial court gave a piece of land to Hu merchants, which eventually grew to 100,000 Hu merchants, and even controlled the economic lifeline of Guangzhou and Quanzhou. In order to safeguard their own interests, they also raised a group of Southeast Asian indigenous people.
The mercenaries formed were called Kunlun slaves.
In the end, Huang Chao slaughtered all these 100,000 Hu merchants.
There is a saying that these 100,000 Hu merchants obviously have the meaning of doves occupying magpie's nests in history.
If Huang Chao hadn't killed them all and continued to develop, there would most likely have been trouble.
Fu Zhaoxin nodded and said: "I also rejected their request, but they don't seem to be very happy."
Luo Youdu grinned and said: "This is strange, he still has a temper?"
Fu Zhaoxin said with a hint of worry: "I was also curious about the other party's attitude, so I secretly sent someone to find out their identity. The other party seems to be a wealthy businessman in black clothes. He has considerable power in the West and may influence our dynasty's ocean-going ships.
Team."
Fu Zhaoxin lacked understanding of the West, but he only knew that the Tang Dynasty and the Black-clad Dashi were defeated in the Battle of Tamros.
Although there are various reasons, if you lose, you lose. There is nothing to say.
In Fu Zhaoxin's memory, Black-clad Dashi belonged to a very powerful Western power.
During the few years that Fu Zhaoxin worked in Quanzhou, he had become aware of the huge profits from the Maritime Silk Road, and was somewhat worried that it would affect the court's business.
[To be honest, I have been using Yeguo Reading recently to catch up on books, change sources, and read aloud with many sounds, and it can be used on both Android and Apple.]
When Luo Youdu heard that it was the big food in black, he said disdainfully: "It doesn't matter, in the West now, when will it be the big food in black's turn to speak?"
Since getting in touch with Manichaeism, Luo Youdu had a certain understanding of the situation in the West through Manichaeism.
The Arab Empire, which is now called the Black-clad Empire in the Central Plains, is called the Abbasid Dynasty in the West. Like an eternal law, after development and prosperity, it inevitably fell into a stage of decline.
The so-called empire spanning the continents of Asia, Europe, and Africa has long been torn apart and has lost its former glory. It is now experiencing three major problems: repeated uprisings, foreign invasions, and the division of the country.
Especially twenty years ago, Ahmed of the Buyid dynasty entered Baghdad and forced Caliph Mustaqfi to grant him the title of supreme commander, deprive him of his political power, and only retain his status as a religious leader.
The caliph, the king of black clothes and rich food, has become the puppet of the Baiyi Dynasty, somewhat similar to Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty in the late Eastern Han Dynasty.
The only area they can really directly control is Baghdad and a small area around it.
Based on the current development trend of the imperial court, even the Arab Empire at its peak, Luo Youdu, was not afraid at all, let alone a divided Arab Empire?
Fu Zhaoxin didn't know the details and didn't answer the call.
Luo Youdu said: "How to deal with it, how to deal with it. They are willing to trade with us, we welcome them, and they want privileges. This is a dream. If they really want to cause trouble, they can directly capture people and goods together. From the South China Sea to the Strait of Malacca,
It is not the turn of any country to speak loudly in front of us. If you are not convinced, hold back and fight if you want."
After thinking for a moment, he added: "Western merchants have much more experience in sailing at sea than we do. When you go back this time, find some astute people among them to learn from their sailing experience, and then find some merchants who can take advantage of their profit-seeking interests.
They bought the charts in their hands. It doesn’t matter if they spend a little more money. We are indeed a step behind in this regard, and we should spend more money to catch up. In the future, when our navy moves westward according to the charts, everything will be earned back."
Luo Youdu does not mind whether he can trade with the West at present. What he cares about is that his navigation skills are insufficient and he is unable to go to Alaska and bring corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes and peppers from the Americas.
Fu Zhaoxin wrote them down one by one and respectfully agreed.
Luo Youdu thought for a moment and had nothing more to say, so he smiled and said: "Okay, it's already this time. If we continue talking, the queen will probably be angry. Let's go and have a meal first."
Before arriving at Renming Hall, Luo Youdu heard the laughter of Chou Chou and Fu Yanqing.
Fu Yanqing, the majestic king of Wei for five generations, was running back and forth in front of the palace with Chou Chou on his shoulders.
Fu Qing'er watched on the sidelines dumbfounded. She was worried about missing her father's waist, and also worried that Chou Chou would make a mistake. When she saw Luo Youdu and her brother coming back, she immediately felt like a savior and said hurriedly: "Aye, stop playing, first
Have a meal."
The family had a happy reunion dinner.
After dinner, Luo Youdu took Fu Yanqing and Fu Zhaoxin and his son chatted.
Fu Yanqing is now in a semi-retired state. The affairs of the Daming Mansion have been handed over to the left official arranged by Luo Youdu, and the affairs of the Tianxiong Army have also been left to He Jiyun.
He Jiyun was the son of He Fujin, Fu Yanqing's old friend and the governor of the Later Zhou Dynasty. During the Xingjiaomen revolution, the two fought side by side and fought together to protect Emperor Zhuangzong of the Tang Dynasty. They had a deep friendship.
After Fu Yanqing kicked Fu Zhaoxin out of the Tianxiong Army, he trained He Jiyun.
He Jiyun has a calm personality, extraordinary intelligence, and can share the joys and sorrows with the soldiers. He has a bit of Fu Yanqing's style, and he is a good general.
Luo Youdu had met He Jiyun and knew his talents, so he acquiesced to this behavior.
When Fu Yanqing saw Luo Youdu, he couldn't help but sigh. When Guo Rong passed away suddenly, he had no choice but to choose Luo Youdu. How could he have imagined that Fang Ju could achieve such an achievement, sweeping away the fatigue of five generations and reuniting the divided world in a short period of time?
The power of the Han and Tang Dynasties in the past.
"Father-in-law!"
Luo Youdu suddenly said: "You have been dealing with the Khitan for many years, and I have benefited a lot from the manuscript in the past. The Khitan is ambitious, and the barbarians in the north are just claiming to be orthodox in the Central Plains. If they are not destroyed, how can I lose my face? I am planning the Northern Expedition.
It’s been a long time, but there has never been a suitable opportunity. But I don’t know what my father-in-law has to say about this?"
Fu Yanqing pondered for a while and said: "Your Majesty, I believe that if you want to truly challenge the Khitan, you should choose to fight when he is at his peak, not when he is weak. You should expose your weaknesses in order to fight."
Luo Youdu said in surprise: "In ancient times, the use of military force has always been to avoid the strong and attack the weak, to avoid the strong and attack the weak. It is strange that Yue Zhang, at his peak, has to exploit his own weaknesses."
Fu Yanqing said: "At this moment, at that moment. Your Majesty is wise and powerful, the court is prosperous, and no one dares to face it head-on. If the Khitans choose to attack when they are weak, the Khitans will definitely not dare to go to war. They will shrink the front and defend the northeastern mountain fortress.
The ground. Our army is faced with nails that are deeply embedded in the wooden piles, and they need to be pulled out one by one. It is time-consuming, laborious, and risky. Just like when Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty conquered Goguryeo, although it has the potential to destroy everything, it is difficult to defeat the environment and weather, and the grass and grass are
retreat."
"On the contrary, go to war when they are satisfied and let them see the hope of fighting us, which can induce them to attack instead of passively defending. As long as they have the strength to defeat them head-on, the next battle will be much smoother.
.”
"When fighting against grassland peoples, the reason for many failures is not that the other party goes to fight, but that the other party avoids fighting. We use the vast grasslands and complicated mountains and forests to continuously drain the energy of our army, and finally attack at the critical moment to win."
Luo Youdu couldn't help but nodded. It was indeed true. He was not afraid that the Khitan would fight, but he was afraid that the Khitan would not fight.
Even if they don't have a problem with food and grass now, they can't afford the consumption of people's power.
Luo Youdu had a plan in mind.
But the first thing is to capture the Ryukyu Islands.
In order to avoid alerting the enemy, Luo Youdu did not mobilize Lin Renzhao's Donghai Navy. Instead, he mobilized a force from the South China Sea Navy to attack the Ryukyu Islands.
There is nothing good to say about this battle.
Although the Ryukyu Islands live on the sea, they do not have ocean-going warships, only fishing boats fishing in the surrounding offshore waters.
Seeing the Nanhai Navy approaching and looking at the naval vessel that was a hundred times larger than their fishing boats, they didn't even have the courage to board the ship and fight. They could only gather on the shore and shoot at the Nanhai Navy in the distance.
Deputy Commander of the Navy Chen Decheng scratched his head. He had never seen anything like this in his lifetime of fighting.
The soldiers on the Ryukyu Islands in the distance are called soldiers for now.
They were all dressed in ragged clothes and fur clothes, and their bows and arrows were all small and weak bows. Most of the arrows and arrows were made of bones, and most of them were fish bones. They were shot on their warships, even the packages.
The hard cowhide on the outside for fire protection cannot be shot through.
"Trebuchet, thunder, prepare, shoot!"
The soldiers lit the fuse, and the trebuchet immediately threw the thunderbolt out.
The thundering laser filled with broken porcelain fragments hit the Ryukyu soldiers on the shore.
The Ryukyu soldiers had never seen the world, but they knew that the flying things were not easy to deal with, so they all moved out of the way.
Little did he know that the flying thing would explode before it hit the ground.
More than thirty porcelain pieces scattered in all directions. The porcelain pieces were as big as copper coins. With the force brought by the explosion, they penetrated into the bodies of the surrounding soldiers, leaving a horrific wound.
But the real power of Zhentian Lei is the word Zhen, which makes a huge sound, like a thunder exploding in the plains.
The sound is like thunder and smoke.
The Ryukyu soldiers were originally in an uncivilized age. When faced with such an attack, they were all terrified, yelling and running away from each other.
Chen Decheng blinked his eyes and said: "Go ashore!"
Without any suspense, it took Chen Decheng only one day to invade the capital of the Tiansun clan, killing more than 300 enemies and leaving only five injured in the Nanhai Navy...
The Ryukyu Tensun clan simply could not organize a decent counterattack. Facing the South China Sea navy that could set fire to mines, the Ryukyu natives even regarded them as messengers of God. They surrendered and knelt down in awe...
Chen Decheng took over the Ryukyu Islands effortlessly, and their northern neighbors were not alarmed by the autumn wind sweeping away the fallen leaves.
The Japanese nation had no idea that they had changed their neighbors...
At this time, Japan was still in the Heian period, and the emperor was Emperor Murakami, an emperor with little real power.
After Emperor Murakami ascended the throne, the real power was in the hands of the Regent family. The so-called Regent means regent Guan Bai.
There is a saying among the people: The regent is the emperor, and Guan Bai is the leader of all officials, still in the ministerial position.
To put it bluntly, it is understood that relatives are involved in politics.
Emperor Murakami is just a decoration, and the real power is in the hands of brothers Fujiwara Minori and Fujiwara Shisuke, who are relatives.
However, the internal stability of the Japanese state was not stable. The main reason was the destruction of the class-field system in the Japanese state, which was a system that imitated the equalized land system.
The equalization of farmland system is unsustainable, let alone the class-field system?
The Japanese country did not have an imperial examination system, and officials relied on family status, which undoubtedly gave rise to aristocratic families. With the collapse of the class system, the rise of aristocratic families was inevitable.
However, the aristocratic families in Japan are not called Shiclan, but Wu family.
Twenty years ago, Taira Shomon and Fujiwara Juntomo triggered the "Taipei Tenkei Rebellion". Before the counter-rebellion army from the central Japanese government arrived, the two rebel groups had already been suppressed by the local samurai.
From then on, the Sheguan family and the Wu family began to fight each other.
Until the tragedy of Tsushima happened...
Goryeo's arrogance aroused the hatred of the Japanese, and the Khitan's win over made the Sheguan family and the Wu family focus on the outside world.
After all, the reason why they fight among themselves is because the economic system is broken and the benefits are unevenly distributed. Now that there is a piece of fat in front of them, why fight for the bones next to them?
So the two brothers Fujiwara Minori and Fujiwara Shisuke of the Seki family took the lead, and the Qing and Genji clan responded, uniting the samurai families from all over the Japanese country to send troops to Goryeo.
With the outbreak of foreign wars, all internal conflicts were resolved. Fujiwara Minori, as the de facto leader of the Japanese country today, rarely had any leisure time. He hugged his beloved wife and concubines at home and listened to the singer singing Bai Juyi's "Willow Branch".
The Japanese country also has its own songs, but Fujiwara Minoyori only loves to listen to Tang music and thinks that Tang music is the most beautiful music in the world.
Only the greatest country can have such beautiful songs.
The Tang Dynasty has perished, and only the Japanese country has such songs.
In the eyes of Fujiwara Minori, Japan is the most powerful country in the East.
When the Tang Dynasty was at its peak, the Japanese country spared no effort to send envoys to the Tang Dynasty. However, with the decline of the Tang Dynasty, the Japanese country no longer bothered to send envoys to the Tang Dynasty since the first year of its founding, that is, during the reign of Emperor Wenzong of the Tang Dynasty.
They disdained being associated with the declining Tang Dynasty and regarded themselves as suzerains in the east, sending messages to all directions to ask them to surrender to them.
At the same time, Fujiwara also implemented a closed-door policy, became blindly arrogant, and lost his understanding of the outside world.
So much so that during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, Wu and Yue wanted to show off, claiming to be Chinese orthodox, and sent envoys to communicate with Baekje and Japan respectively.
But the Japanese country also treated the envoys of Wu and Yue with the attitude of the country of the rising sun.
Both parties tried to pretend, but ended up being unhappy and broke off all contact.
Although Fujiwara Miyaro also heard about Luo Yuxinchao, Fujiwara Miyagi completely dismissed it and had no intention of sending an envoy to contact him.
Is there any sense in writing from a country where the sun rises to a country where the sun sets?