Chapter 1,527 The Situation in the South China Sea
Ministry of War Yamen.
In the check-in room, Fang Jun and Su Dingfang were sitting on the floor, with the scent of tea lingering on the low table in front of them and 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 bring trouble to Erlang..."
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, why are you still 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 stored in ice cellars to keep them fresh. 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 Longhongquan. Even the Mingqian tea production won't be so small, right? I kept my promise of good tea and bought several kilograms of Tibetan tea at a high price not long ago.
No one was allowed to drink when I got up. It was hot and humid in the south of the Yangtze River, so I specially prepared a large amount of saltpeter to make ice and store the 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 diet, housing and transportation were extremely luxurious, and he was very particular about it... As Su Dingfang said, Jiangnan is hot and humid, and fresh tea leaves are very good.
It is difficult to preserve, and it does not freeze in winter. You cannot dig a cellar to store ice. You can only use saltpeter to make ice to store tea. In one summer, the cost of making ice is even 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 common people who have money and no place to spend it, but still have to pay attention to pomp and circumstance."
Su Dingfang didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "The Mingqian tea that I cherished as a treasure was 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 angry to death?”
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. I wonder how embarrassed the boy who usually looks 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.
We don't dare to neglect the data. We record these data every time and hand them over to the shipwrights. Nowadays, the newly launched warships have been improved in many places. When the warships go to sea and encounter wind and waves, they become more stable and faster.
It’s faster too.”
Fang Jun nodded with satisfaction.
After all, he is not a shipbuilding expert. There will inevitably be flaws in the ship drawings drawn based on the memories of his previous life. There is no other way. He can only 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 Yi?"
Su Dingfang said: "It's generally stable, but Fan Fanzhi, Fan Zhenlong and his son 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, making it a permanent territory of the Tang Dynasty and stationing naval forces.
Fan and his son also wanted to go back on their word 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 the time, and he had the intention of starting a war immediately if they disagreed.
Forced by the military might of the Tang Dynasty, Fan and his son had no choice but to agree.
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 Linyi State's vast territory, it cannot hold it, so why bother? As long as Linyi State continuously supplies the Tang Dynasty's high-quality rice, the relationship between the two countries will be able to
If it can be maintained for a long time, not to mention that the Linyi Kingdom also needs the help of the Tang Dynasty to frighten the surrounding countries such as Chenla.
However, within a few days, Fan and his son could no longer sit still...
They had made countless calculations, but they had not considered that the Han people were building so fast and that their population was so large!
The construction of Da Nang shocked all 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 to bake green bricks, and then
Warships were used to transport ship after ship of something that could be mixed with sand and quickly solidify as solid as a rock. With it, the green bricks were cast firmly on the seaside. In just half a year, a huge harbor was basically formed.
.
Then, countless merchant ships swarmed in under the guidance of the navy!
The area near Sanghapura City is the richest, most prosperous, and most densely populated area in Linyi State, with prosperous commerce. Many local merchants are descendants of the Han people and are connected by blood with the Han people. Therefore, they are like merchants of the Tang Dynasty.
The ships brought silk, glass and other commodities, and they quickly established cooperation with 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 the Linyi Kingdom 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?
The country of Linyi has long been dominated by the Han people!
However, what scares the Fan royal family the most is the seemingly harmless "extraterritorial jurisdiction"!
It is precisely because of this "extraterritoriality" that the merchants of the Tang Dynasty can be said to have traveled sideways in Linyi State. And who can travel thousands of miles to Linyi State to seek wealth and honor, who is a modest gentleman? To put it bluntly, they are just a group of people who take their lives.
Just a desperado seeking wealth!
Most of these people are lawless, and 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, merchants in 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 Fan and his son afraid to act rashly. Especially when the Tang army had iron weapons that would cause thunder to fall when they plunged into the enemy's formation with black smoke.
, which even made Fan and his son dare not take a step beyond the realm of possibility...
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 cause ethnic antagonism, which will have a negative impact on our major events.
Too many obstacles... Forget it, I must have told him that he wouldn't understand. When the Naval Academy is established, all the naval generals will come back to study and learn how to colonize overseas... Also, tell Liu Rengui to be careful.
The Fan family and his son are so anxious that they can strike first when necessary, but they must not cause any harm to the Han people in Linyi State!"
Su Dingfang felt a chill in his heart and said hurriedly: "Here!"
At this moment, the person who just returned home to pick up the books will return, place a thick stack of drawings and a book in front of Fang Jun, and then bow and retreat. 8)