Although Geng Guo Gong's Mansion is located in Dongshi, Geng Guo Gong's Mansion is not considered luxurious.
Compared with those Guogong Mansion that often covers an area of hundreds of acres, Geng Guogong Mansion can be considered dilapidated.
Even the residences of some marquises are much better than those of Duke Geng.
"Uncle Chen, do you think there will be a day when we can return to Lingnan?" Feng Zhidai said a little lonely.
The Uncle Chen Feng Zhidai mentioned was the servant brought by his mother as a dowry. Uncle Chen had been serving Feng Zhidai since he became an adult.
Although the two of them were master and servant, Feng Zhidai was willing to tell him anything. He could not hide anything like this from his father.
Uncle Chen comforted him: "Erlang, don't worry. My favorite is Erlang. When I came here, didn't I say that as long as Erlang is willing to come to Chang'an to study, Erlang will inherit the title of Duke Geng? If Erlang wants to inherit the title, sir."
I will go back one day.”
Having said that, it has been more than six years since they came to Chang'an. No one can tell whether something will happen in the long run.
Feng Ang's first wife died in childbirth, leaving only one son.
Feng Zhidai's mother was from a wealthy family in Lingnan, and she married Feng Ang as a second wife.
Although Feng Zhidai is the legitimate son, he is not the eldest son. Although he is the most loved by Feng An, but after not seeing each other for so many years, there must be a lot of alienation between father and son.
In addition, Feng An's eldest son was very popular in Lingnan. Feng Zhidai came to Chang'an when he was a teenager and had no foundation in Lingnan. Even if Feng An wanted Feng Zhidai to inherit the title, whether Feng Zhidai could inherit the title in the end was still unclear.
It's hard to say.
"Although my father likes me the most, he also likes his eldest brother. I have been in Chang'an for so long, and I am afraid that my father's love for his eldest brother has surpassed mine." Although Feng Zhidai is not particularly smart, he is not stupid either. It's so simple.
He naturally understands the truth.
Uncle Chen sighed secretly. Everyone knew the truth, but what could they do?
They said they came to Chang'an to study, but in fact they were just protons, although the court did not send anyone to monitor them.
But Uncle Chen knew that as long as they made any move to leave Chang'an, someone would immediately report it to Li Shimin.
"Young Master, the Marquis of Jingyang County has sent a greeting card and wants to visit you." The maid's voice sounded outside the door.
Feng Zhidai was stunned. Although he lived a peaceful life in Chang'an, he had certainly heard of this upstart in Chang'an.
What puzzled him was that he and Lin Xuan had nothing to do with each other, so why did Lin Xuan come to visit him?
"Tell him that I am unwell and cannot see guests." After coming back to his senses, Feng Zhidai refused directly.
"Wait a minute." Uncle Chen stopped him and said, "Erlang, I think I should meet the Marquis of Jingyang County."
Feng Zhidai said quickly: "Uncle Chen, have you forgotten what my father said when you came here? Live in seclusion and try not to get involved with Chang'an Xungui."
Feng Ang sent his son to Chang'an to be a hostage, and specifically told him not to have anything to do with the descendants of Lord Chang'an.
After all, he sent his son to Chang'an just to ease Li Shimin's heart.
If frequent interactions with the lord's children make Li Shimin mistakenly believe that he sent his son to Chang'an to make friends with the ministers of the DPRK, that would be troublesome.
After Feng Zhidai came to Chang'an, he did exactly what his father told him.
He rarely goes out, and he never interacts with the Lord's disciples.
Some of the lord's children also came to visit Feng Zhidai, hoping to make friends with him, but Feng Zhidai never met.
It has been a long time, and no one has come to visit me anymore.
"At this time, I heard that the Marquis of Jingyang County is very valued by His Majesty, and his words are very important in front of His Majesty. If we can make friends with him, Erlang may not be unable to come to Lingnan." Uncle Chen said with bright eyes.
"Then let's meet." Feng Zhidai was fooled by Uncle Chen.
Isn't he willing to come to Chang'an and live a life like a prison just to inherit the title of Duke of Geng?
If his eldest brother was allowed to inherit the title, all his hardships over the years would be in vain.
Thinking of this, Feng Zhidai couldn't care less about his father's explanation.
Feng Zhidai brought Uncle Chen to the door, with a smile on his face, and bowed to Lin Xuan: "I have met the Marquis of Jingyang County."
Although he had never seen Lin Xuan, there was only one young man at the door wearing regular clothes. The others were all wearing armor and looking like soldiers. He naturally understood who Lin Xuan was.
Lin Xuan returned the gift and said with a smile: "Brother Feng, you're welcome."
Feng Zhidai originally planned to make friends with Lin Xuan, but when he heard Lin Xuan call him Brother Feng, he immediately smiled and said: "Master Hou, please come in."
Lin Xuan followed Feng Zhidai into Duke Geng's mansion. He was a little surprised by the simplicity of Duke Geng's mansion.
Although the main power of the Feng family is in Lingnan, the Duke's Palace in Chang'an, as the face of the Feng family, is not as good as some of the princes' palaces. It seems that Feng Ang is cautious enough.
After arriving at the hall and taking a seat, a servant brought tea.
The two chatted for a while, and Lin Xuan said: "I took the liberty to come here this time. I have something I want to ask Brother Feng for help."
Feng Zhidai smiled and said, "Master Marquis, please tell me."
He was not surprised at all by Lin Xuan's words.
With Lin Xuan's identity, it was naturally impossible for him to visit him just to make friends with him.
He originally intended to make friends with Lin Xuan, but now that Lin Xuan asks him for help, he is naturally happy.
Of course, the premise is that he can do it.
"I want to build a batch of sea-going ships. I heard that the craftsmen with superb skills in building sea-going ships are all in Lingnan. I wonder if Brother Feng can help me?" Lin Xuan said.
Lin Xuan did not say the specific purpose of building a sea-going ship. After all, he did not reveal all his trump cards right away.
"It's just a few craftsmen. I will repair the book and go back to find some craftsmen for the Marquis." Feng Zhidai said with a smile.
There is no shortage of craftsmen in Lingnan to build sea-going ships. With just a few craftsmen, he can make friends with Lin Xuan, which he thinks is a good deal.
"Brother Feng, I need a lot of craftsmen, and I don't need them to come to Chang'an. I plan to build a dock in Lingnan and build ships directly in Lingnan." Lin Xuan said.
Feng Zhidai asked: "I wonder how many people the Marquis needs? If there are too many, it will be troublesome."
"I don't know how to build ships. I need to build at least twenty large ships that can go to sea before next autumn. How many people do you think are suitable, Brother Feng?" Lin Xuan said.
How did Feng Zhidai know this? He looked at Uncle Chen who was standing aside.
Uncle Chen came out and said: "Going back to the Marquis, according to what the Marquis said, five hundred skilled craftsmen are needed."
The five hundred craftsmen he mentioned did not mean that only five hundred people were needed to build twenty ships.
There are many processes in shipbuilding that even ordinary craftsmen can do.
Feng Zhidai frowned slightly. Five hundred skilled shipbuilding craftsmen were not a small number.
If there were dozens of people, it would be very simple. He could just write a letter and ask his mother to help him.
Five hundred people would alarm his father, but he was not sure.
Lin Xuan saw Feng Zhidai frowning and asked, "Brother Feng, if you have any difficulties, you can just tell me."
Feng Zhidai said: "Master Hou, it's not that I'm shirk-ing away, it's just that most of the shipwrights in Lingnan are controlled by aristocratic families. With so many of them, I'm afraid it will take my father's intervention to find them all."
Although there are no large aristocratic families in Lingnan like the Five Surnames and Qi Wangs, there are quite a few middle-level aristocratic families and some small aristocratic families.
As the saying goes, Lingnan is close to the sea and is the starting point of the Maritime Silk Road. Most of the aristocratic families in Lingnan have shipyards and specialize in building ships for sale.
If he wanted to get some shipwrights out of their hands, he didn't have the face.