Liu Sigu was ashamed in his heart, and hurriedly bowed and saluted, "Thank you, Your Highness, for your grace not to kill!" ”

Guo Song saluted his master's golden body and palmed his palms, and said to Liu Sigu: "Go up to the second floor and sit!" ”

"Thank you, Your Highness!"

Liu Sigu followed Guo Song to the second floor, where the ironwood sword was enshrined, and the side was arranged in the shape of a small study.

Guo Song said with a smile: "I will come here to practice for one day every month, feel the master's warning, today is my practice day, I met you here, and you are also blessed, today I saw my master's golden body, it is generally hidden in the underground palace, not shown to the public." ”

"My blessing is also given by His Highness!"

Guo Song smiled and poured him a cup of tea, "Although I kill like hemp, I am not a person who loves to kill, the reason why I don't kill you is because you have not committed any crimes, especially after capturing Yangzhou, Zhu Zhu's army did not slaughter the city and loot, this is your credit." ”

Liu Sigu bowed and said: "Killing people and slaughtering the city is against the law and is not the way to govern the country, and I have always resolutely opposed it." ”

"Well said, the so-called each is his master, I don't want to pursue the past anymore, let's talk about the future!"

Guo Song took a sip of tea, and said unhurriedly: "Anxi has always been the weak link of the imperial court, although Tubo has turned to plunder Tianzhu and no longer threatens Anxi, but the big cannibals and Khazars with broken leaves have always threatened Anxi and Beiting, and the imperial court is always a little out of reach."

In order to maintain the long-term peace and stability of Anxi and Beiting, it is still necessary to migrate Han people from the Central Plains, but the progress has not been smooth in recent years, many Han people used to just pick cotton, and came back after picking cotton, and refused to settle there. ”

After a pause, Guo Song explained: "The meaning of planning is to make overall arrangements, which side to build a city, which side to build a village, which side to plant cotton, which side to plant sugar beet and wheat, only by sorting out these arrangements one by one, can we give Han immigrants a clear place to live, how much land to give them, etc., and it will not be like today, with a hammer in the east and a hammer in the west, there is no rule at all, and immigrants cannot live with peace of mind." ”

Liu Sigu nodded, "The villain understands!" ”

Guo Song continued: "This time you go to Anxi, I will make you the governor of Anxi, and at the same time serve as the superintendent of the imperial history, I hope you can take root in Anxi with peace of mind, make your own contribution to the long-term peace and stability of Anxi and Beiting, and leave a name for yourself!" ”

Liu Sigu was moved in his heart, and said slowly: "Thank you for Your Highness's trust, Weichen will stay in Anxi for the rest of his life, and he will definitely live up to His Highness's trust!" ”

Guo Song smiled slightly: "And your family, take them with you!" You finish the entry procedures in two days, and it happens that there is a batch of materials to be sent to Qiuzi, so you will follow the team and someone will arrange it for you. ”

Liu Sigu hesitated, and then asked in a low voice: "There is something that Weichen has been puzzled about, I implore His Highness to solve his doubts!" ”

"You don't understand how I know about my son, do you?" Guo Song said with a smile.

"Exactly! This is Wechen's biggest secret, and only Wechen and the child's mother know. ”

Guo Song said lightly: "Three years ago, you met your son, your son remembered, he told his grandfather about it after he returned to Hanzhong, and his grandfather forced the child's mother, she was also forced to be helpless, and had to admit that the later things were related to money, and the child had two uncles, and they reported it to the government in order to get your money." ”

"Their mother and son were arrested by the government?" Liu Sigu asked in a trembling voice.

"It's not caught, this matter is under the control of the internal guards, the internal guards sent people to monitor them, they have no restrictions in Nanzheng County, they just can't leave the county, now they are in the post house, you can see their mother and son later."

"Thank you, Your Highness, for not embarrassing them."

Guo Song nodded, "Go ahead!" I'll talk to you about Anthy again before you go. ”

Liu Sigu made a deep salute, retreated, and walked to the door and said: "Your Royal Highness, Weichen's name when he was young was Liu Ji, from now on, Weichen will return to his original name!" ”

"This name is good, your appointment letter is called Liu Ji."

........

In the South China Sea, the blue sky is endless, white jade flowers float in the air, a white cloud mountain seems to stand on the sea surface in the distance, and flocks of seagulls are circling and chirping on the sea.

On the sparkling sea, a fleet of hundreds of ships was cleaving the waves, and the strong south wind blew the sails, and the ship was moving like an arrow.

On one of the Wanshihai ships, a crew member came out of the cabin, walked to the deck, looked up for a long time, put his hands to his mouth and shouted: "Yang Gongzi——"

On the mast fight, a teenager is holding a monocular clairvoyant and looking into the distance.

This kind of monocular clairvoyant was just invented at the beginning of the year, and the craftsmen of the glaze workshop got the drawings of His Royal Highness King Jin, and they made convex lenses and concave lenses with transparent glass, and after repeated trials, they successfully made monocular clairvoyants.

This kind of monocular clairvoyant is mainly used on the battlefield and at sea, and the boy surnamed Yang used the first clairvoyant.

"What's the matter?" The boy put down the clairvoyant mirror and asked.

"The proprietor let you pass."

"I'm not going!" The boy muttered quietly.

The crew smiled: "Don't worry! There were no more women in the cabin this time. ”

"Alright! You come up for me, and the clairvoyant mirror is in the basket. ”

The boy grabbed the cable and jumped out, swinging gently and deftly onto the deck like an ape.

The crew gave a thumbs up and praised: "Childe is a good martial artist!" ”

The young man who can use the clairvoyant mirror is naturally not an ordinary person, his name is Yang Xuanwu, he is the widow of Guo Song's senior brother Yang Yu, he is only fifteen years old this year, his mother remarried Wang Yue, the commander of the internal guard, and gave him several half-brothers and sisters.

Yang Xuanwu was raised by Zhang Lei, learning literature and practicing martial arts, Guo Song originally wanted him to study, and did not want him to follow his father's path again, but Yang Xuanwu likes martial arts by nature, he began to practice martial arts at the age of eight, followed several internal security masters to learn art, and practiced a good martial arts.

And his personality is as restless as his father, he wants to go out all day long, go to all parts of the world to see the world, this time Zhang Lei went to the sea to Nanyang and brought Yang Xuanwu with him.

Yang Xuanwu walked quickly to the cabin, and when he walked to his uncle's cabin, he hesitated for a moment and asked, "Uncle, can I come in?" ”

There was a young woman on this ship, who was with his uncle Zhang Lei, who had come to look for him the other day, but when he saw a scene that made him red-faced, he didn't want to come again.

"Stinky boy, come in! There were no women in the cabin. The voice of his uncle Zhang Lei came from the cabin.

Yang Xuanwu walked into the cabin and saw his uncle Zhang Lei sitting at the table, squinting at a large red coral, three feet long.

Zhang Lei went to the South Seas trade this time, this fleet of more than 100 ships, at least 30 sea ships are his, they set out from Yangzhou, transported a large number of daily necessities to the South Seas, sold at a good price, he went to the country of Fallen Po, in the area of today's Indonesia, and went to the country of Sri Buddha, which is today's Sumatra, and when he came back, he was supplied in the country of Linyi, in the middle of today's Vietnam.

This time, he brought back a large number of spices, pearls, and ivory from Nanyang, and in addition, he brought several boxes of fine glass as gifts for the king and nobles, and the official glaze was much better than the private glaze, and it was also sold as a treasure in the Chang'an market.

The three-foot-long red coral he received was a gift from King Devadeng in return.

"Uncle, you've seen this coral all the way, haven't you seen enough?" Yang Xuanwu sat down and asked with a smile.

"You know what? I want to give this coral to you when I return to Chang'an, and I will take a few more looks at it while I am still in my hand. ”

Zhang Lei said that the uncle is Guo Song, the king of Jin, the uncle is Gan Feng, he is the second uncle, and the uncle is Guo Song.

"Uncle only seems to like jade! Would he like this kind of coral? Yang Xuanwu asked puzzled.

"Hey! Say that if you don't understand, you won't understand, you can't go to see him empty-handed after such a long trip! You have to give a gift, and this coral is the best way to give it. ”

"I don't care about that, what are you looking for me?"

Zhang Lei slapped the table dissatisfied, "How do you speak?" Say it again! ”

"Okay!"

Yang Xuanwu lowered his head and whispered, "What's the matter with my uncle looking for a child?" ”

"It's pretty much the same, let me tell you, after arriving in Yangzhou, the goods will be transferred to a smaller cargo ship, you follow the ship back to Chang'an, you tell your aunt, I have to go to Silla, buy some ginseng, I guess I can come back in the autumn."

"Uncle, I'm going to Silla too!"

"Obedient, this time you go back first, next time I promise to ......."

Yang Xuanwu muttered in a low voice: "How many women have you brought along the way, I'll go back and tell my aunt to go!" ”

Zhang Lei's eyes widened, "You stinky boy, dare to threaten me?" ”

Yang Xuanwu smiled and said, "I'm afraid that I can't help but leak my mouth, why don't you take me to Silla, won't there be nothing?" ”

Zhang Lei hesitated for a while and said, "Not this time, or I'll take you to Japan in the spring of next year." ”

"Really? Uncle, didn't you coax me! "I heard that I went to Japan in the spring, and Yang Xuanwu was tempted.

"What are you going to do? I do want to go to Japan next year, and it has been scheduled for a long time. ”

"Oh well! I won't go with me to Silla. ”

Zhang Lei was overjoyed, and said to him again: "When you go back to Chang'an this time, in addition to handing over the coral to the uncle, and then tell him that I brought a lot of excellent rice seeds this time, and I will directly hand them over to the Jiangnan government and let them try planting, and I will not send them to Chang'an." ”

Yang Xuanwu nodded, and at this time, the shouts of the crew came from outside: "I saw the land ahead!" ”

Chapter 1154 Quanzhou Rest

The fleet did not stop at Canton and continued to sail north, and that morning, the fleet arrived at the port of Quanzhou, where Zhang Lei's fleet needed to be restocked, and the crew rested for two days before continuing the voyage north.

Quanzhou itself was not destroyed, except for a brief suspension of navigation because of the war, and once normalcy was restored, its commerce recovered very quickly, and its commerce was no less prosperous than that of Guangzhou in the south.

Zhang Lei has a trading house in Quanzhou, as well as several large warehouses, specializing in sugar, tea and cotton, the trading house is near the wharf, Zhang Lei got off the ship, and took Yang Xuanwu to the trading house.

Yang Xuanwu followed behind Zhang Lei's tall and fat body, and asked puzzledly: "Uncle, why don't you open a trading house in Guangzhou, isn't it more convenient to travel from Nanyang to Guangzhou?" ”

"If you don't understand, you don't understand, your aunt still has a tea shop, and your aunt Guo also has to make refined sugar, there is only sugar in Guangzhou, and there is sugar and tea in Quanzhou, and the spices we shipped from Nanyang can also be stored here, isn't it killing two birds with one stone?"

"But..... Isn't tea available from Bashu? ”

Zhang Lei glared at him headed, "Do business to pay attention to profits, Bashu's tea is transported to Chang'an, the quantity is small, the price is high, all the way over the mountains and mountains, the money for transportation has exceeded the price of tea, the tea in Fuzhou and Jianzhou is of good quality, cheap, large output, and it is not expensive to transport it by water, others will have to pay 20 yuan for a load of tea cakes, and I will transport it here, and the cost of a load of tea cakes is only 15 times, do you understand?" ”

Yang Xuanwu scratched his head, "I understand sugar and tea, but what's the matter with cotton, isn't Anxi growing cotton in large quantities?" ”

Zhang Lei smiled proudly, "You don't understand, cotton just gives people a sense of freshness, but its quality is actually not as good as cotton, especially not as warm as cotton, your uncle also said that the introduction of cotton is mainly for the consideration of low-level people, and the real rich will still choose cotton." ”

Yang Xuanwu muttered in a low voice, "Rich people should choose duck down and cashmere!" ”

Zhang Lei was stunned for a moment, he also scratched his head, as if it was really the case, cashmere, duck down and goose down seemed to be warmer than cotton, although it was a little more expensive, but rich people didn't care about this money.

"It's too early to say anything, don't be foolish if you don't understand anything!"

Zhang Lei glared at him and walked towards a row of large houses........

There are hundreds of large warehouses by the harbor, and Zhang Lei bought seven large warehouses here, as well as a steward and five or six men, whose task is to buy tea cakes, jaggery and cotton, and then store them in the warehouse, and then two account rooms will come every six months to clear the accounts and check the goods.

The steward's surname is Zhou, a middle-aged man about fifty years old, a native of Qinghe County, Beizhou, an honest and cautious person, Zhang Lei took a fancy to his character, so he asked him to bring his family to Quanzhou to be a steward, and he paid 20 yuan a month, and the guys also had a salary of 6 yuan a month, and in Quanzhou, where he could only earn an average of 50 or 60 yuan a day, this salary was not low.

Hearing that the proprietor was coming, Steward Zhou hurriedly greeted him, "Welcome to the proprietor!" ”

"Lao Zhou, get something to eat, I'm hungry along the way!"

"Proprietor, there is good seafood in the commercial sea!"

Zhang Lei waved his hand, "Eating seafood at sea, I'm tired of it, I want meat, and it's fragrant and thick." ”

"There is a restaurant in the county that specializes in selling large pieces of braised pork, which is very famous, I asked the guy to buy it, and he will come in a while."

"Go! Buy a little more. ”

Steward Zhou instructed a fellow man, and the fellow mounted a mule and galloped away.

Zhang Lei took Yang Xuanwu into the trading house, which is a small building covering an area of two acres, very spacious, with more than a dozen rooms, and there is a door at the back leading to the warehouse area, and you can see their largest warehouse when you stand in front of the window.

This is a concentrated area of commercial banks, with at least 20 commercial banks, and the trading houses of the Dugu family are also here.

Zhang Lei and the others entered the business house and sat down, Steward Zhou served them hot tea, Zhang Lei took a sip of tea and asked, "Do you need to use fire to make tea here?" ”

Steward Zhou said with a smile: "This is not a warehouse area, it is outside the wall, you can light a stove to light a fire, we specially invited a cook, he knows the rules and is very careful." ”

Zhang Lei looked at the business house and said: "This place is so wide, your family doesn't live here?" ”

"They all live in the county seat! I am also in the county at night, the proprietor does not know, although this is not a warehouse area, but there are still rules, no one is allowed to live here at night, so everyone goes back to the county seat at night, every morning to come, several guys have gone to various places to inspect the goods, there are only two people in the business bank at present. ”

"Is the government looking for trouble with you?" Zhang Lei asked again.

Steward Zhou hurriedly shook his head, "Cai Thorn is not bad, he is very supportive of trade, and has helped us solve a lot of practical problems, especially the proprietor has a deep personal relationship with the King of Jin, and he takes care of us even more." ”

Zhang Lei grinned, "He actually knows?" ”

"The proprietor underestimates him too much, their Cai family also has a house in the capital, and one of Cai Tingshi's nephews was admitted to the Jinshi this year, working in the household department, and he is very well-informed."

Zhang Lei nodded and asked, "How is the progress of the Liuqiu Island on the other side?" ”

"The proprietor is also interested?"

"I'm a little interested, if the land is cheap, I'm going to get a sugar cane plantation!"

"I heard that as long as they are willing to go, each household will be given five hectares of land, the government will help build houses, and three generations will be exempted from paying taxes."

"The conditions are very favorable!" Zhang Lei exclaimed.

"It's really attractive, two of our guys have decided to go, they have signed up, and they will go back to Qinghe County to pick up their families immediately."

Zhang Lei frowned, "Is there a county seat over there?" ”

"It's under construction! The imperial court made a bloody investment, and invited thousands of people to build a city and repair a wharf with a monthly salary of ten yuan. ”

"What about the natives? Will the natives come looking for trouble? Zhang Lei asked again.

"There are not many natives, they all live in the mountains, in fact, they have always been in contact with Quanzhou, many fishermen bring daily necessities and exchange them for fur mountain goods, their territory is not Liuqiu Island, but their mountains, as long as they do not enter the mountains, both sides can be safe and sound, these are what Cai Tingshi said."

As he was talking, someone outside asked, "Excuse me, is Zhang Dongzhu here?" ”

Zhang Lei was stunned, got up and walked out of the room, only to see a few people standing outside, led by an official, forty or fifty years old, with a thin face, wearing a gauze hat, wearing a crimson official uniform, and a leather belt around his waist.

"Are you .......," Zhang Lei asked puzzled.

"In Xia Cai Yong, it is the history of Quanzhou Thorn!"

Zhang Lei was stunned, and hurriedly arched his hand: "It turned out to be Cai Yuanjun, rude!" Faux pas! ”

"I heard that proprietor Zhang came to Quanzhou, and I came to visit!"

"Hurry up, please come in!"

Zhang Lei invited Cai Yong into the house, Yang Xuanwu avoided it, Steward Zhou had already cleaned up a little, and the two sides sat down.

Cai Yong smiled and asked, "Is Dong Zhang going to sea or coming back from overseas?" ”

"I just came back from Nanyang, and I have a trading house here, so I anchored in Quanzhou for two days,"

"I see, did proprietor Zhang go back to Chang'an directly?"

Although the other party asked a lot, Zhang Lei was not in a hurry, and said with a smile: "We will change the small cargo ship in Yangzhou, and then my nephew will go back to Chang'an, I plan to go to Silla to buy some ginseng, and the price of ginseng in Chang'an has skyrocketed this year." ”

Zhang Lei saw that the other party was silent, so he asked with a smile: "Cai Yuanjun needs my help with something?" ”

Cai Yong nodded, "Our government has 100,000 stone of raw sugar that needs to be transported to Yangzhou Yanchang, but we can't find a ship for a while, if Zhang Dongzhu has an empty ship, we want to rent some capacity." ”

"What is Yangzhou Field?" Zhang Lei asked puzzled.

"Yangzhou Salt and Iron Division was renamed the Salt and Iron Sugar Transfer Division last month, and later the imperial court set up a Salt and Iron Sugar Transfer Division in Chang'an, Yangzhou and Guangzhou.

"How much can the government make by selling jaggery?"

"The selling price is 100 wen per catty, and you can earn almost 70 wen per catty."

Zhang Lei suddenly remembered something, and hurriedly asked, "Can you still buy jaggery in Quanzhou?" ”

Cai Yong shook his head, "In the past, it was possible, but after the establishment of the Salt, Iron and Sugar Transfer Division, you can't buy jabers in Quanzhou, either go to Yangzhou to buy it, or go to Guangzhou to buy it, unless you grow your own sugarcane, press and boil it yourself, and then pay the government a tax of 50 wen per catty, so that you can use it directly, but after careful calculation, the cost per catty is more than 100 wen, it is better to buy raw sugar directly from the government, unless it is tax evasion, but the risk is too great, and you will be killed." ”

Zhang Lei quickly calculated in his heart, and was silent for a while.

"How's it going, are there any empty boats?" Cai Yong asked cautiously.

————

Zhang Lei thought for a while and said, "That's it! I won't have so many ships to go to Silla, and after the fleet is unloaded in Yangzhou, I will arrange for the fleet to come back and run again, specifically to transport sugar to Cai Thorn Shi,"

Cai Yong was overjoyed, "Then thank you to Proprietor Zhang." ”

Zhang Lei thought that the Cai family was the largest family in Quanzhou, and he would ask him for help in the future, so he had the heart to have a deep friendship with Cai Yong.

He added: "Actually, there is another thing that may be very beneficial to Cai Yuanjun's career, I wonder if Cai Yuanjun is interested?" ”

Cai Yong smiled and said: "It's good for the career, how can I not be interested, Zhang Dongzhu, please say!" ”

"That's the case, this time I went to Nanyang, His Royal Highness the King of Jin asked me to buy some high-quality rice seeds in Linyi country, this kind of rice is early rice, from sowing to harvesting only more than 50 days, strong adaptability, high yield, the yield per mu is seven or eight hundred catties, if carefully cultivated, the yield is estimated to reach 1,000 catties, I was originally going to send these rice seeds to the Jiangnan area, it is better to let Quanzhou plant first, and then send it to Jiangnan after successful cultivation."

Cai Yong's eyes lit up, at present, Quanzhou, Fuzhou, and Jianzhou are implementing rice and wheat rotation, winter wheat and late rice, although it is two crops a year, but the wheat yield is low, and the yield per mu is only three or four hundred catties, if there are seven or eight hundred catties of early rice, and there are two crops of rice a year, then the grain output will rise sharply, which is the biggest political achievement!

"No problem, all the rice seeds are left to me, and I will personally supervise the planting at the beginning of spring next year."

"You don't have to plant them all, you have to experiment successfully first."

Cai Yong smiled: "Don't worry! I will arrange it, I understand the good intentions of Zhang Dongzhu! ”

........

After resting for two days, Zhang Lei's fleet changed warehouses, unloaded half of the spices, pearls, and ivory and stored them in the warehouse, and then left Quanzhou with tea cakes and cotton bales and sailed in the direction of Yangzhou.