Fang Shu is a cautious person, and suddenly from a cloth cloth to the palace, he may be ecstatic to change to someone else, even if he does not invite friends to the conference guests, at least he has to show off a few points in front of others. But he didn't. On the day he got the appointment papers, he only said hello to a few acquaintances who usually had a lot of contacts, saying that he had something to do for a while, so he checked out and left from the big inn where he had lived for nearly three months. He rented a small courtyard in a secluded place in the outer city as a temporary place to stay, and the next morning he learned from others to go to the imperial city to sign the imperial government. It's also a little funny to say, although he is an official of the Ministry of Rites, but every day from morning to night, he stays in the yamen of the Ministry of War, while being ready to answer people's questions at any time, and at the same time, according to the instructions of Zhenxiang and Lunar New Year, he can think of all the things related to Dongwa and Goryeo, through a general pen and paper. These texts were soon copied word for word, in triplicate, two of which were kept on file by the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Rites, and the third was sent to the Prime Minister's Office along with his original manuscript. Now, there is no need for Zhenqian to ask for credit for him anymore. With his few articles that were unliterary but informative, his name had long been written down by the Son of Heaven and the prime ministers......

His career has been hectic from the beginning. His busyness is not in answering questions, but in the words he records. Since more than ten years ago, Xiucai's fame was banned, he gave up the idea of going to school, these years, except for the Mengshu to teach his nephews and nephews, he has not written any articles, and now he suddenly has to start writing again, and suddenly there is a feeling that his talent is dry and his mind is condensed. He could sit there and talk to people for an hour or two, but when he had to put everything on paper, he always felt that the word was not appropriate here, and that he didn't say what he wanted to say. Sometimes I write hundreds of words, and when I look back, I feel that it is too straightforward. It's not okay; If he is a contractor, he has to show the ability of the contractor, at least he has to come up with the contractor's article! Therefore, whenever he has free time every day, he is digging out his heart to carve words. He also spent a lot of money to buy a set of "Historical Records" from several bookstores, and every day he didn't go anywhere, but recited and pondered repeatedly at home. His movement alarmed a man who was studying hard in a rented house on the same street. What taught him to cry and laugh even more was that this Yanshan Juzi, whose surname was Guan Mingxian, also came to visit him and asked him if the imperial court was going to open another Enke this year.

He did not go to thank Ying Bo in person for the time being, but only wrote a letter to teach people to send it to Shangzhuang to express his gratitude to Shang Cheng. In the letter, he explained the reasons why he did not go in person: first, he was really too busy with his daily affairs, and second, the merchant Zhuangzi was too far away from the city, going back and forth for more than 80 miles, and he could not come back all night, but he was afraid that he would delay the next day's Shangya. Shang Cheng also wrote back to him. Shang Cheng told him in the letter that the note was just a gesture, and he was able to pick up the fame of Xiucai, and he could be recommended to work in the Ministry of Rites, all by virtue of his own ability and accumulation. Shang Cheng also joked in the letter that he had just taken up his post now, and his official robe had not been washed yet, so he did not dare to abolish his public affairs for personal reasons at this time. In the letter, Shang Cheng also encouraged him, asking him to work hard in the Ministry of Rites, and strive to do something real to shine on the lintel!

He felt that what Shang Bo said was reasonable. Their Mingzhou Fang family has been walking on the seaway since the Middle Tang Dynasty, and more than ten generations have come down, and the accumulated money can not be spent for several generations. How rich their Fang family is, and how much money they have in the family, even he, the parent, can't tell for a while. Needless to say, how much land their Fang family has, one by one, in fact, they don't dare to say one by one, and talk about matters other than land. Their family numbered more than 2,000 artificial sailors hired on the boats alone; There were still nearly a thousand people in the shipyard; four hundred in the silk field; nearly two hundred porcelain kilns; In addition, there are two tea mountains, two carpenter workshops, and a jade workshop...... Miscellaneous calculations show that there are as many as five or six thousand people who make a living from their Fang family's various trades, and if you count the parents and children of these people's families, there are almost twenty or thirty thousand people. It's just that these mouthfuls who live on the Fang family can prove how much money the Fang family has. But what about money alone? Building bridges, paving roads, and giving medicine, these things are all done by the Fang family, and the several porridge farms that have been opened have not stopped for many years, so their family is quite famous in Mingzhou. But what about once out of Minnesotto? In Yangzhou and other places recently, there may still be people who know what kind of family the Fang clan is, but no one knows further away. As for the Central Plains and Shangjing, when people here mention the Fang family in Mingzhou, they can immediately think of only "sea merchants", not "big merchants". Therefore, he must do something, do something real, and do something that people will praise as soon as they mention it, so that people can know that the Mingzhou Fang family is not just rich!

It was precisely because of this thought in his mind that he worked harder to ponder the words, write the records more carefully, and at the same time take the trouble to answer the questions of others over and over again. Even if he had said those things many times, or raised new questions that made him feel ridiculous, he still answered them meticulously and seriously.

In this way, a few more days passed, and when it was time for Xiu Mu to take a trip again, he felt that he should go to Zhuangzi, a merchant outside the city. He went to thank the county boy.

This time, he didn't bring any more expensive gifts such as pearl agate, but only bought a few good snacks in the city. In addition, he also brought a special gift, which he copied neatly one by one.

This novelty gift, which took a lot of his thoughts, immediately won Shang Cheng's favor. But Shang Cheng also felt a little regretful. Why didn't Fang Chu write about other places as well? For example, Da Viet and Chenla, what is the situation of these two small countries now? There is also the situation of the merchants of Da Zhao in Zhenla, and how the big cannibals and Persians who appeared in the country of Zhenla, how they prevented the merchants of Da Zhao from entering the Indian Ocean, and how they controlled the shipping routes in the Indian Ocean, these situations should be recorded, maybe when it can come in handy. Shang Cheng also asked him to make a suggestion to the Ministry of Rites after he returned, to set up a special subordinate department, and if any Da Zhao merchants went overseas in the future, they should take the initiative to report to this yamen all kinds of situations encountered along the way when they returned, or simply set up a system by the imperial court to make a system of navigation logs. The sea ship must specially record all kinds of situations that occur during the navigation and berthing of the ship, what is the sunny day, the south wind is cloudy, the north wind is north, how many goods are carried, the date of departure of the merchants, the time of the voyage, and so on, and so on, all of which must be truthfully recorded, and handed over to the city shipping department in various places for inspection after returning. If this system could be implemented conscientiously, the specific situation on the various routes from the ports of Dazhao to Chenla, Dongwa, or Goryeo would soon be grasped by the imperial court.

Fang Xuan thought about it, and said in embarrassment that the Fang family could report the situation of the few routes in their hands to the imperial court. But it's hard to say whether others will do the same. After all, every sea route in the hands of various maritime merchants is exchanged for human lives, and the imperial court has to collect all of them in a system, which is inevitably a little unreasonable, and it is easy to be scolded as a traitor who competes with the people for profit.

"Stupid!" Shang Cheng scolded with a smile, "Your family is running to explore a new route one by one, how many lives do you have to fill in?" The question is, how much of this is refilled and landfilled? Just like your family is opening up the route of Nantianzhu, haven't other maritime merchants had the idea of Nantianzhu? Maybe they went before you and farther than you, and the result? You are the Nantianzhu who only arrived after losing six or seven boats, and others will definitely not be much less than you. One is six big ships, and two are twelve. To build a new ship, it is calculated according to six runs and one stone, right? Even if it is a 2,000-stone sea ship, one is the cost of tens of thousands of guan, and six ships are 60,000 guan. And what about the sailors who made the ship and the cargo they loaded? I'm afraid that another 60,000 is not enough! Especially sailors! Not to mention their pensions, how much time and effort does it take you to train these people? If you think about it, wouldn't it be better to pay this money to those who have new routes in their hands and buy new routes from them? ”

Fang Chu only cared about his mouth open, and he couldn't speak at all. His father spent nearly 20 years before and after finding out the route to Nantianzhu, and there were three 5,000 stone ships and one 8,000 stone after he went out, and the cargo on the ship was not counted, and only these four big ships were more than 200,000 yuan. What worries the Fang family even more is that for this route alone, there are more than 700 people lost at sea before and after, and almost all of them are experienced and skilled sailors; Fang Chu's two elder brothers, as well as his second uncle, also died at sea for this route. Of course, it is impossible for the corpses of those who died at sea to be transported back, so there are only their clothes and graves in Mingzhou's hometown...... The thought of the well-dressed tombs made his face a little gloomy. Alas, if only I had thought of the reason for buying a shipping route with money.

He was excited for Shang Cheng's suggestion for a while, and soon realized a problem. He said: "Your idea is good, but I am afraid that those who have a map of the sea will hide their secrets." After all, people's hearts are separated by their bellies, and if someone takes the map out and sells it again, the original owner will not be able to say anything. This kind of thing is not easy to discuss in the official......"

Before he finished speaking, he saw Shang Cheng looking at him with a smile.

Fang Chu's mind was quick, and as soon as his thoughts turned, he immediately knew that he had gone wrong. He suddenly realized, slapped his thigh, and said loudly: "Patent money!" But he immediately realized that something was wrong with his thinking. Unlike the trading of liquor and other exclusive skills, the route is natural, and if someone applies for patent money, then others still need to pay the patent money if they find the same route by mistake, which seems to be a bit wronged.

Shang Cheng didn't really care about this matter. Patents cannot be used to protect the interests of explorers of new routes, and there are other ways to encourage the development of new routes. For example, the imperial court promised to guarantee that the explorer would have exclusive interests in the new market for a certain period of time, or have the exclusive right to operate a certain cargo, or that the explorer would use the route to exchange a sum of money and grain with the imperial court, and then the imperial court would designate the merchants on this route...... All in all, there are always more solutions than problems, and as long as you are willing to put your brain into it, you will definitely find a solution to the problem.

After eating noon, Fang Shu said goodbye to Shang Cheng.

He also had to visit Yuan Lan.

Shang Cheng didn't keep him too much, but just said to him when he said goodbye, if he had time, could he ask him to continue to write "Dayue Zhenla Nan Tianzhu Ji".

Fang Chu naturally agreed. Even if Shang Cheng didn't mention it, he would start writing this article when he went back. He had a feeling that maybe this "Tale of the Five Kingdoms" would let more people know about their Fang family, and it would definitely make more people remember their Fang family......