Full of resentment that Ning Yuanbo dared not wait for the holy decree in Guangzhou, and let them follow them south for thousands of miles, the messenger team rushed to Hue on the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month of the thirteenth year of Chongzhen under the escort of the sailor.

Dissatisfaction is dissatisfaction, when Wang Dehua and others landed on the boat, they were also stunned by the scene of Hue City in front of them.

The first thing that surprised them was that as the fundamental place of Ning Yuanbo, where the heart of the Nanyue Army was located, this city had no city walls!

"My father-in-law said that the country is not in danger. This is also in line with the teachings of the saints. On that day, the Lord said that if you have the money and food to build the city, it is better to train more soldiers and horses, and cast more guns. If the enemy can't come to the city, what is the use of building the city? What is the use of the walls if the enemy is under the city? ”

The accompanying officials politely explained to Wang Gonggong and others why they did not build the city wall, although it sounded incredible, but Wang Dehua also felt that there was some truth.

Of course, the officials of the rites were not going to tell them about the role and significance of the bastions in the vicinity of their city. Even if you come to 70,000 or 80,000 elite troops, you will also return in front of the artillery fire and fortifications of this fortress.

Of course, apart from this incident, the people who entered the city, walked in the city, and what they saw and heard were all eye-opening.

Wang Dehua has been dealing with the Nanyue army for a long time, but he has never observed Hue City, the heartland of the Nanyue army, so closely. He couldn't help but begin to compare this capital of the Southern Yue Army with Jingshi and Nanjing in a sense.

The scale of Jingshi and Nanjing is much larger than that of Hue, although it is much larger. But beggars filled the streets of the city, and people were displaced outside the city, and people were dying of hunger everywhere. The streets and alleys are full of garbage, and the city is full of dung.

But there are no people who stretch out their hands to beg here, and you can't see the idlers and homeless beggars that are used to seeing everywhere in the north and south of Beijing. In its place, it is full of vitality, vitality and vitality. The people walking on the street all have ruddy faces and a temperament that feels vigorous after seeing them.

Walking on the wide ash road, the wheels of the convoy kept making a rhythmic rattling sound, which was the sound of huge wheels crushing against the expansion joints of the burnt ash, and the wide, straight road was very smooth. Like a polished bronze mirror. On both sides of the main road are planted trees with huge canopies, the trunks of which are brushed with white lime water, and two verdant street trees stretch into the distance on both sides of the road.

People walking on the road, whether they are craftsmen in blue overalls. is still a reading man in a hurry with a schoolbag. Or a porter who drives a vehicle to transport all kinds of goods. It feels like it's been a long time since I've seen it or it's very unfamiliar.

It was a feeling of vigorous vitality mixed with high-spirited self-confidence, and whether it was a farmer or a craftsman, everyone walked with their heads held high. Stride meteor's.

The numbness, humility, fear, and anguish that are common to all people will never be traced on their faces......

The people here, from top to bottom, have a very precious but ordinary thing, hope. For life, for family, for the hope of this regime. Or rather, dreams.

Although the road is wide enough for several horse-drawn carriages to walk side by side, there are too many carriages and horses, and the road seems to be bustling with each other. However, the policemen who were dressed in black, red pants and white leggings, wore a red hat on their heads, hung a thick short stick from their waists, and wore a bronze medal on their chests, on which were engraved a monster with teeth and claws, were enforcing the law called "traffic rules" on the road, constantly shouting, diverting personnel and vehicles, going left and right, personnel and horses, each in their own way. The large number of personnel and vehicles also seems to be in order.

The closer you get to Hue, the more prosperous it becomes, with all kinds of shops lining the streets, and people and merchants constantly coming and going. Wang Dehua's entourage kept shouting praise, "Order, this is Ning Yuanbo's place, and their usual methods of forced buying and selling, extortion, and extortion will be put away by our family here!" If you get into trouble, even if Ning Yuanbo doesn't use military law to kill you, you will carefully pick your skin! ”

Wang Dehua snorted coldly, and instructed the cronies and eunuchs beside him to convey the words, not only about Li Shouhan's territory, but also about the dignity of the court. If such an ugly thing happened in the Qincha team, it would be a shame for the rumors to go out.

"Look at what you want to buy by yourself, don't embarrass our family!"

Wang Dehua once again knocked on the group of wolves, insects, tigers and leopards under his command.

He saw very clearly that the city of Li Shouhan was different from any city in the mainland. Not only are people's temperaments different, but also the temperament of cities. If the city of Beijing is the disappearance of the king's spirit, and the city of Nanjing is the spirit of gold dust that destroys the soul and bones, then the city is like the military camp of the Southern Guangdong Army, standing proudly.

The most important thing is that the management of this city, like any village and town of the Southern Yue Army along the way, is governed according to the so-called old system of Emperor Taizu. According to the words of the officials of the Ministry of Rites, it is purely governed by the Qin law, it is a village, and the village chief is also appointed by the order of Ning Yuanbofu, and this person must also have studied many affairs such as agriculture, mulberry, finance, taxation, and military industry in the political affairs hall.

Compared with the Lijia system or Baojia system that was once implemented in the mainland, this system seems to be more and more tightly organized.

The interior of the Ming Dynasty has also implemented such a system, but the years have been deep, the Lijia system has gradually been abolished, after the Jiangling Prime Minister Zhang Juzheng during the Wanli period, the financial and tax collection is converted into silver, and the whole Ming Dynasty has become a cheap servant. The township-level political power gradually became controlled by the gentry, resulting in the real imperial power not going to the countryside, and all the countryside below the prefecture and county level took care of itself, and the imperial court became a real coordinated government. To levy grain and taxes, you must negotiate with the gentry, no matter what kind of terms and regulations, you must nod and agree before they can be implemented, and the Ming Dynasty has fallen to this step, which has an absolute relationship with the loss of the grassroots political power and financial bankruptcy.

Under the rule of Ning Yuanbo, this situation of joint governance with local gentry was like a fantasy, from the village head, the town head, to the county, the state, and the government. And who of the officials at all levels did not come out of the political hall? Or a veteran or officer who retired due to injury?

If there is any major expedition or project, Nanzhong will mobilize hundreds of thousands of people. Even when the grandfather and grandfather were alive, I am afraid that they may not be able to do it. ”

Thinking of the many large and small sea boats that he saw all the way south from Guangzhou, Wang Dehua's heart sank suddenly.

Maritime merchants in Zhangzhou and Quanzhou drove red single boats to load silk thread, Zhangzhou yarn, shearling, paper, tobacco leaves, cloth, straw mats, and umbrellas in Zhangzhou and other places, and transported porcelain and paper in Quanzhou. I put on the cedar board in Xinghua. Bricks and tiles, as for the dried bamboo shoots, shiitake mushrooms, and Jianning's tea, are all bulk goods on the ship. It was transported to Xiamen and other places in exchange for Tianzhu wheat, Nanzhong rice, and beans. White sugar, sweet potatoes, venison from Luzon and Taiwan. Cloth, paint. Or it can be shipped back to Fujian for sale. Or sail directly to the north, transport sugar, rice, and pigments to the areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and the big ships are anchored in Wusongkou, Hangzhou Bay and other places. It is connected and transshipped by small boats, and when the ships return, they are transported back to the south of the Yangtze River to produce cloth, cotton yarn and other things, and occasionally there are Jinhua ham, silk and crepe, lake silk, velvet and other things, and even more ships cross the Yangtze River, carrying a large amount of rice, wheat, sugar, paper salt, meat, tea, silk, cloth, pepper, sumu and other spices, all the way to the north trafficking.

In the ports of Ha Tinh and Hue, there are many Japanese people who either come to trade by sea boats, or take the ships of the Nanyue Army here, and the goods transported are all heart-warming.

Counting more than ten ships of sulfur is not enough, this is a necessary thing for the Nanyue Army to build a firearms training elite. However, there were also whole ships of fine red copper, white silver, and yellow gold, which were exchanged for rice, cloth, armor, knives, and guns after the Japanese people brought them to the port.

"Ning Yuanbo's move, no wonder there is the wealth of the enemy country!" The ceremonial member Wailang, who was originally from Zhejiang and also did some maritime business, couldn't help but admire when he saw this scene.

"Alas! Just a little business. Otherwise, how can a certain family feed these hundreds of thousands of military horses, and how can they open up thorns and grasses? ”

When he sat down with Wang Dehua in the study and drank tea, Wang Dehua couldn't help but praise the above words, and Shouhan replied modestly.

"If you are a breadwinner, how can you use good brass to cover the bottom of your boat?"

Wang Dehua unceremoniously pointed out Li Shouhan's super loser behavior of rolling brass into a thin copper skin and wrapping it below the ship's waterline.

This is what their men saw when they landed on the docks, wandering around the docks, accidentally in a dry dock, and even a dozen brocade flag schools were stunned. This kind of behavior is no less than using the best Yongle Tongbao to pave the way, you know, it is all good brass. If it is used to make copper objects, it can obtain several times the profit of minting copper coins.

"Good boy! If Ning Yuanbo can reward me with these copper rewards for the chartered ship, I will send them back to the capital! ”

Shouhan faced Wang Dehua's accusation, and he only snorted, "If it weren't for the convenience of transporting money and grain to Beijing, a certain family would not be willing to spend so much." ”

The eyes of a little eunuch kept staring at the copper lion incense burner on the table of the Shouhan table, which was curling with green smoke, and the lion's mouth was constantly spitting out bursts of aroma, and the whole room was drunk with fine spices.

"It smells so good! Ning Yuanbo is a first-class good hand at training troops to fight wars and governing places, and he can't imagine his daily life, but he is so exquisite! Wang Dehua sniffed and praised the goods very well.

"This should be the best frankincense produced by the wood bones, right?"

The wooden bones are the ancient name of Mogadishu, and the eunuchs of the Three Treasures stopped here many times when they went to the West. Frankincense, myrrh, and other items from Africa were brought back to China, including giraffes, which were believed to be unicorns. Wang De incarnated as the palm seal of the celebrant supervisor, and naturally longed for the exploits of his ancestor Zheng He, besides, at the beginning of his entry into the palace, the world was peaceful, and the frankincense hidden in the palace had also been seen. It's just that in recent years, swords and soldiers have risen all over the world, and there is a lack of money and food in the palace. Not to mention the overseas treasures such as frankincense and ambergris, even the origin of musk is also intermittent.

"You monkey cubs, don't think that you have seen everything in the palace, tell you, it's far away! Here is Uncle, you know what the frog at the bottom of the well is, right? Wang Dehua straightened his face and taught a lesson to several henchmen and godsons who accompanied him.

"Father-in-law, I don't have to mention this again. If this thing is not to be ordered today. A certain family is reluctant to use it. Some frankincense and ambergris were brought from afar by the great food merchants, and they were originally intended to be sent to the palace along with the money and food, but the incense was only willing to be used when the order was received today. ”

Wang Dehua didn't say anything anymore, and took the brocade box tightly wrapped in yellow silk from a small eunuch next to him, and there was a dragon box with vermilion lacquer painted gold plates inside, and he carefully took out the holy decree with the yellow silk dark dragon envelope from the box, "Uncle, here are you and me today, and those dragon cards and kneeling etiquette will be exempted." This is the will of the emperor. Please take a look at it. ”

Shouhan immediately stood up in fear. Although he did not bow three times and bow nine times, he also knelt on the ground and received the holy decree with both hands.

The little eunuch on the side carried a cage from the Jinyi Banner School outside the door, and the cage was full of Guangdong and Fujian officials and gentlemen impeaching Li Shouhan's subordinates, and the martial arts officers led by Jiang Yihong and Wu Liuqi were good at writing Weifu's inscriptions.

"The meaning of the emperor and the gentlemen of the six ministries and the cabinet is all on the holy decree. Please understand the echo. In addition, when our family went out of Beijing this time. The emperor warned our family. Please be sure to send the money and grain for Chongzhen's fourteen and fifteen years to the house as soon as possible. The Ningjin front cost a lot, and the treasury was empty. If you have extra armor, knives, guns, gunpowder, cannons, etc., please also ask your uncle to allocate some. ”

I see!

Shouhan snorted coldly from the bottom of his heart. But he just used this incident as a bargaining chip to trade grain, grass, money, and weapons with me! Lest it be enough, I will present the names of the officials and gentry who participated in me one by one.

I was disdainful in my heart, but there was still a solemn and solemn look on my face.

"Please rest assured, even if I eat a few less meals at home, I will also give the emperor all the money and food he needs. Come! ”

When he walked to the door, Shouhan greeted the guards on duty under the eaves, signaled them to send the holy decree to the ancestral hall for enshrinement, and then sent the box of impeachment books to the official office, so that the gentlemen there could carefully check whether there was any negligence in the government. (Oh, do you want to write down a black account in a little black book?) And then follow the human hair in small shoes? ）

"Father-in-law, please take a break here. A certain family went down to urge them to quickly check the situation of money and grain reserves in various places, and arrange for ships to transport them north. ”

Shouhan turned around and left, naturally someone was here to serve Wang Dehua's food, tea and other things, and after a while, a messenger hurriedly walked in.

"Father-in-law, my uncle ordered me to offer ten catties of ambergris and one hundred catties of frankincense, and ask my father-in-law to serve the Son of Heaven on my behalf."

Behind the officer, five soldiers carefully held five boxes painted with gold and vermilion, thinking that inside were frankincense and ambergris from overseas.

Frankincense is fine. There are many records in the historical books of the past dynasties. "Zhufan Zhi" volume download: "Frankincense, a scented incense, out of the great food of Ma Luoba, Shi Hao, slave hair in the deep mountains and poor valleys of the three kingdoms. …… The big food is carried in a boat to trade his goods in Srivijaya...... Fan merchant trade to, the number of incense is the most frankincense in the temple. "All three countries are located on the southeast coast of the present-day Arabian Peninsula and were famous for their frankincense production in ancient times.

Shouhan now controls the route to East Africa, that is, there are also a few strongholds in East Africa, if you want frankincense, there is no more, but a few hundred catties is also a very simple matter. However, for the sake of hunger marketing, it is not worth much if you give too much. Therefore, he just took out a hundred catties of frankincense from the warehouse and gave it to Wang Dehua and gave it to Chongzhen.

As for the ten catties of ambergris, even if Wang Dehua has been in the palace for decades, he has never seen so many ambergris incense in one box at the same time!

With trembling hands, he opened the box made of fine rosewood, and a faint fragrance came from the box. In the wooden box, several pieces of white ambergris were tightly wrapped in brocade.

According to a series of works that describe the wonders of overseas foreign objects such as the Classic of Mountains and Seas in ancient China, ambergris is when the dragon in the sea rests on the stone after the clouds and rain, the saliva will float on the water, and then gather together to dry and solidify, which forms this thing. The merman explores it as a treasure. The new one is white, purple for a long time, and black for a long time. Because Panyu tastes it, it is not smoked, and it is light like a pumice stone. Human cloud ambergris has a strange fragrance, or cloud ambergris can be fishy and can make a lot of fragrance, both are not. Ambergris has no profit or loss in incense, but it can gather smoke ears. And incense with real ambergris, burn a baht, green smoke floats in the air, knot but not disperse, guests can use a wisp of smoke. The reason for this is that the mirage is also fierce. ”

In fact, natural ambergris is produced in the intestines of sperm whales, and slowly passes through the intestines of whales and discharges into the sea, or after the whale dies, its carcass decomposes and falls into the water, and then it has to be soaked in seawater for nearly 100 years before it can be formed. It's not so much the essence of the dragon as it is the work of time and nature. Under the influence of seawater, ambergris is light black at first, gradually turns gray, light gray, and finally white. The white ambergris is of the best quality, and it has to be soaked in seawater for more than 100 years to float out all the impurities before it can become the top grade of ambergris.

"Father-in-law, my father-in-law instructed that my father-in-law came to Hue from afar, and there was nothing to give, so some local products produced overseas have been sent to the pavilion, and my father-in-law is invited to reward them."

The errand officer was probably accustomed to this kind of errand envoy, and he gave neat clothes and words, and he spoke eloquently, and he spoke in an official language, and after speaking, he presented a gift list.

"Fifty pounds of myrrh, twenty pounds of frankincense, and four pounds of ambergris." It's just something else, and the few lines in front of him immediately burned Wang Dehua's eyes like coals.

Scarcity is expensive. (To be continued......)