Chapter 114 The Birds Hide Themselves

While waiting for a response, Pu Kaizong had time to look at Tamsui City.

Nowadays, Tamsui is enough to be called a city, with a permanent population of 50,000 and more than 20,000 people living in the surrounding farms and forts.

Due to two typhoons and a minor earthquake, the original three-story building has been demolished, except for the tower, the tallest building in the city is also two stories. In the midst of typhoons and earthquakes, because of the wind and earthquake prevention manuals written by Zhao and Ju, and more drills are done on weekdays, there is only damage to housing and property, but no casualties.

Looking out towards the fresh water from the sea, the white lime-painted walls resemble a silver dragon that envelops the freshwater. At first, this wall was built only because the people felt that in this wild place, without the protection of the wall, their hearts would not be steady. It was later discovered that the natives were too few to pose a threat to the immigrants, and because they were not on the waterway, there were almost no pirates, and by this time a quarter of the walls had been built. Then there was some argument, and both sides gave their reasons for whether to build this wall, and whether building this wall would cause waste and loss. For a while, the bricks flew sideways and spit was splashed, and the party was dizzy and dizzy, and finally Zhao Zi said that it was decided to build, but there was no need to build too high.

Therefore, the height of the city wall is less than two zhang, and according to the system implemented by Zhao and Ju in Liuqiu, the city wall is only three meters high. Zhao Ziyue decided to build a wall, the reason is that at that time, there were many immigrants on the island, and there was no work for them to do for a while, and the new immigrants could not leave them too far away to open up the wasteland, but used to build the wall, first, to give the immigrants a sense of security and belonging, and secondly, to allow the new immigrants to integrate into the fresh water as soon as possible in their work, so as to familiarize themselves with the various systems of Liuqiu.

In the past two years, the manpower is more abundant, the materials are more abundant, and the beauty of the city wall also has requirements, therefore, on the city wall, another white lime brush is used, and the city wall is like a jade belt under the sun.

This kind of city wall is something that Pu Kaizong has never seen, although he has an official position, in fact, he spends half of the year on his own business, and he has also traveled to many places, but he has never seen this style of city wall.

The walls were not high, so they could not cover the houses of the people inside the walls, and because the fresh water was built on a hill, the highest buildings could be seen from outside the city. Looking at the unique flat-roofed house, Pu Kaizong was curious in his heart, the person clearly spoke Chinese, but why is the architectural style of this city quite different from that of the Han people?

A wide avenue, paved of unknown origin, stretched from the gate to the wharf. On both sides of the road are tall trees, because the leaves have fallen and they are far apart, Pu Kaizong can only infer from the appearance that these trees are mulberry elm and the like. There are also branch roads on this main road, which are not as wide as the main road, but they are also white and stretch in all directions. On these roads, there are cars and horses, people coming and going, and it seems to be extremely busy.

On the port side, the scale of the wharf is very large, Pu Kaizong feels that it is no less than Quanzhou, and there are many ships moored, it looks like the kind of sailing ship that traffics in the flow of goods. Nowadays, there are also ship yards in Quanzhou that imitate this kind of sailboat, but the canvas effect is always not as good as the other party. These ships were unloading, and what made Pu Kaizong strange was that they did not simply rely on the shoulders of coolies to carry the goods, but on the docks with many instruments with hooks and pulleys, and with these instruments, the goods on the ships were lowered to the ox carts or horse-drawn carts parked at the docks, and then transported away one by one.

Pu Kaizong shook his head, such a big port could never be built in a year or two, and he was so slow that he didn't come to visit until today. Judging from the scale, there should be tens of thousands of people in this seaside city alone, and the whole island has a lot of people, and I don't know how much it is.

Not to mention the fact that there are all kinds of specialties on this island......

"We've been waiting for so long, why aren't we allowed to enter the port?" Someone couldn't bear it anymore and muttered.

Pu Kaizong shook his head slightly, this island is not far from the Great Song Dynasty, if it is planned properly, it is a golden waterway with rolling financial resources.

After about half an hour, the sky was dark, and Pu Kaizong was a little impatient, when the sampan drove again, and the man climbed into his boat, accompanied by another person.

"You may enter the port, but the owner of the boat, you must restrain the sailors on board, and you must not get off the boat, and those who violate our rules will be punished with a whipping and a cane, or detained on the island for the rest of their lives." The man raised his chin and said, "On each ship, only three people are allowed to get off the boat, and they must be accompanied by our personnel, and they must not run around at will." ”

This is almost stricter than imprisonment, and the sailor has been floating at sea for several days, and he wanted to go ashore to find a place to stay and rest for a few days, but when he heard this, someone immediately stopped doing it: "Why do you restrict us from going ashore, and we are not evildoers, and we are not evildoers, what is the rule for restricting me from going ashore?" ”

"If you don't, leave." The man replied coldly.

"There is not much food and water on the ship, so we have to dock at the port to replenish supplies, and I hope it is convenient to travel." Pu Kaizong stepped forward with a grin and stuffed something into the man's hand, and the man glanced at it, then changed color and stuffed it back.

"Master Pu, I am acting on orders, you do not harm me, whether it is to give or accept bribes, it is a felony to beg me, you did not know anything when you first came here, so I will not pursue you, but if I accept ......" The man shook his head, and said sarcastically: "Besides, you are completely useless in our begging." ”

Pu Kaizong handed over to him, naturally, it was to hand over the banknotes, and now Shi Xianggong is indiscriminately handing over the banknotes, and the depreciation is so fast that it is almost two jumps a day. Pu Kaizong nodded, withdrew the banknotes, and said with a sneer: "I was presumptuous." ”

In addition to bribery, he also had the intention of handing over the money, which was to test the demand. Obviously, the man knew that he was using the banknote, which proved that the Liuqiu people were familiar with the Great Song Dynasty, but the man said that the money was completely useless in Liuqiu, which proved that this place was not under the jurisdiction of the Great Song Dynasty.

The Pu family crisscrosses the South China Sea, although the servants do not fall, Pu Kaizong can revive the family business, and his thoughts are very deep.

When the ship finally came to the harbor, the sailors came to look out at the bow of the ship, and saw a group of men in neat uniforms on the docks, ready with swords and guns. Seeing this formation, even the most daring sailors also died down, and did not dare to mention the matter of going ashore again, Pu Kaizong was also a little worried in his heart, but once he came, he was at ease, he followed behind the man who got on the ship, with two servants, and also held a box, which contained gifts for the master of this place.

"Deputy Li, this person is the owner of the ship, and he claims to be the chief bookkeeper of Da Song Anxi." When he led the other to a very young man, Pu Kaizong noticed a star on the strip of cloth sewn on the young man's shoulder, and then he heard the leader of the other say loudly: "He tried to bribe the villain on the boat, but the villain refused, and he did not pursue the bribes when he first came, and he did not know the rules. ”

"I see it." Li Yunrui played with the monocular clairvoyance, smiled and waved his hand: "You did a good job." ”

"Team Vice, what kind of official rank is that?" Pu Kaizong thought so in his heart, but he didn't dare to slack off on his face, clenched his fists and bowed his hands, and said deeply: "Pu Kaizong, a person from the Great Song Dynasty, has seen nobles. ”

"Excuse me, I'm not a nobleman, you can learn from them, just call me Deputy Li." Li Yunrui smiled, but immediately changed his face and said, "Pu Kaizong? Do you know Ouyang Yingfeng? ”

These words were like thunder, hitting Pu Kaizong's heart hard, and in an instant, Pu Kaizong's face changed, and he almost wanted to leave.

But after thinking about it, not to mention the kind of divine weapon that Liuqiu, it is the more than 200 people on this dock, and it is not something they can deal with.

"Under ...... Recognize you below. Since the other party asked, there must be a reason, Pu Kaizong broke out in cold sweat on his forehead, and said stubbornly.

"You teamed up with Ouyang Yingfeng to try to loot the Hanging Island, you can still remember this." Li Yunrui said unhurriedly: "Do you want me to bring Ouyang Yingfeng to confront you?" ”

After Ouyang Yingfeng was sent to Liuqiu, he has been under the surveillance of Li Yunrui, and the attack on the Hanging Island has already been tried, and Li Yunrui has a strong memory, so as soon as Pu Kaizong mentioned his name, Li Yunrui remembered the matter and took it out to deceive, and sure enough, Pu Kaizong admitted it.

Pu Kaizong groaned slightly, knowing that today's things are not good, he can be regarded as sending meat to the anvil. Liuqiu and the hanging island, sure enough, are inextricably linked, he is a decisive person, even so, only confession. Therefore, he sighed: "It is true. ”

"Pu Kaizong, this incident happened in the Great Song Dynasty, and you should have been escorted to the Great Song Dynasty Mansion in the name of colluding with pirates." Li Yunrui knocked lightly on the table, slightly hesitating, in fact, they had been arguing about this issue for a long time, he glanced back, Yang Miaozhen nodded in the distance, and then he said: "It's just that it is extremely difficult for you to cross the sea, we will not send you to the Great Song Dynasty, but you must be punished, I will punish you as the criminal officer of the Liuqiu Office, and the punishment will not be one-fifth of the value of the goods on the ship every time you come to Liuqiu, can you be convinced?" ”

Pu Kaizong has no reason to be unconvinced, that is, his heart is not convinced, and his mouth is also convinced. He nodded again and again, not only was he not angry, but he was ecstatic, and when he heard what this man meant, he begged that the port would be opened and he would be allowed to trade!

If possible, the profit would be several times, and the fine would be one-fifth, but it would just increase some taxes, so why not!

"Convincing, convincing, should, should!" In ecstasy, he said so, but then he felt a pang in his heart, the other party has such strength, that is, killing all the sailors he brought and snatching his own three ships of goods, it is just a matter of effort, why would he let himself go?

Pu Kaizong absolutely didn't believe that such a lucky thing would happen to him in the world, so the joy on his face only lasted for a moment, and then he muttered, "I just don't know...... Don't know what I can do? ”

Li Yunrui nodded slightly, this sea fang is really good, no wonder he can get an official position in the Great Song Dynasty, he knows that the pancakes and fruits that are not eaten in vain in the world are good.

Hearing that these three sea ships came, Li Ye and Zhao Zi said that they were all in favor of destroying it, while Fang Youcai and Meng Xisheng were against it. Li Ye and Zhao Zi said that the reason is very simple, this island is real and cannot be known, so over the years, they have not allowed other families' ships to dock. And Fang Youcai and Meng Xisheng's reasons for opposition are different, Fang Youcai is getting older, and he has the idea of returning to his hometown, especially when he heard that Zhao Heju is already the heir of King Yi, and he feels that he has become the housekeeper of the palace and should go back to his hometown to show off, so he does not want to kill officials and rob them.

Meng Xisheng's reason is to act like this, although it is harmful to others, it is not beneficial to himself, and it is really a loss-making business. Originally, for the voyage, half of the elite sailors that Liuqiu had collected and cultivated over the years were dispatched, and after occupying Tamna and subduing Zhongshan, ships had to be sent everywhere, and both ships and sailors were already stretched, so the ships used for trade were slightly insufficient. If we could take the opportunity of Pu Kaizong's arrival to open a port, absorb the merchant ships along the Great Song Dynasty, and hand over some of the goods in and out to them, it would greatly reduce the transportation burden of Liuqiu itself, and free up ships and manpower to carry out more profitable trade between the Wa Kingdom, Luzon and the South Seas, especially the development of Luzon.

In the end, Yang Miaozhen stood on the side of Fang Youcai and Meng Xisheng, while Chen Zicheng, Li Yunrui, and Yelu Chucai were originally neutral, but with the fierce debate between the two sides, they also stood on Meng Xisheng's side.

"If you want to open the port, the first thing is to keep it secret, you must not leak the news of the official, let alone brag about the identity of the official, Steward Fang, this matter is the most important, if you want to return to your hometown, you must have a few more years!" Zhao Zi said that he had been extremely low-key over the years, and he had to give in when he saw that the public would not disobey him, but before agreeing to open the port, he said in a solemn tone: "The official is trembling in the palace and walking on thin ice, why did he cut off contact with us for a year, and why did he send all the righteous young people to Liuqiu before...... If the news leaks because of you, you know what the consequences will be. ”

There are not many people who know the identity of Zhao and Ju, they are righteous boys, and not all of them know that Zhao and Ju have now become the heirs of King Yi. There are only no more than forty people who really know the details, and among these people, only Fang Youcai wants to return to the land. If someone else said this, even if Li Yunrui, who was in charge of this matter, said it, Fang Youcai was afraid that he would have to rely on the old man to argue a sentence, but Zhao Zi said it, Fang Youcai was full of joy, and the pride brought by winning the dispute was immediately gone.

He knew Zhao Ziyue's methods, and he knew very well that if Zhao Ziyue hadn't looked at the gold mine in Keelung, how could the position of the big steward of Tamsui be in his hands. Zhao Zi said that except for Keelung's part on weekdays, he doesn't like to talk too much, so over the years, Fang Youcai has gradually become a little forgetful, and now he suddenly remembered that if there is a slight mistake in his own family, Zhao Zi said outside, Li Yunrui inside, and someone can replace him at any time.

Cold sweat unconsciously crept up on his forehead, and he didn't dare to say anything except Lian Wei.

"However, although the port is opened, it can't be cheapened, and although we are not short of money, we still have to tax this outsider. Now those new immigrants are coming, and in three years they have to work for the island, so we don't feel the burden, but in the future, there will be no new immigrants on the island, everyone will have their own property, and they will have to pay for the work. Our land rent is too low, the thirty draw of one land rent, then I am afraid that it will be useless, but the business is different, we tax according to the goods, first to the goods to be bought and sold by the ship, and then take one-fifth of it, so that we can not only add a sum of income to the flow of demand, but also not make the maritime merchants unprofitable. After Meng Xisheng saw that everyone agreed, he smiled slyly: "This is a profitable business, they work hard to run the boat, and they have to worry about the wind and waves, but in the end they have to make money for us." ”

"The City Division, this is the Municipal Division." Yelu Chucai said with a smile.

"It's still too cheap for that Pu Kaizong, he once had greed for our hanging island, doesn't he love money, let's cut his flesh." Li Yunrui smiled and said: "If he agrees, then it's okay, if he dares to refuse, he will detain them and kill them!" ”

"Hmph, if you think you'll let him go, you're underestimating me too much." Meng Xisheng also laughed gloomily: "It's just to borrow his hand to attract Quanzhou maritime merchants, doesn't it mean that the birds are good and the bow is hidden, and the bow can be hidden when the season comes." ”

"What if he hadn't been fooled and wouldn't come back again?" Someone asked in a low voice.

"His temperament, we can guess, is the kind of mercenary person, with interests, even if he dares to live his life, it is really the true nature of the sea fang, what we are asking for is the goods that the Great Song Dynasty needs, and we are afraid that he will not come?" Meng Xi said.