Chapter 142 Suddenly like a spring breeze in the night

In the past few years, Liuqiu has become famous in the Great Song Dynasty.

The clothing, food, housing, and transportation of the people of the Great Song Dynasty, especially the people of Lin'an, are almost all related to Liuqiu. I wore freshwater cotton cloth or Liuqiu brocade, ate Yilan fragrant rice, lit a Liuqiu horse lantern in the house, and rode a Liuqiu style carriage. The products of Liuqiu have changed the lives of the people of the Great Song Dynasty in almost all aspects, although it is still just a spring breeze and rain that is difficult to detect, but the name "Liuqiu" has made the people familiar with it.

There are also people who think that the trade with Liuqiu is almost useless except for the considerable tax revenue brought to the city. The flow of silk and cotton fabrics made a large number of workshops on Liangzhejiang Road fall into struggle, and the flow of horse lanterns and carriages also made the corresponding industries of the Great Song Dynasty in trouble.

Of course, the biggest impact on the Great Song Dynasty was the iron tools that flowed.

The iron-making method used today is almost identical to, or even slightly exceeding, the metallurgy used at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in England at the end of the eighteenth century. Under the guidance of Ou Bama and Xiao Bolang, Ou Laogen and Ao Sayang improved the iron-smelting method, such as ore selection, coal coking, refractory crucibles, reverberatory furnaces, decarbonization methods, barrel rolling, hydraulic forging hammers and other key production links have been innovated, and it took about three years to perfectly combine all these together. As a result, the amount of wrought iron bars supplied by the Liuqiu Iron Yard increased dramatically, from 10,000 catties per month at the beginning to 200,000 catties per month, which could have been greatly increased if it were not limited by ore.

The newly discovered iron ore in Qiongya, and the ore that will be transported to Liuqiu immediately, will break this bottleneck. In order to facilitate the measurement, one stone is not equal to 30 jun, but is equal to 1,000 catties (kilograms), and the speed of this kind of ship is slightly slower, but it is not a problem to travel once a month. Liuqiu is going to build 12 of these huge ships, and use six of them to transport iron ore, which will sail between Liuqiu and Qiongya in turn, and as long as the iron ore is excavated with sufficient manpower, it can send about 1,600 metric stones of ore to Keelung every month. Together with the iron materials and iron ore from other places, the Liuqiu Iron Farm will become the largest iron production site in the world at this time.

Even now, there is more than enough iron and steel supplied by the Liuqiu Iron Works. Correspondingly, under the iron yard, there is a subordinate unit of the hardware yard, which specializes in the manufacture of ironware. From small iron nails, iron needles, to large ploughshares, armor, everything that can be manufactured, they are made, these iron tools are not only far better than the iron forged by ordinary blacksmiths, but also relatively cheap, a large number of exports to the Great Song Dynasty, has made the Great Song Dynasty itself blacksmiths complain.

But at the same time, in order to exchange for the products that are sought, the Great Song Dynasty maritime merchants desperately expanded the scale of raw material production areas, increased the number of people who planted mulberry and silkworms, planted cotton, and increased the number of people in the mines.

In short, just before you know it, this small island, which seems to have only been discovered for a few years, is inseparable from the Great Song Dynasty. Without the resources of the Great Song Dynasty, more than half of the non-stop rotating machines of Liuqiu had to stop, and without the products of Liuqiu, the people of the Great Song Dynasty would feel that life was not very convenient.

Therefore, even in such a situation as Lin'an, the matter of sending envoys still stole everyone's attention. At least on the surface, everyone was wondering whether the envoy of the country came for tribute or for other things.

Even Shi Miyuan, when he heard about this, couldn't help but be stunned for a while, not knowing how to deal with it.

If it was placed before the southern crossing, such foreign envoys who came to the dynasty like this were very welcome by the Great Song Dynasty, and they were always generously rewarded. After the southern crossing, one is that the sea trade has increased the horizons of the monarchs and ministers of the Great Song Dynasty, the other is that the constraints of the treasury have made the generous gifts a luxury, and the third is that these rewards are not conducive to the tax revenue of the city in addition to the false name, so they are more than that. It's just that this stream is close to the Great Song Dynasty, and it is the first time to come to the court, so no matter what, it has to be given a suitable reception.

In charge of this matter, it should be the Honglu Temple, the main and guest department of the Ministry of Rites, the guest province, the Sifang Pavilion, etc., which are first identified by the Honglu Temple to make the national importance and the rank of the envoys, and then treat each other according to the etiquette. Three years after the establishment of Yan, Honglu Temple was merged into the Ministry of Rites, so it was the Ministry of Rites who took charge of this matter. At this time, the Ministry of Rites Shangshu was Cheng Jue, who had made great efforts in the matter of Lizhao and Ju, in order to let him write the edict, Shi Miyuan tempted him with the position of prime minister, and after the matter was completed, he never broke his promise, and first placed him in the position of the Ministry of Rites. Although he is not Shi Miyuan's confidant, he can be regarded as a member of the Shi Party.

Because he didn't know the truth, he first sent a small official of his subordinates to meet with the messenger, but it was only half a day, and the little official came embarrassed and ashamed. He asked carefully, and couldn't help but be taken aback.

It turned out that the Liuqiu envoy came with two big ships, that is, the Great Song Dynasty Navy, and there was never such a huge ship, only the Shenzhou used to envoy the Goryeo countries at the beginning could be compared with it. There are more than 500 sailors on the ship, carrying three messengers, the main envoy is surnamed Yelu, the name is Chucai, the word Jinqing, the two deputy envoys are Han Ping, the word Zhonghe, the word Chen Zhaohua, and the word Yaoxia, all of whom are characters with sharp words like knives. When the little official first saw him, he still regarded himself as the superior kingdom of the Celestial Empire, and asked the envoys to sail to Lin'an without permission, but was stabbed back by Han Ping's words with a gun and a stick.

"The envoy's words are very rude, but there is one thing that the officials dare not hide." The little official smiled bitterly: "He claimed to have conquered Goryeo and defeated the 400,000 army of Goryeo. ”

Cheng Jue was slightly stunned, he had only been in charge of the Ministry of Rites for a short time, so he didn't know about it, seeing the little official's expression, it seemed that he had something to say, so he asked, "Is this conclusive?" ”

"A few years ago, when the first emperor was still alive, an envoy from Goryeo came to blame, saying that my Great Song soldiers came to Tamluo and seized his island, because the court was uneasy at that time, but he sent away the envoy of Goryeo because he did not know about it." The little official said, "Now it seems that it was done by this stream of beggars." The envoy of Goryeo was also received by the lower officials at that time, although he was secretive, the lower officials heard that they had indeed suffered a great defeat, and the pieces of armor were not returned. ”

"If you can defeat Goryeo, it must be a big country in Haidong, and you can't underestimate it, so as not to lose the dignity of our country." Cheng Jue also frowned, now that the Great Song Dynasty and the Jin State are at war, the two sides have won and lost each other, and Li Quan's loyal army has repeatedly rebelled, and the Great Song Dynasty really can't afford to cause new trouble.

"The envoy also said that although he had not been established for a long time, he had quite a lot of treasures, and this time he came to the Great Song Dynasty, not asking for the favor of the Great Song Dynasty officials, but only asking them to rent a piece of land at the wharf, and listed the treasures they brought for the Great Song Dynasty officials and people to enjoy, and it also showed their respect for the Great Song Dynasty Emperor."

Cheng Jue was stunned at first, then suddenly realized, and couldn't help but laugh and scolded: "These envoys are really the true nature of business, aren't they thinking of a way to let our officials and people of the Great Song Dynasty buy his things?" There is nothing wrong with this, just send more people, and let the people go ashore to make trouble. ”

After a pause, he asked again, "Do you see the Liuqiu Guoshu?" ”

"See, see, just ......" The little official looked embarrassed: "The envoy said that the villain was in a humble position and could not receive this national letter, and said that he wanted to ask Lord Shangshu to pick it up in person." ”

"Do you want the official to pick it up in person?" Cheng Jue didn't laugh angrily, and shook his head: "Does he know the rank of this official?" ”

"But he said, Liuqiu is a big country, there are also Mayi, Beishan, Nanshan, Zhongshan and many other vassal states, he is making Liuqiu as the deputy administrator, which is equivalent to our Great Song Dynasty to participate in political affairs, only ask the Great Song Dynasty to send Shangshu to receive the national letter, which is already the virtue of respecting the Son of Heaven of the Great Song Dynasty."

"When the official was studying, when he saw Yelang arrogant, he always thought that something was wrong, and now it seems that there really is such a country!" Cheng Jue shook his head: "The book of a big country, is it the same as a small country participating in politics, you go back and tell them, if you are sincere in paying tribute, this official can make the Ministry of Rites Langzhong go to see the letter of state, if not sincere, you will be driven out of the port!" ”

The Ministry of Rites and the envoy of the Liuqiu Kingdom had a stalemate for two days, and the envoy of the Liuqiu State finally agreed that Langzhong of the Ministry of Rites would receive the letter of state instead of Shangshu. This small turmoil, I don't know who spread it, Cheng Jue became famous for a while, and the arrogance of the envoys of the country was also quite disgusted by the people of Lin'an.

But then, the people of Lin'an saw more arrogant things, and the Liuqiu envoy got the promise of the Great Song Dynasty court, rented a large piece of vacant land at the dock, almost overnight, and set up a large wooden hall, the wooden hall displayed many objects, in the Great Song Dynasty expensive glass, the Liuqiu people should not spend money, the wooden hall, the counter, are decorated like a crystal palace. Not only that, every night, more than 20 Nanyou horse lanterns are lit, illuminating the wooden hall like day, and people can see that their eyes are blank and their hearts are sparkling, and they just want to grab a handful and leave.

This wooden hall is open to the officials and people of Lin'an, and a huge quarter of an hour is placed at the door, and every half an hour, two hundred officials and citizens are put into the house to visit. As soon as the number of people is limited, the number of people who want to enter will increase, and the number of people who will come to line up to ask for a number will increase. The court officials may have no intention of looking at it because of the recent disputes, but those rich people, scholars, common people, small officials, and idle clan nobles can't control so much, and it can be said that they are coming one after another.

The wooden hall is full of Liuqiu products, there are those that the Great Song Dynasty is already familiar with, and there are many that the Great Song Dynasty has never seen, such as the kind of loom and spinning wheel, and the Liuqiu people put it out in a grand manner, and they are not afraid of the Great Song Dynasty craftsmen to learn it - but looking at the iron sheet wrapped with the loom and spinning wheel, it is indeed a little difficult to know the production method of the loom spinning wheel from this appearance.

The Great Song Dynasty has always been a country of silk, and you can see the silk, cotton cloth, and the skills that will never fade after printing and dyeing.

What interests the children in Lin'an the most is the candy distributed on the spot, called the small square of "milk candy", wrapped in beautiful colored paper, and two pieces will be given for each person who is put in.

There were all kinds of grains arrayed in glass cabinets, and some people had already eaten potatoes, corn, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and peppers in the Heroes' Club, but few people had seen these things with their own eyes, but in the glass cabinets, everyone knew that corn was actually a cob or something.

Cheng Jue himself went to see it in civilian clothes, and when he came back, he couldn't help frowning and thinking about it, this land of seeking, as if it suddenly came out of the sea, has so many specialties. If it goes on like this for a long time, it will definitely be a disaster for the Great Song Dynasty. He originally wanted to go to Shi Miyuan to discuss this matter, but when he asked to see him twice, he was told that Shi Xianggong had something to do, and he had no time to meet the guests, so he could only give up.

He knew that there was something going on with Shi Miyuan, it was nothing more than those intrigues.

After confirming the true identity of the envoy, the next thing is to set the time for the Son of Heaven to summon him, April 15 is the day of hope, it is the period of the Great Dynasty Meeting, when Cheng Jue proposed to meet the envoys on this day, the Son of Heaven asked: "Can this matter be discussed with Shi Xianggong?" ”

Shi Miyuan had a calm face, sitting upright, the Son of Heaven was benevolent, although it was the vertical arch hall of the Chang Dynasty, he also gave more than 60 old ministers in the court. Hearing the words of the Son of Heaven, Shi Miyuan stood up and arched his hand: "Official, this matter was originally a matter of the Ministry of Rites, and the ministers attached to it. ”

Hearing that Shi Miyuan did not object, Zhao Heju was quite happy: "I heard that Liuqiu has a lot of products, and one or two of them must be beneficial to my Great Song Dynasty. If it is really as the farmer said, the yield per mu can exceed 1,000 catties, then my Great Song Dynasty will no longer suffer from hunger. ”

"Your Majesty is benevolent!"

The so-called Chang Dynasty is a court meeting that will be held every day, and only the attendant officials and above can come here, so the number of people is not much, but after the words of Zhao and Ju, it is still a rumor. When the dynasty was dispersed, Zhao Heju asked Shi Miyuan to stay, Shi Miyuan was stunned, glanced at the palace marshal Xia Zhen, Xia Zhen nodded, and he sat down.

"Shi Qing, I have a thing, I don't know if I should get it." Zhao and Ju changed into civilian clothes and summoned Shi Miyuan to the Xuande Palace, and Xia Zhen also accompanied him. Zhao Youju looked at Shi Miyuan's gaze, somewhat ashamed.

"Official, please speak." Shi Miyuan was a little irritable, he was about to gather his dead friends and discuss how to clean up the Yang family, and he was ready to start in the next few days.

"I want to see the wooden hall of the messenger." Zhao Youju smiled, like a young man, his eyes flashed with curiosity: "I am in the palace, and I have also heard that there are many strange things in the Liuqiu Wood Palace. ”

"This matter cannot be ......" Shi Miyuan shook his head, it turned out to be such a thing: "The Son of Heaven is the king of ten thousand times, he should be diligent in government and love the people, how can he be indulged in strange tricks and tricks." Besides, Your Majesty is the Ninety-Five, how can you serve the White Dragon Fish for this? ”

"I think the same way, so I want to ask Shi Qing." Zhao Heju smiled slightly bitterly: "That's it, I'd better go to Jujing Garden and see the things I planted." ”

Hearing Zhao Heju's disappointed tone, Shi Miyuan smiled slightly: "The official family forgot, the envoy who asked for help was bound to come to worship the Son of Heaven, and when the court meeting was over, the official family ordered him to offer those things and play well in the Great Interior." ”

"It's still Shi Qing thoughtful!" Zhao Heju's face was full of joy, paused, and he instructed Xia Zhen again: "Xia Qing, I heard that the messenger begged for the mouth, the people are loyal and patriotic, and there are quite a few people who are not angry. If there is a conflict because of this, I am afraid of hurting the peace between the two countries, Xia Qing can send someone to help Lin'an Mansion watch the messengers of Liuqiu these days, whether it is their ship, or their residence, especially those utensils, there must be damage...... Well, if Xia Qing sees something new, come back and listen to me. ”

Hearing this young man's command, Xia Zhen and Shi Miyuan both smiled slightly, although he was calm and dignified, and never exceeded the rules, but it was inevitable that he had a young nature. Xia Zhen glanced at Shi Miyuan, Shi Miyuan nodded, and Xia Zhen responded loudly.

Note 1: The data on iron production in the iron yard are based on the data recorded in the book "The Industrial Revolution of the Eighteenth Century", which states that the production of rod iron in the factory owned by Richard Crawshaw in Siphax increased from 10 tons to 200 tons per week.

Note 2: The Song Dynasty had a set of cumbersome procedures for receiving tributary envoys, which can be seen in the article "A Brief Discussion on the Tributary Relations and Tributary System between China and Foreign Countries in the Song Dynasty", by Li Yunquan.