During the return journey, with the constant encounters of official and private boats, more news gathered to Zhou Huai'an's side.

For example, a surprising piece of good news from the sea was that the fleet headed for Tianzhu led by the naturalized merchant Fei Kong who surrendered gave him a surprise after returning from the journey again;

In addition to the traditional spices, pearls, precious stones, sandalwood, ivory, cotton cloth, dyes, medicinal herbs and other precious goods, this time also brought a lot of Tianzhu's local saltpeter and nitrate as ballast for the bottom of the ship; That's right, saltpeter and nitrate crystallized from a large amount of nitrate.

It is said that it is mined directly from the local soil and weathered rock, and can be purified by boiling water; The cost of local labor is also very cheap, and it has long been used as a formula ingredient for drugs and pigments.

Therefore, for the local coastal princes and chieftains, as an addition to the bulk trade, as long as someone is willing to ask for it, it is as much ballast as there is to be mined. In this case, theoretically, the front of the tech tree leading to gunpowder and thermal weapons has been solved as a key source, and it can be said that it has entered the stage of mass production and experimentation.

The good news on the tidal cycle is that oil palm saplings from the African continent have survived in the gardens opened up in the coastal areas. Despite the fact that this thing looks a little similar to the coconut tree, it has the highest oil yield among the oil crops in the world; The oil content in the fruit and seeds can even reach 30% to 40%, which is five times higher than that of peanuts in the same area and nine times higher than that of soybeans. It is known as the "oil king of the world".

Although palm oil is a type of vegetable oil, it can partially replace other oils, such as soybean oil, peanut oil, sunflower oil, coconut oil, lard and butter. Therefore, palm oil can be refined and extracted to obtain products with different melting points, which have a wide range of uses in the catering industry, food industry and oleochemical industry. It has become the world's most productive oil crop, accounting for almost 35% of the global animal and vegetable oil market.

Since then, China has become the world's largest importer of palm oil, with an annual consumption of about 6 million tons of palm oil, accounting for 20% of the total global market. So much so that most of the various shades and oils sold in supermarkets are mixed with this cheap oil; So there are actually a few samples on that specially modified pickup truck, which have been improved in African origin.

However, even if there is a method of multiplication, it will take about a year or two to see concrete results. But this is also the most lacking nutritional intake supplement for most people at the bottom in this era, and it is also the basic raw material supply for primary industrial products such as soap and candles to enter mass production.

In addition, after bringing back a large number of shipwrights from Annam (the local area is also one of the major shipbuilding bases in the South China Sea), Zhou Huai'an can consider starting to imitate the cars and ships used in the north in this era; This is also the world's earliest human pedal drive of the water steamer, invented by Cao Wang Li Gao in the Kaiyuan period; Because it can travel against the current on inland waterways without being affected by the wind direction, it has been widely used in northern water transportation.

Although this technology of making chariots and ships was still strictly in the hands of the imperial court and a few important close feudal towns, there was no chance of spreading to the people; However, for those who have been educated by the basic knowledge of mathematics, physics and chemistry, this kind of thing is theoretically just a layer of broken window paper, and it will not be more difficult than the handicraft class models of primary and secondary schools in later generations.

When I was in Guangzhou, I found that the local ships were mainly large and medium-sized sea vessels, and the scale and technical level of inland river vessel manufacturing were not as good as those in the Jiaozhou area of Annan, which is full of rivers and convenient materials. Once it is popularized and popularized, it will also be an important addition to logistics and transportation efficiency in the Lingnan area, where there are many river branches.

Then came the news that the rebellion against the destruction of forbidden temples in the Lingbei and Lingxi areas was intensifying; even besieged and killed in Fuzhou a few days ago, and stayed behind to make Yan Shun, a highly valued general under Meng Shu; Since then, Meng Kai, who has always been in Guangzhou and does not move, was rarely furious, and personally sent thousands of troops to take Fuzhou directly.

In the history of the rebel army, Zhou Huai'an, who has defeated the party and the Yan soldiers, and defeated the ogre king Caizhou Jiedu and Qin Zongquan, as the mastermind and driving force behind the scenes, can only mourn for a second for those big and small bald heads who are full of shit and are in danger.

But Meng Kai's temporary departure is also a good thing for Zhou Huai'an in a short time. As the so-called out of sight is pure, although they have delivered a lot of benefits and benefits to them when they fought Annan, but after coming back, he took the opportunity to leave behind in Jiaozhou, and he, the master-slave status of the left-behind in Guangzhou, and the way to continue to get along, it takes a certain amount of time and distance to negotiate and deal with it;

In contrast, Lin Yan, the deputy envoy, is much better to deal with, which is nothing more than things in wealth and fame; Zhou Huai'an even prepared a list of 10,000 words of advice to "request" him to receive the post of Jiaozhou Assassin, yes, Jiaozhou Assassin History and the corresponding seal letter, so as to pull the nephew of the Yellow King into the water; This is also one of the multiple insurances and backhands that Zhou Huai'an left for himself

It's just that when his boat arrived near the shore of Guangzhou, there was another big "accident".

"What the hell is this?"

The crowd of people gathered in the outer port of Huawei in Guangzhou still made Zhou Huai'an a little startled, and he almost thought that something was going on in Guangzhou, and he wanted to call for people to immediately turn the rudder and prepare for war;

Then from the small boat that led the water, I realized that these were all spontaneously to greet and watch, and that I was a new generation of famous generals who represented the righteous army to "pacify the Nanban and recover the traffic management".

I saw that the embankments, beaches, trestle bridges, and harbor markets were already full of dense crowds, and there was a burst of shouting and shouting; There is also a makeshift bamboo shed with several floors high, which is full of colorful silk cloth and green branches of flowers and plants; That feeling of déjà vu almost didn't put out a banner of "Welcome XX leaders to come to inspect/guide the work".

You must know that the economic activities of Guangzhou and Jiaozhou throughout the era, trade and people-to-people exchanges can be said to be particularly close, so it is easy to get many rumors and anecdotes about what happened in the land of Annam through the revived sea trade and canal traffic;

Some of these contents have been exaggerated and amplified by the people who traveled back and forth between the merchants and the fleeing people, and have become such things as "killing hundreds of thousands of barbarians, and all the rivers in Zhuluan are red water", and all kinds of things that the people like to see but are unrecognizable.

However, don't underestimate the role and effect of these nonsense or gossip, which means that the Yijun or rather Zhou Huai'an's personal recognition and authority among the people has risen to a new level; After all, in this era of precariousness and chaos, most of the people at the bottom do not desire a strong protector who has enough ability and skill to easily travel hundreds of miles to defeat the enemy.

Especially for those maritime merchants and ships in Guangfu and even Lingnan who travel to and from the sea, this is also quite good news and prospects. Most of them are not worried about the insatiable accumulation methods of the government or the brutal and arbitrary rule from the top down, but they are worried about whether the local authorities in their own places have sufficient shelter and deterrence.

Of course, this kind of linkage and repercussions are not so pleasant when they reach the upper echelons of the left-behind division;

In fact, listening to the sound of the mountains coming from the port area outside the city, which could not be stopped by the city walls, Lin Yan, as the number two person, was simply with his subordinates and guests who were drinking and feasting, and all kinds of surprises and inexplicables or shocking were on the spot, and he knocked over a lot of furnishings and wines.

"Seeing that the wings of this generation are just beginning to grow, they are no longer just a grass thief in the Guangfu Left-behind Division, and they can be limited."

Among these crowds in Hong Kong, there are also people who sigh with their own boos:

"Not only knows the art of war and military strategy, but also is good at governing the law, and can also manage the people's livelihood, sort out the goods and colonies, and write and speak for this, and preach to the public."

"This is the same as the principle of soldiers, legalists, Mohists, and peasants, this is an authentic dragon slaying technique,"

"I don't know if I'm slaying a dragon for myself or for others."

Another voice continued.

"In any case, if we want to profit from the trend, we have to change our course and make a choice."

"First of all, the first step is to take the lead with those grain merchants who don't know whether they are alive or dead."

"Now that this ghost monk has returned, if he wants to continue to play those hoarding tricks under him, he will be killing himself."

"Don't think that you can be spared if you catch the origin and origin of Deputy Envoy Lin and the General's Mansion, don't you know that the name of this Shura monk is wasted."

Someone else opened his voice and said,

"Coupled with the Meng Liushou who is in turmoil outside, I'm afraid that there will be a good show opening next."

"That's why we're going to hurry up and bet."

Part of the fleet went directly to Chaozhou to dock, and the rest docked in Guangzhou with Zhou Huai'an. Then Zhou Huai'an learned that during his absence, there was a large-scale rice shortage and intermittent famine in Guangzhou; You must know that even during the occupation of most of the rebels, there was no such situation.

On the one hand, although some people took the opportunity to fan the flames and hoard in it, it can also be seen that the looting before the Left-behind Division was ruthless. And the tens of thousands of Shijiaozhou rice he brought have simply become timely rain in a sense; The mountains of grain loaded and unloaded from the ship suddenly stabilized the hearts of the people who were floating in the place.

But in the follow-up treatment, Zhou Huaian vaguely excluded the left-behind division. In addition to selling rice at a public quota in Guangzhou, he also led a team to inspect the Tuntian offices in various places and provided relief to calm people's hearts, which was also a good opportunity to gradually cut off from the General's Mansion in his own name.

(End of chapter)