Chapter 3228 The Forgotten City

Shuai Fan was a little puzzled by the sudden burst of cheers, he looked up and looked at the newly raised flag on the mast, it was a square flag, the red silk face embroidered with the word "Song", this Song character with a circle outside, the bottom half hidden in a wave, in the waves there is a dolphin half jumped out of the sea, this dolphin is white, a bit like the white-sided dolphin in the Yangtze River.

Red, yellow and white, the three colors are very eye-catching, Shuai Fan glanced at the obviously modern flag, and then turned his gaze to the castle on the shore, which also fluttered the same flag.

The castle on the shore is clearly in a Spanish style, a tower stands on the shore, the tower is derived, with a podium, behind the tower a clearing scattered a few goods, this open space extends, a breakwater about three songs long extends into the sea, behind the breakwater are hundreds of small sailing ships, these sailing ships have obvious "boat" hard sail characteristics, in addition, there are several "hang" characteristics of medium-sized boats.

The so-called Hangzhou ship originally did not belong to this era, it is a kind of soft sailing ship genre developed by Zhao Xing, this kind of soft sailing ship is mainly in Hangzhou in and out of the port, so people call it "Hangzhou ship".

After watching the scene on the shore, Shuai Fan pointed to the castle and asked in a low voice: "Lord Zhao, the stone castle on the shore was built by you, this kind of stone castle obviously has the style of an adult." ”

Zhao Xing did not deny it, he nodded honestly, pointed to the shore and replied: "This is Dongmu City, this name was given by my merchants of the Great Song Dynasty, it is on the east bank of the Mekong estuary, mainly trading wood, so it is called this name."

Originally, this was a small market formed by the spontaneous gathering of Song merchants, the Cham country. The people of Da Viet cut timber from both sides of the Mekong River and floated down the river to this Dongmu city, where they traded with Song merchants, which had been going on for 300 years, so there were many Song merchants who stayed. Gradually, it became a town.

Originally, there was no fort in the town, but because of the abundance of wood in the market, the merchants built a wooden fence out of wood. This is how to defend against bandits. Five years ago, I built this castle and this pier here, so that merchants could move into the castle and only go out of the castle to the castle town when they were trading. Located at the mouth of the Mekong River, there is no shortage of fresh water resources in the city, and merchant ships like to add water here, replenish food, and .com

Walk. Let's go in and take a look, the cheapest thing here is tropical fruits, a copper plate ---- a big Song copper plate can buy a basket. You be careful not to eat too much and have diarrhea. ”

Out of the corner of her eye, Shuai Fan caught a glimpse of Li Qingzhao bouncing from the cabin to the deck, she ran to the bow of the ship and asked the boatswain to pass a pair of binoculars and observe the people on the shore. The people on the shore were returning, and Shuai Fan asked in wonder, "Since this place is in the hands of the adults, why do they see us and flee?" ”

Li Qingzhao turned around at the bow of the boat and shouted at Zhao Xing, the noise of the ground on the shore and the sound of the sea breeze drowned out her shouting, Zhao Xing waved at Li Qingzhao and explained coldly: "These people are all stranded overseas. ”

"Oh!" Shuai Fan nodded, understood.

The Great Song Dynasty had regulations that maritime merchants who went to sea must obtain a certificate issued by the government to be eligible to go to sea for inspection. For those who do not return after the deadline. The imperial court stipulates that once someone reports it. Half of the property of the reported family belongs to the informant, and the other half goes to the government. Under such draconian laws. The Song merchants who did not return within the time limit were worried that they would be reported by greedy servants after returning to China, so they hid from the local government and the local government, so as not to be caught by the government.

When Zhao Xing's ship entered the port just now, the flag of the Song Army was hoisted, and those people naturally scattered and fled when they saw it, and when Zhao Xing raised the same flag as the castle, the people in the castle were relieved.

Thinking of this, Shuai Fan pointed to the dolphin flag raised by Zhao Xing and asked, "My lord, what kind of flag is this?" ”

Zhao Xing replied: "Mazu Banner! People who have been on the sea all year round know that dolphins love to save crew members who have fallen overboard, so the crew believes that dolphins are the embodiment of the gods who bless them, and they call this god Mazu. ”

What Zhao Xing didn't explain was that this flag was the flag of the Nanyang Alliance, and this Dongmutou City was also a stronghold of the Nanyang Alliance. But these don't need to be known by Shuai Fan.

The warship docked at the dock of Dongmutou City, and several merchants came out to greet them, and when they saw Zhao Xing, they immediately bowed down and saluted: "I heard that the eldest brother who took the lead is going to come over, and I finally saw you today, eldest brother, the meal is ready in the castle, please go into the city to rest." ”

Zhao Xing took Li Qingzhao's hand, and greeted the businessmen while walking towards the city: "Everyone, the land I promised has been done, and the Guangdong County Division has promised: If there is a case involving maritime merchants, you must go to the Guangzhou City Department to report it." \\\\\In addition, my Guangzhou City Shipping Division will no longer limit the number of years since next year, please be sure to go to the City Shipping Division to replace the certificate before the end of the year. ”

Zhao Xing's simple words, like a thunderbolt on a sunny day, made the businessmen who greeted them stunned, and after a while, several businessmen reacted, and a few people cried bitterly, howling and said: "I can finally go back to my hometown, and the days of returning to the country are finally over." ”

Li Qingzhao pouted beside Zhao Xing, rolled his eyes frequently, and felt disdainful in his heart: If a case involving a maritime merchant is first reported to the City Shipping Division, isn't that funny, can Zhao Xing interrogate himself? As for the relaxation of the number of years for issuing maritime certificates, that practice is purely a left-handed certificate for the right-hand certificate, can it be counted, who is the biggest maritime merchant in Guangnan, it is Lord Zhao and his wife, of course he is trying to let his wife take advantage of the loopholes, this little thing, look at these people moved.

Li Qingzhao was contemptuous there, and Shuai Fan muttered as he walked: "This castle is too small, how can it accommodate too many people in and out, and the soldiers on our ship are afraid that ......"

A local Song merchant on the side heard this, and explained to Shuai Fan with a smile: "My lord, there are only 200 people in our city when the guards are full, and in this way, many merchants take turns to serve as guards, so the eldest brother said that the castle should not be too big, just be able to guard it." This castle is big enough to accommodate 2,000 people, and no matter how big it is, I'm afraid we won't be able to hold it. ”

Shuai Fan asked casually: "Are there many thieves in the local area?" ”

"Many! People said that the Song merchants were wealthy, and there were waves of robbers who came to rob them, so we had to hire some local guards to guard them. But the local people colluded inside and outside, and we were tired of coping......"

Shuai Fan chatted with the man, only to hear Zhao Xing continue to add: "I can only control one place in Guangdong, so if you plan to return to China, please remember." You must first settle in Guangdong for more than two years before you can get a certificate from the local government. ”

Song Shang, who greeted him, nodded together: "We know, thank you, ...... you."

Something about China. There has always been a policy at the top and a countermeasure at the bottom. The strict laws of the Song Dynasty restricted the maritime merchants from returning within the time limit, and the Song merchants also came up with a countermeasure, that is, to change their names and surnames and move to other places, when they went to sea, they brought a group of cronies, and when they returned to China, they would distribute the business income over the years. Each person took one copy, and then landed alone and went to a local government office to issue a naturalization certificate. Spend the rest of your life incognito. However, Chinese people really attach great importance to their own surnames, and they will not adopt this method as a last resort. Zhao Xing's solution was to allow them to keep their original surnames and settle in Quang Nam, and then the local government would issue a certificate of ancestry.

In officialdom, officials have always protected each other. As long as a place is willing to produce a certificate of ancestral origin, even if the businessmen return to their hometowns and are denounced by others, the officialdom will not be overly investigated, because everyone knows that officialdom is a colleague, and they may become work partners one day, so. No one will debunk the false testimonials of their colleagues. Thereupon. The inevitable outcome is: to make false accusations against the informant.

The group talked to each other and entered the castle, waiting until they reached the highest tower of the castle. Zhao Xing's expression became serious, and he asked, "Are all the things I asked you to prepare?" ”

Several Song merchants on the opposite side also became serious, and they replied respectfully: "Big brother, we have sent hundreds of people to investigate, and the surrounding terrain and military strength have been investigated. In addition, the ships that should be called up are almost ready, and we can start rushing for the loot as soon as we need it. The thing was first hidden in this stone fort, and when the captain's fleet arrived, it was transferred back from the stone fort. ”

Zhao Xing nodded and replied: "Don't move yet, this time the action requires to be fast, remember: this is just a mistake, and we must not let the court find out that we have been prepared." ”

Shuai Fan hurriedly asked, "How is the strength?" ”

A merchant replied, "There are only three great cities in the country, namely the city of Dibin Tong in the south and the city of Buddha in the north, and the royal capital Indra Bura (now Chaqiao). Twenty years ago, the occupation entered the Tenth Dynasty, and the second dynasty was the first dynasty's son-in-law Fan's surname, and by the tenth dynasty, he was already the son-in-law of the son-in-law's son-in-law, and the current king is said to be from Nanyang......"

A Song merchant next to him laughed and interjected: "The ancestral home is Nanyang, which is the descendant of Nanyang Kunlun Nu that we often say. The Champa Kingdom began to destroy the Buddha 200 years ago and changed its surname to Tianzhu Shiva, so we renamed one of their cities the Buddha Death City, which means that the Buddha died here. At present, there are a total of 5,000 soldiers in the city, and they are elephants, rattan is armor, and bamboo is bow and arrow. When he went out of battle, he led 1,000 war elephants and 400 war horses, divided into front and rear armies. However, the soldiers were very brave, and it is said that they were unstoppable in the fight. ”

This Song merchant is pure nonsense here, the history of the Buddha Death City is not like this...... But now, who cares? Shuai Fan Le smiled: "There are a total of 5,000 soldiers ---- 5,000 Nanyang dwarfs in the entire Champa country, and they dare to say that they are brave?!" There are only 5,000 soldiers in the city of Zhancheng, ahhhh Isn't it a child who has accumulated a thousand years of wealth and is only guarded by five thousand dwarfs in the street market with a large piece of gold? \\\\\”

Zhao Xing said with a smile: "In my Great Song Dynasty, children take gold to show off in the market, and no one dares to rob it---- you have forgotten the criminal law of the Great Song Dynasty: if you don't save yourself when you see danger, you will live for two years." ”

Shuai Fan smiled like a thief who returned with a full load: "But Zhancheng is not the Great Song Dynasty!" Thousands of years of accumulation, 5,000 slave soldiers with bamboo bows in hand, encountered our ground grenade soldiers...... We're here to fight today, are we clearly here to travel? It's a pity, why didn't I find out earlier......"

Zhao Xing also smiled very happily: "We don't need to worry about the whole army of Champa fighting with us, I had an agreement with Da Yue before, we will have one for each of the two big cities in the Champa country, and the Song army will only deal with Bintong City." When are you going to do it? ”

Shuai Fan furrowed his eyebrows and interjected worriedly: "My lord, why do you ask the Dayue people to come over and share half of the treasure, their borders are connected to the occupation country, and we have to come here through Jiaozhi." If they are allowed to occupy the cities in the north, I am afraid that we will not be able to hold this land in the future. ”

Zhao Xing looked in the direction of Bintong City in the north, and said slowly: "I'm only worried about how the imperial court will react, maybe we will be deposed by the imperial court for private soldiers." Therefore, one less casualty among the soldiers is my compensation for them. Notice: The soldiers are only allowed to take 30% of the treasures of this war, of which 50% need to be handed over to the imperial court, and the rest will be taken out 20% as the military expenses of this expedition...... I hope that the imperial court will see the situation of this rich seizure. Pretending to be confused about our actions. ”

Shuai Fan nodded: "You were so hard-mouthed before you set off, I thought it was ...... Then let the soldiers go ashore to rest for a few days and recuperate. We bypassed the roadside towns of Huaying and Nanpan and went straight to Bintong City. ”

Before Zhao Xing could answer, Shuai Fan had already immediately added: "At present, this castle will be expanded, and the number of guards will be increased, at least three times, so as to facilitate our access to Nantianzhuyang in the future." ”

Inside the house, Li Qingzhao was touching around since he entered the room. The market mainly sells wood, and the rooms are filled with wood carvings made by indigenous people, and occasionally some scattered rough gemstones are thrown on the table. The rough gemstones were unprocessed and not worth a fortune, and the local merchants didn't care about them and threw them on the table without anyone looking at them. \\\\\ Li Qingzhao grabbed a handful of stones. Run to the window and take a closer look at the sun.

Zhao Xing has not introduced this bright-eyed little girl to everyone, but she was led by Zhao Xing and walked off the boat, and she revealed that clever energy, which made Song merchants love it, and saw her playing with stones, a Song businessman took off his belt and put a wallet on the ground, and took out a handful of stones from the bag. It was held in front of the little girl like a treasure. Said kindly: "Little lady, the pile of rotten stones on the table is worthless. I've got a better one here, come, take it and play with it. ”

At this time, Zhao Xing had already studied the marching route with Shuai Fan on the map provided by the local Song merchants, and the local Song merchants occasionally gave some suggestions, and after a while, Chen Buqun ran in with a clang, and shouted as soon as he entered the door: "Sour plum juice, sour horn water, hurry!" What kind of weather is this, it's the first month, and it's so hot that people can't wear clothes. ”

Zhao Xing smiled and said, "Decades ago, the people of the Cham country went to the Great Song Dynasty to pay tribute, and you know what the Li Fan Yuan first taught them to do--- taught them to wear clothes. ”

Shuai Fan glanced at Chen Buqun and asked, "Are those whites settled?" ”

Chen Buqun drank a large jar of water, this young man has become mature after years of carving, he drank the sour juice, carefully wiped the water traces from the corners of his mouth with a silk handkerchief, and then replied to Shuai Fan: "It's settled, but the teacher's servants complained that the knife in their hands rusted too quickly, but I changed the knife for them, and they refused to change it." ”

Chen Buqun's servants were Japanese, Japan's "last three years of war" ended, and a large number of wandering warriors, that is, ronins, were born, and Zhao Xing recruited a team of 100 people to bring them to Nanyang, hoping to rely on their ferocity to fight with the people of the Cham country.

Zhao Xing raised his head and told Shuai Fan. "Tang knives (Japanese knives) are low-temperature steel, and the climate in Nanyang is humid, so that kind of knives are naturally easy to rust. And they are reluctant to change their swords because they were given by me, they are their samurai credentials, and they are equivalent to our official seals...... Shuai Sir, you gather them, and I'll talk to them and let them change their knives. When you go to Nanyang, you should use a Tianzhu knife, here are Tianzhu Uzi knives, as well as big food scimitars, which are not easy to rust and are not less sharp than Tang knives, I will go and tell them"

Chen Buqun interjected: "In this matter, the teacher really came forward." ”

Shuai Fan snorted, and then lay on the map to study, Chen Buqun glanced at the map, and said lazily: "I have explored this sea area several times in advance, you study, just go back and tell me which route to take." ”

After speaking, Chen Buqun walked to the window slowly, and saw Li Qingzhao admiring the small stones, he glanced at the table, hugged his arms and interjected: "Little girl, you can't see anything just by looking at the stones, the stone skin on the outside of the jade is very thick, sometimes the stone skin outside is very ugly, cut open, but the stone wrapped inside is very beautiful, do you know that some stones here are the same as He's Bi, to see its inside Li Qingzhao glanced at Chen Buqun, waved his hand and reprimanded: "Go and go, the children who don't grow up are pretending to be old, and the buttons of the military uniform are tightly buttoned on hot days, Sweaty, stay away from me, don't disturb me to get down to business. ”

Who is Li Qingzhao? In normal history, when she grew up, Li Qingzhao had to make a poetry review, evaluating ancient and modern poets and lyricists, even Su Shi she couldn't look down on her, and she only thought that there was a poet named Li Qingzhao who made good poems, and her perverted narcissism made the stubborn stone feel that she was not hard enough. At present, although the poetess is young, she is still not something that Chen Buqun can impress!

Chen Buqun laughed, and said to the Song merchant who kept stuffing Li Qingzhao's stones: "Guo Laohan, you can take some worthless things to coax the girl, and get some good ones, let me see it." ”

Guo Laohan is actually not very old, only in his early forties, in the face of Chen Buqun's accusation, he sneered and said: "Lord Chen, what kind of person are you, how can this bit of tatter of my old man be enough for your pastime and spare my old man." ”

Li Qingzhao stopped his hand, his eyes widened and asked, "So you know each other?" But I remember Uncle Guo saying that he hadn't returned to his hometown for 20 years, how did you know each other? ”

Chen Buqun looked up to the sky and snorted, turned back to the table to look at the map, behind him, Guo Laohan continued to nag: "Little lady, you don't know, Lord Chen has been here several times with the eldest brother, this stone castle was built by Lord Chen, you say, can Xiaomin not know him?" ”

Li Qingzhao rolled his eyes, and hurriedly pulled Guo Laohan to the corner, and said, "Don't disturb him, come, you tell me how this castle was built." ”

At the table, everyone had already discussed it, and only heard Zhao Xing say: "That's it, the soldiers are fast, and we will do it after two days of rest." In any case, I bear all the consequences of this operation, and before the action, let everyone read the "Occupation Diary" written by the Da Yue people, which records the experience of the Vietnamese soldiers in fighting the occupation country for 200 years. Be sure to tell every soldier what to look out for. ”

On the second day, in the morning light, there was a commotion in the thin mist, as if a giant beast was rolling and treading in the woods not far away, and the earth was shaking, like an earthquake, but not exactly like an earthquake, it did not beat violently, but with a pulse.

The birds flew away, and the whole forest made a terrible noise, and then a huge beast peeked out of the woods, it was huge, with five-foot-long fangs, slowly, unhurriedly, and advanced, and then, the huge body of the monster was revealed, it had thick legs like pillars, more than a foot high, and on its tall and spacious back sat a thin child, and as soon as he came out of the woods, he brought a horn to his mouth, and blew the horn with all his might.

This horn is like the wake-up call of the goddess of the forest, as the horn sounds, the forest fluctuates, and one after another monsters slowly walk out of the woods, towards the small castle in Dongmu City, walking unhurriedly, walking leisurely. Each of these behemoths had a large and unspoken giant tree rolled around its long snout, and they placed it on its long fangs as if it were a toothpick.

In the castle, the Quang Nam soldiers, who heard the horn and began to be on guard, saw the continuous giant beasts pouring out of the woods, and immediately sounded the warning horn and roared loudly: "Monster, the whole army is on alert, quickly, drag a small cannon." ”

There was a sudden panic on the castle tower, countless people were running, countless people were shouting wildly, and some people were hiding under the city wall, as if they thought that the heavy stone wall could protect them.

The procession of monsters outside the city walls stopped, and at this time, the most daring Quang Nam soldiers found that there were people riding on each monster, and they were holding iron hooks in one hand and a horn in the other, and it was the first person to come out of the woods just now who blew the horn.

This horn is like the wake-up call of the goddess of the forest, as the horn sounds, the forest fluctuates, and one after another monsters slowly walk out of the woods, towards the small castle in Dongmu City, walking unhurriedly, walking leisurely. Each of these behemoths had a large and unspoken giant tree rolled around its long snout, and they placed it on its long fangs as if it were a toothpick.

In the castle, the Quang Nam soldiers, who heard the horn and began to be on guard, saw the continuous giant beasts pouring out of the woods, and immediately sounded the warning horn and roared loudly: "Monster, the whole army is on alert, quickly, drag a small cannon." ”

There was a sudden panic on the castle tower, countless people were running, countless people were shouting wildly, and some people were hiding under the city wall, as if they thought that the heavy stone wall could protect them.