Chapter 251: The Welcome Reception of King Viga Ramapakhu I

The rare round-the-world vacation made the travelers seem to be back to the young days of decades ago (and now they are also young, and the maintenance is more tender than many grandchildren), and when they first got on the ship, many waiters and sailors who had never seen the big bosses confused the generations of these dozens of people. Fortunately, the internal welfare is still very clear, and these people who have been rigorously trained and vetted know nothing except that these fifteen tender-faced fellows have an extremely close relationship with the ruling members of the Imperial Senate Standing Committee, and they will not want to know anything that they should not know, just as they did in the past when they served the rich and noble people and other big people. Among the five northern countries, Japan is the best nation engaged in the service industry, so most of the waiters hired by this super luxury yacht that docked at Dalian Port not long after returning from trial voyages are beautiful women (mixed race) from Japan. The crossing crowd on the ship brought a few wives and concubines and children, and the more than 300 people on this thousand-ton yacht, including the chefs and cleaners on board, served around these more than 50 people, so the manpower was very sufficient.

After sailing, the boat sailed smoothly to Malacca, and after the supply, sailed directly to Sinhala (Sri Lanka), the country of gems. At this time, the island of Ceylon belonged to the rule of Viga Ramopa I of the Polonnaruwa Dynasty, and the two countries established good diplomatic relations as early as when he ascended the throne, bilateral trade grew rapidly, and Buddhist exchanges have been continuous since the ice-breaking trip, and Viga Ramabakhu I visited the Chinese Empire 5 times in ten years. Although this low-key outing through the public was not known to the outside world, the location of disembarkation was arranged in advance. No matter how you say it, it is the king of one word. The status is respected, how can Viga Ramapakhu I, who came to this island country as a landlord, ignore it? Although he can't make a big scene like welcoming Li Hao and other members of the royal family to visit abroad, at least he needs to go to the dock to greet him.

When Viga Ramapakhu I arrived at the dock to greet Li Ji and other princes from the Chinese Empire. Li Ji has secretly disembarked and transferred to the hotel near the Royal Pier of the Chenji Group. Although the 'Ouchi masters' had told the king not to wait at the dock any longer, the king's preparations at the palace did not stop.

After a good night's sleep and a tropical breakfast, the juniors scattered, purchasing, sightseeing, and a dozen princes quietly entered the palace under the cover of a palanquin, and met with Viga Ramopahu I in the apse.

The evening banquet was simple and simple. Nothing fancy, just a simple seafood buffet. But when large seafood such as bluefin tuna from the Indian Ocean is served in tart, foodies can't sit still. Sun Chang directly started the sweeping operation. Chilled fish (crushed ice made from nitrification refrigerators) is free from the heavy metal contamination of later generations, and it melts in your mouth and is delicious. Traversing the public has countless wealth, and material enjoyment is only the appetite This hobby is difficult to satisfy, and some common ingredients in later generations are rare ingredients that are still difficult not to get in this era. In particular, rare species and deep-sea pelagic fish that are not found in eastern Asia.

A variety of seafood from the Indian Ocean and fresh fruits from Sinhala are served in a steady stream. The ultimate dish that foodie Sun Chang and others were also amazed by - the lost turtle, a whole turtle is served on a plate, and after the waiter uncovers the turtle shell, the chest cavity that was originally the internal organs of the turtle is filled with sashimi that is spread on crushed ice and arranged according to the texture and color gradient. Sun Chang was very satisfied with the idea of this dish, and when he ate it, he had to guess which kind of fish the sashimi came from based on the color and aroma, and only when he guessed all the right could he serve the last dish. Of course, this is difficult for Sun Chang, the king of foodies, from salmon in the Pacific Ocean to sardines in the Mediterranean, one Bula guessed all right. The freight of these high-priced chilled fresh fish from the origin to this tropical island country is dozens of times the FOB price. It is rare for Viga Ramapakhu I to be so attentive to entertain himself. I can't help but show the demeanor of the Celestial Empire.

When the last dish was served, the traversers were stunned. A life-size Buddha statue carved from tofu and indistinguishable from a real person. When the foodie Sun Chang asked the king on the spot if he could go to his cooking school for a few days, the king solved the mystery. The difficulty of this dish is not as high as expected. The skeleton is a very ordinary open hole strong and thin steel sheet, put it in the mold of the Buddha statue, slowly pour in soybean milk and brine, and continuously extract the excess supernatant, please have a good knife maker to refine it after the mold, and it will be done in less than a day.

Not to mention that this dish is exquisite, who has the heart to eat Buddha statues? Listening to the king tell the allusions and several legends of the Buddha feeding the eagle with meat in friendly Chinese, it is really unique. The more you look at the people who travel around the circle, the more you feel that the Buddha statue is familiar. This Buddha statue does not resemble the emaciated Hellenistic and late Brahmanical classic Buddha statues of the original Buddha in India, but rather bears a nine-point resemblance to the Great Buddha in the Longmen Grottoes.

Gao Jing was the first to think about it, and after asking, he learned that the chef was a Chinese from the old Song Dynasty Luoyang, and the mold of this Buddha statue was made by the Longmen Buddha statue in the family. The satisfied Li Ji and the others didn't say anything, and they obviously couldn't pay more attention to the cook than the king, and they asked a few nonsense words such as whether Cathay Pacific and the people were safe.

As for the construction of a gem futures exchange and the world's largest gem processing base, commercial agreements can only be discussed after the banquet. Although the Chinese like to talk about business at the dinner table, the traversal has obviously reached the state of food and sleep, and the professional division of labor and the person in charge are very clear, and this time the royal palace is just to rub the rice and taste the collection of Viga Ramaba I, and at most participate in the gem auction and exhibition to be held next week. Specific cooperation meetings and consultations were thrown in front of the head of the Chenji Group in Sinhala.

After the wine and food were full, when everyone was still reminiscing about the rare delicacy they had just tasted, the king came to Liu Xin's side and said a few words, and Liu Xin immediately changed his face after knowing it.

Lee Ki asked, "What's wrong?" ”

Liu Xin said in a low voice: "When the third child of my family was bidding with others to buy a raw gem mine, he was stolen by a Brahmin who claimed to be from India, and he was scolded a few times. In the end, when I left the market, I beat up the team of the Brahmin, but I didn't expect that the Brahmin was still a little powerful, and many people surrounded our hotel. ”

At this time, Viga Ramapa I walked up to Li Ji in embarrassment and said, "This kind of thing really shouldn't happen under my rule. The Indian bandits besieging Your Highnesses will soon disperse, so there is nothing to worry about, I have already sent the Praetorian Guards to the hotel to solve the problem. ”

At this time, Sun Chang, who was already drunk, came over and said, "This accident is purely a child's nonsense, it's not a big deal, and there is no need for Your Majesty to touch the army to scare those Indian clowns." Our hotel was well guarded. I would like to ask Your Majesty to recall the Praetorian Guards, so as not to arouse public speculation and expose our whereabouts. ”

Li Ji said that there was no need to bother with Viga Ramapakhu I. The Chinese Empire had its own strength to solve these small problems, which were not at all a problem. "Yes, there is no need to make a fuss, and we don't have to bother Your Majesty's pro-army if we can solve it ourselves. In order to achieve a quick victory and avoid the spread of onlookers. Those hundreds of Indians don't need to be bothered by His Majesty, we can completely solve it ourselves. Please don't worry, Your Majesty, please believe in the strength of your country. ”

Viga Ramabakhu I could not hear the meaning of the words, since the death of his father, the king leased a piece of land north of the coastal port of Colombo to the Chinese Empire as a leased land. After the construction of the dock and military base with garrisons. Sinhala has two courts. Although the Polonnaruwa dynasty under the support of the Chinese Empire is getting closer and closer to the centralized absolute monarchy, the king's power is getting bigger and bigger, and the ruling power is getting deeper and deeper into the grassroots, but all this comes from the deterrent power of the Chinese Empire's garrisons and the wealth brought by trade, once the Chinese Empire leaves Sinhala, its authority will be beaten back to its original form by many local nobles who have gone crazy. It didn't cost much to cover the garrisons of these military bases, but in order to maintain the foundation of the rule, half of the tax revenue was spent every year on the construction of Buddhist temples and the imperial court. As a result of the various bilateral agreements signed, Sinhala has no customs duties and commercial taxes, and Sinhala, without state-owned enterprises and industry, has been teetering on the brink of a fiscal deficit. If it weren't for the fact that it has been smooth since he ascended the throne. The heavy tax burden on the peasants has long since led to the rise of smoke.

In recent years, in order to establish more financial resources, His Majesty the King racked his brains, under the planning of the Minister of Finance, wanted to establish a high value-added gem industry comprehensive industrial park, land, construction plants, labor and raw materials are all from Sinhala, the Chinese Empire can be responsible for a few people responsible for marketing and product design, processing equipment can be jointly funded by both sides, and the joint venture gem company Sinhala should account for the majority of the shares. It is estimated that this newly established industrial park will be able to attract hundreds of large and small gem processing enterprises, and the annual increase in employment and revenue will be enough to meet the needs of the kingdom.

This private banquet for Li Ji and others is also to leave a good impression and make a good start for the negotiations on investment promotion that will start soon, but I didn't expect an Indian to ruin his good deeds again, I don't know if the good mood of Li Ji and others has been ruined, and whether it will leave a bad impression. His Majesty, who hated the Hindu to death, swore that after this incident was over, he would strengthen the surveillance of those brahmins, and that bastard who almost ruined his own good deeds must give him some color.

As for the Brahmin from Zhan (zhān) Dailuo, who was finally sentenced to a fine of 20,000 dragon yuan and a bail of 20,000 yuan, and then was crippled and deported, no one cared.

The king who believes in Buddhism realizes that the Buddha also wants to be rich and worshipped, and although he does not kill, he will not be merciful to the guy who almost cut off his wealth. Although Li Ji and others did not return happily after the reception, the episode did not have any adverse effect on the negotiation of Chenji Group's investment in the gem industrial park a few days later.

As a jewel country in the Indian Ocean, Ceylon is not only a gem, but also has excellent hydrothermal conditions to support a large number of rice exports, and a large number of seafood orders can also provide a lot of employment and foreign exchange. However, these industries, which are overly dependent on foreign countries, are not the most desirable for His Majesty. The Sinhalese state, which had not been involved in the world market for a long time from a subsistence small-scale peasant economy, was a supplier of raw materials and agricultural products in the global division of labor, and it was almost impossible to get rid of external dependence. The small size of the country also makes it difficult for Sinhala to become a self-sufficient economy with a sound industrial system.

The king's only hope is to reduce his dependence on foreign trade orders as much as possible, develop more downstream deep processing industries in his own advantageous industries, and keep jobs and wealth in the country as much as possible.

Li Ji and others had a headache for a long time because the supply of labor could not keep up with the speed of the division of labor generated by the explosion of science and technology, and the transfer of a large number of labor-consuming lot of industries was also the trend of the times.

Although it is said that it is a vacation and leisure at sea, but the busy traversal still issued a lot of instructions in the hotel, those textile industry and food processing industry that need labor to transfer equipment to foreign countries to build more profitable branch factories is also a necessary thing, anyway, it will not take too much time to radio inform the subordinates in the country to arrange these things, several Indian Ocean regional leaders returned to the office after reporting to Li Ji and other big bosses After returning to the office, they began to sign the painful month of signing and signing softly.

The planned construction of the branch factory and the enclosed land saved them from the pain of traveling, and three months later, the gem industrial park that Vikya Ramapakhu I longed to build was completed. What was left at that banquet was a surprise for the king, and what was left for Lee Ki and the others was the memories of the food. (To be continued......)