What is the most developed in Quanzhou? Business, of course!

Since the opening of the port in the Tang Dynasty, Quanzhou has been one of the four major foreign trade ports in southern China. In the Song and Yuan dynasties not long after, Quanzhou Port was the first of the four major ports because of its good foundation and rapid development, and became the world's largest port in the world with the name of "Thornton Port", becoming the "largest port in the East" comparable to Alexandria in Egypt, presenting the prosperity of "people from ten continents in the market" and "merchants from all countries in the sound of the rising sea".

Therefore, as soon as the announcement of supporting the front-line grain was issued, the merchants of Quanzhou went crazy, and from the fleet of ships that had taken refuge at the wharf outside the north gate of Quanzhou, from the major inns in the city, and from the gathering areas of the various Tibetan ethnic groups, there were merchants of different costumes, different skin colors, and different nationalities rushing to the original envoy's mansion.

In less than two hours, a large number of people gathered in front of the Prime Minister's Mansion, all of whom asked to meet Li Jingsui or Lin Feng, the king of Tang Qi. In the Qing Dynasty, there were many soldiers and few lands, and the grain used by the local residents, especially the army, basically relied on merchants to transport grain from foreign merchants, and the tradition of transporting grain by merchant ships had long been a common practice. In fact, no one cares much about the qualifications to invest in supermarkets and industry associations, and the most important thing is to be able to get in touch with King Qi of the Tang Dynasty or Lin Feng, who is famous!

Li Jingsui and Lin Feng, the kings of Qi, both had a little lack of understanding of the development of this situation, and urgently negotiated and pushed out the two brothers Liu Shaochi and Liujudao. Liu Shaochi was in charge of the war grain in Fuzhou in the north, and Liuju Dao was in charge of the war grain in the south and the Southern Han Dynasty, and became the grain coordinator in both directions, and asked them to copy a copy of the list of merchants to everyone at the last time.

After lunch on March 23, Lin Feng, who thought that he had successfully gotten rid of a trivial matter and was about to set off for the Fuzhou battlefield, was still stopped.

Liu Shaochi and Chen Yue, a military officer in Quanzhou, took three Arabs wearing white robes and white hats into the small courtyard where Lin Feng was. The military officer is mainly responsible for sending envoys, that is, the officials in charge who are specially responsible for receiving foreign ships.

The leader was an old man, with a white beard on his face that made his face more kind, and as soon as he entered the door, he saluted Lin Feng with his palms together, and chanted: "Lord Lin is well!" ”

Liu Shaochi hurriedly introduced: "Lord Lin, this person is the Muslim imam and merchant of the Great Food Sect, and he is also the chief of the ten thousand cannibals in Quanzhou. ”

Da Shi was a special name for the Arabs and the Arab Empire in the Tang and Song dynasties of China, and a general name for the Muslims in the Iranian-speaking region.

An imam in Islam? Lin Feng immediately became interested, clasped his palms and returned the salute, and invited someone to take a seat.

Shi Zhizhi clasped his palms together and smiled, did not sit down, and said in an unusually fluent Chinese dialect: "I have heard of Lord Lin's reputation for a long time, and I have admired it for a long time, can I be alone?" ”

Lin Feng was slightly stunned, and motioned for Liu Shaochi, Chen Yue, and the two special soldiers in the room to avoid it, and Shi Zhizhi also invited the two people around him to come out.

Lin Feng stretched out his hand to Shi Zhizhi and said bluntly: "I am in a hurry for military affairs, can I please speak up?!" ”

"Lord Lin took Quanzhou without much effort, and no one can compare with his great wisdom and wisdom!" Shi Zhizhi first praised Lin Feng, and then said: "Since the second year of Tang Yonghui, there have been more than 10,000 Muslims living in Quanzhou, who have always been united and have strong financial resources, and are willing to do their best to help Lord Lin in the future!" ”

Islam is generally believed to have been introduced from Arabia to Quanzhou, Guangzhou and other places in the second year of Yonghui of the Tang Dynasty (651 AD), and the main body was Arab merchants, soldiers and imams. There is a record in the Book of Min that I don't know whether it's true or not: "(Muhammad) had four disciples, Daxian, and Tang Wude came to the dynasty and preached to China. One sage preached Guangzhou, two sages preached Yangzhou, and three sages and four sages preached Quanzhou. ”

Lin Feng immediately smiled, sent a cup of tea to Shi Zhizhi, and said softly: "Lin Feng is a small sesame official, if he can't write anything, he can't do martial arts, how can he talk about flying Huang Tengda!" ”

Shi Zhizhi immediately frowned, and asked rhetorically, "Lord Lin has encountered big trouble in Jinling?" Why is the tone so pessimistic?! ”

Lin Feng didn't answer directly, and asked again: "Then may I ask, what do you need to do for you?" ”

"As long as Lord Lin allows me to freely preach my teachings on your territory." Shi Zhizhi immediately said in a deep voice.

"Excuse me, how long have you been in Quanzhou?" Lin Feng still asked in a jumping motion.

"Forty-six years! It is a pity that I have not been able to spread the teachings of Allah to the whole world! It all started with the martyrdom of Huichang. Shi Zhizhi replied in a heavy tone.

This is a believer who is willing to give everything for religion! Lin Feng saw the first religious person he saw after seeing this era, and couldn't help but admire Shi Zhizhi's tenacity and perseverance.

In Chinese history, there is a very famous saying of "three martial arts and one sect of the law", which refers to the extermination activities initiated by the four emperors in the history of Chinese Buddhism.

Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty ordered the extermination of the Buddha in the seventh year of Taiping Zhenjun (446 AD), which lasted for six years. Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Yuwen Yong, issued an edict to destroy the Buddha in the third year of Jiande (574 AD), which lasted for five years. Tang Wuzong Li Yan issued an edict to destroy the Buddha in the fifth year of Huichang (845 AD), and after a year, Tang Xuanzong ascended the throne (847 AD) to restore Buddhism. Because these three emperors have the word "Wu" in their titles, plus an imminent destruction of the Buddha by Chai Rong of the Later Zhou Dynasty in 955 AD, it has made up the saying of "three martial arts and one sect of the four tribulations of Buddhism".

Among them, although the Huichang Dharma Martyr, which was the closest to this era, only lasted for one year, it was also the most lethal because of a nationwide abolition of Buddha.

The city gate caught fire, and the fish in the pond were actually the most affected! When Buddhism and Taoism were completely knocked to the ground, minority religions such as Islam, Manichaeism, and Nestorianism were naturally all swept away, so there was endless emotion for the use of intelligence.

"Is your business going well? How is the business doing? Lin Feng didn't answer the words of Shi Zhizhi, and started another conversation.

"Since the former Tang Dynasty, Quanzhou has been following the practice of 'allowing the flow of traffic, trading by itself, and not increasing the rate of tax', and we are free to do business and live here, and business can be described as prosperous." Shi Zhizhi still replied politely.

In the eighth year of Taihe (834 AD), Emperor Wenzong of the Tang Dynasty issued an edict ordering the envoys to observe the degree of worship in Lingnan (mainly referring to Guangzhou and Jiaozhou), Fujian (mainly referring to Quanzhou), and Yangzhou to foreign merchants such as Arabia and Persia. ”

"Why did you choose me?" Lin Feng asked again with a leap.

"There is a new way to pick up talents, and it is easy to collect Quanzhou in the near future, the old man thinks that Lord Lin has a bright future, and the future is at least a feudal official of the Tang Dynasty!" Shi Zhizhi knew that when he talked about the meat, he immediately stood up and replied solemnly, saying one idiom after another in his mouth, and he used it more fluently than ordinary Han people.

"Actually, you're saying I'm probably more open-minded, right?" Lin Feng smiled self-deprecatingly, also stood up, walked a few steps in the room with his hands behind his back, pondered for a moment, raised his head and continued, "I have three principles, if you can promise to do it, I can agree to your request!" ”

"Really? The old man must do it! Shi Zhizhi, who had been staring at Lin Feng's actions, had a happy face and said quickly.

Lin Feng smiled and waved his hand, and said softly: "Don't worry, listen to me after I finish the three principles!"

First of all, religion should never be mixed with politics. Will Allah be to Allah, and to the world, will you promise? ”

"This ......" Shi Zhizhi didn't expect Lin Feng to block the most critical thing in the first article, and he was dumbfounded all of a sudden. The Arab Empire is a theocratic country, and there is no market for separating church and state in its country, and there is no good end!

Lin Feng didn't wait for Shi Zhizhi to reply, and said to himself: "Second, preaching can never force anyone, and it must be ensured that those who join the religion are voluntary!" ”

Shi Zhizhi came to his senses and quickly said that this was no problem, and they had never forced people to preach.

"Third, I pay attention to fairness and justice in doing things, and your good players in the sect can enlist in the army, and I warmly welcome them and treat them as ordinary soldiers! We can cooperate in the form of joint ventures with your money, and we will not take a penny from you in vain. Lin Feng said the third with a smile.

Shi Zhizhi didn't expect Lin Feng's third article to be like this, and he was immediately stunned.

Lin Feng patted him on the shoulder, and said with a smile: "Go back and think about it!" If you can accept these three principles, select a few people from your sect who are ingenious and tech-savvy to send to me. I will be staying in Quanzhou or Fuzhou in the near future! ”

In fact, in Lin Feng's impression, the most attractive thing to him in the Yiqi Lan Sect was their scientific and technological culture. The first is medicine. Legend has it that the Prophet Muhammad said that there are two types of learning: doctrinal and medical. The level of medical science in Islam has always been ahead of the rest of the world, for example, the medical exploration and practice of distillation, disinfection, and the use of anesthetics, which have already begun to be practiced in the Arab Empire. In addition, they are highly accomplished in mathematics, physics, astronomy, glassmaking, porcelain, spice making, etc. Knowledge is the most precious thing!

After speaking, Lin Feng got up and hurriedly walked out of the door, but he didn't want to almost touch Chen Yue, who was knocking on the door with his hand.

Lin Feng angrily and funny pointed at a sturdy man beside Chen Yue who was obviously a Middle Eastern person, and said loudly: "Chen Yue, you are a good boy!" Tell me, which country did you sell me to this time?! ”

Chen Yue smiled embarrassedly, pointed to the sturdy man and said, "This is the Fan Chang Mohui from Persia, they have nearly 10,000 sectarians and nearly 100 merchant ships in Quanzhou, so it is good to say that they want to meet Lord Lin." ”

At this time, Shi Zhizhi, who walked out from behind Lin Feng, snorted heavily, and passed by the Persian man named Mohui.

It seems that the rivalry between Persia and the Arab Empire was all-round, and all these religious people were deeply involved in it! Lin Feng looked at Shi Zhizhi's back, but instead slowed down the pace of walking outward, and invited Mo Hui into the house.

Hearing that this Persian man bit his big tongue and said what he meant, Lin Feng smiled, this was exactly the same idea as Shi Zhizhi: to spread Manichaeism with Lin Feng's permission.

Mani, the founder of Manichaeism, was born in Martinu (in present-day Iraq) near Tesifon, the capital of ancient Persia, and was deeply influenced by the Christian heretical Gnostic dualism of good and evil, and returned to Persia in 243 A.D. at the age of 27, and with the support of the royal palace, he preached his two sects and three levels of doctrine to the whole country, marking the official birth of Manichaeism.

The traditional view of the route of Manichaeism to China is that one route is transmitted from Central Asia to the Western Regions, and then to Chinese mainland through the Silk Road, and the other route is transmitted by the Maritime Silk Road to the southeast coastal ports of China, and centered on the port of Quanzhou in Fujian, developing to the inland hinterland.

Manichaeism suffered the same hardships in Middle-earth as it did in Persia: a few years earlier, Wu Zetian personally summoned Manichaeism in Chang'an; In a blink of an eye, Tang Xuanzong issued an edict in the twentieth year of the Kaiyuan Dynasty, prohibiting Manichaeism. Subsequently, Manichaeism as the state religion of the Hui, in the Anshi Rebellion, with the return of the Hui army to save the Tang Dynasty, welcomed the prosperity again, and the Manichaean temples were almost all over the country. However, in the blink of an eye, during the period of Tang Wuzong, a Huichang method was attacked, and Manichaeism was completely banned.

Lin Feng only asked one question, "What is the current name of your sect?" ”

Mo Hui's expression was slightly stunned, and after a while, he said, "My sect is going to change its name to Mingjiao!" ”

That's right, after the Huichang Fa was sad, Manichaeism was divided into three: one part was attached to the Buddha and the Taoist; Some of them evolved into folk religions, which were secretly circulated in the lower classes, and their areas of activity were mainly in North China. Some of them moved to Fujian, Zhejiang, where Manichaeism was strong, to continue its activities, and it was at this stage that it evolved into Mingjiao, also known as Mingzunjiao, after which the Song Dynasty Fangla Incident, as well as Zhu Yuanzhang at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, are inextricably linked with Mingjiao.

Lin Feng was anxious about the front-line war, and directly explained the three principles of missionary work again. Mo Hui also replied simply, all agreed on the spot, and asked to immediately send the top masters in the sect to protect Lin Feng's safety.

How dare Lin Feng agree now, let Mo Huixian organize the disciples to go all out to raise grain and grass on the front line, and talk about it in detail when he returns from Fuzhou. Mo Hui happily agreed.

This time, Lin Feng ignored anyone when he went out, directly found the horses assigned to him, and took several special soldiers out of Quanzhou, heading in the direction of Xianyou.

Just when Lin Feng was rushing to Fuzhou, Qian Hongyi, the envoy of the Zhangwu Army and the assassin of Fuzhou, stood at the head of Fuzhou City, looking at the Southern Tang military camp under the city, and was so anxious that he almost scratched his scalp!