After the normalization of the Japanese labor operations, Fanning left the Luzon Bay with an army of 1,000 and 30 ships of 10,000 stones, and headed for Luo Yu, the capital of Srivijaya State.

The Sriwijaya Kingdom was the most powerful kingdom in the South Seas during the Tang and Song dynasties, existing for more than 500 years, controlling a vast area centered on the island of Sumatra, stretching from the Malay Peninsula in the north to the western and central part of Java in the east.

Since the establishment of the Song Dynasty, the king of Srivijaya has continuously sent envoys to the Great Song Dynasty to pay tribute, and almost every emperor ascended the throne, the king would send people to the Great Song Dynasty.

The trade between the Song Dynasty and the Nanyang region was mainly with the kingdoms of Srivijaya and Boni, and of course there were also Chenla and Luzon, but the volume of trade was far less than that of the Srivijaya and Boni kingdoms, which had millions of people.

The fleet had already passed through the Boni Kingdom, and it was not far from the Srivijaya Kingdom, and Akihito, who was traveling with him, said to Fanning: "The Sriwijaya Kingdom seems to be respectful to the Great Song Dynasty, but this is only the surface, this country is extremely profitable from top to bottom, if it is not profitable, they will never come to the Hajj Great Song." ”

"When you say profitable, you mean trade"

Akihito nodded, "This country used to be very backward, just like Luzon, but after trading with the Great Song Dynasty, it brought them earth-shaking changes, and when you arrive, you will find that their clothing, food, housing and transportation are all related to the Great Song Dynasty, which is not where they make profits, but they act as middlemen, buy the goods of the Great Song Dynasty, and then transfer them to the West at a high price, making huge profits from them, but the Three Buddhas strictly prohibit the merchants of the Great Song Dynasty from opening trading houses here with them." ”

"Do you have a deal with their king," Fanning asked again.

"Of course, I have dealt with them, their king is called Zhanbei, he can speak a few words of Chinese, we can also speak a few words of their native language, and they are very eager for the craftsmen of the Great Song Dynasty."

"Why"

"Of course, I want to learn skills, for example, their skills in shaping Buddha statues are learned from us, as well as architecture, shipbuilding, they can build thousand-stone warships, as well as iron smelting, building weapons, etc., all have the shadow of the Great Song Dynasty, and the army has more than 100,000 people, which is the first power in Nanyang."

"If I want to buy a piece of land in Sriwijaya country, will they agree"

"It depends on where to buy it on the main island, it is definitely not possible to buy it on the main island, if it is the surrounding sub-island, it is possible, and it must be a very remote sub-island."

Akihito knew very well Fanning's thoughts, and said to him: "The merchants of this country are very treacherous, and they have a great influence on the royal family, if we buy land on the sea route, they will definitely realize that we are going to do our own transit and rob them of their interests, and they will definitely be resolutely opposed, so I am not sure if we can buy land." ”

After a moment of silence, Fanning asked again, "How is the relationship between the Sriwijaya Kingdom and the Boni Kingdom?"

Akihito sneered: "The Three Buddhas have invaded the Boni Kingdom many times and killed a lot of people, how good do you say their relationship can be?"

Fan Ning quickly made a plan in his heart, he called a capital leader, pointed to the map and said to him: "You take a ship to the west coast of Boni to search, find a natural harbor, and wait for me in the capital of Boni after you find it." ”

"Yes!"

They all hurried away, and in a short time a large ship left the fleet and turned around and headed north.

Early the next morning, the fleet of the Song army arrived at the capital of the Srivijaya Kingdom, the capital of the Srivijaya Kingdom, which was originally in the Bolin State in the east, and the Java State fought fiercely decades ago, and the capital was occupied by the Java State, and they had to move the capital to the Moluo Yu a hundred miles away, and later the Srivijaya Kingdom defeated the Java State, and the West Java occupied the Java State and was forced to merge with the Srivijaya State into one country.

The old capital of Bolimbang is today's Palembang, and the new capital of Moluo Yu is today's Zhanbei City, which is actually named after the king.

Early the next morning, the fleet arrived at the end of the capital of the Three Buddhas, Luo Yu, the wharf was particularly lively, and the local people came to welcome the arrival of the Song Dynasty guests with singing and dancing.

The Song Dynasty fleet was not a merchant fleet, but an official fleet, and when the king heard the news, he sent his minister Dihua Jialuo to welcome the arrival of the Song Dynasty's high-ranking officials in charge of overseas economic strategy.

Fanning stood on the bow of the ship and looked at the harbor capital, this city area is vast, the city wall is more than 40 miles, the atmosphere of Buddhism in the city is strong, all kinds of giant Buddha sculptures and Shwedagon Pagoda are clearly visible in the distance, all kinds of shops on the wharf, the goods inside are dazzling, the porcelain, silk, cloth, tea cakes and other goods of the Great Song Dynasty, local spices, coconut oil, precious wood, as well as carpets, silverware, precious stones and other items from the West.

At this moment, an official with a cloth on his head and dark skin walked towards this side surrounded by a large retinue, and Akihito recognized him and said to Fanning: "That official is the minister in charge of foreign relations of the Srivijaya State, Dihua Garo, and is the king's confidant, and he must approve doing business in the Srivijaya State!" ”

Fan Ning nodded, quickly stepped off the big boat, a merchant who was proficient in the local local language gave Fan Ning an interpreter, he introduced Fan Ning to Dihua Jialuo, Dihua Jialuo was very surprised, the senior official in charge of foreign affairs in the Great Song Dynasty would be so young, but he still said respectfully: "Welcome Fan Envoy to Sriwijaya as a guest, on behalf of the king and queen, I warmly welcome the arrival of the envoy and the army!" ”

Fan Ning smiled slightly: "I am an overseas envoy, and I have come to Nanyang to inspect trade on a routine business, and I hope that my visit can more effectively promote trade between the two sides." ”

Fanning's words are very clear, he is only here to inspect trade, not to visit your king on behalf of the court.

Dihua Jialuo's face was a little disappointed, he thought that it was the new emperor of the Great Song Dynasty who ascended the throne and sent a special envoy to inform the Three Buddhas of the country, but he didn't expect it to be an official visit by the overseas envoy.

He reluctantly smiled and said, "Please send the envoy to the palace to talk about it!" ”

Fanning then ordered the soldiers to have a day off and to return to the ship at dusk, and then he followed Dihuagara to the palace.

The royal palace of the Three Buddhas is exactly the same as the royal palace of the Luzon Kingdom, but it is much larger than the royal palace of the Luzon Kingdom. ”

Fanning can guess from the construction of the royal palace that the relationship between the Srivijaya and the Luzon must be close, and even the Luzon may still be a vassal state of the Srivijaya Kingdom, so the Luzon Kingdom will not know if it is moved south as a whole

Fan Ning didn't mention the matter of Luzon, nodded and smiled: "It's indeed the first time I've come to Nanyang." ”

"How do you feel about Nanyang?"

Fan Ning listened to the translation and said with a smile: "Beyond my imagination, I didn't expect that the population of Nanyang would be so large, densely populated, the land is fertile, and the population of the Srivijaya Kingdom is 10 million!" ”

"At its peak, there were more than 6 million, and now there are about 5 million."

The two chatted a few words, and Fan Ning said: "The South China Sea is vast, there are many islands, there are often pirates infested, robbing merchant ships, seriously interfering with trade, in order to combat piracy, I plan to buy a piece of land in your country, build a military port, I don't know if your country can agree"

Dihua Jialuo's face changed slightly, and he asked nervously, "Where do you plan to buy land?"

"Of course, I won't buy land in Sumudu, but consider buying land in the north of the strait, and the area is about 100 miles away."

"This ..... The purchase of land is a matter of great importance, and I need to report it to the king, and ask him to rest well and give him an answer early to-morrow morning. ”

.........

The merchant who translated for Fan Ning was named Lin Chun, a native of Quanzhou, and Lin Junsheng, who built the mansion, had a bit of a twisting kinship, and he had been doing business in Srivijaya for many years, mainly in the spice business.

In the afternoon, Lin Chun accompanied Fan Ning to visit the city, although Dihua Jialuo wanted to arrange someone to accompany him, but Fan Ning politely refused.

"What business does a forester do in Sriwijaya outside"

"I am mainly engaged in the spice business, buying spices and then selling them to the merchants of the Great Song Dynasty, we can only do this kind of business, we can't do business with Western merchants, even if Western merchants want to buy spices, we can't take orders, this is the privilege of their own merchants."

"I've also heard that it seems to be a middleman, and the profit is very high!"

"Double the profit!"

Lin Chun said: "The merchants of the Three Buddhas bought our silk, five yuan per horse, but sold to the Persians but one or two gold per horse, porcelain and tea cakes are two or three times the profit, recently there are more merchants of the Song Dynasty who have come to Nanyang to do business, and the merchants of the Three Buddhas are ready to collectively lower the price and lower the purchase price by three percent." ”

"Don't the countries of the South Seas also need the goods of the Great Song Dynasty?"

Lin Chun smiled and shook his head, "The people of Nanyang countries are very poor, they are willing to buy coarse cloth, ironware, pottery, low-grade porcelain and other daily necessities of the Great Song Dynasty, as for silk, it is mainly purchased by nobles, monks and merchants, but the quantity is not much, mainly sold to the West, as for tea cakes, Nanyang people do not drink tea, all sold to Persians and big cannibals, they rely on middlemen to earn a huge difference." ”

When the two came to the dock, a Western cargo ship arrived, and some merchants came down, all of whom were Europeans.

"It was merchants from Genoa, who came here to buy all kinds of spices and silks from the East, and their goods were mainly pearls, amber and silverware."

Fanning was a little interested, and the merchants of Genoa actually came to the East.