Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

On the tenth day of March in the tenth year of Jianji, there was continuous drizzle.

Several merchant ships slowly left the pier, went down the river, and headed straight for the sea.

Persian ship is the most common name for these big food merchant ships.

In addition, there are also titles such as South Sea Ship, Western Region Ship, Nanman Ship, Kunlun Ship, Shizi Ship, and Brahman Ship—from the names, it can be seen that not all of them are Dashi Merchant Ships, at least not all the people on board are .

Their destination is Haizhou, the great northern port, a newly emerging port city in the core hinterland of Daxia.

If the four major trading ports in the former Tang Dynasty were Annan, Guangzhou, Quanzhou, and Yangzhou, then the main trading ports in Daxia were Haizhou and Dengzhou.

In addition to these two places, there are secondary ports such as Mizhou, Qingzhou, and Zhigu.

Of course, with the increasing expansion of the country, the port resources in the old land of Bohai Sea have also been utilized. Now there are more places such as Guangzhou, and the shipping industry has ushered in a new round of expansion opportunities.

Standing on the deck, Liu Yin looked at the Guangzhou city that was drifting away in disappointment.

It has been two generations since his family moved from Shangcai, Henan to Fujian, and then to the Qing Navy.

The city of Guangzhou is a pearl forgotten by the northerners.

Everyone thought this was a wild place, but only Liu Yin knew that he had found a treasure.

This is a very commercial city.There are a large number of non-residents, and the street system replaced the Lifang system to facilitate the operation of merchants and handicraftsmen.

In this situation, as far as he knows, among the northern metropolises, only Luoyang and Bianzhou have some shop openings and breaking the night ban, and the whole is still in the transition from the Lifang system to the street system.

Guangzhou is the first of its kind, and it is already far ahead of the north. They still call us Nanban!

Unfortunately, all this has nothing to do with him.

His whole family is waiting for the crime. After going north by boat, after landing in Haizhou, they will go to Luoyang by land to meet their unknown fate.

"Kill me too hard!" Liu Yin thumped the side of the boat hard, tears streaming down his face.

The dozens of warriors who followed him back to the north gave him a contemptuous look and laughed loudly.

They are all meritorious soldiers from Fujian, Annan, Lingnan West Road, and Ningyuan Army. A total of 200 people took four ships and went to Luoyang, the eastern capital.

Their mood is joyful.

Is it as simple as going to Beijing?Nobody thinks that way.

South is South, North is North, it's different.

The warriors in the north may be very strong, which can be seen from the Jin army's massacre in Jiangxi.But it is also true that they cannot adapt to the hot and humid climate in the south.

Also camped in one place, they are more likely to be overwhelmed by disease.

It may take some time to get used to it. After all, the people in many places in the south immigrated from the north.But these northern warriors obviously don't want to do this, they just want to go home quickly and leave this "damp land" that makes them feel very uncomfortable.

In addition, everyone doesn't think they are weak.

Galloping war horses, arrows like locusts, armor like a forest, and thick as a mountain, these are the advantages of the northern soldiers.

Walking through mountains and forests, climbing vines and cliffs, climbing mountains like flying, capable and agile, these are the characteristics of Nanbing.

The barbarians living in Wuguan [-] mountains and hot and humid jungles, and even the Dachanghe Kingdom, which is ready to move and has a wicked heart, also need southern soldiers who are familiar with geography and adapt to the climate to deter them.

Then, the south needs one or two imperial troops.This is determined by the objective situation and does not depend on anyone's will.

Pei Shaoqing, the supervisor of the army, has already handed over the details, and the soldiers and horses from all walks of life in the south will be reorganized.

Fujian Weiwu Army, Rongguan Ningyuan Army, Lingnan Xidao Zhenbing, Annanjing Navy, Guiguan Jingjiang Army, and Guangguan Qing Navy surrendered a total of nearly 5 people. Weak or dismissed, or stationed in various states, become state and county soldiers.

As for what will happen in the future, no one knows and no one cares about where they will make their home.They only knew that after fighting for so long, they finally got to eat the emperor's food, no wonder it was not easy.

Some people are happy and some are sad.

Some people are promoted and rewarded, and they are beaming;

This is reality and it happens every day.

******
After the four South China Sea ships sailed into the sea, they quickly adjusted their course.

The big food sailors skillfully steered the ship, heading north along the coastline.Encountered a bad weather on the way, but survived without any danger.

On March [-], they docked at Quanzhou Port to load and unload cargo and supply fresh water.

The sea breeze was blowing gently, and the birds and gulls landed on the mast, calling for friends and chirping.

The big food sailor cursed fiercely in an unknown language, and then instructed the Kunlun slave to carefully scrub the bird droppings on the deck.

Quanzhou is almost a smaller Guangzhou.

The father and son Wang Shenguo and Wang Yanbin have been in business for more than ten years. They are determined to forge ahead, vigorously support marine trade, and have achieved gratifying development.

If this momentum is maintained, it may not necessarily surpass Guangzhou one day.

Of course, Liu Yin thought it was unlikely.

His mood has improved so much that he has the leisure to observe the situation on the shore.

There are too many mountains near Quanzhou, one after another, even if there are plains, compared with Guangzhou, it is not worth mentioning, even Chaozhou.

People in Guangzhou have cultivated silkworm eggs adapted to the climate in south of the Five Ridges. What about the people in Fujian?

There are so many shops and workshops around Guangzhou that can produce all kinds of weird goods. What about the people in Fujian?

There are several 10 people in Guangzhou, and there are more than [-] foreigners alone. What about Fujian?

But when it comes to foreign visitors, Quanzhou seems to have gradually increased, and there is also the Hu Temple with very obvious characteristics.

snort!Brothers Wang Shenzhi and Wang Shenbei are indeed ambitious.

Back then, he lied to me that he wanted to marry Qin Jin.Now it seems that the secret tricks are constantly being made, and the effort to attract Hu merchants is to shake the status of Guangzhou.

If it weren't for Wang Shenzhi, who only had five prefectures, and the mountains were rugged, and he lacked food and clothing, he might have expanded abroad.Cai thief has always been like this and cannot be trusted.

A large number of small wooden boats rowed to the port.Dark-skinned fishermen hawk their catch, but no one cares.People on the sea almost vomit after eating fish, want you to sell it?

However, they have another product that is eye-catching.

The fishermen's wives and daughters put down their work and made gestures, making the sailors gulp.Soon someone negotiated the price and got down on the boat...

"Oh, life is not easy for the common people." Liu Yin sighed.

Liu Tai came over and looked at his elder brother, quite speechless.

The people under your rule are not much better!
Besides, isn't it common for common people to sell their wives and daughters?No one will think that there is anything wrong with supplementing the family and meeting the expenses of the whole family.Fill your stomach first, then you can talk about etiquette, righteousness and shame.

"What's the matter?" Liu Yin looked back and asked.

"My brother just came back from the shore, and I just asked about it. Some people said that Qian Liu offered his soil and surrendered, so he invited himself to the court." Liu Tai said.

"Qian Liu?" Liu Yin paused and said, "Qian Liu has also surrendered..."

"I don't know if it's true or not," Liu Tai said.

"Probably can't be fake." Liu Yin shook his head and said, "I have seen through Qian Liu a long time ago. He is the kind of person who is a bit ambitious, but he has no courage to fight. It was not rumored that Qian Liu prepared a dragon robe in the past. , said in Hangzhou that he is a widow, and still has a year name? It is groundless, not necessarily without reason. However, he can only do this. .”

Liu Tai smiled lightly when he heard this.

"In fact, Wang Shenzhi is also this kind of person." Liu Yin sneered: "But he is less courageous than Qian Liu. If the Central Plains is chaotic and there is no time to talk to him, he will close the door and be the emperor behind closed doors, but still Pride to the outside world. Now that the Central Plains are unified, the world is peaceful, and there are hundreds of thousands of tigers and wolves, he doesn't dare, he's a jerk."

Liu Tai didn't answer.

Warriors, are you really timid?Maybe, but Wang Shenzhi is not necessarily timid.The real reason may be that the strength of the five states in Fujian is seriously insufficient. If he has Qian Liu's capital, he may go too far.

Cai thief, how can there be a good person?
"Brother, let's go to Luoyang..." Liu Tai hesitated for a moment, then whispered.

"Sigh." Liu Yin sighed again, and said, "Don't think too much. We donated so much money, it can't be used at all, right?"

"That's right." Liu Tai sighed and said.

******
The fleet stayed in Quanzhou for some time, mainly waiting for a batch of goods.

In addition, the goods they sold have to wait for payment - also in the form of goods.

On the 25th, the four ships left the port one by one. Under the strong southeast wind, they cut through the waves and arrived in Mingzhou in only eight days.

Thank goodness the ship didn't sink along the way.Liu Yin got the permission and brought his family down to the shore to do some activities near the pier.

The further north you go, the more different the scenery becomes.

Mingzhou is quite similar to the Central Plains from various angles such as cities and villages.

Liu Yin is not a rude person. He knows that in 280 years before the Tang Dynasty, if there was any place in the south that developed the best before the hardships, it must be Huainan.After the hardships, a large number of people from Huainan and Henan went south, and the east and west roads in the south of the Yangtze River were also vigorously developed.

Yes, the large-scale development of Jiangdong and Jiangxi is undoubtedly the credit of the former Tang Dynasty.

Especially after the hardships, the imperial court could not receive much money in the north-of course, the feudal towns that did not deal with the imperial court needless to say, and the feudal towns that obeyed the imperial court also had to raise a large number of warriors to guard against disobedient feudal towns. We can only manage Jiangnan well.

The imperial court of the former Tang Dynasty continuously sent capable officials to the feudal towns of eastern Zhejiang, western Zhejiang, and Jiangxi, and organized immigrants—the Tibetan captives captured by Hehuang were even exiled to Wuyue in batches.

After 150 years, the results are very good.

Brothers Liu Yin and Liu Tai were wandering on the pier, followed by a civil official and several warriors, who were also looking around.

"Qian Liu offered such a piece of fertile land that has not been burned by war. I am afraid that it will become prosperous." Liu Tai looked at the rows of shops and restaurants near the pier and exclaimed.

Although it does not look as good as Guangzhou, it is not far behind.A rich place like Mingzhou has the heart to donate it, Qian Liu is really...

"The two Zhejiang provinces didn't experience much war, only Qiu Fu and Dong Chang had a lot of quarrels and trade flourished. After being incorporated into Xiatu, Luoyang will receive a large sum of money and taxes." Liu Yin sighed.

Xia Ting's financial shortcomings were severely made up for.

In the future, the North will raise hundreds of thousands of soldiers and fight abroad.Jiangnan does not need to raise soldiers, but pays taxes exclusively.If there is no problem with this model, the foundation of the Great Xia court will be really difficult to shake.

This is actually the model after the Anshi Rebellion.

Xuanwu Town raises [-] troops, Hedong Town raises [-] troops, Tianping Army raises [-] troops, Taining Army raises [-] troops...

And a feudal town in the south of the Yangtze River only has a few thousand soldiers, or even one or two thousand, which saves a lot of expenses and sends them all to the court.

Shao Shude made good use of the model explored by the 150-year separatist regime, which in turn ended all kinds of separatist forces and stabilized the unified world.

For the first time, Liu Yin felt that this new imperial court might also have hundreds of years of luck.

The world has really changed.