The rise of the prince

Chapter 711 True Lies
In November, the Mongolian Qiyan tribe, the Kele tribe and some small tribes were called by the Kingdom of Jin to attack the Tatar tribe.

Jebe, the pioneer of the Qiyan tribe, first pretended to be defeated and defeated the Tatar outpost, then gave up the pursuit and drove more than a hundred horses back, then went the opposite way and went south to avoid the pursuit, but did not run away, and then turned back at night, following the pursuing army , Attacking at night, defeated the Tatar forward army of more than 500 people in one fell swoop, and returned with thousands of cattle and horses.

Before the main force of the Qiyan tribe arrived, the Tatars had already been beaten dizzy by the pioneers of the Qiyan tribe.

The Tatars, who lost their troops and lost their generals, were afraid. The Jin army was to the east, and the coalition forces were to the west, and the Qiyan tribe was the first to sweat. Temujin’s father was killed by the Tatars. Under such a great hatred, the Tatars were afraid Had to flee north.

This incident caused a storm in the north, but in the southern Central Plains, few people paid attention to it, except for Li Xingzhou.

It was November, and the cold of winter began to permeate the streets and alleys. Every morning, the stall owners selling hot food at the entrance of the Wangfu put on thick coats.

Nowadays, there are many workers working in the Wangfu, and this place has become a crowded place. Of course, it is easy for stall owners to do business here, but it also makes the entrance of the Wangfu crowded.

Yan Kun, Qi Fang and others suggested several times to expel these people, but Li Xingzhou did not.

It's not that he is soft-hearted, but that these people are beneficial to improve the work efficiency of workers. Most of their buyers are workers working in the palace. They will work until noon at noon, and they can't stand it without eating in the morning. This business opportunity.

And if the workers get up early to make meals by themselves, they have to get up for about an hour. After all, there were no induction cookers or microwave ovens in ancient times, so they had to light up the stove and take their time.

This means that if these stall owners are not allowed to do business, some workers will have to rest for about an hour a day, their mental state will be poor, and their work efficiency will also drop. This is not good for the palace. Obviously they did not see this.

Li Xingzhou asked Yan Gu to set aside a special area by the river and set up a low fence for these stall owners to use. At the same time, he told them that as long as they cleaned up every day when they left, they would not be charged any money.

The stall owners were grateful to Dade and called him a living Bodhisattva. Li Xingzhou just smiled and joked with them.

Then there was the banquet in Tingyu Tower at the end of October. Qifang invited him to the banquet, which made him jealous in poetry. In fact, Qifang was not alone, and there were some sea merchants in the south.

The main purpose was to finalize the order for the Wangfu Shipyard, and he himself was very curious about what these businessmen saw and heard.

China's "Maritime Silk Road" sprouted in the Shang and Zhou dynasties, developed in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, formed in the Qin and Han Dynasties, prospered in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and declined in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It is the oldest known sea route.The China Maritime Silk Road is divided into two routes, the East China Sea route and the South China Sea route, with the South China Sea as the center.

The South China Sea Silk Road runs from China through the Indochina Peninsula and the countries of the South China Sea, crosses the Indian Ocean, enters the Red Sea, reaches East Africa and Europe, and passes through more than 100 countries and regions. It has become a major maritime channel for trade and cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries.

The East China Sea mainly trades with the Korean Peninsula, Japan and other places.

This huge ocean trade network and demand also made the draught of sunken ships salvaged in the Song Dynasty reach six to seven hundred tons, far exceeding all shipbuilding technologies in the world at that time.

But now these businessmen are looking for the Wangfu to buy big ships, obviously because the big ships of the Wangfu are more advanced and can better meet their needs for maritime trade. Among them is Feng Cheng, who was the merchant who guided the Dizhi fleet and raided the Liao Kingdom from the sea. He was also going to add an official to him, but he declined. In the end, Li Xingzhou made the decision and replaced it with silver rewards. After all, everyone has their own ambitions. Feng Cheng said that he prefers drifting on the sea.

He was also very happy to meet again, and Li Xingzhou also admired him very much, and talked a lot with him, and told him a lot of knowledge, especially the knowledge of the countries around the Persian Gulf.

The businessmen saw that he was interested, so they chattered. They traveled outside all year round, learned a lot, and talked a lot. They even spoke some languages ​​of the countries and regions around the Persian Gulf. The results were different and different.

In this way, there are dialects from various places in Jingguo alone, not to mention the Persian Gulf region where the forces are mixed and religious conflicts are serious.

They also speak of invaders from the far west, who, according to their description, were clearly crusaders.This shows that the Crusades have begun, but I don't know how many times.

According to their description, they should have reached the end of the Red Sea. Since there was no Suez Canal at this time, the fleet could not enter the Mediterranean Sea.

However, they can still go ashore to do business and reach countries around the Mediterranean Sea.

They also named the cities around the Red Sea according to the pronunciation of the local people. The two big cities that are often traded are called Adan and Tianfang.

He didn't know the city the merchants were talking about, he only knew that it should be on the Red Sea, and such a name with the characteristics of the Central Plains must have been transliterated by them.

After listening to them talk for a long time, Li Xingzhou was still very interested. As expected, without Yelu Dashi, the overlord of Central Asia was still the Seljuk Empire in the north of the Persian Gulf, and Christianity was the main belief in Central Asia.

Although the kingdom of Khwarazm is powerful, it is not the opponent of the Seljuk Empire at this time, and the Seljuk Empire also defeated the Crusades.

But this time, there is no Yelu Dashi to help them defeat the Seljuk Empire, so whether Khwarazmo can rise has become a question.

Everyone chatted happily. Li Xingzhou readily agreed to the orders of these merchants, but he also made a request. He asked all the merchants to record what they saw along the way, the geography of coastal countries, and the navigation parameters, and report it to the palace every time they came back.

The reason was that he wanted to thank him for what he had seen and heard. This was a simple matter, and it could be a favor, so everyone agreed.

In this way, after the banquet was over, Li Xingzhou took orders for twelve large ships for the Wangfu Shipyard one after another, enough for the Wangfu to produce for a year or two.

After everyone dispersed, Li Xingzhou rejected the gifts they gave one by one, and said that everyone would act according to the contract and not receive extra gifts, and the businessmen were even more grateful.

He left Feng Cheng to talk, and asked curiously, "Where are you going next time?"

"My lord, we are going to buy some silk and satin, porcelain, and go to Tianfang, where they can be sold for several times the price." Feng Cheng said excitedly: "In the past, when we went to those places by boat, people would come to watch and marvel at them. Because our ships are huge, even local castellan will come to see us on their own initiative.

They marveled at our ships and our technology, and they were in awe, and they didn't dare to think about us. After we discussed it, we told the locals that we came from a powerful Eastern Empire with a huge sea fleet. If we are violated , will be punished. "

Li Xingzhou asked him after listening, "Will it work?"

Feng Cheng nodded and smiled, "Although it's a lie, but seeing our big ship, it's several times the size of theirs, most people believe it. Few people from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea dare to trouble us. The city lord protects us. Pirate boats are no threat to our ships at sea.

This time, with the big ship built by the palace, when we sail into the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea again, the locals will definitely drop their jaws in shock, and believe even more in such legends, business travelers from the east will be safer and more respected. "

Li Xingzhou nodded, looked into the distance and said, "Maybe one day, what you said will become a true lie."

(End of this chapter)