Great Song Super Scholar

Chapter 482
In the blink of an eye, it was September in the seventh year of Huangyou, and the reform of the Jingdong Road Xiang Army finally came to an end.

In the Laizhou military camp, [-] Xiangjun soldiers are rehearsing their formation. Yellow dust is billowing on the martial arts arena, and [-] long guns are neatly aligned. There is a cold light shining and a murderous look. "Kill—" followed by a majestic shout of killing. When he got up, the soldier retracted his gun in an instant, standing upright like three thousand statues of warriors, motionless.

Fan Ning, who was inspecting the martial arts performance on the viewing platform, nodded. It was not bad. He smiled to Luo Lin, the capital commander next to him: "It is a little stronger than Yunzhou, and it can rank third among the six major military camps, second only to Ying Tianfu. The barracks and the Xuzhou barracks."

"Thank you for your praise!"

As we all know, after a year of training, Ying Tianfu is definitely the first, the Xuzhou military camp is second, and he can be ranked third, Luo Lin is already very satisfied.

Fan Ning said again: "Get ready to go to Yingtian Mansion! After a month of joint practice in Yingtian Mansion, we will go to Beijing to practice, and our reform will be considered complete."

Luo Lin said in a low voice: "There are rumors that we will turn into the imperial army. Does the comforter think this is possible?"

Fan Ning nodded, "It's possible. From the point of view of morale and training, you are much stronger than Yingtianfu's forbidden army. You can be called an elite army. The emperor may be tempted, but I'm not sure now. Some institutional issues."

"Humble job understands!"

Fan Ning smiled and said: "Everyone has worked hard today, please reward the brothers, let everyone rest for a day, and leave for Yingtian Mansion tomorrow."

Luo Lin nodded silently, Fan Ning got up and left.

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, Fan Ning came out from Yingtian Mansion to inspect the various military camps. He spent almost a whole month on the road. After inspecting the last Laizhou military camp, it was time for him to respond to Tianfu.

As soon as Fan Ning left the barracks, Zhu Bao galloped forward on horseback, bowed and said, "Master, there is news from the state government that there is an acquaintance of yours at the harbor."

Fan Ning was taken aback, he only arrived in Laizhou yesterday, how could there be any acquaintances of his at the harbor?
He pondered for a moment, then ordered: "Go to the harbor!"

He led the crowd to the harbour.

Laizhou Port, also known as Qingdao Port today, is one of the four major ports of the Song Dynasty, after Quanzhou, Guangzhou, and Mingzhou Ports. It mainly does business with Korea and Japan, and is also the station of the Laizhou Navy.

When Fan Ning came to the port, he saw more than a dozen Wanshi ships moored on several piers, but that was. Fan Ning narrowed his eyes, and he saw the flag of Fan's Trading Company, which was the Nine Star Flag designed by himself. However, these dozens of large ships turned out to be sea ships of Fan's Trading Company!

"A-Ning!" Someone called him faintly in the distance, the voice was a little vague, and it was not clear whose voice it was.

Seeing a person rushing towards him, Fan Ning was slightly taken aback. How could he be a Kunlun slave, as black as charcoal? Could it be that the fleet has been to Africa?
After a while, the black man ran close, Fan Ning recognized him, and suddenly laughed dumbfounded, how could Ming Ren become so black.

He also stepped forward quickly, and the two hugged tightly, and both laughed happily. The two hadn't seen each other for almost three years. The last time they met was the second year when Fan Ning was at home. Return home from Quanzhou to visit relatives.

"Mingren, why are you in Laizhou?"

"Is it strange? When I came back from Changqi, Japan, I just heard a few officials from the prefectural government say that you are in Laizhou."

Akihito was very enthusiastic, he took Fan Ning's arm and said, "Get on the boat, I'll show you something, maybe it's what you want."

"What is it?" Fanning asked curiously.

Akihito smiled mysteriously, "Just follow me!"

Akihito's boat was a [-] shi sea-going ship, which was only built the year before last, and had already been to Southeast Asia and Japan. Fan Ning boarded the ship through a soft ladder, and the deck was busy, with dozens of sailors still busy unloading. Their goods are mainly lacquerware, copperware, pearls and precious seashells. The goods are packed in large wooden boxes and slowly hoisted to the pier with ropes.

"Our firm has three large warehouses in Laizhou Port. The goods we bought this time are easy to store, and we are not in a hurry to put them on the market."

"How is the situation of the firm?" Fan Ning asked casually. He hadn't read the firm's report for almost two years.

Fan Ning, Ming Ren, and Ming Li each account for [-]% of Fan's business, and the other [-]% goes to Zhu's family, which is managed by Zhu Yuanfu's second son Zhu Xiaolin. After several years of development, the business has become very large. Two years ago, the business owned There are as many as [-] large ships, ranking fifth among the maritime merchants in the Song Dynasty. I don't know what is going on now.

Akihito smiled triumphantly, "We have 130 ships above [-] shi, and as many as [-] inland ships from [-] shi to [-] shi. We bought an inland wharf in Jingkou. There are not only sea ships, inland river fleets, warehouses, pier, and"

Fan Ning interrupted him with a wave of his hand, "What I want to ask is about overseas trade. Have you established overseas bases?"

"There are too many overseas countries. To the north are Japan and Korea, as well as the Sulu Kingdom, Chenla Kingdom, Java Kingdom, Srivijaya Kingdom, Lion Kingdom, Tianzhu, Persia, etc. The farthest is Dashi. At present, the business houses are in Japan, Java China and Lion Country bought land to build warehouses and docks. Speaking of which, the land there is ridiculously cheap. 100 taels of silver can buy a piece of land as big as Wu County. We bought land in Java and Johor. Hundred miles of land."

The two talked and walked, and soon came to Ming Ren's cabin. Ming Ren asked Fan Ning to sit down, took out a box the size of a basketball from a large box, put it on the table and pushed it to Fan Ning.

"what is this?"

"See for yourself, it's a rare thing."

Fan Ning slowly opened the box, and suddenly he jumped up in shock. Inside the box was a pumpkin and a corn weighing seven to eight catties. Fan Ning's eyes were straightened. This is something unique to America. Where did Akihito come from? Made it?
Seeing his surprised expression, Akihito smiled triumphantly and said: "I got it by accident in Java. Every time our ship docked at the port of Java, we would buy daily necessities by canoe from natives from various islands in all directions. One day I accidentally found these two things in his boat, they seemed to be their food for crossing the sea, they came from Java, and it seemed that they were planted on their small islands."

Fan Ning was surprised and delighted. His guess was correct. The natives of the Pacific Islands did go to America, got pumpkin and corn seeds, and planted them when they returned. The Song Dynasty did not find out until the Western colonialists in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. These high-quality agricultural products were not introduced until the Central Plains Dynasty when they were planted on a large scale in Nanyang.

He had specifically instructed Mingren before, so he took it to heart and searched carefully. After so many years, he finally got something.

"Anything else?" asked Fanning again.

"You have seen other things, such as Balala and Galaba, which are all Nanyang fruits. It seems that they are already sold in the capital."

Balala and Galaba refer to bananas and coconuts. There are quite a few in Ryukyu Prefecture, and a large number of them are shipped to the capital. They have been sold in some shops in the capital, but the price is very expensive. Fan Ning has seen it with his own eyes. A bunch of ten The price of bananas is ten guan, which is equivalent to one guan, and only the rich and powerful can afford it.

Coconuts are a little cheaper, and there are more coconuts in the south, but it costs several hundred pennies to transport them to the capital.

Fan Ning nodded, "These two are good things! Especially this corn, which can be used as food. I will send it back to the countryside of Wu County and let my third uncle grow it."

"You call it corn?"

"Isn't it? Each one is like jade."

"It's also very vivid."

Speaking of jade, Mingren suddenly thought of something, quickly found a small palm-sized box from the box, put it on the table and said with a smile: "I have never seen my nephew or niece! This is the one I bought in the Lion Kingdom." The two gems that I got, I will give one to each of them.”

The Lion Country was later Sri Lanka, famous for its rich gemstones, and the fleet also purchased spices and gemstones there many times, but Akihito picked out the two gemstones so solemnly as gifts for his children, which made Fanning look forward to it up.

He slowly opened the box, and there was a layer of velvet inside. On the velvet were two sapphires, each about the size of a jujube. This kind of large sapphire is also sold in the capital, and it costs about one thousand guan.

But this blue is not light blue, but dark blue, this is cornflower sapphire!The best of the best.

That's right, this is the cornflower sapphire that was later produced in Kashmir. How could it appear in the lion country?
Of course, this must be a sapphire produced in the Lion Kingdom, but its appearance is very rare and cannot be seen in the market, no wonder Akihito cherishes it so much.

"I bought this by accident last year. There are five sapphires in total. I keep two for myself and one for Mingli. I'll give you these two. Such fine sapphires are probably only found in the palace. You can buy them outside." Money can’t buy it.”

"Then I'm welcome."

Fan Ning put away the gem and asked with a smile, "Where are you planning to go next?"

"I'm going to go to Sulu country again. I plan to exchange five hundred bolts of silk and satin for an island from the king of Sulu. I have taken a fancy to an island a long time ago. It is very narrow and long. Its southern end is very close to Boni country, which is rich in spices. Across the strait, King Sulu promised to sell it to me last time, but he didn’t want money, but five hundred bolts of silk.”

Fan Ning thought for a while, Boni country is the later Malaysia and Brunei, the terrain is long and narrow, and it is very close to Boni country, isn't it Palawan Island?

(End of this chapter)