Great Song Super Scholar

Chapter 516 First Arrival in Quanzhou
On the tenth day of the first lunar month, before the discussion about Fan Ning was completely over, Fan Ning, the person involved, left the capital with dozens of soldiers and rushed to Quanzhou to take office.

At the same time, the Cao family also urgently held a family meeting. Fan Ning was appointed as an overseas strategic envoy. The rich content and huge business opportunities contained in it shocked many dignitaries in the capital and called important family members to discuss the matter.

Cao Cong was already old, but he was well maintained and in good spirits. He said slowly to a dozen members of Cao's core family: "The Cao family has harvested more than one million gold from Kunzhou in these years, and the huge wealth is effectively maintained. The status of the Cao family in the Song Dynasty was confirmed. The Cao family was a forerunner, so they were able to obtain huge benefits. It is the success of the Cao family and the Gao family that has made other powerful families jealous. After Fan Ning returned to the Song Dynasty, the late emperor Overseas development has been frozen, and I think everyone understands what it means for Fanning to return to the Overseas Management Office this time."

Speaking of this, Cao Cong glanced at Cao Yi, "Sanlang, you visited Fan Ning yesterday, tell everyone about it."

Cao Yi stroked his beard and said, "This time Fan Ning's return to the overseas economic and strategy government has indeed caused great controversy in the court. Many court officials, including the "Chao Bao" and "Tabao", said that Fan Ning is the power The loser of the rebasing was expelled from the court, but Fan Ning told me yesterday that his return to the Overseas Economics Mansion was actually decided by the late emperor when he took office in the Yingtian Mansion the year before last."

Cao Yi's words immediately caused a slight discussion in the hall, and Cao Cong said again: "Shi'er, tell me a few words!"

Although Cao Shi is not the eldest grandson, he is the leader of the fourth generation of the Cao family. He will soon marry Princess Yan, the eldest daughter of the first emperor. Shaoqing is also young and promising, because he once served as the magistrate of Han County in Kunzhou, so he also has the brand of overseas school.

Cao Shi got up and bowed to her grandfather, and said loudly: "Fan Ning's appointment as an overseas economic and strategic envoy is by no means excluded from the imperial court, but the late emperor's decree to resume overseas expansion. According to the information I have received, Fan Ning's appointment is actually the emperor's appointment. According to the proposal of the late emperor's last decree, approved by the empress dowagers of the two palaces and unanimously passed by the Zhizheng Hall, this is the truth, if I don't see this, the Cao family will lose a huge opportunity."

Cao Cong nodded, and said to everyone: "This is what I want to say. The Gao family has decided to set up a trading company in Quanzhou and form a fleet of distant sea fleets. The Cao family must not lag behind, and this time it may involve deeper issues. thing."

"What is it?" Cao Cong's son Cao Yu couldn't help asking.

Cao Cong glanced at him and said slowly, "Land!"

There was an explosion in the lobby. The Cao family was not stupid, and they knew the meaning of the land the owner said. If the Cao family obtained a piece of land overseas that did not belong to the Song Dynasty, what would it mean?
Cao Cong continued: "Zhu Yuanfeng once got an island in Kunzhou, called Zhuque Island. He once meant that this island belonged to him, it was his land, and had nothing to do with Song Dynasty, but that time he failed, and Zhuque Island was still the same It is part of Kunzhou, no different from buying a manor in the Central Plains, but this time it may be different, the land acquired overseas may belong to the Cao family forever, and has nothing to do with the Song Dynasty."

"Patriarch, how likely is this?" A clansman asked.

Cao Cong shook his head, "I don't know, there is such a saying, but I believe that if you completely get a piece of land, the possibility of becoming a king overseas is the greatest. It belongs to the Song Dynasty, but at the same time it can stand on its own."

"Patriarch, what do we need to do?"

Cao Cong smiled slightly: "We need to prepare a fleet of ocean-going ships, and at the same time start recruiting a large number of Zhuang Ding. The wealth we obtained in Kunzhou will come in handy."

In fact, not only the Cao family, but many noble families in the capital realized that another opportunity to distribute wealth overseas was coming, and the major families sent people with a lot of money to go south with a lot of money, preparing to establish their own foundation in Quanzhou.

Since the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Quanzhou has been an overseas trade port as famous as Yangzhou and Guangzhou. In the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty, it gradually surpassed Guangzhou and became the largest port in the Song Dynasty.

Quanzhou Port mainly imports spices, medicines, treasures, precious woods, dyes, metals, cotton cloth, etc., and exports mainly silk and porcelain. In places like East Africa and East Africa, thousands of merchants gather and sea ships are densely populated. Overseas barbarians can be seen everywhere in Quanzhou City, and many overseas barbarians even settled in Quanzhou, bringing different cultures and religions.

The Overseas Economic Strategy Office was originally located in Yangzhou, but it was officially moved to Quanzhou six years ago. The first overseas economic strategy envoy was Zhao Zongshi, the second was Di Qing, and Fan Ning was the third. Each had a clear goal. During his term of office, he mainly managed Lue Danzhou and Kunzhou. During his second term, he mainly managed Liuqiu Prefecture and Beiliuqiu County. Now he is Fan Ning's third term, and his goal may be Nanyang.

On a fine afternoon, Fan Ning’s sea boat arrived at Quanzhou Port. Quanzhou Port is a shimmering bay, surrounded by low and gentle hills. natural harbor.

There are tens of thousands of ships in the bay, and there are as many as thousands of large ships with a size of more than ten thousand stones. There are also many sea ships that were not made in the Song Dynasty, but came from Persia, Arabia and other places. Sea-going ships appear to be small and flimsy, and their ability to withstand wind and waves is far different. Many foreign businessmen like to take the sea-going ships of Song Dynasty.

Quanzhou City, also known as Jinjiang County, is about ten miles away from the seaport, and is separated by a hill that stretches for more than ten miles. The Jinjiang River flows through the county and directly flows into the bay.

The big ship that Fan Ning took sailed directly from the estuary into the Jinjiang River, and after going back more than ten miles, entered the county town and docked at a large wharf.

When Fan Ning stepped down from the big boat, he saw Di Qing who came to meet him. After more than ten years, Di Qing had white beard and hair, but he was still full of energy and his back was straight. When he saw Fan Ning, he immediately greeted him with a big smile. When they got up, they hugged each other heavily, and Di Qing said with a smile: "I knew you were here to take over from me, and I finally expected you to come!"

Fan Ning also sighed, "Mr. Di has guarded here alone for so many years, I feel ashamed!"

"I'm ashamed. I didn't start my overseas business, so I will rely on Shijun Fan in the future."

Fan Ning shook his head. This is not Di Qing's responsibility. It was Zhao Zhen who froze overseas development. Everyone knew this well. Fan Ning introduced several officials accompanying him to Di Qing, and Di Qing took Fan Ning overseas. Jingluefu.

The Overseas Economics Mansion is directly opposite the wharf. It is a street away and it takes dozens of steps to walk there. The Jinglue Mansion covers an area of ​​about [-] acres and is magnificent. There are soldiers standing guard at the gate.

Di Qing led Fan Ning into the lobby, and the two briefly held a power transfer ceremony, and Fan Ning officially became the owner of the Jinglue Mansion.

The two sat down, Di Qing asked the tea boy to serve tea, and said to Fan Ning: "The development of Ryukyu Mansion has been completely stopped. So far, only a part of the northern part has been developed, and a county town has been built with more than a thousand households and 3000 troops. , In the past few years, I have devoted all my energy to training soldiers, but I have trained an elite navy."

"There should be mines in the Ryukyu Mansion, right?" Fan Ning asked again.

"It's still the same silver mines before. The third department stopped the approval of all mines, and the overseas economic and strategic government was not allowed to violate the regulations. Also, last time I applied to relocate [-] households to the Ryukyu government. Let it go."

Fan Ning smiled slightly: "The application for relocating 2 households to the Ryukyu Mansion has been approved, but it is not a one-time relocation, but divided into five-year relocation. In addition, the third division has also delegated the approval power of mines and land to After taking over the Jinglue Mansion, the army of the Jinglue Mansion will expand to 3000 people, and at the same time, I have won the troop deployment tiger charm and the combat gold medal, and I can launch wars with less than [-] people overseas with full authority."

Di Qing's eyes widened when he heard this, and he sighed after a while: "I understand, the second round of overseas development is really about to start in your hands."

Fan Ning shook his head, "There is a lot of power and pressure. The Zhizheng Tang will not delegate power if it is not beneficial. It requires the Economic and Strategy Office to completely solve the problem of overseas food self-sufficiency starting next year, and to input 1000 million fiscal and tax revenues to the imperial court every year. , Of course, the 1000 million guan also includes Kunzhou."

Di Qing frowned, 1000 million guan, he said with embarrassment: "Kunzhou and Ryukyu Mansion alone may not be enough for 1000 million guan."

"I've thought about this issue. Food self-sufficiency is not a problem at all. We have a small population and we can solve it by relying on military settlements. Besides, Kunzhou has a large grain output. It is also a good way to transfer some of Kunzhou's grain appropriately. As for 1000 million guan, the current 300 million guan in Kunzhou is stable every year. I plan to develop the placer gold in Jingzhou. In addition, war horses will be imported to Dasong next year. It is estimated that 500 horses will be imported into Dasong every year, calculated on the basis of 500 guans per horse. Guangkun State’s annual taxation amounts to [-] million guan, and the Ryukyu Mansion mainly produces timber, aquatic products, fruits, and ores, and cannot provide too many resources for the time being, so the annual [-] million guan has to be obtained from Nanyang.”

Di Qing understood a little bit, "So your strategic focus in the past few years has been on Nanyang."

Fanning nodded slowly, "Exactly!
(End of this chapter)