Great Song Super Scholar

Chapter 517 The First Day in Quanzhou
Di Qing left Quanzhou by boat early the next morning, returned to the capital, and started a new life, even if it was not very pleasant. To be honest, he really stayed in Quanzhou enough. Ning, it has nothing to do with him.

One morning, Fan Ning met his subordinates in the official office of the Jinglue Mansion. There are more than 30 officials in the official office of the Jinglue Mansion, most of whom are low-ranking officials of the seventh, eighth or ninth grade. More than half of them have not been converted to Beijing officials. These young officials Maybe they are inexperienced, but they are all full of vigor and determination, and they all want to make a career and have the achievements of becoming a Beijing official, so the officials of Jinglue Mansion welcome Fan Ning's arrival very much.

Welcome back, but Fan Ning did not meet them at lunch, but stayed with Ming Ren and Ming Li. The two brothers knew Fan Ning was coming yesterday, and after waiting for Di Qing to leave, they came to find Fan Ning immediately.

The two brothers hosted a banquet in the best Jinjiang restaurant in the city to clean up Fan Ning's dust. This Jinjiang restaurant was the capital invested by the two.

"You two, don't expect me to help you when I come, but I need your help. My eyes are dark now and I need your information."

Mingli and Mingren looked at each other, Mingren said: "The first advice we give you is not to trust Mr. Di's words too much, especially Ryukyu Mansion, you will be disappointed if you go there."

"Why?" Fanning asked puzzled.

"The 3000 households in Ryukyu Prefecture desperately want to come back. There are [-] troops stationed there. The only thing they have to do is to prevent the people from coming back. Compared with Kunzhou, there is simply too far behind. Miasma, poisonous insects , natives, these three things seriously threaten the survival of the common people.”

Ming Li also interjected: "Actually, miasma is not a big problem. There are medicines to avoid it. As for poisonous insects, there are no in the city. They are mainly encountered when farming outside the city. The biggest problem is the natives, who come and go like the wind and use poisonous arrows. Shooting and killing farmers, at least hundreds of farmers have died under their poisonous arrows over the years, which is scary, so even if the tax is exempted, the people don’t want to stay there.”

"Why didn't the army encircle and suppress?"

Akihito curled his lips, "I have to ask Di Shuai about this. I guess he doesn't have the right to fight. Unlike you in Japan, you can fight the Japanese army with full power. Di Shuai's hands and feet are bound and he can only defend passively."

Fan Ning nodded. In two days, he would go to Ryukyu Mansion to see it with his own eyes.

Fan Ning asked Mingren again, "Did you get it on the island of Sulu Kingdom?"

When talking about the island, Ming Ren looked angrily, "Don't mention it, that King Sulu is an out-and-out despicable villain. He gave him five hundred bolts of silk and satin, but he only gave me a small house two miles long and wide." The island is full of stones, there is no fresh water, and the surrounding reefs are densely covered, and ships cannot approach it. I went to King Sulu to settle the account, and he said that I heard wrong. He won't sell a bolt of satin."

Fan Ning smiled and asked again: "Is there a large population in Sulu Kingdom?"

"Very few, tens of thousands of people at most, do you want to use them as labor?"

Ming Ren and Ming Li are so shrewd, they guessed Fan Ning's intention in an instant.

Fan Ning slapped his head, and he suddenly remembered an important thing. Sulu Kingdom was named by himself, but the Sulu Kingdom in history did not appear until hundreds of years later. Now there are at most indigenous tribes there. The king Ming Ren said, It should be Luzon, not Sulu.

After thinking this through, he quickly asked, "Are these tens of thousands of people ruled by a single king, or are they just some tribes, big and small, like the Kun people?"

Mingren thought for a while and said, "It's a small country. The king is called Ming Mingda. He is despicable and shameless. The population of the small country is at most [-] to [-]. They are all short blacks. They use slash-and-burn farming to cultivate the land. It is very backward. There are no cities, but they are built with wood. The royal palace, but it is rich in gold, which is very attractive."

Fan Ning understood that since there is a large plain, it is the Luzon Kingdom, not the Sulu Kingdom. He asked again, "What about the islands to the south?"

Mingren said again: "The islands in the south are full of tribes, large and small. As far as I know, there are thirteen tribes in total. Each tribe has more than a thousand people. There are wars every year, killing each other. To be honest, the fighting power is very weak. , are all small blacks, with earthen bows and spears, if the Song army passes by, 1000 people can wipe out all the tribes."

Fan Ning did the math, the population of Luzon is not large, it is unrealistic to use labor to develop the Ryukyu Prefecture, so he had to find another way, and if it didn't work, he continued to recruit Japanese labor.

The three chatted for a while, Mingli asked: "Aunt, siblings, are they all coming?"

Fan Ning nodded, "They will live in Quanzhou."

"Where is the official house enough to live in? You have to find another way."

Fan Ning has already seen the official houses built by Di Qing. They are all small houses of two or three mu. A lot of courtyards have been repaired backwards. Fifty or sixty courtyards have been built, but none of them are eye-catching.

Fan Ning smiled and said, "I'm going to discuss this matter with you, what suggestions do you have?"

Mingren leaned on the chair and smiled, "There are many wealthy businessmen in Quanzhou, and there are many mansions. It depends on what you want."

Fan Ning smiled slightly, "I see that there are many mountains in Quanzhou City. I hope there are mountains in my mansion. I can buy the house instead of renting it."

Mingren and Mingli discussed in a low voice, and Mingli said: "How about Dongping Mountain? There are many big houses built on the mountain in Dongping Mountain, all of which are about [-] to [-] mu."

Dongping Mountain is a horizontal mountain that separates the county town from the seaport. It is about [-] miles long and tens of feet high. The mountain is densely forested and the scenery is beautiful. Fan Ning thought for a moment and said, "I see that there are many small hills in the city. It's only ten acres in size, very delicate, is there any house like this?"

Ming Li laughed and said, "The one you mentioned is called the Dushan House, which is the top mansion in Quanzhou. There are only three in Quanzhou, and they are all old houses that have been built for decades. I'll ask my father-in-law for you. "

Ming Li's father-in-law is the largest wealthy family in Quanzhou, named Li Yao, Fan Ning just smiled lightly, he did not reject Ming Li's kindness, the two brothers have been businessmen for a long time, and they still don't quite understand the meaning of power.

After lunch, Fan Ning led a dozen of his entourages on horseback to patrol the city. The weather today was fine and the sun was shining brightly. Although it was January, the temperature in Quanzhou was very suitable, just like the mid-spring in the northern country, when the sea breeze blows, making people feel refreshed.

There are many pedestrians on the street, and businessmen from foreign lands can be seen everywhere. The local population of Quanzhou is about 20, but the total population of Quanzhou has exceeded [-]. There are many shops on the street, all kinds of markets can be seen everywhere, and the commerce is very developed.

At this time, Fan Ning stopped in front of a mansion. This mansion covers at least fifty acres. There is a semicircular hill in the mansion. It is high in the north and low in the south. This is not an artificial hill, but a real hill. , covering an area of ​​about [-] mu, with lush forests on the mountain, faint pavilions and pavilions can be seen, and a waterfall formed by a mountain spring stream flows down from the top of the northern mountain. The scenery is beautiful and beautiful.

Fan Ning immediately became interested, and turned to Zhu Long and said, "Go and have a look, I'll pay a visit to the owner here!"

Zhu Long got off his horse and ran towards the front door. He knocked on the door for a long time, and the door opened a crack. It seemed that someone was talking to him. After a while, Zhu Long came back and reported: "Reporting to the officials, the owner of this house is not staying. In Quanzhou, there is only one old man looking after the house."

Fan Ning immediately became more interested. If the owner is not in Quanzhou, there is a possibility of a deal.

He smiled and said, "Go in and have a look!"

The old gatekeepers heard that they were high-ranking officials of the imperial court, so they didn't dare to stop them, so they had to let Fan Ning enter the house, and Fan entered the mansion.

But when he entered the backyard, Fan Ning's eyes suddenly brightened. At the foot of the mountain, there was a lake covering an area of ​​about seven or eight acres. The hill and lake alone covered an area of ​​nearly [-] acres. There are five or six courtyards, and the hills are surrounded by huge stones. Even if it rains, the mud on the hills will not overflow. A path paved with stone slabs leads directly to the top of the hill, and various pavilions and pavilions are built on both sides of the path.

Although this giant house is not as exquisitely built as the houses in the capital city, it is very natural. It is really beautiful, and it has the feeling of a manor.

"Who is your master?" Fanning asked with a smile.

The old man rolled his tongue and said in broken official Chinese: "My master's surname is Cheng, and he is currently doing business in Min County, Fuzhou."

The old family went back to the house and took a name card for Fan Ning. Fan Ning looked at the name card. The name was Cheng Long. The name looked familiar. He thought about it for a while, and suddenly realized that the leader of the Changqi Song Dynasty merchants was called Cheng Long. ?Could it be him.

Fan Ning asked with a smile: "Your master is from Yuhang County. He has a son named Cheng Qing who used to do business in Japan."

The old family was startled, "How did the officials know?"

Fan Ning laughed, "Your master and I are old friends, and your family members are still my subordinates, so he is still in Kunzhou!"

"Is the official's surname Fan?"

"It seems that the old man knows me too!"

The old family quickly knelt down and said: "It turns out that it is the official Fan, and the villain Cheng Dong is Cheng Yuanwai's uncle, guarding the house for him."

Fan Ning quickly helped him up and asked, "Is the old man from Yuhang?"

"I am a native of Quanzhou, and Cheng Yuanwai's mother is from Quanzhou."

Fan Ning nodded, "Can the old man please inform Cheng Yuanwai to come to Quanzhou for a visit, I have something to ask him."

The old man smiled and said, "He will come to Quanzhou tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. He still has a business here, and he often comes to Quanzhou."

"Will Cheng Yuan live here when he comes to Quanzhou?"

The old man shook his head and said: "He usually doesn't live here, it's too big and deserted here, and he still has a house in the city, on the side of the pier."

Fan Ning took a post of his own name and handed it to the old man with a smile: "When he comes to Quanzhou, please come to me."

The series of titles on the name card made the old man dizzy, Qinghe County Duke, Zuo Sanqi Changshi, Yushi Doctor, Overseas Economic Envoy
This is no ordinary big shot!

(End of this chapter)