Destiny Only Han

Chapter 277 Zhao Tuo: Are you looking at me?

Panyu County, adjacent to the Han Embassy Post of Nanyue Palace.

With a light like a bean, the Yueren boy who had been knocked out before slowly woke up, and what came into view was a smiling face.

Lu Jia's face.

In an instant, the Yueren boy's heart was full of alarm bells, and he took a few steps back with both hands and feet.

The Central Plains people are not only despicable and shameless, but according to the elders, many of them also like men!
Thinking about the bad idea of ​​this wretched old man in front of him, the young Yueren felt that his situation was getting worse!
Lu Jia was completely unaware of this, and he had someone secretly kidnap the young man, naturally to search for traces of Pepper.

When he was in Guanzhong, he once tasted meals with pepper added, and the taste was different compared to before.

If pepper is really a plant similar to Zanthoxylum bungeanum as Liu Ying said, it can be widely planted in Lingnan and other places.

Then, this is really a very good deal.

In this era of underdeveloped cooking and storage, no one can resist the temptation of spices.

After the Arabs monopolized the trade routes of pepper and other spices in later generations, the price of pepper in Europe was the same as that of gold of equal weight.

During the Tang Dynasty, Prime Minister Yuan Zai’s house was ransacked, and when gold and other things were found, the emperor remained indifferent. After dozens of tons of pepper were found, the emperor not only killed Yuan Zai’s family, but even dug up his ancestral grave...

Well, pepper was originally produced in Yunnan, Myanmar, and then slowly spread to the surrounding areas. It was only because of the interglacial period that the Burmese pepper that had spread to Guangdong and Guangxi disappeared.

The peppers in Southeast Asia and India were preserved due to latitude, and gradually became the main producing areas.

During the period from the Zhou Dynasty to the early Han Dynasty, the average temperature was relatively high, and the climate in areas at the same latitude as Guanzhong was similar to that of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in later generations. By analogy, the temperature and humidity in today's Lingnan area should be similar to those in Southeast Asia.

It is not impossible for wild pepper to grow in the mountains and forests.

The purpose of Lu Jia's visit here is to promote the trade of this spice.

As for the products sold, they are naturally many industrial products in Guanzhong.

For example, all kinds of glassware, and beautiful and exquisite tea sets, but more, they are exquisite and easy-to-use tools that are not durable.

After all, if an industrial product is too strong and durable, it will affect the frequency of customers' replacements, which in turn will affect the production and profits of the factory...

Well, due to the lack of smelting and mining technology in Nanyue, although there are many metal deposits in the territory, in the original historical line, Nanyue has been importing iron from the Han Dynasty.

Under the flickering candlelight, Lu Jia squeezed out a kind expression: "Don't be afraid, can you tell me your name?"

Lu Jia had a deal with the Yueren boy before, and he knew that the other party could understand the Central Plains dialect, so he didn't let the translator pass the message.

The young man of Yue was stunned for a moment, the technique of witchcraft is prevalent among Yue people, as long as he knows the real name of the other party, he can cast spells and make the other party his own puppet.

Therefore, among Yue people, non-relatives and friends, both parties call each other by nicknames or pseudonyms.

So he rolled his eyes, and said with a serious face: "You, call me pretty boy..."

After he finished speaking, his dark cheeks flushed slightly.

But Lu Jia didn't notice it, or he didn't care what the name of the Yueren boy was at all.

With some difficulty, he repeated what the Yueren boy said. After the other party continued to correct his pronunciation, he finally learned how to address the Yueren boy.

"Little boy, let me ask you, where did you get these things?"

As Lu Jia said, he held up a branch with pepper in front of the other party.

It turned out that it was because of this... The Yueren youth breathed a sigh of relief, both grateful and disappointed.

…………

Three days later, Nanyue Palace.

Zhao Tuo, who had just taken care of the Yue people in Xiangjun, was going to receive the envoys of the Han Dynasty here.

To be honest, according to his previous thinking, he was completely lazy to pay attention to the other party, and would even drive the other party out of the border immediately.

Without him, the foundation of Zhao Tuo's governance was the forced emigration of the Qin State from the Central Plains, such as sons-in-law, merchants, criminals and other humble people.

Once these people are made aware of the fact that the Qin State is gone, I am afraid that many of them will sneak back to their hometowns.

The leaves fall and return to their roots, and the fox dies on the head mound.

Not to mention others, even he, the king of Nanyue, looked at the bright moon in the sky when he dreamed back at midnight, and he would feel a deep sense of homesickness and a wish in his heart.

A hundred years later, he will be buried in the Central Plains, where his ancestors lived for generations!

It was this kind of thought that made him willing to take a risk, to risk the destruction of the country.

Even if the people of the Nanyue Kingdom betrayed him, he would not hesitate.

Of course, this kind of thing wouldn't happen, because he had achieved great success in Xiang County, forced the Yue people there to surrender by force, and then lowered his stature again to become brothers with them.

That is to say, even if the current Nanyue Kingdom does not rely on the Central Plains people who migrated, it also has the capital to wrestle with the Han Kingdom!

After a while, Lu Jia, who was dressed in a straight dress, came with a scepter in his hand.

A few days ago, he had already reached a sales agreement with the local Yue tribe through that 'beautiful boy'.

Small things such as silk scissors and glass balls can be exchanged for spices such as pepper and cinnamon grown in the deep mountains.

Now, all he had to do was wait to sign a formal letter of credence with Zhao Tuo so that the caravan could travel unimpeded at the border between the two sides.

Behind Lu Jia, a row of strong warriors walked in carrying boxes.

Inside is a gift from Liu Ying to Zhao Tuo.

What you want to take must be given first.

A country with no industry like Nanyue will inevitably become a dumping ground for Han products.

Therefore, it is necessary to give Zhao Tuo some sweetness in the early stage, and even make a substantial profit.

After Han defeated Chu and unified the Central Plains, what Zhao Tuo ate would be vomited out sooner or later!
As for now, Liu Ying wants to negotiate two deals with Zhao Tuo.

The first is naturally the spice trade.

As for the second one, it is actually grain trade.

During this period, the natural conditions in South Vietnam were very good, and many places could grow crops three times a year.

Although the yield per mu is not high, the advantage is that the land is sparsely populated, and the annual grain surplus is also large.

Zhao Tuo should be happy to see the success of the exchanges.

Although it is said that woodcutters are not sold for hundreds of miles, and firewood is not sold for thousands of miles.

To buy means to buy and sell grain.

But that refers to the land transportation, if you go by sea, it is still very cost-effective.

The several large sailboats built by Liu Ying in Qidi have already started to lay their keels, and they will be ready to sail in three to five years at most.

At that time, this kind of large ship that can transport hundreds of tons of grain at a time will start from Panyu, go north along the coastline, arrive at the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas of later generations to unload, and take the inland river shipping such as Honggou to Aocang, and then transfer to Guanzhong.

This kind of trade route that spans almost half of the continent is actually for the future.

Now Guanzhong is a big granary, but in a few decades, the temperature will drop and the rain will be scarce, which will inevitably affect the grain production.

Especially after the world is peaceful, the population will inevitably multiply.

As the capital of goodness, Chang'an City is even more overcrowded, and there is simply not enough food in Guanzhong. At least hundreds of thousands of shi of grain must be transported from Guandong every year to ensure the supply.

For example, in the Tang Dynasty, even though it was also in a warm period, after Li Zhi ascended the throne, he still needed to go to Luoyang frequently.

Without him, it is because there is not enough food to eat.

Therefore, it is still necessary to plan ahead.

In the main hall, Zhao Tuo, who had short hair and short shirt and was dressed as a Yue man, briefly looked at the gift from Lu Jia, and immediately waved his hand to signal the waiter in the hall to put it away.

Although Liu Ying's gift was expensive, Zhao Tuo had seen the world after all, so he wouldn't lose his composure like Tian Sheweng...

Well, when Lu Jia is gone, he can play with it!
When Lu Jia saw Zhao Tuo accepting the gift, he felt relieved.

He paused the scepter in his hand and accused: "You Chinese, the tomb of your relative Kundi is in Dongyuan (Zhengding, Hebei, renamed Zhending in the 11th year of Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty, meaning real stability)."

"I don't care about abandoning the crown belt of Huaxia and wearing Yue people's attire, but you are sitting like this, is it the manner you should have when you meet the elders?"

Zhao Tuo looked down, smiled and shook his head: "I have lived in a barbarian land for a long time, I am rude, I am rude..."

After he finished speaking, he sat upright and looked at Lu Jia: "Your Excellency, why are you here?"

Lu Jia said with a smile, "Of course I came here for the good of the alliance between the two countries!"

Zhao Tuo tilted his head slightly and asked, "Which two countries?"

What he meant was very clear. Han is a powerful country in the Central Plains, and now it has actually controlled more than half of the Central Plains, and Liu Bang's throne was obtained by virtue of his achievements in destroying Qin.

Therefore, the two countries mentioned by Lu Jia, Han is a well-deserved country.

However, the Nanyue Kingdom was previously part of the Qin Kingdom, and Zhao Tuo belonged to the separatist forces plotting to become independent, but stealing the country.

That's why after Lu Jia finished speaking, he asked which two countries, because he hoped that Lu Jia, representing the Han Kingdom, would recognize the South Vietnam Kingdom he had established.

Lu Jia naturally understood what Zhao Tuo meant, and he said seriously, "Naturally, the Han Kingdom, and the Nanyue Kingdom."

Yue is actually a general term for many ethnic groups south of the Yangtze River.

Such as Yang Yue, Wu Yue, Min Yue, Luo Yue and so on.

So what Zhao Tuo founded was not Yue State, but South Vietnam.

Hearing Lu Jia's speech without hesitation, Zhao Tuo was ecstatic, but he still said a little reservedly: "I wonder what benefits the alliance with Han will bring to Nanyue?"

Lu Jia did not answer directly, but took out a stack of bamboo paper from his arms and asked the attendant in the palace to present it to Zhao Tuo.

Zhao Tuo frowned and opened it, only to see many neat small seal scripts densely written on it, and a warm feeling suddenly rose in his heart.

Zhao Tuo had heard before that the Han Dynasty was promoting a script called official script, and the current document written in Xiaozhuan was obviously to take care of him, an ex-official of the Qin Kingdom.

When he took a closer look, his eyes couldn't help but open to the maximum, and he murmured:

"There are iron tools? The King of Han really deserves to be a benevolent elder!"

ps: I changed it today, I went on a date...

(End of this chapter)