A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1029 The Wind Rises

Port of Luzon.

It was calm today, and three fleets arrived at the port.

"It's so lively today. Why are so many ships coming?"

"Well, today is a good day. The wind is picking up."

got windy,
The wind direction changed and it was blowing southward, which is the winter wind.

When sailing, the north wind returns and the south wind returns. For those doing sea trade, when the wind rises, it is the day to set sail and the season to make money.

The people of the Tang Dynasty had subdivided the wind direction into twenty-four directions. In winter, the northerly monsoon blows, sailing in the endless sea.
The best thing is to take advantage of the monsoon,
The biggest benefit of monsoon for navigation is that the wind direction and force are stable.

The three fleets that came to Luzon Port this time were all ships of the Wu family. They departed from Xiangdao Port at the Pearl River Estuary, Ludao Port at the Jiulong River Estuary in Quanzhou, and Zhushan Port southwest of Liuqiu.

Taking advantage of the winter wind, the voyage was smoother and faster, saving at least half the time compared to before.

It only takes seven days to arrive from Hong Kong.

It only took ten days to get to Ludao Port.

It has only been six days since we arrived at Zhushan Port.

"Today is really a lively day. There have never been so many ships coming to Luzon Port. I don't know how many good things they have brought!"

"Look, another fleet is coming."

In Luzon Bay, as expected, another fleet of ships entered the port. The people on the dock were all familiar with the ship type, and they could tell at a glance that it was a lucky ship.

"It seems to be the Luzon military fleet that went to Moyi Island to conquer the Tuyi rebellion."

"That one must be the Luzon number,"

The fleet approaches,

Everyone recognized it. It was indeed the fleet that went to Moyi to conquer before.

The Battle of Moyi ended long ago. The Luzon Army fought a very beautiful battle of annihilation, even wiping out tens of thousands of Panlaka tribesmen in one go.

During this time, ships from there often came back, and then ships passed by, bringing back many Panlacka slaves and many immigrants who went to Moyi Island to fall leaves. Now that is Maye County, the first place in Luzon Five counties.

"I heard that after the Luzon army destroyed the Moyi natives, they went to Little Luzon to overthrow several dissatisfied tribes,"

"I heard that they went to fight in the Visaya Islands. Duke Wu personally went out and conquered the seven major islands of Visaya. The young prince directly established the sixth county in Luzon on Cebu Island, and it was named Cebu. County, I heard that the sea urchins in Cebu County are the fattest and most delicious,”

"How do you know this?"

"My brother works as a scribe in the Luzon State Government. These are all public information and are not secrets. Cebu County has been officially established. We Gong Wu went out and directly overthrew all the Vaishya tribes. , it is said that he swept through thirteen tribes and captured tens of thousands of prisoners.

The rest of the Vaisyas on the seven islands were beaten and all surrendered;

I heard that a lot of tributes were paid, and each tribe sent their children to study in Luzon, and many people were recruited to serve in building castles and docks. "

The group of people at the dock were very excited after hearing the news. They gathered around the brother of the state government secretary and asked him to share more inside information.

Actually, it’s not really any inside information.
Wu Huaiyu went to Little Luzon, and then sent people to make the tribes in the Visaya Islands and Little Luzon Peninsula surrender, organize their households, and pay taxes and serve the people.

This order was passed to various tribes, and the reaction was still very fierce. No tribe was willing to surrender easily, let alone pay tribute, pay taxes and serve.

If you don't accept it, fight.

Wu Huaiyu went to Little Luzon to establish a new stronghold in the Visaya Islands. He chose Cebu Island in the center of the archipelago.
Although the Luzon Army is an outsider, it has an advantage at sea. The fortune ship is as tall as a building and can carry hundreds or thousands of soldiers at a time. It can also be loaded with a lot of food and equipment. Another advantage is that many native tribes are also located offshore. Living near the river,

For the Luzon Army, this greatly facilitates their attack.

Wu Huaiyu first offered courtesy and then fought.
Return within a time limit,

If they refuse to surrender, then fight and take advantage of these advantages to launch an attack on the natives. Although those Vaisyas occupy the entire archipelago,

There are many people,

But they are all fragmented, with neither country nor confederacy.

Large villages only have thousands of families, most of which are dozens of families and hundreds of families, all working independently. They don't have cities, just some simple villages.

Needless to say, the weapons and equipment are primitive and crude.
Crab boats are generally rowed, and simple spears and spears are used. Some tribes even use stone knives and stone axes.

There were no specialized warriors, and most of them just wore a piece of abaca or animal skin around their waists to cover their shame, let alone armor.

Such a tribe, no matter how many people there are, is useless in the face of the Luzon Army's surprise attack.

The Luzon army defeated each one,
It's really hard to win against them.

Moreover, these tribes do not have a strong will to resist and are often defeated in one blow.

The battles in which the Luzon Army attacked various tribes were more like captures of prisoners.

After the Luzon army swept through more than a dozen villages,

The Vaishya people basically did not dare to fight anymore. Every time the Luzon Army's fortune ship appeared, these tribes either fled directly or surrendered under the leadership of their elders.

Wu Huaiyu made people swear an alliance with each tribe and carved stone tablets in each tribe's village to remember it.
Appoint native elders and clan chiefs as local officials in the newly established townships, register the native tribesmen and create households, and then distribute taxes and servitude.

As a new convert, in the first three years, Wu Huaiyu would grant some tax exemptions and collect some local products as tribute.

However, each tribal village has to send some young people to Luzon to study, and also sends a group of strong men to serve in the local Yamen of Luzon.

Each adult male of the tribe must serve twenty days of regular service every year. If he only serves in his own county, he must serve twice as much and forty days of service.

Middle-aged men aged 16 to 20, or disabled men, also have to perform local labor, doing light duties such as guarding city gates, warehouses, prisons, and station guards.

The conscription came in turns. The men in a village were divided into multiple batches, and a maximum of one batch was conscripted every month. This would not cause all the men in the tribe to be conscripted at once. Luzon's taxes and levies on tribes are relatively simple for the time being. The household tax, which is actually a poll tax, is not large, and there are exemptions and exemptions for the first three years. Then there is the sentient service, which is regular service for twenty days a year.

For the leaders of the tribe, those who own more land and property will definitely have to pay two taxes in the future.

You can't win even if you fight, you can't escape even if you run,
The natives had no choice but to accept Luzon's rule, swear allegiance to the Marquis of Luzon, and pay tribute and serve.

There are also some tribes in the interior that temporarily ignore the Lu Song army. Wu Huaiyu also cannot take care of them for the time being. He takes it step by step and is not in a hurry.

The establishment of Cebu County, the sixth county in Luzon, also announced that the Wu family officially entered the Visaya Islands, and the Luzon army also established a new Cebu garrison camp.

The fleet enters the port,

It was the officers and soldiers of the Luzon Army who went on a triumphant expedition,
In addition to the triumphant soldiers, there were also many captives from the Vaishya and other tribes on the ship, as well as many tribal teenagers who came to Luzon to 'study'.

These teenagers are actually the hostages given to the Wu family by various ministries. They are all children between the ages of six, seven and ten, and the older Wu family does not want them.

It is necessary for these children and teenagers to have strong plasticity and be able to reshape their ideological outlook so that they can receive Chinese education and become Luzon citizens.

While on the boat,
The teenagers and children of these tribes have been divided into classes and started to learn Chinese characters on the way. After they arrive in Luzon, they will first study in the school for three years.
In the past three years, I have learned Chinese language, Chinese characters and Chinese culture. The Wu family will also arrange the places for these children based on their talents and academic performance.

Some people may go to the workshop, some to the manor, some to the yamen, etc. There is a high probability that these people will not return to the tribe in the future. Even if they go back, they will definitely go back ten or twenty years later with the helpers sent by the Luzon government. , become local officials, or craftsmen and stewards of some workshops, mines and estates, etc.

The teenagers did not know that when they left the tribal village and boarded the ship bound for Luzon Port, the trajectory of their lives had completely changed.
At this time, the teenagers on the boat looked curiously at Luzon Port.
Compared to their tribe's village, the bay here is more lively, with so many ships coming in and out, and the tribe here is also bigger.

In their minds, the Luzon Wu family is also a big tribe, outsiders are very powerful, and there are many ships.

Just like the city we see now,

The fortress stands tall, and the town wall encircles a large area.

The dock is so lively and there are so many people. There are more people on the dock than in their tribe.

The teenagers just started learning Chinese characters on the boat.
I already recognize the words on some flags of Luzon Port.

Luzon,

武，
These words are everywhere, everywhere in Port Luzon.

The teenagers know that Luzon is the name of this tribe, and Wu is the surname of the leader of this tribe.

"The ship has arrived at Luzon Port. Please pack your belongings and line up to get off the ship."

Wu Huaiyu stepped off the boat,

It is now mid-October,
He didn't even know what was going on over there in Yazhou. It was estimated that many people knew that he was no longer there. I'm afraid even Emperor Li Shimin knew it very well.

Entering the city,

Wu Huaiyu saw Chen Runniang. She had a bulging belly and brought her daughter Shiniang.

"What a coincidence, we both just came from Hong Kong today," Chen Runniang said with smiles in her eyes when she saw him, and Shiniang Meigui ran directly over and gave Huaiyu a big hug.

"Where's Sanlang?" Runniang asked.

"In the back, he is now the governor of Luzon. When he returns home in triumph, Luzon officials and generals will go to greet him. He has to show up, and he also has to arrange his own soldiers."

"Is Sanlang okay? Are you not injured during this expedition?" Runniang asked worriedly.

"He doesn't need to be involved in the war. Besides, this isn't really a serious war." Huaiyu raised his daughter high, and the girl giggled, feeling particularly happy.

"Why are you here all of a sudden?"

Chen Runniang watched her husband lift her daughter with happiness in her eyes, "You guys have all come to Luzon, and Sanlang will stay in Luzon forever. How can I, a mother, live in Guangzhou?"

"It was a hard trip on this boat."

"It's nothing. The winter wind came here quickly and smoothly. The boat is big, so I didn't feel any bumps or hardships."

"That's because you have a distinguished status and have your own cabin on the ship. If you live in the bottom cabin like ordinary sailors and can only sleep in hammocks, you will know how difficult the journey is. You have to queue up to even breathe fresh air."

While they were chatting, Shuying came in and brought boiled hot water to Huaiyu to make tea.

"Are you here too?"

"The county lady brought me here, and A Liu is also here."

Shuying was originally a maid in her sister Wu Yu'e's house. When Wu Huaiyu was a guest at his eldest sister's house, she arranged to serve him. Afterwards, Wu Huaiyu took her back to the Wu family, and Xuan Fu took her as his roommate's maid. Xuan Fu is now staying in Chang'an, but she is still in Guangzhou.

A Liuze was a pipa-playing singer whom Wu Huaiyu first hired when he was in Yongfu, Lingnan.

Unexpectedly, Runniang brought both of her with her this time.

"I'm afraid you will have no one to serve you in Luzon."

Wu Huaiyu didn't think it mattered. He had been away all this time, so he didn't feel any inconvenience without a woman by his side.

Just as he was talking, A Liu came in holding Pipa in his arms.

"Slave, please play a pipa for Alang."

Shuying made tea, Aliu played the piano, and Runniang sat beside him with a bulging belly and talked about home affairs. His daughter Rose hung on him like a little monkey and refused to come down.

Tasting tea,

Listen to the piano,

Wu Huaiyu completely relaxed.
I closed my eyes and fell asleep unconsciously.

(End of this chapter)