A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 353
Cheng Yaojin slapped his hands, and smiled at Huaiyu with a wretched face, "I'll show you something nice."

"What good stuff?"

Following his applause, the steward of the Cheng residence brought in a group of maidservants. They all wore tall buns and crowns embellished with gold ornaments. They wore tassels, crystal clear and exquisite. Gems are all over the body.

What's more special is that this group of women are all exquisite and beautiful, all beauties, with every frown and smile, they are like Bodhisattvas carved on murals.

"This is a Bodhisattva Man from the Nvman Kingdom, how about it, isn't it rare?"

The aristocrats in Chang’an of the Tang Dynasty liked to be arty, and even the slaves had to play tricks, and they paid attention to brands, such as Silla maids, Kunlun slaves, and Bosiji.

But now Cheng Yaojin actually came up with a new brand, Bodhisattva Man, a southern barbarian female slave who looks like a female Bodhisattva.

He felt that this was a little blasphemy to the Bodhisattva.

But these handmaidens are really different.

"Where is the barbarian country?"

"South of Nanning."

Huaiyu thought for a while, and felt that this barbarian country was probably in Myanmar or Thailand, or maybe from the Golden Triangle. The looks of these women were indeed very exotic, not tall, but very slender, especially in this outfit. different.

Even better than Dunhuang Flying Apsaras.

Originally from a remote southern barbarian maidservant, now she is packaged and turned into a bodhisattva barbarian, quite intelligent.Wu Huaiyu felt that Cheng Yaojin should not have come up with such a thoughtful thing.

Sure enough, this handwriting came from Cui Zheng's family.

They deliberately packaged and marketed it, and deliberately hyped it in Chang'an. Now Bodhisattva Man has already been hyped among the upper-class nobles in Chang'an.

It is hard to find one, and the price is much more expensive than Silla maids and Kunlun slaves.

These old-fashioned taxis do have a few tricks.

There is a brand premium all of a sudden.

Also became exclusive.

Wu Huaiyu believes that after they stir up Bodhisattva Man, it is impossible to really get Bodhisattva Man from the female barbarian country in the future, and maybe the barbarian land in the Sanjiang River Basin, the women who get such a dress can be called Bodhisattva Man and sold at a high price .

"I'll give you ten." Cheng Yaojin was very generous and generous.

Old Cheng said that Cui Zheng and the others set up this Bodhisattva Man, which is different from the Silla maidservant. After all, the Silla maidservant is still a maidservant who serves people, and they use this Bodhisattva Man to make the princes and nobles of Chang'an , Scholars from aristocratic clans invite them home, they are positioned as talented and mysterious, mainly as concubines.

Lao Cheng clapped his palms, and the ten tasseled Bodhisattvas danced an exotic dance. They were barefoot and moved lightly. The music of the musicians was also full of the unique charm of the Indochina Peninsula.

"Those musicians are from Pyu."

The Pyu Kingdom is now Burma. At this time, it is a relatively large tribal alliance. It has already paid tribute to the Tang Dynasty.

Lao Cheng has been building roads now. He wants to open up the road of poisoning, that is, from Sichuan to Yunnan, and then to Bangladesh and India via Burma. In fact, this road was planned by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.

But because of the obstruction of the tribes along the way, it did not succeed in the end.

However, this road has always existed. Since the pre-Qin period, Yunnan and Shu have been full of poisonous goods, but it is not so smooth, and it is broken and messy.

Lao Cheng was very ambitious, not content with leading to the Nanning area controlled by the Cuan clan, he also wanted to go directly to the Pyu Kingdom, the Numan Kingdom, and even Tianzhu.

Lutong, Caitong, and Lao Cheng are very aware of this now.

"The white sugar from Tianzhu is a good thing, as well as the cinnamon from the Lion Kingdom. If this road can be opened, then our silk porcelain tea leaves will be transported over, and we can exchange them for white sugar, cinnamon, pepper, ivory, and emerald. Do you know how big the profit is?"

Of course Wu Huaiyu knew how old he was. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had dreamed of opening this channel, but it was not that easy.

Of course, it is good to have a dream, and it is worth trying.

However, he reminded Cheng Yaojin that he can get through to Dianchi Lake in Kunzhou first, and then go southwest to the Red River, so that he can go out to sea along the Red River and reach Jiaozhou Bay, connecting land and water.

To the north, you can also go to Dali, pass through Dali to Yongchang Baoshan, etc., all the way west across the Naga Mountains, and enter Tianzhu.

Cheng Yaojin didn't expect that Huaiyu still had research on the Southwest, so he excitedly took out his treasured map and started researching it with Huaiyu.

At this time, there are two main routes from Shu to Yunnan. One is from Chengdu, via Qionglai, Ya'an, Xichang, and Huili to Kunming. This is the western route. This route is not easy to travel, but it is relatively mature.

Then there is the middle line. Chengdu goes through Xinjin, Meishan, Leshan, and Yibin, and then passes through Zhaotong, Weining, and Qujing to Kunming. This road is also called Xinjin Road. The key node is Luzhou. It has to go to Weining, and the middle line is not easy. , especially there is a section of Shimen Road, which is also a plank road.

There is also an east route, also centered on Shanghai, which can go north to Chengdu via the Tuojiang River, or east to Chongqing via the Yangtze River, and can also go south from Luzhou to Bijie, and then go southwest to Kunming via Weining and Qujing.

In general, there are three routes, but the specific three routes are also fixed.Especially since the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Cuan family who controlled Yunnan area deliberately blocked the roads and isolated the Central Plains, so that they could close their doors and become the local emperor.

The most suitable thing for Cheng Yaojin now is to follow the old route of Wuchi Road and re-dredging, such as restoring the plank road and widening the mountain road. This route, from Luzhou to Rongzhou, is Yibin, Yanjin, Doushaguan, Daguan and Zhaotong. , Lu Xun, Qujing and others entered Kunming,
It is actually more convenient than the old route of Shusan into Shu, or the Chengdu-Xichang route on the west line, but many plank roads need to be repaired, and some mountain streams also need to be re-bridged.

However, this route has to pass through the territory of 72 parts of Wuman. Wuman is a vassal of Cuan. This area can be collectively referred to as Lunan area. There are many barbarians in the mountains.

During the Sui Dynasty, Shi Wansui led an army several times to attack the disobedient Cuan family. Although he was defeated every time, he was beyond his reach.

As soon as the army left, Cuan's rebellion.

Shi Wansui captured King Cuan back to Chang'an back then. When Li Yuan established the Tang Dynasty, King Cuan died early in Chang'an. Li Yuan awarded his son the post of governor and sent him back to Nanning.

At this time, the Cuan clan in Nanning already had a new leader. After Cuan Hongda returned, the Cuan clan soon split into two groups, the East and the West. Both sides wanted to compete for the position of leader. Weak, divided and drawn together, the operation is not bad, so that on the surface both of them belong to the imperial court.

However, although the Cuan family was also a powerful Han Chinese who moved southward in their early years, they actually dominated the Yunnan area for 400 years. path of.

The east and west sides of Yunnan control a large area of ​​land. They have Wuman and Baiman under their jurisdiction. Among them, Baiman is relatively civilized and belongs to Shufan, while Wuman is relatively barbaric and backward.

In the mountainous area along the Lunan road, there are basically Wuman.

If he wanted to open this road, the Cuan family would definitely secretly stir up the Wuman tribes to rebel and sabotage.

The Cuan family moved to Nanzhong with the common surnames of the Central Plains from the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. After hundreds of years of hard work, they merged with the local barbarians and gradually rose to become the hegemony of Nanzhong.

The door is open, the emperor is closed.

It is not easy for Lao Cheng to reach out to Yunnan.

"I suggest, Uncle Cheng, that you choose one of the two to cooperate with and use the barbarians to control the barbarians. Even those Wuman tribes can choose a few to be agents."

"What is an agent?"

Huaiyu put it simply, anyway, it is a bundle of interests, and everyone who has money earns money together. We must let them understand that cooperating with the court, cooperating with Cheng Yaojin, and building roads together means earning a lot of money.

What are you afraid of in war? Let things fight among themselves, let black and white savage dogs bite dogs. Once there is a fight, the slaves will come.

The failed ones will be wiped out, and then Jimazhou County will be established according to the trend, and then along the traffic line, build cities and station troops, build post stations and bunkers, and open the market.

Firstly, this five-foot road will be opened from Luzhou to Dianchi Lake in Kunming, then to the Red River, then to Dali and Lijiang, and then to Jiaozhou to the sea.

From when Zhuge Liang led his troops to the Southern Expedition to go deep into the barren, to the end of the Eastern Jin Dynasty when he completely lost control of Nanzhong, and then to the Southern Dynasty when the imperial court continued to conquer the Nanzhong area. In the second big crusade, famous generals like Shi Wansui lived up to their reputation, they beat Cuan to the bone,

Cuan Hongda is now the governor of Nanning Prefecture. From being sent to govern Xichang, to now being the governor of the Langzhou Governor's Mansion and now stationed in Qujing, this actually means that the Tang Dynasty's control over the Nanzhong region is strengthening, and it is constantly penetrating south .

No matter what purpose Lao Cheng wanted to open the way to the south, it was actually in line with the basic plan of the imperial court.

Historically, the Tang Dynasty continued to divide the Eastern and Western Cuan, and later supported Nanzhao to attack the Cuan clan. As a result, tigers became a problem.

"If a land and water transportation line from Luzhou via Rongzhou, Kunzhou, and Jiaozhou can be opened up, the Cuan family who has dominated Nanzhong for more than [-] years will be finished. It’s best to win over some Cuanshi and Wuman first, unite and support them to come forward.”

Lao Cheng stroked the beard on his chin, thinking it made sense.

"If you want to open up the seaport to Jiaozhou, it's best to go to the Qiu family." Speaking of the Qiu family, Cheng Yaojin also talked about Huaiyu and Qiu Xinggong. Working together for five or six years, these two brothers are really fierce, Qiu Xinggong is more cruel, he is not a good bird, but well, it is not worth making enemies with the Qiu family because of those shit,

Now that His Majesty has come forward, you can forget about it, anyway, you didn't suffer a loss, picking up two concubines for nothing. "

Huaiyu had already figured it out.

"Actually, don't think that the two brothers surnamed Qiu have always been domineering, but let me tell you, they are trusted by the sage."

This kind of person is simple and easy to use. Although the two brothers have not entered the list of meritorious officials, their status is not low.

"When are you going to Qiu's house? I'll go with you and talk to them about opening up the road to Kunzhou together. He opened up the road from Jiaozhou to Kunming, and I opened up Wuchi Road from Luzhou to Kunming. If they are linked together, they will be meritorious." Let’s stand together, let’s make money together.”

Lao Cheng also invited Huaiyu to join him politely. If this business route is really to be opened up, it will be a big deal, and the rewards will be absolutely astonishing.

Wu Huaiyu also agreed to join with a smile.

Before leaving, Huaiyu asked Cheng Yaojin, "How much sucrose does Uncle Cheng have on hand?"

"What do you ask this for?"

"If there are, I plan to accept them all."

Cheng Yaojin looked at Wu Huaiyu, and felt that this kid must be holding back some big moves, it's impossible that he just wanted to change hands and become a second-hand dealer.

"Could it be that you secretly learned the decolorization and purification method of sucrose from the Tianzhu merchants, which can turn sucrose into white sugar?"

"Research research."

When Lao Cheng heard this, he slapped his thigh in surprise. Tianzhu merchants made a lot of money by relying on the exclusive technology of turning sucrose into white sugar, and they supplied all the white sugar in Chang'an.

Even if Lao Cheng can master some sucrose, he basically has to sell it to Tianzhu merchants, or sell it directly in the market at a price much lower than that of white sugar.

The technique of whitening sucrose is a secret that is not handed down among the three in Tianzhu. In fact, the imperial court or the people of the Central Plains have long gone to Tianzhu to steal the teacher, but how can it be so easy to steal, and they have not learned it until now.

If Wu Huaiyu had this skill, it would be fine.

"My master once taught me a method. The sucrose produced by the Tianzhu merchants is much whiter than the white sugar. Their white sugar should be called brown sugar. How can it be called white sugar? The sucrose produced by my master's method is pure white." snow white."

"Damn!" Cheng Yaojin exclaimed. "really?"

Huaiyu smiled.

"Here, I'll get you all the sucrose from Cui Zheng's family. I just have one request. If you make snow-white sugar, sell me half of it. No, three months." One will do."

"no problem!"

There are many decolorization techniques for sucrose, and one of them is a more traditional old method, also called yellow mud decolorization method, which is simple but effective. It seems to have been used since the Song Dynasty. Huaiyu has indeed tried it before, and the effect is good, but he has never done it. To take it out, firstly, I didn’t have that much effort, and secondly, my status was not high at the time. I dare not expose such a remarkable thing easily, for fear that I will not be able to keep it.

Now, don't worry about that.

Of course, now Datang has more sucrose masters, the Qiu family, the Duan family, and now the Cheng Yaojin and Cui Zheng families. They control a lot of sucrose, and also control a lot of Lingnan and Southwest sugarcane plantations,
Wu Huaiyu has the technology, they have the raw materials, and together they can achieve a win-win situation.

Otherwise, if you have no technology, if you cannot master the raw materials, it is actually difficult to guarantee profits, and it is easy to be controlled by others.

"If we really want this technology, then in Lingnan, Nanzhong and other places, we will have to catch more Nanman reclamation land to plant sugar cane," Lao Cheng said excitedly.

Wu Huaiyu didn't see Cheng Chumo at Cheng's house. This guy was also very busy after returning to Beijing, mainly busy with blind dates.

Lao Cheng was also worried about the eldest son, Chu Liang, the second son, was directly selected by the emperor to be his prospective son-in-law, so there was no need to worry about it, but the marriage of the eldest son could not be sloppy.

Lao Cheng hooked up with a 36-year-old widow Cui, and his eldest son Na hoped that he could marry a woman with five surnames.

It just so happens that now that they are close to Cui Zheng's family, Lao Cheng also wants to get married from the two families.

Cheng Chumo now runs to these two houses every day, looking at Qinghe Cui and Xingyang Zheng, which house can Cheng Chumo like, after all, Cheng Chumo is now the Marquis of Dong'e County, the governor of Yinzhou, and also mixed with the purple-robed goldfish ,not bad.

He is better at old Cheng.

"Is there any suitable one?"

"Cui and Zheng's family have several houses that they are interested in, but they haven't decided yet, so we have to look again."

Looking at this again, it was the Cui and Zheng families who were thinking about it again, not the Cheng family picking each other.But even so, Cheng Yaojin was still very satisfied. He could get several families from five surnames and seven clans interested, which showed that the Cheng family was doing well now.

Anyway, Cheng Yaojin's requirements are not high, he hopes to be the surname of Cui Zheng's family, and it is best to be a daughter of the first wife. Zong, surnamed Fang, daughter of the first wife, is enough.

In the future, Chumo will also inherit the Dukedom of Lu, so he can't marry a concubine's daughter.

"You were too anxious before, kid. If you weren't so anxious, let alone marrying a woman with five surnames, at least Li Jing's grandniece is better than Fan Manzi's daughter."

"Uncle Cheng, let my wife hear what you said, she may kill you."

"Hehe." Old Cheng quickly shut up.

(End of this chapter)