Tibet.

Chapter 1292 Lugong Islands
The sky was clear and the sea was rough. A fleet had pulled up its sails and was sailing southwards through the waves with the help of a strong north wind. This fleet consisted of more than 30 ships and three military ships. The military ships were guards to protect merchant ships from pirate attacks.

Overseas trade in the Tang Dynasty was very active. There was both official and private trade, mainly based in the two major seaports of Quanzhou and Guangzhou. Trade went to Silla and Japan in the north, to Southeast Asia and Indochina in the south, and even further to India, Persia and the Arab Empire.

This fleet was heading for Brunei and Srivijaya. Brunei is today's Brunei and Srivijaya is Indonesia. Nanyang is rich in spices, dyes, pearls, elephants, gold and silver. The Tang Dynasty exported mainly tea, silk, porcelain, cloth, copper coins and various handicrafts to Nanyang.

More than 30 large sea vessels carried hundreds of small merchants. The ship owners only provided shipping services and did not engage in trade. The fleet regularly traveled between Nanyang and the Tang Dynasty, and the small merchants rented or bought cabins and took the ships to Nanyang for trade.

In order to ensure safety and defend against pirates, hundreds of small merchants pooled their money to hire naval guards.

Of course, there are also wealthy businessmen who charter a cargo ship on their own, or simply own their own cargo ship.

Merchants made a fortune by taking advantage of the northwest trade winds in winter and the southeast trade winds in the spring of the following year and making a trip to Southeast Asia every year.

Dugu Jinyang and four others were on one of the warships. They had high status. For example, Dugu Jinyang had served as the general of the Longwu Army, but resigned due to his grandmother's mourning. His father is still the assistant minister of the Ministry of War, and Yuan Ce is currently the general of the Left Guard.

Therefore, both the local officials and military generals in Quanzhou were very attentive to them and took very good care of them. Although they were a little seasick, it was not a big deal.

Inside the cabin, the two sons-in-law Dugu Jinyang and Dou Ying were talking with their father-in-law Yuan Ce. Yuan Ce was a little seasick and was feeling drowsy.

Yuan Ce smiled and said, "I was chatting with General Zhang yesterday, and he told me that the big island is not called Luzon Island, but Lvgong Island. It was discovered by the Three Kingdoms general Lv Meng, and later generations named it Lvgong Island after Lv Meng."

Dugu Jinyang smiled and said, "Luzon Island was mentioned by His Royal Highness the Prince Regent. It is also possible that when he came to Fujian Province for inspection, the local officials made a mistake and reported it to him as Luzon Island. It should be called Lugong Island."

Dou Ying beside him asked, "Father-in-law, is the imperial court going to occupy Lügong Island?"

"That should be the case. The area of ​​Lugong Island is about the same as that of Jiangnan. It is impossible for them to give it to us. They must develop it themselves and station troops there!"

Dou Ying was shocked. "Is the garrison here to monitor us?"

Dugu Jinyang shook his head. "Even if we weren't here, the imperial court would still have troops stationed there. On the other hand, the imperial court's troops stationed there are actually protecting us, or maintaining order and preventing infighting."

Yuan Ce nodded and said, "Jinyang is right. As long as we adhere to the three principles of the kingdom, do not overstep our boundaries, do not change the reign title, and pay tribute and pay homage regularly, the court will not be against us."

At this time, Zhang Sunyao rushed in and said, "I have good news for you all. General Zhang is willing to take us to the island for a look!"

The three of them were immediately overjoyed, it was simply great.

The commander of the warship was named Zhang Xiao, a General of the Central Army. Faced with these four royal relatives who were also high-ranking military officers, they certainly had to do their best to curry favor with them.

Three warships escorted the fleet to Palembang. Although the merchants paid for it, two warships were enough. Zhang Xiao certainly wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to curry favor with several dignitaries from the capital.

A military ship parted ways with the fleet halfway and headed for Luzon Island.

The warship is a 10,000-ton sea-going ship with paddle wheels and no need for sails.

There were hundreds of soldiers on board.

Zhang Xiao pointed at a black line in the distance and shouted, "General, please look, the coastline in the distance is Lugong Island!"

He then handed a clairvoyance to Yuan Ce. Clairvoyance was basically common among scouts, and was also equipped to the navy, and other military forces had it above the rank of Lieutenant General.

Yuan Ce also had a clairvoyance, but he forgot to bring it with him.

He took it and looked at it for a while, then handed it to Dugu Jinyang.

“It seems to be all forest?”

Zhang Xiao nodded, "Of course, there is plenty of rain here, and no one has ever developed it, so it is naturally covered with virgin forests. I think to develop the island, we must first cut down trees, but there are many poisonous insects and beasts here, so we have to recruit a large number of people to cut down trees. I have a suggestion for you!" "Please speak!"

"No matter where you are, you must develop along the river at the beginning. First, there is plenty of fresh water, second, transportation is convenient, and third, the land is flat and fertile, which makes it much easier for workers to work."

Everyone knows this principle. It applies not only to islands but also to everywhere, including the hinterland of the Tang Dynasty. Farmland must be developed along the rivers.

But the issue that everyone is most concerned about now is not land, but labor.

Dugu Jinyang asked, "I heard that developing the Ryukyu Island means recruiting laborers from Silla and Japan?"

"They can't!"

Zhang Xiao waved his hand and smiled, "I'm the supervisor, don't I know? The Japanese and Silla people are not adapted to the tropical climate here at all. Thousands of people died in one month. We had no choice but to send them back."

The four of them looked at each other, and Yuan Ce asked anxiously, "Where is that person?"

"In the end, more than 10,000 people from Linyi were recruited. They were all like monkeys, with no problems at all. They were good at logging and growing sugarcane. They cut down trees and threw them into the river. The trees floated to the dock and were intercepted with iron nets. The elephants used their trunks to roll up the trees and piled them in the open space at the dock. Finally, these trees were used to build cities and houses."

"There are elephants?" The four were surprised.

"Yes! It was brought by people from Linyi. There are many elephants there, and they train elephants to do things for people. I think it's great."

Zhang Xiao thought for a moment and then smiled and said, "In fact, you can also use the natives of Lugong Island to work for you."

The four of them were shocked and asked in unison: "Are there still natives on Lugong Island?"

"There are a few, but not many. I estimate that there are only tens of thousands of people in the entire archipelago! Most of them are on Lugong Island. There are none on the island you want to go to."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but there was still some worry in their eyes. What if these natives came on a raft to attack them?
Zhang Xiao saw their worries and smiled to comfort them, "Don't worry, the natives here are very gentle and timid. They often exchange their prey with us for daily necessities and food. They are not the kind of barbarians who eat people."

"Can they work?"

"Of course they can. They are also good at felling trees. After learning how to use a saw, they can cut down a towering tree in a short time. But they don't know how to plant crops. The Linyi people know how to grow sugarcane, and it seems they can also grow rice!"

"How much do the Linyi people get paid?" Dou Ying asked.

Zhang Xiao held up two fingers. "Ten coins a day, just like the Japanese and Silla people. I found that labor costs were the highest in the Tang Dynasty. It costs fifty coins a day to hire the cheapest servant. Physical work like logging costs at least a hundred coins a day. Skilled craftsmen are even more expensive."

Yuan Ce laughed, "The Celestial Empire is definitely more expensive than these small foreign countries."

The next morning, the ship arrived at the first island of their target, which was the Panay Island of later generations. It had an area of ​​more than 10,000 square kilometers and a fertile plain that was more than 300 miles long, second only to the Luzon Plain. It could be said to be the most fertile land in the entire archipelago. Li Ye left it to the Dugu family.

Dugu Jinyang looked at the map and said excitedly: "This is the island!"

Zhang Xiao turned around and asked a guide who was familiar with the terrain: "Does this island have a natural harbor?"

The guide pointed to the east. A little further on, about a few dozen miles away, we could see a bay where ships were moored.

Zhang Xiao shouted, "Sail east!"

The ship slowly turned around and headed east along the coastline.

(End of this chapter)