Late Tang

On the [-]th, Li Jing and Lin Wu led Zhang Chengzong and Liu Shouqian to lead the first team of family members to Chishanpu to take over the ship.

Chishanpu, one of the many seaports along the coast of Wendeng County, Dengzhou.In the prosperous Dengzhou Port in the late Tang Dynasty, in addition to Penglai’s Dengzhou Sea, which is one of the two major sea routes in the Tang Dynasty, there is also a sea route in the south of the peninsula. Dengzhou Sea travels into Korea and Bohai Road. , the ship departs from Dengzhou Port and goes northeast, along the Daxie Island Islands, passing Mashishan to Duli Town, passing Qingnipu, passing Taohuapu, Xinghuapu, Shirenwang along the Liaodong Peninsula, and arriving at Wugujiang, and then Go south to Silla, and from Silla to Japan through the Tsushima Strait. This route is to sail along the coastline and archipelago, from Dengzhou to Liaodong to Silla and Japan. Safe and less affected by seasonal climate, it can sail all year round.

But in addition to this traditional route, Dengzhou, as a great port in the north, has another convenient route to Silla and Japan.That is to go from Haizhou to Mizhou via Laoshan Port in Laizhou, then to Rushanpu, Muping County, Dengzhou, and then to Chishanpu, Wendeng County, and then sail from Chengshan Point in the southeast corner of Dengzhou, and cross the sea to Xinluoxi Xiongzhou, Gaoyi Island, Yellow Thatch Island, and then arrive at Kashima and Hakata in Japan.This route was a newly developed route in the Tang Dynasty. From Chengshanjiao in Dengzhou to Xiongzhou in Silla, it only takes two days with the wind.Compared with the Penglai route, it is more convenient and the route time is shorter.However, the disadvantage is that it is seriously affected by the weather, and the route has not been opened for a long time, and sea navigation often encounters troubles.

On this new route, there are more than ten ports of different sizes in Muping County and Wendeng County of Dengzhou.Among them, there are eight ports in Muping County: Taocun Port, Shaocun Pu, Rushan Pu, Rushan Xipu, Lushan Port, Wanghai Village Dongpu, Sangdao Beigang, and Changhuai Pu, and Wendeng County also has Qingshanpu, Chishanpu, Dan Shanpu and Chengshan Port are the four major ports.Tang Taizong attacked Goguryeo three times, Tang Gaozong attacked Goguryeo, and both sent large troops across the sea from Chengshan Port to attack Goguryeo.In the 19th year of Zhenguan, there were "[-] soldiers and [-] warships", while Gaozong had an army of "[-] land and water" and [-] warships.

Chishanpu is located at the key point of this new waterway. The port has a favorable geographical position and is far superior to other ports. It is one of the three major ports along with Rushanpu and Chengshan port.When Li Jing's dozens of people arrived at Chishanpu Port, it happened to be the twelfth lunar month of winter and the end of the new year was approaching.All the sea-going ships used to run the route into the mountains. Sea navigators in the Tang Dynasty had already summed up a set of mastery of the sea climate and wind direction, and they basically sailed by using the monsoon.

Sailing crews have long discovered that there are several months of each year when the wind direction is very stable at sea, which is extremely conducive to sea navigation, which they call trade winds.Every winter, the wind blows from Dengzhou to the Liaohai Sea and the East China Sea.In summer, the winds from the Liaohai Sea and the East China Sea blow to the land of Dengzhou.Therefore, from May to September every year is the downwind period for the maritime merchant fleet to sail from Dengzhou to Silla and Japan, and from October to April every year is the downwind period for Japan and Silla to return to Dengzhou.

In these two periods of different directions, January, April, June and September are the best seasons for sailing.Under normal circumstances, people depart from Chengshan Port for Japan in June, and most of them will return in January of the following year.

When Li Jing arrived at the port of Chishanpu, there were countless merchant ships staying in the port, and the merchants were passing by tens of thousands of ships.Ten thousand ships is an exaggeration, but Li Jing estimates that there are at least a thousand ships of all sizes that are parked in the port.

Li Jing grew up near Chishan Port, so he was not surprised by this scene.As far as he can remember, in his spare time, he would often bring some food and charcoal to the port for sale with his fellow villagers.However, Zhang Chengzong and Liu Shouqian, who came together, had never seen such a bustling and bustling port. Seeing the countless huge ships connected to each other, they were a little bit surprised from ear to ear.Even Lin Wu, who was born in the capital, saw such a spectacular scene for the first time.

"General, is our ship in there?" Zhang Chengzong asked in surprise.

"How many boats do you need?" Liu Shouqian, a former landowner, also sighed with great emotion. He used to feel that he was very rich when guarding a thousand acres of land, but now looking forward, any boat at the port would be blocked. All his previous possessions.

"Well, there's one of ours in there too. Let's go, take over the ship." Li Jing smiled. Although there were only one of the thousands of ships that belonged to him, Li Jing still couldn't help being excited.That is a big ship of 800 shi, which can carry [-] people.

On the east side of Chishanpu Port, it is covered by Moji Island in the northeast, Chaoyang Mountain in the north, Chishan Mountain in the back, surrounded by mountains on three sides, and the entrance is open to the southeast and connected to the sea.The port has a wide water area, a stable coastline, not much sediment, and a small amount of siltation. The average water depth of the entire port is about two feet, and the depth is three feet away.I am completely satisfied with a sea-going ship that generally only has a draft of about [-] to [-] feet.

Most of the ships relying on the port are sea ships, and there are also some tank ships that transport goods to the port. Most of the tank ships are two-masted, while sea ships are generally three-masted. mast ship.Along the shore, there are also countless warehouses and shops. The port is very lively in the cold winter of the twelfth lunar month. A large number of civilians are loading and unloading goods with carts and carts.

With sharp eyes, Lin Wu saw several ships unloading at the port, all of which were unloading bags of rice.

"There are famines everywhere, why is there still so much food coming in? Could it be from Silla and Japan?"

Li Jing took a closer look at the ships and shook his head: "No, these ships are not ocean-going ships that go to Silla or Japan. These are ships along Dengzhou, Laizhou, Mizhou, Haizhou, Chuzhou, Yangzhou, Offshore caravans along the coastal routes of Suzhou, Hangzhou, Quanzhou, and Guangzhou. Cargo from the north to the south, goods from the south to the north, these merchant ships are basically the merchant groups of those rich and noble families. Right now there is a famine in the north, but there is no famine in the south. These merchant groups Transporting grain from the south to the north is a good time to make a fortune."

Before the Tang Dynasty, grain sales were generally within a range of three hundred miles.Because food is no better than other goods, the biggest problem in selling food is that it consumes too much.The farther the sale is, the higher the cost will be, and the higher the cost will be if it is three hundred miles away.But at this time, because the Grand Canal dug in the Sui Dynasty connected the north and the south, and the tank ships with a large load were used to traffic grain, the cost began to plummet.Especially with the continuous development of shipbuilding technology in the Tang Dynasty, after building giant ships that could carry seven or eight thousand stones, or even tens of thousands of stones of grain, the profit of long-distance sales of grain has changed from little to huge.Especially when there is a great famine in the whole of the north like now, it is more profitable to transport food from the south to the north.Some large business groups even organized dozens of large ships to transport grain along the coast from Guangzhou to Dengzhou, even Youzhou in Hebei, and even the Khitan people in western Liaoning.

"Why doesn't the boat over there seem to be moving?" Zhang Chengzong pointed to the deserted pier on the other side.The desolation over there is indeed in stark contrast to the heat here. There are no fewer ships over there than here, but the ships are obviously slightly smaller than those here.

"Those are ocean-going ships traveling between Silla and Japan. They came from Silla and Japan in October. They will not return until June next year. During these months, they are waiting for the trade winds while selling and purchasing goods. At this time, almost all the merchants on the ships have gone ashore to purchase goods, and there are only a few guards left on the ship, so naturally it seems deserted. You wait until April and May next year, when there will be a large number of It's when the goods are being loaded." Li Jing was talking with Zhang Chengzong and others, when suddenly a person from a shop next to him interrupted.

Li Jing looked at him, but he was a dark-skinned, thin, white-haired old man who smelled of alcohol.He held a gourd of wine in his hand while talking and drinking, but the skirt of the short brown jacket on his body was wet.But even though he looked a little sloppy, his gaze towards Li Jing was very bright and energetic.

Before Li Jing stepped forward to ask, the old man said to Li Jing with a smile: "I think this is Yong Saburo Li Zhenjiang, who has been famous in Dengzhou recently."

"I am, I don't know who the old man is?"

The old man grinned, and the smell of alcohol came to his face.Regardless of Li Jing's slightly frowned brows, he reached into his bosom for a long time, took out a bamboo and wood sign and stared blankly in front of Li Jing. "Bring me your shark shark pendant!"

Li Jing took out the jade pendant and showed it in front of the old man. The old man took it and looked it over carefully several times, then nodded: "Yes, it really is the Shark Token. Here, take this bamboo token and go to the pier over there. Did you see, the sixth row, the Mingzhou ship with the red paint is yours. Take it, and leave it to you, so I won’t have to look at it for you every day.” After finishing speaking, the old man took the bamboo sign Putting it in Li Jing's hand, he turned around and left with the wine gourd in hand.

Come suddenly, leave suddenly.Looking at the bamboo card in his hand, Li Jing understood what was going on, probably Zhang Yingying entrusted the boat to the old man to take care of it.Li Jing and the others couldn't wait any longer. Holding the bamboo card, they walked more than half a circle along the port according to the old man's instructions, and finally arrived in front of the boat the old man pointed out.

"This is the ship!"

Li Jing and the others looked up, and there was a huge ship moored quietly on the side of the pier.

Towering like a mountain, floating on the waves.

The captain of Zhu Qi was about [-] feet long, with three thick masts standing tall, the main mast was as high as [-] feet.With sharp bottom, keel, and deep draft, this is a standard Mingzhou ship.The sea-going ship built in Mingzhou is the most advanced type of sea-going ship in Datang. It is different from the square-headed flat-bottomed sand ship busy loading and unloading at the port. It is a sea-going vessel dedicated to ocean voyages.

"Zhang Yingying is really good. She actually gave herself such a luxurious and advanced big ship." Li Jing was excited, and turned to look at the same dumbfounded people, and said with a smile: "What are you doing in a daze? Take our ship and go!"

ps: Mingzhou is also Ningbo, and the Mingzhou ship is the most famous Ningbo ship in the Tang Dynasty, the most mainstream ship in the maritime trade of the Tang Dynasty.

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