The Southern Zhou Dynasty, which had not been subjugated under the pressure of the Tang Dynasty for hundreds of years, had a very complicated way to survive.
The flirting with Beiliao, and trying to keep Datang in check for each other was just one of them, the most important thing was money.
rich!
How could the rich in the Southern Zhou Dynasty reach such a state? The Nian family had to rename their children and grandchildren Nian Youqian.
Where does the money come from?
The climate in Southern Zhou Dynasty is suitable and there is abundant rainfall, so it is easy to achieve two crops a year.
What are you thinking about when you are full and warm... When you have money, you will think about other enjoyments. It is said that if there is a need, there will be a market, and businessmen will do business everywhere based on these needs.
Southern Zhou Junior High School was full of their businesses.
But this is not enough.
The greatest wealth of the Southern Zhou Dynasty came from overseas.
Long before the founding of the Southern Zhou Dynasty, there were merchants from this place going to sea for trade, but the scale was small and more dangerous.
After the founding of the Southern Zhou Dynasty, the navy maintained a certain scale because there were many river systems and it was close to the sea.
Therefore, the shipbuilding industry has remained and continues to grow and develop.
After the founding of the Southern Zhou Dynasty, the pattern of civilized military control was formed. The status of literati increased greatly.
But simply increasing one's status is not enough! After all, there are only so many positions in the officialdom, and most literati are still excluded.
Status was useless, so those literati turned their attention to Brother Kong Fang.
Let's go do business!
It has to be said that when the literati stopped showing disdain for businessmen and turned their attention to business, they immediately prospered.
Moreover, literati engaged in business had an astonishing appetite.
After a few moments, they found that the internal market in Southern Zhou was saturated, and this would be the case if they continued to work hard.
They quickly turned their attention to Northern Liao and Datang.
Datang is the enemy!
Wouldn’t doing business with them be siding with their enemies?
This kind of voice within the Southern Zhou Dynasty was completely criticized by the literati... Are we making money for ourselves? Bah! We are making business taxes for the Great Zhou Dynasty!
The literary businessmen who occupied the moral high ground made the import and export trade flourish, but soon they found that this business was not easy to continue.
From Da Zhou to Bei Liao, you need to pass through Datang, and you will be inspected and plundered by those in Datang along the way. The high-priced goods of Da Zhou gradually lose their competitiveness in Bei Liao.
In the Tang Dynasty, merchants were also rising rapidly. Those princes and nobles took off their masks of despising merchants and went into battle shirtless.
The merchants of the Tang Dynasty, who took advantage of the landlords, took advantage of the high cost of cargo transportation in the Southern Zhou Dynasty and successfully attacked them. The merchants of the two countries continued to fight in the market of the Tang Dynasty even after the Southern Zhou Dynasty was destroyed.
This business is so complicated that the people involved are exhausted both mentally and physically.
At this time, someone discovered that doing business overseas seemed to make a lot of money.
So, they tentatively took a step outside...
The first time you go to sea for trade, the amount of goods you bring out will almost always be the amount of money you can bring back.
Make a fortune!
The whole week was a sensation.
Immediately, the gentlemen lost their skin and joined the ranks of going overseas to do business.
The development of sea trade in the Great Zhou Dynasty shocked everyone... In just twenty years, the proportion of commercial taxes generated by sea trade in the Great Zhou Dynasty increased from less than 10% to more than 40%.
As a result, sea trade became a cash cow for the Zhou Dynasty.
Several ports also became prosperous, with merchants gathering and sails covering the sky.
Luocheng was originally a small city, but its hydrological conditions were quite good, so it became one of the important commercial ports in the Zhou Dynasty.
Zhan Ming, the magistrate of Luocheng County, was originally a doctor in the Hubu Department of Bianjing. After the fall of Bianjing, he decisively joined the Northern Xinjiang Army. Because his background was relatively simple and he had many years of experience as an official in the Hubu Department, he was sent to Luocheng.
The city sits in the town.
Although he is the county magistrate, there is an official in Luocheng who is nominally his subordinate, but he should not be underestimated. This person is from the Northern Xinjiang clan, his name is Ma He, and his position is county magistrate.
In the morning, Zhan Ming got up early and saw fog when he opened the door.
"Why is there such a heavy fog? How can we go out to sea?"
Thinking of the naval fleet that was due to arrive in the next two days, Zhan Ming had a splitting headache.
If the naval fleet ran aground due to fog or hit a dock, he would not be able to escape responsibility.
"Demoted!"
Zhan Ming felt that he was a little unlucky. He had known that it would have been better to stay at the Ministry of Revenue, so there was no need to take risks here.
"Mr. Sir, breakfast is ready." The servant came to report, and his attitude turned out to be more neither humble nor overbearing.
A few days ago, a decree came from Chang'an, asking the Southern Zhou Dynasty to screen slaves, and all slaves who were originally from the Southern Zhou Dynasty would be of foreign nationality.
This servant is from the Southern Zhou Dynasty.
Compared with the reluctance of the servants of the Tang Dynasty to leave the country, the servants in the Southern Zhou Dynasty secretly burned a lot of incense to His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty after hearing this decree, and the shouts of long live His Majesty kept coming and going.
Why is there such a big gap between the two places?
Without him!
There is money in the hometown of Southern Zhou Dynasty!
Lots of opportunities!
After becoming a citizen, you can find any job to support your family. So, who has nothing to do and become a slave?
This world is becoming increasingly uneventful.
Zhan Mingdu muttered, "Didn't you see the fog outside? Prepare some dry food, I will take it away!"
"yes!"
The servant responded meekly.
Fortunately, order is still there!
After getting the dry food, Zhan Ming went out and rushed to the dock.
At this moment, the pier was shrouded in fog, and visibility was less than twenty steps.
"Where are the people?" Zhan Ming swallowed the last bite of the pancake and shouted.
A desolate horn sound came.
Listen to the sound not far away.
Zhan Ming followed the sound and saw the county chief Ma He leading more than ten trumpeters playing the trumpet.
Last night, more than ten ships came to the outer sea. This is a warning. No ships are allowed to approach the dock.
"Old horse!"
Zhan Ming burped and walked over.
Ma He, who was looking a little serious, turned around and saw him, and said: "There was a merchant ship that wanted to forcefully approach the pier before, but was forced to retreat by the lower officials."
"We are already close to the dock, why bother letting them leave again." Zhan Ming felt that Maher was too rigid in doing things.
"Rules are rules!" Maher's dark face became colder. "His Majesty once said when he was in Northern Xinjiang, you should be flexible when you need to be flexible, but rules are rules. If you do it for some benefit, you should do it.
That’s stupid!”
Zhan Ming blushed, but he did not dare to refute, lest he be labeled as contemptuous of His Majesty. He stretched out his hand to build an awning in front of his eyes and asked, "Is the navy fleet coming?"
"I don't know yet, but even if we come, we have to wait until the fog dissipates before we can approach the pier."
Mach still refused to accommodate.
…
"Is this Luocheng?"
King Wei entered Luocheng in the fog. Concubine Shu opened the curtain and said in surprise: "This fog has never happened in Chang'an before."
Sister Huang said: "That's right! It's rare even in northern Xinjiang."
Moreover, the mist was extremely moist. King Wei touched the shaft of the carriage and found that it was all wet.
After the group entered Luocheng, King Wei did not go looking for anyone, but went shopping with his family.
Luocheng is not a big city, but its commerce is extremely developed. However, there are few retail stores and most of them are wholesale.
Those merchants bought land to build warehouses in Luocheng, or rented warehouses. The warehouses could store goods for overseas trade. After returning from the sea, the goods could be stored locally, and then they could slowly bargain with merchants from all over the place to purchase goods.
"That's a lot to eat!" The child's eyes lit up.
"Let's go find a place to have breakfast."
The family found a place to eat and had a seafood feast.
“It tastes so bad!”
“The smell is so strong!”
"No more food!"
Except for King Wei who was enjoying his meal silently, all three of them were dissatisfied.
An old man standing next to him smiled and said, "Are you a foreigner who has just arrived?"
"Yes!" Concubine Shu smiled.
The old man said: "For outsiders, they are not used to it when they first come here. It will take a few years at least."
"How many years!"
Sister Huang was a little desperate, wondering if she would have to eat these fishy seafood for the next few years?
After leaving here, King Wei ordered his mother, wife and children to be escorted back, and he went to the county house.
"Mingfu and the county magistrate are at the dock!"
When the clerk learned that the person in front of him was King Wei, he still acted neither humble nor overbearing.
"I didn't expect that a small official in the border area would be more upright than the senior officials in Bianjing City."
The accompanying staff praised.
Behind him, the voice of the clerk came faintly.
"King Wei, isn't that the son of the false emperor? A fallen phoenix, he is worse than a chicken!"
Staff: "..."
King Wei's expression remained unchanged and he immediately went to the dock.
Zhan Ming and Ma He were sitting at the dock, and a small boat hit a businessman and docked. This was allowed. Several businessmen begged to loosen the control of the dock so that their goods could be unloaded in time.
This batch of goods must be delivered to Chang'an within the specified time, otherwise it will violate the contract. The merchant also took out the contract to prove that what he said was true.
"roll!"
Zhan Ming had a cold face.
Ma He shook his head. These merchants were originally from the Southern Zhou Dynasty. He was not going to take care of them, which was a way of giving face to Zhan Ming.
Ma He continued to inspect, and Zhan Ming pointed at the noses of several businessmen and cursed them.
"They have a contract, why don't they dock?"
A voice came from behind.
Zhan Ming did not look back and said: "Believe it or not, he still has more than ten contracts in his arms that are exactly the same except for the date. I can give you the date whenever you want."
Several businessmen laughed dryly.
This was the first time that King Wei saw the slickness of a businessman.
And shameless.
Zhan Ming turned around, "You are..."
"This is King Wei." The staff came forward to negotiate.
"I have met the king." After verifying his identity, Zhan Ming saluted, but his expression was cold.
"This king is going to sea!" King Wei took out a document with the seals of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Household.
"Going to sea?"
Now that the monsoon has not come, there is no chance of going to sea.
Zhan Ming read the document carefully and found that it was correct.
Logically, he should make some preparations, and the people accompanying King Wei should also prepare to communicate with him.
But Zhan Ming said with a straight face: "The good king learned that the monsoon will not arrive for some time, so please wait in the city!"
This attitude is not very friendly!
King Wei said coldly: "I have been ordered to go to sea!"
"The lower official was ordered to guard Luocheng. We have a fleet, but we are currently transporting goods. Please wait patiently, Your Majesty."
Zhan Ming handed over his hands and strode away.
The clerk followed and whispered: "Mingfu, that is King Wei after all!"
"That is the pretended emperor's King Wei. I act impartially, what can he do?"
Zhan Ming sneered and went back. In the check-in room, his brother-in-law followed him in with a smile, "Thank you, brother-in-law."
"If I can delay the fleet for a while, I'll take your cargo away quickly. I'll give you a month to bring back the empty ships, otherwise I won't be able to explain to Chang'an."
"That's just a has-been prince, I'm afraid of him!" The brother-in-law said proudly: "This is Luocheng, and it's a dragon, let alone him?"
…
King Wei was still on the dock, looking at the fog in the sky, feeling very strange.
The staff asked: "Why didn't the king say that it was His Majesty's order to go to sea?"
King Wei shook his head, leaned over and picked up an unknown conch, and looked inside. It was empty.
"After going to sea, many supplies will have to rely on Datang. Luocheng Pier is the top priority. If I use the emperor to suppress that fool today, he will be able to stumble me at any time after we go to sea.
Is it possible for me to fly back from overseas to settle accounts with him?"
King Wei threw the conch into the sea and clapped his hands, "I don't pay attention to him, I just want to change him!"
…
The fog dissipated after more than an hour.
James and Maher are here.
"I have met the king." Ma He saluted.
King Wei nodded.
Zhan Ming saluted, "I have met the king."
King Wei didn't even look at him.
Let's wait until you are proud, wait until you go to sea, and see how Ye Ye handles you... Zhan Ming smiled.
My brother-in-law was not far away, smiling particularly reservedly.
When Maher learned what had happened, he frowned and asked, "Why didn't you give the fleet to your Majesty?"
"It's urgent!" Zhan Ming said casually. Ma He was not familiar with the operation of the terminal, so he could only listen to him.
"Your Majesty, don't slack off!" Ma He kindly reminded. Officials from the Northern Xinjiang Department all knew about the friendship between the Emperor and King Wei back then. Moreover, they also knew that the Emperor was very affectionate and treated his eldest nephew differently.
"I know!" Zhan Ming said calmly.
"The navy is coming!"
One warship after another slowly docked.
Zhan Ming went up to meet General Fang Suo as he disembarked, smiling, "I've seen General Fang!"
The boss of the navy has great influence on Luocheng, so Zhan Ming must be more respectful.
Fang Suo turned his eyes and asked, "Is King Wei here?"
"Over there, is General Fang looking for him?" Zhan Ming pointed to King Wei on the side.
Fang Suo stepped forward and knelt down on one knee, "Come to the official post and be ordered to lead the navy to obey the king's orders!"
Leave the navy at the disposal of King Wei?
Then... couldn't King Wei be able to walk sideways in the sea?
Does Your Majesty actually trust King Wei like this?
Zhan Ming's face turned pale.
At this time, several riders arrived.
"Your Majesty, your Majesty has an order!"
The person who came turned out to be the envoy of Emperor Chang'an, and people knelt on the dock for a moment.
"Your Majesty, there is no need to be polite. His Majesty just handed over a message..."
The messenger smiled and said: "Go and tell King Wei that after you have established your footing, you will find a good beach. The sand must be soft and the scenery must be good. Just settle there! It would be good to be a pirate king. In addition, build it for me on the beach.
A house. Ten years later I will go to sea to find you. Our uncle and nephew will be neighbors. We can fish together and go to sea together when we have nothing to do..."