Li Chengqian was on the coast of Nanzhou, and he had been waiting there early.
At this time, there was a huge dock in front of him. There were people coming and going on it. This dock could accommodate large-displacement ships.
At this time, one of his men was standing next to him.
What he wears is the armor of the Tang Dynasty.
These armors were purchased by Li Chengqian from the Tang Dynasty and then improved. Compared with the armors of the Tang Dynasty, they are lighter and lighter.
As a garment, it is very suitable.
This person is Li Chengqian's personal guard, a general, and of course a Han Chinese.
He said: "Your Majesty, do you think that guy named Zi Li will lie to us?"
Because they had been waiting for so long, but no ship appeared.
So he thought maybe Li Min was lying to them.
"You tricked us into building such a dock." Li Chengqian said with a smile.
"Yes, he wants to consume us!"
"Liar? How could it be possible? Moreover, it is useful for us to build this pier. I have long wanted to build a pier of our own here."
Li Chengqian said again.
At this time, the general said nothing more.
But after a while, he couldn't help but said: "Your Majesty, they said they would come today, but it's getting late now, why haven't they come yet? Didn't they say they would arrive at our port today? Why still?
Not coming?"
Facing the general's problem.
Li Chengqian said: "Wait a minute. I believe in his character and there is no way he will lie to me."
Li Chengqian said this out of his trust in Li Min.
Because he believed that Li Min had no need, let alone cheated him!
Because you won't get any benefits by lying to him. Therefore, Li Chengqian always believed that the Shengtang Group's ship would come. As for when?
Or today or a few days from now?
That's not even certain.
In fact, what Li Chengqian said was not very sure in his heart.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have stood at the dock and watched his behavior.
But it also confirmed one thing, that is, his thirst for food is very strong.
This involves the development of his country. If there is no food, development may be quite slow.
The main reason is that its population has grown too rapidly.
The general could only stand and watch.
Li Chengqian was standing at the pier, and his army was standing behind him, about a thousand people.
And nearby, he also built a palace.
Many concubines were waiting for his return in the palace.
They waited for about ten minutes.
At this time, someone pointed in the distance and said, "Your Majesty, what do you think that is?"
So Li Chengqian looked to the northeast, where there were more than a dozen ships heading towards them. Is this?
He breathed a huge sigh of relief.
In this way, Li Min did not lie to him.
The ships arrived as scheduled and at just the right time.
At the same time, Li Chengqian looked at the ships in the northeast and couldn't help but fell into deep thought.
Then he asked: "Didn't that guy come from the Tang Dynasty? Shouldn't he come from the north? Why did he appear from the northeast?"
Someone said: "Your Majesty, this has something to do with the waterway. Sometimes ships need to avoid undercurrents but do not choose to go around! So the direction in which the ship appears may be in the northeast. Or it may be in the east. This is all possible.
"
Li Chengqian thought it made sense when he heard it.
Not saying anything either.
He walked to a watchtower and sat down to wait for ten ships to arrive.
There is no need to stand and watch now.
Because he has been standing for too long.
About half an hour passed.
Ten ships appeared in front of him.
These are all ore ships.
Because there is so much space above them.
Li Chengqian looked at these ore ships.
Uncontrollable laughter.
Because he discovered that these ships were all powered by steam.
He said: "I didn't expect that boy has not made any special progress in navigation technology! He uses steam to drive. We have already mastered this technology. I thought he had more advanced technology. It seems that I think highly of him.
of."
Sure enough, he was still paralyzed by Li Min.
But it turns out that Li Chengqian was standing here not just for the sake of food for the people.
On the other hand, he wanted to witness what the ships from the Tang Dynasty looked like? Are they fuel-powered? Or are they powered by other more advanced fuels?
When he discovered that it was powered by steam, he relaxed his vigilance.
Apparently the steamship had exceeded his expectations.
And he has another plan. If it is a more advanced ship, he may seize one, seize it under another name, and then study it.
It's a pity that Li Min thought of it before him.
This was something he didn't expect at all, and he thought it was because Li Min was not developing well.
Then he added: "I thought Shengtang Group would develop well, but it seems that it is not as legendary. This guy is just trying to make a fool of himself. Those who were able to locate my location before were probably just guessing.
Right. Or maybe they have spies in Nanzhou. This guy is really interesting."
At this time, the general said: "Your Majesty, what should we do with our minerals? Are we going to trade with them? Do we want them to transport them away first? Is that okay?"
"Why not? Now they are in urgent need of iron ore. And the quantity is huge. We have more iron ore, so what if we let them transport it away?"
"But what if they don't want to pay us for food?"
"You are really stupid. Their demand is so great. As long as we don't pay for food for one day, we will not give them the second batch of iron ore for one day. They also have to make up for the food."
Li Chengqian said this, it seems that he knows how to trade.
"So that's what it looks like."
"Yes, you don't need to be too cautious when doing business with this guy, because he is honest. He will not pit you for the iron ore of your ship! Do you understand what I mean?"
Li Chengqian said so. The general said nothing more.
Then, when ten ships docked at the dock.
Li Chengqian gave another order.
"Come here, transport the iron ore to their ship! And ask them to leave a voucher."
"yes!"
So a large number of Nanzhou soldiers used manpower to transport a large amount of iron ore to the ore carrier docked on the shore!
The methods of these people are still a bit backward. If it were Li Min, they would have been mechanized long ago.
However, at this time, the crew of the ore ship moved some food from the ship.
And delivered it to Li Chengqian.
There is also a lot of food.
But if you want more grain, you have to increase the transaction volume.
Then Li Chengqian called the captain and asked questions.
"Does your ship have these? It's just a small amount of food, which is far from enough. Looking at a ship of your size, it must be at least 100."
Obviously, these grains are not enough for Li Chengqian.
When the captain heard this, he seemed to have expected what Li Chengqian would say.
At the same time, they were also very shocked that Li Chengqian actually knew how to speak Chinese. They thought they might have encountered barbarians in Nanzhou.
He didn't know that the man in front of him was the prince of the Tang Dynasty.
He was shocked and replied: "Your Majesty! Sir, he said to ship ten ships first. Then as we continue to increase, and then the trade continues to deepen, more and more ships will be sent."
After hearing this, Li Chengqian smiled and said.
"It seems like this kid is still wary of me. It doesn't matter, our transaction will continue."
"Yes, Your Majesty, we understand."
"Okay then. Just go and haul the iron ore away. I hope the time will be shorter the next time I come here. This month is too long."
At this time, the captain immediately said: "Your Majesty is not aware of something. Because it is the first time, he is very unfamiliar with this trade sea route. After this trade, we are familiar with it. From now on, the time will be controlled within ten days."
There are even boats coming every day, one after another. But there are not too many boats at any one time!"
"Okay, I don't care what you do. Anyway, I just want food, the more the better!"
"Yes, Your Majesty, I will discuss this matter with sir!" the captain said again.
"Okay, I don't have time to talk to you here anymore. You can do it here. Remember, keep the credentials and don't talk nonsense when the time comes. In that case, I won't agree!"
Li Chengqian said again.
After he finished speaking, he left.
After he left, people here started to get busy.
Some people transported grain, while others transported iron ore onto ships.
These boats eventually headed east.
After they left, someone went directly to Li Chengqian.
He also said to Li Chengqian: "Your Majesty, the Shengtang Group's ship is heading east. Isn't that right?"
"What's wrong? I thought there was no problem. Isn't it just an undercurrent? What is there to make such a fuss about? Don't speculate so much. There is no need. We only want food. As for where they go, what does it have to do with us?"
Li Chengqian said this, but he didn't know that at this time, thousands of miles away, there were more advanced ships waiting for the arrival of ten ships.
It was also because Li Min guarded against Li Chengqian. He had to guard against this guy.
However, Li Chengqian didn't know where his sense of superiority came from. He thought he was going to surpass Li Min.
Even if Li Min could locate him before, now that he wants to come and comfort himself, it doesn't matter.
Li Chengqian even picked up the phone now and wanted to call Li Min.
He really called Li Min.
Li Min answered the phone.
"Li Chengqian, what can you do?"
"Sixth brother, I really didn't expect that your ships are so backward. I thought your ships were so advanced. It seems I was wrong. They are still steam-driven!" Li Chengqian said this. He really didn't know. If it was
If it were steam, it would be impossible to travel that far.
Of course, it looked like a sailboat, so he didn't care too much.
"What? Does the ship I use have anything to do with our transaction?" Li Min said this.
"Of course it does. Your ship is too slow. It only comes once a month. That's really too slow."
This is what I was talking about.
"What's the point? I can take more boats at a time, wouldn't that be great? What are you afraid of?"
Li Min said again.
Li Chengqian continued: "I thought Shengtang Group was developing well. It seems that I was wrong. You are just like this."
"Yes, it's just as you thought." Li Min didn't want to say too much to him because it was meaningless.
Whether he is strong or not is not up to Li Chengqian.
But only you know how strong you really are.
"It's just a boat, there's really no need to be like this."
"Hahaha, I just want to laugh, that's all." Li Chengqian said again.
"Okay, then you can laugh, I have something to do and I will hang up."
"Don't, don't be like this, I have something else to do." Li Chengqian said again.
"What's the matter? Tell me."
"That's it. You have too few ships. Can you have more? The more, the better. I need a lot of food." Li Chengqian said.
The food on those ships was transported from the Tang Dynasty.
Now, it will take another month for Dongzhou's food to be partially mature.
Therefore, for now, Li Min cannot give him too much food.
"I said, there won't be a lot of food so soon. In two months, there will be new food harvest. Understand?"
"But I want a lot of food."
"We made an agreement and it can't be changed! And if you want a large amount now, I can't give it to you."
"Okay, that's it." Seeing that Li Chengqian couldn't speak, Li Min had no choice but to say this.
"Okay, nothing happens, hang up."
Li Min hung up the phone directly without any politeness.
Li Chengqian felt a little uncomfortable.
However, at this time, Zhang Wei was already standing in front of Li Min.
"Where are the ships now?"
"On the edge of an island one thousand three hundred kilometers away from Nanzhou. We built a port there."
"Let me see."
Li Min opened the map and saw that there was indeed a long and narrow island 1,300 kilometers away from Nanzhou. This island was nearly 500 kilometers long and 60 kilometers wide.
Such a huge island can be used as a base in the future, and transshipments can be carried out here in the future.
You can even do some simple purification here.
Then, the iron ore transported to Dongzhou will be lighter and can be transported in larger quantities. The large amount of exported iron ore in Nanzhou may not have enough transportation capacity, so it can be placed here for the first step of purification.
After arriving in Dongzhou, I can basically lose more than half of the weight.
"Is it here?" Li Min asked, pointing to the map.
"Yes, sir."
"A refinery can be built here to refine the iron ore for the first time and then transport it to Dongzhou. In this way, we will not waste a lot of energy transporting unnecessary things." Li Min said.
Zhang Wei expressed his understanding.
"Sir, I understand. I will arrange for a ship to transport the equipment there."
"Okay, you go ahead and do it."
"Yes, sir!"
Zhang Wei then withdrew, and went to arrange the equipment to go to the small island.
It is said that it is a small island, but compared to Nanzhou, the actual situation is quite large.
Li Min looked at the islands, which were near Nanzhou. Perhaps these islands could be used as springboards or something.
An airport or something can also be built here for planes to rest.
If the plane encounters any trouble or something, you may be able to rest there.