Seeing Su Chen coming over, Wang Qian quickly stepped forward: "Wang Qian has met the young master!"
"Master, you are finally back!"
Su Chen waved his hand: "From Japan to Lingnan, thank you for your hard work!"
Lao Liao and Wang Qiandao said: "Young master, what are you talking about? I am so kind to you and I am honored to be able to do something for you."
"Wang Qian, are you recruiting and training sailors in Panyu?"
Wang Qian: "Yes, young master. The princess said that after the young master comes back, she will send a large fleet to the South Sea to go to Persia, so that the family will be short of sailors."
"I heard that there are more people in Panyu making a living at sea, so I came here to take a look."
Su Chen: "How's it going?"
"Fortunately, there are indeed more people here who are willing to go to sea than in Fuzhou."
Su Chen smiled and said: "Fuzhou is sparsely populated, and the shipyards and tea gardens don't have enough manpower, so it's even harder to find ocean-going sailors."
Fuzhou in the early Tang Dynasty was still a desolate land with not much population. If it weren't for the rich resources of wood and tung oil, Su Chen would not be willing to move the shipyard there.
"In the future, there will indeed be a large number of ships going to the oceans, and it is expected that there will always be a shortage of ocean-going sailors, so the recruitment and training of sailors must continue,"
“But remember, we must rather lack than overdo it!”
Wang Qian cupped his fists and said, "Yes! Master, please rest assured!"
Seeing Su Chen looking around, Lao Liao said:
"Master! This place was originally intended to store goods and house the stewards and handymen here. The place is a bit rough..."
Su Chen: "The place is a bit smaller. Let's reorganize it according to our family's standards in Yangzhou."
Lao Liao agreed.
"I'm going north with the army, and I have to go to Liuqiu on the way. It will take some time to get home,"
"Bring me a pen and ink, and I'll write a letter home. Lao Liao, please go back and write a letter in advance."
It's a long way from Guangzhou to Chang'an. When the army arrives in Yangzhou, there are still some things to arrange. As the commander-in-chief, Su Chen cannot abandon the army and run to Chang'an.
So even though Su Chen has arrived in Guangzhou, it will probably take more than a month before he can return home.
Fang Xuanling traveled eight hundred miles to report the message to Chang'an. Changle and the others should get the message within a few days.
Su Chen thought it would be better to write a letter to the family to prevent Changle and the others from getting impatient.
Lao Liao took out a pen and paper, and Su Chen said again:
"Wang Qian, go to the water village by the sea and bring back some things from the military camp. There is someone waiting for you there."
Wang Qian: "I'll go right away! Master, how many things do you have?"
Su Chen: "Not much, just a few hundred kilograms of spices. Lao Liao will take them back when he goes back."
Su Chen did not intend to sell the spices picked from the Spice Islands along the coast.
Take them all to Chang'an!
Let’s stimulate the nobles in Chang’an and let them know that there are many good things overseas.
Spices will be an expensive international commodity for a long, long time in the future, and the consumption is very large, so there is no need to worry about not being able to sell them at a high price.
Historically, European countries fought bloody battles over spices. The famous black pepper war almost wiped out Portugal.
As Liu Rengui said, you can't buy a nutmeg for a copper coin in Chang'an.
Li Chengqian said that he wanted to bring back a treasury, which would make the nobles of Chang'an jealous.
Although Su Chen's family has no shortage of these, he still asked Lao Liao to bring some back to Changle and the others to try this year's harvest.
Let Li Er arrange it well in advance so that the value can be maximized.
"By the way, I almost forgot!"
"Old Liao, please go to the inn to find a princess named Elsa from the Kingdom of Cannae and call her here."
Old Liao was stunned: "Princess?
From Fanbang?”
Su Chen: "Yes! Call her Elsa. Follow me to Datang. Go and bring her."
After Fang Xuanling asked Li Chengqian about the situation in Canni Kingdom, he arranged for Elsa to live in the post house according to etiquette.
Old Liao glanced at his young master and went to the inn with a strange expression on his face.
After Su Chen wrote a letter home, he waited at the pier for Lao Liao and Wang Qian to come back.
As a result, Wang Qiandu drove his carriage back from the military camp, but there was no sign of Lao Liao.
"Master! I met Lao Zhang. He said that the master found a place where spices grow all over the mountains and plains. The big ship you loaded is full of spices."
Wang Qian asked tremblingly after returning.
The Lao Zhang he was talking about was Su Chen's personal guard and he was from Sujiazhuang.
"Yes, from now on our family can just sail out to pick as many spices as they want!"
"You saw so much gold in Japan, why are you still so excited?"
Wang Qian: "Master, spices and gold are not the same!"
Su Chen waved his hand: "As long as you know, this thing won't be valuable in our house from now on. I want to take it myself."
"Why is Lao Liao taking so long to pick someone up at the post house?"
Su Chen had been waiting at the pier for more than an hour. It was almost dark before Lao Liao came back.
"Commander, why did you call me here?"
Elsa happily ran to Su Chen.
Su Chen: "Old Liao, where did you find her?"
Lao Liao wiped his sweat: "In a jewelry store in Panyu City!"
Su Chen glared at Elsa: You just arrived in Datang, not far away tens of thousands of miles yesterday, and today you went shopping on the streets!
Elsa looked at Su Chen innocently: "What's the matter with the commander calling me here?"
"The Tang Dynasty is indeed a treasure trove of resources. Guangzhou, a small border town, is so prosperous. So what is Chang'an like?"
"I have indeed come to the right place!"
Su Chen looked at Elsa who looked excited and didn't know what to say!
"Elsa! This is a steward of my family. He will leave to return to Chang'an tomorrow."
"Do you want to go to Chang'an with him first?"
Elsa was stunned: "Master, aren't you going back?"
Su Chen: "I want to lead a large army, and the journey is relatively slow. It will probably take more than a month to reach Chang'an."
Elsa: "You want me to go to Chang'an first to meet Princess Changle?"
Su Chen nodded. It was really inconvenient for him to take Elsa with him as his consort.
It doesn't matter abroad. People in China talk too much.
After all, Elsa is also a Fanbang princess, no better than Lotus Sun who has no identity.
Su Chen could be indifferent, but if someone deliberately gossiped, it would probably make Chang Le unhappy.
And Li Er, who knows what he will think.
Su Chen felt that it would be justifiable to let Elsa go see Chang Le first.
Normally, when an official takes a concubine, he must get the consent of his wife, right?
As for whether Changle would be angry with him, Su Chen decided to explain slowly after going back.
Elsa curled her lips: "What if your princess gets angry and kills me with a knife?"
Su Chen glared at her: "Then just be good and don't make Chang Le angry!"
Elsa said sadly: "I feel that my life is in danger, Commander, you are so cruel!"
Su Chen looked at Elsa angrily: "Stop pretending! We have arrived in Datang, is there any way to turn back?"
