Fan Lou, Sister Hong made a pot of Guzhu purple bamboo shoots for Huaiyu.
"Sit down, don't stand," Huaiyu greeted.
Sister Hong, whose real name is Hongxian, is now a steward of Fan Tower in Jiangzhou, specializing in the intermediary business. This is also the most profitable business of Fan Tower now. Regardless of the three and five floors of Fan Tower, it is huge in scale, including a waiter and a kitchen.
There are eighty or ninety people in total for purchasing, etc.
There was also a team of more than a hundred prostitutes who accompanied the wine, played and sang.
The attic rooms in the center building start from 3 to 5 guan, and you can spend hundreds of guan in one night, but the most profitable thing is the intermediary business in the fan building.
Jiangzhou is an important water and land terminal, and Fan Lou is now the largest restaurant in Jiangzhou. There are many customers here and they are well-informed. Fan Lou uses this platform to collect and organize various news and intelligence, and then helps lead cooperation and facilitate transactions.
Charge an intermediary service fee.
These all charge 3 to 5 points, and some transactions even charge 10% to 20%.
For some large-scale businesses, if a successful order is made, hundreds or even thousands of benefits will be gained.
"Alang, we have almost found the people you need. There are various shipwrights, captains, sailors, veterans, traders, etc. Do you need to screen them again in person?"
"I can rest assured that you can handle the matter. Let's arrange for these people to go to Guangzhou first."
Wu Huaiyu asked Hongxian to recruit an exploration and development fleet. Of course, these were only some of the people he recruited. He was building a development fleet, not only a fleet,
In addition to Liuqiu Island, the targets also include Zhuya Island, Luzon Island, and Linyi, Borneo and other places further south.
The requirements for these expedition crews are simple. First of all, they must have enough courage to take risks and be bold and careful. Secondly, they need a variety of professional talents, including those who build and repair ships, those who can watch the stars, measure waterways, understand the weather, and those who can speak barbarians.
Those who understand the language, then those who understand trade and trade, and then there are armed escorts, doctors, veterinarians, pharmacists, blacksmiths, etc.
His development plan was to establish a stronghold after arriving at the destination, then contact the local indigenous people to open a road through trade, then cultivate, then immigrate and colonize.
First you have to make money, then you have to occupy territory, and finally you have to conquer the natives.
He would not follow the conquest strategy of Sun Quan, Yang Guang and others, rushing in with a large group of people to do one vote and then leaving. This was not in line with Wu Huaiyu's plan and interests.
Therefore, the expedition team did not need to be large at the beginning. Two or three ships and several hundred people could form a pioneering fleet. In the Ming Dynasty, the Dutch sailed into Penghu with only two ships and proposed trade requirements.
Later, they made a comeback, but they only brought a thousand-man fleet to occupy Penghu Island and dug soil to build a fort. After being defeated by the Ming Dynasty, they sailed to Liuqiu Island, landed at Dayuan, built a fort and built a city, and started the colonial plan.
Wu Huaiyu planned to use the Dutch plan to develop Liuqiu, and first built a city and port in Penghu, which would serve as a supply point on the East China Sea route and a transfer station for the development of Liuqiu.
Then go to Liuqiu Daandaang, which is a long and narrow peninsula and has the best harbor in the south of Liuqiu Island.
"Next, continue to recruit people. As long as they meet our requirements, you can recruit them as long as they are willing. They will do a simple training in Jiangzhou and then send them to Guangzhou."
"I bought an island on the sea south of Bao'an County, Guangzhou. The island has an excellent natural harbor. The nearby stream is sweet and delicious. Ships and sailors often come here to fetch water. I bought the island and used to make Guangzhou Port spices.
storage, transportation, processing,
But the island is quite big, and the people you recruit can be trained on the island for a while before forming a fleet and assigning their destinations."
This was once known as Hong Kong, one of the three largest natural seaports in the world. At this time, it was still unknown. It used to be a small fishing village, but then no one fished anymore. They came to the port to eat and engage in smuggling.
As soon as Wu Huaiyu came to crack down on smuggling, the group of people were sent to Chongzuo, Yong Prefecture to build a city. Huaiyu spent some money to buy the island, mainly because of the deep water port.
"Next, people who farm, fish and hunt, as well as people who make bricks and tiles to build houses, and people who are lumberjacks, bricklayers and furniture builders will also be recruited more,"
To develop a colony, of course you have to build forts, and you also have to cultivate wasteland. His colonial sites will definitely be located in coastal harbors, so fishing is definitely a very in-demand occupation.
While trading, the colony's food self-sufficiency is a priority.
Liuqiu is one of the directions that Wu Huaiyu will focus on next. In this direction, Penghu must be developed first, and then Damuan Island.
In addition, in Zhangzhou on the mainland, Wu Huaiyu must also focus on business.
What he was interested in was Ludao Island in Zhangzhou, which later became Xiamen. But at that time, it was an ordinary island like Hong Kong today. There were settlers from Nanchen and Beixue on the island, and there were not many people.
At this time, even Zhangzhou was extremely backward, let alone an island.
The Huaiyu plan is to connect Ludao, Penghu, and Dayuan at three points and one line to open up the Liuqiu Strait.
At least three strongholds must be established in the early stage, so a lot of manpower is still needed. Ludao is close to Zhangzhou, so most of the manpower can be recruited locally, but Penghu and Da Yuan are definitely not so easy to recruit, so they still need to be recruited in the early stage.
Recruit people from all over.
Recruiting in Jiangzhou, Guangzhou, and even Chang'an, Luoyang, Yangzhou and other places.
Hongxian also has another identity. She was once the first-generation swordswoman, one of the eight personal swordswomen who followed Xuanfu before she got married, Jian San,
This girl has a baby face, but she has thick legs and strong arms, but she is not as fat as a bucket, but as strong as a person who has been practicing martial arts for a long time. Although this girl has a baby face, she followed Xuan Fu to Long.
On the right, he is charging on horseback on the battlefield, wearing armor and carrying a horse-killing sword. He is also a fierce man who enters and exits the battlefield seven times.
She blocked the knife for Huaiyu and shed blood for his wife,
Xuanfu once wanted Huaiyu to take her as his concubine, but when the four sisters of the Fan family married Sword Girl, Wu Huaiyu finally just took Jianyi in Youzhou.
Later, Xuan Fu introduced Hongxian to Bu Qu, a martial artist. Although Bu Qu was from the Wu family, he was recommended by Huai Yu for his meritorious service on the battlefield and became a brigade marshal. Unfortunately,
Only one year after their marriage, her husband died in the battle at Yinshan Baidao, and Hongxian became a widow.
Xuan Fu wanted to introduce another one to her, but she never agreed.
"Next time I recruit a group of people, I will personally send them to Xiangdao, Guangzhou,"
"You don't need to go there in person. You can recruit a group here and arrange for people to send them there directly. Anyway, the road from Jiangzhou to Guangzhou is convenient. You can get there quickly by boat."
When Hongxian saw that Huaiyu had finished drinking the tea in his cup, he immediately took another cup, smiled and said, "If I have a chance, I'd like to go to Yizhou and have a look. Maybe I can open a Fanlou there."
Huaiyu smiles,
"Opening up wasteland is very difficult. Although Liuqiu Island is only three to four hundred miles away from Zhangzhou, they are separated by such a wide strait.
To establish a stronghold and fortress in the harbor of that barbarian desert island, and then build a town, you have to start from scratch, which will be very difficult, and you will even face threats from the island barbarian tribes."
Hongxian said, "They are just some barbarians on a desert island. I remember when my wife and I were with Alang in Longyou. The Turkic cavalry, Tuyuhun, and party cavalry were many times or ten times more powerful than us, but we were still not afraid and fought head-on."
"Because it's land reclamation, I think it's good to start from scratch. That way, if you succeed in the future, you will have a greater sense of accomplishment."
Huaiyu didn’t even know how to answer it.
This girl is very good, but unfortunately she is not lucky enough. She heard from Xuan Fu that Hongxian was actually a noble lady from Jingzhou, Shannan. Later, like the Fan family, she was convicted by Emperor Sui Yang and was not a palace slave. Xuan Fu was also there.
Got to know Hongxian.
Later, the Fan family had better luck and was rewarded as a slave to Li Yuan. Then he followed Li Yuan in raising an army and became the founding hero of the Tang Dynasty.
In contrast, although Hongxian was later bought by Xuanfu and granted her status as a guest girl, and later she was arranged to be given to her husband as a concubine, but when things failed, he found a brigade commander to marry her, but who could have expected that,
One year after the marriage, her husband died in the war.
Not even a single child was left behind.
"Hongxian, do you recognize the stone next to me?"
"I know, from Shuofang, my hometown, he was originally a Mai Ke, but he was appreciated by A Lang and stayed by his side. Later he became A Lang's adopted son and student. He used to be a dark and skinny boy, but now he is tall and strong."
"Well, the great name Shi Shouxin is now serving as a lieutenant in the imperial army. He is very motivated and will definitely be very promising in the future."
The red line bows its head,
"Is it possible that Alang wants to marry him? But I am a widow, and I am much older than him."
"You're not much older. You're only three years older than him. You're a junior girl, so you have a gold nugget. Besides, I found out that this kid has been following me these past few days and often peeks at you. He likes you."
Hongxian didn't look up, holding the tea cup with both hands,
"I know that Shitou has a bright future. With his status as a student and adopted son of Alang, he is destined to no longer be ordinary in this life.
only,"
She finally raised her head and looked directly at Huaiyu, "Thank you Alang for your kindness, but I can't accept it."
"Why?"
She smiled, gently brushed her hair beside her ear,
"I have also learned from Alang in the past few years, and I have adopted several little orphans, three daughters and two sons, the eldest is five years old." When talking about these adopted children, she smiles all over her face, has light in her eyes, and is very happy.
"actually,"
"I can't have children. I couldn't conceive after I got married, so I went to seek medical advice, but the result was the same. It was caused by an injury on the Longyou battlefield that year..."
The sequelae of Hongxian’s injury that year was actually infertility.
After her husband died in the war, Hongxian was no longer willing to remarry. If she had known about her infertility before marriage, she might not have married.
In the past few years, she has been taken care of by the Wu family. She is now a widow and has adopted five orphans. However, her income in Fanlou is good and she has bought a few servants to help take care of the five children.
It was the first time that Huaiyu knew about her injury that led to infertility, and she felt a little guilty.
"I'll help you diagnose it and maybe cure it."
"I have seen many doctors and have accepted it. This is actually quite good now."
"The way Shitou looks at you, he really likes you,"
"I am a barren waste, so I won't harm him," Hongxian sipped her tea, "Alang, do you know that after I got married, my husband loved me very much, but later he learned that I couldn't have children, and he began to dislike me.
, he would even beat me when he was drunk, and even planned to divorce me,"
It's hard to say what that short marriage brought to Hongxian. It was very complicated, but Hongxian never wanted to repeat these experiences.
Shi Shi seemed to be a good young man, and he might even have a better future than his ex-husband in the future, but even if he liked her now, she was not willing to gamble anymore.
She can also make money now, her income is pretty good, and the five adopted children are very close to her, which also satisfies her regret of not being able to have children and become a mother, so she is very satisfied with the present.
Unless Alang is still willing to take her as his concubine, maybe this is the only thing she can accept. But she raised her head and looked at him. He was sitting there holding a teacup in his hand.
Well, just like before, he doesn't have those thoughts about himself at all.
