Three full years have passed since the Tang Dynasty moved its capital to Chang'an.
Chang'an City, a city that was traumatized by the war, has risen from less than 100,000 people during the Anshi Rebellion to more than 1.3 million people. In terms of population alone, compared with the heyday of Tianbao's early years, it is even more
Worse than that.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Household Affairs, in Chang'an City during the Tianbao period, Guanzhong's population originally accounted for the main proportion, but today, the population structure has become extremely complex. Anxi, Hexi, Hebei, Hedong, Shuofang, Shannan and other places have large populations.
Migration, especially to businesses with a large number of hired workers, is an important source of residents in Chang'an City.
Due to the massive influx of people, the originally sparsely populated Nancheng District in Chang'an City is now bustling with people. Even Nancheng Zhongcheng, which was once used for buying and selling slaves, has become a private market even larger than the East and West City after reorganization.
On May 1, the 10th year of the New Year (770), in Xingdaofang in front of the imperial city, pedestrians who kept coming and going suddenly heard the sound of chimes coming from the Drum Tower.
The door was slowly pushed open, and many guards and officials walked out.
The people in Xingdaofang were all surprised when they saw this.
According to the etiquette of the Tang Dynasty, the main door would only be opened during major events, such as imperial examinations or welcoming foreign monarchs.
However, after discussing with each other, everyone found that there seemed to be nothing important today.
Just when people were curious, the sound of salutes was heard from the east, and a mighty motorcade entered the city from Chunming Gate and drove all the way towards the imperial city.
In front of the convoy, Wuwei first cleared the way, followed by dozens of carts loaded with ores, crops, flowers, and animals.
In the middle of the motorcade, a group of dark-skinned people wearing silk satins were riding on horses. Their faces were full of joy, but they did not look like powerful guests at all.
The people of Chang'an watched this strange convoy and slowly entered and locked doors.
In front of the Taiji Palace, Emperor Zhou Jun personally led hundreds of officials and stood in front of the palace door, looking towards the palace road with a smile.
Prince Zhou Xiao stood beside Zhou Jun. Seeing the latter's joy, he bravely asked: "Why is my father so happy?"
Zhou Jun turned around and asked Zhou Xiao: "Do you know who is here today?"
Zhou Xiao: "I heard that they were a group of sailors who sailed to the eastern continent and brought back a lot of things."
Zhou Jun smiled slightly: "These people are the heroes of the Tang Dynasty."
Zhou Xiao was stunned.
After the motorcade entered the courtyard of the main hall, Kang Kejing, the Minister of Municipal Affairs, led a group of people into the main hall.
This group of sailors, who had been exposed to the sun and rain for a long time at sea, and whose skin was like charcoal, entered the main hall under the gaze of hundreds of officials, and everyone was trembling.
They looked up and saw the emperor in the distance. They quickly ignored everything else and knelt on the ground from a distance, shouting "long live the emperor."
Seeing this, Zhou Jun shook his head helplessly and said a few words to Fan Jinian who was standing aside.
Fan Jinian bowed, walked down a few steps, and shouted loudly: "The Emperor orders you to come forward and have an audience!"
Hearing this, the group of sailors tried to stand upright and finally walked under the throne.
Zhou Jun looked at the group of people and asked, "Who is the leader among you?"
The sailors looked at each other, and finally someone stood up and said: "Reporting to your Majesty, on the twenty-second day of the voyage, the fleet encountered a storm. The flagship on which the leader was sitting was caught in the eye of the storm and disappeared again."
Zhou Jun heard this and sighed: "How many people were there when you set out, and how many people were there when you came back?"
The man replied: "Eleven trading houses in Hebei formed an ocean-going fleet. When it set off, there were a total of thirty-six ships with about 2,000 crew members. When we returned to Laizhou Port, there were only nine ships and less than 500 survivors.
people."
Seeing that this man spoke clearly, Zhou Jun couldn't help asking: "Who are you in the fleet?"
The man said: "The villain's surname is Ye, and his single name is Zhang. He was originally the chief clerk of the fleet, but was later elected as the leader."
Zhou Jun nodded and asked: "Where has your fleet sailed the farthest?"
When Ye Zhang heard this, he took out a map drawn on linen from his arms, presented it with both hands, and said: "Here is a sea map, please take a look at it."
Fan Ji Nian ordered his chamberlain to take the chart carefully, and then he gently held it in his hand and presented it to Zhou Jun.
Zhou Jun took the chart and unfolded it to take a look, and was surprised.
The entire chart is based on the Pacific Rim map drawn by Zhou Jun several years ago as a template, and has been continuously marked and modified.
This fleet first set off from the Bohai Bay, bypassed the Korean Peninsula, went north along the western coast of Japan, then followed the Japanese Kuril Islands to the Kamchatka Peninsula in southern Russia, and then headed east into the Bering Sea and along the Aleutian
The archipelago sailed all the way into the Gulf of Alaska and finally arrived in Canada. (The route is shown in the picture)
This route is close to the islands along the way, making it easy to supply supplies, and it is not easy to make mistakes on the route. The most dangerous voyage is the part of the route that enters the Bering Sea and goes to the Aleutian Islands.
In addition to storms, according to Ye Zhang's account, the biggest problem encountered by the fleet was the sudden disease during the voyage.
Hundreds of people died due to being infected with the disease. Ye Zhang, leading the remaining survivors, had to abandon those crew members who were infected with the disease.
When Ye Zhang finally arrived in North America, the crew was almost halved.
In order to reduce losses as much as possible, Ye Zhang had to concentrate resources, concentrate materials, food and medicines on the remaining ships in the best condition, and abandon those dilapidated ships to increase the chance of survival.
While sailing south along the Gulf of Alaska, Ye Zhang organized the crew to land and begin exploring the New World.
They met many indigenous peoples of North America. These tribes originated from the Eskimo, Anasazi, Mogoyong, Hohokam and Ancient Cordillera, which are the five major branches of the ancient North American Indians.
Some of these tribes are hostile to outsiders, while others are welcoming.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! According to Ye Zhang, in the early days of landing, due to the unfamiliarity of the place and the language barrier, he offended the beliefs of a local tribe, which triggered a big fight.
conflict.
Because of this battle, the crew was once again reduced by hundreds.
If another Indian tribe hadn't intervened to stop it, all members of this fleet from the Tang Dynasty might have been buried in a foreign land.
After resolving the grudges, Ye Zhang tried to use the technology and culture of the Tang Dynasty to help the Indian tribes improve their living conditions, and eventually won the respect of the locals.
Having said this, Ye Zhang looked behind him and whispered a few words.
A foreign man in Tang Dynasty clothes took two steps forward and shouted to Zhou Jun in half-baked Tang Dynasty Mandarin: "Long live the little people!"
Zhou Jun saw the man's appearance clearly and asked Ye Zhang in surprise: "Is this man the tribe member you mentioned?"
Ye Zhang nodded and said: "This man is Klickitat from the Falcon tribe, which means traveler in Tang dialect. This time we returned to the Tang Dynasty, and he volunteered to take on the role of guide because he wanted to visit the Tang Dynasty.
look."
Zhou Jun was very interested and kept nodding: "Okay, I will let Honglu Temple lead him to look around."
Ye Zhang: "Your Majesty, there is one more thing. We have brought back all the crops you told us to look for a few years ago."
After hearing this, Zhou Jun stood up subconsciously and asked excitedly: "You mean, you found potatoes and corn?!"
Ye Zhang: "In the eastern continent, potatoes are called rhizome, while corn is called clover. Their appearance is 70% similar to what your Majesty said back then."
Zhou Jun quickly walked down from the throne, came to the crew, and said impatiently: "Bring these two things up quickly!"
Not long after, a chamberlain placed two things on a silver platter and brought them to the emperor.
Zhou Jun carefully picked up the potatoes and corn and looked at them carefully.
Different from later generations, potatoes in the Tang Dynasty were not regular in appearance, but looked a bit like ginger roots, and the color inside was not light yellow, but slightly green. As for corn, the difference was even greater. The clover used to wrap the corn kernels on the outside was
The skin is very thick, and many layers have to be peeled off to reveal the fruit inside. The corn kernels are also slightly withered, and they look like they are malnourished.
But there is no doubt that these two things, potatoes and corn, are both called God-given crops in human history.