No one will be surprised if anything new happens in Luoyang City, because everyone has already agreed that Luoyang is different from other places. As a transportation hub city, Luoyang has countless outsiders coming in every day. Sometimes, they
What they saw last time is different from what they saw this time. There are always some small changes waiting for them to adapt.
At first, people found it inconvenient and always complained, and the locals in Luoyang even tried to explain it. But later, with the benefits brought by these changes, Luoyang became better and better, and the people of Luoyang became more and more arrogant.
Get up, no more explanations, just waiting for you to adapt.
Others didn't think it was anything, but Li Mu understood it in his heart.
In his previous life, there was an old man who drew a circle along the coast. The people in that circle generally went through such a process.
Reform must have a pilot. This pilot is a first step. In fact, it is essentially for trial and error. But Li Mu has a vision beyond the previous year. He knows the right way, so there is no trial and error process, and the results obtained are all correct.
, which can naturally deepen people’s sense of self-confidence.
Li Mu liked this sense of confidence, so he chose to acquiesce to this change.
…
The focus of Li Mu's work is still shipbuilding.
The main parts of the Wandan ship have been built. But they encountered a new problem. The Xiao family sent people to inspect the river and found that there were some sections of the river where the silt was too high. Ordinary ships would naturally be fine.
, but if the ship has a deep draft, obstruction may occur.
Although it is not 100% likely to happen, it is possible and we cannot afford to take the risk. Dredging the river is a big project. Even if we organize manpower to do it now, it will take at least more than a year. Li Mu cannot delay this time.
Started.
Therefore, we can only choose the second solution, which is to transport the already manufactured parts out in batches, choose another seaport, and assemble them again.
After careful study, Li Mu found that this matter was wrong. Compared with assembling in Luoyang, assembling at the seaport had many advantages.
There is no need to worry about the draft of the seaport. Zheng He's voyages to the Western Seas started from the seaport. Moreover, the size of the Wandan ship is not for river transportation. The river cannot use such a large ship.
In addition, Li Mu has always ignored one thing. That is, he underestimated Datang's current shipping.
In fact, there was maritime trade in the Tang Dynasty, and it had always been prosperous. However, the court did not pay enough attention to it, and the people were happy to make a fortune in silence, so few people knew about it.
Li Mu remembered this matter, so he found the Qiu Beard Guest to learn more about it. As the owner of the Thirty-Six Islands in the South China Sea, the Qiu Bearded Guest knew very well about maritime trade.
In fact, there has always been maritime transportation in the Central Plains. As early as the Qin and Han Dynasties, there was a legend that Xu Fu took away three thousand boys and girls when he crossed east. Although the legend is fabricated, it at least shows that maritime transportation already existed as early as the Qin and Han Dynasties.
, and the capacity of the ship is not small.
The exact records that can be found can be traced back to the Three Kingdoms period. During the Three Kingdoms period, Wei, Shu and Wu divided the world. The west and north of Wu State were blocked by Wei and Shu. They were forced to have no choice but to
Choose to develop maritime trade.
For example, Wu State sent a fleet to first develop Yizhou (Taiwan) and established a stronghold to continue southward. Later, it sent Zhonglang General Kang Tai and Zhu Ying to lead a maritime fleet to Southeast Asia and the southern South China Sea. This
After the fleet came back, they each wrote a record book, "Wu Shi's Foreign Affairs Biography" and "Funan Foreign Objects". Both books are collected in Li Tai's Literature Museum.
The Wei State during the Three Kingdoms period also had good maritime development. Yixiu told Li Mu that the Japanese state had a gold seal given by the King of Wei, which showed that the Japanese state had been connected with the Central Plains as early as the Three Kingdoms period. Moreover, this also showed another
The problem is that during the Three Kingdoms period, all the small and foreign countries actually regarded Wei as their first official state.
Then the Central Plains entered a split, and the imperial court gradually lost control of shipping. Shipping was in the hands of local wealthy families and aristocratic families. This is why, despite the continuous wars in the Central Plains, the aristocratic families were still as stable as Mount Tai. They obtained everything through shipping.
He needed supplies and made an unknown amount of money in silence.
Li Mu repeatedly took action against wealthy families, but they were able to retreat instead of jumping over the wall in a hurry. This was also related to this. In any case, as long as Li Mu did not reach out to the sea, they would have a way out.
After Li Mu learned the news, he couldn't help but be furious. These grandsons actually fooled me. Do you really think I'm a fool? If you don't want me to touch you, then I have to give it a try.
Immediately, Li Mu learned in detail about the current situation of the seaports in Datang. Datang's foreign trade now mainly has two major ports.
First, Guangzhou Port is located on the edge of the South China Sea. It is an important place and is commonly known as Yin Rong. Guangzhou Port is a natural port. It has excellent water and land transportation conditions and is adjacent to Southeast Asian countries. Most of the Chinese and foreign sea-going ships traveling between East and West Asia are
Guangzhou Port is the starting and ending point. What shocked Li Mu was that according to the bearded passengers, the trade in Guangzhou Port could actually lead to Africa. Kunlun slaves came in through this route. Li Mu had always thought that Kunlun slaves were from Nanyang, but he didn't expect it.
Already arrived in Africa.
Although Qiu Bearke has not been there, his men have been there on the ship. The route is generally as follows: starting from Guangzhou, going to the islands in the Vietnam Sea to the southeast, along the east coast of the Indian Peninsula in the South China Sea, passing through the Gulf of Siam, and following the horseback
Come to the peninsula and go south to the southeastern part of Sumatra Island, then sail to Java Island. Then leave the Strait of Malacca in the west, pass through the Nicobar Islands, cross the Bay of Bengal to Shizi Kingdom (Sri Lanka), then go along the west coast of the Indian Peninsula, cross the Arabian Sea, and pass through Ho Chi Minh City.
The Strait of Hormuz arrives near Abadan at the head of the Persian Gulf, then goes up the Euphrates River to Basra, and then travels thousands of miles northwest to Baghdad, the capital of Arabia. From the Persian Gulf, it exits the Strait of Hormuz and sails westward along the southern coast of the Arabian Peninsula via Bahrain and Oman.
, from Yemen to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the mouth of the Red Sea, and south to the coast of East Africa.
According to the bearded passengers, this route takes three months from Guangzhou to Basra and half a year for the round trip. You only need to go out once a year to make a lot of money. The place where the ship docks is rich in ivory, rhinoceros horn and pearls.
Gemstones, corals, colored glazes, frankincense, ambergris and other spices are readily available in the local area. You only need a bowl or a piece of cloth to exchange for a lot. These things are all equivalent when shipped back to China.
Good things of gold.
Another big port is Yangzhou. Yangzhou is located at the estuary of the Yangtze River and is connected to the Grand Canal. It is the convergence point of southeast transportation and the gathering place of Yangtze River materials. It has a unique geographical location. Goguryeo, Silla, and Japan all use this
The destination port is regarded as the first inland commercial port.
The commerce here is very developed because it is not only a transshipment place for materials and a distribution market for raw materials, but also has many skilled craftsmen who process raw materials into goods on the spot. The silk weaving industry here is very developed, and most of the silk sold at sea passes through here.
Porcelain from Yuezhou, Hongzhou and other places mostly use Yangzhou as a trading market. Goods from Guangzhou are also transported by water through Yangzhou. If the attribute of Guangzhou Port is an import and export port, then Yangzhou is a trading port.
.
Both ports have supporting shipbuilding industries. The scale is not small, but the ships built are not as big as Wandan, but Qiandan ships are everywhere. Li Mu checked the information of the two ports. In terms of shipbuilding,
With slight modifications, both ports can actually meet the demand, but comparing the two ports, the most suitable port is Yangzhou. First, the distance is suitable, and Luoyang and Yangzhou are connected by the Tongji Canal, making the transfer of materials very convenient.
Li Mu immediately wrote a memorial to Li Shimin, asking for the requisition of Yangzhou Port. Li Shimin's decree was still on the way, and Li Mu's ship had already gone down the Tongji Canal and was almost at Xuzhou.
…
on board.
"Husband, it's time to rest." Jin Chen brought some snacks to Li Mu and reminded him softly. But she also knew that the reminder was useless. Li Mu would not go to bed obediently. In the past few days, he had been sleeping very hard every day.
In the evening, I took the superstition sent by Jin Yiwei and didn't know what I was studying.
As expected, Li Mu didn't even raise his head and said, "You and Yingluo go to bed first, I'll talk about it later."
Jin Chen pouted and said, "Where will my husband sleep tonight?"
After hearing these words, Li Mu's face became brighter. He glanced at Jin Chen, leaned close to her ear, and whispered: "Sleep at your place."
Jin Chen pursed his lips shyly, turned around and went out. After a while, Wei Yingluo came in with a stack of files, put them on Li Mu's desk, and said, "All are sorted out, the information on the Jiangnan gentry." In recent days, Li Mu has
Through various means, we collected information about Yangzhou's "local snakes", and now all the information is summarized here.
"Let me sort it out again." Li Mu took the information and read it from the beginning.
There are now twelve famous families in the south of the Yangtze River that can be mentioned. They are the four surnames in Kuaiji, the four surnames in Wuzhong, and the four surnames left over from the Yiguan crossing to the south.
The four surnames of Wuzhong are Gu, Lu, Zhu and Zhang, the four surnames of Kuaiji, Yu, Wei, Kong and Xie, plus the Wang family of Langya, the Xie family of Chenjun, Yuan family and the Xiao family of Lanling, totaling twelve prominent families.
The families in Jiangnan are different from those in Qiwang of the Five Surnames. The families in Jiangnan are relatively more restrained. Even many aristocratic families do not want to regard themselves as wealthy families. Unlike the ambitions inherent in Qiwang of the Five Surnames, Jiangnan
Because they were far away from the political center, the noble clans rarely had ambitions that wanted to conquer the world. Of course, this was also related to their strength.
The gentry in the south of the Yangtze River had money, but in terms of force, they did not have the strength to conquer the world. The only one who stood out was the Lanling Xiao family, but when the Tang Dynasty sent its army southward, it hardly caused much damage.
The difficulty was solved by Li Xiaogong.
However, the strength of the Jiangnan gentry cannot be denied based on their weakness in military force. The overall economic size of the twelve prominent families in Jiangnan is not inferior to that of the Five Surnames and Seven Hopes. If you include ocean trade, it is even larger than that of the Jiangnan nobles.
Li Mu had done a lot of harm to the five surnames Qi Wang, who was one level higher.
These twelve prominent families were more or less involved in shipping. But not all of them needed Li Mu to worry about. He sketched them out, and in the end there were only four left, which required him to put some thought into.
These four families are the Gu family of Wujun, the Zhu family of Wujun, the Yu family of Kuaiji, and the Wang family of Langya. In fact, there is a fifth family, the Lanling Xiao family, but now the Lanling Xiao family has been tied to Li Mu.
We're on board, so there's no need to worry.
The Gu family of Wu County is an indigenous gentry in the south of the Yangtze River and a descendant of King Gou Jian of Yue. Gou Jian's 13th grandson Yao served as the leader of the Minyue tribe. He helped Liu Bang defeat Xiang Yu and was granted the title of King of the East China Sea. His son was named Gu Yu
Hou, since then the Gu family has multiplied. The real rise of the Gu family can be traced back to the Eastern Jin Dynasty, when they joined forces with the Langya Wang family to assist Sima Rui in ascending to power and were reused. During the chaos at the end of the Sui Dynasty, they were only slightly affected. With their strong economic foundation,
Among the Jiangnan nobles, they still belong to the upper circle.
The Zhu family of Wu County was the prominent family that Li Mu wanted to win over the most. The Zhu family of Wu County was a family of military generals, especially good at water warfare. During the Three Kingdoms period, it was with the help of the Zhu family that Sun Jian was able to pacify Jiangdong and establish the next three points.
The situation in the world. The most important thing is that the Zhu family is in control of the waterway map. It was Zhu Ying, the ancestor of the Zhu family, who was ordered to open the lanes. The "Funan Foreign Objects Chronicle" was written by Zhu Ying.
The Yu family in Kuaiji is neither famous nor dew, but no matter how Jiangnan changed hands and dynasties changed in the past dynasties, the Yu family was an important minister in the court. The current Minister of Rites, Yu Shinan, was born in the Yu family in Kuaiji.
The Langya Wang family, before moving southward in the late Western Jin Dynasty, was the most powerful family in the world. After the southward migration, the support of Sima Rui reached its peak. It was rumored at that time that the king and the horse shared the world. However, with the collapse of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the strength of the Langya Wang family also weakened repeatedly.
, but after all, a skinny camel is bigger than a horse, and its strength cannot be underestimated.
If there are no problems with these four leading companies, there will basically be no problems. Li Mu made some plans in his mind and made a calculation in his mind.
…
Li Mu is studying the famous families in the south of the Yangtze River, and the famous families in the south of the Yangtze River are also studying him. Gu Yuan, the head of the Gu clan in Wu County, and the residence of Gu Sizhi. Today, the house is full of guests, but the expressions of the guests here are not very good, all of them frown, as if
There was infinite melancholy. No one touched the food and wine on the table, as if someone had poisoned them.
Today, Gu Sizhi was the host and invited Jiangnan's famous families to gather together. The Xiao family also received the invitation, but the Xiao family did not send anyone. This move could be regarded as a statement of position invisibly.
"Li Mu has arrived in Xuzhou and will be arriving soon. What should we do? Does anyone have any opinions?" Seeing that everyone was silent, Gu Sizhi, as the convener, had no choice but to speak up first.
"Opinion?" The person who spoke sneered. It was Wang Rui, the eldest son of the Langya Wang family, and said: "You all have no idea who Li Mu is. Unless you are ruthless and get rid of him together, otherwise he wants to
What are you doing, and who can stop you?"
"Don't talk nonsense!" Wu Qingduan, the elder of the Wu family, shouted and scolded: "Wang Rui, do you want to kill everyone? If Li Muru died in Yangzhou, have you ever thought about the consequences?!"