Tibet

The sky is clear and the sea is undulating. A fleet of ships has fully stretched its sails and is sailing south through the waves with the help of the strong north wind. This fleet consists of more than 30 sea ships and three military ships. The military ships are escorts. , to protect merchant ships from pirates.

The overseas trade of the Tang Dynasty was very active, including official trade and private trade. It was mainly based on the two seaports of Quanzhou and Guangzhou. It went to Silla and Japan in the north, Nanyang and Indochina in the south, and even further to Tianzhu, Persia and Big food.

This fleet is going to Balni Kingdom and Srivijaya. Balni Kingdom is today's Brunei, and Srivijaya is Indonesia. Nanyang is rich in spices, dyes, pearls, elephants, gold and silver. The Tang Dynasty exported to Nanyang, mainly It is tea, silk, porcelain, cloth, copper coins and various handicrafts.

More than 30 large-scale ships carried hundreds of small businessmen. The shipowners themselves only provided shipping services and did not engage in trade. The fleets regularly traveled between Nanyang and Datang. Small businessmen rented cabins and took ships to Nanyang. trading.

In order to ensure safety and defend against pirates, hundreds of small businessmen also pooled their money to hire navy guards.

Of course, there are also wealthy businessmen who charter a cargo ship alone, or simply use their own cargo ship.

Merchants took advantage of the northwest trade winds in winter and the southeast trade winds in the following spring to make a trip to Nanyang every year and make a lot of money.

Four people from Dugu Jinyang boarded one of the warships. They had high status. For example, Dugu Jinyang once served as the general of the Longwu Army. His grandmother Ding You resigned, his father is now the minister of the Ministry of War, and Yuan Ce is currently the general of the Zuojian Gate Guard.

Therefore, both the Quanzhou local officials and the military generals were very attentive to them and took good care of them. Although they were a little seasick, it was not a serious problem.

In the cabin, two sons-in-law, Dugu Jinyang and Dou Ying, were chatting with their father-in-law Yuan Ce. Yuan Ce was a little seasick and had been feeling drowsy.

Yuan Ce smiled slightly and said: "I was chatting with General Zhang yesterday, and he told me that the big island is not called Luzon Island, but called Lugong Island. It was discovered by General Lu Meng of the Three Kingdoms, and later generations used it as Lu Meng's Island. Name it Lugong Island.”

Dugu Jinyang smiled and said: "His Royal Highness the Regent mentioned Luzon Island. It may also be that when he came to inspect Fujian Road, the local officials made a mistake and reported it to him as Luzon Island. It should be called Lugong Island."

Dou Ying said next to him: "Father-in-law, does the imperial court want to occupy Lugong Island?"

"It should be that the area of ​​Lugong Island is about the same as that of Jiangnan. It is impossible to give it to us. They will definitely develop it themselves and station troops!"

Dou Ying was startled, "Are the troops stationed here to monitor us?"

Dugu Jinyang shook his head, "Even without us, the imperial court would still station troops. If you think about it conversely, the imperial army stationing troops is actually protecting us, or in other words, maintaining order and preventing fratricide."

Yuan Ce nodded, "What Jinyang said makes sense. As long as we adhere to the three principles of the kingdom, do not overstep our bounds, do not change the reign name, and regularly pay tribute and go on pilgrimage, the imperial court will not have trouble with us."

At this time, Changsun Yao ran in and said, "I want to tell you some good news. General Zhang is willing to take us to the island!"

The three of them were immediately overjoyed, it was so great.

The commander of the warship is called Zhang Xiao, a lieutenant general. Facing these four relatives of the emperor and senior military officials, of course they must try their best to curry favor with them.

Three warships escorted the fleet to Palembang. Although the merchants paid, two warships were enough. Of course, Zhang Xiao would use this opportunity to curry favor with several dignitaries from the capital.

A military ship parted ways with the fleet halfway and headed to Luzon Island.

The warship is a sea-going ship of ten thousand stones, with oars and no sails.

There were hundreds of soldiers on board.

Zhang Xiao pointed to a black line in the distance and shouted: "General, please look, the coastline in the distance is Lugong Island!"

He immediately handed a clairvoyant to Yuan Ce. Clairvoyance was basically popular among the scouts, and the navy was also equipped with it. Other armies also had clairvoyants, generals, and above.

Yuan Ce also had a clairvoyant, but he forgot to bring it.

He took it and looked at it for a while, then handed it to Dugu Jinyang.

"It seems like it's all a forest?"

Zhang Xiao nodded, "That's for sure. There's enough rain here. No one has ever developed it. It's naturally covered with virgin forests. I think to develop the island, we must first cut down the trees. But there are many poisonous insects and beasts here, so we need to recruit a lot of manpower." Cut down the tree, I have a suggestion for you!”

"Please say!"

"No matter where it is, it must be developed along the river at the beginning. First, there is sufficient fresh water, secondly, transportation is convenient, and thirdly, the land is flat and fertile, which makes it much easier for laborers to work."

Everyone knows this truth. It is the same everywhere, not just on the islands. It is also the same in the hinterland of the Tang Dynasty. Farmland must be opened along the river.

But the issue that everyone is most concerned about now is not land, but labor.

Dugu Jinyang asked: "I heard that the development of Liuqiu Island was to recruit labor from Silla and Japan?"

"They can't!"

Zhang Xiao waved his hand and said with a smile: "I am the one in charge of supervising the work. Didn't I know? The Japanese and Silla people are not adaptable to the tropical climate here at all. Thousands of people died in a month. I had no choice but to send them back." "

The four of them looked at each other, and Yuan Ce asked anxiously: "Where is that person from?"

"In the end, more than 10,000 people from the Linyi Kingdom were recruited. They were all like monkeys and had no problems at all. They were good at cutting down trees and growing sugar cane. They cut down the trees and threw them into the river. The trees floated near the dock and were intercepted with iron nets. The elephants rolled up the trees with their trunks and piled them on the docks. Finally, the trees were used to build cities and houses.”

"There are elephants?" The four of them were surprised.

"Yes! People from Linyi Kingdom brought it. There are a lot of elephants there, and they train elephants to do things for people. I think it's very good."

Zhang Xiao thought for a while and then smiled and said: "Actually, you can also use the natives from Lugong Island to do the work for you."

The four people were startled and asked in unison: "There are still natives on Lugong Island?"

"A little, but not much. I estimate that there are only tens of thousands of people in the entire archipelago! Basically, they are all on Lugong Island, and there are none on the small islands you are going to."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but their eyes were still a little worried. What if these natives came to attack them on a raft?

Zhang Xiao saw their worries and comforted them with a smile: "Don't worry, the natives here are very gentle and timid. They often exchange prey with us for daily necessities and food. They are not the kind of barbaric cannibals." people."

"Can they work?"

"Of course, they are also good at cutting wood. After learning how to use a saw, a towering tree was sawed down in a short time, but they don't know how to plant it. People in Linyi can plant sugar cane, just like rice!"

"How much do people in Linyi earn?" Dou Ying asked.

Zhang Xiao stretched out two fingers and said, "Ten cents a day, just like the Japanese and Silla people, I found that labor prices in the Tang Dynasty were the most expensive. It cost fifty cents a day to hire the cheapest maid, like logging. Manual work costs at least 100 yuan a day, and skilled craftsmen are even more expensive.”

Yuan Ce chuckled and said, "The Kingdom of Heaven! It must be more expensive than these small foreign countries."

The next morning, the ship arrived at the first island they targeted, which was later known as Panay Island. It covered an area of ​​more than 10,000 square kilometers and had a fertile plain that was more than 300 miles long, second only to the Luzon Plain. Said to be the most precious place in the entire archipelago, Li Ye left it to the Dugu family.

Dugu Jinyang looked at the map and said excitedly: "This is the island!"

Zhang Xiao turned around and asked a guide who was familiar with the terrain: "Does this island have a natural harbor?"

The guide pointed to the east. A few dozen miles further on, you could see a bay where boats were parked.

Zhang Xiao shouted: "Sail eastward!"

The ship slowly turned around and headed east along the coastline.