In her previous life, Su Xuerong was often seen at banquets for the ladies of the palace by Xu Wanjing, as if she were being walked by a dog.
Xu Wanjing instructed the governess to treat Su Xuerong harshly, devising ways to teach her various skills: flower arranging, incense burning, tea ceremony, playing the zither, playing cuju (ancient Chinese football), hammer ball, pitch-pot, horseback riding...
On the surface, this demonstrates the Crown Princess's magnanimity towards the concubines of the Eastern Palace.
But in reality, Xu Wanjing only treated Su Xuerong like a dog.
At many court banquets, she would show off Su Xuerong to the guests in public, as if she were showing off a docile dog she owned.
At first, some people were amazed by her, but gradually they discovered that this concubine from the common people in the Eastern Palace was even worse than the musicians and performers in the palace. She was really just a dog of the Crown Princess.
Su Xuerong suppressed the growing resentment and anger in her heart and thought of a lady she had met at the Empress's flower-viewing banquet.
At that time, Xiao Yuan had already established the Southern Zhou Dynasty and occupied more than half of the land in Jiangnan.
That lady was the wife of the Marquis of Wuwei, an envoy from the Southern Zhou Dynasty. She had come to the Northern Zhou Dynasty with the Marquis of Wuwei to discuss trade between the two countries.
Su Xuerong didn't remember the woman's name, only that she was a clever and lovely woman in her early twenties.
Su Xuerong's status was completely suppressed by Xu Wanjing. No one in the noble ladies of Northern Zhou looked up to her, and because they were afraid of Xu Wanjing, no one was willing to associate with her.
However, the Lady of Wuwei of Southern Zhou, unaware of Su Xuerong's situation in Northern Zhou, was moved by the music Su Xuerong played on the spot and took the initiative to talk to her.
It was during that conversation that Su Xuerong learned about the importance of trade at Quanzhou Port.
In the early stages of the civil war in the Great Zhou Dynasty, Japanese pirates attacked from the east, and the court was overwhelmed and banned the sea.
The maritime ban was lifted only after Xiao Yuan established the Southern Zhou Dynasty, and the Quanzhou Maritime Trade Office was reactivated, embarking on a long-distance sea voyage.
It was then that Su Xuerong learned that in less than three years since the founding of the Southern Zhou Dynasty, a shipping route to the Strait of Malacca had been opened, and five years later the route reached the even more distant Dafutu Prefecture.
After the Southern Zhou Dynasty opened its sea routes, there was an increase in various goods from overseas, and the two major ports of Quanzhou and Guangzhou became important overseas trading ports for the Southern Zhou Dynasty.
The woman talked a lot, but the two overseas items that impressed Su Xuerong the most were pepper and sweet potatoes.
Having grown up on a farm, she is particularly sensitive to food needs.
"...If we could sail to Java, where pepper is abundant, one tael of silver from the Great Zhou Dynasty could buy one hundred catties of it."
Su Shirong was taken aback when he heard Su Xuerong's words.
Pepper was a real luxury item in the Great Zhou Dynasty, costing around thirty taels of silver per catty. I never expected it to be so cheap in its place of origin.
If we could really sail all the way to Malacca, we wouldn't need to buy anything else; we could make a fortune just from this pepper.
Su Shirong suddenly felt a surge of heat, as if something was burning inside his body.
"There is another kind of grain called sweet potato. In the previous dynasty, Luzon was called Ma Yi. Later, when Westerners invaded Luzon, they often suffered from food shortages, so they introduced a crop from distant overseas called sweet potato. Sweet potato is drought-resistant, easy to grow, and can be eaten raw or cooked."
"But this kind of sweet potato is controlled by Westerners in Luzon, and they do not allow outsiders to take it away. So if we can get such seeds or seedlings, once we bring them back to Da Zhou, it will solve the long-standing food crisis of the people of Da Zhou."
Su Xuerong lowered her eyes as she spoke.
I heard from the Lady of Wuwei that in the third year after Xiao Yuan founded the country, he personally led the Southern Zhou navy to eliminate the pirates who frequently harassed the coast of Southern Zhou in the East China Sea. He also personally fought several rounds with the Westerners who occupied Luzon. In the end, the Westerners were defeated by Xiao Yuan's powerful navy and took the initiative to send sweet potato seedlings as a gift for trade between the two countries.
From then on, sweet potatoes began to be planted on a large scale in the Southern Zhou area, and the people's grain reserves increased significantly, causing the Northern Zhou to covet this rare sweet potato.
This led to the establishment of trade and economic exchanges between the two countries.
As for how Xiao Cheng and Xiao Yuan reached an agreement later, Su Xue had no way of knowing.
But she knew that these two types of grains from overseas could bring the Su family great prosperity in this lifetime.
After a moment of astonishment, Su Shirong suddenly asked, "Arong, where did you get this information?"
Su Xuerong said without changing her expression, "Naturally, I heard Xiao Shiyan mention it to others. However, this matter is of great importance, and you must not mention it to others. We will discuss it again when Father and Uncle return."
Su Shirong nodded immediately: "I know that."
Since it was the Crown Prince who said it, there is nothing to question.
"Right now, the Emperor has not yet ascended the throne, and maritime transport is still prohibited. Brother, you only need to go to Quanzhou to find out about the port. If you find a suitable warehouse, rent it. It would be best to purchase a good merchant ship before the ban is lifted. Also, learn in detail how to prepare all the official documents before going to sea. Once the ban is lifted, we will be able to prepare earlier than others and have a greater chance of success."
The more Su Shirong listened, the more he realized how amazing his sister was.
"Fortunately, you served the Crown Prince for two years, otherwise how would you have known so much about the inner workings of the court?"
Hearing her elder brother's sentiments, Su Xuerong didn't explain, but smiled faintly and said, "After following him for the past two years, shouldn't you be making some plans for yourself?"
This was information she obtained at the cost of her life in her previous life.
Su Shirong looked at his sister's indifferent expression, and although he wanted to say something, he couldn't bring himself to say it.
On the other side, Fang Mingzhu, who had been ignored by Xiao Yuan for half a month, finally figured it out.
She considered herself a princess and looked down on Cui, who had lived in the palace for many years. How could she possibly treat Cui as her real mother-in-law and pay her respects?
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com