Chapter 177: The Barbarians Come Again
"Royal brother, the Kingdom of Nanzhao has sent another letter seeking peace, willing to cede three cities to Daqi, and requesting Your Majesty to withdraw its troops." Song Yutong handed over the memorial.
Song Yuzhu didn't look at it and asked directly: "Which three cities should be ceded?"
"There are Beimu, Chila and Jiancheng."
Although these cities have been conquered by the Qi army, they are not nominally part of Da Qi's territory, so Song Yuzhu cannot use the map to check them, but he has a rough idea in his mind.
"Let Zheng Daan continue to move south and capture Futuo."
"Yes!" Song Yutong picked up the pen and wrote a "no" on the memorial, then attached the conditions at the bottom. The memorial was considered approved.
These memorials will be sent to the Ministry of Public Security for sorting and execution. Now Song Yutong can basically make decisions on small matters by herself, but she needs to ask her brother for advice on major matters. The brother and sister work together quite happily, which has greatly reduced Song Yuzhu's work pressure.
Don't think it's easy to be an emperor, unless you are a tyrant and can ignore state affairs and indulge in revelry every night. Otherwise, reviewing memorials and handling state affairs day after day for ten years is an extremely boring and tiring job.
In the past, Song Yuzhu often worked until late at night, which made Zhao Xiao complain and worried that he would exhaust himself.
"Royal brother, the Censorate has written another letter, asking you to stop the war and withdraw your troops." This is the seventh memorial this month. The content is the same, saying that bullying the weak is not what a big country does. In fact, they think war is too expensive and they are afraid that Daqi cannot bear it.
Song Yuzhu pinched her brows and said, "Reject."
In the morning court sessions these days, many ministers submitted memorials hoping to stop the war.
They felt that the Jin people had evil ambitions and that it was understandable to attack them. The poor and remote area of Nanzhao Kingdom posed no threat to Daqi. Even if they conquered it, it would be useless and it would be a waste of money.
Little did they know that Nanzhao was a good place. The tropical climate allowed for the planting of rubber trees. Secondly, there were rich mineral resources underground in Nanzhao, so it would be a great benefit to conquer it.
After reviewing memorials in the morning, Song Yuzhu had some rare free time in the afternoon, so she planned to take her sister out of the palace for a trip.
It is April now and the spring breeze is warm.
Many women in the capital went out for an outing. Since Song Yutong was named the crown prince, she had almost no time to leave the palace. She went from the Song Mansion to the palace to study and handle state affairs in the morning, and went home to review tomorrow's homework in the evening.
This is too boring for a young girl.
Song Yuzhu mentioned it to her, but unexpectedly Song Yutong frowned and shook her head: "I have an appointment with the Grand Tutor to read history books together this afternoon. If you want to go out and play, you can ask Li Dehai to go with you."
Song Yuzhu touched his nose and said, "Won't it be boring to read history books?"
The history books at that time were not written in modern vernacular Chinese. They were compiled in lengthy and obscure classical Chinese and were very difficult to read. Even a calm person like Song Yuzhu found it difficult to concentrate on reading history books.
"How could that be? The Grand Master and Grand Master have so many interesting stories to tell me and will teach me a lot of knowledge. I am so happy!"
Song Yutong really liked doing these things from the bottom of her heart, and she was holding back on energy. The more others thought she was not a good crown prince, the more she wanted to do something good.
This personality is very similar to Song Yuzhu's, they are indeed from the same mother.
Song Yuzhu touched her head and said, "Well, if you are tired, take a break. Don't force yourself."
"I see."
After seeing his sister off, Song Yuzhu sat alone in a daze on the chair. Before making his sister the crown prince, he had asked Song Yutong for her opinion more than once. Once she chose this path, she would no longer have the freedom and right to be willful.
Unexpectedly, the younger sister said firmly: "Brother, I do."
In recent years, she has indeed done what she said, and her diligence is so great that even Song Yuzhu feels ashamed of herself.
All the officials gradually accepted her from their original rejection. Xu Bing and Qin Fengtu praised her highly, changing her name from Princess Changle to Her Royal Highness Changle, and recognized her identity from the bottom of their hearts.
Song Yuzhu had mixed feelings, feeling both relieved and distressed that her sister had to take on such an important responsibility at such a young age.
However, even if he fell into a coma again, or left here forever, Da Qi would not be destroyed.
"Li Dehai, prepare to leave the palace."
"Yes, sir."
*
At the end of the 12th year of Changzhi, the Dongzhou waters once again welcomed a large number of barbarians coming from the west.
Most of these people came from England, and a small number came from Port Antontepe, including Captain Antonio who came to Daqi last time.
The last time he came back from Daqi, he made his first pot of gold by using the cloth he bought from Zhao Xiao at a low price.
He was not in a hurry to sell the cloths and silks that had been soaked in water. Instead, he took good protective measures and hid them all in the warehouse of the manor.
Later, when the price of silk continued to rise, until a piece of silk cost hundreds of gold coins, he sold the cloth in his hands and made tens of thousands of gold coins, becoming a new rich in England.
Later he went to the palace again and told the king and queen the thrilling story of his journey to the East.
The king and queen liked him very much, so they made him viscount and sent him to Daqi again to visit the king of Daqi and learn the textile technology there.
Because the silk imported from the East was so comfortable to wear! The nobles would never wear the rough wool products again after wearing them once. Unfortunately, silk was a consumable product and it was difficult to buy it again after using it.
There was no one in the whole of Europe who knew how to weave this kind of cloth, and they didn't even know what the raw materials of silk were.
This time Antonio came here with the intention of learning silk weaving technology, going back to weave it himself, and then selling it to other nobles. This will definitely be a profitable business!
With the king's funding, this fleet was much larger and stronger than last time.
When the fleet arrived at the port of Antump, local merchants learned that they were going to the far East, and spent a lot of gold coins to request to join Antonio's fleet.
Sailboats are not as fast as steamships. Their speed is affected by wind speed and they travel very slowly. It took them three full years to reach Daqi again.
When the ship sailed into Dongzhou Port, everyone on board was shocked by the prosperous port!
Antonio remembered that when he first came to Daqi, it was not like this. In a few years, it has undergone tremendous changes!
The people on the boat were so excited that their eyes were filled with tears, and they all raised their hands and cheered. In their hearts, Daqi was simply a paradise in the Bible, with countless treasures and wealth.
When the ship was about to dock, four or five government ships suddenly arrived and stopped them from moving forward.
Antonio could speak Chinese, so he stepped forward and introduced himself.
"We were asked by the King and Queen of England to come to Daqi to pay a visit to His Majesty and do business here."
When the soldiers saw that the barbarian could speak the Central Plains dialect, they immediately went to report to their superiors.
Soon the Dongzhou garrison came over in a small boat. Coincidentally, it was Antonio whom he met last time. Although they had been apart for many years, they still recognized each other at a glance.
"It's you! Why are you here again?"
When Antonio saw that the other party recognized him, he said happily, "Because Daqi's goods are so good, our king really wants to buy some more!"
The garrison commander smiled and said, "Okay, I'll get you the entry documents, but all foreign ships must dock for ten days before they are allowed to go ashore, and if there are sick people on board, they must be notified immediately."
Antonio was a little puzzled: "We didn't stop for ten days last time."
"This is a new rule issued by the emperor last year. If you don't want to stop, you can't go ashore."
Antonio shrugged and said, "Okay then." We had been walking for such a long time, so a few days wouldn't make a difference.
Back on the boat, everyone was chattering and asking when they could go ashore.
Some people asked if Daqi had any good beer. Some people bared their yellow teeth and asked if there was a brothel on the shore. There were no girls on the boat, and they were going crazy!
Antonio said sternly: "Listen to me, everyone. Daqi is different from England. The laws here are strict. If you anger the people here, even I can't plead for you!"
The crew members gradually calmed down, but they could hardly control their excitement. This was Daqi! The place they had dreamed of coming to.
This time, many people brought all their wealth with them, just to buy more silk and porcelain from Daqi and make a fortune when they return!
The news of the arrival of the Dongzhou barbarians was quickly sent to the capital. Song Yuzhu laughed when he heard it. It was really like a pillow being delivered to someone when they were sleepy.
He was just worrying about not having enough money to allocate to the two armies, when these scapegoats came. Last time, he had tasted the sweetness of silk and porcelain, so this time the barbarians must have brought a lot of gold and silver.
He directly assigned his cousin Song Yutang to be in charge of this matter. He had been to the West and understood Western languages, so he should be able to get the job done.
Song Yutang is now a fifth-rank official in the Ministry of Revenue. Although the official position is not high, it is a good position. In a few years, when the assistant minister retires, he will be promoted as a matter of course.
When Song Yutang arrived in Dongzhou, the barbarians had been quarantined on the shore for almost ten days, so they met directly in Dongzhou Prefecture.
This time, Antonio brought 300,000 gold coins, of which 100,000 were his own property, and the remaining 200,000 were the money entrusted to him by the king and queen to buy silk and porcelain.
When the two met, Antonio excitedly went up to hug him: "Oh, my old friend, I didn't expect that we would meet again!"
Song Yutang was also very happy to see him, and did not push him away even though the other party still had an unpleasant smell of sheep.
He patted Antonio on the back and said, "I didn't expect you guys to come again."
"It must not be easy along the way." The two of them walked in hand in hand.
"Better than last time."
Last time they lost half of their ships before reaching Daqi, but this time only two ships were damaged midway, so the loss was not that great.
Antonio said, "It took us more than three years to get here. We must fill the boat up before returning this time!"
Song Yutang smiled and said, "I wonder what you guys are going to buy?"
"Silk! I need lots of silk."
"Sure, I'll send someone to help you make the contact. The price will definitely be cheap."
"I also want to learn the technology of weaving silk."
Song Yutang was surprised and asked, "Learn silk weaving technology?"
Antonio asked worriedly, "Isn't it possible? I can buy this technology with money."
"No, you can certainly learn the technology to weave silk, but you probably don't have the raw materials for weaving silk."
“What are the ingredients?”
Song Yutang said: "Silk."
Antonio asked in confusion: "What is silk?"
“Have you ever seen a butterfly?”
Antonio nodded, not understanding what silk had to do with butterflies.
Song Yutang said: "The raw material of silk is the cocoon that a butterfly makes before it metamorphoses. In Daqi, we call it silk."
Antonio’s eyes widened in horror.
(End of this chapter)
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