The more Han Du said this, the more interested Fang Xiaoru became. At the end, he happily said, "If you have time, you really should go and see it."
"Do you want to go to Old Port?" Han Du was stunned for two seconds, looked up at Fang Xiaoru and asked.
"Of course, the Luzon in front of me surprised me enough. Since Old Port is as famous as Luzon, I naturally want to see it." Fang Xiaoru looked like it was natural.
Seeing Han Du's expression of doubt, he raised his head slightly and asked, "What? Isn't it possible?"
Han Du did not hesitate and chuckled: "It's okay, but I want to know how you can tell that I won't go back to Annan, but will go to Old Port?"
When Han Du saw Fang Xiaoru's joking expression, he knew that he must have seen through his plan. Han Du indeed has no intention of returning to Annan. Even if he wants to transport food, he can just arrange for his subordinates to make a trip.
Annan is Zhu Xi's fiefdom, and now everything is in ruins and is in the process of being demolished and rebuilt. Han Du can give Zhu Ping some suggestions on some directional issues, but when it comes to specific matters, Han Du is inconvenient to participate too much. If he continues to stay in Annan, it is inevitable that Zhu Ping will ask himself about everything big and small. This will make him seem to be taking over the host, which is not good.
The relationship between me and Zhu Xi is not so close that we can talk about everything. It is good for everyone to give each other some space.
Fang Xiaoru turned to Han Du with a proud smile, turned back to look at the bustling port, and said leisurely: "Do you still need to guess? Since the pacification of Annan, when you have been living in seclusion without even showing your face, I You guessed it. If you continue to stay in Annan, you will embarrass King Qin sooner or later, so you have been eager to leave. This time you finally found an excuse to borrow food. Now that you have escaped, you will definitely not go back. "
Han Du laughed when Fang Xiaoru revealed his concerns. Then he rolled his eyes and asked deliberately with a bit of testing: "Although you are right, I never said I was going to Old Port. Can't I just go back to Beijing? What makes you think , will I go to the Old Port?”
"Return to the capital? Haha..." Fang Xiaoru chuckled and shook his head, then said: "You took 50,000 naval troops to sea just to send King Qin to Annan, and then returned to the capital. You can say this yourself Do you believe it?"
Of course Han Du didn't believe it. In fact, he had made some assumptions when he received Lao Zhu's order. But since Lao Zhu didn't say it clearly and Zhu Ping deliberately kept it secret, Han Du had no choice but to pretend not to know.
Sure enough, they are all foxes who have lived for thousands of years, and they can guess a thing or two even without telling them.
Han Du was not angry at Fang Xiaoru's slightly sarcastic tone. Instead, he breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile: "Let's go, let's go to the Luzon Governor's Mansion first and see if we can borrow some food from Marquis Cunshan."
These governor-general palaces in Nanyang are all near ports. There is no way, these ports are now the financial and taxation areas of various governors' mansions. No one will be relieved if they don't keep them close by.
The navy had already alerted Zhu Shou before it even entered the harbor.
When Han Du and Fang Xiaoru stepped off the warship, Zhu Shou immediately laughed heartily, stepped forward and gave Han Du a bear hug.
Han Du only felt that the air in his lungs was squeezed and all the air ran out of his mouth uncontrollably, and his face was suddenly covered with red. Fortunately, Zhu Shou quickly let Han Du go, otherwise he might have died at Zhu Shou's hands.
"Huchi~huchi..." Han Du didn't even care to talk to Zhu Shou, and he didn't have the strength to talk to him. He breathed the air greedily. After finally regaining his composure, he immediately complained: "Are you crazy, or do you want me to die?"
Zhu Shou also knew that it was not serious and almost strangled Han Du to death, so he laughed apologetically.
He also muttered and complained in a low voice, "We didn't use much force, it's because you are too weak."
Han Du picked up his clothes bitterly, and a large bruise appeared on his arm where Zhu Shou had just touched him. Forget it hurts, the key point is that if An Qing finds out about this, she will definitely feel so distressed that she will shed tears.
Han Du angrily kicked Zhu Shou's calf.
Zhu Shou stood motionless and allowed Han Du to kick him in the leg.
"Ouch~" Compared with the sound of kicking Zhu Shou's leg, Han Du's scream was louder, completely covering the sound.
Han Du felt as if he had kicked an iron plate.
Zhu Shou ignored Han Du and turned to Fang Xiaoru and said, "It's rare that Mr. Fang can come to this remote place, please." After that, he extended his hand to invite Fang Xiaoru in.
Fang Xiaoru quickly cupped her hands and said: "Marquis Shunshao is so polite, this is not a remote place. The prosperity of this place is not at all inferior to the many Ming cities in the Ming Dynasty, that is, the capital city can overwhelm them. Marquis Shunshao has managed this place so well. You are so prosperous, I really admire you."
If Fang Xiaoru directly said that this place can be compared with the capital, it would be a compliment to Zhu Shou. On the contrary, placing this place second only to the capital can make Zhu Shou feel that he sincerely admires the prosperity of Luzon, which naturally makes Zhu Shou even happier.
"Haha, Mr. Fang is so polite." Zhu Shou laughed happily and said quickly: "This is not the place where we agreed. Please invite Mr. Fang to come into the house to talk."
As for Han Du, Zhu Shou was completely left behind and asked to follow him.
The Luzon Governor's Palace is located on the hillside behind Luzon Port. From a high position, overlooking the entire port.
The Governor's Mansion is made of bricks, stones and beams, and its shape is no different from the yamen of the Ming Dynasty. However, the difference is that unlike most of the shabby yamen of the Ming Dynasty, the Governor's Mansion of Luzon is built with tall red doors and is resplendent. .
Fang Xiaoru was surprised when he saw it. He stopped and smiled and said to Zhu Shou: "I have only heard that being an official does not build a yamen, and building a yamen is not an official. I didn't expect that the Marquis would build the Governor's Palace like this."
As he spoke, he shook his head and glanced at Zhu Shou subconsciously. Fang Xiaoru even suspected that Zhu Shou was too arrogant. He thought that the emperor in Lu Song was far away and no one could control him, so he deliberately built such a governor's palace for his own enjoyment?
When Zhu Shou saw Fang Xiaoru's expression, he immediately guessed what he was thinking. After laughing, he explained: "Mr. Fang doesn't know something. This Governor's Mansion not only has to guard the people, but also has to deal with businessmen. In comparison, when we deal with businessmen, we have to be more careful. More. These are just things that are being looked at through cracks in the door. Initially, we did not plan to build the Governor's Palace, but we were despised time and time again, thinking that our role as Governor was just a title. In fact, we were very poor and did not want to build it. Make a deal with us.
Later, someone gave us an idea, saying that people rely on clothing and gold, so we built the Governor's Mansion.
As a result, hey, guess what, Mr. Fang? "
"What's going on?" Fang Xiaoru already knew the answer when he saw that at the gate of the Governor's Mansion, all the merchants wearing silk and satin were coming in and out. But since Zhu Shou wanted to explain, he had no choice but to follow the words and ask.
It is different overseas than inside the Ming Dynasty. Within the Ming Dynasty, merchants were not allowed to wear silk and satin. Only Han Du obtained a concession from Lao Zhu in the Jiaofang Division, so that businessmen could wear clothes and enjoy themselves in the Jiaofang Division.
However, there is no such rule overseas. This does not mean that Lao Zhu's will cannot be applied overseas. Moreover, Lao Zhu himself knew that it was impossible to ban merchants from spreading silk and satin overseas. Because in addition to Ming merchants, Nanyang also has many Western merchants. These people, let alone silk and satin, even have various styles of clothes.
Can the Ming Dynasty force these people to wear common clothes?
If this is true, then maybe people will not come to Nanyang to do business with Ming Dynasty. In this case, Daming still lost. Well, strictly speaking, it is Lao Zhu's inner treasury.
"Since we built the Governor's Mansion, hehe, those businessmen have become much less confident when they see the Governor's Mansion, and they no longer look as aggressive as before." Zhu Shou said with a proud smile.
Of course, what he just mentioned was only one of the reasons for building such a governor's palace. He also had the idea of enjoyment in his heart. After all, he had traveled thousands of miles to come here. If he had to treat himself poorly even in daily life, Zhu Shou couldn't do such a thing.
Fang Xiaoru just asked casually without any extra thought, so when he saw Zhu Shou explaining to him so seriously, he felt a little embarrassed.
Just in time, Han Du followed up at this time.
Zhu Shou avoided the awkward atmosphere and warmly invited the two of them into the house again.
Han Du also heard the conversation between the two from behind, and came up and said to Fang Xiaoru with a smile: "This place is different from the interior of the Ming Dynasty. If the inner yamen of the Ming Dynasty are dilapidated, the people will still think that the court is incorruptible. But here we need to deal with those Western businessmen. , if the Governor's Mansion is too dilapidated, it will be looked down upon by others. If the Ming Dynasty is thought to be inferior, it may even attract their covetousness and war."
Fang Xiaoru's expression changed and he suddenly asked: "Those Western businessmen dare to attack the Ming Dynasty?"
"Of course they don't dare." Han Du curled his lips in his heart, but on the surface he looked solemn and calm, "But behind these businessmen, they also have their own countries. If the Ming Dynasty gave them an illusion of weakness, it would cause them to Greed is not impossible.”
As he said that, he sighed in his heart, and looked at Fang Xiaoru earnestly and said: "Overseas, the exchanges between countries do not rely on benevolence, justice, propriety, wisdom and trust, but on actual strength. If you want to win the respect of other countries, you want to If we want to prevent other countries from easily taking advantage of Ming Dynasty, we must show Ming Dynasty’s tyrannical strength.”
It is considered a good thing for a scholar like Fang Xiaoru to be able to come to Nanyang to see it in person. Many scholars in the Ming Dynasty still regard Nanyang as a barbaric overseas land. They think that only unscrupulous businessmen who want money will choose to go there, and they have never thought about going to see it for themselves.
But these people don't know, if Nanyang does not have abundant wealth, how can the maritime merchants of the Ming Dynasty become wealthy one by one in just a few years?
Han Du's words really impacted Fang Xiaoru's three views, which were very different from the etiquette he learned from books. He couldn't tell for a moment whether what the book said was correct or what Han Du said was correct.
But there was no rush. He was going to put this issue down first and take a good walk around before making a judgment.
Zhu Shou arranged a banquet and entertained Han Du and Fang Xiaoru warmly. The banquet at the Luzon Governor's Mansion was naturally more sumptuous. Some of the dishes even Han Du had never seen before, but the taste in his mouth was still very little.
When Han Du saw that he was almost done drinking, he put down his glass and said to Zhu Shou with a smile: "I remember you have been in Luzon for more than five years, right? Why are you still here?"
"Five years? What five years?" When Fang Xiaoru heard Han Du say something he didn't understand, he quickly put down his chopsticks and prepared to listen carefully.
Zhu Shou didn't think much about it, and directly explained to Fang Xiaoru: "It's like this, the emperor is considerate. We governors can return to the Ming Dynasty after five years of guarding."
"Oh? Is there such a thing?" Fang Xiaoru was just slightly surprised and didn't take it to heart. Originally, when he saw governors like Huang Zhong and Zhu Shou dominating overseas, he had thought that if these people were allowed to continue like this for a long time, they would inevitably end up with a big tail.
Now it seems that the emperor had anticipated this and limited each person's time as governor to five years.
"How long have you been here in Luzon?" Fang Xiaoru asked curiously. Judging from the tone of Han Du's words just now, it seemed that Zhu Shou's time had come and he should be able to return to Beijing.
Zhu Shou nodded slightly, stroked his beard and said with a smile, "It's been more than six years."
Fang Xiaoru glanced at Han Du, then turned back to Zhu Shou, and asked strangely: "Oh? Didn't the emperor only allow him to serve as governor for five years? Why did the Marquis respond like this?"
Han Du also looked at Zhu Shou curiously, waiting for his answer. At the same time, I couldn't help but feel a little angry with Lao Zhu. It was clearly agreed that the term would be held every five years, and when the time was up, no matter what the reason was, he had to go back. Unexpectedly, Lao Zhu was the first to break the rules. Perhaps in Lao Zhu's heart, he didn't feel that anyone dared to violate him in front of him, but he always had to think about future generations, right? If it's like this from the beginning, can people in the future learn from it? If future emperors don't have Lao Zhu's skills and can easily suppress the world, wouldn't that leave hidden dangers for future generations of emperors?
Zhu Shou didn't know what Han Du was thinking. Seeing that the two of them were very curious, he shook his head and said: "I don't know about this. We also asked the emperor to return to Beijing, but the emperor asked us to stay in Duodu." Guard for two more years. Since the Emperor has told us to guard for two more years, we have no choice but to guard for two more years."
Since it was Lao Zhu's intention, we could only wait until we returned to the capital to find a chance to ask what Lao Zhu was thinking.
Han Du did not pursue the question any further and instead said, "Actually, in addition to wanting to see you this time, I came to Luzon to ask for your help."
Fang Xiaoru immediately knew what was going on, and quickly closed his mouth and sat quietly aside, letting Han Du talk to Zhu Shou to avoid disturbing the two of them.
"Why are you and I so polite? Tell me, what exactly is it? But if it is useful to us, I will never refuse." Zhu Shou patted his chest with a smile and said boldly to Han Du.
Han Du also smiled and nodded in response, organized some words and said: "That's it. His Royal Highness King Qin sealed Anping Port, but by chance, he discovered that the Li clan in Annan secretly massacred King Annan's lineage. Clean. As you know, the Ming Dynasty has never allowed such treasonous things. Therefore, in order to make the decision for the Chen family, King Qin sent troops to wipe out the Li family.
Now Annan was pacified by King Qin, but there was a problem, that is, the people did not have enough food. Originally, the King of Qin was going to submit a petition to ask the Emperor to transfer the supplies from the Ming Dynasty, but I think Luzon is not far from Annan. If you have food here, it will be more convenient and faster than transferring it from the Ming Dynasty. I just want to come to you to borrow some food. I wonder what Brother Zhu wants? "
"Hahaha, I thought it was some big deal. I also heard about King Qin's affairs outside the domain, but I didn't expect His Highness King Qin to have captured the entire Annan. Isn't it just food? Why don't you borrow it? On your face, just use it.
I don’t know, how much food do you want? "Zhu Shou didn't know how to beat around the bush. Originally, Han Du said that it was King Qin who had no choice but to attack the Li family in order to avenge King Annan's lineage. But under Zhu Shou's advice, he ended up defeating Annan. In this case, it always gives people the feeling that Ming has been planning this for a long time.
However, since Zhu Shou was willing to borrow food, Han Du didn't take any words to heart at all. He quickly replied: "It requires five million stones. Of course, it will be whatever Brother Zhu can provide. I will go to other governor's mansions to find a solution for the rest."
"Hey, look at what you said, what are you thinking of? What are you going to do with other people? Isn't it just five million stones of grain? I'll give the order right away and have people prepare it. I can load it for you the day after tomorrow at the most."
"How come Brother Zhu has so much food?" Han Du was surprised. You must know that five million stones of food is not a small number. When there was a drought in Henan, the imperial court could not even afford one million shi of food. In the end, I had to piece together everything here and there to get it together.
Unexpectedly, Zhu Shou looked like he had a huge headache when he mentioned this. He sighed and said: "We don't want to. Speaking of Luzon, it is really a treasure island. You can grow crops three times a year, and you can grow whatever you want every year." Just enough to satisfy everyone.
Therefore, the cheapest thing on the island is food, and even if the food is transported to Daming, it will not cost much. Even those merchants are not willing to come to Luzon to sell food. They just sell some sugar and copper ingots and earn much more than food.
We have warned those people more than once, asking them to plant less grain and more sugar cane. When the results were told, everyone smiled and nodded in agreement. But when they turned around, they went their own way and continued to grow food. "
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