"They can't finish the food they grow every year. They pile it up in mountains and seas and can't sell it. In the end, they have to save it. Even if they put it anywhere, they are happy. Oh, this last sentence is Those are the exact words they said!" Zhu Shou's face was full of helplessness, and the more he spoke, the more aggrieved he became.
He himself never thought that one day he would feel that there was too much food.
Han Du was also dumbfounded. After Zhu Shou finished speaking, it took a few seconds before Han Du came back to his senses and asked curiously: "Who are these people that Brother Zhu mentioned?"
"Who else could it be? It's just those people who were exiled from the Ming Dynasty." Zhu Shou's speech speed obviously increased a lot, and he obviously didn't want to mention these people.
On the contrary, Han Du understood a little after hearing Zhu Shou's words. How could the people of the Ming Dynasty ever live without enough food to eat? No matter how much food they have, they will continue to grow and store food without hesitation.
I have food in my hands and don’t panic in my heart!
This is no longer a simple sentence, but a teaching of blood and tears engraved deep in the genes. Even if there is endless food, and even if you can make more money by growing sugar cane, the people of Ming Dynasty will still choose to grow food without hesitation. Even if food is worthless in Luzon, they will not give up.
Shaking his head, Zhu Shou sighed and said: "Forget it, let's not talk about them. But since you want food, then their food finally has a source."
Han Du smiled and nodded towards Zhu Shou. Everyone was happy, and of course there was nothing to hesitate about. He said in a calm tone: "Brother Zhu probably bought these grains. In that case, don't give them away. Your Highness, King Qin, is rich. I think even if Zhu Shou sells them at a high price, His Highness will accept it."
Zhu Shou said he would give it to Han Du, but Han Du did not dare to accept it. First of all, why should Zhu Ming owe this favor to himself when it comes to the food he wants? Secondly, if it were ten thousand or twenty thousand stone, Handu might accept it, but five million stone is too much and the weight is too heavy. Even according to the current price of grain in the Ming Dynasty, one stone is about 700 to 800 yuan, and five million stones is equivalent to 4 million taels of silver. How could Han Du accept such a huge fortune with just a nod?
Zhu Shou thought for a moment, and seeing that Han Du insisted on this, he had no choice but to nod and said: "Okay, let's calculate it according to the market price."
When Han Du left Annan, he took away the money given by Zhu Ping to buy grain. After all, Zhu Xi is in urgent need of food now. He would be grateful if he could buy it with real money. How could he naively think that he could really borrow five million shi?
After the banquet, Zhu Shou immediately ordered the mobilization of grain without any delay. Han Du moved boxes of gold bars and silver ingots from the ship in advance and sent them to the Governor's Mansion.
Fang Xiaoru took advantage of this time to wander around Luzon Port with nothing to do. Although most of the people living in Luzon were from the Ming Dynasty. However, because Western businessmen occasionally come here to trade, you can still occasionally see Westerners on the streets. As for the various Western gadgets, there are more than people.
Fang Xiaoru walked on the street, his eyes blowing over all kinds of people and things like a breeze. All kinds of people and things gave him completely different feelings. Even in the past few days, he walked the streets of Port Luzon over and over again, but he did not feel bored at all. On the contrary, it made him feel deeper and newer every time.
Perhaps there was indeed too much food in Luzon, and Zhu Shou collected it in just a few days. And he also offered to send someone to deliver it to His Highness King Qin.
It just so happened that Han Du was not planning to return to Annan. Since Zhu Shou was interested, he just went with the flow. Han Du handed over all the ships except the naval warships to Zhu Shou, and then led the navy down south in a mighty manner.
Arriving at Old Port, Fang Xiaoru was shocked again. It was really hard for him to think about why there were so many people and such a prosperous place thousands of miles away from the Ming Dynasty.
Standing on the bow of the ship, Fang Xiaoru looked at the motionless port in front of him and murmured to himself: "There seem to be more people here than in Luzon. How can there be so many people in this overseas place?"
Hearing this, Han Du turned his head to look at him and said with a smile: "The Ming Dynasty is not the only one in this world. The world is so big that there are naturally many people."
Fang Xiaoru was puzzled and was not relieved by Han Du's words. Instead, he turned around and asked reluctantly: "Then how big is the world and how many people are there?"
Han Du was stunned for a moment, then suddenly laughed, looked at Fang Xiaoru with interest, and asked: "How big is the world? What do you mean? Is it the land, or does it include the sea?"
"What if it's land?" Fang Xiaoru was surprised to see Han Du actually being able to answer, and then asked for advice with an open-minded attitude.
Han Du lowered his head and made an estimate, then said in an uncertain tone: "If we just talk about land, the land in the world should be more than ten times the territory of the Ming Dynasty."
Han Du didn't know what the specific ratio was, so he could only give a rough answer.
When he heard that the world's land was more than ten times that of the Ming Dynasty, Fang Xiaoru was shocked and his eyes widened. He quickly asked: "What if we add the sea?"
"If you add the sea... it might be almost a hundred times the size." Han Du said casually, then smiled and asked Fang Xiaoru, "What? What do you think?"
Fang Xiaoru did not answer Han Du, but asked directly: "Aren't there many people in this world? Just like those Westerners you mentioned?"
Hearing this, Han Du nodded solemnly and said: "Of course, since there is so much land, the people are not much different. Not to mention ten times, I'm afraid there are still ten times."
Fang Xiaoru always believed that the Ming Dynasty was the kingdom of heaven and the center of heaven and earth. The territory and people of the Ming Dynasty should account for the majority of the world. But Han Du told him that the Ming Dynasty was only a tenth of the world.
"I won't talk about the small countries around the Ming Dynasty. You still remember the former Western Chagatai Khanate, right?" Han Du was about to continue explaining to Fang Xiaoru.
Fang Xiaoru looked at Han Du and nodded subconsciously. When Han Jingyun used his mathematical skills to suppress the Western Chagatai Khanate in the Fengtian Palace, there was a lot of commotion, so naturally he would have heard about it.
Han Du turned to look at the busy port and continued: "The Western Chagatai Khanate was located in the original Western Region during the Tang Dynasty. It was just dozens of small countries in the original Western Region that were unified after being conquered by the Yuan Dynasty. It became the current Western Chagatai Khanate. In the heyday of the Yuan Dynasty BC, there were four khanates, two of which were further away than the Western Chagatai Khanate. In terms of territory, the Western Chagatai Khanate , In terms of population, it is almost the same as the Ming Dynasty."
Fang Xiaoru suddenly understood that Han Du wanted to say something, and asked in disbelief: "You mean, there are two countries about the same size as the Ming Dynasty further to the west than the Western Chagatai Khanate. ?”
Han Du nodded first, then shook his head. Faced with Fang Xiaoru's confusion, Han Du responded calmly: "It's not right to say that. There used to be two similar khanates there, but now I'm afraid they have become dozens of small countries. But no matter how divided, overall The territory and population are almost the same."
After finishing speaking, Han Du suddenly thought of something, frowned slightly, and murmured to himself: "No, maybe among these small countries, a unified power has already risen."
Fang Xiaoru slowly came back to her senses and had to agree with Han Du's statement. Even if a large country is split into dozens of small countries, the overall territorial changes will definitely not be significant. As for the population, although it will decrease due to war, it will slowly recover as it settles down.
While the two were talking, Handu's flagship was slowly approaching the port. During this process, Handu also took a special look at the port. The tall gantry crane stood on the pier. The three tall figures side by side are shocking.
Han Du grinned. It seemed that Fu Yong was really not slow. It had only been three or four months, and he was already standing upright. Although I did not see the cargo being lifted, it was obviously because it had just been installed and could not be used yet. However, it should not be long before you can see cargo taking off and landing at the port.
The gantry crane was transported here disassembled and naturally needs to be reassembled. Originally, Fu Yong wanted to go to the academy to ask Sun Xian to help, but Sun Xian was busy studying Han Du's 100,000 gold reward, so where could he have time to pay attention to Fu Yong?
Seeing that Fu Yong was an acquaintance with the academy, Sun Xian casually pointed out two students to Fu Yong. To put it bluntly, the two of them can do such a simple thing well without any effort on his part.
These two people are also Sun Xian's favorite students, and they were also involved in the production of gantry cranes. But they were also obsessed with the reward offered by Marquis Zhenhai and were unwilling to go to sea.
However, Fu Yong reluctantly agreed under the strong temptation of money. The price Fu Yong offered them was one hundred coins a month, counting from the moment they left the academy until they returned to the academy again.
Such an unheard-of sky-high price attracted the curiosity of countless people as soon as it was spread. Some people even couldn't wait to laugh at Fu Yong, saying that he was a nouveau riche who just wanted to spend money to attract everyone's attention and improve his own status.
But later, Fu Yong bluntly said that the price he gave was too low and he had treated the two gentlemen of the academy badly. He even visited the house again and took the initiative to give a big gift to the two of them.
Once such news came out, it caused an uproar in the capital. Everyone was speculating about what kind of skills these two people who had not yet graduated from the academy had that could make Fu Yong pay so willingly?
In this world, money is a favorite and no one can live without it. Seeing that the students in the academy were so valuable naturally attracted people's attention.
Even the officials from the capital didn't look envious at the people in the academy after hearing this. One hundred guan a month, this is simply more money that other people earn in a month than many Beijing officials earn in a year. Moreover, if you can go to sea for five or six months, you will get five to six hundred strings. If you can delay it for seven or eight months, you will get seven to eight hundred strings. Coupled with the large gift given by Fu Yong later, some people speculated that the two men only went to sea once and earned thousands of dollars.
Earning thousands of dollars in one trip, many officials suddenly felt that their official positions were no longer good.
Shi Jinqing naturally did not dare to neglect Han Du's arrival and brought out the best things to entertain Han Du.
Hearing that Fang Xiaoru was the minister of the East Palace, Shi Jinqing repeatedly praised Fang Xiaoru for his scholarly talent, "Mr. Fang looks young, but I didn't expect that he was already the minister of the East Palace. His future is limitless. I wish Mr. Fang all the best and a smooth career!"
When Shi Jinqing heard Han Du introduce Fang Xiaoru, his eyes obviously lit up a few times. Even though Fang Xiaoru is just a minister in the East Palace now, to put it bluntly, when the prince comes to the throne in the future, this person may be the emperor's favorite minister.
Shi Jinqing must make friends with such people no matter what, and maintain good relationships with them. Because now the Shi family can be said to be the official Xuanwei Secretary in Jiugang, and he, Shi Jinqing, is the Xuanwei Envoy. But having been to the capital city of the Ming Dynasty, he knew deeply that Old Port was nothing compared to the Ming Dynasty. If it were a decree from the emperor, no, it didn't even need an decree from the emperor, just a hint of the intention to replace the Shi family, then the entire Shi family would be knocked to the bottom in an instant.
However, the Shi family was so far away from the Ming Dynasty and far away from the court. If there was any trouble, the Shi family would not be able to react in time. Therefore, it is particularly important to have someone who can say a few good words for the Shi family in court.
Therefore, of course Shi Jinqing must win over someone with a promising future like Fang Xiaoru. For no reason, just for him to be able to help the Shi family before they were in trouble, it would be worth a thousand dollars.
Under Shi Jinqing's flattery, everyone enjoyed the banquet.
At least Han Du didn't see any dissatisfaction on Fang Xiaoru's face.
The next day, a person came to Han Du's station.
"The general will pay homage to the Marquis." Zhang Chao, wearing an earl's brocade robe, knelt down to Han Du as soon as he entered the door.
Hearing this, Han Du put down the brush in his hand, stood up, and said with a smile: "You are also a person with a title. Don't kneel down all the time. Do you think the title is so worthless?"
Zhang Chao stood up with a smile on his face. He was a bit stupid and didn't know how to answer Han Du. I always feel that no matter how I say it, something seems inappropriate.
Han Du knew that he had little education, so this was inevitable, and he had no intention of blaming him. He stretched out his hand to signal him to sit down, and poured tea for him with his own hands.
Zhang Chao was flattered and took it.
Han Du sat next to Zhang Chao, blew on the tea, and took a sip slowly. This tea is far not as good as the tea from Donggong, but it is not bad to be able to taste such tea here.
After drinking tea, Han Ducai asked softly: "In the past two years since you have been here, have you noticed any unusual behavior in the Shi family?"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Chao immediately put down his teacup and said seriously: "After the Marquis ordered me to do so, I have been paying attention to the movements of the Shi family. However, in the past two years, according to my observations, there is indeed no sign of the Shi family being secretly active. "
"Well, that's good." Han Du nodded and felt relieved at the same time.
Seeing Zhang Chao looking at him with burning eyes, Han Du was afraid that he would misunderstand, so he said: "As long as the Shi family can sincerely join the Ming Dynasty, I will not break my promise and will definitely give the Shi family a fortune."
"General, I understand." Zhang Chao immediately lowered his head and replied.
Han Du hummed, and then added: "But you still can't relax the necessary surveillance, and try not to let the Shi family notice."
"Yes, the general has never taken the initiative to come to Old Port in the past few years. He has always been stationed in Shuizhai. The Shi family... has taken the initiative to contact the general a few times. The general is neither enthusiastic nor enthusiastic. Indifference, just maintain a dull relationship."
"That's good." Han Du glanced at Zhang Chao appreciatively.
Zhang Chao's greatest advantage is his obedience, which Han Du discovered when he was still in the Navy. As long as it is an order given to Zhang Chao, he can complete it in full, neither more nor less.
"What about those people on the continent? Have any traces of them been found in the past two years?" Han Du put the Shi family aside for the time being and asked about another matter.
"No." Zhang Chao nodded seriously and replied.
"Where is Jiang Ming? Did he find anything?" Han Du asked again.
"The last time the general communicated with him, he hadn't noticed it yet. He just didn't know what the situation was now." Zhang Chao responded calmly. Zhang Chao doesn't think Jiang Ming will have any good news now. After all, he hasn't discovered anything in the past two years, and the possibility of sudden discovery now is not high.
Han Du pondered and nodded slightly. It was normal for Zhang Chao and Jiang Ming not to notice. It was unlikely that those people would dare to escape. The continent is so big. If they hide anywhere, it would be difficult for Ming Dynasty to find them. Why would they go to the sea to expose themselves?
"Master Marquis, I have something to say at the end. I don't know whether I should say it or not?" Zhang Chao hesitated and asked in a low voice.
Han Du thought for a while and said, "What do you want to say? Let's hear it."
Zhang Chao thought for a while and said, "The general is worried that these people will escape directly from the sea without passing through the old port."
Han Du chuckled when he heard this, laughed, looked at Zhang Chao, and suddenly realized that he didn't know how big the sea was. No wonder he had such thoughts. He thought that the sea here was like the Southern Ocean, only a few thousand miles away at most.
But the continent is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, and here is another ocean. It is simply impossible to cross it by ship alone without a foothold.
Sailing these days is said to be ocean sailing, but in fact it can only be sailed along the land coastline, or it can only be sailed if there are islands as a foothold.
If we really plunged into the deep sea with a wooden boat, that would not be called escaping, but seeking death. If those people really escaped from the deep sea, then Handu no longer had to worry about these people being alive.
Han Du gave Zhang Chao a little explanation.
When Zhang Chao heard that to escape from the continent directly through the deep sea, the distance required to sail was not thousands of miles, but tens of thousands of miles, he was also shocked and clicked his tongue. At the same time, he also understood that since those people could not escape from the deep sea, they must still be hiding on the continent.
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