Su Ze sat in Baihu Mansion and explained to Lin Mojun what happened to Chang Ningwei after his trip.
Su Ze said: "The land reclamation of Dong'ao Island will continue. In a few days, you will arrange for Lin Changjing to bring the Ryukyu credential to Fuzhou and present the ambergris to Eunuch Tao."
This was something that had been planned for a long time. Lin Mojun nodded. The Ryukyu people were arranged on Dong'ao Island, ready to pay tribute to Fuzhou at any time.
Lin Mojun was also very interested in Dong'ao Island. She went to the island every now and then. She said to Su Ze:
"Now the wasteland of the Crooked Hoof people has been reclaimed, and the sweet potatoes on the island have been planted. According to your instructions, we have been recruiting refugees to the island recently. There are now more than 2,000 people on the island."
Su Ze nodded with satisfaction. With these manpower, more land on Dong'ao Island has been reclaimed. Although it is not yet self-sufficient, many facilities can be built.
The docks on Dong'ao Island have been upgraded to dry docks like Changningwei. Under the leadership of Lin Zongyuan, all the carpenters of Changningwei moved to Dong'ao Island.
Lin Zongyuan also accepted more apprentices. At this time, under the leadership of Lin Zongyuan, they continued to dismantle the remaining Japanese pirate ships on Dong'ao Island and transform and upgrade these ships.
"Those Folangji people should still be careful."
Lin Mojun nodded and said: "They have been separated. According to your instructions, the island has been organized into a security guard. Each security guard has its own people to monitor it, and the port has been strictly controlled to prevent them from running away. "
Su Ze nodded reassuringly. Captain Alfonso and Father Pierre were used to staying in Changning Guard, but other crew members on the New World still occasionally caused trouble. Many of them were hired by Captain Alfonso in Malacca. Many of the local indigenous people are outlaws. Now that they are placed on Dong'ao Island, they must be strictly monitored.
These days, Lin Mojun has been following Su Ze's instructions to recruit refugees on Dong'ao Island, and now he has achieved some success.
Su Ze continued: "Brothers, please pay more attention to the many properties of Changningwei. If you encounter something you can't handle, go to the government office and ask Brother Xianyang and the others for help."
Lin Mojun nodded.
"After I left, the health education was handed over to Chen Chaoyuan and Lin Qingcai. They were classmates in my county school and were very knowledgeable. They came to the health center to teach a few days a month. The children in the health center were sent to health school if they wanted to be educated. "
"The matters in the city will be left to Brother Xianyang, and the management of several shops in the city will be left to Brother Deqing."
"The tea gardens on Wuyi Mountain are usually handed over to Manager Zhou, but we still have to send our own people to inspect them every now and then. This year, all the tea leaves will be made into black tea."
Lin Mojun continued to nod. She had already recorded what Su Ze had told her. Unknowingly, Chang Ningwei's property had grown so big.
"After finishing my business in Fuzhou, I set off directly for Nanzhili."
Lin Mojun was silent for a moment and asked, "When will you come back?"
"I will report to the Nanjing Imperial College first. After I am admitted to the prison, I plan to visit Jiangsu and Zhejiang. I will come back probably this fall."
It takes two months to travel from Fujian to Nanjing, and four months to go back and forth. However, Su Ze knows that his roots are in Changning Wei. This time Su Ze goes out to see the situation in Jiangnan and Zhejiang.
In addition, he also wanted to visit Fangwanghai. Su Ze planned to take a detour to Chun'an to see Hai Rui. It would be good to come back in the autumn.
After Su Ze finished speaking, Lin Mojun looked at him and hesitated to speak. When Su Ze stood up and walked to the door, Lin Mojun said:
"Take care on the road!"
Su Ze waved goodbye to Lin Mojun, returned to the family temple to pack his things, and said goodbye to Ninth Auntie and Lin Cainiang.
"Brother Aze!" Lin Liangjun, a little carrot head, rushed into the family temple. He handed a set of Confucian shirts to Su Ze and said:
"My brother gave this to you!"
Su Ze looked at this blue Confucian shirt, which was cut according to his figure.
Lin Liangjun said: "My brother asked Sister-in-law Lu to make this by herself."
"Really, why didn't she hand it over to you just now? Why did she insist on letting me make another trip?"
Lin Liangjun rolled his eyes and said:
"Brother Aze, can you take me with you when you go out this time? I promise not to be naughty!"
"no!"
Su Ze flatly refused. These days of war and chaos, travel itself is a risky thing.
Lin Liangjun is the heir to Weisuo, and Lin Mojun will not let him be in danger.
The little carrot head lowered his head in disappointment. Su Ze looked at his largest disciple and comforted him: "When I come back from Nanjing, I will bring you a gift."
"That can be settled!"
Lin Liangjun raised his head as if he had changed his face, fearing that Su Ze would come back and have a fight with him, and then quickly rushed out of the temple.
Su Ze also asked Lin Cainiang to take good care of Aunt Ninth, and Lin Cainiang agreed with tears in her eyes.
Lin Mojun specially selected 20 strong military remnants for Su Ze to serve as guards. The leader was a small flag named Lin Deyang. He was also a sharpshooter in the gunman team, and his shooting skills were as good as those of a gunman. Su Ze is almost the same.
Lin Deyang carried a short gun bought from Yuegang. It was said that the short gun was as long as an arm. It was wrapped in cloth and tied around his waist.
These remnants of the army all carried this kind of short musket, but they were all wrapped in cloth strips.
However, the blunderbuss was the last secret weapon. They mainly carried knives with them. The mere presence of these elite soldiers made ordinary bandits frightened. Su Ze also felt safe along the way.
On February 2nd, when the dragon raised its head, Su Ze finished worshiping in the ancestral hall, and then, accompanied by his guards, mounted the horse presented by the second master Yu, and rode toward Fuzhou City in a mighty manner.
After Eunuch Tao celebrated the New Year, he moved to Fuzhou City to supervise the renovation of the city's shipping company. The next thing was all in Su Ze's plan.
Lin Changjing, one of the thirty-six descendants of the Ryukyu Fujian people, arrived in Fuzhou City by boat with the Ryukyu credential and Kanhe in hand.
Eunuch Tao stood on the pier to greet Lin Changjing and other Ryukyu envoys. Lin Changjing presented ambergris to Eunuch Tao.
After identifying that it was real ambergris, Eunuch Tao was overjoyed. He immediately arranged for a post station to convey military information to be sent to the capital without stopping.
Immediately afterwards, Eunuch Tao made an agreement with Lin Changjing about paying tribute.
Tribute trade is not free trade. The tributary country can only come to Hong Kong after the tribute period has been agreed, and the goods traded after arriving in Hong Kong are also negotiated.
Lin Changjing proposed to Eunuch Tao that the Ryukyu Kingdom would pay tribute to spices and wood as before, but this time it would pay tribute to cloth, ivory, gems and other items, and Eunuch Tao all agreed.
However, Lin Changjing proposed to Eunuch Tao that when the Ming Dynasty paid tribute, only silk and raw silk would be returned, and all silver and money would be converted into silk. This made Eunuch Tao hesitate.
The tributary country pays tribute to the higher country in heaven, and the higher country in heaven also sends gifts in return. This is the so-called "tribute".
In fact, tribute and tribute are a kind of transaction, just covered with the shell of tribute.
Lin Changjing proposed that only silk should be used to pay tribute. In fact, he proposed that Ming Dynasty should only trade with silk.
Silk from the Ming Dynasty has always been the best-selling product. Whether it is the Japanese daimyo or the Western nobles, they are all crazy about silk.
Regarding Lin Changjing's request, Eunuch Tao said that he would need to report to the court before he could reply.
The two parties agreed to pay tribute in September. At the same time, Eunuch Tao also said that if he could collect ambergris, he could also send tribute to Hong Kong.
Lin Changjing immediately said that he would do his best to collect ambergris after returning, which made Eunuch Tao very satisfied.
On February 15, Li Zhi, who set out from Quanzhou Prefecture, also arrived in Fuzhou City to meet with Su Ze.
Hearing that Su Ze was going to the Nanjing Imperial College, many candidates who were planning to go to Nanjing to enter the Imperial College came to visit him.
Huang Maochong, who is second on today's list, and Zhao Bingzhong, who is third on today's list, both approached Su Ze. They were both preparing to enroll in the Nanjing Imperial College, and they both agreed to go with Su Ze.
There were three people in the group, plus Li Zhi, a doctor from the Imperial College, and four servants guarding them, and the entire team immediately swelled to a hundred people.
When everyone saw Su Ze's elite bodyguards, they proposed that Lin Deyang lead these servants in a unified manner and train them to travel together.
After checking the documentary evidence of the report to Nanjing Imperial College, everyone headed north to Nanjing.
However, we still need to discuss how to get to Nanjing.
This time we went to South Zhili, and everyone brought a lot of Fujian specialties. Everyone in this group had official status. Although they couldn't live in the inn, no one dared to collect taxes from them when passing the customs and entering the city, so they packed big and small bags. I have a lot of luggage, so the route out of Fujian is very important.
Li Zhi was the oldest and had just returned from Nanjing, so everyone naturally wanted to listen to his advice.
Li Zhi said: "There are two roads into Fujian, the old Han road and the new Song road. This time I returned to Fujian by taking the old Han road."
A map appeared in Su Ze's mind. He opened an ancient map and said:
"Is the old Han road mentioned by Mr. Zhuo Wu the Wuyi Mountain Road that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty took when he entered Fujian?"
Li Zhi nodded in admiration and said: "Ru Lin is indeed knowledgeable. This is the road. I also saw the inscriptions erected by the Han army in the mountains. They were left behind when Emperor Wu conquered Fujian."
Huang Maochong and Zhao Bingzhong were both going out for the first time, and they both looked at Su Ze.
Su Ze said: "The old Han road leads from Wuyi Mountain to Jiangxi. After crossing Wuyi Mountain, you can enter Qinshan Mountain in Jiangxi, and then from Jiangxi to Zhejiang. The advantage is that this road was developed through the Han and Tang Dynasties, and there are many villages and towns along the way. The disadvantage is that it requires a detour. Jiangxi, and there are many bandits along this road."
"When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty conquered the Minyue Kingdom, the Han army took this ancient road. Wuyi Mountain is not high, so the army can pass it."
Huang Maochong said: "If you want to go to Wuyi Mountain, you have to go from Brother Su's hometown, Yanping Mansion. This road should be easy to walk."
Su Ze nodded and said: "Yanping Mansion had good weather last year. There were no disasters and there were not many bandits. This road should be safe in Fujian."
"Where is Song Xindao?" Zhao Bingzhong asked.
Su Ze pointed at the map and said:
"Song Xindao was a new road developed only in the Southern Song Dynasty. This road goes directly north from Fuzhou, passes through Ningde and Fuding along the way, crosses Xianxia Mountain in the dividing line between Fujian and Zhejiang, and directly enters Jiangshan County in southern Zhejiang. It was built by Zhao Song It’s an official road, but Xianxia Mountain is steeper than Wuyi Mountain. After climbing over Xianxia Mountain, you have to walk through the mountainous areas in southern Zhejiang. This road is more difficult than Wuyi Mountain Road.”
Li Zhi also nodded and said: "Xianxia Mountain is so dangerous. Huang Chao's army entered Fujian through this road in the late Tang Dynasty. The earliest old road to Xianxia Mountain can be traced back to the late Tang Dynasty."
"Xianxia Mountain is very difficult to walk, and can only accommodate one horse. After entering the pass, the mountains become steeper. Climbing up the stairs, it is like riding a pavilion to the sky, and every step is dangerous. It is said that it can be compared with the Hanguan Jiange, and it is also a majestic pass designed by nature. .”
Huang Maochong asked: "Is this the Xianxia Pass mentioned in the poems of the Song Dynasty?"
Li Zhi nodded and said: "Lu You, Xin Qiji and others once visited Xianxia Pass, and it is said that their stone carvings can still be seen."
Cautious Zhao Bingzhong reminded: "But Japanese pirates?"
Su Ze said: "Japanese pirates mainly live in coastal areas such as eastern Zhejiang. Southern Zhejiang is surrounded by mountains. There are not many Japanese pirates. We just need to guard against mountain bandits and mining thieves."
"Miner pirates?"
Su Ze nodded and said: "There are many illegal mining activities in the mountains of southern Zhejiang. These people gathered together are comparable to mountain bandits, and they are more vicious than mountain bandits. The government cannot eliminate them."
Everyone hesitated again.
In terms of travel safety, it is naturally best to take the Wuyi Mountain Road just like when Li Zhi came back. This road has been developed since the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and the mountain road is wider. The disadvantage is that it takes a detour to Jiangxi.
There was a Luo Jiao rebellion in Jiangxi the year before last, and there were still Luo Jiao remnants in the mountains. Li Zhi almost encountered them. Fortunately, his servants were more vigilant and escaped.
However, as long as you cross the Wuyi Mountains and enter the Qianshan Mountain in Jiangxi Province, it will be flat. Qianshan Mountain is a famous paper industry base in the country. It is as wealthy as Jiangnan, and the road will be smoother in the future.
The road through Xianxia Mountain is the shortest in a straight line, but the pass is difficult to pass, and mining theft is rampant in southern Zhejiang. However, Xianxia Mountain has many historical sites and many stone carvings from the Song Dynasty, which also made the young people hesitate.
Everyone looked at Su Ze and left this problem to him to decide.
Let everyone choose.
1. Take the Wuyi Mountain Road
2. Take the Xianxia Mountain Road
(End of chapter)
