"Third, Fourth, are you two familiar with Ryukyu?"
After Qian Laosan and Luo Siye were sealed, they should have returned to their flagship, but they had to stay on the Taihao ship.
Tang Ping also saw that these two guys were just waiting to show off the snacks they brought and play cards.
The days at sea are boring, and drinking is not allowed, so the crew members are divided into several shifts. Those who are not on duty are eating, playing cards and so on.
Of course, military discipline requires that you can play cards, but not gamble. If you use it as a bargaining chip, you can't win or lose more than two cents in a game.
These navies are all elite, and their rations and salaries are high. For them, no matter how unlucky they are, two pennies is not much they can lose in one day.
There are several sets of mahjong tiles brought by Tang Ping on the Taihao ship, which are also the favorites of Qian Laosan and Luo Siye.
After learning to play for a few days, the two of them already looked like veterans.
After hearing Tang Ping's question, the two of them quickly asked two card readers to help them play, and then walked to Tang Ping's side.
"Know something, but not too much."
"Well, it turns out that the two of us came here once when we were still under Brother Beard. Later, the East Vietnam Navy became stronger and stronger, so most of our activities were in the north and rarely went here."
"Okay, then tell me what you know."
"Ryukyu is a small country, and Lord Taira knows that it is just an island. Most of the people on the island make a living by farming and fishing, so there is not much money."
Tang Ping was as white as Fourth Master Luo, and then he realized that he was already a naval general of the Tang Dynasty, and was no longer a pirate in the past. He gave himself a gentle slap, and then continued: "The people on the island are not rich, but The weather is good here, and I heard that rice can be harvested two or three times a year, so they are not short of food and drink. Usually, merchant ships from some surrounding places will come to their island to collect grain, and then sell some things there."
"Besides Tian, there is nothing else on this island. In addition, they always rely on big countries, so no force has any plans to take advantage of them."
Tang Ping nodded, he knew this, because people from the Ryukyu Kingdom went to Chang'an every year to pay tribute. I heard that during the pre-Sui Dynasty, they relied on the Sui Dynasty. After the Sui Dynasty was destroyed, Li Tang entered Chang'an, and they quickly wrote a letter saying We must rely on the Tang Dynasty.
Generally speaking, Ryukyu is still a very obedient vassal state, but the Tang Dynasty did not rely on the sea in the past few years, so not many people came here.
"How many days do we have before we can reach Ryukyu?"
"At the current rate, it will arrive in the morning in about four days."
"Okay!" Tang Ping nodded and ordered: "Let Donghai No. 1 send someone to the Ryukyu Kingdom to inform him first, and tell him that Duke Ping of the Tang Dynasty will borrow Ryukyu to supply fresh water and food, but please ask the Ryukyu King to keep a low profile. We are on the island ourselves. Just buy supplies online.”
His huge fleet sailed outside Ryukyu Island without saying a word, fearing that it might scare others.
On the morning of the fourth day, the sun had just risen, and as expected, we could see the outline of a continent far away on the horizon.
In modern times, Tang Ping had never been to Treasure Island. It was too troublesome to get a pass for mainland residents to travel to Treasure Island.
In the words of Mr. Gou, if you need to apply for documents to go to your own place, then don’t go and wait until you don’t have to do it in the future.
Unexpectedly, when I arrived in the Tang Dynasty, I would have the opportunity to visit this treasure island that was more than a thousand years ago.
Donghai No. 1 has reported that the King of Ryukyu Kingdom has promised Tang Ping and others to go to Ryukyu for supplies, and as Tang Ping requested, there will be no official team to greet them.
Of course, when it comes to supplies, not all warships will dock. At this time, Ryukyu did not have such a large seaport. It only used two supply ships, Donghai No. 11 and No. 12, plus a few Qian Laosan and their cargo ships to dock. Shore, just buy supplies.
As soon as we landed, a young man came over, bowed and said, "I have seen the envoy of the Kingdom of Heaven, Duke Ping!"
Tang Ping was stunned, looked around, and found this young man, so he asked curiously: "Who am I?"
"As for Duke Ping, I saw Duke Ping's portrait during the tribute ceremony last year."
So this person is from the Ryukyu Kingdom, and that's right. Although Tang Ping said he should keep a low profile, it doesn't make sense if he really doesn't come over to ask anyone.
And it will be much easier if there is an official person as a guide.
"I don't know what to call this lord?"
"Your Majesty Shang Sixian!"
"Shang Sixian?" Tang Ping frowned and thought for a while, feeling that the name sounded familiar.
Wang Qingluan whispered behind him: "The king of Ryukyu Kingdom is named Shang Sixian."
Tang Ping was shocked. He didn't expect that a king would come to receive him alone. Moreover, this man was probably only eighteen or nineteen years old, even younger than himself.
"I've met the King of Ryukyu!"
"I don't dare. Duke Ping can just call me by my name." Shang Sixian said respectfully.
"In that case, Si Xian can just call me Tang Ping or Brother Tang." He is the king of a country and is attached to the Tang Dynasty. Tang Ping is not a domineering person, so he still has to give him face.
"Okay." Na Shang Sixian was overjoyed, and then said with a smile: "I met Brother Tang when I went to Datang last time. It's a pity. I didn't expect to see you here today."
In fact, there are too many small countries attached to the Tang Dynasty, and Tang Ping rarely goes to court. People like Shang Sixian who think they have no friendship are too embarrassed to go to Shanghe Village to visit them.
Now seeing Tang Ping being so kind, he was naturally very happy: "I heard that Brother Tang is going south and needs supplies here. Just let me know if you need anything."
"No need, Si Xian will take us around, my people will do the shopping themselves."
Although I have never been to the modern treasure island, I have seen photos. Ryukyu more than a thousand years ago can really be said to be an economically underdeveloped region.
Just looking at the small town outside the harbor, it can be seen that it is definitely not too wealthy, and Tang Ping will not take advantage of them.
Shang Sixian nodded: "This is Tamsui Port. The largest seaport in the north of Ryukyu Kingdom is here. There is a market over there, and the main trade is food and other items."
In the era when maritime transportation was underdeveloped, even though fruits were abundant here, the temperature was still relatively high all year round. They spoiled quickly and it was not easy to transport them out. Therefore, fruits were not used as the main trading goods locally. Even if they were, they were only some fruits. Products, such as dried fruits and the like.
The bulk transaction is still grain, and there is a large area in Tamsui Port selling grain.
Tang Ping followed him into several stores and took a look, and couldn't help but sigh: "Brother Sixian, the food you sell here is so cheap."
Shang Sixian smiled bitterly and said: "We produce a lot of grain here, but there are few people who buy it. Moreover, if the selling price is too high, those merchants will consider the cost of shipping it by sea. If they feel that it is not cost-effective to transport it back to the country, they will not buy it in our country." I bought it here, so I can only sell it at this price.”
Tang Ping nodded, thinking about it. If the food here is transported to Chang'an, it is a long way. If it has to be sold at a high price here, who will do this loss-making business?
After giving the order, naturally there were people who would deal with various grain merchants. The price was already cheaper than Tang Ping imagined. In addition, Tang Ping did not want to transport grain back to buy, so he naturally ordered the people below to stop bargaining and just press the price. Just buy it at current price.
Shang Sixian said movedly: "I have long heard that Brother Tang is kind-hearted and cares about the people. When I saw him today, it turned out to be true."
Tang Ping blushed because of his boast. He saw a vendor buying coconuts at the entrance of a grain store. He pointed at the coconut and said, "Buy the coconut. Let's make coconut chicken today."
Tang Ping, who has been to Hainan several times, has a special liking for coconut chicken, and it is simple to make. Even if Xiaoluo doesn't come, he won't be afraid of overturning it.
"Coconut chicken?" Shang Sixian asked curiously, "What is it?"
"You haven't eaten it?" Tang Ping asked strangely.
"I've definitely never eaten it before."
"You have a lot of coconuts here, right?"
Shang Sixian nodded: "Arrived.
They are everywhere. Sometimes when people are thirsty, they climb a tree and chop one to drink to quench their thirst. "
"Chickens, I see you have chickens here too."
"Well, when my father came back from the Tang Dynasty, he taught everyone how to make salted eggs so that they can be preserved longer. I heard that the method of making salted eggs was invented by Duke Ping."
"I didn't invent it." Tang Ping picked up a coconut and said, "You have coconuts and chickens. If you use the coconut water to cook the chicken, it becomes coconut chicken!"
"Can it be like this?" Shang Sixian really didn't expect that these two common things around could be eaten together like this.
In fact, I don’t blame him. Don’t say they didn’t expect it. Even in many places in Africa, they have coconuts and chickens, and they never thought of making coconut chicken.
Qian Laosan and others felt like they were drooling after listening to the coconut chicken introduced by Tang Ping. They followed Tang Ping during this period, but they ate too much delicious food. This was why the two of them stayed on the Taihao ship. one of the reasons.
So a few people collected all the coconuts that could be seen. Those selling coconuts saw that others were collecting them and asked them if they wanted more. After receiving a positive answer, they all beckoned people and ran outside Tamsui Port.
Because there are many coconut trees outside the port, it is rare to find someone willing to buy so many. Of course, you have to cut down more and sell them to make money.
At this moment, there was a dispute in a grain store where Tang Ping and the others had just come out.
"Hey, you want to sell me the grain, how dare you sell it to someone else?"
"Master Dong, the price you came to offer yesterday was really too low. I really can't sell it at that price. If I want to sell it to you, I will suffer a huge loss. Today these gentlemen are willing to pay our bid price, so naturally I will You have to sell it to them. How about you do a good job and give me more, we really can’t sell it at your price!"
"No, if you sell food to them, how will we supply it?"
Hearing the quarrel, Tang Ping led the people back again.
"what happened?"
"Going back to Master, we are about to deliver the grain. These people can't sell it to us, we have to sell it to them."
"Are you the real owner?" The yelling person turned around and looked at Tang Ping, and found that Tang Ping was just a young master, but he was dressed a bit luxuriously. He rolled his eyes, smiled at Tang Ping and said, "Where did you come from? Of? Do you know where this place is? Do you know whose territory this is?"
(In the Tang Dynasty, the treasure island was called Liuqiu, so I call it Ryukyu.)
