"Is this Tianzhu? It doesn't look like much!"
Lao Cui and Lao Du were lying on the side of the ship, looking at the harbor not far away.
One thing to say is that this seaport is far inferior to Keelung Port in the Ryukyu Kingdom. Even the Qiongzhou Military Port built later looks much neater and more elegant than this Tianzhu seaport.
The first impression that Tianzhu Harbor gave them was that it was dirty and messy.
There were tattered fishing nets and canvas hanging everywhere along the harbor, and the seawater on the coast was still filled with yellow-white foam.
You must know that over the years, Lao Cui and Lao Du have paid great attention to hygiene at Tang Ping's request, so seeing such a scene made him feel uncomfortable deep in his heart.
"Ping Guo Gong, do you really don't need us to go together?" Luo Siye and Qian Laosan asked with some worry: "This place is Running on the Sea The caravans that traveled the farthest rarely reached any destination."
The implication is that this place is too remote, and the two of them want to follow Tang Ping to protect his safety.
"No need!" Tang Ping said firmly, which prompted them to follow them ashore. What if it was determined that the mission failed?
The envoy's delegation consisted of two hundred people at full count. More than ten small boats were put down, and they rowed ashore themselves.
"Third brother, where are we now?" Fourth Master Luo asked on the boat.
"Go back, don't you know what Duke Ping is capable of? He can bring so many people from Chang'an to our Qiongzhou in an instant, and he can leave directly even if he encounters danger."
"That's right. If we don't have control over the South China Sea, those South Sea monkey pirates won't stop."
The two of them had no worries about Tang Ping's ability. Since Tang Ping only asked them to be sent here, they should just obey his orders.
On the other side, Tang Ping and his party landed ashore. Although the harbor was dilapidated, there were still many people.
Everyone on the shore looked at Tang Ping and his party.
There was nothing I could do about it, their clothes were really eye-catching, their black armor was all made of modern materials.
This is material that these people have never seen before, which is probably similar to how modern people see a group of aliens wearing armor.
Then soon two people wearing similar clothes and holding weapons came over.
Thinking about it in Tang Ping, this should be the local manager.
"Who are you? What are you doing in Jitaigang?"
in
Someone asked in a giggling tone. Unfortunately, no one on Tang Ping's side could understand, and then they all looked at Wang Xuance.
After all, everyone knows that he is proficient in Tianzhu language.
But who knew that Wang Xuance was also sweating all over his forehead.
He does understand Tianzhu language, and can even be said to be proficient in it.
But what he knows well is Tianzhu Mandarin, which is like the Mandarin of our later generations.
And these two guards-like people probably spoke some dialect of Tianzhu. It was like throwing a person who was proficient in Mandarin into a place where Hokkien was spoken.
Just when Wang Xuance was thinking about how to explain to Tang Ping, Tang Ping suddenly spoke.
"We are an envoy from the Tang Dynasty. We want to see your king."
Although Tang Ping was speaking in Chinese, there was a jabbering voice coming out almost at the same time as what he said.
This was the system reward Tang Ping received last time, a headset capable of simultaneous interpretation. Unexpectedly, it would come in handy here.
At that time, Tang Ping was worried that the headset would not be able to recognize ancient dialects from all over the world, but he did not expect that the black technology of the system was so awesome.
Even the dialect of a remote fishing port in Tianzhu can be recognized and translated.
The two guards did not expect that Tang Ping, who was opposite him, would speak fluent local dialect when he spoke, and they were both stunned.
You have to know that if they go to a city dozens of kilometers away, they have to change their accent slightly so that people in the city can understand them.
However, the two reacted quickly.
"Datang?"
glanced at each other
After that, their eyes lit up and they stretched out their hands.
"Since you are coming from other places, please pay the tax, which is one large silver coin per person."
The big silver coin they talked about was to thin the body of the Sasanian Persian silver coin and expand its area while keeping the weight of the Sasanian Persian silver coin. In addition, the lines and reliefs on the silver coin were changed.
The purchasing power of each large silver coin is quite high. If one person really has to pay such a coin as a head tax, I am afraid that many caravans will go bankrupt.
Obviously, these two guards had never heard of the Tang Dynasty. Seeing that their group was neatly dressed, they looked quite bluffing, so the lion opened his mouth and wanted to rip off a sum of money.
After all, no matter how bluffing Tang Ping and the others look, they only have about 200 people, and they are from other places. They have troops stationed next to the seaport.
Six to seven hundred people, really not afraid of these mere two hundred people.
Tang Ping was not a fool. He stopped at several ports along the way and exchanged a lot of currencies from various places.
I also have a good idea of the approximate price level in this area.
He also has the large amount of money the two guards mentioned, so having to pay this tax is nothing to him.
But if he was the representative of Datang when he came ashore, if he was ripped off as soon as he landed, and if word spread in the future, it wouldn't be him, Tang Ping, who would be embarrassed.
Secondly, in modern times, when he and Gou Da Shao and others traveled to Southeast Asia, they were asked by local staff at the customs for a tip. If they didn't give it, they would lose face.
At that time, Tang Ping and the three of them had never given such a tip in modern times. In this era, it is even more impossible to get a tip from him. .
So he pointed to a person who got off the boat next to him and said, "Why don't they give so much?"
He had heard just now that there were three large merchant ships over there. Including the docking fees, he only gave a total of one hundred silver coins.
When the caravan man saw Tang Ping pointing at him and clashing with the harbor guards, he actually stopped and looked at Tang Ping and his friends with interest.
"I asked you to pay, just pay. Where did all this nonsense come from?" a guard said with a blush.
For fat sheep from other places, making a fortune is the main source of income for these guards. Of course, as long as you are willing to pay, you can negotiate for a lower price.
But they had never met someone like Tang Ping who choked as soon as he came up.
After all, they are the most powerful country in this area, and others who come here to do business do not dare to offend them.
"Sir, do you want to take action?" Lao Cui and Lao Du slowly placed their hands on the back of their waists.
Although they didn't know what the other party said, they could still read their words, and they could understand what Tang Ping said.
This is obviously because the other party wants to rip off the other party, and then the negotiation breaks down.
Originally, they came here to rescue Tang Sanzang, and Tang Sanzang was detained by the other party, so they already knew that they would inevitably take action when they came.
Although Lao Cui and Lao Du's movements were concealed, and the two guards could not understand what they were saying, they clearly felt that the momentum of the people opposite them had changed, and their expressions also changed.
