News about these accidents at sea reached Bianjing City soon after, but they failed to attract enough attention because the public opinion on the scarf and the debate between the government and the opposition were still centered on what had happened before.
Fortunately, Li Ning is not a simple and pedantic gentleman, and he has already prepared for such a situation.
He had already learned from the emperor's letters that there had been a lot of news in Bianjing recently, about border defense and disasters, but the most news was about the Guangmu Division.
The Bosporus was not enough to limit the trade desires of the Song Dynasty, and the small Sea of Marmara was even less likely. But after crossing the Hellespont, the Greek city-states, the owners of the Aegean Sea, began to hate this group of business partners.
In Bianjing, the knowledge brought by the Guangmu Division has already become a new fashion. Therefore, the people here are quite familiar with the situation there, but it is a pity that they are too far away to get relevant information at the first time, so their arguments are much more advanced than the development of the situation.
Because of this, once news comes from there, it can immediately detonate the entire public opinion circle in Bianjing City. Whether it is a restaurant where scholar-bureaucrats often gather, or a small teahouse in a remote corner, a piece of news may instantly plunge you into silence or madness.
Earlier, the news of the victory in the Battle of Issus and the craziness of having 100,000 heads turned into military honors ignited a crazy atmosphere in countless teahouses and taverns.
The various controversies caused by the copyright law a while ago have caused fierce debates among the scholar-bureaucrats. The younger scholars got more angry and started fighting in teahouses and taverns. The silver taels paid for this were said to be enough to make some The tavern that was on the verge of bankruptcy turned a profit.
For this reason, those old gentlemen who used to tell people about Liu Guanzhang in restaurants have now changed their content to new ones. Anyone who doesn't know something about the Light Curtain Division will be embarrassed to come out and meet people.
Interestingly, after Li Ning learned about this situation, he actually got involved. He was afraid that the Song Dynasty people who lacked information would demonize his cause, so he took the initiative to send some people to Bianjing City with local Fujian accents. Li Lai explained to the common people the big and small things of the Light Curtain Division.
Thanks to the strong learning atmosphere in Fujian, there are many scholars. Therefore, he was able to gather enough manpower to occupy a place in public opinion in the huge Bianjing city.
The teahouses frequented by craftsmen from several scientific research institutes have become their main base. As a result, countless rumors, considered to be gossips, were spread to the rooms from these remote small shops - after all, the 72 famous official shops in Bianjing City were not something that small craftsmen could afford. But this small foot shop is not taken seriously by the ruling and opposition parties after all. Therefore, even if the news is accurate, sometimes it will take a while to ferment before it can reach more people's ears, and then it will take even longer time for it to reach more people. Be able to get people to accept it.
However, as time went by, the inquiring border people quickly figured out the rules, and some people with a keen sense of smell quickly found these small shops in the corners. As a result, more and more people came to inquire about the news, and the store's business also improved a lot.
Even though they often come here to drink and listen to those craftsmen, they are quite grateful to the store. Although they are not the main disseminators of the news, they know that those scholars from Fujian who live in their so-called scientific research institute They have indeed brought them considerable benefits.
What's even more interesting is that the scholars, the storytellers we're going to learn from today, talk about the past and the present for everyone in this small teahouse for free.
Of course, the excitement at the beginning will not be the main show, but the three points that everyone likes to hear the most, and the three points are the Three Kingdoms.
At this time, talking about three points has already had a deductive nature, so many things are different from those in history. Therefore, the scholars followed Li Ning's instructions and did a little popular science on real events in history, which directly made the audience feel many new feelings.
It is always easy for people to be attracted by hunting, so it is not surprising that this trick works. However, compared to the familiar Chinese history, it is easier for the people of Bianjing to establish information about distant foreign countries.
So after finishing part of the story of the Three Kingdoms, the Fujian scholars began to talk about Greek mythology.
However, Greek mythology has many violations of human ethics, so it was not valued by the people of the Song Dynasty, where secular rituals and music had taken over. Many people even drank the food, causing the scholars to quickly end the small introduction. , and also complained about the incredible relationships between men and women in Greek mythology.
But soon, something that interested everyone came.
"There have been many rumors about the long-haired rabbit in the room before. In order to set the record straight, my family secretary specially told us to tell the folks here that the north is very suitable for the production of this kind of long-haired rabbit, but you must not Being deceived by those cunning businessmen, the number of long-haired rabbits is still relatively rare now, so it is not easy to buy. After a while, the court will promote it in the north, so that you can raise one or two while farming. Only, when the rabbit hair is ready for shearing, the imperial court will send people to the countryside to buy it. By then, you will be able to make a small profit if the rabbit hair is not worried about the market. This is benevolent government that the officials will definitely agree to."
"So that's it."
"That's a really good idea."
"I have long heard that the Light Curtain Division is of great use to Huang Song."
Everyone was chattering, but then they heard the scholar change his topic and said: "My family secretary also said that the matter of the Light Curtain Division does have some benefits, but we can't just see the benefits, but also see the benefits. See the danger. The light curtain can often bring us enemies, and those enemies may be stronger than us, so we must not take it lightly."
"That's right. It's better to be careful."
After a few sighs, everyone present fell silent and looked at Sheng Sheng with more eager eyes, as if expecting him to say more interesting things.
The scholar shook his head helplessly. He was already very familiar with this atmosphere after the intellectual bug came to Bianjing.
It's a pity that this kind of thing is not what Li Ning could have expected. He has no idea that people's desire for time travel is not inferior to that of the 21st century.
In fact, he should have known about the legend of Huangliang Yimeng, but there were people from the Song Dynasty in the Tang Dynasty, so they would not be unfamiliar with such things as time travel. Therefore, when his strategy was gradually conveyed to Shumingyuan through the emperor, and then through Shumingyuan, and those unreliable scholars came to the room through servants, friends, and messy guys on various occasions, everyone began to realize that Li Ning's The so-called achievements are actually possible for them to achieve.
So soon, some rumors criticizing Li Ning began to circulate in the market. However, so far these rumors have not become mainstream because everyone is busy thinking of ways to make money in those stupid and backward places.
As for those with greater ambitions, or those who think they have greater ambitions, they have already begun to envy Li Ning's current situation. In just one year, he was suddenly promoted from a white man to a seventh-rank official - a seventh-rank official. It is true that in the Song Dynasty, not just anyone could be an official - who in the border area would not work harder in this regard?
The so-called king of Chu is good, but many people in the palace with thin waists starve to death. Now that your majesty likes this thing, are there still few people who are willing to understand the barbarian sentiments for this?
It's a pity that these people's understanding has too clear purpose. Once some things are clear, although there is a feeling of sudden enlightenment, there is also a tendency of arrogance. Song Chao has always carried the legacy inherited by the Chinese nobles. Major weakness - taking oneself as the center of the world.
Therefore, scholars who know this well hope that the people in Bianjing City can also understand it, but unfortunately they may be disappointed.
So he skipped those unnecessary items and went straight to today's most important topic - maritime trade conflicts.
"Secretary Zhang once said that Western civilization is a blue civilization that relies on the ocean to make a living, while we Easterners are a land civilization. We run around on land and do things that are mutually beneficial, so that we can earn a small amount of money. We are old. There is no shortage of people to support us. But what we don’t know is that the vaster part of the world is not the land, but the endless ocean. What we usually don’t care about is that the gap in cargo between vehicles and ships is often very large.”
"Of course, cars can't carry as much fire as boats, but cars can go to places that boats can't, and boats can run on water. And sometimes cars are faster than boats."
In the hall, some people who didn't quite understand began to ask questions.
"Of course what this gentleman said makes sense. Vehicles and ships are all necessary for us. We are comparing them just to make more reasonable use of their characteristics in order to transport the most goods in the simplest way. Rather than You have to choose one and discard the other. But I need to remind everyone here that you may have forgotten my first sentence. Although no one can prove it now, the secretary of my family is traveling overseas. He It’s very clear.”
After saying this, some people began to recall the time he said the previous sentence. The interval was not long, so many people remembered it quickly.
“There are many more places with water than with land.”
"How is this possible? All I have seen in my life are places with land. Only the south has more water, but it doesn't leave us without a foothold."
"Have you ever been to the South, but have you ever been to the Eastern Ocean? There is the boundless sea."
"Oh, what a coincidence. I have actually been to the Eastern Ocean. Even though it is boundless, it is very scary. I worry about falling into the water and being eaten by fish. There is also a Japanese country there. It cannot be said to be boundless. .”
"The Japanese kingdom is not the end at all. I heard that there is a bigger place to the west."
"You're not talking about Yingzhou, are you?"
"Who knows, anyway, a few days ago I read a pamphlet issued by the Children's Light Screen Division. It said that by heading northeast along the Japanese country, and then turning southeast at the basic point, you can discover a new land. It is said that some of us Our ancestors followed this route to get there, but it was a bit far away after all, so the descendants of those ancestors no longer have contact with us.”
"Why didn't I know that there was such a thing?"
"I have only seen it not long ago, and people have said that this is just a speculation. It is not official yet because no one can go there. However, I am afraid that this kind of voyage will be organized and implemented by the Light Curtain Division in the future."
"real or fake?"
Everyone present was surprised and started arguing, unaware that the direction of their argument seemed to have gone astray.
"It must be true. It is said that there seems to be gold there. In the future, many people may rush there by boat to pan for gold. If they can pick up gold nuggets, they will become rich overnight."
"No wonder the Light Curtain Division is so interested in that place. It turns out there is gold. I heard that Li Ning was in Asia Minor, and he was also exploring minerals everywhere. There was a line of fire and the local tycoons who controlled the minerals were wiped out by him."
"What's the matter? They were cleared for our Song Dynasty. Didn't the minerals go into the pockets of our Song Dynasty?"
"But then again, if there is gold there and you want to transport it back, I'm afraid the only way is to use a ship."
"That's right, but ships are just right for transporting such heavy things. After all, there is no need to waste manpower and animal power. Water is enough."
"In that case, the ship is of great use."
"No, no, we seemed to have gone astray just now. When you mentioned gold, I realized the purpose of the ship. It is not short-distance transportation but long-distance transportation. This is its characteristic. Because of the water, it saves a lot of money. Human power and animal power are incomparable to cars, so if the world is wide enough, then ship transportation may become an unimaginably important means in the future."
"I understand what you said. No wonder the Guangmu Division is in such a hurry to build ships. I heard that even many craftsmen from Bianjing City have been transferred there."
Hearing that they finally brought the topic back and discovered the biggest link, the scholars finally looked at each other and smiled, and then said to everyone: "The biggest advantage of long-distance transportation is the difference in each other's cultures and products. In this way, we have a lot of opportunities to communicate with each other." When there is nothing, it is easy to make huge profits by taking advantage of scarcity, which is the main reason why the South China Sea is now profitable."
Listening to what he said, everyone suddenly realized that people in the Song Dynasty were extremely envious of maritime trade, because a large number of people became rich overnight by relying on this trick, and maritime trade was also extremely dangerous. Except for pirates, the wind and waves were very dangerous. Risk factors.
However, these scholars from Fujian did not introduce this point in time. Instead, they waited for them to slowly digest this profit model before slowly reminding them a few words.
The reason why I say it slowly is because they are currently encountering similar problems in the Aegean Sea. And they were watching Li Ning from behind, hoping that the people on the street would notice what they had experienced on the sea of love.
"The situation we are encountering now is like this. Greece seems to be a country with brilliant civilization, but in fact it mainly focuses on military plunder, that is, it must seize what it likes. In the past, the eastern coast of the Mediterranean was dominated by Babylonian merchants. territory, but Babylon is far away from the coastline. Even if some people are engaged in maritime trade, their strength is not as good as that of the Greeks. However, their culture is more conservative and tolerant, and they never rob. But the Greeks are different. They are despicable, dirty, and obscene. They often rob. Passing merchant ships.”
"So, this is the name of the Light Curtain Division's merchant ship in the Aegean Sea. It was robbed there, right?"
"You are absolutely right. The worst thing is that the armed merchant ships of the Light Curtain Division are huge in size, but they are not as familiar with the hydrological conditions as the locals. There are many islands there and there are many places where they are easily stranded, so it is not conducive to our big ships. Sometimes pirates take advantage of this when sailing to launch sneak attacks on us or even lure us into shallow waters."
"So that's it, so what should we do?"
"What else can we do? Of course we need to amend the covenant with King Alexander. I hope he can pay attention to naval construction. After all, he is also a local native. If this can be done, I believe those Athenians will be restrained soon."
"What you say makes sense. Coupled with our strength, it is enough to far surpass the Athenians, but will the court agree? I'm afraid there are still many people who don't know about Athens and Sparta. Where are these two city-states?”
The man who spoke obviously already knew the local situation very well. But he seemed to have overestimated his own intelligence, because someone immediately stood up and retorted.
"Nowadays, the Light Curtain Division likes to pay attention to Guo Musi's affairs, and many people in the government and the public are paying attention to this. The Light Curtain Division can bring benefits to the public, which makes people with lofty ideals and comparable people care about him very much. You It would be wrong to say that no one in the imperial court pays attention to what is going on there. Even us ordinary people already know about Athens and Sparta in Greece, and many people even know about Thebes and many things that we do not know. It’s a familiar name, so I believe that the Gonggun princes in the imperial court must have studied it long ago.”
"If that's the case, I believe the court will take some measures soon. It's a pity that this matter seems to only benefit the red guys."
"Yes. Those who serve as soldiers are going to make a lot of money again. I heard that Greece is the richest place in the area. If you can attack the mainland, you will definitely gain a lot."
"You are right. But I always have an ominous feeling. Perhaps, before there is any clue here, another thing that the Light Curtain Division is worried about will appear."
"Are you talking about that dishonest thing in the west? Don't worry. A few days ago, the Light Curtain Division has sent 20,000 more troops to the Western Front. This time, that little bastard Yuan Hao may have to stop for a while."
