"Yes! That's right!" Cui Hongdu also understood at this time. Nambajin is the largest port of the Japanese. Those who can make a living here must be well-informed people. The high-quality porcelain Wang Wenzuo sent earlier, Tea, silk, etc. are all favorite items of Japanese nobles. This kind of thing will spread throughout the Japanese capital in as short as three to five days or as long as half a month, and there is no fear that no one will come to buy it.
"Ming Gong, did you call me here?" Cao Sengnu bowed at the door of the cabin.
"You're here, monk slave, come in and talk!" Wang Wenzuo pointed to his left hand side: "By the way, what do you think of Namba Tsu?"
"Namba Tsu? What does Ming Gong mean?" Cao Sennu showed a confused look. Apparently he didn't quite understand what Wang Wenzuo was asking specifically. When Wang Wenzuo saw this, he smiled and said, "It's my fault that I didn't explain it clearly! What I mean is, if a trading station is built in Namba Tsu to trade with the Japanese, what do you think?"
"Build a trading station in Nanbajin to trade with the Japanese?" Cao Sennu opened his mouth in surprise: "If so, that would be great, but will the Japanese agree?"
"Put it aside for now whether the Japanese agree or not! Tell me why you think Nambazu would be a good place to use as a trading station?"
"Ming Gong, I think this Nambajin is the Yangzhou of the Japanese!"
"Yangzhou? Why do you say that?" Wang Wenzuo and Cui Hongdu exchanged glances, and both saw a hint of surprise in each other's eyes. Although the economic center of the Tang Dynasty was still in the north, when it comes to the commodity economy, there is a saying that Yang Yi Yi Yi Er , that is, the world's cities are prosperous in commerce, with Yangzhou first and Yizhou second, not Chang'an and Luoyang. Cao Sengnu compared Nambojin with Yangzhou, which can be said to coincide with Wang Wenzuo.
"Ming Gong, I'm rude!" Cao Sengnu complained to Wang Wenzuo. He took the water cup in front of Wang Wenzuo, dipped his finger in the water and started drawing on the table: "Since ancient times, if commerce is to prosper, The land must first have a prosperous population, with talented people and wealth; secondly, it must have convenient transportation, and it is best to be close to rivers and lakes for easy boating, especially where rivers meet, rivers enter the sea, and lakes are adjacent to the river. This is the case in Yangzhou. First of all, the south of the Yangtze River is rich and prosperous. , with abundant products and a prosperous population. Secondly, the Yangtze River and Canal intersect here, and goods from the north and south intersect here, and overseas merchants can also come from the Yangtze River. The same is true for Namba Tsu. First, the river and the sea meet, and the transportation is convenient. Secondly, it is close to the Japanese capital, which is definitely The population is prosperous.”
"That's right! If it's not enough, it's one less thing to say!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile.
"It's okay to make it public!" Cao Sennu said hurriedly.
"I heard what Taehye and Mori Oishi said earlier: The ancestors of the Japanese first arrived in a Nara basin. Later, as the strength of the Japanese grew stronger, they sent out troops to attack and develop, and divided their children into vassals. However, The capital is still in Nara, and this Nara is like the quanzhong of the Japanese, and what is it that the current guanzhong cannot live without?"
"Water transportation?" Cao Sennu asked.
"Yes, it's water transportation!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "Since the Nara Basin is the fundamental place of the Japanese, their nobles must live here, and the taxes and tributes from the four territories must also be gathered here. It takes too much time to travel over the mountains and ridges by land. There are many, and the waterway is the most convenient. Think about it, what did those Chang'an ships carry when they returned? Are you still worried that the Japanese will not agree to your building a trading station in Nambajin?"
"I understand, villain!" After Wang Wenzuo's instructions, Cao Sengnu finally understood. Different from modern cities, most cities in ancient times were purely consumption-oriented. The city only had a purely extractive and parasitic relationship with the countryside. The city squeezed a large amount of surplus products from the countryside in the form of taxes, tributes, etc., except for a few. Except for a few high-end handicrafts and daily necessities that cannot be produced locally (such as salt and spices), nothing will be returned to the countryside. And the more important the city, such as the capital, the more so. More extreme examples include Chang'an, Luoyang, Bianliang, Beijing in ancient China, Rome in ancient Western times, etc. In these cities, most residents are ruled by a small group of top leaders. Those who serve the class do not do any productive labor. Although Asukakyo, the capital of Japan at that time, would not be as high as the above cities, it would certainly have a large amount of external tribute and taxes to support the unproductive population around the capital.
But it cannot be said that the extraction of rural areas by ancient cities was not beneficial at all. It should be said that this also promoted the development of commerce and trade, and provided a
In order to reduce transportation costs as much as possible, city rulers will build roads, ports, and canals. In order to store goods, they will build warehouses. In order to obtain goods that are produced outside the jurisdiction, they will also build markets, formulate laws, and reward merchants. As commercial trade gradually improves, rulers will gradually find that collecting commercial taxes is more profitable than collecting tribute directly from the countryside. Take Nambazu of the Japanese as an example. People in other areas far away from the Nara Basin will definitely hide their harvests as much as possible and try every means to refuse and delay the payment of taxes; but if goods from distant Tang people appear in Namba In order to obtain these rare Tang products, Bojin, other Japanese-controlled areas, and even other local indigenous people outside the areas controlled by the Yamato Kingdom, will voluntarily bring various goods for trade. The more people come, the more prosperous the trade will be. The Japanese rulers only needed to send a tax collector, and they could easily obtain generous returns, which could be said to be a sitting duck for them.
"But if this is the case, it would be too easy for the Japanese!" Cui Hongdu said with a smile: "They are obviously a group of barbarians who offended the king at Baijiangkou, but we came to offer benefits!"
"Hongdu, first of all, we can also benefit from trade, and it will be a big one. After all, after we are familiar with the waterway, we can go directly to the ports of other Japanese territories to trade directly, instead of just being in Namba Tsu!" Wang Wenzuo! He smiled and said: "Secondly, I am the only one who can trade with the Japanese. Once the trade is on track, it is not up to me to decide whether to give this benefit to this person or to that person!"
"Not bad!" Cui Hongdu held up his palms and said with a smile: "In this way, we can manage the Japanese government without spending a single soldier!"
"That's not enough!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "But there is no problem in at least supporting a few people we can trust!"
Cao Sennu sat aside, already dazzled by what he heard. He was born in the ninth surname of Zhaowu. These small countries in the Western Regions influence the government through trade, and even directly intervene in the internal fighting of the royal family. It is really too much to support the king who is on his side to come to power. too much. He had been familiar with it since he was a child, but he also knew that the Tang Dynasty was different from those small countries. Not to mention interfering in the internal fighting of the royal family, even the affairs of the states and counties were not something that a businessman dared to comment on. However, he did not expect that he could actually encounter such a problem in the Japanese country. Hearing this familiar story, when he thought that he might be like those wealthy businessmen in the legend, he couldn't help but his heart beat faster and faster, almost jumping out of his mouth.
"Monk slave!"
"The villain is here!" Cao Sengnu quickly bowed his head and said.
"Tall buildings are rising from the ground. The first thing to do now is to get the Japanese to agree to give us a piece of land to settle down! Let me test you first. How should you speak?"
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The next day.
Cao Sengnu tilted the wine bottle and poured the dark red wine liquid into the cup of Ping Liu, the Japanese clerk opposite. Heiroku stared at the dark red wine in the glass and swallowed subconsciously.
"Come on, please!"
Without the need for an interpreter, Pingliu could understand the meaning of the Tang person opposite him. He carefully picked up the wine glass and licked it first. An unprecedented feeling came from the tip of his tongue. He looked at the Tang person opposite him. Looking at himself with a smile on his face, Heiroku took a deep breath and drank the wine in the glass. An unprecedented sense of pleasure flowed from his stomach through his throat and straight to his forehead, causing him to subconsciously shout: " Yeah yeah yeah!"
Cao Sennu was startled by Pingliu's reaction. He picked up the wine glass and took a sip. Isn't this wine sour? Could it be that the Japanese were not used to wine, so they specially selected a bottle of good wine for themselves? It was really a waste to feed pigs and peonies.
Feeling that what had come was gone quickly, Pingliu picked up the wine glass and pushed it over. He pointed at the wine bottle in Cao Sennu's hand, then pointed at his own empty glass, and raised his thumbs repeatedly.
"It turns out this guy likes to drink, I'm shocked!" Cao Sennu breathed a sigh of relief. He filled up the cup again, and Pingliu drank it all. He drank seven or eight cups in a row. Cao Sennu tilted the bottle , but no wine flows into the glass - the bottle of wine is finished.
"One more bottle, I haven't had enough!" Pingliu shouted loudly, and the interpreter on the side whispered to Cao Sennu. Cao Sennu nodded: "Tell him, this kind of wine is for the ship." The envoy of the emperor drank this bottle. This bottle is the half of the bottle that the envoy drank last night. I
What was secretly taken out to entertain him is gone now. If he still wants to drink, it will only be ordinary rice wine! "
"No more?" Pingliu clicked his tongue as he still hadn't finished his thoughts: "Forget it, it's a blessing to be able to taste the wine of the envoy of the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty today. Thank you, Mr. Cao, for me!"
The rice wine was served, and Hei Liu took a sip. Perhaps it was because he had just drank wine, but the normally palatable rice wine seemed so tasteless in his mouth, and even had a sour and musty smell. He put down the glass in disappointment and sighed.
"Are you tired of drinking this kind of rice wine?" Cao Sengnu asked.
"Yes!" Heiroku sighed: "Obviously a person of low status has touched the fairy brew drunk by a nobleman. I'm afraid I won't be able to drink anymore. It's really troublesome!"
"If you really like this kind of wine, I can decide to give you two bottles! Let you drink it to your heart's content!" Cao Sengnu said with a smile.
"Give me two bottles? That's great!" Pingliu was overjoyed, but then he frowned again: "But those are good wines that can only be enjoyed by the emperor's envoys, how can you give them to me?"
"The envoy is a very generous nobleman. As long as he can solve his troubles, he will reward them generously. He has a very troublesome thing at the moment. If I can solve it for him, don't tell me. Two bottles of wine, no matter how much the reward is, he will generously agree!"
"How can a noble person like the emperor's envoy have troubles?"
"Yes, he was ordered by the Emperor to go to Japan this time. There were many valuable gifts for the leader of Japan in the cabin. Due to the long journey, many of the gifts in the cabin were wet by the sea water. If he had taken them out to dry in time, If you do, these goods will become moldy and damaged, which is a big sin!"
"Then why not move the goods to the deck to dry?"
"There's only so much space on the deck, and it's very windy on the sea. If it gets blown into the sea and is lost, wouldn't it be a bigger sin?"
"That's true!" Pingliu nodded. He pondered for a moment and asked, "How big of a place do you want to dry?"
"We have four boats, and there is a lot of cargo in the cabin. At least there is a place about fifty feet square to dry it! And in order to prevent the cargo from being stolen and wet by rain, we have to send people to guard it and build a bamboo shed!"
"Is fifty steps square enough?"
"That's enough! Pingliu, do you have any idea?" Cao Sennu asked.
"If fifty steps square is enough, then leave everything to me, Heiroku!" Heiroku patted his chest and said with a smile, "After all, it is a gift to the king. If you let them rot without caring about them, you are not a minister." It’s your duty!”
"Then everything depends on Heiroku-sama!"
"Hahaha, this little thing doesn't mean anything. Do you have wine now?" Heiroku's eyes turned to the door.
"No problem!" Cao Sengnu said with a smile: "Brother Pingliu, in addition to wine, I will also prepare a special thank you gift for you after the event is completed!"
About half an hour later, the red-faced Cao Sengnu walked out of the cabin, came to Wang Wenzuo beside the ship's side, and whispered: "Ming Gong, that Japanese official agreed!"
"Very well, I'll leave this matter to you. Just remember, I don't know anything!"
"I understand, you villain!" Cao Sengnu lowered his head. As Wang Wenzuo's envoy to a country, being too enthusiastic about these businessmen's affairs would only lead to being criticized. It would be better to pretend not to know anything.
"I took a lot of your gold and silver back in Chang'an—"
"Ming Gong!" Cao Sengnu hurriedly replied after hearing this: "You have been very helpful to us in saving our lives. This little gold and silver is nothing. I have no regrets at all!"
"This is best!" Wang Wenzuo smiled: "But what! You can't say that none of your compatriots have any resentment towards me, can you?"
"This -" Cao Sengnu was speechless for a moment, and after a moment he quietly replied: "Those people are short-sighted, go and don't be as knowledgeable as them!"
"Of course I won't be on the same level with them, otherwise I wouldn't be telling you this now!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "You Sogdians say well that you are good at management, but not well.
They are greedy for money, but this is the nature of most businessmen, and I can’t blame you. But you have to remember that money is important, but there is something more important than money! "
"I remember, little one!"
"It's useless to just remember, you have to think clearly to be useful! What you said just now is right. Those people are short-sighted. If they want to do a small business, that's it. If they want to make the business big, they will only be short-sighted if they only have a lot of capital. Harm yourself!"
