Chapter 662: The King Grants Keelung
At present, the New Song Dynasty has recovered Thang Long and Ryukyu in the south, and has taken over most of the Korean Peninsula in the north. Its territory is still expanding westward. It is obviously inappropriate to follow the traditional maritime trade layout.
Zhao Yulin returned to his office and locked himself in the study to think hard. He searched for advanced foreign trade methods of later generations and wrote them down in his manuscripts. After repeated revisions, he formed a simple new layout and management method for the maritime trade of the Song Dynasty.
He was still busy, Jing Gang went in with a smile and reported: Madam Chen Chen sent someone to ask when the young master would return home. He realized that it was getting late, and immediately said: I'll leave now.
When he got home, the young woman had already prepared wine and food. Chen Chen lovingly gave him a bottle of wine and served him some food, which was so sweet that he was so happy.
He asked in confusion: What's going on? Why is today a good day?
The woman said with a rosy face, "Brother, you really have too many women. Have you forgotten? Twenty years ago today, we consummated our marriage."
My god, this woman is really good at teasing her husband.
Zhao Yulin thought, why do I feel that it has not been 20 years yet? Their first time should have been in Yangzhou, Hanzhong. He was not a dullard who did not understand romance. He took the woman into his arms and fed her wine. The couple persuaded each other to drink a glass each. They did not eat much of the food, but drank the whole jar of daughter's red wine.
Chen Chen said that her body was weak and exhausted, so she leaned on his back and asked him to carry her.
The two of them went back to the house and had fun playing...
Five thousand words are skipped here.
In Hangzhou, Zhao Feiyan brought her mother, Madam Danfeng Kuang Sisi.
The Liangzhe Routes knew that the leader of Feiyan State was coming, and had already been preparing to welcome him. The city was cleaned up, and big red lanterns were hung in the streets and alleys as if it were New Year's Day. The whole city was filled with a festive atmosphere.
However, she did not stay in the city for long. After dropping off her mother and the inspecting officials, she headed straight for Fuzhou. Under the escort of the Ryukyu Navy, she crossed the strait and headed straight for Keelung Port on the Ryukyu Road.
The ship was sailing straight on the sea. Feiyan stood on the deck and looked at the Ryukyu Mountains in the distance. The gentle sea breeze brushed her face and seagulls were flying happily around her. Zhao Feiyan was in a good mood and kept calling out to Brother Yulin to go with them, saying that the mountains were so beautiful.
Densely packed sea ships could be seen from afar. The navy chief Zhou Ping brought the commander of the Southern Expedition Fleet, Yi Shuigui, who was about to set out for the South China Sea expedition, on board to report: The Southern Expedition Navy Fleet's 500 warships and 20,000 land soldiers have all been assembled, and please give your instructions, my king.
Zhao Feiyan said: Then we won't waste the soldiers' time. The Third Young Master reminds you that although this trip is not about seizing a city or a piece of land, we in the New Song Dynasty will not do business that loses money but gains publicity. We hope that General Yi will lead the mighty army of the New Song Dynasty to declare the power of the empire and return with a full load.
Yi Shuigui immediately bowed and reported to the king: "I will definitely fulfill my mission and complete it."
Zhao Feiyan waved her slender hands to signal the ships setting out to the battle and shouted: Let’s go.
Ten soldiers in a row behind him holding iron trumpets took a deep breath, puffed up their bellies and yelled: Go, go, go.
Warships quickly left the port and headed south like arrows.
Zhao Feiyan watched Yi Shuigui get off the boat, and Zhou Ping accompanied her to the port and land, setting foot on the land of Ryukyu Road.
At the dock, the current pacification envoy, the former Ryukyu King, and two groups of road officials greeted her respectfully. The little woman was extremely happy and walked towards the government office with great interest.
After the two reported on the government and military affairs, she said that the Central Council had already made a plan to speed up the development of Ryukyu and build the Great Wall of the Sea of the New Song Dynasty.
Zhou Ping reported to him: Ryukyu has many islands and many pirates. Especially the pirates from Japan, who occupy the islands and attack at will, causing great losses to our people. In the past two years, the navy and the coast guard have jointly attacked, and the Japanese pirates have come less frequently due to our military power, but we cannot relax, as these robbers may come again at any time.
Zhao Feiyan nodded calmly and said to the pacification envoy: To guard the islands, it is firstly the duty of the army, but we also need to rely on the people of Ryukyu. If we make all habitable islands inhabited and let the fishermen become soldiers guarding the islands, then there is no need to worry about the destruction of the islands.
The pacification envoy was delighted, nodded like a chicken pecking at rice, and said: Let's do it right away, and work out a complete strategy with General Zhou to guard every island of the New Song Dynasty.
Zhao Feiyan was very satisfied with this answer and told them that the empire was not yet rich and it was not realistic to rely entirely on the imperial funding to do things. This required mobilizing the enthusiasm of the Ryukyu people to guard the island and make a living on the island, and mobilizing the people to guard the island together.
She believed that with the participation of the common people, they would be able to defend the island and drive away the pirates.
She told them that this time, a thousand craftsmen were mobilized from Hangzhou Prefecture to settle in Ryukyu, and they would not leave once they arrived. The court paid enough resettlement expenses, and Ryukyu Road must select virtuous women to start a family and keep them here.
Zhou Ping was surprised to see Zhao Feiyan with a feminine look on her face. How could a female ruler say such words?
Zhao Feiyan asked him with a smile what he was thinking about.
Men just want a warm home, am I wrong?
Zhou Ping said quickly: "That's right, that's right, the king is thoughtful, and we can't do that." The pacification envoy was already overjoyed and thanked her repeatedly, and promised to do a good job.
She said: If the Ryukyu people want to become rich, they must rely on Ryukyu themselves, education must be vigorously promoted, and academies must be established at the road and state levels. The Ryukyu Road has been in operation for almost two years, but the tax revenue has not increased. Previously, it was because of pirates. In the future, it will depend on the pacification envoy.
The former Pacifier of the Ryukyu King was so anxious that he was sweating all over his forehead. He nodded like a chicken pecking at rice. He was muttering in his heart that it was not easy to be the Pacifier of the New Song Kingdom. It was far less fun and relaxing than when he was the King of Ryukyu.
Even though he bowed and scraped to the envoys and pirates, he was the king of the world after they left. He could eat whatever he wanted and bring any daughter he liked into the palace to play with for a few days. He didn't worry about the lives of the common people.
Since he became the Ryukyu Pacifier of the New Song Dynasty, he had to worry about dealing with pirates, worry about whether the people had enough food, and preside over the planning of the construction of the prefectures and counties of Ryukyu. When a typhoon occurred, the deputy envoys would immediately remind him to go to the prefectures and counties to check the disaster situation. He was really busy.
But there is one thing he found, that is, human dignity. Although Ryukyu is small, New Song is very big. No scoundrel dares to bully Ryukyu and just bring a few ships to Keelung to rob.
Human dignity is precious, and appeasement makes people willing to shed blood and sweat for dignity.
Zhao Feiyan saw the official document on the desk and pointed to the word "chicken coop" in the title and said that it had the same meaning as the cages used to raise chickens in ordinary people's homes. It was not good and should be changed.
She looked at Wu Qian, director of the Central Court's Office, and said with a smile, "Mr. Wu is a well-educated man in our Central Court. Please do Ryukyu a favor and change the name of the chicken coop."
Wu Qian, who was well-educated, did not dare to accept the hat she bestowed on him. After guiding Zhao Feiyan to name the new city "Keelung" for Jilong, she picked up her pen and wrote three "Keelungs" in a row, asking Wu Qian to help her choose one to give to the pacification envoy as a souvenir.
This is the name bestowed by the emperor on the city. The envoy was reluctant to give up any of them, and carefully collected them one by one to pass them down.
Zhao Feiyan was delighted and told them that there was something even more precious. She waved to the maid, and a red sandalwood box was quickly brought up from behind.
She took it and handed it to the comforter, asking him to open it and look.
The envoy opened it carefully and found a lifelike map of Ryukyu Road inside, with accurate markings on place names such as Amami, Shuri, Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung, and Penghu.
Zhao Feiyan told them: This is what the Third Young Master asked us to send to Ryukyu. From now on, this big island under our feet should be called Yizhou, which is a name that has existed since ancient times. Many places on Ryukyu Road are still uninhabited, but the treasure island is full of beautiful mountains, rivers and places. We will definitely build new cities in those places.
The envoy was excited and asked the king to rest assured that he would do his best until his death.
Zhao Feiyan laughed and said, "What's the point of worrying about life and death? You all should live well. I'm still waiting for the pacification envoy to retire and go to Chengdu Taijiantang to continue to provide advice to the Central Council."
The Pacifier was astonished when he heard this, but then he was overjoyed. This meant that after he retired from the position of Pacifier, he would be promoted to another level and become an elder at Taijian Hall in Chengdu.
Three days later, Zhao Feiyan inspected the Ryukyu Road and crossed the sea back under the escort of Zhou Ping, the chief marshal of the navy.
At this time, her father, the old emperor, had just arrived in Hangzhou Prefecture. He was still accompanied by the old steward of the Ministry of Rites, but the entourage was expanded to include a large group of officials who were compiling history.
When they walked into Hangzhou, they were all surprised to see that the city, which had been burned, looted and dilapidated by the Mongolian army, had been completely transformed.
Shi's son was the one who felt it the most. He and Zhao Bing fought fiercely in Lin'an City for power and burned half of Hangzhou. Now the streets affected by the fire have all been restored and many new buildings have been added.
This guy kept shouting "Great kindness" and the knot in his heart was finally untied.
The emperor came to the imperial city where he had lived. He was surrounded by handsome and beautiful soldiers of the Shenwei Army who were on duty and giving explanations. A female soldier in a neat military uniform stood at the Meridian Gate holding an exquisite copper trumpet and told him about the rise and fall of the imperial city of the Great Song Dynasty.
As we walked along, we found that the damaged buildings had been cleared, and the remaining broken walls told the history. The intact houses in the imperial city were well maintained, some were transformed into exhibition halls, and some were equipped with benches to serve as resting places for tourists and sales places for local specialties from Liangzhe. Everywhere were the new Song people who came from all directions to visit, and even the people in Western costumes were taking a close look.
Old Mrs. Xie, who was following nearby, couldn't help but feel sad when she saw that the palace where she used to live had become a place for people to come and go at will, and she burst into tears.
The old emperor pointed to the list of emperors of the Song Dynasty engraved on the screen wall and said: I am ashamed. His name and the names of his ancestors are all on the list. They have become sinners who have lost their country. Future generations should remember the lesson.
The old deacon smiled and said, "Sir, you are too polite. Everyone in the world knows that the King of Feiyan was born to Mr. Zhao, so how could he have lost his country?"
