Chapter 177 Meeting someone who wants to go home

Zhao Xing waved his hand to let the tired family and servants rest on their own. He invited the Xiao brothers into the living room and then replied: "The Liao Kingdom has removed Yingzhou. Not long ago, news came from the Liao Kingdom: On March 25th, there was a heavy snowfall in the Yanshan area, and snow covered everything thousands of miles of snow. There was no living person in the ruins of Yingzhou. I guess most of the living people fled to nearby counties.

The officials of the Liao Kingdom could not find evidence from Yingzhou, and the Jinzhou side deliberately concealed it. Their final conclusion was: Yingzhou was destroyed due to thieves. So, your brothers can show up now. I plan to build a secret base on the ruins of Yingzhou and hire some pure Liao people to smuggle and do business for me. I want to arrange your tribe members into the caravan, pretend to be a local guide, and guide the caravan.

This caravan, smuggling and doing business is a side job, and I need it the most to bring me the Liao Kingdom dynamics. Nowadays, with my family business, I can afford such a caravan, so the task of your tribe is to monitor the caravan for me and pass on the news along the way back. Remember: The news from the Liao Kingdom is the most important. If there is a danger, I would rather abandon the caravan than pass on the news back."

Xiao Feng kowtowed and agreed. Zhao Xing was silent for a moment, and added: "After the Yingzhou incident, I was planning this caravan. I established a school on Danluo Island to study how to conceal the identity, investigate the information without showing a look, and secretly convey the information. You can choose where to learn for a few months if you have any new methods in the future, let your tribe teach it.

Information determines judgment. Whether we are doing business or dealing with people, we must obtain enough information to make a correct judgment. Your tribe members will take on this job for me in the future..."

Zhao Xing explained carefully to the other party, and then he was able to ask about the situation at home in Hangzhou. In response, Xiao Feng replied: "No! Master, the year of Hangzhou this year is similar to last year. There has not been a snow since the beginning of spring. It is estimated that this year will be another drought year. Fortunately, there is no major construction in our mansion this year, and the people in Hangzhou cannot rely on us. However, in recent days, some people have discussed preparing to rebuild the Baochu Pagoda and prepare to town a drought. For this reason, I found the mansion, hoping that some people in our mansion could also be produced."

Zhao Xing didn't know: From this year on, the temperature on the earth suddenly dropped. In the entire history of the earth, except for the Ice Age, the lowest low temperature peak in history occurred around 1192. In the following two hundred years, the temperature on the earth would be cold at any era.

This great cold also caused great changes in the plants on the earth. During this period, many plants north of the Huai River froze to death and began to migrate to the south of the Huai River. For example, plum blossoms and bamboos, these two plants were rarely seen in Huai River since then.

Zhao Xing vaguely knew that in ancient Chinese history, the extinction of many dynasties was related to the Little Ice Age. Judging from the news he obtained, it seems that this climate change has spread to the world. At present, news has been heard from Africa and Europe that there is a continuous famine. Zhao Xing didn't know how long the famine would last. When he thought of the history in his memory, he couldn't help but murmur: "Is the Little Ice Age coming again? We are facing the demise of our country again...

No, but why did the Little Ice Age not let the dynasties of Europe, Africa, America, and even South Asia perish. Their dynasties lasted for thousands of years and experienced several small ice rivers, but we had so many disasters and difficulties? Every time a small ice river, it must be... Ah, since this phenomenon does not exist in other countries, it means that this dynasty cycle can be avoided, and it means that the Little Ice Age was not natural to cause the country to be destroyed. So what should we do to embark on the road of 'traditional destruction'?"

After Xiao Feng talked about the situation in Hangzhou, out of the loyalty of a servant, he said a lot: "Master, now Mr. Cheng has come here, and no one in charge of housework in Hangzhou, leaving Jin Buer, a vassal. If something happens, there is not even a person who can stand and talk while the county lord is standing, which is a great loss. Master, should you let (Cheng) Shuang go back and take charge of housework?"

This was the first time Xiao Feng spoke about Zhao Xing's housework. He stuttered and the words were not meaningful. Zhao Xing heard the meaning of his words and asked in surprise: "Do they still want to cause trouble?"

What Zhao Xing meant was, is it that Hangzhou still wanted to cause the same thing as last year - falsely accusing Zhao Xing of building a house was harmful to Feng Shui?

Xiao Feng shook his head first and said, "There are too many Hu people coming and going in our yard, and there are not many people who speak loudly, and they are afraid of being bullied. For example, Mr. Pu is becoming more and more domineering now, and we can't get involved in the matter on the dock. Master I (Yu) is also complaining. The villain suggested that the master send someone in charge to suppress the situation."

Zhao Xing nodded: "I understand. Don't worry about Mr. Pu's affairs. He must be a domineering servant. He himself does not know. Because he and I are partners who are bound together with interests, he will never dare to be domineering in front of me - he is a lonely man, and behind us is the entire Song Dynasty. It annoyed me and can subdue him with only the sea of ​​people, so this old fox must not dare to make an act of angering me.

Just the servants are causing trouble, find a tough way to manage the business, and slash a few unruly people with a knife. Who dares to cause trouble again... Well, I know this, I will find a solution to it, thank you!"

When Xiao Feng saw himself interrupting and was not blamed by Zhao Xing, he kowtowed frequently thankfully. He respectfully handed the letter accumulated at home to Zhao Xing, and kowtowed and said goodbye.

Zhao Xing was not at home, but his family never dared to delay the delivery of letters. Any letters that were consciously important would be transferred to Mizhou by fast horses and boats. Therefore, the letters accumulated at home were some unimportant chores - except for one special letter, which was Ma Yi and Liu San. Zhao Xing read the letters at a glance, finally picked up Liu San's letters, browsed them roughly, was startled, and was stunned by the letters.

While pondering, Banqiao Town sent a yamen runner to report to Zhao Xing: "Mr. Tongzong, several strange sailboats came from the dock. The boatmen said strange and incomprehensible words. The people who came were pale and even their hair was white, with blue eyes, blonde and red hair, which was very creepy. The tongue man said: The people of the "Reed Eye Kingdom" recorded in the imperial court and the "Skari Wild Kingdom" look similar to those of the people who came. I heard that the Master Tongzong had traveled overseas. The county master asked you to go over and recognize it."

"Rumei Kingdom" means the transliteration of Rome (rome). "Skari Wild Kingdom" means the transliteration of Sicily. This is the name of Rome and Sicily in the Song Dynasty. But now Africa is in full swing, and people are really traveling through war-torn Africa to come here? No, even if the white people traveled through Africa, they would only go to Guangzhou. Mizhou is a customs facing Japan and Goryeo. How could they come here? The sea is vast, who guides them?

Zhao Xing stuffed Liu San's letter into his arms and ordered: "Lead the way in front of you!...No, take my Hu Ji with you!"

The yamen runners agreed repeatedly: "Sir, they are discussing this matter at the Goryeo Pavilion. Come with me!"

Zhao Xing rushed to the Goryeo court and heard several white men in the hall trying to communicate with the tongue. They changed several languages ​​in succession, hoping that both sides could find a communication language that could be understood by each other. Kasili heard the words of several white men and leaned close to Zhao Xing's ear and whispered in Arabic: "They speak a Latin language, but the pronunciation is very strange. Master, what should I do?"

The tongue-in-law equipped by the court can understand Arabic. Kasli asked Zhao Xing if he translated truthfully. Zhao Xing shook his head gently and replied: "You should pay attention to yourself. I can understand this language. Your purpose is to let the court officials understand. How to translate it, and beware yourself... You ask them, the emperors of Eastern Rome have been captured, and which Rome they are from now?"

The group actually spoke an Italian language, but it was mixed with a strong Corsican flavor. However, if they were Corsicans, they could be considered Roman or Sicilians.

The Song Dynasty did not interact much with the Sicilians. These people basically went to Guangzhou, and they did not like to trade by tribute because tribute required kneeling, while their religious education was that the knees of mortals would only bow to the gods, and the kings in the world, including the pope, were only worthy of curtshopping. Only gods were worthy of worship by mortals.

Therefore, in most cases, they handed over the goods to the Arabs, and they ate all the goods and resold them to the Song people. The white people recorded in the history of the Song Dynasty only paid tribute two or three times. Like the white people who came to Mizhou, most of them came from African countries, namely the "Aksum Country", which is called Somalia in modern times.

This is the first time that Mizhou has received merchants from such a distant country, which means that Mizhou has entered the eyes of European merchants, but the question arises: Who did they hear about Mizhou from their mouths? Who led them the way? Who introduced Mizhou to them?

"Sir, can I call you 'Mr.'" the person opposite replied in clear Latin: "We come from the 'Four Great Powers on the Sea', Venice, Florence, Genoa, and Pisa. These belong to Sicily, Rome, and Europa, but to specify which country we come from, it means nothing to you. So, you can directly call us Sicilians.

As for the capture of our emperor, that was a story from a long time ago. We are not here to talk about the emperor's affairs. Your Excellency, we are here to do business..."

The term "sir" used by the other party is a term for nobles in the medieval period. Now it is translated as "gentleman". When this word appears in Dickens's book, it is generally translated as "master". The "four great powers on the sea" mentioned by the other party is now recognized as: the four major republics on the sea. Because the four countries of Sicily only won the eleventh century, but they cannot be called the four major powers.

The tongue man listened to the white language and nodded frequently: "The language used by the vassals does come from the Lumei Kingdom. I have heard people talk about it, but there is no one in Mizhou who understands this language. You need to go to Guangzhou to hire someone who understands this language..."

Kasili asked Zhao Xing with his eyes, Zhao Xing nodded gently, Kasili immediately asked in Latin: "Several businessmen, how did you come here, how can I trust you?"

The visitor answered quickly: "We went to Palestine by land, and then crossed Africa to the village of Kismaiyu (Songren Village) in Somalia, where we got a rumor: it was said that someone had discovered a quick route that could shorten the journey to Seris to fifteen days. After a lot of twists and turns, we found a local person to lead the way, and then sailed to Chaibang Port.

At Chaibang, we heard more precise rumors - yes, this route does exist, but it belongs to a commercial alliance, which is fighting people in the South China Sea and they forbid others from participating. At that time, we were already convinced of the existence of this route, because it took only 30 days for us to sail to Chaibang, and all this is given by a magical gadget - a compass.

We decided to venture to Guangzhou to see the end of the route, but God seemed unwilling to let us discover the route. We encountered a terrible storm on the way. The ship was trekking at sea for more than thirty days, and it was not until five days ago that it found a continent and was replenished with fresh water. Your Excellency, that continent was composed of some fishermen. The king of the Fisherman's Kingdom guided us to this port. I heard that there was a customs here that allowed us to trade, right?"

When Kasli translated, he only talked about the origin of these vassals and the reason why they found the Mizhou Maritime Warehouse: Trek. In this way, the Mizhou Maritime Warehouse officials were also surprised. Lin Ji heard too many new words here, and he hurriedly asked: "Li Ren, what does Europa mean? Is this a new country?"

Zhao Xing replied vaguely: "The word 'Europa' comes from the Semitic tribe in ancient times. It is said that this nation existed 30,000 years ago. They called the land under their feet 'Ilibu', which means 'the place of sunset' or 'the land of the West', and later evolved into 'Europa'. There were hundreds of countries in that continent, commonly known as 'Syris', which means 'the country of porcelain'. Some people also call us 'the country of sunrise' and 'the land of the East'."

After Zhao Xing answered, he waved to Kasli to continue. Under Zhao Xing's suggestion, Kasli continued to ask: "What goods did you bring?"

"Ivory, tortoiseshell, Canglong Brain, Su Hexiang..."

Zhao Xing suddenly interrupted the other party and asked Kasli to translate: "These are all Nanyang goods, not specialties from Lumei Kingdom. I want to know, what have you brought from Europa, which is worthy of my heart?"

These white merchants obviously moved to the east coast of Africa. After hearing an inaccurate rumor, they carried forward the usual adventurous spirit of Europeans, bought a ship locally, sailed bravely to Asia, and then took their African goods in Arabia and Nanyang areas, and purchased a batch of local specialties on the spot, and took them to the Song Dynasty to deceive people. Unfortunately, they did not expect that because of the prosperity of sea trade in the Song Dynasty, customs officials were not so easy to cheat.

After the scam scene was guessed, several white businessmen looked embarrassed. They discussed for a while and replied: "Sir, we still have glass marbles. This thing is so precious, and it is inlaid with flowers..."

Zhao Xing laughed. This group of Westerners like to use glass to coax people. I remember that they used these glass beads to deceive the native Americans and then occupied the entire American continent. However, this glass bead was not enough to coax the Song people. Zhao Xing told Kasli: "Tell them: Sicilians, it is not enough to coax me with this kind of sand, unless it is a formula, clear and transparent - 'glass formula'."

Zhao Xing's last words were also said in Latin, which was to prevent the officials of the Song Dynasty present from understanding. The white men hesitated for a long time and suddenly interrupted and asked: "We are looking for a local official. When we were attacked by a storm, we drifted to a deserted island. The King of the Desert Island guided us to sail nearby-he is now on the ship and controlled our crew. He said that there is a man here, a king and a nobleman, who knows our language. It is said that he is tall and a local official. The King of the Desert Island warned us: If we find this person, bring him a message. Sir, the man wrote us a note with it..."

After the white man finished speaking, he took out a wrinkled piece of paper from his arms, spread it out, and wrote three words on it: "Zhao Liren".

The characters are written very ugly, with few strokes and strokes - they are actually modern simplified Chinese characters.

Lin Ji saw the officials of the Mizhou Maritime Warehouse Division talking for a long time and suddenly took out a note with Zhao Xing's name written on it. Although they were written in typos, they were even more surprised. Lin Ji hurriedly interrupted and asked, "Mr. Zhao, what's going on? How do the vassal people know you?"

Zhao Xing laughed and made up a few foreigners' stories: "They said: I once went to Jiaozhi in Nanyang, and found an acquaintance there. After his guidance, I found Mizhou all the way. However, most of the goods they carried with them were sold in Nanyang, but they brought some goods from Nanyang, such as ivory and tortoiseshell..."

"Oh, it turns out that it's not here to pay tribute," Lin Ji sighed disappointed and said lazily: "Since that's the case, then Lord Zhao will be welcomed. Let's say goodbye."

The people of Song all used a plot in their hearts, and liked the atmosphere of the Four Barbarians coming to the court. If they were envoys to pay tribute, officials could take the opportunity to show off in front of the emperor and leave a good impression on the emperor. However, if the other party was just a merchant and had no intention of paying tribute, then officials would not have to report it, and at most they would have recorded a note in the local historical records. This was meaningless to officials, and they would lose their diligence.

Mizhou is not short of Nanyang goods. If the other party carries some strange Western goods, even if they are not here to pay tribute, officials can also say that they are tribute to the higher-ups. Now, after listening to Zhao Xing's introduction of the goods, there is no hope. Lin Ji, who lost his interest, was not interested in asking why Zhao Xing was so proficient in translation. He glanced at the officials of the Maritime Bureau, and the latter also stood up in a dim mood and said weakly: "Since this is the case, it's just that they can live in the Goryeo court... Lord Zhao, there is no one who is proficient in this kind of vassal language in the local area. I hope your concubine will help more. This is also the entrustment of your old friend in Nanyang, right? I will definitely not forget the friendship of Lord Zhao when I look back."

When Lin Ji and the officials of the Maritime Bureau went out, the local vassal merchants and local merchants who had arrived heard the news were already surrounded by the government office. When Zhao Xing led several white men out of the government office, they asked to see the white men's goods, hoping to purchase some goods. In this case, the Maritime Bureau tax collector needed to accompany Zhao Xing throughout the process. Kasli knew what Zhao Xing was thinking. She pointed to the note "Zhao Liren" in Zhao Xing's hand and asked several white men: "What does the person who gave you the note look like? What do he have to pass on for you?"

Several white men saw the situation of the merchants and knew that they had to rely on Zhao Xing's translation for selling goods. One of the blond men replied: "The man was on the boat, but he said he was not convenient to show up, so he stayed at the bottom of the bilge, but he asked us to invite you to board the boat and meet him..."

"Oh, where is the island you floated to?" Zhao Xing asked.

"I don't know, sir, we are lost on the sea and have no idea where we are. The king of the deserted island led us here all the way... Sir, why should you stand here and guess? You can see clearly when you get on the boat."

Yes, Zhao Xing said cheerfully: "My woman will translate for you. You can leave a few people to trade with the merchants, and then send someone to take me on the boat."

Although Kasli has always pretended not to understand Song Yu, she couldn't hold on at this time and frequently winked at Zhao Xing, and couldn't help but blurt out: "Master, let's bring a few entourages on the boat."

Zhao Xing laughed, and he whispered in Arabic: "This is my territory, and there is my fleet at the entrance of the bay. Can they eat me? Lead the way ahead... No, Kasli, immediately notify our people that these vassal merchants can enter the Song Dynasty based on a few rumors. It's not easy! The most precious thing they bring is themselves... You understand my words!"

"I understand!" Kasli replied clearly.

"Take me on the boat", Zhao Xing turned around and ordered the white crew members around him.

In the cabin, a middle-aged man who was obviously accustomed to drifting on the sea greeted Zhao Xing. He was barefoot, wearing a pair of shorts, and wrapped his head with an Indian Baotou. Standing on the deck, his toes were very wide-spread - this is a physical characteristic that fishermen often have. Because they stood on the boat all year round, their toes grew like this in order to stand firm.

The dress of the visitor made Zhao Xing a little funny. He pointed out the porthole and said, "Liu San, it's spring now, do you understand that the spring is cold? Don't you feel cold when wearing this outfit?"

This person is Liu San, the oscillator who traveled to the South China Sea with Zhao Xing. He stayed in the Nanyang copper mine area and became the island owner of Liuye Island.

Liu San twisted his body and replied: "Master, why do you still call me Liu San? I am a king now. Look at my outfit, is it suitable?"

Zhao Xing laughed. He found a chair to sit down, looked at Liu San with his legs crossed.

The poker is the poker. After the outbreak, he didn't know how to dress himself up and put all the rare things he could find on his body. He was wearing thin clothes and there were not many places to put things on his body. The head wrapped was embedded with gold wire, covered with countless large gems, and there were a few pearls the size of a pigeon egg sewn between the golden wire... The most conspicuous thing in the cap was a diamond, polished to the shape of a modern pear-shaped gem. This gem cutting process was proposed by Zhao Xing. He found a sample from the luggage of a female white-collar worker on the crashed plane, and then asked someone to polish it.

Although the lights in the cabin were not on, the diamond still emitted a beating flame, so dazzling that it made people unable to ignore it.

There were many gems inlaid on the head of the bag, and the big shorts were also gold and silver threads, which were decorated very luxuriously - the pearls were selected with large slits, and the gems were selected with bright inlaid... The only regret was that the inlaid was a little heavy, and the big shorts fell straight down. Liu San had repeatedly lifted his pants several times while talking.

"Demon, it's really a demon! But what are you going to do with this outfit? Are you pretending to be a demon?" Zhao Xing joked.

"Trade, I plan to dress up as Ma Yi's new king and pay tribute to the court. I brought ivory, beads, embroidered gold and embroidered silk twists, variegated silk twists, jibei weaving variegated trolls, sandalwood, tortoiseshell benzi plates, rhinoceros swords, gold and silver swords, rattan flower mats, white parrots, and seven treasures ornaments of sandalwood pavilions. They gave them a different tribute tortoiseshell, dragon brain, lilac, vine flower mats... and six thousand kilograms of pearls and five thousand kilograms of incense medicine, and were preparing to pay tribute to the court. What do you think of the great officials?"

The smile on Zhao Xing's face slowly diminished. He took a few deep breaths and said calmly: "Liu San-No, King Liu, why did you have this kind of thought? What are you going to do when you pay tribute?"

Liu San was waiting for this sentence. He thrust, kneeling on the ground with a full of golden brilliance, and cried bitterly: "Master, I want to go home! I want to go home! I have stayed enough in Ma Yi's place. I want to go home. Please, let me go home!"

Zhao Xing looked at Liu San with a puzzled look, and asked in confusion: "Liu San, you are guarding a mountain of gold. This is a foundation that has never fallen for thousands of years. Your descendants can earn millions of yuan every year. How many people dream of ten lives cannot make so much money. You are a pie that fell from the sky and was hit, and the pie has not yet hit you to death. It is still hot. You can eat fresh ones on the spot. Such good luck - you have only been working for four years and have to give up? I don't know how to describe you, you didn't take the wrong medicine, right?"
Chapter completed!