Take the mall to Datang

Xue Li came over and said, "You are all here."

The three walked into the temporary house on the shore together. Xue Li's current responsibility was to guard the Cangzhou on the shore.

Seeing the two people coming over, he asked, "How is the construction of the trading house now?"

"It's already in a certain state. The speed of the local materials project has been brought forward a lot. We want to discuss this with you. After the trading house is completed, someone will be stationed. Captain Zhou and the old man will stay. I don't know if you can do it Rengui Do you want to stay?" Gao Biaoren asked.

Xue Li knew that Gao Biaoren could speak Fusang, so he had to stay. It was also necessary for Zhou Ru to stay as a guard. In fact, he really wanted to stay, but it was only during this time in this fishing village that he could overcome seasickness. It's nothing special, it's said that it's out for some experience, but after Qian went to Taniguchi Daimyo's for a few days and was invited to visit, he didn't have any interest at all.

"It's been ten days since XX came out, and the teacher still needs someone to serve him, so XX will leave with the boat." Xue Li said.

"See if the old man's guess is right, Zhou Ru, you can't be foolish after losing ten cents." Gao Biaoren immediately changed his figure and shouted like an old urchin.

Zhou Ru was speechless, but if he was willing to gamble and admit defeat, he would pay ten cents, which made Xue Li speechless for a while.

At this moment, Hao Dayi and Liuliu came over and said, "You guys are so boring, you're just betting on this kind of thing, this is Yuanpu's poker, and it's reserved for you to pass the time when you're free."

After Gao Biaoren accepted it without refusing, Zhou Ru immediately said, "I keep the poker, and I also keep the mahjong."

Hao Dayi looked at Zhou Ru's appearance and immediately said, "Why do we play mahjong on the boat?"

Zhou Ru was speechless for a while, Liu Tong looked at the size and got up, and said: "Stay here, you don't know, in fact, I forgot to mention that there are two sets of mahjong on board."

"You didn't say it earlier." Hao Dayi shouted immediately.

"You haven't asked either." Liu Tong said innocently.

The construction of the trading house was very fast, and the Fuso people who came here in a hurry by Daimyo Taniguchi could eat corn every day and polished rice every ten days. Many people did not look so haggard.

The strength and speed of the work have naturally increased a lot, and the construction progress has generally completed a framework. The main pavilion of the trading house was built first, and the underground warehouse was first built with cement bricks by the people brought by Hao Dayi. It is now ready to use.

It is much safer to put the goods on the treasure ship directly indoors. Hao Dayi and others will also go back to Datang, waiting for the next batch of goods to arrive.

A few days later, leaving behind two hundred guards and an engineering team, the treasure ship sailed away from the fishing village on Kyushu Island. After Hao Dayi left, they didn't know that this area of ​​the Commercial and Trading Company began to be called "the outside world".

The origin of this word is still because of the construction of the trading house. A building of this scale is even better than the Kyoto Imperial Palace. The key is a port trade zone set up by the Tang people. Therefore, after Daimyo Taniguchi came here several times, there was such a building. area name.

The "outside" area within the territory of Daiguchi Taniguchi belongs to the trade zone of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Tang Dynasty. The actual owner is no longer under the rule of Daiguchi Taniguchi in name, but it is still under the jurisdiction, but this is only in name, in fact. This area is deeded.

Even if Emperor Shuming came here, he would be helpless. The many powerful daimyos should not be underestimated. Sometimes the emperor doesn't just do whatever he wants. It's okay at this time, at least the imperial family is still powerful.

The first floor of the trading house pavilion is filled with glass display cabinets, all of which are goods from the Tang Dynasty. If nobles come over, they can appreciate them intuitively. I am the person in charge, but right now I mainly act as a lecturer and salesperson.

The first floor is for various objects, the second floor is a dedicated clothing area, including display areas for beautiful cloth, bags, shoes, sachets, cosmetics, etc. The third floor is the main office area, with different areas such as conference areas and offices.

The trading house looks more like a shopping mall, but the people who come to hang out are Fusang nobles, and people don't come here every day, so the reception work is relatively easy.

It is not a problem for Gao Biaoren to sit in charge, but Zhou Ru has relatively more things to do. He is responsible for guarding the trading house, supervising the construction of the trading house, and also acting as a quality inspector. Most of the things are done by himself.

In the eyes of the Fusang people, they were terrified when they saw Zhou Ru, because this person killed Sugita Hayao in a martial arts competition. This person is the founder of the famous Yizhan school on Kyushu Island. Appointed by his subordinates, he has a great reputation, and the blade of a precious sword was made by a well-known master swordsmith at a huge expense. He died in the only defeat on Kyushu Island.

Fusang's hierarchy is very strict, and samurai belong to the level of aristocrats and lords. In their hearts, they are very powerful people. The Tang people in front of them beheaded and killed Sugita Hayao. Although most people are afraid of him, but from the bottom of their hearts, they are even more powerful. Most of them are still in awe. Fusang people's worship of the strong is almost distorted.

Maybe it has something to do with their living environment, many of them secretly observe Zhou Ru sometimes.

Wearing a Tang-style school lieutenant's mansion, all in armor, the image of the extremely sharp Tang knife is deeply imprinted in the minds of a group of people.

Because in this era, not all Fuso warriors can own battle armor. Most people use the armor made of bamboo, but compared with the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty, it is so different. An invincible blunder.

When Zhou Ru supervised the work, he felt the weirdness of the Fusang people, and what made him feel strange was that these people did not communicate much when they were working. Supervising these people's work was very easy, even so, he did not relax at all. , because he found that there always seemed to be someone secretly staring at him, which made him feel very bad.

There is a strong sense of crisis, so every time I supervise the work, I bring two more guards by my side, so I feel more at ease.

In fact, Gao Biaoren also felt very uneasy in the few days after the treasure ship left. After all, such a small number of people are in a foreign country, especially when there are so many valuable goods in the trading house. Worrying is normal and a normal psychological reaction. Locking the door at night After it is finished, guards on duty will be arranged inside and outside, and the bell can be touched as soon as there is any change.

The fighting power of the Tang soldiers is naturally not to be feared, and there is a killer in the basement of the trading house.

Chapter 681 His Majesty's Banquet

While the people outside were working hard, Li Shimin found Yuan Shan again.

In the palace, Li Shimin was in a good mood, because the curfew had indeed more than doubled Chang'an's tax revenue. Speaking of which, the emperor was quite frugal, and he could be regarded as a poorer emperor.

Although it won the world of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty and left the Li family with a decent imperial heritage, it still couldn't change the damage and stagnation of development of the Tang Dynasty after years of war.

After the Li family won the world, they began to fight with many forces that competed for the world, and then came the crisis of the Turkic border, the repeated invasion of Tubo, and the crisis of Gaochang, Silla, Baichuang and other foreign countries.

There are also conflicts among the barbarians within the Tang Dynasty. After Li Shimin became emperor, there were successive years of natural disasters and struggles in the court, threats from the aristocratic family, and rumors from all over the world.

All of them were faced by the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, especially the achievements of the emperor after the Xuanwu Gate faced a lot of pressure.

Now after several years of development, the situation in Datang has improved, especially the desire for money is beyond words, and the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty is not immune, and now Li Shimin is happy with the increase in Chang'an tax revenue, which is collected every year. The so-called don't panic if you have money, maybe Li Shimin has such a mentality at this time.

For this reason, he invited Yuan Shan to the palace to have a show of harmony between the monarch and his ministers, and mutual sympathy.

"Yuan Shan's dinner is ready. Today, you and I, the monarch and his ministers, should have a good drink." Li Shimin laughed.

It can be seen that Li Shimin is in a really good mood today, and Yuan Shan is still looking forward to having dinner with the emperor. Although he knows that a companion is like a companion, although he doesn't like flattery, he doesn't want to miss such a rare opportunity to taste the royal banquet .

Different from the previous banquets, today's is really not a banquet, at most it is a sumptuous dinner, looking at the exquisite and delicious Yuan Shan is also a big move for the index finger.

"How does the cooking skills of the Imperial Dining Room compare with the cooking skills of your cook?" Li Shimin asked with a smile.

"The culinary skills in the imperial dining room are really the best in the world, and I have a special liking for the imperial banquet, which is really delicious." Yuan Shan had no choice but to answer against his will.

If the emperor is not happy, then no one will be happy, and Yuan Shan feels that Li Shimin is a bit strange today. He hasn't thought about Chang'an's taxation yet, thinking that the emperor has some plans, and now everyone is in the palace. What else can he do.

Seeing Li Shimin's happy face, Yuan Shan asked, "Your Majesty, I have finished my meal. If there is nothing wrong, I will leave."

"Hey, we haven't finished the pot of wine yet, why worry? Chang'an City's curfew time has not yet come, let's drink a few more glasses with me." Li Shimin said.

"Okay." Yuan Shan had no choice but to pick up the wine glass and drink with Li Shimin again.

Li Shimin returned happily, took a sip of wine and began to say: "Ai Qing said that extending the curfew can double Chang'an's tax revenue is really a genius, the ministers of the DPRK and China have a lot to say about the things you have researched. Among the memorials that are processed every day, there are those who impeach you every day, do you know why I ignore it?"

Why, Yuan Shan murmured in his heart, it was not because of interests, but he couldn't say it at this time.

"Your Majesty is a wise king, and he knows that many of his words are nonsense, but what I do is concerned with Your Majesty and Tang Dynasty." Yuan Shan said.

Li Shimin smiled and said: "You kid, it seems that you have learned to be tactful living in Chang'an."

Yuan Shan knew that what he said was a bit exaggerated, but life is like a drama, it depends on acting skills, sometimes you have to pretend, and like today, only when two people are alone is the most careful.

Yuan Shan knew a little about Li Shimin, the emperor, not to mention his abilities, but everyone knew that he was suspicious and narrow-minded.

Li Shimin invites you to dinner on a whim, so he can only accompany him.

The two didn't continue talking about this issue. Both of them knew the stakes. The annual dividends were a lot of income, especially the dividends of the two treasure ships of the Cangzhou Shipyard were as high as a thousand per person. There are not many, but you must know how many people participated in the financing of Cangzhou Shipyard. This kind of dividend is only for two ships. How many ships can Cangzhou Shipyard have in the future.