Chapter 3

"Mr. Cui is a young hero, and his literary talent can win the first place. His martial arts can intimidate Tubo and pacify Bianzhou, and his reputation spreads to the world. This time, the emperor is simply defeated and pacified Guangzhou. The people of Hefu are really like a long drought and are looking forward to the rain! Feng is scattered in the mountains and fields. What's so lucky to see the master today!" Cui Po, who had just arrived in front of the Dezhuang, had not waited to get off the bus to see the local customs, and heard a loud voice of Cangjian.

When I turned my head and saw that the person who spoke was an old man over 50 years in front of the village gate. He grew up among the southerners. Although his typical face was dark, his skin was dark, but his glittering eyes made him look very beautiful, especially the white frost between his temples, which made him look a bit more vicissitudes of his heroic vicissitudes. Just looking at this person's introverted demeanor, Cui Po knew that this person must be Feng Ruofang, who was the dominant South China Sea.

Seeing that Feng Ruofang finished his words and wanted to be polite, Cui Po hurriedly stepped forward and stopped him, "Wansheng and Feng Nan and Young Brother Feng are in harmony. Brothers are in line with each other. In terms of rituals, he should call the gentleman "Uncle". How dare you accept this tribute? Mr. Feng must not do this!"

"The son of the savages are rude and have never known etiquette. This is the first time that he went out alone, so he must cause trouble for the adults. Especially the title of the last year's name, he was even given a position in the Hanyuan Qing Dynasty. The kindness of Lord Cui invoked by me, the Feng clan, is inscribed within five days, and I dare not forget it one day! Lord, please." Feng Ruofang naturally stood up with the flow, and spoke endlessly, while reaching out to bow to the guest.

Upon hearing this, Cui Po also smiled slightly. One reason, he really loved Feng Nan's son, and the other reason, his teacher Yang Yan sat on the position of Minister of Rites. He recommended Feng Nan as a new Jinshi, which did not take much effort. It was also a gift he gave to Feng Ruofang when he took office as Guangzhou Prefecture.

"Young Brother Feng is talented and proficient in his studies. This time, he was originally a part of the title of Yanta. As for the official Hanyuan, this is a wise and wise emperor, who is a wise move of the Holy Emperor, who is wise and respectful to talents. How can I pay attention to the young generation? However, Shaozhou has come all the way south and has received Mr. Feng's care. I deeply thank you here." I thought about it in my heart, but Cui Po replied in this way. After saying a word, he even avoided his body and bowed to Feng Ruofang who was accompanying him on the side, which naturally caused a lot of humility.

Feng Ruofang saw that Cui Po was just over 20 years old and was in his prime, but he was not proud of his achievements. Even though he was in a high position, he knew that he was humble and polite. He couldn't help but sigh: "There is no blessing in name, no wonder this son can do some great things. He is indeed extraordinary. It seems that Nan'er's boast about this person in his letter is not false!"

While chatting and laughing, everyone had already entered the village. Cui Po looked at it casually and saw that this village was like many gardens in the south of the Yangtze River, winning with elegance and exquisiteness. However, there are many unique wood decorations in the south, which adds a lot of unique style to the simplicity and elegance.

When everyone entered the first courtyard of the village, Feng Ruofang waved his hand and showed up, and then came out to take Cui Po and others to wash up, while Aquaman himself turned slowly and went to the main hall to wait.

In just a moment, Cui Po and Li Boyuan finished washing and came to Zhuang Zhongzheng Hall. As soon as he entered the door, he smelled a unique fragrance mixed with a faint tea fragrance. After a glance at the dark and lustful flowers and stools in the hall, he realized that the items arranged in the room were made of foreign materials - Lengxiang Wood.

Apart from Feng Ruofang, there was only a generous and generous man in the hall, who was about fifty years old. Judging from his appearance, he was clearly the brothers of the Sea King.

"This is my brother Ruolong who has been trading overseas for many years. Today, I am fortunate to return to the village. I have to meet the envoy." Seeing the two of them entering the hall, Feng Ruofang, who was watching the tea stove on the table, smiled and said.

The three of them bowed to the ceremony again. After everything was done, they sat around a few times. Feng Ruolong saw Cui Po looking at the potted flowers on the side with interest. He laughed loudly and said, "This flower is called the flower orchid, which is originally a famous Silla species. When he went to trade, he saw that the flowers bloomed and were elegant and lively, so he brought some back. If Lord Lord likes it, he should have prepared a few books for the Lord when he is on his way, and he thought it was for the entertainment of Gongyu!"

The big flower orchid is full of greenery, and the leaves are as if they are about to drip out of water. Two long flower arrows stretched out between the leaves, and many delicate flowers as big as babies' fists were hung in sequence, one with deep-scarlet flowers and the other with light pink. It was very pleasant to see. When Cui Po looked at it, he suddenly had an idea in his mind: "If Naga Jinhua saw such a famous book, I don't know how happy it would be!" In just this short distraction, Feng Ruolong had already answered the words. It seemed that this person was far from his rough appearance, and he had little scheming.

"Don't talk about this flower matter first. Seeing that the tea in the cauldron has been boiling, Lord Cui, please sit down, don't let this best Changzhou Yixing purple bamboo shoot." As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Feng Haiwang holding a vessel to start ordering tea and dividing flowers. His skillful technique was really amazing.

He gently moved a cup of fragrant tea for Cui Po. Seeing that there was a look of surprise on his face, Feng Ruofang smiled slightly and said, "Two years ago, the monk Jiaoran traveled to the South China Sea. He was fortunate to get to know him. He taught this method of tea. After hearing the words of the sacrificial master Cui, he is also familiar with this. He hopes that he should not laugh at me for showing off his skills."

Smelling the faint and distant fragrance of tea and sitting opposite Feng Ruofang through the water mist rising in the cup, Cui Po was in a flash of consciousness. The old man with a faint smile on his face in front of him showed a full style of a famous scholar. Is there still the King of Feng Hai who is the king of South China Sea? Is there still the King of Feng Hai who is also the pirate and slave trader?

Just as Cui Po was thinking in his heart, he saw Feng Ruofang, who was full of intoxication, gently put his cup on his face and slowly spoke, "Mr. Cui has taken office as a Guangzhou man, and he is also in charge of "recommending Jiangnan Maritime Envoy", but he doesn't know what regulations are there for maritime affairs?" The ceremony was over and the tea was over, and it was time to speak up.

"Here!" Cui Po put down the teacup in his hand, and said with a smile on his face: "This time, I am ordered by the court to go south. Although the responsibilities are trivial, in short, it is nothing more than just paying sea taxes and opening trade."

"How should the lord pay the maritime tax and start trade?" The second owner Feng Ruolong followed the conversation.

"I want to set up customs departments in the southeast coast of Jiuzhou, Huainan Road, from Huainan Road to Tai, Wen, Fu, Quan, Zhang, Chun, Lei and other southeast coastal areas. The Guangzhou Customs Temple in this prefecture manages maritime tax matters in one go, and inspects the entry of Tang ships and foreign ships, and manages tax matters in one go. In this way, even if merchants are not exploited by local corruption officials, the court can open up another source of wealth and enrich the Taiku. As for the opening of trade, it is naturally necessary to build large ships, handle the court and do things in ocean-going merchants. This move can obtain a lot of money, and it can also promote the reputation of our Tianbang overseas. If these two points can be reached, then this official's journey will be said to be a waste!"

"Oh! Listen to Lord Cui's words, the court has the intention of advancing the southeast, but I don't know what can we do for our fishermen in this matter?" Feng Ruofang couldn't help but change his expression slightly after hearing what Cui Po said about establishing customs in the coastal Jiuzhou, but the change was extremely short, and then he asked such a sentence with his face as before.

"Since the Master of Xian Zhuang is loyal to the court, I should submit to the court for rewards for his merits! If I want to implement two strategies and the coastal trade is prosperous, I must ask Xian Kunzhong to restrain his subordinates, so don't go to rob the merchant ships at sea." The color on my face was still unchanged, and Cui Po threw out this heavy pound "bomb" while laughing.

As soon as Cui Po finished speaking, he heard a "pop" sound. The thin porcelain teacup in Feng Ruolong's hand was already broken. Then he saw him suddenly fighting and said coldly: "Mr. Cui is telling a joke!"

Cui Po was as if he had never seen this, and smiled directly at Feng Ruofang, "Since the court wants to manage the southeast, whether it is sea tax or trade, the South China Sea is a must-pass passage. If Ruoxian Kunzhong still works in his old business, this..." This matter will be said sooner or later. If he wants to really reorganize half of the southeast coast to create a climate, then ensuring the safety and smoothness of the South China Sea channel is the foundation. It is better to say this matter earlier than to say it earlier, and it will not allow Lord Cui to have any more concerns.

"Second brother, don't be rude to distinguished guests!" With Feng Ruofang's whisper, the second owner sat down with hatred, and sat opposite him. Li Boyuan, who had been silent since entering the hall, saw the opportunity, but reached out to take a teacup and slowly added tea to him.

"My brothers have worked hard at sea for decades, but have accumulated some family business. I am happy to be a rich man and spend the rest of my life. Not to mention serving the court, I just want to repay the kindness I received from the dog son. I never dared to say anything about what I said. But although I want to agree, how should I settle the more than a thousand fishermen who are with my family? I also ask you to give me a charter." Feng Ruofang was still calm and could not see any anger at all, but the weight of his words was not light.

"Xian Kunzhong is very familiar with maritime affairs, waterways, etc., and has so many skilled sailors under his command. If he really starts overseas trade and has a Tang merchant who can be an opponent, it would be a long-term solution to make profits. If the gentleman intends to do this, he will definitely help him in the process of supply. In this way, I don't know what Xian Kunzhong wants?"

Who knew that he said this idea that he thought it was quite a good law, but only received a sneer from the second owner. After pondering for a while, he saw Feng Ruofang smile bitterly and said, "Who would be willing to be a good son to be a thief? If you have time that day, you can look at the beach and see that there are several Tang people ships sailing far away on the vast South China Sea."

"What do you mean by sir?" Cui Po said in surprise when he heard this.

"Have you ever heard the slang of our dynasty that 'water does not carry tens of thousands'. This means that the Tang Dynasty ships are only eight or nine thousand stones at a large scale. Such a ship is more than enough to travel in the rivers and lakes, but if you want to sail and sail far away, it is no different from dying! At this time, most of the ocean-going ships passing through the South China Sea are mainly large food ships, lion ships, and ocean-going trafficking is all divided into them. There is no other reason. The art of shipbuilding that generation is far better than ours! I have heard that the large food ship can even reach the Black Kingdom (Africa) and Jin Kingdom (Europe) for a distance of tens of thousands of miles. It takes us to wait for this near-shore ship, so I can't think about it!" At this point, Feng Ruofang, who has been as storm as calm as a mountain, was full of hatred in his tone.

"My Tang Dynasty is glorious, and this shipbuilding technique is not as good as the peak period. It is going to Europe and the African continent is still tolerant, but even Sri Lanka (the Lion Kingdom) in a small place is not as good as that, which is too unacceptable." At this point, Cui Po only knew the reason why Feng Ruolong smiled in a contemptuous way, but this statement was too unacceptable to him.

"If Lord Cui cannot solve this problem of shipbuilding, then what I said about starting a trade is just a matter of fishing for the moon in the water. As for the sea tax, there are still difficulties in this?" Feng Ruofang gently held the crystal teacup in his hand and gently poured a bucket of cold water on Lord Cui's head.

"Oh! What's the difficulty?" Cui Po asked immediately.

"In the southeast of our Tang Dynasty, except for the Yang, Tai and Wen provinces adjacent to the East China Sea and the South China Sea, they are located along the Bohai Sea, but they are also built on the Bohai Sea. Pingzhou, the East China Sea and the South China Sea are controlled by the four roads in Jiangnan. Although the imperial court can implement the strategies of the great masters, what will the great masters do in the Bohai Sea? The prefectures here are generally under the jurisdiction of the four towns in Hebei. The great masters are not afraid that once the sea tax is imposed, these overseas merchants turn to the Bohai Sea states to unload goods. When the time comes, who should the sea tax be collected?" Feng Ruofang's words sounded light and pierced Cui Po's chest like a sharp sword.

"What if I have sealed this Bohai Bay?" Cui Po, who was confused in his heart, said viciously.

Upon hearing this, Feng Ruofang smiled slightly, and after Cui Po's anger was slightly calmed down, he continued: "Sir, are you talking stupid! This sea is far inferior to that of land. How easy is it to seal the sea? At present, the Tang Dynasty is still too busy to worry about the country, so how can I have the spare time to take care of the sea? Seal the sea, I would like to ask, where is this warship? Even if you have enough pieces together, how can you be the opponent of the overlord of the Bohai Sea Yu Jian? This man has nearly a hundred giant ships and more than a thousand people, and has been traversing for nearly ten years. How should I break it?"

After a slight meal, Feng Ruofang took a sip of tea and saw Cui Po’s lips squirming, as if he knew what he was going to say. The Sea King was the first to say: "Yu Jian was the son of the former Hebei Chengde Jiedu governor, and married his wife and sister Tian Yue, the governor of Weibo. If he wanted to surrender, it would be impossible. Moreover, this person’s nest was set up in Pingzhou, which is under the jurisdiction of the four towns. It is difficult for Lord Cui to follow the story of the Bianzhou attack a few years ago. If he could not accept surrender, he would not be able to attack. If he wanted to capture and kill him in a sea battle, he would be very difficult to climb to the sky if he prepared for countless years."
Chapter completed!