I am Da Song

Chapter 376 The Relic of the Sea
Zhao Huan lived in Suzhou when he and the prime ministers set the main matters of the southern tour.

The prosperity and prosperity in the south of the Yangtze River is perfectly reflected in Suzhou, the number one economic center of the Song Dynasty.

The wealth of supplies here has even opened the eyes of ministers and officials from the capital.

In the capital, the emperor, the Imperial City Secretary, and the supervisory censor all advocate simplicity and strictly supervise extravagance, so the country has a clean and elegant style.

But in Suzhou, economic freedom is more advocated here, and all kinds of luxury enjoyment, rare treasures, delicacies from mountains and seas, as long as human beings can imagine, are all available.

As long as you have money, you can enjoy the most extreme civilization achievements of Song Dynasty here.

And because it is far away from the political center, and there is no tyranny to steal by chance, the top wealthy businessmen of Song Dynasty basically gather in this city.

People with wealth of hundreds of thousands of guan can be found everywhere, and those with wealth of millions of guan are not lacking in the number of hands.There are even people who are developing rapidly in the direction of tens of millions of wealth.

Zhao Huan stayed in Suzhou for more than ten days, and a Suzhou official told Zhao Huan euphemistically that the wealthy merchants in Suzhou wanted to entertain the officials and show their friendship as landlords.

In the initial imagination of many wealthy businessmen, when the official family goes to the south of the Yangtze River, they may visit the garden of a certain wealthy businessman.

Many wealthy merchants enthusiastically expressed that they could donate their gardens to build a palace.It is hoped that this situation can be used to gain close contact with the emperor and obtain a layer of protection.

When Qianlong went to the south of the Yangtze River, the local wealthy businessmen loved to engage in this kind of trick, thus gaining the privilege of doing business.

However, the imperial consortium prepared various matters in advance, which made the calculations of Suzhou businessmen come to nothing.

The royal family receives one-tenth of the appropriation from the treasury every year, and also owns the Dasong Zhuqi Bank. The wealth accumulated in their hands is nearly one billion yuan, which can fully meet all the expenses of the royal family.

This made Zhao Huan no need for donations from local wealthy businessmen and the government from the very beginning, and there was no interest relationship between the two parties.

But even so, the rich businessmen in Suzhou were still willing to entertain the emperor, Zhao Huan was very interested, and wanted to know what these rich businessmen were up to.

So Zhao Huan replied to the petitions of the merchants through the prefect of Suzhou, and on April [-], after the Qingming Festival, he received the gentry and senior officials in Suzhou.

After finally inviting today's day, the gentry in Suzhou were very excited and tried their best to please the officials.

The gentry in Suzhou fought for a place to participate in the meeting. After all, this is an opportunity to show their faces in front of the emperor.Whether or not they can participate in the banquet represents their face and their status in Suzhou!
The place where the banquet was held was Han Garden. Hu Quan, the prefect of Suzhou, personally accompanied Zhao Huan, and introduced: "This Han Garden is the garden of Han Sui, a rich man in Suzhou. It is said that Han Sui has tens of millions of wealth, and he can be called the Suzhou Garden. The richest man. In order to welcome the official family, Han Sui specially dedicated this garden as a place for banquets."

"Han Sui told the minister that he is willing to donate this place to build a palace to serve the officials. He has nothing else to ask for."

Zhao Huan took his eyes back from admiring the beautiful scenery, glanced at Hu Quan, and asked, "How much favor did these wealthy businessmen give you, so you asked the magistrate to work for them?"

Hu Quan replied with a calm smile, "I didn't take any money from the wealthy businessmen, and helping them run this time is also for Suzhou's business."

"So that's the case. I was still thinking about why you, the prefect of Suzhou, are not doing your job properly. How is the matter I entrusted to you?"

Hu Quan immediately replied: "I have set up a shipyard in Baoshan, 1 skilled shipbuilders have been settled, 24 professors from Taixue, and more than 300 scholars have begun to guide craftsmen to try out various sample ships according to the drawings. .”

Zhao Huan smiled knowingly, Taixue finally learned how to spend money.

Compared with ordinary craftsmen, their biggest advantage is to master more knowledge and science, and a rigorous research system.

Song Dynasty did not lack shipbuilding skills, and there were also various ship classifications.These are the crystallization of the civilization of the Central Plains.

But which one is stronger, more stable, and more suitable for long-distance voyages, obviously still requires scientific experiments and comparisons.

Find the best types of ships, and then learn from each other's strengths and combine improvements, and soon you will be able to create the best warships in Song Dynasty.

Otherwise, wouldn't the country equip them with more than 1 craftsmen in one fell swoop?

During the conversation, Zhao Huan and Hu Quan arrived at the banquet hall.

It is said that wealthy businessmen entertained Zhao Huan, but the emperor was seated first, and then a group of wealthy businessmen led by officials entered the hall.

After seeing the emperor, everyone saluted respectfully: "Greetings to the official family, all blessings."

"Mianli, all of you are gentry and famous in the south of the Yangtze River in my dynasty, and they are the mainstay of the Song Dynasty. I will give you a seat."

"Thank you, the official."

After everyone sat at the table, Zhao Huan counted 29 businessmen in the room.

Zhao Huan asked casually, "Who is the owner of this garden?"

The rich and middle-aged man sitting at the front immediately stood up, cupped his hands and said, "My minister, Han Sui, pays his respects to the official family."

The top businessmen in the Song Dynasty are all of official rank, so there is no low status.

Han Sui was wearing a crimson brocade robe. He had a ruddy complexion and a handsome appearance. He was both rich and noble at first glance.

Zhao Huan said with a smile, "Prefect Hu even praised you to me just now. You donated your garden to help me entertain Suzhou elders and gentry, which is commendable for your loyalty."

Han Sui quickly replied: "It's a minister's blessing to be able to do a little bit for the officials. I'm a despicable person, and I haven't been in the elegant hall. I'm afraid that the banquet will not be as poor as the imperial chef."

"Shabby?" Zhao Huan glanced at the extremely rich and exquisite dishes on the table, and said, "Then Han Qing is really too modest. Even the grand Tianning Festival imperial banquet is far inferior to the delicacies in front of me." feast."

In the imperial banquets of the Song Dynasty, ring cakes, oil cakes, jujube cakes and some fruits were placed on each table, and each person was given a plate of green onions, leeks, garlic, and vinegar.Three or five people made a bucket of syrup and water, and there were several long spoons in it for people to drink.

But at this moment, before the official banquet begins, the exquisite refreshments, plate arrangement, pastries, and candied fruit are far more luxurious than the imperial banquet.

In particular, there are many things that the emperor Zhao Huan has never seen.

For example, there is an exquisite arrangement like a pearl in a jade plate.

Kneeling beside Zhao Huan, the beautiful woman who helped Zhao Huan pour the wine introduced to Zhao Huan: "Guanjia, this dish is a special dish in Suzhou. .”

Zhao Huan knew that there were names of dishes such as Dragon and Phoenix Chengxiang, Xianglong Shuangfei, and Three Delicacy Dragon and Phoenix Ball in the Manchu Banquet, but these were all similar in shape, just for a moral.

But this pearl of the sea directly took the dragon marrow up, and deliberately placed it in the most conspicuous position.

Zhao Huan looked at Han Sui, obviously all this is not a simple decoration, it must have a deep meaning.

(End of this chapter)