Water Margin people

Chapter 1444: Huang Zhongfu, the Governor of Guangzhou

At the Port of Guangzhou, local officials had already made preparations. The entire port was cleaned up and people lined up on both sides of the port to welcome them.

Sun Lei looked at the huge Guangzhou Port and smiled. It was many times stronger than Fengshan Port, and the welcoming posture was also quite good.

"Greetings to His Majesty! Long live His Majesty!"

Guangzhou prefect Huang Zhongfu led the people in bowing and paying homage to the emperor.

"No gift!"

Sun Lei smiled and waved his hand.

Ruan Xiaoqi had already brought his men and carriage here. Sun Lei and the others got in the car and headed towards Guangzhou Prefecture with a smile on their faces.

The people of Guangzhou felt the emperor's arrival for the first time and looked at Sun Lei with curiosity.

Sun Lei was also sitting in the carriage looking at the people outside. In this era, unless there was war or natural disaster, the population would hardly move, which resulted in the accents and appearances of the people in different places having local characteristics.

Compared with people from the north, people in Guangzhou are slightly shorter and less physically fit. Although their skin is dark, it is not dry.

What surprised Sun Lei the most was that he saw blond and red-haired Westerners and Arabs wearing robes in the crowd.

The carriage passed through the port and arrived at the city of Guangzhou.

"This city is well built!"

Sun Lei looked at the Guangzhou city in front of him and said with a smile, there are three urn cities in the east, west and south directions outside a solid inner city. This kind of city defense is quite good even in the Central Plains, and it is even more impregnable in a remote place like Guangzhou.

"Your Majesty has a keen eye. This is the city built by Wei Guan, the governor of Guangzhou in the previous dynasty. The southwestern barbarians once attacked the city, but they besieged it for 53 days before finally retreating!"

Huang Zhongfu said with a smile.

"These are all things from the previous dynasty. So what have you done in the past six months since you came to Guangzhou Prefecture?"

Sun Lei looked at Huang Zhongfu and asked. Huang Zhongfu was too young in terms of qualifications. It was already the best that he could be a county magistrate at this age. But he had no one under him now, and the Guangzhou government had to send someone. Huang Zhongfu had also made many military achievements, so let him give it a try.

"Your Majesty, this is the population list of Guangzhou. There are approximately 15 households and 75 people under the jurisdiction of Guangzhou Prefecture... The tax revenue of Guangzhou is..."

Huang Zhongfu immediately handed over a list. Since it was an assessment of political performance, population must be the first priority, and taxation the second.

"Are there still barbarians causing chaos around Guangzhou Prefecture?"

After looking at the list, Sun Lei nodded and continued to ask.

"Your Majesty, the barbarians in the southwest have often made advances. Two months ago, the barbarians between Guangnan East Road and Guangnan West Road rebelled, gathering more than 8,000 people and attacking Duanzhou from Fengzhou and Kangzhou, intending to attack Guangzhou Prefecture. I led 2,000 soldiers to the north bank of Xijiang River to defeat the barbarians, but the troops were too few and I was worried that the bandits would divert their attention, so I did not pursue them."

Huang Zhongfu said.

"Two thousand defenders are indeed too few! But the population of Guangnan Road is not large to begin with, and too many defenders in Guangzhou will only increase the local burden!"

Sun Lei nodded. It was the right choice not to pursue. There were many chieftains in Guangnan Road, and the previous dynasty had limited control over the entire Guangnan Road. It was not until Di Qing suppressed the Nong Zhigao Rebellion that things got better. However, the power of the local chieftains was still very strong, and there were frequent rebellions.

"Your Majesty is right. The population of Guangnan East Road is only 290 million. Most of them are in Guangzhou and the prefectures east of Guangzhou near Fujian Road. The west is mountainous and has a smaller population!"

Huang Zhongfu nodded and said that compared with the 530 million people in Fujian Road next door, Guangzhou South Road can be considered desolate.

"I can give you more manpower. This time Wang Jin and his men are bringing some soldiers nearby. When the time comes, we can ask them. If anyone is willing to stay, we can set up an independent local army in Guangzhou."

Sun Lei looked at the city of Guangzhou and spoke.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Huang Zhongfu was overjoyed. If the rebellion of the barbarians in Guangzhou could not be contained, its development would be greatly restricted. And as the prefect of Guangzhou, he could not easily ask the emperor to expand the local troops, otherwise he would easily be misunderstood as hoarding troops with ill intentions.

"It's nothing. There should be a military port here. Pick out some places for Ruan Xiaoqi and the others to choose from!"

Sun Lei spoke again, but the local army is not enough. Too many will become a burden, and too few will not be effective. We still need a military port, use the mobility of ships to quickly transport troops, and rely on the coastline to deter the natives of Guangnan West Road. "Military port? I know!"

Huang Zhongfu's eyes lit up. If they just expanded an army, it would only serve to intimidate the barbarians. But if there was a military port, the barbarians in the entire Guangnan West Road would not dare to move.

After entering Guangzhou City, Sun Lei and his companions stayed at the inn that Huang Zhongfu had already prepared.

"Your Majesty, I saw quite a few foreigners today!"

Zhu Wu reminded in a low voice that it was very strange that these foreign people suddenly appeared in the welcoming team.

"There is a Fanren Lane in Quanzhou, and there seems to be a Fanfang in Guangzhou as well."

Sun Lei said that Quanzhou and Guangzhou were the two largest foreign ports in China, and there were quite a few foreign people living there.

"Your Majesty, after the incident in Quanzhou Fanren Lane, all the Fan people in Guangzhou have actively registered. Now there are more than 30,000 registered Fan people, mainly Arabs and Southeast Asians, with a small number of Hebrews and Romans. Most of those who did not register before took a boat to the Li Dynasty and Champa, where there are also Fan people gathering places in the coastal cities."

Huang Zhongfu said.

"Is Fanfang still governed by the Fan people now?"

Sun Lei looked at Huang Zhongfu and asked, Quanzhou Fanren Lane is the place where the Fan people govern themselves, and Pu Kaizong is the leader of the Fan people.

"I have already issued an order that all people should be governed by the laws of Qi, but those barbarians have their own language habits, so it is difficult to implement."

Huang Zhongfu reported.

"Can't you solve this little problem?"

Sun Lei looked at Huang Zhongfu and asked.

"Your Majesty, please explain!"

Huang Zhongfu bowed to Sun Lei and asked for instructions. Although he already had an idea in his mind, he did not dare to make a decision on his own.

"Whatever happens in Quanzhou, you should do the same here!"

Sun Lei waved his hand and said that Quanzhou had set an example, the foreigners there were now very honest, and this approach could be implemented in other places.

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Huang Zhongfu bowed solemnly and said that with these words he could let go and do his work.

The problem of self-control among the barbarians is very serious. Although they also have punishments and will be given an answer if they commit a crime, the problem is that everyone has selfish desires, and the barbarians also do things for the sake of barbarians. Sometimes, wealthy barbarians will use money to avoid punishment, which makes the barbarians become somewhat lawless.

"Did you monitor the other foreigners who left?"

Sun Lei looked at Huang Zhongfu and asked.

"They're sailing out to sea! They say they're going to the Ly Dynasty and Champa."

Huang Zhongfu replied.

"You're just going to ignore them when they go out to sea? What if they find a place to hide halfway?"

Sun Lei frowned and looked at Huang Zhongfu and asked.

"This……"

Huang Zhongfu was stunned and didn't know how to answer.

"You've been in the military before, but you don't understand this? Guangnan Road has such a long coastline and many islands. Aren't you afraid that they might have some hidden agenda?"

Sun Lei's voice became a little stern. Guangzhou is different from Quanzhou. It is too close to Southeast Asia, and there are barbarians causing chaos inside. We have to be careful about everything.