Water Margin people

Chapter 1449 The Merchant of Venice (Part )

"You can do business, but you can't preach. You are businessmen, not missionaries. Why do you care about preaching?"

Sun Lei looked at those people and spoke.

"Well, Your Majesty, if we don't allow preaching, I'm afraid it will be difficult to open up the trade route!"

Ak said that religion interferes with everything over there, and merchants also have the obligation to explore the way out. Once the trade route is opened, missionaries will come soon.

"Then you don't need to do business. I don't need the goods on your ships."

Sun Lei waved his hand and said that there was no Suez Canal yet, the Middle East and Egypt were in chaos, and the trade routes had been cut off. If one wanted to go to Europe from Guangzhou, one had to go along southern Asia to Africa, and then go around Africa before reaching Europe.

There were no steam engines or internal combustion engines in this era, and all ships were sailing ships. Even if everything went well, a trip would take at least a year or two, and it was impossible to do business normally over such a long distance.

"This……"

Several people didn't know what to do.

"If you have nothing else to do, please stay in the dungeon for a while. Come out again when the matter is resolved!"

Sun Lei looked at the five people and spoke.

"Your Majesty, I have something else to say. I would like to speak to Your Majesty alone!"

The expression on Erdok's face changed several times before he started shouting.

"You guys have nothing to say, right? Take them away!"

Sun Lei nodded, looked at the other four people, and when he saw that no one spoke, he asked the soldiers to take them away.

"Tell me, is there anything else?"

Sun Lei picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea before speaking.

"Your Majesty, I have a detailed map of the Seljuk, Beindu, Fatimid and other places, as well as maps of India and Ghazna. "

Erdok looked at Sun Lei and said.

"Where's the stuff?"

Sun Lei finally became interested. He asked Pu Kaizong, but these people didn't have a very detailed map. Maybe they didn't want to take it out. Anyway, my understanding of the Arab side so far is limited to the word of mouth of merchants, that is, a few coastal ports.

“I don’t have it with me!”

Seeing that Sun Lei was interested, Erdok straightened his back immediately. As a Venetian merchant, as long as his goods were what the other party needed, the initiative was in his hands.

"Pull it down!"

When Sun Lei heard that the map was not on him, he instantly lost interest and waved his hand to have someone pull Eduka down.

"Your Majesty, don't you want those maps?"

Erdok was not afraid at all, because Sun Lei wanted it, so he would not dare to do anything to him. He was just trying to scare him.

The soldiers received the order, stepped forward, lifted up Erdok and dragged him out.

Erdok was dragged out like this, and he was waiting for the emperor to stop and then continue asking him questions so that he could raise the price.

But what Erdok didn't expect was that Sun Lei had no intention of speaking at all. The soldiers dragged him out in a blink of an eye and directly to the door of the cellar in the backyard, which was a temporary dungeon.

"I want to see the emperor! I want to see the emperor!"

Erdok was anxious. He had never met such a person in his business life. Did he really not want it anymore? This time it was his turn to be anxious.

But the soldiers didn't care what Erdok shouted. They were ordered to put him in the dungeon, so they had to put him in. "Your Majesty, if that man has a map, you can find a way to get it!"

Zhu Wu looked at Sun Lei and said, these Venetians came from the far west, and the map along the way is very important to Qi State.

"He is a Venetian merchant. He will do anything for profit. If you want to get something from him, you have to pay a lot. He never does business at a loss."

"As for torture, it's probably not an option. These people are very cunning and won't give in easily. They might even have prepared a false and erroneous map. It would be a disaster if you believed them."

Sun Lei shook his head. He had no good impression of the Merchants of Venice. These people had committed many crimes in history.

"Your Majesty, then he always wants to exchange something, right?"

Zhu Wu nodded. He was curious about what Erdok wanted.

"He gave me a map of India and the Arabs. What he wanted was to lead me to fight the Arabs. There is a road there that connects the Far West and the Arabs, allowing them to reach the East. But now that area is controlled by the Arabs. They have different beliefs from the Arabs, so the trade route is cut off."

Sun Lei guessed that Venetian merchants like Edoc had no faith at all and would not think about preaching or anything like that. All they wanted was to make money through business, and convenient trade routes were very important to them.

"Never mind them, how are the preparations for the party going?"

Sun Lei looked at Zhu Wu and asked.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. All the restaurants and hotels in the city are preparing. In addition, a stage has been built in the city, and a lantern festival is being prepared in the evening. I guarantee that the people will have a great time that day!"

Zhu Wu nodded. Huang Zhongfu had emptied the Guangzhou Prefecture's treasury for this matter. However, since there was an imperial edict, they didn't care. Guangzhou City had never had an emperor visit since its establishment, so it was only right to have some fun.

Moreover, the emperor's banquet can also enhance the popularity of Guangzhou Prefecture, which is very beneficial to the future development of Guangzhou.

"His Majesty!"

Huang Zhongfu walked in panting.

"What's the matter? You're so panicked!"

Sun Lei looked at Huang Zhongfu and asked.

"Your Majesty, this is great news. When the elders of some of the surrounding large villages heard that Your Majesty wanted to celebrate with the people, they all came to Guangzhou City with their families!"

Huang Zhongfu reported with a smile that Guangnan East Road was far away from the Central Plains and was rarely affected by war. Only the barbarians rebelled occasionally. Clan power was very strong here, and some large clans even controlled some villages and towns.

"Come on, it's good to have some fun!"

Sun Lei nodded. This was indeed a good thing and an unexpected surprise.

"Is the port ready?"

Sun Lei looked at Huang Zhongfu and asked, the main battlefield was at the port, and he wanted all civilians to evacuate.

"Your Majesty, I have posted a notice that anyone who enters the city can receive a silver coin, regardless of gender, age or status!"

Huang Zhongfu had a bitter look on his face, as if he was about to burst into tears. In order to evacuate everyone, this notice was equivalent to spending hundreds of thousands of silver coins. The Guangzhou government could hardly afford it, and this year's tax collection was doomed.

However, Huang Zhongfu really couldn't think of any other solution. No matter how much he persuaded, there would always be people staying at home, with various reasons such as needing to look after the house, having difficulty walking, or having young children.

Only by giving money can everyone be called to the city. Even if someone is paralyzed in bed, someone will carry him to the city for that one silver coin. Someone will also push a newborn baby or a woman in confinement into the city in a cart.

It would take a strong laborer ten days to earn one silver coin. For a family of seven or eight people, that would be seven or eight silver coins, which was a huge sum of money for ordinary people.

"You have a way, kid! You're really good at spending money! No wonder all those clans came here? There are thousands of people in this village, so it only costs a few thousand silver coins, right?"

Sun Lei was a little speechless. He thought that it was his burst of domineering aura that led to the submission of all parties. He didn't expect that it was still for the sake of money. However, his portrait was indeed on the silver coin.