Taiheiki

Chapter 138 Overseas Resources
"Take out half of the gift Bafa gave me and send it to Brother Guo later!" He didn't wait for Guo Kui to refuse: "Gentlemen share wealth and friendship. Brother Guo thought of me when the captain asked for talents. How could I forget Brother Wu now that I have money? If I refuse, it would be like looking down on me, Wu!"

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Wei Cong's shogunate.

Wu Ze stood outside the door, waiting for the call. He carefully tidied his clothes and suddenly regretted that he had changed into a better set before coming. After all, he was not short of money now, and it would be easier to leave a good impression if he changed into a nice set of clothes to meet Shangguan!
Just as Wu Ze was hesitating whether he should ask his men to go outside to buy him a set of outer clothes to change into, Guo Kui came out and whispered, "Quick, follow me!"

Wu Ze drove away the distracting thoughts in his mind, lifted the front of his coat, stepped over the threshold, and followed Guo Kui. Then he heard Guo Kui's voice: "He is Wu Ze!"

"Hmm! I remember now!" Wei Cong looked up from a stack of atlases, looked Wu Ze up and down, and said with a smile: "Guo Kui told me that you are quite capable. You have just been in Panyu for a few days and you have already made a fortune!"

"This is all due to the captain's authority—" Wu Ze was about to explain when Wei Cong interrupted him: "Never mind, since you're just doing justice for others and it doesn't count as bullying, I won't bother with it. Let me ask you, that Bafa, that's his name, right? How many ships does he have? Is he the most powerful among the Hu merchants in Panyu?"

"Reporting to the captain, Bafa has six ships. Although he is not the first among the foreign merchants in Panyu, he is still ranked at the top. Many small merchants use his ships to do business. However, he only has four ships in Panyu at the moment. Because these Nanyang merchants come and go with the wind--"

"I know that. In the summer, when the wind blows from the south, they come to Panyu. In the winter, when the wind blows from the north, they return to Nanyang from Panyu, right?" Wei Cong said with a smile, "How about this? Panyu originally had a Hai Cheng in charge of maritime trade. I can't just drive them away the moment they arrive. I'll give you two months to sort out these maritime trade matters. Do you understand me?"

Wu Ze understood the implication of Wei Cong's words. He trembled slightly and lowered his head quickly: "I understand!"

"Very good. Make a list of the people you brought with you from Gan County and submit it. If we're short of manpower, we can recruit locally. Remember, maritime trade can, firstly, collect taxes to support the military and national needs; secondly, it can obtain precious goods from distant lands to make up for what China lacks; and thirdly, it can facilitate navigation, allowing us to sail thousands of miles across the land and spread the Han Dynasty's prestige abroad. To promote maritime trade, the most important thing is fairness. We can't favor our own merchants just because they're foreigners. Otherwise, over time, they'll be unwilling to trade at government-run ports and instead go to remote areas to sell to unscrupulous people. This will cause taxes to fall into the hands of unscrupulous people, fostering thieves and bandits. Instead of profiting, they'll suffer losses. Do you remember this?"

"I'll remember this!"

"Okay, go down first. When you get back, tell that Bafa and his interpreter that I want to see him, and ask them to come and see him as soon as possible!"

"Here!"

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The prefectural government office, backyard.

"teacher!"

"Oh, it's Ji An! Come in and talk!" Kong Gui raised his head and saw Shi Wu standing at the door. He smiled and said, "How is it? Has the injury on your hand recurred?"

"Thank you for your inquiry, teacher. I'm almost healed now. I should be fine in a month or so!"

"Well, that's good. I'm relieved!" Kong Gui said with a smile, "Two days ago, when Wei Mengde came to see me, I mentioned your arrow wound. He said he would send his own doctor to take a look. Did he go?"

"Well, a new doctor came yesterday. He checked my arrow wound, re-bandaged it, and changed the medicine!" Shi Wu replied.

"Oh? How is the doctor's medical skills?" Kong Gui asked curiously.

"I can't really tell the difference between good and bad, but the doctor seems very skilled. After applying the medicine, my wound felt cool and comfortable!"

"Well, the doctor sent by Meng De must have also served in the army, so he is naturally more familiar with arrow wounds and knife wounds!" Kong Gui said with a smile. He looked at Shi Wu's face and asked, "What's wrong? Ji An sees that you look a little unhappy. What happened outside?"

"This..." Shi Wu hesitated for a moment, then asked: "I have heard from outsiders that Panyu, Zhongsu, Boluo, Longchuan, Liejiang, Jieyang

The six counties have already opened their gates and surrendered, but they only did so after receiving the official document from the prefectural governor’s office—”

"Ji An, are you going to ask me if this letter was written by me?" Kong Gui asked.

"That's right!" Shi Wu responded subconsciously, but then he realized that he was questioning the teacher, so he shook his head and said, "That's not what I meant—"

"Okay, whether you mean this or not, I can answer you that this letter was not written by me!" Kong Gui replied.

"I see!" Shi Wu breathed a sigh of relief, then immediately became furious and said, "Doesn't that mean, doesn't that mean—"

"Wei Mengde is cheating, isn't he? He's a military strategist, so he's naturally capable of using any tactic he can muster. So what's the big deal about cheating? Besides, those county magistrates might not be unaware of his deception!"

"What? The magistrates knew the letter wasn't from you?"

"Hmm!" Kong Gui nodded. "The Panyu incident happened not just in a day or two. It's been so long. How could these county magistrates not know who controls Panyu City now? Even if the seal on the document is mine, it's obvious that I'm not the one stamping it now. A three-year-old child knows this, so how could they not know it? They're just playing dumb and going along with the situation!"

"Go with the flow?"

"Well, there has been no war in Nanhai County for many years. The city walls of these counties are low and thin. There is a lot of rain in Lingnan, and it is estimated that many places are damaged. The county has not repaired them, and they can't withstand the attack of even a decent foreign enemy. These county magistrates naturally know this. After Wei Cong took over Panyu, the market was quiet and the people were at peace, just like before. The elders and wealthy families in these counties must have no intention of resisting. When they saw the document sent in my name, they naturally had no idea of fighting to the death!" "These guys!" After listening to Kong Gui's explanation, Shi Wu was so angry that his face turned red: "They actually put all the blame on you, teacher. Isn't this ruining your reputation!"

"Reputation!" Kong Gui laughed. "In fact, when the Wei army entered the city, my reputation would have been completely ruined even if I hadn't died."

"This--" Shi Wu was stunned. He felt that Kong Gui was right, but he really couldn't say such words as asking the teacher to die, so he froze there.

"Don't worry, I won't die!" Kong Gui laughed. "After all, up to now, Wei Cong is still the Han Dynasty's anti-rebellion captain, so I don't need to die. If that day comes, please ask Ji An to see me off!"

"Teacher, Wei Congming is clearly not a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty. Why do you still hold out hope for him?"

"Perhaps it's because the teacher has reached the age where he's afraid of death!" Kong Gui laughed, but the smile on his face soon disappeared. "Ji An, do you really think that a loyal minister would be more useful to the Han Dynasty right now? In a peaceful era, loyalty and filial piety are used; in a chaotic era, political schemes are used. This saying is also the words of a sage!"

Faced with the teacher's rare confession of his true feelings, Shiwu didn't know what to say for a moment and could only lower his head.

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Bafa, dressed in a colorful cotton robe and a turban, with a ruby-studded gold-handled dagger at his waist, stood cautiously outside the door, awaiting Wei Cong's summons. Judging by the constant flow of people coming and going around him, this "Wei Lieutenant" was quite busy. As a businessman, Bafa naturally had his own sources of information. From these sources, he learned that the conqueror who was about to summon him had, in recent days, without a single soldier, forced all the counties in Nanhai County to submit to him. This was a vast land equivalent to an entire kingdom, with fertile soil, crisscrossing rivers, abundant resources, and a hardworking and numerous people. It was one of the most prosperous lands Bafa had ever known.

Of course, Bafa knew the conqueror wouldn't be content with this. Standing on the dock, he could see rows of warships maneuvering daily across the vast expanse of water the locals called "Nanhai" (the name for the Pearl River estuary at the time). Some said the "Wei Commander" commanded a force of 20,000 men, their camp outside Panyu, where they conducted daily drills. Clearly, the conquest of Nanhai County was only the beginning, not the end.

Bafa knew, of course, that approaching an ambitious general like Wei Cong was extremely dangerous. Maintaining an army of twenty thousand men would drain the king's treasury, and war would be even more so. Wei Cong's summons could easily become a form of extortion or even kidnapping, but it could also potentially yield a thousandfold reward. The Han Empire was a central powerhouse, producing a wealth of exquisite goods that would drive the wealthy mad. If he could help this "Wei Captain" achieve final victory, the rewards he would receive would be immeasurable.

"Master Baffa, Master Baffa!"

"Ah!" Bafa came to his senses and saw Zhao Shun gesturing towards him. He quickly turned around and saw a guard looking at him: "Are you Bafa?"

"It's me!" Baffa hurriedly bowed to the guard.

"The captain wants to see you, come in with me!"

"Yes!" Baffa responded and was about to go out the door, but the guard did not move away and stared at him coldly, as if he were a monster.

"Dagger, your dagger!" Zhao Shun whispered.

"Oh, oh!" Bafa hurriedly took off the dagger from his waist and presented it with both hands. The guard took it casually and said coldly: "I'll give it back to you when we get out later!"

Bafa held his breath and followed the guards. He saw a tall man standing in front of a blueprint hanging on the wall, talking to two men who were obviously craftsmen. Bafa glanced at it and saw that it seemed to be a structural diagram of a ship. He quickly lowered his head and did not dare to look again.

"That's it! Just follow these blueprints!" Wei Cong took down the blueprints hanging on the wall and handed them to the two of them. "The French construction method is very similar to the centipede boat I brought with me. I'll have someone allocate one to you. You can build it just like this. You can even dismantle part of it to take a look at the internal structure!"

"As you command!" The two craftsmen carefully accepted the blueprints and bowed before exiting the room. Wei Cong looked Bafa and Zhao Shun up and down. Bafa, despite his dark brown skin, had a high nose, deep eyes, and curly hair. He looked more like a South Asian than a Southeast Asian.

"Where are you from?"

"I'm from the Lion Country (present-day Sri Lanka)!" Bafa answered carefully. "However, my grandfather migrated to Pi-Song (an ancient Southeast Asian kingdom during the Han Dynasty, probably located on Pulau Pi-Sang Island west of present-day Singapore). It's strategically located there, and trading ships traveling between Sindhu and the Han would anchor there, waiting for favorable winds. Merchants would sell their goods there and buy what they needed, so it was very prosperous!"

"This Pi Zong should be located near one of these places: the Strait of Malacca, the Isthmus of Kra, or the old port of Sumatra!" Wei Cong thought to himself. In his memory, these places were the most important channels connecting the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean through the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra Island in ancient times. The monsoon blows steadily from the west or south from May to August, and from December to March, it blows steadily from the northwest or northeast.

Southeast Asia, situated between the ancient civilizations of India and China, thus became a natural trading hub. Merchants from China set out around May each year, riding the monsoon winds to Southeast Asia. There, they would trade with merchants from various regions, then return to China on the northeast winds that prevailed from December to March. Those wishing to continue on to India could also take advantage of the northwest winds that prevailed during the same period. Therefore, the main trading ports in ancient Southeast Asia were generally located near the Strait of Malacca, the Isthmus of Kra, and the Sunda Strait.

"Then I guess it must take you a lot of time to travel back and forth?" Wei Cong asked casually, pretending to know nothing about the place name mentioned by Bafa.

"That's right. It would take me several years to go back and forth! At least a year. It's really dangerous!" Baffa answered carefully.

"So where do you merchants live when you stay in our country?"

"Officials from the upper kingdom have allocated a piece of land south of Panyu City, near the river, for us to live on!"

"Is that place still agreeable to live in?"

Bafa carefully observed Wei Cong's expression and replied, "It's not so bad, but the merchants are coming and going more and more. They have servants with them, and they need space to store their goods and worship the gods. As a result, the space is not enough!"

"Well, does that mean we need to expand to a bigger place?" Wei Cong nodded and quickly wrote a line of words next to it.

(End of this chapter)