"The envoy of Zhenla greets the Emperor of Tang!"
"The envoy of Funan greets the Emperor of Tang!"
"The envoy of Piao greets the Emperor of Tang!"
Following Li Xiaogong's words, a group of people with different skin colors and clothes came down from the ship. They greeted Li Er respectfully with all kinds of etiquette.
Some of them spoke in their native language, while others spoke in broken Chinese. When Li Xiaogong saw this, he quickly assigned a middle-aged scholar beside him to translate for them.
Li Er was very happy after hearing this. As an Emperor, there was no one who did not like to achieve great things. It was just that every Emperor had different priorities.
"Haha! Good! Where is Cui Er? "
Cui Shanfu stepped out from the crowd of civil and military officials and cupped his hands. "I'm here!"
"Bring the envoys of the various countries to Honglu Temple and treat them well. Three days later, I will summon the envoys of the various countries at the imperial court meeting! "
In the Tang Dynasty, Honglu Temple was one of the nine temples. It was in charge of the four barbarians' tributes, banquets, gifts, and welcoming. It was also in charge of the inauspicious ceremonies of the country, the ancestral temples of Zhongdu, and the Taoist scriptures and tents. Whenever the Emperor of the four barbarians or envoys had an audience, they would be treated as guests. They would be given a place to stay, and they would be given invitations, gifts, and banquets. The Department of Precepts would prepare in advance. There were 20 translators who specialized in translation, and each of them knew different languages.
Generally speaking, Honglu Temple was equivalent to the modern Ministry of Foreign Affairs with an additional translation function. Cui Shanfu was the Minister of Honglu Temple at this time.
There was an organization corresponding to Honglu Temple called the Warden's Office. However, there was a substantial difference in the functions of the two. Honglu Temple was in charge of foreign guests, while the Warden's Office mainly dealt with ethnic affairs.
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Cui Shanfu didn't show it on his face, but he was complaining in his heart. This was because there were envoys from 32 countries. It was a rare sight to see such a large number of envoys in a hundred years. Just communicating with so many envoys from different countries was difficult, not to mention other things. The pressure on Cui Shangfu's body was suddenly increased.
After the envoys of various countries left the dock with Cui Shanfu and headed for Chang 'an, Li Er looked at the endless boats on the river and turned around to give an order.
"Beloved Official Xiao, Beloved Official Yan, the two of you will be in charge of the transportation of goods. The grain and goods on the imperial court's ships will be directly transported to Taicang. As for the goods on the civilian merchant ships, you will order people to calculate the income of each family. After they pay the merchant tax, have them start unloading the goods! Be careful to prevent some people from secretly embezzling! "
When the fleet was heading south, the Imperial Court had said that all merchant ships heading south with the army had to pay a five percent tax on their trade. This could be understood as a protection fee, but compared to the twenty thousand elite navy that the Imperial Court had mobilized, this protection fee was very cheap.
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
When the Minister of Civil Affairs, Xiao Yu, and the Minister of Works, Yan Lide, heard Li Er call out their names, they quickly stepped forward and bowed.
Li Er nodded. Seeing that everything was done here, he immediately said to the ministers, "Return to the Imperial Court!"
A messenger eunuch spread Li Er's order one by one. The civil and military ministers who came with him all agreed. Li Er was about to return to the Imperial Court with Li Xiaogong and the officials of the Imperial Court. Suddenly, he turned his head and looked at Li Zexuan who was secretly watching from the side. He said, "You also come back to the Imperial Court with me!"
Li Zexuan was confused. He didn't know why the Goddess of Luck suddenly fell on his head and made him unable to resist.
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Since he couldn't resist, he might as well enjoy it. He also wanted to hear about the harvest of the whole country, which had mobilized so many people to go south to trade.
…
"Commandery Prince Hejian, can you tell us about the harvest of this trip for our beloved officials?"
After Li Er led the ministers back to Taiji Palace, he sat up straight and looked at Li Xiaogong with a smile.
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Li Xiaogong was already prepared. He responded, then took out a booklet and began to read slowly.
"For this voyage, the imperial court has raised a total of 500 official ships. This subject has used more than 3,000 strings of silk and porcelain to exchange for a total of 880,000 dan of grain. There are 170,000 catties of various spices such as Lycopodium officinalis, Lycopodium officinalis, Lycopodium officinalis, Lycopodium officinalis, Lycopodium officinalis, Lycopodium officinalis, Lycopodium officinalis, Lycopodium officinalis, Lycopodium officinalis, Lycopodium officinalis, Lycopodium officinalis, Lycopodium officinalis, Lycopodium officinalis, and various other spices. In addition, there are also 50,000 catties of brass and 300,000 taels of silver! "
Silence. As Li Xiaogong read them out one by one, the court suddenly fell into a strange silence!
880,000 dans of grain. Although this amount was a bit large and exceeded everyone's expectations, it could be attributed to the fact that Nanyang was rich in grain and had never seen the beautiful silk and porcelain of the Central Plains. But what the hell was 170,000 dans of spices? Did you think that spices were weeds or radishes? Oh, at this time, radishes were still not called radishes. They were called fishes (See the 《Book of Songs》, "Picking fishes and picking fishes, there is no lower body"). Cabbages were also not called cabbages.
But spices had always been a precious existence in the Great Tang. Most of them were sold in pairs. Depending on the type of spices, the price could range from a few dozen copper coins to a few strings of one tael. When had anyone ever heard of someone possessing more than 10,000 dans of spices ~? The 170,000 dans of spices that Li Xiaogong mentioned was too frightening!
However, Li Xiaogong wasn't lying. Some spices were really rampant in some of the island countries in the South China Sea. They grew everywhere like weeds. The twenty thousand navy soldiers he brought were farmers who "cut the weeds" many times.
As for the 50,000 catties of brass and 300,000 taels of silver, this was even more frightening ~! The total amount of silver that had been mined in the Great Tang was probably only around 200,000 to 300,000 taels. But Li Xiaogong actually brought back 300,000 taels of silver. What was even more shocking was that he even brought back 50,000 catties of brass. Many of the courtiers started to look at Li Xiaogong with a strange expression. They wanted to ask, "Big brother, did you rob an entire country ~?"
Of course, the courtiers were not surprised. The difference between the cost and the reward was too big. According to Li Xiaogong, he only used 3,000 strings of silk and porcelain to trade. But what about the things that he brought back ~? Just the 880,000 dans of grain, according to the current grain price, would be worth more than 30,000 strings of coins. Adding in the 170,000 dans of spices, 300,000 taels of silver, and 50,000 catties of brass … Aiya, oh my god! Many of the courtiers calculated in their hearts and in the end, they found it difficult to even breathe!
Huge profits! This was more than ten times the profit! It was more than a hundred times the profit! What else in the world could be more profitable than this ~?
… … …
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