According to modern historians, rubber was originally produced in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest. Later, when Columbus returned from America, he brought rubber back to Europe. Later, with the beginning of the British colonial era, they introduced rubber trees to Southeast Asia and opened plantations there to produce rubber.
Therefore, according to modern history books, it was impossible for rubber trees to appear in Southeast Asia during the Tang Dynasty.
However, the reason why Li Zexuan asked the Wang Family's fleet to help him find rubber trees was because he was betting. He was betting that there were wild rubber trees in Southeast Asia a long time ago. Southeast Asia's unique climate conditions were too suitable for rubber trees to grow. This could be seen from a set of data.
Although rubber trees originated from Brazil, in modern times, Southeast Asia accounted for more than 90% of the world's natural rubber production, while Brazil accounted for less than 1%!
The reason for this pattern, in addition to specific historical conditions, was also inseparable from Southeast Asia's unique climate conditions.
Therefore, Li Zexuan guessed that there were wild rubber trees in Southeast Asia before the Tang Dynasty or even longer. Later, they went extinct for some reason. When the British colonists introduced rubber from Brazil to Southeast Asia, the world thought that rubber originated from Brazil! ,
He had to admit that the reason why he had this kind of wishful thinking was because he was desperate. After all, the Tang Dynasty did not have a fleet that could cross the Pacific Ocean and reach America!
But fortunately, his wishful thinking turned out to be true!
The Wang Family's fleet really found wild rubber in Southeast Asia!
How could this not make him ecstatic?
At this time, he did not care about waiting at home for the imperial edict. He directly urged Wang Renbiao to follow him to the dock.
Therefore, the tragic Wang Renbiao, who had just entered the house, did not even warm up on the stool, no, he did not even warm up on the sofa before he was called out again!
.....
"Here, the rubber is still in the wooden bucket. It's still on the ship! Xiao Xuan, wait a moment. I'll get someone to find a small boat and bring you to the big ship to take a look ~! "
When they arrived at the dock, Wang Renbiao pointed to a few large ships on the river with the Wang Family's flag and said.
"Mm, thank you for your trouble!"
Li Zexuan clasped his hands and thanked him.
Wang Renbiao smiled and turned to leave.
Li Zexuan observed the scene at the docks. Compared to the morning, there were a lot fewer people and ships. The five hundred search ships of the imperial court were all gone. It seemed like Xiao Yu and Yan Lide had already made arrangements. Most of the official ships were probably already on their way to Luoyang.
Although the official ships had been arranged, the task of the two big shots of the imperial court was not over yet. They still needed to arrange for officials on the spot to levy taxes on the merchant ships that had participated in the southern sea trade. This job was not easy.
The two old fellows were setting up tables on the pier to serve as a temporary office. There wasn't even a canopy above their heads. Compared to some people in the future, these two old fellows' outfits were really shabby! However, they were the real public servants of the people and deserved everyone's respect!
"Uncle Yan, Elder Xiao! The two of you are still busy! "
Li Zexuan walked over and greeted the two out of respect for the "revolutionaries" of the older generation who were really doing practical things.
"Yo! Little Xuan, you're here? I heard that you were conferred the title of Marquis by His Majesty in the morning court. Congratulations! "
Hearing this, Yan Lide raised his head and said with a smile.
He knew that his son, Yan Shaoning, seemed to have a "girlfriend" in the Academy. Although the other party wasn't a daughter of a prestigious family, she was the daughter of the current generation's Mo Family. This identity was nothing to other families, but to the Yan Family, which was a family of engineers, it was a big deal!
Mm, in general, Yan Lide approved of this marriage! He knew that his son was obsessed with construction machinery all day long and was like a blockhead. He didn't expect that his son would actually "find a partner" now. This made Yan Lide happy and grateful to Li Zexuan.
Xiao Yu nodded and smiled at Li Zexuan as a greeting.
"Thank you, Uncle Yan! The title of Marquis is just His Majesty's favor! "
Li Zexuan replied with a smile. Then, he used his hand to fan his face and said to Yan Lide and Xiao Yu, "It's such a hot day. Why don't the two of you get someone to set up a shed? If something bad happens to the sun, it will be a great loss to the Tang Empire! "
"Sigh, we don't have the time!"
Yan Lide sighed. He pointed to the endless boats on the river and said, "That's not the case.
"The official boats of the imperial court are fine. Most of them have turned around and headed to Luoyang. However, there are more than a thousand civilian boats. It's very troublesome to calculate the value of the goods on their boats. Almost all the officials of the Ministry of Civil Affairs are here today. Even so, it's unlikely that all the boats will be able to unload before dark!"
When Li Zexuan heard this, he also felt that the amount of work Yan Lide and Xiao Yu were facing was too large. The old officials of the Ministry of Civil Affairs were using more traditional calculation methods, and the speed of their calculations was simply too slow.
Although Li Er had issued a decree a few months ago to promote the new type of mathematics throughout the country, in the face of a new knowledge, it would always take some time to accept and digest it. Some people were older, and their ability to accept new knowledge was worse, so the speed at which they absorbed it was slower.
"We can't go on like this. Uncle Yan, Elder Xiao, I'll get someone to set up a few sheds for you. I'll also send some ice and cold water over. Otherwise, it'll be bad if you get a heatstroke!"
Li Zexuan said as he wiped his sweat.
Yan Lide and Xiao Yu didn't have the time to do this, but he did! Seeing two old men over fifty silently contributing to the country under the scorching sun, he couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable. But it was precisely because of people like them that the Great Tang would gradually grow stronger until it was invincible!
The two old men smiled and didn't refuse Li Zexuan's good intentions. The officials of the Ministry of Civil Affairs who were busy calculating the accounts seemed to have heard this conversation. At this moment, they couldn't help but write even more cheerfully.
"Marquis Yong 'an, this old man heard that you have a group of students who are rather proficient in calculation. Why don't you call them over to help you?"
Xiao Yu raised his head and smiled at Li Zexuan.
Ever since the Imperial Court had introduced the new type of mathematics, he had privately studied the mathematics textbook that Li Zexuan had compiled. Even someone as picky as him had to admit that the new type of mathematics had an incomparable advantage in calculating speed. That was why he had said this now.
Li Zexuan froze for a moment, then bitterly smiled and said, "Elder Xiao, it's not that this little one isn't willing to cooperate, but that group of students of mine is still undergoing military training at the academy! They can't leave! "
.....
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
