On the thirtieth day of the tenth lunar month, there was only one day left until the new moon. The people on Zhuangzi were busy setting up sheds.
A light rain began to fall. Based on the experience of the older people and the observations of the imperial astronomer, this rain would last for a few days and might even turn into a downpour.
Once this rain stopped, Luoyang would truly enter winter.
The court assembly could not be missed. If it was the Hanyuan Palace, everyone could only use umbrellas.
The low-ranking officials would use their own umbrellas, while the higher-ranking officials would have someone to cover them.
The Li Family Zhuangzi would naturally make the necessary arrangements. Sheds were set up on the plaza, and the people under the sheds were not afraid of being drenched by the rain.
Li Longji and the others were watching the video. There were twenty-two people on the screen.
"There are many small countries in the area, but I don't know which one they are. The Romish Country they mentioned might exist, but it might not exist. As for their surname …"
Li Yi held a pointer and explained on the screen. The other party said that they were from the Romish Country. There were a total of three ships, and one of them capsized, and everything related to the country was thrown into the sea.
The leader of the other party was called Hashika Tiweidi, and the others had the same surname as him. Everyone was called Tiweidi.
"That's impossible. Look at the color of their skin. It's dark. Any darker and they would have gone to the south. Tiweidi should be fair-skinned, similar to the people of the northwest …"
Li Yi continued, telling everyone that Tiweidi was a local noble who originated from the invaders.
Even the Arabs who fought with them did not have such dark skin.
Li Yi began to talk about the local wars, including the Aryans, the Zoroastrianism, the destroyed Gupta Dynasty, and the disputes between the small countries.
In other words, the other party was not an Arab, but a person from one of the many small countries in Bangladesh.
At the same time, they had a low social status in their own country. The leader was relatively fair-skinned, and it was very likely that he was a rich person with the surname Weishi.
The people who followed him were of an even lower status, his slaves.
It was like the status of the merchants of the Tang dynasty. They had some money, but it could be taken away at any time.
Everyone listened attentively. Some of this information came from merchants or people from other kingdoms, but it was far from Li Yi's.
Li Yi started to talk about history, systematizing it and connecting the local situation.
"Therefore, it is very likely that these people's connections will be broken after they are connected."
In the end, Li Yi concluded that twenty-two people had a low status in their own country. It would be difficult for them to develop long-term trade!
Everyone was silent for a moment as they digested what Li Yi had said. As for where Li Yi had learned this from, it was not important.
After a while, Lu Huaishen asked, "Can we ask the merchant fleet or the Tang dynasty navy to follow them back?"
"No." Li Yi shook his head. "Their social status is low. If our people go with them, it will show that our country is not strong enough. Our businessmen have to go alone in the name of the Tang dynasty."
"That is, we can't support him." Yao Chong nodded, looking regretful.
He and the others planned to turn the people from Haizhou into regular traders and establish a stronghold through them.
Their status was too low, and others looked down on them. If they were forcefully raised, a war would definitely break out.
Just now, Li Yi had talked about the characteristics of the caste system. It was impossible to change people unless one used force to conquer them.
In the past, the Tang dynasty took back the good things of others to earn money. It was not because of the high cost of destroying a country.
Liu Chong pulled his sleeves together. "What if we use them to attract people from the higher caste? Just treat them as the envoys of the Romish Country. "
He specialized in studying the various aristocratic families and had a better understanding of the situation.
Some of the people in the big families were born of concubines and had a low status in the family. Some were even children born of concubines and maids.
Could such children represent their families? Huo Qubing could at least find opportunities with his family to lead troops to war.
Then, through the children of concubines, they could get to know the family head and cooperate with the family head to give the children of concubines some benefits.
"I'm just afraid that he won't be willing. Once he goes back, he might not come back."
Su Yi was worried. If he did not say it directly, the other party would continue to pretend. At the same time, he was thinking of other ways to cover up his lie.
Song Jing looked at Yao Chong. "If we give him something precious, he will definitely sell it when he goes back. Would others just watch him earn a lot of money and not do anything?"
Yao Chong was slightly stunned. "I only wanted to help the Li Family Zhuangzi train craftsmen and did not have any thoughts of stealing."
As he spoke, he looked at Li Longji, meaning that he did not dare to steal the people that Li Longji valued.
"Okay!" Li Longji nodded slightly. Yes, he did not dare to steal the things that Li Longji valued. If Brother did not go to the Li Family Zhuangzi first and tell me.
At that time, when others came in contact with him, I did not know. Are you sure you won't steal it?
Of course, you can only have the heart and cannot steal it.
Do you think Brother Yi is so easy to deal with? If he can poison you, he doesn't care if you are a minister or not.
You will die without knowing that you were poisoned. Don't doubt it.
"This is a little cruel to them. They overcame difficulties from far away. Perhaps the two ships and the things on the ships are all they have."
Li Yi considered others. It was easy to use them. They only needed to tell a lie. Why should he watch them suffer?
"Their families are on the other side. They won't abandon their families, right? They will go back. "
Zhang Jiuling took care of his hometown. For the convenience of communication, he raised pigeons to send messages.
He resigned and went home, but he still wanted to help the people in his hometown build roads.
If he could easily abandon his family, would he still be worthy of trust and care?
"Don't look for them in the imperial court. Do a lie detector test on them. Otherwise, if a low-caste person deceived the Tang Emperors and the ministers, we can't afford to lose face."
Li Yi raised his eyebrows and postponed the official meeting.
The lie detector test needed to be carried out through other aspects. First, they would ask whether they could lie and confirm their physical data before asking other questions.
"Okay!" Li Longji said again.
The order was passed down, and the 22 people were brought to a special courtyard in Zhuangzi.
The Vice-Minister of Honglu Temple, Tian Qingyuan, told them that it was raining and that he would not see them for the time being. The imperial court would be better when the moon was full on the 15th.
Twenty-two people lived in this house. The glass windows of this house made it obvious that it was no small matter.
There was also a beautiful table and exquisite porcelain on the table. Oh! Such a big mirror, I can look at myself alone.
What is this place? Going to the toilet? This big basin is made of porcelain? What is it used for?
The 22 people looked at the facilities in the courtyard. There were several independent toilets and a special bathroom.
They bathed by the river and had never soaked in it.
After coming to the Tang Dynasty, they had soaked in wooden buckets. They did not recognize this kind of thing.
Fortunately, Liu Tong of Honglu Temple was here. He explained to them one by one and told them how to use it.
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