Ang Lee was not sure if the grouper had a great tonic effect. However, after eating the grouper, the way Ang Lee looked at the two beauties in front of him changed and became a little naughty.
Naturally, they were busy at night and didn't stop until the second half of the night.
The distance between Pulu and Shengdeng was not far. They could arrive there in two or three days. However, there were too many small countries along the way. If they were delayed for ten days to half a month in each small country, it would be too much of a delay.
Therefore, Ang Lee decided to stay in Shengdeng for only three days and then leave. As long as he met their king and asked Shengdeng to cooperate with the Tang dynasty, he didn't need to do anything else.
Shengdeng had fewer people and soldiers than Pulu. It was a veritable small country and had no strength to bargain with the Tang Empire. As long as the Tang Empire shook their head, they would not dare to refuse. Ang Lee came to discuss it in person just to give them face.
Since he was here, he naturally had to prepare some gifts for Sheng Deng Country. In the vicinity of this small country, there were no decent pirate forces, so helping to exterminate the pirates would not work. It was a good choice to give some small gifts that were not too noble.
The coffee had just been developed, so they could give 500 grams of coffee and 500 grams of white sugar. These two gifts were enough. They were giving face to Shengdeng by coming here. It was fine if they didn't give any gifts.
After the fleet docked, the king of Shengdeng came to greet them in person to show the importance of Shengdeng to the Tang Empire.
In truth, before Li An's fleet had arrived, the merchants of the Great Tang caravan had already entered Shengdeng. They had taken a tour around Shengdeng and discovered many business opportunities. Some of the merchants had already decided to stay and set up workshops in Shengdeng.
When Ang Lee docked, the merchants who stayed in Shengdeng took the initiative to gather together and held the flag of the Tang dynasty to greet Ang Lee and his team at the port. Their attitude was very respectful.
"You are all merchants of the Tang dynasty. What business opportunities have you found here?"
Ang Lee asked several merchants who stayed.
"Assistant Minister Li, the climate here is very suitable for the growth of bananas. The bananas produced here are better than those produced in other places. If they are made into banana chips, they will definitely sell well."
A merchant replied.
Originally, there was no such thing as banana chips in the Tang dynasty. It was Ang Lee's idea of turning fruits into dried fruit that inspired the businessmen. They racked their brains and invented this product.
At this time, the technology required to make dried bananas was not high. It was simply peeling the ripe bananas, cutting them into small cylindrical shapes, and drying them in the sun.
"Has your workshop been completed?"
Ang Lee asked.
"Assistant Minister Li, a few houses have been built, and production has already begun. Take a look at this."
The merchant brought the dried bananas in front of Ang Lee for him to taste.
Ang Lee picked up a dried banana and tasted it gently. He felt that the taste was not very good. It was not delicious at all.
"The dried bananas are not bad. They are all natural. However, it would be better if they could be made into a variety of flavors, such as sweet, salty, and milky flavors. In this way, customers will have a better choice!"
Ang Lee suggested.
The merchant touched his head and suddenly realized, "Assistant Minister Li is right. Why didn't I think of that? It will be easier to sell if there are more flavors. This is a good idea! I will definitely try to do it. Thank you for your advice, Assistant Minister Li. "
Ang Lee smiled, looked at another merchant, and asked, "What do you do? Do you also run a workshop?"
The merchant shook his head and said, "Assistant Minister Li, I bought a piece of land to grow bananas. The bananas I grow can be sold directly to him."
As he spoke, he pointed to the merchant in front of him.
"Haha! His banana cultivation skills are definitely not as good as yours. Otherwise, he would have grown them himself. He wouldn't buy yours. "
Ang Lee made fun of him.
Every merchant had their own unique trade secrets. Some had huge sales channels, some had technology, and some had huge funds. In short, their situations were different. Under such circumstances, cooperation was the only way to achieve a win-win situation.
"What business do you do?"
Ang Lee looked at the third merchant and asked.
"Assistant Minister Li, we are all in the oil palm business. There are a lot of palm trees here, so there is a lot of potential for development."
The third merchant replied.
Ang Lee chuckled when he heard that. He estimated that the price of palm oil in the Tang dynasty had the potential to decrease. After all, many merchants came to Nanyang to open palm oil workshops. In this way, with the technology owned by the merchants of the Tang dynasty, the output would definitely be more than if they bought it directly from other countries. Once there were more goods, the price would inevitably decrease. Therefore, the price of palm oil would definitely decrease significantly in a few years.
This might not be a good thing for the merchants who opened workshops, but for the ordinary people of the Tang dynasty, it was a great thing because it meant that the cost of living would be reduced a lot and their lives would become better.
"What are you guys doing here?"
Ang Lee was interested and asked them one by one.
"Assistant Minister Li, we think the climate here is good and it is convenient to transport by sea. We bought hundreds of acres of land and plan to plant rubber trees to produce rubber materials and transport them back to the Tang dynasty to sell."
A merchant answered.
This was indeed a very wise choice. After all, rubber trees liked tropical environments the most. They were originally discovered in tropical rainforests. Planting them in Yazhou and Jiaozhou was a helpless choice because these were the southernmost territories of the Tang dynasty and were the only places suitable for rubber trees to grow.
However, the climate in Nanyang was more suitable for the growth of rubber trees. If the rubber trees were expanded to the various countries in Nanyang, the production would definitely increase greatly. Rubber materials were scarce and expensive at the moment. Investing in this aspect and planting rubber trees in the various countries in Nanyang was definitely a very wise choice. They would definitely make a fortune.
"Yes, planting rubber trees in Shengdeng is a very good investment direction. You must stick to it. There will be great results, haha!"
Ang Lee praised.
The other merchants also invested in local specialties according to the climate characteristics of Shengdeng, such as sugarcane, rice, and a large number of tropical fruits, which were all specialties of Shengdeng and had great investment value. Moreover, the merchants of the Tang dynasty had mastered the primary processing technology and could process the primary agricultural products into commodities that could be stored for a long time to prevent them from rotting during transportation.
After chatting with the merchants of the Tang dynasty for a while, Ang Lee went directly to the palace. Naturally, the reception he received was of the highest standard. The food and drinks were all the best.
Because Ang Lee did not want to waste time, he quickly discussed the cooperation with the king. Fortunately, the king had received the news in advance and was very clear about the policies of the Tang dynasty. Therefore, the negotiation went very smoothly.
Shengdeng felt that the cooperation of the Tang dynasty was very sincere and was completely acceptable. They were willing to cooperate fully with the Tang empire and be the Tang empire's subordinate.
Since the negotiation went so smoothly, Ang Lee was naturally very happy. He immediately asked his subordinates to sign a series of cooperation agreements with the king and sent people to send them back to the Tang dynasty.
After discussing the cooperation, it was natural to have some fun and get to know each other. Singing, dancing, and delicious food were absolutely indispensable.
After eating and drinking to their fill, it was inevitable that their mouths would feel a little oily. Li An got someone to bring the prepared coffee and served it to everyone present. He wanted them to try this new beverage to promote it.
The senior officials of Shengdeng were very satisfied with the taste of the coffee and felt that this new drink was very delicious. They all asked what this new drink was.
"Assistant Minister Li, what is this thing? We have never drunk it before. Where can we buy it?"
The minister of Shengdeng asked.
Ang Lee shook his head with a smile. "You can't buy it anywhere. It's the latest product I developed in Polu a few days ago. It needs the white sugar produced in the Tang dynasty and a kind of coffee bean. Polu has this kind of coffee bean."
"What kind of coffee bean is it? Maybe we also have it."
A minister of Shengdeng asked.
Li An handed over the blueprint that he had prepared beforehand and said, "This is the coffee tree and the coffee fruit. Take a look. Have you seen it somewhere before?"
Everyone passed it around and felt that it was a little familiar. However, they couldn't guarantee whether they had seen it before. They could only keep the drawings and prepare to send people to look for it in the wild. Then, through careful comparison, they could confirm whether there was a coffee tree or not.
In this kind of place where fishing, hunting, and gathering were the main ways of survival, planting was relatively rare and did not form a decent scale. As for the construction of irrigation works, there was no need to mention it. No one would spend time on this kind of thing. They would only plant some things that were easier to plant and more needed.
For example, the rice planted in this country was in small patches. Some rice was planted by the rivers that were suitable for planting. There were almost no irrigation works. The area that each person could plant was very small. If there were more, they would be too busy.
This was because their tools were too backward. The irrigation was actually using water basins. The efficiency was too low. No wonder it was not a large-scale agriculture.
The structure of the water wheel was not complicated. However, the intelligence of these small people was not able to invent this kind of thing. Moreover, the production of this kind of thing required time and money. The scale of their planted fields was too small. The introduction of the water wheel system was not worth the cost. Building a water wheel for half a mu of rice would not be able to recover the cost.
Because he did not want to stay in Shengdeng for too long, Ang Lee did not stay in the palace. He took a group of people to play in the wild. If they stayed in the palace all the time, they would not be able to find anything. It was equivalent to a wasted trip.
In the countryside outside the palace, there were scattered cultivated land. Some tropical plants were planted. Of course, more of the land was used as orchards. For example, there were more coconut forests, palm forests, and rubber forests. There were very few fields that needed irrigation such as rice.
"Hey, they are actually planting sweet potatoes. It spread fast!"
Li An was walking on a small road in the countryside when he saw a farmer from Deng Country planting sweet potatoes. This made him very surprised.
The introduction of sweet potatoes from South America was not long ago. It was not completely popularized in the Tang Empire. However, the introduction of sweet potatoes in a small country as far away from Shengdeng surprised Ang Lee. The spread of sweet potatoes should not be so fast. According to the speed of the spread of crops in ancient times, it would take at least decades or centuries to spread a few hundred miles.
"Yes! Sweet potatoes were only planted in the Tang Empire for a few years! It spread to Shengdeng so quickly. This is too fast! "
The accompanying civil officials were also quite surprised. Something that was not popularized on a large scale in the Tang Empire was actually planted in Shengdeng so quickly. This could be called amazing speed.
"What the hell is going on? When did Shengdeng get the sweet potatoes? "
Ang Lee asked the accompanying high-ranking official of Shengdeng.
"This is called sweet potatoes? This is the first time I have seen it. "
The official of Shengdeng answered in confusion. After a pause, he said, "By the way, this piece of land was sold by the king to a businessman of the Tang Empire."
"Oh, so that's it!"
Ang Lee immediately understood the general situation. He knew that these sweet potatoes were brought by a businessman of the Tang Empire. He wanted to try planting them here. If he could succeed in planting them in this environment, he would vigorously promote them and introduce sweet potatoes to Shengdeng to make enough profits.
The output of sweet potatoes was high and the cost was relatively low. The local sales would certainly not be bad. This was a good idea.
After asking the people who were farming, the answer he got confirmed Ang Lee's guess. A businessman of the Tang Empire brought a few hundred pounds of sweet potatoes from China and wanted to try planting them in Shengdeng. If the output was high enough, he would develop sweet potato planting here. He even wanted to do the primary processing of sweet potatoes in the later stage to make more profits.
Because sweet potatoes were discovered in the tropics of America, the businessman thought that the output of sweet potatoes planted in Shengdeng in the tropics might be higher than in the Tang Empire. In this way, the development of the sweet potato industry in Shengdeng would be better. This was completely in line with the businessman's nature of pursuing profits.
"How long have these sweet potatoes been planted? Have they borne fruit?"
Ang Lee could only see the sweet potato seedlings. As for whether there were big sweet potatoes under the soil, Ang Lee was not very clear. This could only be seen by digging up the soil by himself.
"Assistant Minister Li, let's climb up and have a look."
The accompanying official squatted down and gently dug up the towering soil to see the situation below.
"Haha! Not bad! It actually bears such a big fruit. It seems that sweet potatoes can grow here. It's estimated that they grow better than in the Tang Empire. "
Li An said with a very happy smile.
Along the way, every place they went to was rewarding. Although they did not plan to stay in Shengdeng for long, they also gained a lot. They learned that the businessmen of the Tang Empire had already invested in this small country.
When they returned to the palace, Ang Lee learned another good news. Shengdeng had found a plant similar to the coffee tree and was waiting for Ang Lee to confirm.
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