Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 319 The Ming Dynasty treasure ship sails to Nanyang

The capital of the Linyi Kingdom, Linyi Pu, was called Sanghapura, or "Lion City" by the local Cham people.

In the harbor outside the city, fishermen, sailors and ordinary people were chattering around piles of goods.

Just now, a huge fleet suddenly appeared on the sea, so densely packed that there were countless of them.

The size of each boat was enormous, beyond the wildest imagination of the Linyi people.

Although these simple natives live by the sea, the boats they usually ride are similar to canoes.

These large ships from the north are hundreds of feet long and dozens of feet wide.

Such a huge thing, let alone having seen it, they wouldn’t even dare to dream of it.

What’s even more terrifying is that the number of ships in this strange fleet is huge, even more than the number of small fishing boats in the harbor.

When the opponent's quantity and quality completely crush yours, the nature of the situation changes.

The natives knelt on the ground and worshiped the ship.

To a civilization like Linyi, that terrifying fleet was like a god.

As the locals knelt to welcome them, the lead ship of the huge fleet sailed into the harbor with swagger.

Because the harbor was too small to accommodate the entire fleet, more large ships docked directly on the shore.

They stretch from end to end, blocking the entire coastline and preventing the Linyi people from sailing out to sea.

It's not that there were no guards at Linyi Harbor, but how could they dare to stop them? They allowed those strange ships with unknown identities and intentions to enter the core of Linyi State - the Ducheng Harbor.

If you act rashly and make these monsters unhappy, your country may be destroyed!
Then, amid the horrified and awestruck gaze of the locals.

A lot of people got off the big ship and started to carry the cargo on the ship to the shore as if no one was around.

After they quickly unloaded the cargo, the northerners did not waste a quarter of an hour and immediately boarded the ship and sailed away from Linyi Port, just as they had come quietly.

The onlookers looked at the huge fleet sailing away, and at the strange "cargo" that almost blocked the entire harbor, and looked at each other in confusion.

They were full of curiosity about the piles of boxes, but they did not dare to move them easily.

I was afraid that there might be some witchcraft or evil creature in it.

Fortunately, the defenders of the port finally responded.

While surrounding the goods and dispersing the onlookers, they quickly reported to the palace.

Soon, King Vanbrahma himself arrived at the scene.

He is not an ordinary man; he has seen the world.

He knew that humans were capable of building such a huge creation, it was not a miracle.

But as far as he knew, there was only one human civilization in the world that could achieve this.

"Are you sure those ships are not from the Tang Dynasty?"

At the port, Fan Fanzhi repeatedly confirmed this issue with the prime minister beside him.

Who else but the Tang Dynasty could have such abnormal productivity and build such a huge fleet that covers the entire coastline?
"Are you sure that the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty did not give us any instructions, or reprimand us for not paying tribute in time?"

"Your Highness, I have personally confirmed with the people on the ship that they are indeed not from the Tang Dynasty."

The prime minister shook his head again and again to deny it.

"It comes from another great country called Ming Dynasty."

He arrived at the scene when the fleet entered the port, and was notified by the port commander.

The prime minister had come to the Tang Dynasty to pay tribute and spoke fluent Chinese. At first he thought that the Tang Dynasty's heavenly soldiers had come to punish him, so he was so scared that he immediately knelt down under the port pier and begged for a meeting with the Tang Dynasty angels.

In the end, the angel ignored him, and it was the porter who came down from the ship to work who paid attention to him.

Then, the prime minister of Linyi State had a thorough and in-depth diplomatic talk with an ordinary worker.

After a few interactions, he actually figured out where the other party came from.

It was a Chinese country called "Da Ming", located in the north of Datang, not bordering Linyi. Da Ming was extremely powerful and wealthy, and was at war with Datang.

The Prime Minister, who was impressed by the huge fleet's muscular display, had no doubt that the worker was bragging.

"Is the Ming Dynasty... a new country separated from China?" King Fan Fanzhi guessed.

He may not be well-informed about the real-time news happening in China, but he has systematically studied the culture and history of that northern giant.

As a country on the periphery of the Chinese civilization, he still understands some basic survival philosophy that small countries have big affairs.

Fan Fanzhi knew that although the great northern country was in a state of great unity most of the time, it would be broken into pieces from time to time, and would be unified again after bloody wars.

From this perspective, the Ming Dynasty was probably a newly emerged separatist regime that betrayed the central dynasty of China.

"The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty was wise and powerful, and we thought the country would last for hundreds of years. How come such a large rebel force emerged in just one generation? It's just like the Sui Dynasty..."

As an old man who had witnessed the great chaos at the end of the Sui Dynasty, Fan Fanzhi couldn't help but complain in his heart.

"Your Highness, what should we do?" The prime minister didn't know what to do.

Fan Fanzhi looked around at the piles of goods, then at the onlookers whose eyes were filled with curiosity and greed, and immediately gave the order:
"Let's transport these things back first. The fools are watching."

The soldiers quickly cordoned off the scene and transported the things left by Daming back to the palace.

Soon, the palace garden was filled with wooden boxes, leaving almost no room to stand.

The boxes were so large and heavy that they required two people to lift them together, and their lids were sealed tightly with wooden strips.

"I wonder what's inside." The prime minister was curious and worried.

Fan Fanzhi pursed his lips:
"open to take a look."

Immediately, the soldiers found crowbars and pried open the wooden bars of the first box with anticipation and nervousness.

The Prime Minister couldn't help but clutch his sleeves.

The king could not help but crane his neck to take a peek at the contents of the box.

The dog's eyes were immediately blinded.

money!
There's money in there!

The box was filled with shiny, orange copper coins!
They are all Kaiyuan Tongbao!

Kaiyuan Tongbao is an international hard currency and can be used directly as money even in the remote Linyi Kingdom.

Moreover, the currency value is very high and is deeply loved and trusted by the people.

Linyi officials once attempted to ban the circulation of this foreign currency within the country and issue their own currency.

However, due to the inadequate mining and metallurgical processes, the quality of the copper coins minted by themselves was too poor.

Not only did the copper content not meet the standard, it was also light and brittle, breaking easily. It soon became a low-value "bad money" and was abandoned by the Linyi people themselves, who went back to using Kaiyuan Tongbao.

These golden and orange hard currencies...

"is that true?"

Fan Fanzhi swallowed hard and asked.

"Get out of the way!" The prime minister rudely pushed away the dazed guard who was in the way, picked up a copper coin himself, weighed it in his hand, looked at it left and right in the sun, and then put it in his mouth and bit it.

"This heavy weight, this smell of money...

"Your Highness, this is real money!"

The prime minister's chest was heaving violently.

Although he was the "Prime Minister", in the tiny and remote country of Linyi, this large box of money was a considerable fortune for him!

What's more, there were many boxes like this, stacked up layer by layer, filling up the entire courtyard of the palace!

How much money would that be!
The prime minister's brain stopped working and he dared not think any more.

The king must be knowledgeable and calm.

Fan Fanzhi pointed at the other boxes with the tip of his chin. He was so excited that he stuttered a little:
"Keep demolishing... Don't stop! Don't stop!"

The soldiers picked up crowbars and opened the boxes one by one.

I kept opening until the sun went down and finally finished opening all the blind boxes.

After unpacking the boxes, we found that the boxes containing money only accounted for a small part, and most of the boxes actually contained other things.

Something far more exciting than Kaiyuan Tongbao.

"Armor? Sword tip? Bow and arrows? Saddle and stirrups?"

The treasures that were unearthed left King Fan Fanzhi stunned.

Oh my god!
In order to block the development of the technology tree of the surrounding barbarians, the Tang Dynasty has always followed the policy of the Han Dynasty and strictly prohibited the export of metal products.

Not to mention weapons and armor, even an iron pot imported from China is a rare item!
Today, these contraband items that we normally wouldn't even dare to think about suddenly fell from the sky and were placed on the ground casually, as if they were garbage...

"Am I dreaming...?"

Fan Fanzhi muttered in a trance and subconsciously pinched his cheeks with his hands.

it hurts...

This also basically confirmed that the prime minister did not lie, and those large ships during the day were indeed not from the Tang Dynasty.

The Tang Dynasty would not be so generous as to give away precious ironware all over the world...

"The envoy of the Ming Dynasty...the envoy of the Ming Dynasty, didn't you tell us anything?" Fan Fanzhi asked in a dry voice, with heartfelt respect in his words.

The Prime Minister twisted his neck stiffly:
"They left the treasures behind and left without a word. The messenger did not even bother to get off the ship..."

Fan Fanzhi was speechless for a while; he was stunned by this unexpected fortune.

After a while, he slowly came back to his senses from the shock and forced his sluggish brain to start working.

"Just last year, I sent envoys to Chang'an to pay tribute, and at that time I had not heard of the 'Great Ming'.

"Why would a country that we have never even heard of give us so many valuable things..."

Anyone who can become a king has high IQ and EQ, and naturally knows that there is no such thing as a free lunch.

The King of Linyi did not know the origin of the new force called "Da Ming".

I don’t know what kind of mentality the Ming Dynasty had when it spent money lavishly in his country.

However, he could more or less guess what the mysterious Ming Dynasty wanted the small Linyi Kingdom to do -

My brother gave me a knife and money to settle down, so he must want me to go and kill someone!

Who to kill?

He and the prime minister looked at each other, and saw a common answer in each other's eyes -

"Tang Dynasty?!"

The Ming Dynasty was competing with the Tang Dynasty for the world. They sent military aid at this critical juncture. One can easily guess what they were up to.

Apart from allowing them to contain the Tang Dynasty from the south, what other purpose could there be?

"No, no! The Ming Dynasty is using our country as a gun!" The prime minister shook his head like a rattle.

“The Tang Dynasty is like a big tree, and we, the Champapulas, are just a small ant that grows and dies quickly under the tree.

"Using an ant to shake a tree is so foolish! It will only lead to the destruction of the country!

"What good is all that money if my country is destroyed and I die? You must not do this, Your Highness!"

This is the truth, and Fan Fanzhi also understands it.

However, when box after box of golden coins and set after set of exquisite armor were piled up before their eyes.

The greed and ambition in my heart began to expand rapidly.

"According to the Prime Minister's opinion, we should accept the money from the Ming Dynasty, but not send troops?" King Fan Fanzhi looked at the Prime Minister and deliberately asked:
"Anyway, the Ming Dynasty hasn't issued any instructions. Even if we accept the gift and don't do the job, they can't say anything to us."

The prime minister immediately became anxious and gave advice without thinking:

"Your Highness, no! You haven't seen it with your own eyes. The Ming fleet is really huge!

“Each boat is bigger than our palace, and there are more boats than all the canoes in our country put together!

"If we ever make the Ming Dynasty unhappy, we, Champapula, will surely fall into an abyss of no return!"

As a small southern country that was neglected by its parents, Linyi struggled to survive in a harsh environment. Its desire to survive was even stronger than that of the natives in the vassal states under the protection of the Tang Dynasty.

He didn't know whether the Ming Dynasty could completely annex Linyi and recover the cost of the war.

But there would be no problem at all for the Ming Dynasty to massacre the people of Linyi and hang the king and prime minister on the old crooked tree.

After all, in the Central Plains dynasties, there have been crazy emperors who raised an army in anger because they couldn't swallow their anger and completely disregarded the interests of the country.

Are you right, Emperor Yang of Sui?
"I understand." Fan Fanzhi nodded pretentiously.

"So, Prime Minister, do you want us to send all this money and equipment back to Ming?"

"This...I'm afraid..."

The prime minister was a little stuck.

If you take money from people to help them get rid of disasters, then you shouldn’t take money from people if you don’t want to help them get rid of disasters. This is a truth that even children understand.

However, since the day Linyi was established, it has probably never created as much wealth as it does today.

Such wealth has already been stuffed into your pocket, and you are saying you will give it back...

Even the most sober-minded person will feel heartbroken.

What's more, how to send it?
The Ming Dynasty is far away on the other side of the ocean. With the pitiful transportation capacity of the Linyi Kingdom, how can it move this mountain of wealth back to the Ming Dynasty?

The shipping costs alone could bring down the entire country.

Even if we take a step back, even if the money was really returned to the Ming Dynasty.

Will the Ming Dynasty let Linyi go?
The great country of China cares most about its reputation. If Linyi not only disobeys His orders but also slaps Him in the face, will He give Linyi an easy time?

"This this……"

More and more beads of sweat appeared on the prime minister's head.

But this time it wasn't out of greed, but fear.

Both roads are dead ends!
As expected, there is no free lunch in the world. The wealth that falls from the sky is really hot to the touch!

"I think... if we follow the Ming Dynasty's wishes and really go to war with the Tang Dynasty, it may not be a bad idea."

"Your Majesty, what did you say?!" Fan Fanzhi's bold idea really scared the prime minister.

With a giant like the Tang Dynasty, what can Linyi use to challenge it?

Your Highness, would you not be overwhelmed by the wealth that has come to you? !

The king smiled mysteriously at the worried prime minister:
"The Tang Dynasty we are fighting against is not that Tang Dynasty, but this Tang Dynasty."

His Majesty the King's words made the Prime Minister's brain burn.

How many Tang Dynasties are there?
"Do you think Jiaozhou is part of the Tang Dynasty?" Fan Fanzhi asked a soul-searching question.

"It counts, it counts! No, it doesn't count, it doesn't count, uh... it's hard to say."

The prime minister suddenly realized that he could not give a definite opinion on this seemingly clear-cut question.

The national conditions of our northern neighbor are very complicated...

"Jiaozhou belongs to the Tang Dynasty's sphere of influence, but it is not directly under the Tang Dynasty's jurisdiction.

"The natives there have their own chieftains. They don't speak the same language as the Chinese, their customs are different, and they don't even pay taxes to the Tang Dynasty. Are they superior to us, the Cham people?"

Fan Fanzhi continued:

"What's more, Jiaozhou is ungrateful for what it has and is even rebelling against the Tang Dynasty.

"If we attack Jiaozhou, will the Tang Dynasty really reach out?
"I don't think so."

The prime minister opened his mouth, but found himself unable to refute.

Linyi was locked in this hot and humid hellhole, and not only the king felt suffocated, but the prime minister and the people also felt suffocated.

The officials and people of Linyi had long coveted Jiaozhou in the north.

But what’s the use of being jealous?

Jiaozhou is under the protection of the Tang Dynasty, who dares to move?
The Jiaozhou people had iron armor, while the Linyi people only had bamboo spears and skull caps. How could they break their defense?

However, now, after the Ming Dynasty sent a batch of "goods", the balance of power has changed drastically.

"While Jiaozhou and the Tang Dynasty are at odds, why don't we take advantage of the situation and use the weapons and funds sent by the Ming angels to invade Jiaozhou?

"Nguyen Phu Chun of Jiaozhou is marching his troops northwards, and we can catch him off guard."

Fan Fanzhi's eyes sparkled.

"As long as we limit the war to a few vassal states and don't touch China's core territory, we won't incur the punishment of the Tang Dynasty.

"And we can also give an explanation to the Ming Dynasty. Jiaozhou is still Tang territory after all. We are not just taking the money and not doing the work."

Hiss...the prime minister actually thought that what the king said was correct.

As the saying goes, when you carry a sharp weapon, you will have murderous intentions.

With so many armors and sharp blades, the Linyi people felt that they were standing up again and could do it again.

Who cares about the Tang Dynasty or the Ming Dynasty? They only want Jiaozhou.

Apart from that living space in the north, the Linyi people really had no other direction to expand.

Regardless of whether there is the Ming Dynasty factor or not, they will embark on the Northern Expedition sooner or later.

Now using the support of the Ming Dynasty to do their own things can not only greatly speed up their pace of expansion.

And in theory, they have attacked the Tang Dynasty, and they can also give face to the Ming Dynasty and hold on to a strong thigh.

Win-win!

"I don't know who the ruler of the Ming Dynasty is, but for me, Champa, he is really a rare money-giving boy, hahaha~"

Fan Fanzhi laughed triumphantly, thinking that he was able to juggle both the Ming and Tang dynasties.

Little did he know that he was just a puppet, controlled by an invisible hand.

Li Ming's hand.

Li Ming overturned the balance of power in Indochina and provoked a war that was enough to bleed the natives dry.

The price was nothing more than a few ships of useless copper coins and excess steel production capacity.

(End of this chapter)