The Sui Dynasty's chess game

Chapter 826 Strange Merchant

That morning, as soon as Xiao Xia arrived at the Imperial Study, Chu Suiliang stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, Vice Minister Chai has important matters to discuss with you!"

"Chai Shao?"

"Exactly!"

Xiao Xia hesitated for a moment. Logically speaking, Chai Shao should not bypass his superior Pei Ju, nor should he bypass Prime Minister Liu Wenjing. If it was a private matter, then he should not request an audience during court hours.

"Did he say what happened?"

"It seems to be about Ceylon. He said that Prime Minister Pei went to Chang'an, and Prime Minister Liu told him to come directly to His Majesty."

Xiao Xia nodded. "Summon him to see me! Also, bring Prime Minister Liu here."

Xiao Xia returned to his study. Not long after, Chu Suiliang announced at the door, "Prime Minister Liu and Vice Minister Chai have arrived!"

"Let them in!"

Liu Wenjing led Chai Shao into the imperial study, and the two bowed together, saying, "Greetings, Your Majesty!"

Xiao Xia nodded. "What urgent matter does Young Master Chai have?"

"Your Majesty, Li Jiancheng has requested assistance from you!"

Have they made any news?

“An envoy has returned on a merchant ship. He found me last night and said the situation in Ceylon is not good.”

"what happened?"

Chai Shao presented a letter to Xiao Xia, saying, "This is a letter from Li Jiancheng. Please take a look, Your Majesty!"

Xiao Xia took the letter and put it aside. "Tell me the situation briefly first!"

"Your Majesty, they are not used to the climate and water. My father-in-law and mother-in-law passed away at the beginning of the year. Li Shentong and Li Shuliang also died of illness one after another. They initially occupied the southern half of Ceylon, while the northern half was occupied by the Pandya Dynasty. After many battles, they finally drove the Pandya Dynasty out of Ceylon, but they also suffered heavy casualties. General Li Xuanba was trampled to death by the enemy's elephant army."

"Who's in charge now?"

"Now it is Li Jiancheng's turn to inherit his father's throne."

Xiao Xia nodded. It turned out that Li Yuan had already passed away.

He opened Li Jiancheng's letter, in which Li Jiancheng wrote a rather pitiful account: of the 1,100 people he had brought, only 400 remained. They couldn't speak the language and were suffering from acclimatization problems. What he had imagined was wonderful, but in reality, it was cruel.

The enemy's navy was also quite strong, posing a great threat to them. The Sinhalese king, who had lost his kingdom, hid in India and always wanted to make a comeback.

Li Jiancheng earnestly requested the imperial court to provide some support to help them through their most difficult time.

At this moment, Chai Shao said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, I wish to resign and go to Ceylon!"

Xiao Xia pondered for a moment and said, "You don't need to resign. You can go to Ceylon as the representative of the court. Here's what I'll do! I appoint you as the Prime Minister of Ceylon. You can lead 500 naval troops to Ceylon. I will give you 500 specially made crossbows and 3,000 arrows and grenades. In addition, I will give you a batch of armor and medicine, as well as two 10,000-stone warships. Time is of the essence, so you must set off as soon as possible!"

"The minister obeys the order!"

Chai Shao added, "Yesterday, I visited the Dugu family. The Dugu family expressed their willingness to provide 200,000 strings of cash, 1,000 servants, five 10,000-stone merchant ships, a large amount of other supplies, and two members of the Dugu family will also accompany us."

Xiao Xia nodded, "I have no objection, you can make the arrangements yourselves!"

Chai Shaoxing bowed and withdrew.

Xiao Xia then said to Liu Wenjing, "It is very difficult for Han people to expand overseas. As the motherland, the court should support all Han people in their overseas expansion. Even if they were once my enemies, as long as they lay down their weapons and surrender, they are my subjects."

Ceylon's geographical location is very important. Once we take it over, trade between the Sui Dynasty, the Abbasid Caliphate, and the West can all transit through Ceylon.

In addition, India has high-quality iron ore and abundant labor. If we lack labor when developing overseas in the future, we can bring in labor from India to help us clear forests, level land, dig ditches to divert water, build docks, fire bricks, and so on. Once the Indians have done these rough jobs, our immigration will be much easier.

I am also considering digging a canal west of the Abbasid Caliphate, so that Sui Dynasty merchant ships can sail directly to Rome. I am considering using Indians and Egyptians to labor in the canal's construction.

Liu Wenjing bowed and said, "Your Majesty's wisdom and foresight are truly admirable. Your humble servant will give your full support!"

..........
Three days later, Chai Shao, his wife, and children left Luoyang by boat for Jiangdu. Accompanying them were a thousand servants and a large amount of money and supplies provided by the Dugu family, which was, of course, an investment from the Dugu family.

Xiao Xia also specially approved a batch of firearms and armor to support Li Jiancheng.

..........
The Inner Guard had seven branches in various places, and the Chengdu Inner Guard was one of them. The commander of the Inner Guard was Chen Zhenhai, a second-level Tiger General, who had 1,500 men under his command and was responsible for monitoring all kinds of illegal activities in the entire Sichuan region.

That noon, the Bashu Salt and Iron Bureau sent a document to the Inner Guard, saying that a shop called Bai'an Ironware Shop had an abnormally high volume of goods being purchased.

Iron was also a monopoly commodity, unlike salt, which was controlled by the imperial court at every stage. Iron was supplied with crude iron by the Salt and Iron Bureau, and then qualified blacksmiths purchased the crude iron from the Salt and Iron Bureau, processed it, and sold it to the public. Every blacksmith and blacksmith was registered with the government. Normal blacksmithing and sales were not investigated, but if anything unusual happened, the Salt and Iron Bureau would notify the Imperial Guard. For example, if the Bai'an Blacksmith Shop purchased twice as much crude iron as last year, this would be considered an unusual event.

Salt and iron were both key targets of surveillance. Chen Zhenhai personally led several of his men to Bai'an Ironware Shop, which was located in the western part of the city, covering an area of ​​about two acres, and had more than a dozen blacksmiths who would process his products.

During the Sui Dynasty, ironware was mainly used for agricultural tools and rarely in households. Currently, there is only one type of ironware: iron pots. Iron pots for cooking have become widespread, and middle-class families all use iron pots.

In addition, there were swords. Apart from ordinary people and farmers, scholars and men of the middle and upper classes all carried swords.

Therefore, the ironware shop basically sells farm tools, iron pots, and swords.

Chen Zhenhai led his men into the blacksmith shop, where a shop assistant greeted them, "What do you need, sir?"

Chen Zhenhai flashed his Imperial Guard silver badge and said, "I'm looking for your manager!"

The short, stout shopkeeper hurriedly came forward, "What instructions do you have for me, General?"

"I have a few questions to ask."

"General, please come inside!"

The portly shopkeeper invited Chen Zhenhai to the back room and had the waiter serve tea.

Chen Zhenhai pondered for a moment and asked, "The Salt and Iron Bureau reported that your store's iron purchases from them have doubled compared to the previous few months. It's not the spring planting season now, so this seems a bit unusual."

The shopkeeper quickly said, "To be honest, General, I find it a bit strange. Recently, there have been a lot of farmers buying farm tools. I have to serve several groups a day. Some farmers are even buying iron pots and swords. This was unthinkable before."

"Oh? What's the reason for that?"

“I don’t know either. When I asked them, they mocked me and said I was meddling.”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than someone outside the shop called out in a gruff voice, "Shopkeeper, I want to buy farm tools!"

"They're here again, the third batch today."

Chen Zhenhai also found it strange. This shouldn't be a problem with the ironware shop. He got up and went out of the inner room. He saw three men dressed as farmers in the shop's main hall, wearing short clothes and wide trousers, with their trouser legs rolled up.

The shopkeeper stepped forward and asked, "What kind of farm tools would you three like to buy?"

"Buy three iron plows, three hoes, and three iron pitchforks."

Chen Zhenhai couldn't help but ask, "These are all standard farm tools, right? Are the old ones unusable?"

A farmer chuckled, "The old ones have all been sold!"

The two people beside him glared at him, and the farmer, realizing he had spoken out of turn, dared not utter a word.

Chen Zhenhai took out the Imperial Guard silver token and said, "The three of you come with me to the Imperial Guard!"

The three men's expressions changed drastically, and they turned to run, but were immediately seized by several guards. The leading farmer shouted, "What crime have we committed by buying farm tools?"

Chen Zhenhai said coldly, "Tell me, where are the old farm tools?"

"sold!"

"Sold to whom?"

"Merchants came to our door to buy farm tools and other ironware, so we sold them."

"Trading in an old car for a new one, doesn't that cost more money?"

All three fell silent. Then, the slightly more honest farmer said, "Let's be honest! Once you're in the inner guard, you'll be skinned alive before you get out."

The leading farmer said, "If you don't arrest us, we can tell the truth."

Chen Zhenhai nodded. "Go ahead and say it!"

“A month ago, a merchant came to buy ironware. He wanted everything and offered a higher price than for new ones. Of course, we sold all our old farm tools and used the money to buy new ones. It’s rare to find such a good deal.”

Chen Zhenhai immediately realized something was wrong and pressed for an answer: "What kind of businessman?"

"We can't explain it either. They claim to be Qiang people and are very generous with money."

Chen Zhenhai examined their copper coins carefully; they were all genuine Daye Tongbao coins, not counterfeit.

It seems these merchants' goal was pig iron.

(End of this chapter)