Late Tang Dynasty: I

Chapter 357 Treaty Port
The imperial court has more than 70 powerful soldiers. These soldiers are all soldiers who survived the struggle for hegemony among the vassals. They have a collection of famous generals, all of whom have left their names in history.

His Majesty the Emperor is also worried that without the training of war, these soldiers will lose their combat power bit by bit due to singing and dancing after many years.

The Yushan guards reported that they had explored the North Sea as far north as possible. This name once stimulated Li Ye.

This is the place where Suwu herded sheep. It was later called Lake Baikal, the largest freshwater lake in the world. It is still a no-owner’s land.

But even if these places are conquered, they will have to build cities and garrison troops. It is not enough to have a small number of troops. At least 3 to [-] horses must be stationed!

How much supplies would it cost to transport 3 to [-] horses from Bianjing to Lake Baikal? It would be equivalent to traveling across the entire Tang Dynasty. There was no water transport, so it could only be transported by land. The loss of people eating horse chews would be enough to transport two or three shi from a hundred shi of grain. That's amazing.

In addition, these places are frozen for four to five months of the year. If there is any interference from foreigners along the way, it is impossible to realize it.

In the Northeast, there is a Balhae Kingdom and a Silla Kingdom. His Majesty the Emperor is not easy to deal with. Both countries sent envoys to pay tribute last month. The Silla Kingdom's envoys have to be ranked above the Bohae Kingdom's envoys. The Bohae Kingdom is unwilling, and the lawsuit is raging. When we arrived at Dali Temple, His Majesty the Emperor made a holy judgment, and the Bohai Kingdom came first.

These two countries cannot use troops, but His Majesty the Emperor has a way. If they cannot use troops, then they can set up ports for trade.

Li Ye sent people to discuss with the envoys to allocate a piece of land at the mouth of the four major rivers of the Korean Peninsula: Yalu River, Doman River, Han River, and Nakdong River as distribution centers for Tang Dynasty merchants.

A piece of land was also designated at the mouth of the Liaohe River and Heilongjiang in the Bohai Kingdom, which also served as a distribution center for Datang merchants.

At this time, Bianjing in the Tang Dynasty was already fully prosperous. The population of wealthy households from Hebei and Jiangnan gave Bianjing an innate advantage that other cities did not have from the beginning, that is, wealth.

Thanks to the convenient water transportation, all merchants from all over the world gathered in Bianjing.

Compared with Chang'an, His Majesty the Emperor canceled the walls between the various squares. Bianjing, which was more than [-] miles long, was integrated internally. The emperor issued an edict to cancel the curfew and other restrictions in Bianjing. Closes at midnight and opens at midnight.

In the commercial street of Tong'anfang, food from the north and south are lined up from the street to the end of the alley.

The shouts of the acrobats on the edge of Dongmen Bridge can be heard for miles.

At the Nanmen Waterside Pier, there were many merchants coming and going, some of whom were stocking the warehouse, and some of whom were moving goods outside the warehouse.

On the water, thousands of sailboats were loaded with goods, and the warehouses were filled to the brim with grain and cloth.

Da Zamba, the prince of Bohai, and Jin Yanbo, the prince of Silla, saw the prosperity of Bianjing for the first time.

They also hope that cheap cloth from the Tang Dynasty can be shipped to their country.

But setting up a treaty port? This has never happened before.

"The Tang Dynasty needs a land with a radius of twenty miles. We will send a small number of soldiers to protect our caravan. The reason why we chose the outlet of the river is to facilitate the transportation of your caravan!"

"This place is jointly managed by both of us. Except for the salaries of officials and soldiers, the Tang Dynasty will not take a penny from the taxes. All taxes will be given to your king."

And so on!

The only thing I'm worried about is the garrison.

"As many troops as China wants to station at the port, our country can also send troops to protect the merchants of China!"

Du Rangneng smiled and said: "There are only a thousand troops stationed at the port to catch illegal traders. You and them do not understand the language, so it is still inconvenient." Jin Yanbo said: "Prime Minister of the Celestial Dynasty, please tolerate me. I want to ask, in order to protect the Tang Dynasty’s port, we from Silla also sent a thousand soldiers and horses to station, what do you think?”

Du Rangneng said: "I want to report this to Your Majesty. In order to facilitate management, Datang wants to build cities in these places. Please report to your king!"

"If Silla soldiers can be stationed in the city, I think I can represent Silla and agree to the request of the Celestial Empire!"

The talks with Silla went very smoothly, but on the Bohai side, Da Zamba still thought it would be best to let the Bohai caravan come directly to Datang to buy.

"Prince Zamba, our goods can be transported by sea to the mouth of the Liaojiang River in a month at most. How long will it take if we use land?"

Da Zamba shook his head and said: "Impossible. There are thousands of miles of sea route from here to Bohai Country. How can it be so fast!"

Du Rangneng smiled and said: "How can it be impossible? The goods are not transported from Bianjing. The Tang Dynasty has a vast territory and rich products. It only takes a thousand miles to go to the sea from Mizhou and travel with the wind, and it can be reached in more than ten days!"

"This……"

"A piece of silk cloth from the Tang Dynasty costs only [-] yuan, and the price of cotton cloth is only half. Cotton is a good thing to keep out the cold. His Majesty the Emperor pities you for living in a bitter cold place. Why doesn't the eldest prince know the etiquette? If you don't want to, the emperor Don’t force me, please come back!”

Du Renneng is not playing hard-to-get, he really doesn’t want to talk to them. The Kingdom of Heaven has a natural psychological advantage over these barbarian countries. This is a gift from the Emperor to you. I’m giving you face. Well, how dare you still be picky.

Cotton-padded clothes are undoubtedly a hot commodity that sells well at home and abroad. They are many times warmer than shoddy fox fur coats, but the price is as follows. You can buy a cotton-padded coat in Bianjing for only [-] yuan, which is several times cheaper than fox fur coats.

Do you want it? Of course you do.

"Then why are we garrisoned?"

"Hundreds of thousands of pieces of silk and tens of thousands of shi of other goods worth millions of guan. These people all cashed their tickets. If the goods were robbed, Datang Bank will lose millions of guan. This huge amount of money, Can we rest assured if there are no troops stationed?"

"..."

Think about it, Da Zamba. With only 1000 troops, what can they do?
"The matter of building the city must also be discussed. You need to gather the people and prepare the materials for building the city. When the time comes, officials will return home with you. After the site is selected, the supervisors of the Tang Dynasty will be responsible for building the city. The city will be five miles long. Five miles wide and five feet high, I think it’s a regulation!”

"Such a big city would require tens of thousands of people to build it. The Bohai Sea is so remote that the country may not be able to support it!"

"The Tang Dynasty can provide food, and there will be rewards for the craftsmen who build the city."

"So good!"

The two parties signed a contract, and as long as they went back, stamped the seal of the other party's leader, and exchanged credentials, the matter would be settled.

His Majesty the Emperor did not expect that this matter would go so smoothly. They never thought that if they stationed a thousand troops and horses now, they would be able to station 3 or [-] troops next time. If the inland river port was blocked, their ships would not be able to get out, and The ships of the Tang Dynasty could reach their capital along the inland rivers.

"Your Majesty, why do you spend so much effort to benefit these small foreign countries?"

Du Rangneng didn't understand why Datang did this without paying taxes.

His Majesty the Emperor smiled and said: "My favor has extended far and wide, and these small foreign countries are, after all, my subjects!"

(End of this chapter)