Chapter 303 All nations come to court
The twenty-first year of Li Yuan.

Zhao Xin conducted a survey of all places outside the Song Dynasty.

There is no need to say much about the entire East Asian region today.

That is Japan, there is still a small war.

As for Ryukyu, we need to be on guard against the indigenous people on the local islands.

The entire East Asian region can now be said to be quite peaceful and stable.

It is no exaggeration to say that it is the most peaceful and stable region in the world today.

Yes!

This is not bragging at all.

Because at this moment, there is war everywhere in the world.

For example…

Southeast Asia.

A war was going on between Champa and Chenla.

Since Jiaozhi was conquered, Champa could no longer attack Jiaozhi.

Maybe the main reason is that I really can’t beat him.

Then let’s fight our neighbor to the west, Zhenla!
As for why they are fighting…

All I can say is that the hatred has probably been going on for hundreds of years. Anyway, it is meaningless to tell who is right or wrong at this moment.

In short, the current situation is that Champa and Chenla are at war.

at the same time……

From Southeast Asia to India, that is, South Asia, we have sent people to conduct a thorough investigation over the years.

I also have a basic understanding of some of the situations from Southeast Asia to South Asia.

Nowadays, the sea routes from Southeast Asia to India are basically controlled by a country called Chola.

in fact……

Countries like these in Southeast Asia and South Asia have a long history of exchanges with the Song Dynasty.

only……

The ancients did not know how to draw maps, and some of them could draw, but their drawings were not standard.

This also means that even if the other party’s envoy has come to you, you don’t feel anything at all.

after all……

There is a guy on the opposite side who speaks bird language and tells you that my country is called Chola.

Then you have no idea what this Zhu Luo is.

Even if the other party tells you how many days the boat ride will take, it is difficult for you to have an accurate idea of ​​where the other party is.

but……

Now Zhao Xin roughly knows what Zhu Luo’s situation is like.

The Chola Kingdom actually corresponds to the entire southern part of India.

Now it is said that a strip of area to the east of India must be added.

In fact, if Zhao Xin were to look through the records of the Song Dynasty’s tribute from sixty or seventy years ago.

It can be roughly known that Zhu Luo did send people to the Song Dynasty.

Even ten years before Zhao Xin was born, for two or three years, his father discovered that the amount of spices sent as tribute from foreign countries seemed to have decreased.

This was because the Chola were at war with Srivijaya at the time.

Moreover, Chola must have severely defeated Srivijaya at that time.

As for who you are talking about Srivijaya, who is it?

Based on some clues, Zhao Xin speculated that it should be a country or force that controls the Strait of Malacca.

Srivijaya was very arrogant in those days. Anyone who passed by them had to pay them protection fees.

If anyone refuses to pay, they will teach the other person a lesson.

Perhaps it was because of this that Zhu Luo could not stand it anymore and went directly from India to defeat the other side.

Even today, the former prosperity has not yet recovered.

After the Chola conquered Srivijaya, the local area entered a period of war and chaos for quite a long time.

The main thing is that there are many forces in that place.

Now that this group of dragons is leaderless, naturally all the forces will come out to fight for the throne.

This also led to Srivijaya becoming even more devastated.

even……

If ordinary people go there, their lives might be in danger.

After all, the world is so chaotic.

Good thing…

When they heard that the visitor was an envoy from the Song Dynasty, these Southeast Asian people all gave the Song Dynasty some face.

It’s not that the Song Dynasty is so powerful, but as the largest buyer of their spices and other goods, there is no reason for you to beat the buyers.

Who will they make money from then on?

After the two sides met, they had an in-depth exchange.

On the Song Dynasty side, the main focus is to understand the situation in Southeast Asian countries.

As for Srivijaya…

What they were more concerned about was the issue of tribute.

As we all know, paying tribute is equivalent to doing business.

Moreover…the officials of the Song Dynasty would often bestow them with more rewards.

As for what you said about becoming a vassal of the Song Dynasty?
Being granted an official title by the Song Dynasty or something.

Be reasonable!
These things are useless.

It’s just a passport for doing business.

When it comes to interests, let alone becoming a vassal of the Song Dynasty, even if the Song Dynasty asked them to call them father, they would consider it, but… it would probably cost extra money.

The twenty-first year of Li Yuan.

Countries in Southeast Asia sent envoys to Youzhou City to discuss business with Zhao Xin.

This delegation, which stretched for several miles, also stunned the people of the Song Dynasty.

Some people even came to send elephants.

Be reasonable!
Don’t give away things like elephants.

Big and useless.

At that time, his father asked Champa not to send it.

and……

These people brought so many “gifts”, it was obvious that they wanted to cheat Zhao Xin.

Because they all knew that Zhao Xin would definitely give them double the gift in return.

Zhao Xin asked someone to receive these people.

at the same time……

Sima Guang also suggested that in the future, the number of diplomatic envoys should be limited, with each country or force only needing to send seventy to eighty people at most.

Otherwise, if each of them brought thousands or tens of thousands of kilograms of various spices, it would cause trouble to the finances of the Song Dynasty.

After all, according to convention, this return gift is usually paid for from the court’s finances.

Zhao Xin also agreed with Sima Guang.

Tell them not to bring things like elephants anymore.

As for spices and the like, you can bring them, but don’t bring too much.

after all……

The imperial court really didn’t have much money to buy all these things at once.

of course!

Zhao Xi conquered Japan and seized a lot of gold and silver. Now all this gold and silver has been moved back to Zhao Xin.

Anyway, this gold and silver can’t be eaten, so just give it to them as a return gift.

The other party was also very happy when they saw Zhao Xin directly take out gold and silver and give them.

The main thing is that gold and silver are hard currency no matter where they are in the world.

only……

Is this weight a bit wrong?

After all, I used to give more.

just now……

At best, it can only be considered equal.

Zhao Xin seemed to have seen through their doubts and said, “The Song Dynasty is not very wealthy right now, so we can only give this much. In fact, compared to these, I think that negotiating a good deal is the most important thing.”

When Sima Guang heard this, he didn’t expect that Zhao Xin could be so pragmatic.

He originally thought that Zhao Xin might be like Emperor Yang of Sui, pretending to be rich and giving people free food and drinks along the way.

Then…

Zhao Xin then asked everyone about their various products and their output.

Don’t let trade make spices worthless.

In fact…

Nowadays, the spices of the Song Dynasty have actually depreciated a little bit.

Of course, fortunately, the depreciation is not that much.

Many people think that the spice market will never be fully developed.

In fact, it is not the case. It is just like the Ming Dynasty used pepper to pay salaries, but in the later period, pepper was no longer valuable.

Zhao Xin still hopes that a healthier market and prices can be maintained.

Otherwise, by then, you would have to sell three times more spices to make up for twice as much as before, and that would be meaningless.

of course!

If it comes to that, the price of spices will be reduced to one-third of their original price.

This will allow more people in the Song Dynasty to achieve spice freedom.

But the problem is…

As for spices, whether they are free or not doesn’t seem to mean much.

What Zhao Xin actually wanted to accomplish was to allow all the people of Song Dynasty to have freedom of having white rice.

But this is different from spices. If you use today’s ships to transport grain, you will definitely lose money.

After all, the price of a pound of spices is now at least one guan (1.27 guan or 2.77 guan) for the cheapest ones, and dozens or even thousands of guan (1.27 guan or 2.77 guan) for the most expensive ones.

And the price of a pound of rice is probably only worth a few cents at most.

This is at least a hundred times the price difference.

Only a fool would use a boat to transport rice.

(End of this chapter)