Fang Kai swallowed a glass of wine and smacked his lips: "I don't know how many wines in the world, only the wine on the county marquis's mansion has a strong taste, which is the real wine, and the others are just water, and a little bit of wine is the best quality." ”

Liu Xin looked at Fang Kai and said disdainfully: "Wine is good wine, but you drink like a cow, it's like a cow chewing a peony, and it's wasted." Drinking should learn from Han Zhigui, drink slowly in small sips, and taste carefully to get the taste. ”

"If you can't get enough wine, how do you know it's good wine?"

Fang Kai is the number one drunkard among these people, where will Liu Xin be squeezed out, without finishing a sentence, he has another drink.

Spirits are spirits in the end, and they can't be drunk with great pride, and no matter how large the amount of alcohol is, half a bottle of wine should be dizzy. You must know that the most popular at this time is the two-liter large bottle, and one-liter small bottles are rare, unlike Xu Ping's previous life, a bottle of wine is less than one liter in this era.

Because the wine bottle was inconvenient, Xu Ping specially commissioned someone to burn several sets of wine vessels in Ruzhou, including small wine glasses and larger wine warmers, which slowly became popular in Kaifeng City.

Wang Gongchen was in charge of warming the wine at the next head, and before the wine was hot, Liu Xin and Fang Kai had already eaten two glasses. They are all much older than Wang Gongchen, and they are familiar with each other, and they don't look at Wang Gongchen differently, and they are very comfortable.

After a while, the wine was warmed, and Wang Gongchen got up and poured it full for everyone. If it is usually a doctor who drinks at home, these hand-breaking jobs should have been done by the servants and maids, Xu Ping has no courtesans at home, and there is no reason to find a small servant to pour wine, Wang Gongchen, who is the youngest, will take it over, and he is also comfortable eating and drinking when he has nothing to do.

After three rounds of wine, Xu Ping said to Wang Bin: "Since Pang Alcohol arrived in Yongzhou to raise the cane sugar, this year's cane sugar harvest is much greater than in previous years, and no matter how low the price is, I am afraid that it will not be sold out." Although sucrose is not afraid of backlog, but with Langzhou, it is more suitable for planting sugarcane, and the sucrose behind is only afraid that it will be more than a year, so it is not a way to backlog. ”

Wang Bin put down his wine glass and said, "What does the deputy envoy think?" ”

"Since I was in Yongzhou two years ago, I have been sending some white sugar down the Yujiang River every year to Guangzhou and selling it overseas through the city's shipping company. Last year, Guangzhou exported 800,000 yuan, and the profit was considerable. It's just that the waterways of the South China Sea are restless, and most of the ships are operated by Persian Hu merchants, and the number of exports cannot be increased in a hurry. Your family is also influential in Goryeo, you might as well find a way to sell some to Goryeo this year, Myeongju to Goryeo Sea Road is convenient, I heard that the wind only takes two or three days to arrive. In this way, our sugar will have more sales, and your family will be able to earn some interest by distributing white sugar in Goryeo. ”

According to the knowledge of his previous life, Xu Ping naturally knew that Europe and Central Asia were the big consumers of sugar, but now the sea route was controlled by the Persians, and they also had a source of Indian sugar, so they were willing to help the Great Song Dynasty sell sugar. Xu Ping's identity is limited, and he can't manage so far, so he can only expand his sales channels and fight the idea of Goryeo and Japan in the northeast.

During the Dao period, Goryeo changed the Khitan to Zhengshuo, and in fact had broken off contact with the Song Dynasty. Japan was even more desperate, since the Anshi Rebellion of the Tang Dynasty, the sea was forbidden and commerce was restricted, not only did it have no political exchanges with the Central Plains Dynasty, but even commerce and personnel exchanges were strictly restricted, and it was in a state of isolation. Due to Japan's "ban on purchases" and restrictions on the frequency of travel by Song Dynasty merchants, it was very troublesome to trade there. At least, Goryeo did not restrict trade, and Wang Bin's family was a big bureaucrat and businessman there, so Xu Ping wanted to open a gap from Goryeo, and if the road was smooth, it could be sold to Japan in a roundabout way.

Diplomacy is a reflection of national strength, and if national strength cannot be improved, foreign trade will be subject to many restrictions. If the Great Song Dynasty was able to win a few big battles against the Khitan, or even recover the sixteen states of Yanyun, the attitude of the surrounding small countries would inevitably change immediately.

However, now that Xu Ping's identity is the deputy envoy of salt and iron, he can only think about those things, and it is not his turn to take care of them, and no one will listen to what he says. People should do what kind of things they should do in what position, and it is good to have the world in mind, and it is annoying if it is not in place.

Wang Bin thought for a while and said: "What the deputy envoy said, things are good, but I have not been in contact with my family for many years, and I don't know what the situation is in Goryeo for a while. It's better to be like this, the envoys of Goryeo are still in the capital and have not returned, so how about I ask them to bring a letter back to their families, and then reply to the deputy envoy when there is a response? ”

"That's the best."

Xu Ping nodded in agreement, took the cup and continued to drink.

Putting down the wine glass, Uncle Cao Ying said: "Speaking of trade with Goryeo, Mizhou officials have always wanted to set up a city and ship department in them, not only to Goryeo, but also to take Jingdong Road for goods from the south to the north, so it is better to do it together." ”

"This matter can also be discussed, and when the white sugar is sold to Goryeo, it is indeed more convenient there."

Xu Ping had also heard of this proposal, but because there was only one country in Korea, Japan's trade was greatly restricted, and it was never implemented. Mizhou and Goryeo face each other across the sea, the wind direction is right, you can reach it in a day or two, and you can indeed set up a city and a shipping company. In addition, Jingdong Road and Kaifeng Mansion have Wuzhang River communication, Cao transport is convenient, Nanyang goods can be along the sea road to Mizhou, and then turn to Wuzhang River water transport, than in Guangzhou to go ashore to the north land transport time and labor.

It is a pity that there is no special transportation management department in this era, although there are shipping cases under the Du Branch, but it is mainly in charge of several canals through the Beijing Division, and the world's transportation is not within their scope of responsibility. As for the post roads and delivery shops all over the world, they were under the Privy Council, mainly in charge of the transmission of military information and official correspondence, as well as the personal correspondence of officials.

Although Xu Ping has the heart to focus on this aspect, it has nothing to do with his salt and iron division for the time being, and he is powerless.

mentioned the sugar business in Yongzhou, and several people here were interested, and you discussed the situation in Yonglang Road at this time. It is a hot spot of this era, and there is a lot of news.

At this time, Shi Yannian had also arrived in Langzhou to take up his post and assisted in the rapid expansion of the sugar industry to the south. When Xu Ping was there, it had already expanded to the first line of Pingxiangtong and Menzhou, and after last year, it was expanded to Langzhou. This is why sugar production is expected to increase on a large scale this year, not only in a good year, but also in a much larger place.

And with the construction of the road, the cane sugar business will be extended to the northern part of Cochin, where the local officials have been changed from the previous jurisdiction of Thang Long Province to the jurisdiction of Lang Chau.

Fan Yan completely lost the opportunity to stay in the capital, and finally went to Yongzhou to take office with peace of mind. A group of members of the Dongzhou Yi Party who were originally depressed went to Yonglang Road to follow Fan Yi and Shi Yannian, in order to make meritorious contributions. These were originally characters who gathered in the mountains and forests every day, rode horses and danced swords, and wanted to serve the frontier, but they just had the opportunity to go to the southwest frontier to show their ambitions against a group of small people.

Although today's Yongzhou is not as solidly developed as when Xu Ping was there, it is more lively. The once arrogant Jiaozhi has now become fat, and whoever goes there to be an official can get a lot of credit back.

At the beginning, the officials of Yong Langlu shirked not taking office, and now they are going to go. At this time, it was easy to brush up on the achievements of the civil society by increasing the household registration and increasing the money and food, and there was no one around the military and government that could be beaten, and it was simply a lot of credit for the officials to pick up everywhere. Moreover, with the increase in population, the miasma that makes people smell and change has basically disappeared, and the biggest obstacle has been eliminated, which is already a blessed land for low-level officials in the Great Song Dynasty.

Talking about Yongzhou, Xu Ping couldn't help but miss the days at that time. Although you are a little lonely in a distant foreign land, you can come according to your own ideas, change the world there, and recreate a new world.

When I was in Lingnan, I thought about going back to Beijing every day, and when I returned to the capital, I missed the life at that time. However, this unsatisfied heart is the driving force that supports oneself to keep moving forward.

Unconsciously, a bottle of wine went down, and the stale wine was strong, and the six people present all had a slight sense of alcohol.

At this moment, the servant who was guarding the door outside came in to report: "Official, there is a foreign man outside, who said that he is a soldier of the Jianchang Army on Jiangxi Road, named Li Ji, who once met the official in Yongzhou. ”

Li Jing? Xu Ping couldn't help but think of the young man who saw him off on a rainy night when he left. Alas, he said he was a young man, but in fact, Li Jing was a year older than himself. That's right, when the course starts this spring, it's time for him to take the Jinshi exam.

"Quick, quick, please let him in!"

If it weren't for so many colleagues sitting next to him, Xu Ping really wanted to go out. Seriously, it's been ten years since I came to this world, but this one Li Ji is not because he has made something new, established any achievements, or become a high-ranking official to respect and follow him. He was in Yongzhou to seriously study his own administrative measures, what kind of effects these measures had brought, and how they had changed the fate of many people, and he was willing to call himself a student in front of him.

It is often said that it is enough to know everything in life, Xu Ping has traveled through thousands of years, how can he not cherish it if he can meet people who understand him in this era?

In a moment, the servant led a young man in.

Li Ji still looked like Xu Ping when he went to Yongzhou, wearing a half-new green robe, full of wind and dust, and even there was still an old oil-paper umbrella on his back, and he didn't know if it was the one back then.

In front of Xu Ping, Li Jing gave a deep salute: "Student Li Jing, I have seen the marquis." ”

Xu Ping got up, hugged Li Jing's shoulder and said, "No need to be polite. Come, come, I'll introduce you, all of you here are my colleagues, you can ask for more advice. ”

Among the few people present, Wang Gongchen is the champion of the upper department, Liu Xin and Han Qi are both top leaders, Xu Ping himself is also a first-class Jinshi of Tanhua in the fifth year of Tiansheng, and the other Fang Kai, Cao Yingshu and Wang Bin, although the ranking of the imperial examination is not high, but they have been in the department for many years, and the official sea has been up and down for more than ten years. In the face of Li Jing, a jinshi who has not yet entered the department, he is naturally a senior.

Li Jing stepped forward to salute one by one, and everyone looked at Xu Ping's face and responded kindly. (To be continued.) )