hsntnovel Chapter 2769 introduces Malacca.
Chapter 2769 introduces Malacca.
The craftsman stared at the writing on the ground for a long time, not daring to speak, nor did he dare to look at Li Shen's questioning gaze.
They were all craftsmen from Prince Ji's residence. Prince Ji was known for his unpredictable temper, and offending him would be disastrous for them.
However, looking at the words written on the ground, they were stumped again.
It's not that they're afraid of difficulties, it's that they simply can't carve them.
There were two small, round black ink blots on the ground. The two characters were written in a flamboyant, exaggerated style, and to be honest, neither of the two craftsmen could make out what they meant.
Li Shimin also came over to take a look. Based on his years of experience appreciating cursive script, and the fact that he knew what characters they were,
After making my own connections, I gradually realized that the two characters should be "黑州无异".
With a "thud," a kick was delivered, causing Li Shen to stumble.
"You worthless wretch, what is this you've written?" Li Shimin roared.
“Heizhou,” Li Shen replied, sounding aggrieved after being kicked.
"You've written 'Heizhou' on those two characters?" Li Shimin asked with disdain.
"Tenth brother, what kind of handwriting is this? I started my education at the age of three and began reading the Analects at the age of five. In my more than twenty years of studying, I have never seen such a... handwriting."
Li Chengqian deliberated for a long time before giving Li Shen a high-class name, which he called "font".
Otherwise, he would have thought that what kind of bullshit was written.
Even a three-year-old's writing would be more legible than this.
"You don't know anything. This is cursive script, a style of its own, and it will be very valuable in the future."
Li Shen, feeling deeply discouraged, said with dissatisfaction.
"Wild cursive...style?" Changsun Wuji walked over, glanced down at it, but didn't seem to curse it out. Wasn't this just a pile of shit?
No wonder the craftsmen found it difficult to work with; the characters were repeated and connected, making it impossible to discern what the characters were if they were carved out, and it was easy to end up with a hole.
"Hehe, His Highness Prince Ji is indeed extraordinary. This hand... this cursive script is truly unique and original."
This is truly unprecedented and will surely be remembered for generations to come.
Changsun Wuji chuckled twice, then launched into a tirade of praise, making Li Shen a little embarrassed.
"Hahaha, you flatter me, you flatter me! Uncle is indeed my confidant."
Li Shen put his hands on his hips, looked up at the sky, and laughed loudly.
Although Changsun Wuji was somewhat cunning, he was quite accomplished in calligraphy and wrote beautiful characters.
"Fuji, stop flattering me like that. I could write this character better with my feet."
"I think it's better if you, Fuji, write it," Li Shimin said unhappily, somewhat annoyed by Li Shen's smug look.
"Your Majesty, this old minister will not embarrass himself by showing off his calligraphy skills," Changsun Wuji bowed and declined.
“Fuji, how could I not know your courtesy name?” Li Shimin said with a smile.
“Your Majesty, this old minister is not qualified to write these words. Why not let His Highness the Crown Prince write them?” Changsun Wuji still shook his head and refused.
If Li Chengqian hadn't been there, he might have had the guts, but with the Crown Prince present, there was no way he could be the second one.
Li Shimin nodded after hearing this:
"Alright, someone wipe away the ink, Gao Ming, you can write it now."
Then, right in front of Li Shen, disregarding Li Shen's pain, he erased the two characters Li Shen had written. Then Li Chengqian picked up a pen and wrote the two characters "Heizhou" on the ground in the same flying white style.
Although both are written in the "flying white" style, their different writing techniques each have their own merits.
"Excellent calligraphy, excellent calligraphy indeed! Your Highness is busy with official duties all day long, yet you still find time to practice calligraphy. This old minister is truly impressed."
Xu Jingzong shouted, his expression a mixture of surprise, admiration, and flattery.
"Yes, His Highness the Crown Prince's handwriting is very similar to His Majesty's; he must have inherited His Majesty's true skills."
Changsun Wuji nodded with a smile.
When the others came over and saw the words, they also offered a few words of praise, completely ignoring the injured Li Shen standing to the side.
Li Shen felt as if his heart was bleeding, because not a single person appreciated his masterpiece.
He secretly vowed to show these people that his calligraphy was worth a fortune.
The craftsman then squatted down and began carving characters. The material on the ground looked like copper, but it was actually an alloy mixed with copper.
Carving characters with ordinary iron chisels is extremely difficult, so Li Shen specially made several harder alloy chisels for this purpose.
"Continue." Watching the craftsmen at work, Li Shimin spoke to Li Shen again. Li Shen now desperately wanted to throw down the stick and turn away.
He wanted to ignore those old fogies forever, but he didn't dare.
So he could only continue explaining to everyone with the stick in hand. He first explained the general situation of Heizhou, and then led everyone back to the Tang Dynasty and headed south.
"Father, this is the South China Sea, this is Guangzhou Prefecture, which is also an important port of our Great Tang Dynasty."
This is Yazhou. South of Yazhou, there's an island where only some indigenous people and a few people like us who fled there live.
This is the main point I wanted to make.
Li Shen drew a line along the coast with a stick:
"Ladies and gentlemen, maritime transport has developed rapidly in recent years, and what I just drew is the basic route of maritime transport."
Everyone, look here. See that? There's a sea route here, which I call the Strait of Malacca.
This is the only route for most imperial edicts. If you don't want to go this way, you have to go around to the south of Srivijaya and pass through Java. Not only is the journey long, but there may also be other risks involved.
From a financial perspective, this waterway can bring us a continuous stream of wealth.
From a military perspective, this is the only way to attack us.
As long as we hold this place, no country here, including all the countries here, will be able to attack us from the sea.
But we can go and plunder them.”
Li Shen tapped the stick hard. During the Age of Exploration, the Strait of Malacca was a very important place.
It was occupied successively by Britain, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Japan, with each country occupying it for more than a century.
Their primary objective in occupying this area was to gain access to it.
Li Shen planned to strike first and seize Malacca for himself.
"Your Highness Prince Ji, you're not planning to conquer this place again, are you?"
Changsun Wuji looked at the entire map. If the map was accurate, then what Prince Ji said was indeed reasonable.
That waterway is geographically very important; it is the only way to the Tang Dynasty. If we can take control of it, we can prevent many villains from entering.
Li Shen shook his head:
"No, no, no, the imperial court doesn't need to send troops. I want to talk about something else."
To be frank, I have built a city here, a very large port city. I wonder if the imperial court is interested.
"What do you mean?" Li Shimin frowned, seeing that Li Shen seemed to want to make a deal with the court.
"Reporting to Father, the city is almost finished, but it lacks defensive capabilities, so I want to sell it to the imperial court."
I wonder if Aye and the others would be interested in acquiring it?
Li Shen smiled.
(It's early today.)