Chapter 1757: Liangping Island

Nearly seven thousand li from the Eastern Capital, at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, lies Pulau Ujong Island.

To be precise, Pulau Ujong—a name with a long history—had already become a thing of the past. After Guo Liangping led an invasion last year, fought a battle against Srivijaya, and successfully took the island, he renamed it Liangping.

Many court officials found Guo Liangping's self-aggrandizing behavior hard to stomach, considering it arrogant and overbearing. Of course, there was no small measure of jealousy and sour grapes mixed in.

After all, who doesn't want to leave their name in the annals of history? But in the vast records of history, only a few manage to leave a lasting legacy, and making a deep impression is even harder.

And what had Guo Liangping done to deserve this? He merely led the South Seas Navy in an armed exercise, bullying a small barbarian state. Even carving a stone stele to record his merits could be accepted—there was precedent for such traditions—but naming conquered territory after himself seemed rather ostentatious.

In fact, after submitting his memorial, Guo Liangping had some regrets, feeling it was inappropriate. He had been goaded into losing his composure by his subordinates' urgings. Fortunately, the outcome was favorable—when Emperor Liu learned of the matter, he paid it no mind and responded that since the territory was won by the man himself, naming it after him was only reasonable.

The man had braved the waves, risked his life venturing into the South Seas, and expanded the realm's territory—rewarding him with a name was only fitting. Not only did the naming pass muster, but the court subsequently established a county there, encompassing the entire island, the strait, and numerous surrounding islets and reefs.

This was the Great Han's second overseas territory after Liuqiu; the first was Jeju Island, taken from Goryeo. And without question, this was the Great Han's most distant territory.

At the same time, this signified that, building on years of exploration, the Great Han's development of the South Seas had advanced further—no longer stopping at establishing outposts and managing trade, but formally establishing an administrative system. This was a notable milestone, heralding a deeper and larger-scale movement into the South Seas. Prince Yong, Liu Chenghsun's southern inspection tour was itself a sign of the prevailing trend.

Liangping Island was not large, but its position was indeed excellent—situated at the strategic chokepoint for east-west passage, with abundant port resources. Even before the Han people invaded, it had been a prosperous place; merely by taxing the merchant ships passing between east and west, Srivijaya had extracted enormous wealth from it.

One could say that the Great Han's overbearing might, seizing by force, was literally cutting flesh from Srivijaya's body. But might makes right—if you can't win, you can't win.

However, as it turned out, when it came to management ability, these South Seas natives were utterly incomparable to the Han. In just over a year, Liangping Island underwent earth-shaking changes—more prosperous, and more orderly.

As the Great Han's first and only territory in the South Seas with an established administrative system, it naturally drew Han merchants and settlers from across the South Seas flocking to it. Besides its inherent function as a transit hub, it was also the place with the most security.

After all, there were government offices and soldiers here, with the South Seas Fleet stationed long-term. Consequently, large numbers of Han merchants and settlers who had succeeded in venturing south began purchasing land and property here, using it as a base of operations.

And for the Han settlers still continuously streaming south from the mainland, most chose Liangping Island as their first stop before planning further development. In just over a year, Liangping Island's new population exceeded ten thousand, most of them Han. The entire island's population now surpassed forty thousand.

The first county magistrate of Liangping County was named Liu Shaoping, one of the earliest batch to venture into the South Seas. Of course, as a position registered with the Ministry of Personnel, it wasn't something just anyone could hold. The reason this man was chosen was that he was a clansman of the Liu clan of Quanzhou.

And the Quanzhou Liu clan, beginning with Liu Congxiao, the former Military Governor of Zhangzhou and Quanzhou, had submitted to the court. Even when internal strife later broke out and Chen Hongjin seized power, after reunification, Emperor Liu, mindful of the Liu clan's loyalty and obedience, treated them quite well.

Liu Congxiao's son Liu Shaoci was first enfeoffed as Duke of Zhang, then later granted the title Marquis of Yongchun, thoroughly cementing their status as nobles of the Great Han. Among all the surrendered ministers and rulers, their treatment wasn't the best, but their life was the most comfortable. (There was one who lived even more carefree—Guangtong Marquis Liu Chang, whom people called "the modern Ah Dou.")

The Liu clan had long been a prominent family in the Zhangzhou-Quanzhou region. With this connection, combined with Liu Shaoping's status as a leader among South Seas Han merchants, and with Guo Liangping's support, his appointment as the first county magistrate was only natural.

For Liu Shaoping, this was also a rare opportunity. He was only a collateral branch of the Liu clan, without even direct blood ties to Liu Congxiao's brothers. Back in the homeland, he would have had little chance of becoming a court-appointed official. And compared to the mainland, in Liangping County he was a veritable local emperor, holding the power of life and death without even needing to consult the capital—though there was no means to do so anyway.

For Liu Shaoping, who was skilled at commerce, governing a county came easily—indeed, it was even simpler. The place was in a stage of wild growth; there was no need to civilize the populace, encourage farming and sericulture, or even worry about the people's hardships. Everything was geared toward profit and commerce, and this was his specialty.

Liangping Island had dozens of rivers, none of them large, but they nourished the land nonetheless. The largest was no more than ten li long, running from north to south through the entire island, and was named the "Yongji River" by the county government. The current was gentle, the channel winding and meandering, making it convenient for loading and unloading cargo.

Consequently, the river-mouth port was the first area to develop, and it was currently Liangping Island's largest and most prosperous harbor, still undergoing expansion. After Liu Shaoping took office, he carried out a large-scale reorganization of the port, and along both riverbanks, shops and warehouses sprouted up like bamboo shoots after rain.

There was never a shortage of labor here—though of course, the noble Han masters wouldn't do the work themselves; they were more occupied with commercial activities and serving as overseers. Natives were everywhere on the various islands; just grab a few, whip them, and they'd work. The county government only needed to pay out some cheap copper coins, or sometimes nothing at all. Over the past year or more, beneath every new building on Liangping Island lay the bones of South Seas natives.

Within the harbor, masts and sails always stood thick as a forest—both Western sailing ships and Eastern seagoing vessels shuttled back and forth in an endless stream. At the same time, a South Seas squadron was permanently stationed in the harbor, serving as the greatest armed protection for the Han merchants and settlers.

However, due to the chaos of shared military-civilian use and the increasing pressure from growing numbers of merchant ships, Liangping County was already planning to open a new port with dock facilities. The initial target was Longyakou at the island's southern tip—a natural deep-water harbor with excellent geography, capable of accommodating larger and more numerous ships.

July was the height of the southwest monsoon season, and every year at this time was Liangping Island's busiest period, as large numbers of Western merchant ships arrived laden with goods. Based on experience, setting sail from Persia and riding the monsoon across the Sea of the Arabs, one could arrive in a month.

Merchants from Persia, India, and elsewhere brought not only goods and commodities but also exotic customs and flavors. Under Han management, Liangping Island had become an exchange hub for east-west trade.

Many Western merchants chose to trade on the spot with Han merchants who controlled abundant resources. Of course, there were also plenty who were curious about the Eastern Empire and sought greater profits—they only paused briefly to replenish food and water before continuing north along the established sea routes to trade on the mainland.

But the prosperity of Liangping Port did owe a debt to those Western merchants; they were the carriers of east-west commercial exchange.