Han Shizu

Chapter 2043 The Last Journey 14
After arriving in Guangzhou, the old emperor spent three days getting familiar with the local climate conditions, and then he realized the scenery of Panyu. Even though the old emperor felt tired and had inconvenience in his legs and feet, he still visited what was necessary, even if it was just for a show.

People of the older generation know that Panyu City today is completely different from the city it was 30 years ago. In the past 30 years, everything from urban infrastructure to urban culture has undergone earth-shaking changes.

The most intuitive one is the change in city scale.A hundred years ago, although Panyu was also the central city in the Lingnan region, and scholars from Zhongzhou continued to move south to avoid the war, and the economy and culture had made great progress, but compared with now, it could only be considered average.

During the reign of the Liu family in southern Guangdong, Panyu City experienced further development. The old city was renovated and expanded southward to the edge of the Pearl River.During the Southern Guangdong period, the people living in Panyu City were mainly the royal family, palace eunuchs, bureaucrats, generals, and guards. Ordinary citizens and ordinary people were not eligible to settle in the city.

On the contrary, relying on Panyu City, a large number of neighborhoods and markets were built in the east and west of the city, connected by roads, and gradually became large-scale.These auxiliary neighborhoods outside Panyu City in the Southern Guangdong Period formed the east and west cities of Panyu a few decades later.

When Pan Meiping conquered Guangdong, advanced into Prince Xing's Mansion, and arrived at Panyu City, he gave the most intuitive description of the huge disparity between the inside and outside of the city: outside Panyu City, the common people were as lowly as hogs and dogs.

It can be said that the imperial court's Pingnan was a real "liberation" for the people of Lingnan. At least for the people of Guangzhou, they had the right to live and operate normally in Panyu City.
So far, Panyu City may not be called the largest city in the South, but if it is said to be the fastest growing and most progressive city in the South, it is worthy of its name.Compared with 30 years ago when Nanping was first established, Panyu today has expanded its area three times.

During the decades of urbanization in Han Dynasty, there is probably only one city in Panyu, Guangzhou, that has made such rapid progress.The traditional market place continued to collapse in this process, but there was also a process, some were fast and some were slow, some were early and some were late. Panyu City was the first place to follow the capital to change the market system and enter a new urban management model.

Even the expansion and construction of Panyu's East-West New Town is completely in line with the laws of commodity economy and urbanization in terms of planning. In terms of the integration of infrastructure, management system and economy, perhaps even Tokyo cannot match it.

After all, in addition to commercialization, Tokyo also has a strong political atmosphere. This is the essential difference.There was once a traveler from the Central Plains who came to Guangzhou and only stayed in Panyu for one day. Then he and his companions sighed and said that they experienced a different kind of scenery in Panyu. After that, they settled down in Panyu, bought a house, and stopped traveling. pace.

In the eyes of such people, Panyu is probably the freest, most open, and tolerant city in the Han Empire. Perhaps even the air you breathe here is sweet.
There is no doubt that Panyu is the place with the strongest commercial atmosphere in the Han Dynasty. This is true in the whole country. It is a paradise for merchants, craftsmen, and navigators. Of course, it is also a hotbed for thieves and criminals.

All industries are prosperous here, thousands of businesses gather, and various resources are concentrated. Every enjoyment that humans can have today can be experienced.

Of course, what matches it is the advanced and strict management system. In terms of the maintenance of business rules and systems, it can be said that Panyu is the most meticulous and complete in the country.

The most famous among them is probably the establishment and management of the market system. Panyu is extremely strict in this regard, even to the point of one-size-fits-all.Although Panyu has counties, in terms of specific management, it goes without saying that Guangzhou Prefecture has a say. Vertical management has almost been achieved. In terms of urban management, Panyu County Government is only a humble executor.

According to the regulations of the Guangzhou government, all walks of life in Panyu City need to be centrally operated and taxed, and they are not allowed to interfere with each other. This is not only for the orderly and prosperous development of the market, but also to facilitate the centralized management of the government.

Therefore, unlike the current "chaos" in many Han cities, Panyu City is orderly and well-organized, at least in terms of business, and the shops in the market are also row upon row.Under the strict management system, various rice markets, fish and meat shops, seafood shops, porcelain shops, spice shops, silk cloth shops, flower and bird streets, leather goods streets, wooden tile shops and other markets have emerged at the historic moment.

Each neighborhood is located in a densely populated area, with at least one street and as many as four or five streets united together, with dozens to hundreds of shops operating.Even brothels have to be centralized in Panyu City and pay taxes according to regulations, and every flower street and willow lane is a major taxpayer in Guangzhou Prefecture, and they can be "treasured" on weekdays.

The rise of the market system has some history, and it exists in all parts of the Han Dynasty, especially in big cities. However, there are not many such strict and clear management like Guangzhou Prefecture.

Under such an environment, over time, the guild system in Guangzhou Prefecture has developed rapidly, and its level of business organization has also become higher, ranking at the forefront of the country!
Operators between trades in Panyu City must join the trade guilds, pay membership fees, and accept management. All their business activities are subject to the constraints of the guilds. Conflicts within the trades and trades are resolved internally, while those outside the trades and trades are governed by the guilds. Deal with it uniformly.The guilds have the power to price goods, and even taxes are handled by the guilds.

Obviously, guilds are the most powerful support for the government to manage all walks of life, streets and cities.However, such development has saved the government a lot of things, and in many cases it is enough to just sit and collect money, but it has also given rise to many contradictions.For example, guilds squeeze stores and members. It is rare to see bullies dominating the market in Panyu Market. The market has systems and guilds have rules. Anyone who dares to offend will be suppressed by the entire guild. Generally, It won't end well.

The rules of the guild are mainly formulated by the presidents, who are served by celebrities and wealthy businessmen, and the government only provides supervision.

There are often many conflicts within each street market guild. The president can almost be said to be the emperor of each street market, with great power and convenience. The powerful members within the guild often engage in intrigues and tricks to compete for the position of president. Together, violent acts are also emerging in endlessly.

At the same time, conflicts between large and small trades in the same industry also occur from time to time, especially the issue of commodity bargaining rights. In the past 30 years, there have been several price wars and even bloody conflicts between guilds in the same industry in Panyu City. Many people died each time.

Each guild also supports some thugs. These people who wander in the gray area are also a challenge to urban security. Many crimes are inseparable from these violent gangs.

These maggots, together with the slums, constitute the source of various criminal activities in Panyu City.There is no doubt that the crime rate in Panyu City remains high nationwide.

All kinds of contradictions and other problems have arisen in the context of Panyu's great commercial and economic development, but these cannot conceal the transformation that Panyu has undergone in the past few decades.It can even be said that the germination of capitalism has already been born in the current city of Panyu, Guangzhou Prefecture.
The city is full of petty bourgeoisie, and the status of merchants is not as suspicious, despised, and restricted as in other cities, and it has even begun to have some subtle influence on the government.

Panyu is also a city of immigrants. The immigrant population accounts for the vast majority of Panyu's population. On the contrary, the proportion of the local indigenous population has gradually decreased in the long process of development.

The immigrant population has brought advanced culture and technology from outside, and the relaxed political and economic atmosphere has also made Panyu's culture open and diverse, not only traditional Chinese, but also overseas and Western.
As the starting point and end point of the Maritime Silk Road, Panyu City has superior conditions and status that other coastal cities in the Han Dynasty cannot have.After the Anshi Rebellion, the Maritime Silk Road began to rise, with more and more fleets traveling to and from Panyu. However, with the relaxation and encouragement of the Han Empire's overseas trade policy, and the increasingly frequent activities in Nanyang Islands and various countries, Panyu City gained It is natural to develop welfare far beyond the same period in history.

In winter, foreign merchant ships are most active. On the docks along the Pearl River, almost every day, foreign merchant ships loaded with Han porcelain, silk, tea, ironware and other goods set sail, and all of them set sail in the monsoon wind on the Lingding Ocean. South voyage boat
At the same time, perhaps the most eye-catching and most controversial thing in Panyu City was the crowd of foreigners who gathered there.Among the foreigners traveling to and from Panyu, businessmen are only a part of them. They stay for about 2-6 months at a time. Even if some people settle down and buy property in the city for the convenience of long-term communication, they are considered temporary residents.

In contrast, there are still some permanent foreign residents in Guangzhou Prefecture. The number of these people is hundreds of thousands. In Panyu City alone, there are no less than [-].Such a scale is very exaggerated and unbelievable in today's Han Dynasty. Guangzhou Prefecture is probably the only one in the country that has this condition and the environment to accept so many people.

Among these foreigners, the majority are cannibals, followed by Korea, Japan, and Tianzhu. In recent years, the number of indigenous merchants in Southeast Asia has also increased.

The source components are complex, and the identities are equally complex. Businessmen are the most common identities, and others include adventurers, sailors, craftsmen, fugitives, and even exiles.

At that time, in view of the "extermination" operation carried out by the Anxi Governor's Office in Suiye, the imperial court also promulgated a series of restrictive policies, which also persecuted the food of the Central Plains and the Northwest and the foreigners who believed in YSL. Many YSL believers in the country either changed their beliefs or fled elsewhere. Guangzhou Prefecture was the final choice for many people.

Therefore, the foreign population in Guangzhou Prefecture is of all kinds, and it is completely unclear to distinguish their quality.

In order to accommodate these foreigners, the Guangzhou government also designated some streets specifically for them to live and live together. The core concept is still to facilitate management.This also forms another feature of Panyu City, Fanfang Street, which connects the city across the street.

What made Guangzhou Prefecture and even Guangnan East Road unexpected was that it was this Fanfang Street that the old emperor first "fired" in Guangzhou Prefecture.
(End of this chapter)