Han Shizu

The ports in Shanghai County are busy all year round, and are especially busy during the season change between autumn and winter. Merchants from the northern states, Andong, Korea, and Japan are arriving at the mouth of the Yangtze River one after another, laden with specialties from various places. Almost all the piers and ports along the Chang and Songer Rivers were crowded with merchant ships.

Needless to say, the merchant ships of Goryeo and Japan are frequent visitors. Many of them are produced in Dahan. In the past few decades, the shipbuilding industry in Dahan has been booming, sweeping across East Asia and Southeast Asia, especially in the southeastern region, especially Jiangnan Province. The nation's shipbuilding center.

The major shipbuilding factories in Su, Chang, Run, and Yang can basically arrange their orders for a few years. For example, Goryeo and Japan were able to grab some shares from Han officials and merchants, which was all the result of diplomatic efforts.

With the emergence of "gunboats", the birth of many new processes, new technologies, and even the spread of new concepts have been gradually applied to the construction of civilian and commercial ships. Although the progress is slow, a new round of shipbuilding innovation is underway. It happened in the Dahan shipbuilding industry.

Compared with the past, which were dominated by government-run and military-run shipyards, in the past two decades, a large number of private shipyards have sprung up. Although many have closed down and collapsed in the subsequent development, the rest have accumulated With certain background, strength and capital, it is not just about producing river fishing boats.

After years of fighting, a "Guanghui Shipyard" capable of producing large-scale ships was born in Wuhu, which can be called the leading "private factory". In the Yongxi Dynasty, with the court's strict rectification of officialdom and vigorous development of the economy and people's livelihood, the shipbuilding industry of the Han Dynasty was more dynamic than in the Kaibao era, which was also a manifestation of the "Yongxi spirit".

Compared with those ships that are both beautiful and practical, those "barbarian ships" from the northeastern region of Andong Kingdom are more exotic and "eye-opening" for Su Xiu merchants.

It is strangely shaped, patched all over, shabby and shabby. Even after it has arrived at the port, it still makes people doubt whether it can really withstand the impact of wind and waves. It is also unimaginable how many horrors these barbarians from the northeast of Andong have experienced at sea.

This may be the charm of the world's first civilization, which is enough to make countless uncivilized barbarians brave life and death, brave the waves, and set off towards the Han Dynasty, eager to bask in the glory of the Han civilization.

Of course, it is thanks to Anton's efforts that the barbarian tribes in the white mountains and black waters can turn their desire into action. In the past twenty years or so, Anton's dignitaries have brought conquests and killings to the vast areas of Northeast China, but they have also opened the eyes of those tribes who were in a state of ignorance.

Under the surface of the few broken ships arriving at the port, there is another layer of background. In the past ten years, especially in the years since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the business in the Andong region has become increasingly prosperous.

Unlike in the early days when the Anton government had to work hard to attract people, in recent years Anton's dignitaries and merchants have spontaneously participated in the development and construction of Anton.

In the first one or two years of Anton's feudal rule, Anton's country lost many people from military and political affairs to officials and civilians, and lost a lot of wealth, but the vast majority of those who remained were people who had a sense of belonging to Anton.

Many people don't know the reason why Anton sealed the country and what its significance is. However, after the feudal affairs came to light, they gradually realized the benefits to them, those with vested interests.

The most intuitive point is that when Anton was the governor of the Han Dynasty, he could not ask the court for help, and the court would not take Anton into full consideration. However, under the rule of Andong Kingdom, it was directly ruled by King Andong and also directly protected by him. Between the two, the latter was obviously more powerful and effective.

After more than 20 years of management by King Liu Xu and his son of Qin, the Andong Kingdom became self-sufficient and the problem was no longer a big problem. Especially on the Great Plains centered on Suihua City, there was even a surplus.

However, if you want to live a better life, you still cannot do without the support of the court. It's just that this support, with the adjustment of central government policies, has changed from direct blood transfusion supply to trade support.

In fact, even in the fourth year of Yongxi's reign, Anton, as a feudal state of the Han Dynasty, was semi-independent in all aspects of the country's operations.

Anton still needs a large amount of salt tea cloth porcelain from the mother country as well as a variety of Anton's scarce supplies and tools. What is different from the past is that everything now needs to be traded and exchanged.

Under such circumstances, Andong Kingdom became more economically dynamic. Of course, this vitality was based on commercial exchanges with the southern states.

There are many dignitaries and merchants engaged in "foreign trade" in Anton. Soybeans, fine grains, logs, leather goods, medicinal materials and other commodities from Anton have always been popular in the Han Dynasty.

For a long time, Anton's merchants mainly traded with Liaodong and Yanshan North Road, and at most spread to Yannan and Lianghe, but the scope was not wide.

However, with the opening of the "Suiyuan-Shuibinfu" land route that lasted more than seven years, Andong Kingdom also began to have a sea port that could be stably used.

With this, Anton's goods began to be sold to further places, not to mention Korea and Japan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong were no longer out of reach.

As for the large and small tribes in Anton, their fur goods and medicinal materials can basically only be sold to the city through merchants and guilds and "exported" to the Korean Han Dynasty in exchange for the required supplies.

However, in this process, those merchants and guilds will inevitably have to scrape off a layer of skin, and the more remote the tribe, the more exploited they will be. A piece of sable skin worth thousands of dollars in the upper class of the Han Dynasty may have been exchanged for a bag of salt, a piece of cloth, and an iron pot by the merchant who received the goods.

The huge profits are enough to make people crazy, because for a long time, many tribes in Baishan and Heishui have been squeezed and exploited by Han nobles, officials and businessmen, except for Wanyan, Dalugu, etc. who had some influence on the imperial court during the Kaibao Northern Expedition. The Jurchen tribe that has been established still has some bargaining power. The other tribes, one by one, are just nourishment for Anton's prosperity.

Especially those female straight tribes in the eastern coastal areas, where Han armies and Han merchants have traveled extensively, they either accept the "gifts" and "goodwill" of the civilized world, or they sink into the abyss.

If such a situation is maintained for a long time, problems will inevitably arise. Oppression brings resistance, even for barbaric tribes on the edge of civilization.

And as time goes by, the tribes of Anton are no longer in a closed primitive society like in the past. Not to mention opening their eyes to the world, they always have a new understanding of Anton.

As a result, there was a group of people who had a certain awakening in consciousness during their interactions with Han merchants. They were no longer willing to be exploited by Han middlemen and tried to get in touch with buyers directly.

Such a process is obviously not easy, and will inevitably be accompanied by violent waves and even bloodshed. Anyone who can successfully reach the Shanghai port thousands of miles away by boat can be praised as a warrior, or it is because of bad luck.

Even in the eyes of navigators from various countries, these stupid barbarians are ignorant and fearless. They dare to go to the sea and sail far away in broken ships. However, their goods are still very popular. Whether they are various types of leather goods, ginseng, or deer antlers, they are all in hot demand in the Han market. It doesn't take half a day for all the goods to be sold out.

Moreover, without any counter-offers, the goods can be shipped much faster than those shipped from other places in the north. Both parties to the transaction can't help but feel similar emotions after completing the transaction.

The barbarians from the Andong Kingdom would secretly curse at the abominable profiteers who actually charge their furs at a price reduced by ten times, which is simply more ferocious than the giant insects in the mountains;

The merchants and warehouses who receive the goods will also curse. Damn profiteers who dare to raise the price ten times to ship goods. They are greedier than leeches in the river.

With no middlemen making the difference, both parties were satisfied and beaming with joy. As for the third party merchants from Anton, one can imagine how they felt watching this scene. Even for the leather goods and ginseng they brought to Jiangnan this time, they may be embarrassed to shout exorbitant prices.

Although you still make money as long as you ship the goods, if you don't make more money, it is a loss. Therefore, there are several Anton Dashang United companies that run the "Shuibinfu-Xiuzhou (Suzhou)" route all year round. Let's discuss this together.

Previously, some barbarians in the north had evaded their network and went to Liaodong border markets and Shuibin Mansion to sell goods privately, but the scale was not large, and the goods were likely to fall into their hands in the end. It can be regarded as "freight" for these barbarians, so it is not worthy of excessive attention. But things are different now. These barbarians were actually allowed to get out of the ship and run all the way to the south of the Yangtze River. How can we bear this? Isn't this "stealing" their money? Whether in Anton or Dahan, the business tax is not light. It is already very difficult for them!

If it is not stopped, if things go on like this, this way of making money will be cut off. Anton can only sell these few commodities, and he must not indulge those barbarians who do not know the heights of the sky!

Thus, a plan to attack the barbarians in the mountain and sea areas of eastern Andong Kingdom, driven by commercial interests, began.

Judging from the subsequent development, this is definitely a "classic operation" in the business history of the Han Dynasty. Although it did not occur as far away as the Nanyang region, it is still a profound interpretation of the Han Dynasty's decades of colonization movement.

In the next three years, hundreds of barbarian tribes in eastern Andong were exterminated, and tens of thousands of them were reduced to coolies. The Prince of Anton took advantage of this situation to increase control over the eastern coastal areas at a very small cost. With the degree of development, Anton's domestic population structure has undergone considerable changes.

With the Anton nobles as the core and the officials and merchants as the wings, Anton's domestic commodity resources were further unified. Of course, all this is based on the exploitation of the barbarians and even the Han people within the territory, but the latter, as true citizens, are relatively lightly exploited.

Wherever there is oppression, there is resistance. While further increasing its control over the country, class conflicts within Anton are also intensifying, and resistance activities from tribal people are also increasing, but they are all under the strong or powerful power of Anton King Liu Wenyuan. It is said that under the brutal attack, it was wiped out. In the later stage of its development, many tribes that had lived in Anton for a long time disappeared completely.

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The future situation in Anton's country will not be revealed for the time being. Returning to Shanghai Port, there will be people who come and there will naturally be people who go. While merchants from the north continued to come south, merchant ships from the south and the north in spring and summer, after the transactions were completed and the goods were prepared, set sail one after another, preparing to embark on the return journey along the monsoon.

Among these merchant ships, in addition to Han people, most of them were from Nanyang feudal states, Tianzhu, and Daqi people. As for the indigenous caravans that were once considered the protagonists on the Nanyang routes, they became a thing of the past during the Han Dynasty's enfeoffment of the Nanyang Islands. They either became vassals of the Han people, were directly destroyed, or became pirates.

The most noteworthy ones may have to be the food merchants. Even after the brutal "Guangzhou Incident", in the Yongxi Dynasty a few years later, they continued to cross the Jinzhou Strait and pass through Liangping Port. Zhou Zhou went north to do business in the Han Dynasty.

There is no way, the temptation of profit is really not shallow. Exquisite silks, porcelain, and best-selling teas can be sold throughout the Chinese and Western world and earn huge profits as long as they are brought back.

Therefore, no matter how strict the Han Dynasty was in its religious policies and how bad its attitude towards foreign religions was, they still came despite the waves.

At most, after arriving in the East, taking off the headgear and hiding the faith, money and interests are more relevant to the big food merchants who run ships. What's more, the legendary "tyrant" who controlled the power of life and death in the world has passed away, and the new successor is a kind and wise emperor.

Ever since, the big food merchant has done it again.

However, although the scene of the Thousand Sails Race was spectacular, it was too late for Cao Yong and his party, who had just arrived in Shanghai County and had not yet sorted out their clues, to watch it.

They were almost lost in this commercial capital that had not been around for a long time. They even had the illusion that country bumpkins had entered the city. You must know that they were from Gyeonggi Province and were absolutely confident in being well-informed.

Of course, no matter in terms of city size or management, Gyeonggi cannot be compared to Shanghai County at this time, but the business atmosphere here is too strong, and it is not like Tokyo where there are always political powers suppressing it. This seems to be a paradise for Han merchants.

Various sailing ships are the best decorations on the two rivers (Yangtze River and Songjiang). The busiest ones on the waterways are the guide ships. The first thing after the goods arrive at the port is to handle berthing and tax registration, and laborers are like ants moving them. Unloading goods

Everyone was in a hurry and running around, as if if they were slow for a second, they would lose business.

There are large and small docks along both sides of the Songjiang River, and there is no stop at any place. There are various types of buildings lined up on the shore, mainly made of masonry, brick and wood. They look clean and tidy, and are strong and durable.

Everything was novel and shocking, and in an instant, Cao Yong even felt like throwing himself into this port city. There was such a place in the Han Empire. This was completely different from the majestic Gyeonggi.

Of course, for outsiders, especially those who come here for the first time, this superficial shock and temptation is enough.

Cao Yong and others were luckier. They were also "lucky" to witness an armed fight, which took place at Pier A on the south bank of the Songjiang River. A group of men with red scarves on their heads, looking like bandits, broke into the boat. Come over here, holding weapons in your hands, and attack the laborers on the dock and kill them whenever you see them.

Pier 16 was not to be outdone, and soon dozens of people ran out from warehouses and cargo ships to support them. They also had weapons in their hands, and they were all fierce.

There must have been about two hundred men on both sides, and more than half of them were chopped down. The fight was stopped under the control of the sailors and patrols who came after hearing the news. Then, the weapons were confiscated, the leading men were taken away by the guards, and the remaining men tended to the wounded.

Such bloody armed fighting was both shocking and terrifying to Cao Yong and others from Gyeonggi Province. It is said that the Jiangnan water town is full of romance and romance, but how can one fight so fiercely? If it weren't for the prosperous scene in front of him, Cao Yong would even suspect that he had arrived in a remote place full of unruly people.

This is obviously not the first time such a fight has occurred. You can get a glimpse of it from the skilled control methods and efficient handling of the situation by the sailors and policemen, as well as the concerned but accustomed expressions of the surrounding areas.

After all, he is Ya Lang who has been running around in the capital city all year round. After being shocked, Cao Yong realized that just like in the capital city, behind the hustle and bustle, in the dark corners of the sewers where the rich and powerful were looking intently, there were too many cruel and cruel things. sinful things

As for the large and small armed struggles that occurred in Songjiang, in addition to the struggle between gangs seeking life on the docks, on a larger scale, it can even be said to be a struggle between the two states of Su and Xiu.

The Songjiang River flows through Suzhou and flows into the Yangtze River and into the sea. The downstream section of the Songjiang River is the state boundary between Suzhou and Xiuzhou.

From the rise of overseas trade, to the establishment of Shanghai Affairs by the imperial court, to the great development along the Songjiang River, interests have become larger and larger, and the resulting disputes over interests have naturally become more and more competitive. To put it simply, both Su and Xiu states wanted to take advantage of Songjiang into their own arms and monopolize its benefits.

Xiuzhou believes that Suzhou already has the benefits of the Yangtze River and should no longer covet the Songjiang River. They once proposed that either the land on the north bank of the lower reaches of the Songjiang River should be transferred to Shanghai, or Suzhou should not open commercial ports and wharves on the north bank.

However, compared to Xiuzhou's calculations, Suzhou's appetite was greater. It was directly proposed to merge the two states and transfer Xiuzhou to Suzhou.

Of course, Daosi would not agree to this suggestion. First of all, Jinling strongly opposed it. Among the states in the south of the Yangtze River, Suzhou was already very powerful. They wanted to swallow up Xiuzhou and take advantage of both rivers. Where is the capital? It’s such a beautiful idea.

In many cases, conflicts will only intensify, as was the case with the dispute between Su and Xiu. From water conservancy and port benefits, it gradually evolved into an industrial dispute.

The rise of Xiuzhou's cotton industry has first of all had a huge impact on Suzhou's traditional textile printing and dyeing industry. On the other hand, Suzhou's cotton textile level is not low, and the industry is also quite large. There are also a large number of businessmen and people working on it. If you want to Xiuzhou How can Suzhou sit idly by as the center of the Jiangnan cotton industry?

Of course, this kind of battle cannot remain just words. For a long time, the two government wills and the two commercial wills have been wrestling with each other. Conspiracies and tricks, overt and covert attacks, have emerged one after another, and have evolved to the end. Along the Songjiang River, fights involving thousands of people took place.

It wasn't until Li Shaoyou, Duke of Shou State, came to Ren Jinling that year that another armed fight broke out. Some thugs from Suzhou cotton merchants even burned down their cotton fields, causing a large number of casualties. After Li Shaoyou learned about the situation, he immediately intervened to mediate the dispute between the two states from officialdom to shopping malls.

Li Shaoyou did not directly divide the interests, but let the two parties negotiate on their own, and a result must be negotiated. His threats were directly aimed at the governors of the two states. If they could not reach an agreement, they would not be able to keep their official titles.

Therefore, under the strong pressure of Li Shaoyou, a "Songjiang Agreement" was just reached, agreeing to share the benefits of Songjiang Port. At the same time, both parties would set up cotton shops, impose their own restrictions, and prohibit malicious competition methods such as burning, killing, and building.

To put it simply, this is just a "truce agreement". However, since then, the kind of violent competition that has no bottom line and affects industrial development has been banned and has never happened again.

However, various conflicts still exist around the use of Songjiang, such as welcoming guests, collecting goods, taxation and other matters, and small-scale fighting continues. The fight at Pier 16 that Cao Yong and his party witnessed was only of medium scale.

Thousands of merchants gathered together, carriages and horses rushed by, and there were countless unnamed innocent souls buried at the bottom of the prosperous and busy Songjiang River.