Fenghou

The Danba Waterway in the Tang Dynasty still left some foundations, so that the craftsmen only took two years to complete the excavation, but the more important reason was that a large number of iron fire mines were used to loosen the soil and blast stones, which greatly saved labor and accelerated the excavation. The huge project that originally took five years to complete was completed in two years.

Chen Qing took hundreds of officials to Danba Waterway on dozens of thousand-stone passenger ships.

The boats are all vehicles, with four boatmen stepping on the boat and one boatman steering the boat to control the direction. They travel very smoothly and fast on the water.

In the largest passenger ship, the seven ministers sat with the emperor Chen Qing and the prince Chen Ji.

Xu Xiantu and Zhang Jun arrived in Jingzhao half a month ago, as well as Han Shizhong, Xu Xiantu was appointed Minister of the Ministry of Households, and he was appointed as Minister of the Ministry of Households, and he was in charge of finance under the same door of Zhongshu. , in charge of criminal law.

Han Shizhong served as Minister of the Ministry of War.

Most of the officials of the Song Dynasty found their place in the new dynasty, which is also a guarantee of the legitimacy of the Yong Dynasty.

Looking at the endless mountains on both sides of the waterway, Xu Xiantu sighed: "Although the Yellow River can transport materials from the south of the Yangtze River to the capital, it is not convenient for Jiangnan West Road, Jinghu Road and Sichuan Road. It is of great significance to communicate and connect the central part of the South and Sichuan. Any communication starts with the transportation of goods.”

"Not only cargo transportation, but also passenger transportation!"

Zhou Kuan, who was sitting across from him, said with a smile: "When I went to Xiangyang, I rode a donkey to Shangluo first, and a schoolboy behind me carried the burden. There was not much luggage. This journey would take half a month. The journey was very tiring, and I didn't want to leave. the second time."

"Now you don't have to work so hard!" Xu Xiantu laughed.

"That's right! Sitting on the boat now, you can get off the boat and go for a walk when you're tired, and you can even go shopping when you encounter a market. If you have enough time, you can go sightseeing all the way."

Speaking of this, Zhou Kuan was full of interest, and bowed to Chen Qing and said, "Your Majesty, I suggest setting up a liner boat from Jingzhao to Xiangyang every day. Great benefit."

Chen Qing smiled slightly: "There will definitely be official ships, but the court doesn't have to worry about the transportation of ordinary people. Naturally, there are businessmen who will seize business opportunities. Not only Xiangyang, but larger counties will have ships to and from the capital, but What the government has to do is to guide, such as building a good dock, vigorously developing the shipbuilding industry, etc., which is equivalent to planting plane trees, which will naturally attract phoenixes.”

Zhou Kuan nodded, "I understand, I really worry too much!"

At this time, Chen Qing said to Zhang Jun next to him: "A few days ago, Zhang Shangshu and I talked about the issue of land restrictions. He thought that the land restrictions were too large, which would not be conducive to the recognition of the imperial court by the major families in the south of the Yangtze River. Does Zhang Shangshu connect with this node now? ?”

Zhang Jun leaned forward and said, "I have figured it out a bit, but I haven't fully understood it yet. Please wake up, Your Majesty!"

Seeing that all the Prime Ministers were listening, Chen Qing simply amplified his voice a little.

"Now our various policies are basically a continuation of the Song Dynasty. The Song Dynasty did a very good job in encouraging commerce and developing the commodity industry. The Jamaica people are very active, which is a manifestation of the prosperity of commerce.

What we have to do is to improve, and what should be grasped must be strictly controlled. For example, the monopoly of salt and iron wine must be strictly controlled to the end, and mining must be led by the government. Others that should be released must be relaxed and can be handed over to businessmen. Yes, the imperial court should not take too much control, such as canceling the interrogation along the way, canceling the closing of the city gate at night, the capital and Guanzhong have done a good job, but other places are not good, we must keep up..."

Discussions began in the cabin, and it was very lively. At this time, Chen Qing said to Zhang Jun: "A few days ago, I met with an official from the Ministry of Punishment. His name is Shen Jiangnan. Zhang Shangshu should know about it!"

Zhang Jun nodded, "He is the eldest grandson of the Shen family, and he is currently a member of the Ministry of Criminal Justice Wailang."

"Yes! It's him. Actually, I just wanted to ask about the situation of the Shen family. He told me that the Shen family had purchased more than 300 ships, formed three cargo fleets, and purchased more than a dozen ships in Yuhang Prefecture and Pingjiang Prefecture. A warehouse, and plans to buy another hundred passenger ships, and buy land to build three silk textile workshops, I asked him, where did the Shen family get such a large capital?

He told me that after the land restriction, the Shen family can only own 100 hectares of land, and they can only sell more than [-] hectares of land. The Shen family will devote all their efforts to the transportation and textile industries, and will also start cotton spinning in the future. For the workshop, the Shen family has already sent people to Liuqiu County to buy land and build a warehouse. "

Zhang Jun pondered for a moment and said, "I understand what your majesty means. The most effective way to curb land mergers is to encourage the development of industry and commerce, right?"

"That's right. In fact, there are many business opportunities. All walks of life can grow. Unlike the Tang Dynasty, which discriminated against businesses and merchants, the rich and powerful could only annex land, which eventually led to the Anshi Rebellion and Huang Chao's rebellion. As the imperial court, since encouraging In terms of industry and commerce, you can’t discriminate against businessmen. The Song Dynasty did a good job and deserves to be inherited by us. The Shen family is a typical example of a Jiangnan family. Turning around quickly shows that the Jiangnan family is very pragmatic and we don’t need to worry about it!”

Zhang Jun nodded, "Your Majesty is right, I think too much."

Chen Qing said with a smile: "I know that Zhang Shangshu is worried that the rules in the north are not suitable for Jiangnan, which will cause Jiangnan's eccentricity, but there is one thing I believe that people everywhere are the same, that is, chasing profit. I believe that the Jiangnan family is no exception. Profit is the basis of all social activities. Politics, religion, culture, marriage, war, etc. are all for the sake of gaining more benefits. I want the Jiangnan family to make a lot of money. Don't stare at an acre and a half of land all day long. will understand."

……

After the completion of the Danba Waterway, Zhang Yuanlang, the governor of the capital city, was bestowed the Duke of the county by Chen Qing, and at the same time he was promoted to the Minister of the Ministry of Industry in recognition of his contributions.

Zhang Yuanlang immediately widened Guangyuntan outside the east city, and built a huge ship port, wharf and warehouse in Guangyuntan, turning it into the largest water transport hub in the world.

Make Guangyuntan the intersection of the Yellow River system and the Yangtze River system at the same time.

At this time, a major event also happened in Yongnan County, which was far overseas.

The first thousand and 510 chapters four Yongnan

Yongnan County is the big island that Liu Dajiang bought, the Natuna Islands of later generations, Liu Dajiang resold it to Quanzhou Prefecture and the Overseas Trade Administration, Yong Wang Chen Qing renamed it Yongnan Island, and here The Nanyang Economic and Strategic Envoy Division was established, with Cao De as the first economic and strategic envoy.

After the government took over, the government began to operate. First, there were 2000 garrisons, [-] large warships, and [-] small boats. Then [-] Japanese laborers were transported from Ryukyu Island. They opened up the land and built the city. Don't treat them badly, each person can earn [-] Wen a day, and send them back to China after the county is completed.

The place where the troops were stationed was called Pearl Town, and it was located in a natural bay by the sea, only three miles from where the Japanese laborers leveled the land.

Pearl Town was named by Cao De. A large number of pearl oysters were found in a nearby shallow beach, and soldiers found a large number of pearls.

There is Tamsui River here, and the army built a military camp by the Tamsui River, and set up hundreds of large tents. More than 100 Han families living in Palembang first migrated here, and they opened a shop next to the military camp. welcome.

Soldiers used wood to build houses and shops for them, and then tamped the street ground and covered it with a layer of fine sand. A small town about [-] paces long officially fell into the city.

The first two brothels opened in the town were officially run, recruiting more than 100 Japanese and Korean prostitutes, and were very popular among soldiers. However, the government-run brothels were for the use of the army, and laborers were not allowed to enter.

Then the residents opened grocery stores, taverns, teahouses, brothels, and inns. The brothels opened by the residents were dozens of aboriginal women recruited from the Three Buddhas, with dark skin, strong bodies, and very cheap prices, mainly for Japanese laborers. .

Therefore, the brothel is located in the west of the town, and many Japanese workers will sneak in at night, and then sneak back. They cannot enter Pearl Town, and once they are caught, they will be sent back to the country immediately. It is difficult to go abroad to make money. No one willing to be repatriated.

The government also built a small school, and a civilian military officer taught these Han children to read and write.

The government also built a post office, which is the post office. The soldiers wrote letters to their families and sent them here, and then the merchant ships took the letters to Quanzhou, and then the Quanzhou government sent their letters to their hometowns through the post station. , it will be at least half a year before the family receives the letter.

There was only one old man in the post office, and the old man was the guide Zhang Jiugong. He was old and had no relatives or reason, so he simply stayed on Yongnan Island. At least his name could still be recorded in the county annals of Yongnan Island.

Of course, there is also a supply station, which is also run by the government, to supply food and fresh water to the ships passing by. Of course, the food is also shipped from Quanzhou, but it is only a large amount at one time, which is completely enough.

In the afternoon, ten thousand-stone ships sailed into the bay and berthed at the shore. Pearl Town, which is close to the bay, immediately became lively.

These ten large ships are the merchant fleet led by Liu Dajiang. Liu Dajiang's identity is an imperial merchant, and he specializes in overseas trade for the emperor Chen Qing.

Liu Dajiang led the fleet and had just returned from Xilan, which is Sri Lanka. It was called Xilan in the Song Dynasty, and it was later renamed Ceylon.

Liu Dajiang sold the silk porcelain to the merchants there, and bought a large amount of cat's eye, gemstones, green and red orbs, and precious spices such as white beans, magnolia bark, musk, and ambergris.

Cao De accompanied Liu Dajiang to Pearl Town. The more than 100 households who established Pearl Town were brought out by Liu Dajiang from Palembang.

Unexpectedly, in just a few months, a street full of life appeared.

"Is there a grocery store here?"

Liu Dajiang was a little surprised, "Where did you buy it from?"

Cao De laughed and said, "Actually, I'm also curious, let's go in and have a look!"

The two walked into the shop. The shop owner was a man in his thirties, of medium build, from Fujian. His name was Xu Song. He spoke Mandarin very well and sounded like a Bianliang accent. In fact, he had never been there. Bianliang.

Xu Song was originally a sailor, married a Sanfo Qi woman, and stayed in Palembang. Later, his wife ran away with someone. He was depressed and often patronized brothels. Unexpectedly, he met a kidnapped man in a brothel. fellow countrymen.

Xu Song redeemed the woman's body, and the two lived together. Ten years later, their son was already seven years old.

"The Economic Envoy is here, welcome!"

Xu Song saw Liu Dajiang all of a sudden, and was surprised and happy, "When did Brother Liu arrive?"

Liu Dajiang tapped him on the head, "Stop pretending, I saw you on the pier just now, do you dare to say that's not you?"

Xu Song scratched his head and said embarrassedly, "I really didn't see Brother Xu!"

"Where's your fat son?"

"He has gone to school, but where is his wife cooking at home?"

Cao De looked at the dazzling array of goods in the store, and asked with a smile, "Where did you buy these items from?"

"Actually, I wanted to open a tavern, but I had no experience. Once a cargo ship came to supply supplies. I went to the pier to hang out. A crew member asked me if I wanted some goods. Give me some money, and I went to the ship. Look, I saw these things, all kinds, nearly a thousand pieces. The owner of these goods died of illness in Luzon. No one wanted them. The crew thought they were taking up space. And then opened this grocery store."

Cao De nodded and said with a smile: "It's only five pennies, you're lucky, these things cost hundreds of pennies!"

"That's right! The crew told me that they originally planned to sell it cheaply in Palembang, but it would be better for their own compatriots than for the Sanfoqi people over there, so they gave it to me."

"what is this?"

Liu Dajiang found a basket of rhizome-like things in the corner, covered with soil, a bit like potatoes, but not.

"A crew member gave it to me. I was afraid it would be poisonous, so I didn't dare to eat it. I was going to throw it away, but I forgot."

Xu Song hurried forward to clear the bamboo basket, but Liu Dajiang stopped him, "Wait a minute, I'll take a closer look at my stuff!"

He moved the bamboo basket to the shop, pulled out his dagger, cut a piece and chewed it in his mouth. It tasted very sweet, not a poison, but a kind of grain.

"I want to bring this back to Jingzhao!"

Liu Dajiang asked his subordinates to carry the things onto the boat. He didn't know at this time that after the things were transported back to Jingzhao, they were rewarded by the emperor Chen Qing, who named them sweet potatoes.

……

Liu Dajiang and Cao De came to the teahouse to sit down again. Liu Dajiang ordered a pot of local mangosteen tea and asked with concern: "How is the situation of Sanfoqi, is there anyone here to make trouble?"

According to the regulations, Liu Dajiang must pay tribute to the king before the end of May in order to maintain his title of nobility. Cancel the title of nobility.

Once the aristocratic title of Sanfoqi is revoked, he can only own less than a hundred acres of land. He has no right to own this island, and the Sanfoqi country will take back the island.

This trick has deceived many big businessmen in the Song Dynasty, and many people did not dare to say that they were deceived, so they had to admit that they were unlucky.

But it was different when it came to Liu Dajiang. He sold the land to the Quanzhou government, and Sanfoqi wanted to forcefully take back the island, which meant war.

Cao De nodded, "They sent people here, and when they saw our soldiers and warships, they went back and didn't say anything. I guess they are not reconciled!"

Liu Dajiang was silent for a moment and said: "There may be a war in Nanyang!"

Cao De was startled, "What do you mean?"

"Does the envoy know about Zhu Luo?"

Cao De shook his head, "I've never heard of it!"

"I didn't know until I went to Xilan this time that Xilan has been ruled by the Zhuluo Kingdom. The territory of this kingdom is slightly smaller than ours. The capital is located in the south of Tianzhu Kingdom. It has been an ancient country for more than 500 years. This Zhuluo Kingdom likes to invade. The navy is very powerful, and they are as good at using fierce fire oil as we are. A few decades ago, their fleet of huge ships invaded the kingdom of Sanfoqi, once captured Palembang City, burned, killed and looted, caused huge damage to Palembang City, and kidnapped three Foqi has a population of 10, so Palembang City was moved to Champe.”

"You mean to say that the Zhu Luo Kingdom will come to invade the Three Buddhas Qi Kingdom?"

Liu Dajiang nodded, "I heard the news in Xilan that the treasury of the Zhuluo Kingdom is empty, and every time the treasury is empty, they will invade and plunder, and most likely they will also plunder the Sanfoqi Kingdom."

"Will they come to Yongnan Island?"

Liu Dajiang shook his head, "I don't know, but if the Zhu Luo Kingdom invades the Three Buddha Qi Kingdom, their king will definitely ask us for help!"

The first thousand and 510 chapters and five divisions

The summer in Jingzhao is quite difficult. The sun is like a fire, shining on the earth fiercely, and the whole land is burning, but the heat in Jingzhao is better than the sultry heat in Jiangnan. The hearth, in the summer in the south of the Yangtze River, enters the steamer, the kind of stewed steam with water vapor, which makes people have nowhere to escape, unlike the north, where it is very cool to hide in the shade of trees when there is wind.

The summer in the Tang and Song Dynasties used ice cubes. Every big family had an ice cellar. In winter, the ice cubes were transported to the upper reaches of the river, stored in the ice cellar or ice well, and placed in the sandwich wall to cool down in summer, or made into delicious food. Ice drink.

After entering June, the sun began to breathe fire, scorching the earth mercilessly. After working half a day under the sun, a layer of skin would be burned off, which was especially cruel to the laborers.

Despite the extremely hot weather, Chen Qing, Xiangguo and dozens of officials still came to the Guangyun Lake outside the East City. Of course, they did not come to inspect the excavation of the Guangyun Lake, but to welcome the spoils from the far north.

The booty transported from Linhuang Mansion took more than three months on the road before arriving at Jingzhao. The belongings in 10,000+ carts traveled more than 1000 miles to Daxing Mansion and boarded a boat to go to Yongji Canal. Enter the Yellow River, pass through the Sanmen Gorge from the Yellow River, enter the Weihe River, and then transport it to Jingzhao through the Tianbao Canal.

This is the first batch of more than 3000 two-thousand stone cargo ships. A total of more than 1 cargo ships are needed. It will take at least four or five trips to complete the shipment, and it will be shipped until the end of the year.

The officials stood under the shed, watching the [-]-stone cargo ships docking to unload their cargo. Everyone had complicated expressions. These properties were looted from Bianliang by the Kingdom of Jin back then. After more than [-] years, these properties were looted again. came back.

The big boxes were unloaded from the slide, and the laborers put them into donkey carts to transport them to the warehouse. Xu Xiantu walked up to a big box and gently stroked the words on the box.

Chen Qing stepped forward and said with a smile, "Xu Xiangguo knows this box?"

Xu Xiantu smiled wryly, "Not only do I know each other, I wrote the words that came forward."

Chen Qing stepped forward and took a look curiously. It said that it was worth a thousand taels of gold, and there was also a vague seal, which was the fourth year of Xuanhe.

"Is this 1000 taels of gold?"

Xu Xiantu nodded, "Not long after I was admitted to Jinshi, I was assigned to the Ministry of Household Affairs. The Ministry of Household Affairs had to issue a membership, and there must be a basis for issuing the membership. The basis was 50 taels of gold and 500 million taels of silver. As an official of the household department, I Participated in the accounting inspection, confirmed that it was 1000 taels of gold, and then sealed the box and nailed it to death. I wrote 'Quality Gold Thousand Taels' on it, and stamped the seal of the household department. The gold and silver were placed in the pledge warehouse and issued based on it Huizi, Huizi will be taken back in the future, and new Huizi will be issued. At that time, there was still a basis for issuing Huizi, which was pledged with these gold and silver. Later, Jin Guo snatched the pledged gold and silver, and Huizi lost its foundation. Becoming worthless, and finally reduced to waste paper, thinking of these, I feel emotional!"

Chen Qing said with a smile: "Actually, I still have a question that I have been confused about. I just want to ask Xu Xiangguo!"

"Don't dare, please speak, Your Majesty."

"At that time, the Western Army seized these properties. I thought most of them were copper coins. Later, I found out that there were no copper coins. I was confused. It stands to reason that the Kaiyuan Tongbao of the Tang Dynasty was also used in the Song Dynasty. The copper coins cast for more than 200 years have been handed down. It is conceivable that, together with the issuance of copper coins for more than 100 years in the Northern Song Dynasty, at least 50 guan are minted every year! There are also privately minted copper coins. These copper coins have at least two to three hundred million guan. Spamming clubs."

Xu Xiantu smiled slightly and said: "The problem of insufficient copper coins appeared in the late Northern Song Dynasty. Otherwise, Sichuan and Shanxi would not have issued iron coins, and Jiaozi also appeared from this. We have also summed up where the problem is? One is private storage, because the issuance Paper money, everyone can’t believe it, rich families store copper coins, there are thick burials, there are temples casting bronze statues to melt copper coins, and then there are wars, people escape the invasion of the Kingdom of Jin, copper coins are not easy to carry, they are buried deep in the ground, and they are ready to return. If you take it again, you will never be able to go back, in fact, this is the main reason, don’t look at the skyrocketing housing prices in Lin’an back then, the price per mu was tens of thousands, but in fact the transactions were very rare, who can easily get tens of thousands of copper coins?”

"But Jingzhao's land is real money!"

"Your Majesty, the land of Jingzhao was bought by people from all over the world. Although Lin'an is the capital city, it was once captured by Wanyan Wushu's army. The world's rich and powerful families did not trust it, but Jingzhao is different. The Western Army drove out the Tartars. , Restoring the Han family, based on this, it will give the world's rich and powerful families a sense of security, and they are willing to invest their money in Jingzhao."

Chen Qing nodded, "There are still copper coins. The imperial court collects the savings of the world's wealthy and wealthy through the land, and then spends it through finance, such as giving military salaries, building bridges and roads, and building water conservancy projects. When it flows into the hands of the people, the water will live."

"Your Majesty is right. There is money. The key is to let it flow. The imperial court has a lot of resources, which can be utilized slowly."

Chen Qing and the senior officials only watched for half an hour before going back in a carriage.

Xu Xiantu and Zhou Kuan rode in a carriage, and Zhou Kuan served as a servant. He had the right to review the court's decisions, but he and Xu Xiantu rode in a cart because they wanted to discuss with each other about the distribution of wealth.

"According to the system, the Zuo Zang treasury of our imperial court will get half of the wealth taken back from the Kingdom of Jin, and the emperor's inner treasury will get half. I hope Xu Xiangguo will clarify this point."

Xu Xiantu nodded, "I also know about this system, but what worries me is that the palace's treasury is not big, how can it hold so much wealth?"