Fenghou

Chapter 1117 Hanyang
In the morning of the next day, Chen Qing took Zhao Yingluo to Hanyang County on the other side under the escort of three thousand soldiers.

Hanyang Mansion has no garrisons, and the entire Jinghu North Road has no garrisons except Xiangyang City, which has [-] garrisons. There are only a few hundred prefectural troops at most.

Of course, Chen Qing is interested in Cangcheng outside Hanyang City. Cangcheng has a circumference of twelve miles, just like a small county. also played an important role.

Now Cangcheng has no military role and is placed under local management. After the Hanyang government turned it into a commercial warehouse, it suddenly burst into great vitality. Merchants rented warehouses here to store goods, which drove the rapid development of Hanyang City's commerce.

In fact, it was not because of the arrival of the warships of the Western Army that the commerce in Jiangxia was deserted. The fundamental reason was that the Shangcang City in Hanyang had driven the development of commerce. It had developed rapidly for two years, and the warships of the Western Army had been stationed in Jiangxia for less than a month.

There is no army stationed in Hanyang Mansion, only [-] prefectural soldiers are responsible for maintaining order. When the prefect and the judge heard that His Royal Highness King Yong came to inspect, they were frightened and rushed out of the city to meet him.

Although Hanyang Mansion is under the jurisdiction of the imperial court, who would dare to neglect the arrival of King Yong?

"Li Qing, the humble magistrate of Hanyang, sees His Royal Highness King Yong!"

"The humble Hanyang general judge Zhou Lin sees Your Highness!"

Chen Qing smiled slightly and said, "You two don't need to be nervous. I'm just visiting Ezhou, and I'm here to see the business of Hanyang City. I don't have any other intentions!"

"Your Highness, please go to the city to rest in the government office, we will report to His Highness!"

"There's no need to go to the government office. I'll just take a look. If my subordinates don't allow me, I don't want to alarm you."

The two state officials looked at each other, and they both breathed a sigh of relief. The prefect Li Qing said: "The humble official will accompany His Highness on inspection!"

"can!"

Chen Qing took Zhao Yingluo into a carriage and drove towards Hanyang City. Outside Hanyang City, he saw a large number of shops, various foot shops, teahouses, taverns, etc., one after another, very lively and prosperous, quite It feels a bit like Jingzhao City, but just outside the city, Chen Qing feels a strong commercial atmosphere.

The carriage entered the city under the guard of hundreds of soldiers, and there was a hustle and bustle in the air. The city was full of yelling and people coming and going. The shops were dense, and various signboards were dazzling. The whole business atmosphere was extremely lively.

You must know that the Western Army and Zhang Jun's army are facing each other on the Han River a hundred miles away, and this place is so prosperous that it is not affected at all.

"Prefect Li!" Chen Qing opened the car window and shouted.

Li Qing was riding a horse, and he hurriedly urged the horse forward, "Your Highness, please give me instructions!"

"I just want to ask, the business here is so developed, how many people does the county have?"

Li Qing quickly explained: "Your Highness doesn't know something. The prosperity of commerce has nothing to do with the people of this county. Neither the buyers nor the sellers are from Hanyang Prefecture. They are all businessmen from all over the place. Many, the population of the county is less than [-].”

"I see!"

Chen Qing nodded with a smile, "If you say that, the commercial street shouldn't be long!"

"Your Highness is right. It's about a mile to the east of the city. Other places are similar to Jiangxia City, and they are relatively deserted."

After a pause, Li Qing continued: "Actually, Hanyang is not prosperous in business, but in warehousing industry. We have a warehouse city, and a large number of merchants store their goods here."

"Then go to Cangcheng to have a look!"

Chen Qing ordered: "Turn around and go to Cangcheng!"

The carriage turned around slowly, and under the guard of hundreds of soldiers, it headed for Cangcheng outside the city
Cangcheng is on the southeast side of the Yangtze River. The waterway has been widened so that merchant ships can sail directly into the city. In addition, a north gate has been opened to facilitate the transportation of goods to the county.

Chen Qing's carriage entered Cangcheng from Beicheng. Cangcheng is very large, with a circumference of twelve miles, and it is a small county town. It also has streets and rivers, and water and land run parallel.

But Chen Qing felt that there were very few merchants on the street, and compared with the prosperity of the county town, it was much deserted.

Chen Qing got out of the carriage and walked on foot. There were huge warehouses on one side, and rivers on the other side, where goods could be unloaded at any time. Chen Qing liked this warehouse city very much.

Of course, he came for inspection because of considerations. After taking Xiangyang in the future, the Hanshui-Shangzhou Road will be opened. Most of the materials from Jiangnan and overseas can be stored here, and the materials going to Bashu will continue to be transported to Jiangling.

If they were all transported to Jiangling, and then turned around and transported to Xiangyang, the distance would be much longer, and after the Han River passed through Xiangyang, they would not be able to take the Wanshi sea ship, and would have to change ships in Xiangyang, which would be a bit troublesome.

It's better to use Hanyang's warehouse and put the goods directly in Hanyang, but this involves another issue, that is, safety.

If he wanted to be safe, he had to garrison the army, and at the same time, he had to have a dedicated warehouse. Once the army was garrisoned, it would cause unnecessary trouble with the court, and he was not willing to mix it with other merchants' goods.

Of course, Chen Qing didn't want to drive out all the merchants in order to monopolize Cangcheng. When he was vigorously encouraging business, it was best not to do this kind of thing.

"Is Cangcheng fully rented?" Chen Qing asked.

"More than half of it has been rented out."

Chen Qing was taken aback, "There are so many, where are the merchants renting them?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, there are Jingnan South Road, Jinghu North Road, Huaixi Road, and merchants from the Central Plains. They come from all states and counties. The main reason is that the ships are short, so their goods are stored in the warehouse, and they will be transported slowly when there are ships. go back."

"I see!"

Chen Qing didn't have the heart to look any further, it was obviously unrealistic to rent a warehouse in Hanyang Mansion.

On the return boat, Zhao Yingluo said with a smile to Chen Qing: "Actually, my husband can consider building a warehouse group in Xiangyang. The Wanshi sea ship directly transports the goods to Xiangyang, unloads the goods, and then transfers them to Shangzhou with a fleet, and then uses camels and large ships to transport the goods to Xiangyang. The trucks are transported to Jingzhao, and there is another advantage of building a warehouse in Xiangyang, that is, it can take care of the Central Plains."

Chen Qing nodded and said: "After unloading part of the cargo, we still have to continue to Bashu, and take an extra section of the Han River."

Zhao Yingluo pursed her lips and said with a smile: "Actually, the impact is not that big, since thousands of miles of sea are already gone, do you still care about walking hundreds of miles of water?
In addition, it is also possible to divide the goods at the source, put the cargo ships going to Jingzhao together, and put the goods going to Sichuan Road or Jinghu South Road on another large ship, and send their own goods separately, so that there will be no unnecessary mistakes. . "

Chen Qing smiled and said: "You're right, you have to travel tens of thousands of miles by sea, and you don't care about taking hundreds of miles of river roads. All the goods will be sent to Xiangyang, and then a transshipment office will be set up in Xiangyang, and the transshipment office will decide where to send the goods? Anyway, there will be fleets of Jinghu South Road and Sichuan Road delivering goods, and the fleet will carry the goods to Jiangling or Hengyang on the way back, and the problem will be solved.”

"Husband means that the materials from Sichuan Road will also be transported to Xiangyang by water, and then sent to Jingzhao, making a circle of thousands of miles?"

Chen Qing nodded, "You don't know how difficult it is to transport goods on the Shu Road. After all the hardships to Hanzhong, you have to cross Zhongnan Mountain again. The camel team takes more than a month to travel, and thousands of them die from exhaustion every year." Camels, and bulk materials such as copper coins and grain are not easy to transport.

If it takes more than a month to go by water, you can transport the goods from Chengdu to Shangluo County in Shangzhou by water, and then transport the materials from Shangluo County to Chang'an by camel or cart. The land is much shorter and the road is flat. In fact, it is the best transportation route. "

Zhao Yingluo smiled thoughtfully, "I just now know why your husband is trying to take Xiangyang by all means?"

(End of this chapter)