Fenghou

Chapter 874 Dangtu
That morning, Zhang Yuxuan hurried across the river by boat, and then Chen Qing and Zhou Kuan also took a boat to Dangtu County for inspection.

Dangtu County was originally the seat of the state government of Taiping Prefecture. Later, after the Jin soldiers attacked Jiangnan from Wuhu County, the imperial court transferred the state government of Taiping Prefecture to Wuhu County. After a few years, Dangtu County gradually declined.

Dangtu County is only about [-] miles away from Wuhu County, and it takes half a day to get there by boat. The Yangtze River has a Jiangxin Island in Dangtu County, which forms two waterways in the north and south. The South Waterway in the south of Jiangxin Island becomes a natural harbor. A large number of ships can berth on the South Waterway without affecting the main channel of the Yangtze River to the north of Jiangxin Island.

Chen Qing found out that the pier is actually not small, but a section is blocked by silt. After hiring people to clean up the silt, several Wanshi ships can dock at the same time to unload.

This discovery made Chen Qing quite happy. It was not about saving a little money, but at least two months of time.

Several [-]-stone ships that Chen Qing took slowly docked. The county seat was about two miles away from the wharf, and there was a flat official road leading directly to the county seat.

Chen Qing got off the big boat and looked around the pier. Opposite was a row of dilapidated shops, an inn, two restaurants, and a warehouse. It looked very depressed, and there was a large vegetable field behind it. Chen Qing was quite satisfied with the place, which was basically vacant land, so there was no need to demolish the house, just buy the land directly.

At this time, several officials came in a hurry on horseback. The leading official was Jiang Wenhui, the magistrate of the county. He was about forty years old and looked very fair and gentle. He received a notice from Zhang Yuxuan early in the morning that King Yong might come to inspect Dangtu County today. Well, he sent someone to watch at the pier early in the morning. If there was a big ship coming, he would report it immediately.

Sure enough, just after noon, he really waited for him.

The soldiers stepped forward and stopped several officials. After a while, the soldiers brought Jiang Wenhui, the magistrate, to him. Jiang Wenhui bowed and saluted, "The next official is Jiang Wenhui, the magistrate of Dangtu County. Please see His Royal Highness King Yong!"

Chen Qing smiled slightly: "Does Jiang Zhixian know that I'm coming?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, Zhang Canjun told the humble official that His Highness may come to inspect Dangtu County today."

Chen Qing nodded, and smiled at Zhou Kuan: "This Zhang Yuxuan really has a heart."

Zhou Kuan laughed and said, "His Royal Highness, he is actually Zhang Jun's chief steward."

"Jiangzhi County, is that so?" Chen Qing smiled slightly.

Jiang Wenhui blushed and nodded, "Indeed!"

Chen Qing looked at the county seat and asked, "How big is the county seat and how many people are there?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, the county has a perimeter of [-] people, and the entire Dangtu County has a population of [-]."

"The population is not small, and the county is also very large, not bad!"

"Reporting to Your Highness, Dangtu County was originally the seat of the Taiping Prefecture Government Office. Because Wanyan Nianhan went down from Wuhu Lake to attack Jiangnan a few years ago, the imperial court paid unprecedented attention to Wuhu and moved the prefecture to Wuhu County. There was a lot of population loss. In fact, Dangtu Counties can also go to Taihu Lake by boat from the Yangtze River.”

Chen Qing was surprised: "Is Dangtu County also available?"

"There is a river called Gushu River in Dangtu County. It is an extremely beautiful place. Li Bai has a poem saying: "The waves turn over the shadows of dawn clouds, and the banks overlap with the scenery of spring mountains. "

"Yes, where is the river?"

Jiang Wenhui pointed to the west, "It's just a few miles to the west, maybe His Highness didn't notice that Gushu Creek connects the Yangtze River and Danyang Lake, and Danyang Lake connects Lishui, so you can go directly to Gushu Creek from the Yangtze River by boat. In Lishui, many fishermen take this small river to enter the Yangtze River.”

Chen Qing smiled faintly: "The Gushu River you mentioned is just a small river?"

"If the silt is dredged, there will be no problem for a cargo ship with two thousand shi."

Speaking of dredging, Chen Qing remembered something, pointed to the west side of the pier and said: "There is a long section of the pier over there where boats cannot be parked, does it also need to be dredged?"

Jiang Wenhui smiled wryly and said, "The county government has many plans, but it's financially strapped, and it can't provide any money, and the higher-ups are unwilling to allocate money. There is really no way."

Chen Qing nodded, pointed to the buildings and vegetable fields around the pier and asked, "Who owns this large piece of land around the pier?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, it is all government land, which is rented out to farmers to grow vegetables, and the inns and restaurants over there are also owned by the government."

"That's just right. Zhang Yuxuan said yesterday that Wei's Commercial Bank is going to buy all the land around the pier and the pier, and the county will have a lot of income, so you can have money to dredge the port and rivers."

"But... the wharf is all bought, what should the common people do when they go out?"

"There will definitely be a pier for people to travel, so you don't have to worry about it."

Jiang Wenhui knew very well that the Wei's firm must be the King Yong who wanted to buy the land. Needless to say, King Yong made a deal with the Marshal, and Dangtu County was going to become King Yong's territory.

Although he knew it in his heart, he couldn't say that he belonged to Zhang Jun. If the news leaked out, Zhang Jun would be the first to spare him.

"Buying land is very convenient and can be done at any time."

Chen Qing ordered Facao Feng Qianming to take dozens of men to stay to measure the land and handle land purchase matters. He also saved [-] yuan in Baoji Cabinet Square in Wuhu County for land purchase, wharf repairs, warehouse building, etc. At the same time, Wang Qing was appointed as the patrol envoy of the eastern section of the Yangtze River, and he led [-] people to be stationed in Dangtu County as the commander of the Shaking Army.

Soon, Zhang Jun also appointed Wang Qing as the Yangtze River patrol envoy of the Shaking Army, leading a hundred large ships to patrol the Yangtze River. This is a typical team with two brands. The entire Taiping Prefecture is Zhang Jun's defense line. Zhang Jun In his jurisdiction, he covered the sky with one hand, even if someone in the county found out the clues, there was no evidence, and no one dared to report the matter.

But what Chen Qing didn't expect was that Zhang Jun was on the north bank of the Yangtze River opposite Wuhu at this time, waiting for news from Zhang Yuxuan on a [-] stone passenger ship.

At the same time that Chen Qing arrived in Dangtu County for inspection, Zhang Yuxuan also boarded the passenger ship and met the commander-in-chief Zhang Jun.

Zhang Jun motioned his nephew to sit down, and asked with a smile, "How is it?"

"My nephew met King Yong yesterday."

"King Yong?"

Zhang Jun sighed softly, "Leading an army of [-] to Lin'an, did he become King Yong? The court really does not accept softness! No wonder Liu Guangshi also wants to separate the regime."

Sighs are sighs, Zhang Jun is more concerned about his deal with Chen Qing now, he is too dependent on kerosene now, in fact he still has [-] barrels in stock, but he still wants to keep [-] barrels in stock to make him feel at ease a little.

Moreover, what Chen Qing sent was crude oil, and he had to remove impurities and purify it into fierce fire oil before it could be ignited for use, and the [-] barrels had to be reduced by at least [-]%.

He looked at the agreement signed by both parties and said with a smile, "Did he still choose Dangtu County?"

"My nephew guesses that he has taken a fancy to Jiangxin Island, so he can garrison troops on Jiangxin Island."

"It's up to him, I promised, he can garrison [-] troops in Dangtu County."

"My nephew is a little worried. Once someone informs me, will it happen?"

Zhang Jun sneered, "Those [-] troops are my Shaking Army. Who dares to talk nonsense. At most, Chen Qing leased the Dangtu Wharf as a transfer. This is for civilian use, and it is different from the army. It is completely different in nature."

Zhang Yuxuan said shamelessly, "It's my nephew who thinks too much."

Zhang Jun glanced at him, and said calmly, "You think I really need that [-] barrels of kerosene?"

Zhang Yuxuan was startled, "Ah! Isn't it?"

"You're still a little too tender."

Zhang Jun snorted and said: "I'm actually looking for an opportunity to form a good relationship with Chen Qing. I asked him to garrison and took the risk for him. He owed me a favor. I didn't take the risk. Where did the favor come from?" ?”

Only then did Zhang Yuxuan suddenly realize that he just said it!Uncle has never done business at a loss. To take such a big risk for [-] barrels of kerosene this time is to give up Dangtu County to Chen Qing without telling the court. Once he is reported, the consequences will be disastrous.

This is not in line with my uncle's style of doing things. It turns out that my uncle is not doing business at all, but to build a relationship with Chen Qing.

(End of this chapter)