Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 923 0918 [Country Bumpkin Enters the City]

The prime minister and prince of Srivijaya rebelled, but were quickly suppressed by the old king.

The prime minister was executed and the prince fled to his grandfather, Java, which also had part of its territory on Sumatra.

The old king was extremely respectful to the Ming Dynasty, which made it difficult for the envoys to take action, otherwise the diplomatic impact would be too bad.

After all, the envoys from various countries saw it.

The purpose of sending troops to Ceylon was to restore the prince's country and to show off military power to envoys from other countries. Attacking a vassal state that had done nothing wrong without any reason would only make the envoys of other countries wary and make them extremely wary of the Ming Dynasty.

The two sides then had a friendly exchange, Cheng Yu commended Srivijaya for its respect, and Srivijaya sent envoys to pay tribute with the delegation.

The fleet stopped at Guangzhou Outer Port.

Those who were willing to sell goods went to trade, damaged ships were towed away for repair, and horses were taken off the ship for treatment and recuperation.

While repairing the ship, Cheng Yu brought envoys from various countries to Guangzhou City to see the world.

As a result, before we even arrived, we saw a large construction site.

The official from the Maritime Customs who led them to Guangzhou pointed to the construction site and said, "A new city is being built there. Guangzhou was expanded many times in the early Song Dynasty, but the population grew too fast. After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, maritime trade was encouraged, and many farmers from the surrounding areas were attracted here."

Deformed urbanization.

Many prefectures and counties in Guangdong are sparsely populated, but the city of Guangzhou is densely populated, and a large number of farmers come here to make a living.

Although local officials reduced taxes and levies and encouraged land reclamation, there were still some farmers who were unwilling to reclaim wasteland in the mountains and were determined to come to Guangzhou to work.

Cheng Yu stood at the bow of the inland vessel, observed carefully and asked: "How big do you plan to build it?"

An official from the Maritime Customs Office said: "Expanding to the east and north will probably increase the area by one-sixth."

"After its completion, Guangzhou became even more prosperous," Yu Yunwen said with emotion.

At this time, Guangzhou had three cities.

The inner city was located in the area of ​​the later city government and was expanded in the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty. Today, the three government offices of Guangdong Province, the government office of the Maritime Customs, the government office of Guangzhou and other official institutions are all located in the inner city.

To the west of the inner city is the West City, which is also an old city with a long history. The Nanhai County Government is located in it and has the largest area.

To the east of the inner city is the East City, which was expanded in the late Northern Song Dynasty. The Panyu County Government is located in it and has the smallest area.

Each of the three cities has its own city wall, connected by gates in the middle.

If the servants of the diplomatic mission were included, there were several hundred envoys from various countries.

They arrived at the East City Wharf of Guangzhou by boat. The envoys from the small country were already shocked by the towering city walls, while the envoys from the big country were just admiring the prosperity of the place.

Especially the envoys from Persia, Egypt and India, they are worldly-wise.

Anwari asked, "Is this the residence of a certain governor of the Ming Dynasty?"

Cheng Yu said, "It can be compared like this. The Ming Dynasty divided the country into many provinces, and each province had many prefectures, states, and counties. This city is called Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province. Where is the most magnificent wall of the Seljuk?"

"The Round City in Baghdad, where the Caliph lives," said Anwari.

Cheng Yu asked again: "How high are the walls of Baghdad?"

"It's probably twice as high as the Guangzhou city wall," Anwari said.

"The city where the Caliph lives is indeed a huge city." Cheng Yu couldn't help but sigh.

Baghdad's Round City is a circular city with an outer wall about 24 meters high and made entirely of bricks and stones.

There were houses and shops in the city, but more people lived outside the city. A circular enclosure with a diameter of four miles was set aside in the center of the city, and civilians were forbidden to enter. The caliph's palace was built in the center of the enclosure.

This has resulted in half of Baghdad's urban space being off-limits to civilians.

Anvari followed everyone into East City, and the emotion in his heart became stronger and stronger.

Although Guangzhou City is not as majestic as the Tuancheng of Baghdad, most of the people live in the city and can enjoy the protection of the city walls.

However, the circular city of Baghdad excluded many civilians, and most of them could only live around the city.

"Silk, there are really a lot of people wearing silk!" suddenly a messenger exclaimed.

Even without him shouting, the envoys from various countries would have been dazzled.

From the Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, Guangzhou City has always had this layout. West City is a residential area, Middle City (sub-city) is an administrative area, and East City is a commercial area. Each city has residential houses, and here we only talk about their main functions.

At the moment, everyone is touring Dongcheng, which is the most prosperous area in Guangzhou and is home to many merchants from all over the world.

Anwari even saw several people wearing long robes and turbans. He went up to one of them and asked, "I am from the Seljuk tribe. May I ask which country you are from?"

"I'm from Muscat (an Omani port)." The businessman was not enthusiastic because they belonged to different countries and sects.

Anwari asked again: "Are you settling here?"

The merchant said, "Sifuqi cut off the trade between the East and the West. I don't want to take any more risks. I have settled in Guangzhou for 20 years. I have a shop in Dongcheng, but I usually live in Xicheng, where I can buy a bigger house."

"So are you considered a Ming citizen now?" Anwari asked.

The merchant smiled and said, "Of course, I have already settled here. My Chinese name is Li Wanli. My name is Ali, so my last name is Li. Wanli means that I came from a faraway place. It is more peaceful here, there is no war, and the exploitation from the nobles is not severe."

The two talked for a long time, and then the merchant named Li Wanli said goodbye and left.

His hometown used to belong to the Seljuk territory, but later took advantage of the civil unrest to become independent and is now controlled by the Ahmad tribe.

The Azd tribe next door had been at war with the Ahmad tribe for a long time. The commercial taxes there were getting heavier and heavier, and Li Wanli did not like doing business and living in his hometown.

Although, he also didn't like some of the Ming Dynasty's policies.

For example, when reducing the number of temples in Guangzhou, all the temples where people could worship were demolished.

For example, the law of intermarriage was promulgated, requiring these overseas residents to intermarry with the Han Chinese of the Ming Dynasty. If they violated the law, their homes would be confiscated and they would be expelled. A few foreign merchants did not believe in this, and after being reported, their property was confiscated and their entire family was driven to the outer port to find a way to leave.

Li Wanli's youngest son married a poor Han girl.

Rich families would not marry their daughters to people of different races, so he could only pay a matchmaker for help and at least find an educated daughter-in-law.

His eldest granddaughter also got married, marrying the son of his own servant, and gave a considerable dowry.

Although his grandson-in-law came from a humble background, he was very smart, and Li Wanli planned to train him well.

He understood what the emperor meant.

It was nothing more than letting these ethnic minorities assimilate into the Ming Dynasty, give up their original surnames and beliefs, and after several generations of intermarriage, completely become Han people.

Even though Li Wanli was extremely dissatisfied, he still chose to stay.

What else can we do?
Will I go back to my hometown and continue to be ruled and exploited by the tribe?
He has become accustomed to the prosperity of Guangzhou, and he will find it completely unaccustomed to the life there if he goes back.

In addition, their faction is relatively moderate and open-minded. Their symbol is not green, but light blue.

The laws and customs of the Ming Dynasty are more suitable for them than those of Persia and Egypt!

……

The envoys from various countries stayed in Guangzhou for more than twenty days, waiting until the ship was repaired before setting off.

Anwari traveled all over the three cities of Guangzhou, but he didn't see any beggars.

There are patrol soldiers walking around the city every day. When they see healthy beggars, they will send them directly to the orphanage. Once they have recovered, they will be sent to Guangxi to increase the population.

If they found a beggar with a mutilated body, the patrolmen would be even more excited and would repeatedly interrogate him about whether he had been mutilated. Solving a big case would earn them merit!

Anwari was certainly not aware of this. After communicating with envoys from various countries, he visited welfare institutions such as orphanages and salesians.

In the end, everyone agreed that the Ming Dynasty was rich enough to feed all its citizens and that the weak would be well taken care of.

With the help of monsoons and ocean currents, the fleet arrived in Shanghai smoothly.

Haimen on the north bank of the Yangtze River is ultimately too weak as a port and does not have sufficient sources of cargo to support it.

And what about Shanghai?

The Shanghai Office (located at the mouth of Songjiang River) was established in the Northern Song Dynasty. It is now becoming more and more prosperous. It is expected to be upgraded to the Shanghai Division in another ten years.

The place is relatively simple, and the wharf was expanded three years ago. It is currently just a commercial town.

The houses are built in a mess, without any planning at all, and there are even a lot of shacks mixed in.

The envoys from various countries finally breathed a sigh of relief. Not everywhere in the Ming Dynasty was as prosperous as Guangzhou.

The crowd waited for several days and then changed to an inland vessel.

If any country sends ships to China, the ships will be temporarily handed over to the Shanghai Maritime Affairs Bureau for management.

Cross Jiangyin and arrive at Runzhou (Zhenjiang).

Runzhou was more prosperous and wealthy than Guangzhou. When they continued north to Yangzhou, even the envoys who had seen the world were so shocked that they were completely speechless.

What a huge city, with countless people and a wide variety of goods.

"Brahma is above!"

The Solanki (Gujarat, India) envoy clasped his hands together and knelt down directly in the center of Yangzhou City.

The Fatimid (Egyptian) envoy mistakenly entered a porcelain shop, where the entire street was full of porcelain. He looked at the various porcelains and felt that his legs were filled with lead and he could not walk. He muttered to himself: "If I transport these porcelains to Cairo, I'm afraid I can buy a city!"

The Seljuk envoy Anvari spent a whole day wandering around Yangzhou City but still couldn't finish his tour.

He returned to the boat and asked Cheng Yu: "How many cities like this are there in the Ming Dynasty?"

Cheng Yu was talking nonsense: "Less than twenty seats."

"That means more than ten..." Anwari felt it was unbelievable and asked, "How many residents are there in Yangzhou City?"

Cheng Yu said: "Hundreds of thousands."

Anvari said nothing more.

The Seljuks also had huge cities, such as Baghdad, with a total population of about 300,000 people inside and outside the city. But most of them lived outside the city and were very poor.

How can it compare with Yangzhou?
When these guys sailed all the way north and took them on a tour of Kaifeng, everyone was numb with shock.

Although Kaifeng is no longer the capital, it still retains its status as a secondary capital and is also a transit station for materials from all over the country to be transported to Luoyang.

After experiencing a drop in housing prices when the capital was moved, housing prices in Kaifeng have now recovered somewhat.

Moreover, more and more merchants from other places chose to move to Kaifeng to settle down. There is a strong commercial atmosphere here, it is close to Luoyang, and the management is not as strict as in Luoyang.

Compared with before the capital was moved, Kaifeng's population has not decreased significantly.

"Is this the capital of the Ming Dynasty? It is indeed huge." Anwari seemed to be in a dream.

Cheng Yu smiled and said, "It's the deputy capital, Tokyo. The capital of the Ming Dynasty was in Luoyang, and it was moved there a few years ago."

It was difficult for the envoys from various countries to understand why such a huge city would move its capital.

To them, this city is already a paradise.

Especially after nightfall, the lights inside and outside the city are bright, and it seems that the darkness cannot stop people from traveling.

Anwari couldn't imagine how much it would cost to light the room for one night!
(End of this chapter)