Capital Datang

"Building a city? Your Highness, you...you are not joking, are you?" County magistrate Xie's face was full of disbelief. You must know that building a city is not a joke. Financial resources, material resources and manpower are indispensable, and even if We have all three of these, but we still need the approval of the court, otherwise even the prince has no right to build a new city.

"Liulang, there are many ports along the Yangtze River, and not far to the south, there are Taizhou and Wenzhou, both of which are famous seaports. Is it necessary to build another port here in Huating?" Although Li Ke is not very familiar with the political affairs here in Suzhou He is concerned, but he is still very clear about the general geographical situation around him. In his opinion, the surrounding ports are all ready-made, and there is no need to spend a lot of effort to build another one.

After hearing this, Li Yin said with a smile: "Third brother, you don't know. Although there are many ports along the Yangtze River, they are only river ports. In the past, both sea and river transportation were carried by flat-bottomed boats, so the impact was not too great, but Now on the sea, there are new types of sharp-bottomed ships, and the ships are getting bigger and bigger. As a result, many sea-going ships can no longer berth in river ports. In addition, the goods concentrated in those ports on the Yangtze River want to go out to sea. It is also necessary to change sea ships, and this also requires a large seaport, so no matter from which aspect, it is necessary to build a new port!"

When Li Yin said this, he paused for a while and continued: "As for why the new city was built in Huating, there are two main reasons. The first is that this is the estuary of the Yangtze River. Ships along the Yangtze River do not need to take risks when they arrive here. Enter the sea, just transfer the goods directly to the sea ship. The second reason is also a geographical factor. Except for the east side of Huating, it is the sea. The other three sides are rich land of fish and rice, and it is the main silk producing area of ​​Tang Dynasty. The port built here is also making it more convenient for the distribution of goods in the surrounding area. If it is transported south to Taizhou or Wenzhou, the cost of goods will inevitably increase, so in the long run, it is absolutely necessary to build a port city here!"

Li Yun's words made Li Ke and Xie county magistrate present nodded again and again. Li Yun and Li Zhen didn't care about the reason for building the city.What they think is what kind of benefits can they get from the construction of this new city?Capital Datang 236

"Liu Lang, since that's the case. Let's build a new city, but it's not an easy task. How do you plan to do it?" Li Ke was also aroused at this time. This is his fief. Building a super-large port, among other things, his achievements will definitely be written down along with the city's historians, instead of just being named as a prince.

"Hehe, building a city is indeed a troublesome thing, but it only needs to be done step by step. It is not too difficult. First of all, don't worry about the father. After I return to Chang'an, I will explain the reason for this matter clearly. I will agree. In addition, magistrate Xie and you local officials should also help organize manpower. First, build a pier here for large ships to dock. As for the financial and material resources needed, I have asked Dengzhou to prepare and send them soon. Come on, so for the organization of manpower, County Magistrate Xie wants to notify Zheng Biejia in Suzhou to prepare quickly, so as not to delay the time!" Li Yin said confidently.The reason why he stopped in Dengzhou for several days was mostly to arrange this matter.

Li Yin is the governor of Suzhou. Since he has already agreed, then the magistrate Xie should naturally follow suit. However, when the magistrate Xie heard that he was asked to organize the manpower, his face showed a look of embarrassment, and he hesitated for a while. He still opened his mouth and said, "His Royal Highness, can the organization of manpower be postponed for a while? Because it is just the time for spring planting, and coupled with the spring famine, many people can't even eat enough. If they are transferred to be civilian husbands If so, I’m afraid there will be problems?”

According to the laws of the Tang Dynasty, all the people have to serve corvee, that is, to work for the country for free. Generally speaking, it will not exceed 20 days a year. This is called regular service, but the number of days is not fixed. The imperial court can increase the number of days of corvee service at any time, which is called dispatch service, but the sum of regular service and dispatch service generally does not exceed [-] days, and dispatch service is considered as extra labor, which can be offset against taxes.If Li Yin wants to build a wharf, he must ask the surrounding people to work in the name of corvee service. However, it is the busy spring season, and the general "government" will not let the people serve corvee at this time. The main reason is that they are worried. Delayed farming time.

Unexpectedly, when Li Yin heard it, he laughed and said: "Magistrate Xie misunderstood, I asked you to prepare manpower, in fact, the main purpose is to help you, the sericulture industry will be in a state of depression in the past two years, There are so many silkworm farmers in Suzhou and its vicinity, it is really difficult to support their families by raising silkworms, so when building the dock, I plan to recruit workers. Those who work can receive a reward. Although it is not much, as long as they are willing to work, It’s no problem to support a family. But you have to hire some professionals in wharf construction to do a good job of planning in this area, so as not to have to rebuild in the future!”

Hearing Li Yin's words, County Magistrate Xie's eyes lighted up. It was indeed worthy of His Royal Highness Qi's handwriting. In this way, it not only solved the manpower problem of the wharf construction, but also solved the problem of feeding silkworm farmers near Suzhou.It's just that the cost is a bit high, and it is estimated that only Li Yin, who is rich and powerful, can afford it.

However, Li Yin's money is not for nothing, and the construction of a port city cannot be built with just a wharf. This is just the initial foundation.Next, Li Yin proposed to open a shipyard and a food processing factory here in Huating, and to recruit fishermen. According to Dengzhou, a fishing team should be set up. All these require the assistance of the county magistrate Xie in front of him in terms of land and manpower.

Magistrate Xie is not a fool either. He knows that if this new city is built, the people here in Huating will definitely prosper, and the lives of the people will definitely be better. At least they don't have to worry about famine anymore.In addition, as the tide rises, he is not only a county magistrate of Huating, even if he can become a big port like Wenzhou, maybe Huating can be promoted from the county to the state. With this political achievement, his official career is definitely promising. .

Thinking of the above, magistrate Xie couldn't help but feel hot. This new city is not only related to the lives of the local people, but also related to his own future. Therefore, both public and private, he will do his best to help build the new city. It was precisely because of this that he naturally agreed to all the conditions proposed by Li Yin.Besides, there is Li Ke next to him. He is the governor of Suzhou, that is, the immediate boss of Xie County Magistrate. Now Li Ke also agrees to build a new city, so even if there are any problems, he can’t be blamed. Just follow Li Yin's orders.

After the matter of building the city was negotiated, County Magistrate Xie asked Li Ke and Li Yin to decide on the name of the new city. This was an extremely important matter in the eyes of the ancients.As a result, not only Li Ke started to think of the name of the new city with great interest, but Li Yun and Li Zhen also joined in the fun. After all, if the new city uses the name they thought of, it would be a very glorious thing.

In this regard, Li Yin behaved very domineeringly. With a big wave of his hand, he directly copied the name of the later generations of Shanghai. It is said that this name would not appear until the Song Dynasty, but he suddenly brought it forward by hundreds of years.For the name Shanghai, the three of Li Ke were not convinced at first, but Li Yin took out his trump card, because he paid for the construction of the wharf, so he naturally had the priority to name the name, and now the name was finally decided, and Li Yin Yen also directly named the plan to develop the new city the "Great Shanghai Plan".He hoped that the incomparably prosperous big Shanghai in future generations would one day be born in his own hands.

For such an important matter as the construction of a new city, Li Ke burst out with incomparable enthusiasm, and discussed with Li Yin that he should not go to Liuqiu at all, and just stay here in Suzhou to supervise the progress of the project. to solve.For this proposal, County Magistrate Xie naturally supported it with both hands. After all, with the support of the prince behind him, everything would be easier to do.

However, Li Yin disagreed. He told Li Ke that building a city did not happen overnight. It would take a long time to build a pier alone. When the time is sufficient, urban planning can be formally started.During this period, it is estimated that the accumulation of a few years will not work, so it is useless for Li Ke to stay here now, it is better to go to Liuqiu as planned.

Li Ke thought about it for a while and felt right, so he didn't insist anymore, and wrote a letter to Zheng Biejia in Suzhou, explaining Li Yin's big Shanghai plan clearly, and handed it over to the County Magistrate Xie for his help. Leaving old man Sun's small shop, boarding the big ship and continuing southward.

However, just a few days after Li Yin and the others left Huating, the fleet was overtaken by a fast boat from Dengzhou to report. Silla and Baekje finally fought.

The incident happened just a few days after Li Yin and the others left Dengzhou, the queen of Silla gave birth early, and Baekje, who had already prepared at the border, immediately raised troops, led by Prince Fu Yuzhang, and pointed directly at the hinterland of Silla.At the beginning, Silla was caught off guard, and dozens of cities were captured one after another.However, it is worth mentioning that the cities of Silla and Baekje are actually small villages in the eyes of Tang Dynasty, and dozens of households are also called a city, which sounds shabby.

Although Silla suffered a defeat at the beginning, its strength is stronger than that of Baekje after all. Therefore, after exchanging space for time, General Jin Yuxin organized a counterattack. However, they were able to block Baekje's offensive, and even won a few battles. For a while, Baekje's morale was frustrated, and they did not dare to attack easily. The battlefield was suddenly in a state of stalemate.

The war between Silla and Baekje has already begun, and the current state is exactly what Li Yin wants to see, but in the information brought by the messenger, there is a piece of news that makes Li Yin frown. This news didn't explain anything, but it gave him an extremely bad premonition. rq! ! !