Chastity Layman

  Chapter 725 The Ancient Golden Road

  For ordinary people, life is actually food, clothing, housing, and transportation to support their families. Life is composed of various trivial matters.

  Chang'an is a good place, the center of the world. Hu merchants and Fans from all over the world say that there is no greater and more prosperous city than Chang'an in the world.

  In Chang'an City, there are people with millions of guan, and even more than 100,000 guan. There is no shortage of rich people in Chang'an, let alone noble people.

   There are dozens of princes and county kings, and there are more than a hundred dukes in real titles and titles.

   There are not many officials in purple robes above the third rank, but there are many with ranks above the third rank, honorary officers, and titles, let alone those of the fifth rank.

  In the city of Chang'an, there are only thousands of Tibetan officials who were attached to the capital and awarded ranks of five or more.

  Chang'an is the center of the world.

   But Chang'an is not so friendly to ordinary people. It is not easy to survive here, the consumption level is high, and all kinds of prices are much higher than other places.

The most difficult thing is to live and travel, especially housing. The earliest residents of Chang’an were better. There were houses in Zhufang, but there were more common people who did not have their own houses in Chang’an. expensive.

Every year, the capital is building a lot of residential areas. In the early years, there were many half-empty squares in the south of the city, but now they are full of buildings. Even outside the nine gates of the outer city, a large area of ​​Guanxiang has been built, but it is still not easy to live in. .

   Traveling is also inconvenient.

   Many people in Chang'an actually have no land, let alone farmers. They have become members of this huge city, and they have become members of the supply and maintenance of this city. There are people in every line of 360.

  Butcher, Lifu, Coachman...

  Relying on their skills or simply selling their strength, they have their own position in Chang'an, but in exchange for rewards, they always make them confused and worried. This confusion lies in their worries about the future.

  They feel that without land, there will always be a little less security, just like people in later generations who have no house will always feel that they have no roots.

But although Chang'an is located on the Guanzhong Plain, it has a larger population. It is a narrow and densely populated township, not to mention that there are too many nobles, nobles, royal family, senior officials, forbidden troops, etc., and the land is still mainly in their hands. .

  The lower-level people in Chang'an are very anxious, worried about the future, and afraid of tomorrow.

If given the chance, they would all be willing to live the kind of life Ah Huang said. They would have a piece of land of their own, have a wife and children, and even take in two concubines. They would be small landlords or self-cultivators, and they could work to earn money in their spare time. There are deposits every year and surplus food every month.

  However, the living standard of the low-level people in Chang'an at this time is actually the envy of countless foreigners.

A majestic, clean and safe city with a stable income is the dream life of many foreigners. At this time, the Frankish Kingdom in Europe is just a feudal country established by barbarians. Even if it is a royal city, it is full of dung. Yes, even Constantinople, the capital of Eastern Rome, known as the center of Western civilization, is actually just a superficial sheep dung, with poor and beggars everywhere.

  Wu'an Prefecture cannot really be full of gold.

   Even if gold is really everywhere, it is impossible for everyone to have a share.

It's just that Wu'an Prefecture is a fiefdom of the Qin family in the wild land far away in Annan, and Qin Lang needs to immigrate from the Central Plains. The long-term strategy of the Qin family is to completely occupy the majority with Han people in terms of population share. Worry about future control.

  Indigenous barbarians, even early Hakka immigrants, etc., are actually targets of suppression.

  The Qin family has continuously used troops against Wu'an Prefecture in the past few years, and how many unruly Xidong stockades have been broken. The Qin family has never been soft on those barbarians who dare to rebel. They quickly sent troops to attack by force.

  After breaking the stronghold, they will never be soft.

Often all the barbarians in Xidong were directly sold into slavery, and there was a mandatory regulation that two-thirds should be sold outside instead of staying in the fief as slaves. This is an important factor in changing the population composition. Method.

  In addition, the vassals continue to recruit immigrants from the Central Plains to go south, and give them very favorable conditions, but they will not easily recruit the barbarians from Lingnan.

  If refugees from the Central Plains want to buy land in Wu'an Prefecture, they will be given preferential treatment. The land price is cheap and there are few restrictions. However, if the barbarians want to buy land, or want to move and settle down, there are many restrictions.

  This kind of discrimination is everywhere.

  In the final analysis, as outsiders, the Qin family and his vassals all believed in the Han people of the Central Plains, who had the same root and origin. Everyone would rather spend more to attract people from the Central Plains than directly give the barbarians better treatment.

Although Qin Lang has always been wooing and using the handsome and handsome chieftains such as the Nong family and the Yang family who were the first to belong to them, to push favors and distribute feudal titles, to form slang township braves, to cooperate in mining and business, etc., it will still not change the essence of Wu'an Prefecture. It is a fact of the colony.

  The colony has a special business model for its own colonies.

   "If you want to go to Wu'an Prefecture, you can ask Lao Huang to register." Qin Lang smiled.

Wu'an Prefecture has only been in business for a few years, and now is the time when a large number of Han people from the Central Plains are needed to immigrate. At this time, there are still immigration bonuses. Those who go first can indeed buy land at a low price, or even divide the land. But as time goes by, this This kind of benefit will definitely gradually decrease or even disappear.

  Once the population is saturated, there will definitely be no vacant fields left.

  Of course, Wu'an Prefecture has the largest coal mine in Lingnan, and it still operates a seaport. Relying on Jiaozhou, the center of Annan, the prospects here are very broad. Business and trade will be more prosperous, and the demand for manpower will continue to flow.

   But at that time, craftsmen or Lifu were mainly needed, and it would be difficult to become a landlord in the past.

  Of course, apart from Wu'an Prefecture, Lingnan Annan and other places, there are actually opportunities everywhere. Immigrants settled in the past, and there was land, but it may not be as safe and stable as Qin's Wu'an Prefecture.

   After all, the current safety of the Qin family is the result of Qin Lang's hard work and money. In other places, there is no such violence as the Qin family, so how could there be such a quick change.

  Qin Lang was very willing to throw money at Wu Anzhou.

  In the past few years, the huge stalls that Qin Lang has set up, the money earned, except for the needs of maintaining the existing stalls, the rest is basically invested in Wu'an Prefecture.

  Anyway, like a bottomless pit, people poured in continuously. Qin Lang himself couldn't remember how much money was thrown into it. The rapid changes in Wu'an Prefecture are due to Qin Lang's spending money regardless of the cost. Now Wu'an Prefecture has begun to generate income, but the income is completely out of proportion to his huge investment.

   It is not known how long it will take to recover the cost that has been invested, not to mention, this investment has not yet ended, and he has to continue throwing money in it. It is hard to say when it will end.

   Just to turn Taiping County, Wu'an Prefecture into a Beibu Gulf trading port, I don't know how much more investment is needed, but Qin Langshe's investment.

   This is the back road he managed for the Qin family, and it's worth it no matter how much he spends.

  Compared to this, Qin Renfang's investment in the Songzhou fiefdom is not as bold and financial as Qin Lang, so the development of Songzhou is step by step, even a bit slow and unchanged.

   "Sanlang, I have something important to tell you face to face."

  Ah Huang and Qin Lang repaired the horseshoe for the head of the leopard together. Even though he became the Governor of Wu'an, Ah Huang's authentic horse hoof repairing skill still did not fail.

   "This horseshoe is not bad, very delicate."

   "This horseshoe is consistent."

   "Very expensive."

   "One consistent."

   "Hey, it's extravagant. An ordinary family of five may not be able to save a consistent amount of money in a year. This leopard's first shoe is consistent."

  The wine and meat of Zhumen stinks, and the roads have frozen bones. In fact, they can be found everywhere. It is impossible for Qin Lang to say that he has hundreds of millions of assets, but still have the same living standard as a small person. This is impossible.

  Just like seeing the richest man in horses in later generations wearing cloth shoes or simple clothes, it doesn’t mean that they are really frugal and living like this, it’s just what they show you.

  What you see is not entirely the truth.

  Qin Lang doesn't like to go out of his way to perform, he likes to be more casual. Ordinary people want to kill a chicken or cut two catties of meat after the Chinese New Year, and the landlord wants to take a concubine after a bumper harvest.

  As long as it is not intentionally wasted, there is no need to interfere too much with the rest.

   "Speak directly when you have something to say."

"Li Changshi has conquered the Heman tribe several times in the past two years, with a slight victory, but there has been no major progress. The Heman tribe resisted fiercely, and they allied with the Liaozi tribe in the north. Once Jiaozhou soldiers entered the battle, the Heman tribe was not The Southward Rescue and the Barbarians took the opportunity to harass the Jiaozhou border, and a few times, they even came to our side, although we repelled them, but we can't let them come and go as they want!"

  Qin Lang took out a special tool for the leopard head to carefully repair and remove the hoof of the horseshoe. This set of tools is worth 100,000 yuan and is quite fine. It is an 18-piece set, made of Damascus steel, with exquisite patterns.

   "Do you want to use troops against the Liaozi Department?"

   "It's impolite to come and not go!"

Qin Lang just smiled slightly, knowing that things are not so simple, just like Shi Li Daliang, the governor of Annan Metropolis, who repeatedly used troops against the Heman tribe in the upper reaches of the Red River. There are also benefits.

   "Are you interested in the territory or the population?"

"We can't take the land privately, right? We just want to **** some people back. Everyone is short of people. The manors, workshops, and mines are everywhere. It’s better to grab it directly, and you can make a lot of money by breaking the stockade.”

  Ah Huang didn't hide anything from Qin Lang.

Li Daliang has used troops against the Heman tribe several times in recent years, and has seized a lot of territory from the Heman tribe in the upper reaches of the Red River. He has successively established seven new prefectures, and the territory has been extended northward to the later generations of Yunnan, all the way to Mengzi, Jianshui side.

   This matter has caused several disputes in the court. Some people think that Li Daliang is looking for trouble for nothing, and deliberately provoked border quarrels for military merit, but Qin Lang firmly insisted on Li Daliang in the court.

  The main purpose of Li Daliang's sending out troops again and again was to open up a trade route to the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau from the hands of the Heman tribe and the Liaozi tribe.

  This commercial route is based on the Honghe River, and then turns to the northwest at the Hekou Old Street in later generations. It passes through Mengzi, connects Kunming and Dali, the two cores of Yunnan, and then runs through Jiannan and Shu.

  The value of this trade route is extremely high.

  Starting from Chengdu, go south via Yibin and Qujing (this section is called Wuchi Road in Qin Dynasty, and Shimenguan Road in Tang Dynasty), then westward via Kunming, Dali, Baoshan, and then to Tianzhu and Pyu (Myanmar).

The other route goes south via Chengdu, passing through Xichang and Yao'an, and converging with the ancient east-west road at Xiangyun. It goes to India via Tengchong in the west, Burma in the southwest, and Thailand in the south via Lincang, and transfers to Europe via India and Pakistan, which is known as the Shushen Poison Road in history.

What Li Daliang wanted to get through was actually the Annan Ancient Road, from Chengdu to Yibin in the south, then through Shimenguan (Yanjin, Yunnan), the gateway to Yunnan, and through Zhuti (Zhaotong, Yunnan) to Hanyang (Weining, Shuicheng, Guizhou), and to Dianchi Lake ( Jinning), Yushui, Liangshui, to Shengxiu (Jianshui), and finally along the Red River to Annan Jiaozhou and enter the sea.

   This road along the Ailao Mountain and the Red River Valley has been a natural channel for south-west traffic since ancient times. Since the Eastern Han Dynasty, it has changed from a natural path to an artificial corridor, and by this time, it has become an important commercial artery.

Li Daliang, as the governor of Annan Metropolitan Guard and the governor of Jiaozhou, of course he hopes that Jiaozhou can be used as a commodity import and export port for Yunnan, even Jiannan, and central Guizhou. In this way, the industry and commerce of Jiaozhou can be more prosperous. The volume of goods traded at Jiaozhou Port will also increase significantly, and the status of Jiaozhou will become more and more important.

This is also an important step that Qin Lang discussed with him to expand the influence of the imperial court on the Guizhou Central Plateau in Yunnan. cannot be allowed.

It took Li Daliang three years to launch several conquests against the Heman tribe. He fought all the way along the Red River to the Nanpan River, set up seven states along the road, established military forts and post stations, sent troops to garrison fields, and immigrated to reclaim wasteland. After this key trunk line, several branch ancient commercial roads were dredged, so that merchants and goods from Jiannan, Hunan, central Guizhou, and Yunnan provinces can continue to come and go on this commercial road, and finally meet at Annan Jiaozhou. Jiaozhou can be said to have brought fresh blood.

  It’s just that the Heman tribe is not willing to give up this cash cow, not to mention that they not only lost the cash cow, but many tribes even lost the cottages of the Xidong tribe where they have lived for generations. How can they be reconciled.

  So the two sides fought against each other, and around this business road, I don’t know how many times they died. Li Daliang was also annoyed, and wrote to the court several times, wanting to shake people and come to do something big.

   It's just that the imperial court is not willing to send troops to Tiannan, and always asks him to take it easy.

  (end of this chapter)