Chastity Layman

   Chapter 930

   At this time, Guangzhou has opened up four commercial routes leading to the Central Plains.

  The newly opened Dayingling Road is also called Meiguan Road. This road is the newest, but also the most convenient.

  The second route is from Yueqitianling in Chenzhou, Hunan, along the Wushui River, a tributary of the Beijiang River, through Lechang to Shaoguan, and then down to Guangzhou along the newly dredged Beijiang waterway. This route, which was newly expanded and repaired this time, was started and completed at the same time as Dayu Road.

The third road traces up from Xiaoshui, a tributary of the Xiangjiang River, to Mount Jiuyi. After exiting Yangshan Pass, it goes along a tributary of the Beijiang River to Lianxian, Yangshan to Yingde, and then goes down the river to Guangzhou. This road is also newly developed. It is called Lianchen Road.

  The fourth road is the traditional Hunan-Gui Corridor, which was opened during Qin Shihuang's Southern Expedition.

  Cross the Yuecheng Ridge down from the Xiangjiang River, enter the Lijiang River via the Lingqu River and arrive at Wuzhou, and then turn into the Xijiang River to Guizhou Road in Guangzhou.

  Originally, the land route from Guangzhou to the Central Plains was only the Hunan-Guangxi Corridor, and the road was far away, especially the Lingqu section of the Lijiang River, which was often congested, making the trade difficult.

  Qin Lang opened up the Dayu Meiguan Road, and built two new roads connecting Hunan. For a while, the single-plank bridge became four smooth roads.

  Business and goods traveling across the Ling no longer have to worry about congestion. The four major waterways, Xijiang, Beijiang, and Xiangjiang and Ganjiang in the north of Lingbei, form a golden waterway.

  Combined with the sea route, now Guangzhou is well connected.

  The industry and commerce in Guangzhou Port became more prosperous, and even drove the areas along the Xiangjiang Ganjiang River and the Xijiang Beijiang River. The ore, iron materials, silk, and porcelain that went southward, and grain, sugar, and ironware that went northward, continued day and night.

In the past, there were endless mountains in the area of ​​Wuling, with inconvenient transportation, and remote villages, full of barbarians and southern barbarians. Now each of them has started to develop, and they no longer rob each other, rob children and traffickers, and each of them may open mines. Or running transportation or opening a store, the pockets are also bulging.

Of course, this is also related to the four newly established post stations along the route. Qin Lang stationed troops in Lingnan Township along these four commercial roads, built fortresses and blockhouses, and immigrated to the mountainous area. A large number of new immigrants flooded into the mountain , Opening mines, cultivating fields, and stationing soldiers and fields.

  It will be difficult for the barbarians to work part-time as bandits again.

Merchants now pass through these routes, and sometimes they can sleep directly on the side of the road at night, so they don’t have to worry about robbers. The Jing Haijun in Guangzhou Prefecture and the Jingjiang Army in Guizhou Prefecture are all patrolling and daring to be robbers. , but the strike is very ruthless.

Generally speaking, in the view of Changsun Fu and other Central Plains businessmen who have gone south for a long time, the business environment in Lingnan is getting better and better, and the business routes are getting smoother. Every year, countless Central Plains businessmen and tycoons follow Going south, but for those who have already gone south, the best meat has already been put into the bowl by them, so there is no need to worry.

Even the more people there are in the original, the more prosperous it is here. To give a simple example, they not only occupy the best business, but even if those newcomers want to do something else, they have to worship first if they want to drink some soup. Pass their pier, even have to let them smoke one.

  Of course, all of this is actually related to Wei Gong’s strong support for industry and commerce in Lingnan. The environment is good, so everyone lives well.

   Now that Duke Wei is going back to Chang'an, everyone is always a little uneasy.

   "Do you think Wei Gong will come back after returning to Beijing this time?"

"I will definitely come back. The shortest is three or two months, and the longest is half a year. According to the usual practice, the first emperor will be buried in the mausoleum after autumn, and Wei Gong should return to Lingnan after the matter is over." Teapot, "Lingnan has been changing with each passing day in the past few years, with earth-shaking changes, and it is getting better every day, but now in some remote places, the **** and barbarians still often make trouble, and even Feng Xian, Chen Ning, and Yang Gao are always a little bit ready to move. Without Duke Wei, I'm afraid that other people will not be able to suppress them, why have you forgotten that the two governors, Dang Renhong and Zhou Shaofan, are gone?"

Lingnan's performance is fairly stable now, which is inseparable from Qin Lang's strong wrist. This Mr. Qin, who came with thousands of troops and countless warships, has killed many people before and after. What smuggled maritime merchants, what rebellious bureaucrats, Xidong barbarians, not to mention the Pingju Town rebellion, even killed a lot of people. It is said that the Zuoxi River and the Nong River were all stained red with blood and blocked by corpses.

On the other hand, this Wei Gong is not just blindly deterring massacres. What makes him stronger than Dang Renhong and others is that he kills people with a knife in one hand and a money bag in the other. , Pulling these handsome barbarian kings in Lingnan to cooperate with powerful and powerful households and maritime merchants from all over the country.

Opening mines for smelting, planting sugar cane to make sugar, growing cotton and weaving cloth, building sea-going ships, trade, business and trade boomed, and at the same time left enough benefits for the old forces in these places. , to redistribute the profits, and more importantly, instead of grabbing the Lingnan people's food in the original pot, he made the cake even bigger. Although there were more people sharing, the amount each person could get was actually more than before. Much more.

It is precisely under this kind of powerful wrist that Feng Ning, Chen and other scumbags, as well as Tan Dian and other barbarian kings, although they have been a little stupid, they have not moved, because they themselves cannot reach an agreement. In the face of these interests, , It takes too much courage to overturn the table.

  Qin Lang's strength lies in his ability to be tough or soft.

Moreover, he is the emperor's favored minister, and he has incomparable trust in the emperor. He can be transferred away by other methods, let alone playing tricks like dealing with Dang Hongren, and jumping over the wall in a hurry is like dealing with Zhou Shaofan. hands, even more impracticable.

  The Guangming Cult, which had been entrenched in Guangzhou for many years, and the Assassin League, which was as powerful as the Eagle's Nest, were all wiped out under Qin Lang's hands.

While Qin Lang was vigorously promoting industry and commerce, he quickly established a garrison system in Lingnan. The strength of the Tang court in Lingnan was getting stronger day by day. We are becoming more and more unable to resist.

  In the past, when merchants from the Central Plains went south, they had to pay tribute to Feng Ning and other families, and had to accept their share of exploitation, but now, it’s the other way around.

  Feng Ning and other local snakes now have to scramble to please them cross-river dragons, because they have more resources.

   All this is due to Qin Lang.

   "Are the Liaoman in Dunijiang (Hongshui River) and Tanshui (Liujiang) in the west of Guizhou still making trouble?"

"What's wrong, there were dozens of barbarian prefectures there before, last time they were cut down by Duke Wei, and they were all merged into the three prefectures of Liu Yirong, and they were all promoted to Zhengzhou directly under the administration of the imperial court. Duke Wei didn't let the barbarians be governors. The county magistrate has been selected and sent officials directly from the Guangzhou government to serve as governors, county magistrates, and join the army, etc., where they directly reform the land and return to the locals, build post stations, build military forts and set up villages. The barbarians are not happy, and they are having fun. ” said the manager of the Du family.

  Changsun Fu sneered a few times.

"Come on, short-sighted idiot, the Guangfu government hasn't done anything yet, it's just to lure the snake out of the hole and catch them all in one go. Do you really think that with your strength, you can challenge Datang? They don't even have the ability to challenge Duke Wei Half a point, life or death."

  The merchants all laughed.

   No one believed that Qin Lang couldn't deal with the barbarians over there. He wanted to invade the town, and finally pulled back most of the left and right barbarians. What happened?

  So everyone is waiting to see the good show, and even many smart guys are preparing in advance. After the elite Tang Jun from the Guangfu kills them, they will follow behind to pick up the bargain.

  After each war, the businessmen are as excited as the new year.

Countless barbarian captives, the livestock, cattle and sheep in the mountains, even the fur of various medicinal materials, and those treasure-like mines are unknown to the barbarians. Talk about development, apply for permits, pay contract taxes and start construction.

Moreover, as soon as the battle started, according to Qin Lang's usual habits, the transportation of grain and grass in the army's logistics was also handed over to the merchants. From the purchase of grain, grass, military uniforms, medicines, etc., to the transportation to the front line, there were all involved. Great profit.

  After all, war is not comparable to ordinary business transactions.

  In addition to these, the government and the army sometimes build cities, roads, and military forts in the occupied areas. These also require a lot of materials, and even engineering construction. They can also get involved and make a fortune.

  As long as the war starts, it will be ten thousand taels of gold.

  The merchants are all looking forward to the war, fight it sooner and bigger.

   "With Duke Wei gone, I'm afraid those savages will be able to jump around for a few more months."

  The battle is obviously not going to be fought for the time being. There is no movement in Guangfu. The materials that everyone hoards are commercialized, and the manpower dispatched and prepared in advance will not be useful for a while.

   is chatting.

  A servant from the guild hall knocked on the door and came in, handing over an official document from Jinglue Mansion.

  Changsun Fu opened it and read it, and handed it to everyone for circulation.

   "The official document of Qin Jinglue asked the chambers of commerce in Guangzhou to prepare ships and horses, and dispatch grain to go north to the Central Plains."

   "What does this mean?"

   "I haven't heard that there is a shortage of food in the Central Plains?"

  Three years after Zhenguan, after several years of early frost and cold disasters and food shortages, it has been good years for several consecutive years, with bumper harvests in most places.

   There is no major war, and there are a lot of food reserves in various places, especially the Changping granaries in the transshipment department, which are full of grain.

"This year's leap in April, the previous two occurrences of the combination of the sun and the moon, solar eclipses, and astronomical phenomena, it is said that some people have speculated that there may be a catastrophe this year. The Metropolitan Water Supervisor also said that this year, the Huanghuai Yangtze River Basin may occur once in decades. Duke Wei is probably planning for a rainy day.”

   "Then there won't be any floods in Lingnan this year?" someone asked.

   "Lingnan will not. Although this winter and spring are a bit colder, it is separated from Wuling and has little connection with the Central Plains. Besides, when has Lingnan been short of food?"

  Although there is no great plain like the Central Plains in Lingnan, the alluvial plains of Guangzhou and Jiaozhou are not small. The most important thing is that the climate here generally allows two crops to be harvested a year, and even three crops in Jiaozhou. Not to mention that the overall population of Lingnan is still far less than that of the Central Plains, so there is a great surplus in annual grain production.

  In the past, transportation was inconvenient. Although there was grain in Lingnan, it was not easy and costly to transport it to the Central Plains.

   Now that the five roads lead directly to the Central Plains, it is undoubtedly much more convenient to transport food.

   The Central Plains may not be short of food, but Wei Gong returned to the court and brought a large amount of Lingnan grain to the north. This is undoubtedly one of the achievements of Weigong Town Lingnan.

  After all, the Central Plains is vast and populated, and famines often occur. Even in the heyday of the first emperor, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty took Chang'an officials, soldiers and civilians to flee famine several times to Luoyang for food. Now that the court does not lack food, it does not mean that it will never be lacking.

  If the Lingnan food can go north continuously, then the imperial court will add a new granary, which is of great significance, and it is naturally a miraculous achievement.

  (end of this chapter)