Chapter 37 Taizong Chapter 37 The Great Han in the New Era (Part 2)
The ports in Shanghai County are busy all year round, and are especially busy during the season change between autumn and winter. Merchants from the northern states, Andong, Korea, and Japan are arriving at the mouth of the Yangtze River one after another, loaded with specialties from various places.
Almost all the piers and piers along the Chang Song Er River were crowded with merchant ships.
Goryeo and Japanese merchant ships are frequent visitors. Needless to say, many of them are produced in Dahan. In the past few decades, the shipbuilding industry in Dahan has been booming, sweeping across East Asia and Southeast Asia, especially in the southeastern region, especially Jiangnan Province.
The country's shipbuilding center.
The major shipbuilding factories of Su, Chang, Run, and Yang can basically arrange their orders for a few years. Like Goryeo, Japan was able to grab some shares from Han officials and merchants. This was all the result of diplomatic efforts.
With the emergence of "gunboats", many new processes, the birth of new technologies, and even the spread of new concepts have been gradually applied to the construction of civilian and commercial ships. Although the progress is slow, a new round of shipbuilding innovation is underway.
Happened in the Dahan shipbuilding industry.
Compared with the past, which were dominated by government-run and military-run shipyards, in the past two decades, a large number of private shipyards have sprung up. Although many of them closed down and fell into disrepair in the subsequent development, the rest have accumulated
With a certain background, strength and capital, it is not just about producing river fishing boats.
After years of fighting, a "Guanghui Shipyard" capable of producing large-scale ships was still born in Wuhu, which can be called the leader of "private factories". In the Yongxi Dynasty, as the court strictly rectified the administration and vigorously developed the economy and people's livelihood,
The shipbuilding industry of the Han Dynasty was also more dynamic than that of the Kaibao era, and it was also a manifestation of the "Yongxi spirit".
Compared with those sea-going ships that are both beautiful and practical, those "barbarian ships" from the northeastern region of Andong Kingdom are more exotic and "eye-opening" to Su Xiu merchants.
It is strangely shaped, patched all over, shabby and shabby. Even after it has arrived at the port, it still makes people doubt whether it can really withstand the impact of wind and waves. It is also impossible to imagine how many horrors these barbarians from the northeast of Andong have experienced at sea.
This may be the charm of the world's first civilization, which is enough to make countless uncivilized barbarians fearless of life and death, brave the waves, and set off towards the Han Dynasty, eager to bathe in the glory of the Han civilization.
Of course, the ability of the barbarian tribes in the white mountains and black waters to turn their desire into action was due to the efforts of Anton. In the past twenty years or so, Anton's powerful people have brought conquests and killings to the vast area of Northeast China, but the same
, and also opened the eyes of those tribes who were in a state of ignorance.
Under the surface of the few broken ships arriving at the port, there is another layer of background. In the past ten years, especially in the years since the founding of Anton, the business in the Anton region has become increasingly prosperous.
Unlike in the early days when the Anton government had to go to great lengths to attract people, in these years the dignitaries and merchants of Anton have spontaneously participated in the development and construction of Anton.
In the first one or two years of Anton's feudal rule, Anton lost many people from military and political affairs to officials and civilians, and lost a lot of wealth, but the vast majority of those who remained were people who had a sense of belonging to Anton.
Many people don't know the reason why Anton sealed the country and what its significance is. However, after the feudal affairs came to light, they gradually realized the benefits to them, those with vested interests.
The most intuitive point is that when Anton was the governor of the Han Dynasty, he could not ask the court for help, and the court would not take full care of Anton. However, under the rule of Anton, he was directly under the control of King Anton.
It rules and is also directly protected by it. Between the two, the latter is obviously more powerful and effective.
After more than 20 years of management by King Liu Xu and his son of Qin, the Andong Kingdom became self-sufficient and the problem was no longer serious. Especially on the great plain centered on Suihua City, there was even a surplus.
However, if you want to live a better life, you still cannot do without the support of the court. However, with the adjustment of central government policies, this support has changed from direct blood transfusion supply to trade support.
In fact, even in the fourth year of Yongxi's reign, Anton, as a feudal state of the Han Dynasty, was semi-independent in all aspects of the country's operations.
Anton still needs a large amount of salt, tea, cloth, porcelain from the mother country, as well as various supplies and tools that are scarce in Anton. What is different from the past is that now everything needs to be traded and exchanged.
Under such circumstances, Andong Kingdom became more economically dynamic. Of course, this vitality was based on commercial exchanges with southern states.
There are many dignitaries and merchants engaged in "foreign trade" in Anton. Soybeans, fine grains, logs, leather goods, medicinal materials and other commodities from Anton have always been popular in the Han Dynasty.
For a long time, Anton's merchants mainly traded with Liaodong and Yanshan North Road, and at most extended to Yannan and Lianghe, but the scope was not wide.
However, with the opening of the "Suiyuan-Shuibinfu" land route that lasted more than seven years, Andong Kingdom also began to have a sea port that could be stably used.
With this, Anton's goods began to be sold to further places, not to mention Korea and Japan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong were no longer out of reach.
As for the large and small tribes in Anton, their fur goods and medicinal materials can basically only be sold to the city through those merchants and guilds, and "exported" to the Korean Han Dynasty in exchange for the required supplies.
However, this process must be scraped off by those merchants and guilds, and the more remote the tribe, the more exploited it is. A piece of sable skin worth thousands of dollars in the upper class society of the Han Dynasty may just be received.
The merchant exchanged a bag of salt, a piece of cloth, and an iron pot for
The huge profits are enough to make people crazy, because for a long time, many tribes in Baishan and Heishui have been squeezed and exploited by Han nobles, officials and businessmen. Except for Wanyan, Dalugu and others, they had some influence on the imperial court during the Kaibao Northern Expedition.
The Jurchen tribe that has been established still has some bargaining power. The other tribes, one by one, are just nourishment for Anton's prosperity.
Especially those female straight tribes in the eastern coastal areas, wherever Han armies and Han merchants have their footprints, they either accept the "gifts" and "goodwill" from the civilized world, or they sink into the abyss.
If such a situation is maintained for a long time, problems will inevitably arise. Oppression brings resistance, even for barbaric tribes on the edge of civilization.
And with the passage of time, the tribes of Anton are no longer in a closed primitive society like in the past. Not to mention opening their eyes to the world, they have a new understanding of Anton.
As a result, there was a group of people who had a certain awakening in consciousness during their interactions with Han merchants. They were no longer willing to be exploited by Han middlemen and tried to get in touch with buyers directly.
Such a process is obviously not easy, and will inevitably be accompanied by huge waves, and even bloody storms. Anyone who can successfully reach the Shanghai port thousands of miles away by boat can be praised as a warrior, or he has bad luck.
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Even in the eyes of navigators from all over the world, these stupid barbarians are ignorant and fearless. They dare to go to the sea and sail far away in even broken ships. However, their goods are still very popular, whether they are various types of leather goods or ginseng.
Deer antlers are in hot demand in the Han market, and it doesn't take half a day for all the goods to be sold out.
Moreover, with no counter-offer at all, the goods can be shipped much faster than those shipped from other places in the north. Both parties to the transaction can't help but feel similar emotions after completing the transaction.
The barbarians from the Andong Kingdom would secretly curse at the abominable profiteers who actually charge their furs at a price reduced by ten times, which is simply more ferocious than the giant insects in the mountains;
The merchants and warehouses who receive the goods will also curse. Damn profiteers who dare to raise the price ten times to ship goods. They are greedier than leeches in the river.
Without the middlemen making the difference, both parties were satisfied and beaming. As for the third party merchants from Andong, one can imagine how they felt watching this scene. Even this time they took them to Jiangnan
For leather goods and ginseng, they may be embarrassed to shout exorbitant prices anymore.
Although you still make money as long as you ship the goods, if you don't make more money, it is a loss. Therefore, there are several Anton Dashang United companies that run the "Shuibinfu-Xiuzhou (Suzhou)" route all year round.
Let's discuss this matter together.
Previously, some barbarians in the north had evaded their network and secretly went to Liaodong border markets to sell goods at the Bin Mansion. However, the scale was not large, and the goods were likely to fall into their hands in the end.
It can be regarded as "freight" for these barbarians, so it is not worthy of excessive attention.
But things are different now. These barbarians were actually allowed to get out of the ship, and even ran all the way to the south of the Yangtze River. How can we bear this? Isn't this "stealing" their money? Whether in Anton or Dahan,
Business taxes are not light, they are already having a hard time!
If nothing is done to stop it, if things go on like this, this way of making money will be cut off. Anton can only sell these few commodities, and he must not indulge those barbarians who don’t know the heights of the world!
Thus, a plan driven by commercial interests to attack the barbarians in the mountain and sea areas of eastern Andong Kingdom began.
Judging from the subsequent development, this is definitely a "classic operation" in the business history of the Han Dynasty. Although it did not occur as far away as the Nanyang region, it is still a profound interpretation of the Han Dynasty's decades of colonization movement.
In the next three years, hundreds of barbarian tribes in eastern Andong were exterminated, and tens of thousands of them were reduced to coolies. The Prince of Anton took advantage of this situation to increase control over the eastern coastal areas at a very small cost.
With the degree of development, Anton's domestic population structure has undergone considerable changes.
With the Anton nobles as the core and the officials and merchants as the wings, Anton's domestic commodity resources were further unified. Of course, all this was based on the exploitation of the barbarians and even the Han people within the territory, but the latter, as true citizens, were relatively minor.
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Wherever there is oppression, there is resistance. While further strengthening its domestic control, the class contradictions in Anton are also intensifying, and the resistance activities from tribal people are also increasing, but they are all under the strong or powerful power of Anton King Liu Wenyuan.
It is said that under the brutal attack, they were wiped out. In the later stage of development, many tribes that had lived in Anton for a long time disappeared completely.
——
The future situation in Anton's country will not be revealed for the time being. Returning to Shanghai Port, there will be arrivals and departures. While merchants from the north continue to come from the south, the merchant ships from the south to the north in the spring and summer will arrive after the transaction is completed.
After preparing the goods, they also pulled anchor and set sail one after another, preparing to embark on the return journey along the monsoon.
Among these merchant ships, in addition to the Han people, most of them were Nanyang feudal states and Tianzhu, and the cannibals were mostly cannibals. As for the indigenous caravans that were once the protagonists of the Nanyang routes, they also became a thing of the past during the process of the Han enfeoffment of the Nanyang islands.
, either become a vassal of the Han people, or be directly destroyed, or become a pirate.
The most noteworthy ones may have to be the food merchants. Even after the brutal "Guangzhou Incident", in the Yongxi Dynasty a few years later, they continued to cross the Jinzhou Strait and pass through Liangping Port.
Zhou Zhou went north to do business in the Han Dynasty.
There is no way, the temptation of profit is really not shallow. As long as you bring back exquisite silk, porcelain, and best-selling tea, you can sell them to the entire Chinese and Western world and earn huge profits.
Therefore, no matter how strict the Han Dynasty was in its religious policies and how bad its attitude towards foreign religions was, they still came in spite of all the waves.
At most, after arriving in the East, taking off the headgear and hiding the faith, money and interests are more relevant to the big food merchants who run ships. What's more, the legendary "tyrant" who controls the power of life and death in the world has already taken over.
After the collapse, the new emperor was a kind and wise emperor.
Ever since, the big food merchant has done it again
However, although the scene of the Thousand Sails Race was spectacular, it was too late for Cao Yong and his party, who had just arrived in Shanghai County and had not yet sorted out their clues, to watch it.
They were almost lost in this commercial capital that had not been around for a long time. They even had the illusion that they were country bumpkins coming to the city. You must know that they are from Gyeonggi Province and are absolutely confident in being well-informed.
Of course, in terms of city size and management, Gyeonggi cannot be compared to Shanghai County at this time. However, the business atmosphere here is too strong, and it is not like Tokyo where there are always political powers suppressing it.
This seems to be a paradise for Han merchants.
All kinds of sailing boats are the best decorations on the two rivers (Yangtze River and Songjiang). The busiest ones on the waterways are the guide boats. The first thing after the goods arrive at the port is to handle berthing and tax registration, and workers are like ants moving them.
Unloading goods
Everyone was in a hurry, running around, as if if they were slow for a second, they would lose business.
There are large and small docks along both sides of the Songjiang River. There is no stop at any place. The shore is lined with various types of buildings, mainly made of masonry and brick-wood structures. They look clean and tidy, as well as strong and durable.
Everything was novel and shocking, and in such an instant, Cao Yong even felt like throwing himself into this port city. There was such a place in the Han Empire. This was completely different from the majestic Gyeonggi.
Of course, for outsiders, especially those who come here for the first time, this superficial shock and temptation is enough.
Cao Yong and others were luckier. They were also "lucky" to witness an armed fight, which took place at Pier A on the south bank of the Songjiang River. A group of men with red scarves on their heads, looking like thieves, broke into the boat.
Come over here, holding weapons in your hands, and attack and kill the laborers on the dock whenever you see them.
Pier 16 was not to be outdone, and soon dozens of people ran out from the warehouse and cargo ships to support them. They also had weapons in their hands, and they were all fierce.
There must have been about two hundred men on both sides, and more than half of them were cut down. The fight was stopped under the control of the sailors and patrols who came after hearing the news. Then, the weapons were confiscated, the leader was taken away by the guards, and the remaining
The people took care of the wounded individually.
Such a bloody armed fight was both shocking and terrifying to Cao Yong and others from Gyeonggi Province. It is said that the Jiangnan water town is full of romance, how could the fight be so fierce? If it were not for the prosperous scene in front of him, Cao Yong would even doubt himself
Arriving at a remote place full of unruly people
This kind of fight was obviously not the first time. We can get a glimpse of it from the skilled control methods and efficient handling of the situation by the sailors and policemen, as well as the expressions of the surrounding people who were concerned but accustomed to it.
After all, he was a Yalang who traveled around the city all year round. After being shocked, Cao Yong realized that just like in the capital, behind the hustle and bustle, in the dark corners of the sewers where rich and powerful people watched intently, there was too much cruelty.
sinful things
As for the large and small armed struggles that occurred in Songjiang, in addition to the struggle between gangs struggling for life on the docks, on a larger scale, it can even be said to be a struggle between the two states of Su and Xiu.
The Songjiang River flows through Suzhou and flows into the Yangtze River and into the sea. The downstream section of the Songjiang River is the state boundary between Suzhou and Xiuzhou.
From the rise of overseas trade, to the establishment of the Shanghai Affairs Bureau by the imperial court, to the great development along the Songjiang River, the interests have become larger and larger, and the resulting conflicts of interest have naturally become more and more fierce. To put it simply, both the Su and Xiu states want to control Songjiang.
Take the benefits into your arms and monopolize them.
Xiuzhou believes that Suzhou already benefits from the Yangtze River and should no longer covet the Songjiang River. They once proposed that either the land on the north bank of the lower reaches of the Songjiang River should be transferred to Shanghai, or Suzhou should not open commercial ports and wharves on the north bank.
However, compared to Xiuzhou's calculations, Suzhou's appetite was greater. It was directly suggested to merge the two states and transfer Xiuzhou to Suzhou.
Of course, Daosi would not agree to this suggestion. First of all, Jinling strongly opposed it. Among the states in the south of the Yangtze River, Suzhou was already very powerful. They wanted to swallow up Xiuzhou and take advantage of both rivers.
Where is the capital? It’s so beautiful.
Many times, conflicts will only intensify, as was the case with the dispute between Su and Xiu. From water conservancy and port benefits, it gradually evolved into an industrial dispute.
The rise of Xiuzhou's cotton industry has first of all had a huge impact on Suzhou's traditional textile printing and dyeing industry. On the other hand, Suzhou's cotton textile level is not low, and the industry is also quite large. There are also a large number of businessmen and people working on it. If you want to Xiuzhou
How can Suzhou sit idly by as the center of the Jiangnan cotton industry?
Of course, this kind of battle cannot remain just words. Over a long period of time, the two government wills and the two commercial wills have been wrestling with each other. Conspiracies and tricks, overt and covert arrows, have emerged one after another, and have evolved to the end.
Along the Songjiang River, fights involving thousands of people took place.
It wasn't until Li Shaoyou, Duke of Shou State, came to Jinling that year that another armed fight broke out. Some thugs from Suzhou cotton merchants even burned down their cotton fields, causing a large number of casualties. After learning about the situation, Li Shaoyou immediately intervened and attacked the two men.
The state mediates disputes from officialdom to shopping malls.
Li Shaoyou did not directly divide the interests, but let the two parties negotiate on their own, and a result must be negotiated. His threats were directly aimed at the governors of the two states. If they could not reach an agreement, they would not be able to keep their official titles.
Therefore, under the strong pressure of Li Shaoyou, a "Songjiang Agreement" was reached, which agreed to share the benefits of Songjiang Port. At the same time, both parties would set up cotton shops, impose respective restrictions, and prohibit malicious competition methods such as burning, killing, and building.
To put it simply, this is just a "truce agreement". However, since then, the kind of violent competition that has no bottom line and affects industrial development has been banned and has never happened again.
However, various conflicts still exist around the use of Songjiang, such as welcoming guests, collecting goods, taxation and other matters, and small-scale armed fights still continue. For example, Cao Yong and his party witnessed the fight that took place on Pier 16.
, and it is only medium-sized.
Thousands of merchants gathered, carriages and horses crowded together, and the bottom of the prosperous and busy Songjiang River was filled with countless unnamed innocent souls.
