In the afternoon of that day, all the brightly colored decorations in the palace were removed, and the concubines also changed into less gorgeous clothes. Yunxi ordered Wenhua Hall to be replaced with funeral decorations, and to wear mourning clothes in Wenhua Hall within nine days
, after leaving the Wenhua Hall, they put on plain clothes to accompany Lao Zhu. Xiyao and the others also put on mourning clothes.
Of course, Yunxi did not leave the palace in the past few days. In addition to practicing martial arts and handling political affairs, he came to accompany Lao Zhu every day. He was very worried that Lao Zhu would be too stimulated and would never be able to get sick. But although Lao Zhu these days
He had not been very energetic, but he was not sick. However, this made Yunxi even more worried. Yunxi did not dare to leave the palace for a moment, for fear that something would happen and he would not be able to come back in time.
When I went to the county government office in Shanghai, Zhang Yanfang was talking to two Qianhu from the Nanhuijiao Guard Center and the Hou Qianhu Office.
Shanghu County was under the jurisdiction of Songjiang Prefecture at this time. Yunxi was very curious after discovering that Songjiang Prefecture only had Shanghu County and Huating County at this time. Why should there be a separate prefecture? Especially Changzhou Prefecture in the west.
At that time, there were only four counties, and together there were only six counties. Suzhou Prefecture to the west had seven counties!
After Yunxi reported to Lao Zhu, Lao Zhu said: "The prefectures of the world are divided according to their population. Although Changzhou and Songjiang are small, they are both densely populated places. And Suzhou, because it is Zhang Shicheng's last
The territory has lost a lot of population, and its current population is not as good as usual, which is the sum of the two prefectures, so it is like this."
There is only one complete guard in Songjiang Prefecture - Jinshan Guard, stationed at the southernmost part of the later Shanghu Municipality. The current Shanghu County is half of the later Shanghu City, and the other half is Huating County. Yunxi considered it
It's not that the two counties were merged, but after thinking about it, I decided to forget it. It's just a treaty port, and it doesn't use such a large area. Before the country carried out large-scale development of Shanghai, Shanghai was only very developed in Puxi.
, it’s just like that in other places and can’t be used now.
Zhang Yanfang said to the two thousand households: "Two thousand households, I was appointed by His Highness to come to Shanghu County to preside over the opening of sea trade in Shanghu County, and I need your assistance."
"The first is to choose a place for trade and allow merchants to trade, and the second is to send naval troops to clear out the pirates in this area. What do you think, the two masters of Qianhu?"
The two Qianhus looked at each other, their faces full of joy. Although they had heard about Shanghai being chosen to open the sea before, they were junior officials and their old superior was killed in the Hu Weiyong case. The news was quite unfortunate.
Well-informed, I don’t know how much is true and how much is false.
Now the new county magistrate just appointed by the Ministry of Civil Affairs in the capital has said this. It seems that the news is true. They are all hereditary thousand households, and their descendants will all be in Shanghu County in the future. Of course, I hope that Shanghu County will be better.
, so happy.
Han Guang, a member of Qianhu in Zhongsuo, calmed down and said: "Zhangzhi County, if it is a trading place, it is naturally the best on the west bank of the Huangpu River. As for the capture of pirates, our two small soldiers of Qianhu
What's enough? The Jinshan Guard in the south, the Zhenhai Guard in the north, and the guard stations further out. There need to be at least five or six guards, and more than ten stations can be useful if they are dispatched. Otherwise, we will just drive them away when we go to sea.
It’s just somewhere else, it’s not of much use.”
Zhang Yanfang said: "I understand that the capture of pirates will not be of much use if there are few soldiers. I will immediately write a letter to the nearby guard station, and I think it is time to write the letter to the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion in the capital. But why was this place chosen for trade?
In the Huangpu River? Can't it be on the bank of the Yangtze River? Could it be..."
Zhang Yanfang looked at these two people with suspicion, suspecting that they owned land there and were waiting to make money by selling it as a trade area. There was such a thing in the "History of the Song Dynasty". Although he did not say it explicitly,
Basically, no fool can understand his gaze.
Qianhu Wei Huo from the rear office said: "Zhang Zhixian, you have wrongly blamed us. The wind and waves are strong on the bank of the Yangtze River, and only large ships can stop. It is really not a suitable place for trade. If Zhang Zhixian doesn't believe it,
, you can go to the bank of the Yangtze River and have a look in person."
"The Huangpu River is not only windy and gentle, but also as deep as the Yangtze River, making it a suitable place for trade."
Zhang Yanfang asked again: "Then why not choose the Huangpu River Estuary?"
Wei Huo continued: "Zhangzhi County and the Huangpu River Estuary are the boundaries of Changzhou Prefecture. Since Your Majesty has made Shanghu County a place for trade, we should find a place in Shanghu County."
Han Guang continued: "Besides, the area around the mouth of the Huangpu River is full of sand. How can we build houses in a place that will be used as a trading place in the future? Even if we don't build a city, how can we build houses when the ground is full of sand?"
Zhang Yanfang felt a little embarrassed. After all, he had only arrived in Shanghu County for a few days, and he didn't know where Shanghu County was, so he made a small mistake. But he immediately adjusted it and asked again: "Then why is it on the west bank and not on the east bank?"
shore?"
Although Han Guang felt that he had a lot of questions, he was hand-picked to come to Shanghai to preside over the opening of sea trade. This was obviously the rhythm of someone above him. They did not dare to offend him, so they still answered patiently: "The land on the west coast is not as good as that on the east coast."
The coast is good, the land price is cheap, and there are also many wastelands that are not suitable for farming. This not only saves money for the Ming Dynasty, but also does not affect the county's tax revenue."
Zhang Yanfang felt that these two people were indeed right, if what they said was true. Thinking of this, Zhang Yanfang was more polite to them, then said some more words, and then sent them out.
Although Zhang Yanfang already believed them in his heart, he decided to inspect it himself, and then choose a location if it was indeed what they said.
After Wei Huo and Han Guang came out and rode back to the guard post on their horses, Wei Huo and Han Guang said, "It's good now. Our Shanghu County will be developed, which will also be beneficial to you and me."
Han Guang said: "It will be beneficial in the future."
Wei Huo said: "Where is the future? It is beneficial now. We have not lied to the county magistrate. He will know it if he goes to see it for himself. Then the west bank of the Huangpu River must be chosen as a trading place. Let's let our relatives go there in advance.
Buy some land, enclose some wasteland for free, and once you have selected a place, you can sell the land and make a fortune."
Han Guang said: "But there are many places on the west bank of the Huangpu River. They are not all places of trade. How can we definitely suppress them?"
Wei Huo said: "This requires bribery of subordinate officials. I think this magistrate of Zhang County does not choose a place with a stroke of a pen in the county government. He will definitely visit the place before, so let's bribe the subordinate officials.
Once you know where he has been and what his expression is there, you can know exactly which piece of land it is. And there is no charge for the wasteland, so you can circle it as you like, and it doesn't matter if you circle too much."
"These subordinate officials don't know what's going on, and they don't dare to come to us if they find out afterwards. However, Wang Dahu over there in Qingpu has someone in his family who is an official in the court, so he must also know about it. Tomorrow
I'm going to explore his background and tell him I can't help him."
Han Guang suddenly realized it and said: "You are so talented. Let's share some of the profits. If you have money, everyone can make it!"