There are four rivers in Hangzhou from north to south. They are called Huansha River, Shiyao River, Yanqiao River and Caishi River from west to east. Of course, these are scientific names. Local people in Hangzhou are accustomed to calling these four rivers Xihe, Xiaohe and Zhonghe.
River and the East River.
These four rivers in the city all converge outside the north gate of Hangzhou, together with the Grand Canal dug in the Sui Dynasty in the north of the city. The Grand Canal and the four rivers in the city look like a huge dragon's claw, holding the entire city of Hangzhou tightly in its hands.
.This is also what the people of Hangzhou City are proud of. The claws of the golden dragon cover the whole city, which indicates that millions of people in the city are protected by the claws of the dragon and are naturally safe.
Four rivers run through the city of Hangzhou from north to south, dividing the city into five long strips. It is no exaggeration to call these four rivers golden waterways. There are fifty or sixty docks on the four rivers in Hangzhou. These docks every year
Countless goods are collected and distributed. Products from all over the southeast are sent to the whole country via canals from here, and goods from other places will continue to arrive at these dozens of docks. During busy times, cargo ships are docked at all the docks, and they are densely packed.
The coolies at the dock loaded and unloaded the cargo like ants. The scene was really breathtaking.
However, every year after September, the seven or eight large wharves in the city become empty. It is not that there is no business, but after September, these seven or eight wharves no longer have civilian ships or commercial ships to dock, because they have become water transport.
Dedicated wharf. After September every year, the annual water transportation will begin.
Water transportation is the lifeblood of every dynasty, because water transportation transports grain. To be precise, it is public grain. In a society dominated by agriculture, the grain harvest basically depends on the face of God. There are years of great harvests.
There are also years of severe drought, tuberculosis, and famine. Whether it is a famine year or a good year, the whole country needs to eat. Once there is no food, the trouble will be big. Historically, famines have caused countless turmoils and rebellions, and even because of food
Problems lead to the collapse of political power. Therefore, as the old saying goes: Without food, there will be no stability.
For the Zhou Dynasty, all this was naturally no exception. Water transportation was the top priority of the Sansi Yamen every year. After June every year, the Sansi Yamen began to convene transshipment envoys from all over the country to come to Beijing to discuss matters. First, it was to estimate this year's
Harvest, establish grain quotas, and secondly start arranging water transportation matters. This is especially important for transshipment envoys in Huaihe and Jiangnan and other places.
The grain-producing areas of the Zhou Dynasty were located in the Huaihe River and the south of the Yangtze River. The south of the Yangtze River was particularly important. As the saying goes, "Suzhou and Lake are ripe enough for the world". Although it is a bit exaggerated, Suzhou and Huzhou, which belong to the Liangzhe Road, are indeed the largest exporters of grain.
Origin.
Every autumn, when the autumn water rises and the north wind blows and the rivers are not frozen, grain from various places is transported to the north via land and water in a month-long intensive period. Tens of millions of stones of grain are transported separately.
Arriving at Longdong Dacang, Biannan Dacang, Kaifeng Beidacang, Luoyang Luokou Dacang and Luobei Hanjiacang, they are stored in seven or eight giant granaries. These large granaries can easily store millions of stones, ensuring that all places
The food supply in border towns and major northern cities such as the capital Bianliang and Luoyang is at critical times. As the saying goes, "the granary is the core of the country, and the people's hearts determine the world." All of this is the foundation for national stability and the stability of the government.
The Lin family of Hangzhou City on Liangzhe Road is an important member of the grain transportation operation. Although they are only responsible for the water transportation of Liangzhe Road and the first road, because they are located in the granary of the world, the number of grain transported by Liangzhe Road accounts for almost 10% of the total.
It accounted for 60% of the water transportation of the entire Great Zhou Dynasty. The Great Zhou Dynasty was stable for more than a hundred years, and the population grew rapidly, so the number of water transportation every year also continued to rise. At the founding of the country, the country's water transportation was only 5.8 million shi.
, but now, the total amount of water transportation in the second year of Qingfeng has reached 14 million shi, which has almost tripled. Among them, the amount of grain transported by the Lin family is as high as 8 million shi.
These eight million stones of grain require the use of almost all the resources and manpower of the Lin family. All the ships of the Lin family shipyard, nearly a hundred large and small, must be used. In addition, they also need to be rented and borrowed from other merchants.
A total of three to four hundred ships were needed to transport the eight million stones of grain to the north via the canal within a month.
This is a huge project, and it is also a major event that cannot be missed. Therefore, the Lin family started comprehensive preparations in late August. And in early September, a steady stream of grain shipped from various states to Hangzhou arrived.
.These grain transport ships flying the Yellow Dragon flag enjoy the privilege of entering the city first and docking at the dock. The other ships must make way for them, so that they can collect the grain from each state capital at seven or eight dedicated docks, waiting for the transfer to the Yamen.
After the inspection, an order for unified transportation will be issued.
Lin Boyong personally sat on the Lin family dock in Xihe, watching the bags of grain being transported to the dock yard and stacked. He also asked people to cover them with raincloths, and sent special personnel to prevent theft, fire and moisture. Several sons of the Lin family were also stationed at other docks.
The same thing is happening on the street. For the Lin family, the annual water transportation is a top priority. This is not only the profits that can be obtained from it, but also a symbol of the Lin family's dominance among merchants in Hangzhou. To be honest, in terms of benefits,
, Water transportation is far less than the Lin family's annual trade income from sea shipping. However, being able to carry water transportation cannot be measured by money. The significance of this is far greater than money. This is a symbol of the Lin family's strength.
The grain will not be shipped until mid-September. Before that, everyone in the Lin family must tighten their nerves and make complete preparations. When all the grain is on the ship and begins to be shipped, then you can breathe a sigh of relief. All the grain will be delivered.
After they all arrived at their destination, the rest of their breath was relieved. At that time, the Lin family could raise a toast to celebrate that this year's water transportation went smoothly.
Of course, for Lin Jue, the busyness of the Lin family has nothing to do with him. Lin Jue is not qualified to participate in this matter. In fact, Lin Jue also implicitly proposed to Lin Boyong that he could take a few days off from school to help on the dock.
However, this move was immediately misunderstood by Lin Ke and others as Lin Jue's whimsical intention to interfere in the affairs, and was dismissed with insinuations and sarcasm.
Lin Jue had no choice but to smile bitterly. He sincerely wanted to help, but as he had thought beforehand, he was misunderstood as wanting to interfere in family affairs with evil intentions. In this case, Lin Jue could only feel at ease.
Enjoying leisure time. Anyway, I don’t have much interest in it.
Recently, Lin Jue has kept a low profile. After the Oiran Competition, Lin Jue has not been to Wangyue Tower again. Wangyue Tower has been very popular during this period. The effects of the Oiran Competition are showing. Lin Jue never wants to go to Wangyue Tower at this time.
ran to join in the fun. Although Xie Yingying ordered people to send several letters, inviting Lin Jue to meet at the teahouse outside, Lin Jue did not go to the appointment. Lin Jue believed that what he had done to help them had been completed, and there was no need to talk to Wang Yue anymore.
There was a dispute in the building.
Of course, it's not because of Xie Yingying's status. In fact, Xie Yingying respects and loves herself, and Lin Jue admires her very much. But Lin Jue knows that Xie Yingying is now red and purple, and she is the object of everyone's attention wherever she goes. It is inevitable for him to meet her.
There will be some extraneous things happening. Lin Jue's principle is not to challenge Lin Boyong's bottom line infinitely. He just wants to be safe and sound until the autumn of next year and the spring of the year after that without being bullied. Lin Jue's purpose is not to destroy the Lin family.
, but to save himself and the Lin family. When he woke up from several nightmares, the massacre he had experienced was still vivid in his mind, which seemed to remind Lin Jue not to forget his purpose and to reverse the path that the Lin family had taken.
A dead end.
However, on the evening of the third day of September, when Lin Jue was going down the mountain from the academy to go home, the mule cart was stopped halfway. A large cart lay across the middle of the road, forcing Jiao Da to rein in the reins.
The person sitting in that big car was Xie Yingying. She specially waited for Lin Jue on her way home. This was the first time she saw Lin Jue after the Oiran Competition.
Lin Jue and Xie Yingying walked slowly in the woods full of fallen leaves beside the road. After a long time, Xie Yingying finally spoke.
"Is your benefactor hiding from Yingying? Has Yingying done anything to offend her benefactor?"
Lin Jue smiled and said: "What kind of words are these? Miss Yingying has never offended me. Where do you start talking about this?"
Xie Yingying nodded lightly and said: "I understand. Today, Yingying came to see Young Master Lin because she wanted to express her gratitude to him in person. Young Master has shown great kindness to Yingying and Wangyue Tower, but Yingying has no way of repaying it. Young Master does not want to see Ying Ying.
Ying Ying can be forgiven for this. After all, Ying Ying is just a brothel girl, and the young master is a clean and self-sufficient person. I can understand that. Today I promise the young master that I will never bother the young master again."
Lin Jue shook his head and said with a smile: "You are speaking out of anger. I didn't see you not because of what you said, but for your own good. The affairs of the Oiran must not be leaked, otherwise it will be very detrimental to you and Wangyue Tower. I
I can guarantee that someone is secretly investigating this matter. If you and I meet each other more often, there will be more risks. It will be neither good for you nor for me. That’s why I don’t see you, not because I dislike your identity, but because I care about you.
My protection.”
"Are you telling the truth? Isn't it because you dislike my identity?" Xie Yingying asked.
"Of course not. When have I ever lied to you? Although you were born in a brothel, you are a good girl who grew up in the mud and never got dirty."
"Thank you for the compliment, young master, but... I myself despise my background. During this period of time, I often thought, why can't I get rid of this cage and have to hang out in a brothel? I used to really want to become an oiran, that would be fine.
Save me, Wangyue Tower, and the sisters in the building. But these days, the building has been crowded with guests, making it noisy and chaotic all day long. The sisters also have their own benefactors, and the income in the building is also very good. But I am very unhappy.
"Xie Yingying sighed lightly.
Lin Jue asked in surprise: "Why are you still not happy? Isn't the business improvement what you expected?"
Xie Yingying knelt down, reached out and picked up a withered yellow leaf from the ground, and turned the leaf to the sunset. Under the sunset, the yellow leaves were almost transparent and the veins were visible, which made it feel a bit sad and beautiful.
"These leaves will fall in autumn and turn into mud in winter." Xie Yingying said softly.
Lin Jue smiled and said: "Yes, it is natural to grow old and wither."
Xie Yingying said: "People are like this too, good times only last for a moment. Mr. Lin, I don't want the sisters to be like this. I feel that the Oiran Competition seems... seems to be a mistake. Don't misunderstand me, I mean.
Said, I shouldn't have won this oiran."
Lin Jue frowned and said, "What does Miss Yingying mean by this?"
