A river fleet consisting of more than a dozen large official ships sailed southward in the Jiangnan Canal. Two thousand cavalry escorted both sides of the canal. Traveling by boat in the canal is much more interesting than in the Yangtze River. The scenery on both sides is constantly changing.
, many women were doing laundry by the river, and smoke curled up from the houses on the bank, one village after another.
The ships were all passenger ships of about a thousand stone, but the main ship was a huge ship of five thousand stone, the same ship they took on the Yangtze River.
This time Guo Song came to Jiangnan for inspection without notifying the state officials in advance. He brought his family with him, so he didn't want to trouble the government to prepare special accommodation. He and his family basically lived on the main ship. The conditions on the ship were very good, and it was relatively low-key.
Not being noticed.
During the day, Guo Song's family members would gather together, and at night they would go back to their cabins to rest.
That morning, the fleet entered Suzhou. The houses on the shore became more densely packed, villages and towns appeared one after another, and there was almost no deserted land.
Xue Tao sat in front of the window and asked her husband in confusion: "Husband, I found that when I came from Runzhou, there were villages and towns on both sides of the river, but I didn't even see farmland. Is the population in Jiangnan so dense?"
Guo Song smiled slightly and said: "Of course there is farmland, but it's just not by the canal. People in Jiangnan mostly use waterways for transportation. The canal is the most important river. It's normal for people to live on both sides. Not only is transportation convenient, but you can also rely on the river for food. However,
Then again, the Jiangnan area is indeed the most densely populated area in the Tang Dynasty, and at least about 30% of the people now live in the Jiangnan area."
"Shouldn't it be Guanzhong and Zhongyuan?" Xue Tao was still puzzled.
Guo Song shook his head, "Chang'an's prosperity does not mean that Guanzhong is prosperous. Before the Jingyuan Mutiny, the land of Guanzhong was covered with large and small estates of powerful people. Ordinary farmers had no place to stand at all. Basically, they came to Chang'an to make a living, including Chang'an.
There are actually not many people in the surrounding counties and rural areas of Guanzhong. As for the Central Plains, the war has been going on for decades. How many people do you think can be left?"
Next to him, Liu Caichun smiled and said: "Sister, it is indeed like this. Probably since the Anshi Rebellion in the north, a large number of farmers have fled to the south of the Yangtze River. It has not stopped for so many years. In fact, this includes our family. My great-grandfather was the leader of Tianbao in the 15th year.
He fled from Luoyang to Huaiyin with his family, lived in Huaiyin for several years, and then moved from Huaiyin to Changzhou County in Suzhou."
Guo Weiwei said with a look of sympathy: "My dear, you are so pitiful. You have been wandering around everywhere since you were so young!"
Liu Caichun pinched Guo Weiwei's pretty face gently and said, "You little guy, please be smarter. That was more than forty years ago. Do you think I'm that old?"
Everyone burst out laughing, and the fleet passed under a small bridge. A group of children on the bridge jumped and jumped, and then ran away, leaving behind a string of laughter...
Guo Song looked at the group of children and couldn't help but sigh softly, "It's a pity that Han Huang is old!"
"What are you feeling about, husband?" Xue Tao pursed his lips and smiled.
"I am not feeling emotional, but grateful. I am grateful that Han Huang handed over Jiangnan to the imperial court in the most peaceful way, saving it from the devastation of war, leaving the most prosperous treasure land to the imperial court, and establishing an immortal foundation for the imperial court.
Credit, if he could be five years younger, I would definitely use him as prime minister!"
"Didn't your husband say that his son is also a talented person?"
Guo Song nodded, "Assassin Han is indeed a good person. He understands the general situation and considers the overall situation as well as his father. I will consider re-employing him!"
"Dad, look, that's Tiger Hill!" Guo Weiwei pointed to a hill in the distance.
"Yes, it should be Tiger Hill, so Hanshan Temple should be nearby."
As soon as Guo Song finished speaking, the melodious bells of Hanshan Temple came from the distance.
"Dong——"
The fleet sped up and sailed towards Wuxian County...
Suzhou is the focus of Guo Song's southern tour. It has the highest taxes, the largest population, and the largest area in the south of the Yangtze River. Suzhou in the Tang Dynasty included today's Suzhou, Shanghai, Jiaxing and other places, reaching the Yangtze River in the north, Hangzhou Bay in the south, and Taihu Lake in the west.
, with flat terrain, crisscrossing rivers and fertile land, it is one of the most important rice producing areas in the entire Tang Dynasty.
In addition, Liu Caichun's natal family is also in Suzhou, with dozens of people including his father, uncles, aunts, etc. However, Guo Song did not have time to accompany Liu Caichun back to his natal family, so he asked his wife Xue Tao to go to Liu Caichun's home to visit the elders on his behalf.
But even if Xue Tao goes, it will be a big deal. Xue Tao is the royal concubine of the Jin Dynasty. To a large extent, she has been regarded as the queen by the people in the world. The news of her traveling alone is no less than that of Guo Song. The local officials have to make arrangements in advance, and the Liu family wants
The preparations, although not extravagant, must at least ensure safety and have the minimum reception conditions.
However, the performance of the Liu Jialing Troupe in Chang'an was a huge success, which made Liu Caichun's father make a lot of money. Moreover, Guo Song married Liu Caichun as his concubine and gave the Liu family five shops on Xi'an Menwai Street as betrothal gifts, so that the Liu family could make money every year.
Having obtained huge profits, the Liu family is now well-known in the surrounding villages.
After Xue Tao and his sisters stayed in Suzhou for a day, they, escorted by hundreds of cavalry, took a boat to Songling Town in the south of Wu County. Liu Caichun's natal family was in Songling Town.
Guo Song, accompanied by Xiao Jian, the governor of Suzhou, inspected markets and villages. Guo Song had no clear purpose for inspecting various places. His inspection itself showed an attitude, which was not only to appease various places in Jiangnan, but also to swear an oath to Jiangnan.
Power is the most powerful means to encourage people from all over the Yangtze River to return to the imperial court.
Guo Song came to the canal dock in the south of the city. This is the most concentrated and prosperous place for business in Wu County. There are thousands of shops around, ranging from needles and threads to grain, oil and cloth.
Guo Song saw the word salt written on the sign of a shop. Xiao Jian quickly explained: "This is a government-run salt shop. There are forty-seven government-run salt shops in Suzhou, distributed in various counties and towns."
Guo Song smiled and came to the salt shop. There were more than 20 people queuing up to buy salt. He asked an old man: "Excuse me, father-in-law, how do you sell the salt here?"
"There are two kinds of salt, fine salt, one hundred and forty-four cents per dou, and coarse salt, sixty cents per dou. The price is the same everywhere."
"What about before?" Guo Song asked again.
"In the past, fine salt cost 350 cents per dou, and coarse salt was not sold. Now, coarse salt is sold, and it is cheaper. It is a kind of care for poor families!"
Guo Song immediately left the salt shop, and Xiao Xiaojian quickly followed him. He explained: "In the past, the price of salt was a bit high, mainly because it was necessary to support the local army and build warships. Other taxes in Jiangnan were very low, including commercial taxes."
It’s only five cents. Like the imperial court, the field tax is five tons of rice per mu, the household tax is only one pound at most, and the military and government’s various expenses mainly rely on the salt tax.”
Guo Song was very aware of the huge profits from the salt tax, three hundred and fifty cents per dou, and at least 70% of the profits were from the salt merchants. However, Guo Song did not tell the truth. He did not want to pursue the past matters.
"There are official direct supply stores for coarse grains, coarse cloth, and coarse salt in Chang'an. Why is there only an official salt store here?"
Xiao Jian quickly explained: "Your Highness does not know that the grain output in Suzhou is stable and the price is relatively low. The maximum price of a bucket of rice is only 30 cash, and brown rice only costs 10 cash per bucket. As for coarse cloth, every household spins and weaves their own cloth, and never
There is a shortage of cloth, so although the imperial court requires the establishment of a direct supply store for the three coarse grains, considering the actual situation in Suzhou, coarse grains and coarse cloth are not under the government's control for the time being."
Guo Song said calmly: "Although you are the main producer of grain and cloth, and there is no need to be consistent with the court on some things, I think it is necessary to write a report to the court for approval instead of deciding whether to open a store yourself, Xiao Shijun
What do you think?"
Xiao Jian wiped the sweat from his forehead and said quickly: "I didn't think carefully about it. I will write an ultimatum to the court when I get back."
...........
Xue Tao and her party returned to the main ship at dusk, and of course she had to report to her husband about today's visit.
"I originally thought that Caichun's family was very small, but today I found out that their family is a big one, with a total of sixty or seventy people. Caichun's grandmother is actually still alive."
Guo Song was startled, "Didn't her grandfather and grandmother pass away?"
"Her direct maternal grandparents are indeed dead. Today's grandmother is her grandfather's concubine. She is almost seventy years old. The whole family treats her like a treasure. She is a very kind old lady who likes Xiaowei very much.
I want to give Xiaowei a gold bracelet on her hand."
"Does she know your identity?"
Xue Tao shook his head, "It can be seen that she doesn't know anything, and her family didn't tell her."
Xue Tao said with some sadness: "When I said I came from Chang'an, she actually started crying. She said she was also from Chang'an. She learned pipa when she was young. When she was in her twenties, she came to Suzhou with Caichun's grandfather and never went back.
She doesn’t know where her parents are buried, and Caichun wants to take the old man back to Chang’an, but her family doesn’t agree.”
"You mean, today was a bit unhappy?" Guo Song asked with a smile.
"I feel this way. It was fine at first, but Caichun insisted on bringing my great-grandmother back to Chang'an, and the atmosphere became a little different. I was still very polite, but it was obviously a bit false."
"Caichun really wants to take away her great-aunt?"
Xue Tao nodded, "When I came back, Caichun told me that it was very difficult for her father to be an actor and he failed several times. The relatives at home avoided them and regarded them as gods of plague. No one was willing to help them.
Well, only my great-grandmother secretly gave her a dozen pieces of gold jewelry to help them survive the most difficult time, so she came back this time just to visit her great-grandmother."
Xue Tao asked her husband again, "I also sympathize with the old lady very much. Does your husband think it is possible to take her back this time?"
Guo Song thought for a while, then smiled lightly and said: "It is not convenient for me to interfere in such internal family affairs, but I think if Caichun's father wants to take her to Chang'an, it should be possible."