surnamed Wang

The Lanjiang River is less than three miles wide. If you just cross it, you can reach the opposite bank in a quarter of an hour. But the destination of everyone's trip is Bakan, and you need to go straight along the Lanjiang River for dozens of miles to reach it.

Bakan was originally a border town in Donghan, close to the Lanjiang River, and the people lived by fishing for generations. Since it was designated as a trade zone between the two dynasties, the life of the local people has improved obviously. In just a few years of development, there have been In order not to lose the atmosphere of the dynasty's mansion.

Most of the landforms of Eastern Han are flat grasslands, and the grasslands are full of lords, large and small. Because the people are nomadic for generations and their locations change frequently, it is extremely difficult to control them.

Moreover, Eastern Khan has practiced enfeoffment since ancient times, and there have been constant disputes in various places. The imperial court has very little restraint on those lords who have designated land as kings. Several generations of kings have tried to solve this problem more than once, but there is too much resistance, and they often give up halfway. .

Afterwards, the Eastern Han court followed the example of the dynasty’s prefecture and county system, implemented the Taiwan-Ministry system, subdivided the entire Eastern Han territory, and set up orders, units, and ministries in various places. .

The lords of various places must regularly report the location of the territory, population, and the number of cattle and sheep to the Lingshang, and the officials of the Lingshang will report to the stage, step by step, and finally pass it to the court in the capital.

At the beginning of the implementation of the decree, local lord officials also cooperated and reported every month, but as time went by, many people began to conceal the report, and then simply delayed or did not report.

In this way, a few years later, the Taibu system has been completely reduced to a joke that exists in name only.

Things turned around when Chu Buxiu came to power. He first ordered the restoration of the poor city defense buildings of the ministries, and then under the proposal of the prime minister, he vigorously developed commerce.

In Taibu City, there are not only porcelains and silks from the Central Plains, but also spices, gold and silverware from Xichi, all of which are exquisitely shaped, something that cannot be figured out even after a lifetime of cattle and sheep.

Ordinary herdsmen naturally couldn't resist the temptation, and flooded into the city in large numbers, exchanging cattle and sheep for exquisite utensils, even the lord was no exception.

Over the past few years, the cities have developed quite prosperously and are no longer ghost towns, so the Taibu system has suddenly come to life.

Relying on commercial income, the Eastern Han Dynasty’s treasury was filled like never before. This was second to none. The income of an ordinary merchant for a month was equivalent to that of herding sheep for a year. Many herdsmen began to give up herding cattle and feeding sheep and joined the ranks of merchants.

The herdsmen left one after another, which strengthened the Taiwan Ministry, but also reduced the strength of the lords.

The lords lying among the piles of gold, silver and jade wares saw that there were fewer and fewer people in their hands, and then they suddenly realized how insidious this move by the first minister of Donghan was.

Some lords wanted to forcefully stop them, but in exchange they turned out to be mutinies. In the end, they responded to the phrase "The lords take turns to sit at my house this year."

However, the number of merchants will eventually be saturated. When they can no longer make more money than herding cattle, no one will be able to squeeze in.

Just when these lords finally breathed a sigh of relief, the prime minister who had been silent for a long time did another thing that made them scold their mothers - reducing the military attache of the court.

These lords, big and small, either have official positions in the court, or they are attached to high officials in the court. Reducing the number of military officers is tantamount to killing them.

Many people's first reaction was to prepare to rise up, but after a round of counting, there were not many young and strong available. Even if the larger tribes could gather enough people, they were discovered by the imperial spies before they could make a move, and they were wiped out in advance. .

The remaining small tribes were either annexed or incorporated, and the sphere of influence was reduced again and again. Coupled with the court's decree that "every tribe should occupy the land and not go beyond it", most of the lords lost at least half of their territories with abundant water and grass.

Gathering the people with business and weakening the princes is a kind of gentle fire; killing chickens to scare monkeys and forcibly expropriating excess land is a kind of martial fire.

The first assistant minister of Donghan who used the fire of civil and military to perfection, also received mixed reputation because of this.

Naturally, those lords and vassals who took half of his fortune were the ones who ruined him, and the ones who praised him were the businessmen who made a lot of money in it.

No matter how the outside world slandered him, or even sent killers to assassinate this counselor who disturbed the entire East Harmony, he still stayed in the highest attic of the palace without incident, sending out orders that drove some people crazy from time to time.

As King Donghan said privately to the white-clothed counselor:
"Killing bastards is not fun, but boiling bastards in warm water is enjoyable."

These bastards, big and small, who have always been shadowed by their ancestors, now truly understand what it means to be in dire straits and suffering.

……

After less than two hours of waterway, the group of people on the cargo ship finally arrived at their destination.

The place where the ship docked already belonged to Bakhan, besides them, there were many other businessmen from different places.

The goods brought by these people are even more varied: jade jewelry, ceramic dishes, medicinal materials and furs.In addition, the coal and steel that the dynasty strictly prohibited from flowing into Donghan can also be found here.

Except for a small part of these prohibited items that were smuggled, most of the rest came from Xichi. Xichi naturally didn't care about this. Anyway, they were not close to Donghan, and they wished Donghan and the dynasty could fight each other.

Of course, after a long journey here, the price of these things is also scary high.

The four members of the caravan disembarked first, and Wang Gingquan followed directly behind. Although the middle-aged man didn't want his daughter to have any contact with the other party, he still had to do enough on the surface. He talked to the other party about the local customs.

There are many businessmen coming and going in Bakhan, in addition to the nearby Central Plains people, Xichi people, and even blond Persians.

These people dressed in all sorts of strange ways, and some open-minded women directly exposed their breasts, making the eyes of the men passing by all around look straight.

In terms of looking at women, men all over the world have the same aesthetics.

Tian Jun was obviously used to this for a long time, and he chatted with Wang Gangquan calmly.

As the kingdom of heaven, although its national strength cannot support the scene of "all nations come to court", there are also many small neighboring countries that come to pay tribute. Wang Gangquan is not surprised by this.

On the other hand, the girls behind them were much more curious, looking around from time to time, staring at them for a long time every time they saw a person with a very different appearance, and would leave the team when they encountered a novelty, and went to see what happened.

The guy in his early twenties in the team was also worried. Every time he saw the girl leave, he followed nervously, and then stammered to persuade her to come back. With a snort, he quickly walked to Wang Gangquan's side.

It seems that this knight is the most handsome.

……

Not long after the group left, they came to a shop. The businessman surnamed Tian showed embarrassment and said:
"My little brother, I'm really sorry. We are going to deliver the goods, and it may take a lot of time. There is an inn not far ahead. I know the shopkeeper there. If you don't mind, please report to me after you go in." name, we shall meet at the inn after dark."

Wang Gangquan nodded, "It doesn't matter, Boss Tian is just busy."

The little girl disguised as a man showed regret when she heard the words, and was dragged away by her father every step of the way.

When he came to the inn, Wang Bingquan handed the reins to Xiaoer. The boss heard that he was Tian Jun's friend, and immediately arranged a room with an excellent location.

Wang Qingquan opened the window of the room, and a breeze immediately blew into the room, where you could just see the scene on the Lanjiang River.

In the distance merchant ships come and go, and the nearby streets are really lively.

……