Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 559
"Hangzhou City is north of Huzhou City, south of Zhejiang Station, Xianyan stretches for ten miles, there are many wells and houses, hundreds of thousands of fireworks, and they are not residents of the only city."

"Another example is that Ning and Shaoren Shiqi are outside. I don't know why the population is so large."

"This "Hangzhou Fuzhi" is not wrong at all..."

On the second day, when Zhu Ciran and Liu Shun changed into satin Taoist robes and went out, they were surprised by the crowds who greeted them on the street.

When they came to Huzhou City, the bustling Huzhou City left them dumbfounded.

The luxury of the common people in Hangzhou is not only the luxury of high-ranking officials and dignitaries, but also the luxury of ordinary people.

Some migrant workers who have no land wear embroidered body clothes, and a set of clothes is worth hundreds of dollars.

The waterways of Huzhou City and Zhejiang Station are criss-crossed. There are boats and boats in the waterways. The boats are full of shame and goodness, accompanied by several singers and singers. The extravagance can be seen.

The Huzhou City here does not refer to Huzhou, the prefecture of Huzhou. The so-called Huzhou City and Zhejiang Yi refer to the two commercial districts in the north and south of the Hangzhou City Wall, which are the parts of Hangzhou City itself extending outside the city wall.

Just the commercial area outside the city wall has reached the scale of "extending for ten miles, hundreds of thousands of fireworks".

Walking in the market in Huzhou City, Zhu Ciran can see Pingpo fruit, ground squirrel, and horse tooth pine in Beijing, as well as morel vegetables, Qiubai pear, Wenguan fruit, and sweet seeds in Shandong.

Continue to go down, and more local characteristics appear on the fruit and grocery stalls along the street.

Fujian's Fuju, Fuju cake, brown sugar, red fermented bean curd, Jiangxi's Qinggen, Fengcheng preserved, Shanxi's Tianhua, Suzhou's bone-in abalone, hawthorn, hawthorn cake, pine nut candy, white round, olive breast.

There are also Jiaxing Zemajiao preserved fish, Taozhuang oriole...

Nanjing's set of cherries, Taomen jujube, ground chestnut balls, nest bamboo shoots, hawthorn candies...

All kinds of watermelons, chickpeas, lotus root under flowers, leek sprouts, black bamboo shoots, tangerines, red bayberries, water shields, dove birds, green crucian carp, persimmons, etc. are all available, and the prices start at five renminbi, which is staggering.

In addition to these things, when walking in Huzhou City, Zhu Ciran and the others could still see peddlers selling some dairy products. You can buy a bottle of half a catty milk for six renminbi. It is also common to have milk during this season.

The burden of these hawkers is not only milk, but also various dairy products made of milk.

"Master, the street market in Hangzhou is almost busier than that in Beijing."

Walking on the streets of Huzhou City, Liu Shun couldn't help sighing, and at the same time couldn't help saying: "The wages of the people in Hangzhou are probably not inferior to those in the capital."

"It's almost..." Zhu Ciran responded lightly, and at the same time, he saw a job recruitment notice posted by a vegetable shop.

[Three workers are recruited, and they will return every day, with a daily salary of 25 Wen]

"25 Wen? This is higher than the capital city!"

Looking at the notice marked 25 articles per day, Liu Shun's jaw dropped in shock, while Zhu Ciran stepped forward to look at the vegetables.

Seeing Zhu Ciran coming up, the clerk of the vegetable shop also greeted with a smile:
"Eating tender cucumbers in winter has a special flavor. You see, guest officer, these cucumbers are all cultivated by local vegetable farmers in Hangzhou from warm caves. They are local cucumbers."

Hangzhou in February is still a little cold due to the advent of the Little Ice Age, and the cucumbers have to wait for a while to grow, but now the guy said that these cucumbers came from the warm cave in Hangzhou, which made Zhu Ciran curious:

"You said this cucumber came out of a warm cave, what kind of warm cave?"

After all, Hangzhou is a prosperous place, and Ming Dynasty Mandarin may not work anywhere, but in a big city, Mandarin must be spoken well.

Therefore, in the face of Zhu Ciran's Mandarin, the staff also explained to them in Mandarin with a Hangzhou accent.

The so-called Nuandongzi is actually a kind of greenhouse in the Ming Dynasty, a cellar or semi-cellar house.

An earth kang is built in the house, and a fire is fired to increase the temperature. Vegetables and vegetables are planted in the "warm hole", which can grow normally even in the middle of winter.

In this way, not only cucumbers, yellow sprouts, chives, radishes and other fresh vegetables are grown, but also various flowers.

Zhu Ciran hadn't heard of it because he didn't go to the vegetable market in the capital before, otherwise he would know what Nuandongzi is.

All in all, the emergence of Nuandongzi has enriched all kinds of vegetables in winter. In terms of categories, it is basically no less than later generations:
"This warm cave has everything. Take a look at the vegetables we have here. They are all produced by warm caves."

Enthusiastically discussing the work, Zhu Ciran also looked at the things on the table.

A long table of one foot and two feet long, on which are placed ginger, taro, radish, carrot, rapeseed, water chestnut, ginger, onion, leek, garlic, manna, mint, perilla, yam and other seasonal vegetables .

In addition to these, there are various imported products such as tomatoes, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and onions.

In addition to these vegetables, the fruit in the store is also rich.

Litchi, longan, olive, betel nut, sugar palm, coconut, orange pomelo, pineapple, myrobalan, sheep fruit, mountain peach, grape, oleander, honey hope, yimum, human face and various wild fruits, all available at low prices Fei.

"Buy five catties of lychees." Seeing that the buddy had said so much, Zhu Ciran motioned for five catties of lychees.

"Good!" Hearing Zhu Ciran's words, this guy quickly packed up five catties of lychees, and weighed the lychees only after they were picked, unlike some places where even the branches are counted as weight.

"It's five catties, and I'll charge you forty Wen."

The job smiled and handed over the lychee in the cloth bag, Zhu Ciran also motioned Liu Shun to give the money when he heard the words.

The two took the lychees and continued to stroll around Huzhou City. After walking far away, Liu Shun said, "Lychees cost eight cents a catty. Hangzhou is so prosperous. Why are fruits and vegetables cheaper than small places?"

"It's cheap because of the prosperity..." Zhu Ciran explained, and Liu Shun nodded half-understanding.

The two continued to stroll around, but as the sky got brighter and brighter, more and more people came to Huzhou City, until finally it was crowded and shoulder to shoulder.

For Zhu Ciran's safety, Liu Shun escorted them out of Huzhou City, but when they arrived outside the city, there were still a lot of people outside.

White walls and gray tiles and horse-head walls are the characteristics of Hangzhou city. Zhu Ciran and the others tried their best to find places with few people to explore, so they did not go to West Lake.

For them, since Hangzhou Railway Station has only been open to traffic for more than a year, they are not in a hurry.

Maybe after they go back this time, they can take the train to Hangzhou City next year, the year after, or at any time, and the round trip will only take eight or nine days.

What they want to see is the style and appearance of the old city of Hangzhou, as well as the scenery of the Hangzhou River.

Walking on the small streets facing the river at the back doors of some folk houses, the two finally felt a trace of tranquility in the bustling city of Hangzhou.

The narrow winding streets and the cobblestone roads that are paved next to each other seem to have no end.

Rows of black eaves and blue tiles are lined up on both sides of the small street, and the eaves of the small buildings are side by side, with a line of blue sky above and shadows of people below, which is a subtle and profound artistic conception.

On the rippling Shi River, small boats come and go, and the sound of sculls is heard. From time to time, when you are tired from walking, you will sit down and watch the water pavilion reflected in the water and the trees on the bank.

During the break, an old woman in her sixties stopped the boat and asked Zhu Ciran if they wanted to take the boat. With her thin body and hopeful eyes, Zhu Ciran could not refuse.

He and Liu Shun boarded the boat, and when the old woman saw them boarding the boat, she welcomed them with a smile on her face, rowed the oars with her thin and short body, and led them through bridge holes one after another.

In a Jiangnan water town like Hangzhou, arch bridges are a very common sight.

Starting from the boarding point, they passed eight ancient stone bridges along the way for only one mile of boating.

Perhaps due to the different construction years, these ancient bridges have various styles and styles. Watching them appear one by one, Zhu Ciran seems to be on a time machine.

It is undeniable that the shape of the arch bridge is graceful, and the rippling caused by the swaying of the oars adds a bit of elegance to the tranquility.

Although Zhu Ciran didn't plan to go to see the West Lake, but in order to make the old man earn more money, and to relax himself, he still let the old man row to the West Lake.

The West Lake in this era has a lot of natural scenery. It has no fences, and there is no heavy traffic of later generations. There are only pedestrians who stop on the road to watch the scenery, and the painted boats and awning boats on the lake.

When entering the West Lake through the waterway, you need to pass through the Fengbo Pavilion. The Fengbo Pavilion in the Ming Dynasty was built in the Hongwu period and has a history of more than [-] years.

Its scale is not so grand, but there is only one pavilion standing alone by the lake, and the surrounding trees have also been cut down, which seems to be a deliberate landscaping.

But Zhu Ciran also admitted that the Fengbo Pavilion isolated by the lake really made Zhu Ciran think of many things.

The loneliest person he knew was his uncle.

When looking at the isolated storm pavilion, he also naturally thought of his uncle.

"I was young and ignorant before, but now that I think about it, everyone has everyone's burden on their shoulders."

"My uncle has carried my father's burden for so many years. Although I can't afford it, I can still share it."

Sitting on the boat, Zhu Ciran looked at the Fengbo Pavilion that was gradually disappearing in the distance, and couldn't help muttering to himself.

Regarding this, Liu Shun nodded his head slightly to express his agreement, but he didn't dare to say anything, after all, he was just a small Jinyiwei Hundred Household Officer.

Zhu Ciran understood him very well, and did not force him to show any attitude.

The two fell into silence, and only the voice of the old woman introducing the scenery along the way was left on board.

After half an hour, when the old woman sent them to the river closest to the inn, she also said the price of "five Wen" in embarrassment.

Perhaps in her opinion, five cents is already a lot.

"After rowing for so long, the old man has expended so much energy, how can it be worth only five yuan?"

Before Zhu Ciran could speak, Liu Shun smiled and took out two Ten-Wen Tianqi Tongbao from his bosom, and forced them into the hands of the old man: "Just this price!"

After finishing speaking, Liu Shun turned around and left with Zhu Ciran, leaving only the old woman standing on the boat in a daze.

After a while, she carefully put the copper coins into her arms.

Just when she was rowing to leave, she worriedly felt where the money was placed, and after making sure that they were there, she smiled and rowed to continue looking for the next customer.

Twenty Wen is a copper coin that she may not earn in a day, but she can't slack off because of this, because compared with the life in Hangzhou, this amount of money is nothing.

"Take a boat..."

"Boom bang bang-"

Just as the old man shouted to get on the boat, violent artillery fire broke out in the waters of Xiaoxiyang thousands of miles away.

In the distance of a fleet that blocks the sky, a pirate ship trying to escape is sunk, and all the pirates are sent to the sea and fed to the fish.

"What does the Little Western Fleet do? They don't even know how many thieves are in the waters under their jurisdiction?!"

On the deck of the [-]-ton Kunlun, Huang Fei was cursing.

He didn't expect that he had only left Xiaoxiyang for a few years, and Xiaoxiyang even had pirates.

You must know that nearly [-]% of the ships currently trading between the East and the West are ships from Huangdian.

If the Huangdian ship is robbed, then he, the naval commander, will not want to go on doing it.

His anger was understandable, but Xu Xiake, the leader of the team, also stepped forward to comfort him:

"This is the Western Ocean. After all, it is close to Persia, Lumi (Ottoman) and the Karabi Sea. It is understandable that the situation is complicated."

"I haven't encountered any pirates along the way. It can be seen that the generals below are still working hard. Don't be angry, Captain Huang."

Xu Xiake's comfort played a certain role. After Huang Fei calmed down, he stopped reprimanding Xiaoxiyang Fleet for joining the army, but waved his hand to signal him to quit, and then discussed other things with Xu Xiake.

"Is Xu Shilang planning to go south from Wandao County, or take the coastal waterway?"

"Naturally, we will take the coastal waterway to promote the prestige of the Ming Dynasty, and at the same time, we will also supply supplies."

Xu Xiake answered without thinking, and Huang Fei was very satisfied with this answer.

Huang Fei participated in the third voyage to the West as the captain of the navy. Zhu Youjian's purpose was to let Huang Fei know more about the ocean conditions around the world.

Right now Huang Fei only knows the situation of the West Daming Sea (Pacific Ocean) and the South Ocean, and the Little Western Ocean. He doesn't know the situation of the Red Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Qiguo Sea. It's a good thing to take a trip.

Thinking of this, Huang Fei glanced at the huge fleet under his command.

"With so many seagoing ships, is there any place along the coast where we can resupply?"

Huang Fei asked about the supplies, to which Xu Xiake nodded:
"Both ports in Persia and Lumi can supply supplies. In addition, there are reclaimed lands along the coast of Levia. Although supplies cannot be supplied for two or three months at a time, supplies for more than ten days are still possible."

"After arriving at the South Kunlun Supervision Department, you can replenish the supplies to Europe in one go, and then you can sell the goods on the ship in Europe, and then buy various supplies to go to North America."

"North Asia and South Asia are rich in resources. On the east coast, there are cities in countries such as Anelia, Franz, and Franz that can supply them, and they can supply them all the way to Qi."

"After arriving in Qi State, supply supplies for three months at a stretch, then take the northern waterway back to Daming, and arrive at Beizhou Capital in the north of Yingzhou in about two and a half months."

Xu Xiake explained to Huang Fei the places where supplies can be supplied along the way, and Huang Fei also nodded after hearing the words: "Just where there are supplies."

"However, this time His Highness wants to let the countries such as Dafrajiren, Anelia, and Franza hand over the territory of South Asia Melica. I am afraid it will not be so easy to implement."

"I think it's better to send troops to take these places directly." Huang Fei said in a bandit manner.

"This..." Xu Xiake was ashamed by what he said, he did not dare to agree with Huang Fei's point of view.

"What are you afraid of?" Huang Fei said directly: "As long as His Highness's order is completed."

"Unify the caliber, say that the Europas shelled us first, and we will fight back."

"This really won't work..." Hearing Huang Feiyue's words getting more and more outrageous, Xu Xiake stopped quickly and explained:
"The navies of the European countries have long been afraid of the light, how dare they take the initiative to provoke, once such a thing is played, His Highness will definitely see it."

"What's more, the current trade profit between the European countries and the Huangdian is as much as 300 million taels. If the country loses the 300 million taels of trade profits due to the rash war, I am afraid that His Highness and Long Live will be furious."

"That's true..." Speaking of the issue of trade, Huang Fei's IQ took over the high ground, but after a second thought, he said:
"Most of the gold and silver in Europa is shipped from North and South America. If we conquer the area, wouldn't the gold and silver be ours?"

"Er... this..." Xu Xiake was good at writing but not eloquent, Huang Fei was stunned by what he said.

Sometimes he also had to admire Huang Fei's brain circuit, but after pondering, he still shook his head and said:

"Currently, the country does not have the power to immigrate across half the world, and the Qi country has no power to occupy these places. Even if it is occupied, once the fleet leaves, I am afraid that the locals will raise their flags to rebel. We did not bring rifles this time. .”

Xu Xiake mentioned the key point, which is also the point where Huang Feiqi's teeth itch.

In order to prevent Europeans from getting in touch with percussion guns early, Zhu Youjian did not let the fleet sailing to the west bring percussion guns, which led to the fact that their entire army was equipped with rifles.

Although even with only rifles, the military technology of the Ming army was decades higher than that of the Europeans, but there would definitely be casualties in such a fight.

With a lot of casualties, Huang Fei will definitely be impeached, he doesn't want to lose his title.

Thinking of this, Huang Fei had no choice but to give up: "Okay, just follow what Xu Shilang told you."

"Huh..." Seeing Huang Fei agreed, Xu Xiake also breathed a sigh of relief.

The two continued to chat about sailing, and almost at the same time, Wu Aheng of the South Kunlun Supervisory Commissioner also received the information and progress of the third voyage brought by the Clippers.

When he knew that Xu Xiake and the others had arrived in Jiugang on the third day of the first lunar month, he immediately returned from Changning County in the north to Kunlun County in the south.

Another year has passed, and Kunlun County has become more prosperous.

Thanks to the food supply from the Little Western clans, Kunlun County has reclaimed more than 10,000 mu of paddy fields and five [-]+ mu of irrigated fields.

With the support of these cultivated lands, the Nankunlun Supervising Envoys will provide more and more food support to the feudal clans, and the feudal clans will be able to invest more and more troops and population in Levia.

When there are many people, there will be demand, and if there is demand, there will be trade. Therefore, as a necessary channel for maritime trade between Europe and Asia in this era, Kunlun County has naturally prospered.

In terms of the size of the original old city, Yan Yingyuan drove local reform-through-labour workers to build a 20-mile outer city. In this way, the inner and outer city can accommodate nearly [-] people.

The whole city was built with cement, and Yan Yingyuan also built [-] artificial cement fields in Nankunlun Prefecture, and used the gold mined in the mines to buy many local reformed laborers from the Europeans, and put them into the excavation work in the mining area.

The prosperity of the Nankunlun Mansion not only brought prosperity to the feudal clans of Levia, but also caused many Europeans who had experienced the war to go south and spontaneously formed a slave hunting team.

The price given by the Southern Kunlun Supervisory Commissioner is one tael of silver per person, and what the slave hunting team has to do is also very simple.

They didn't need Daming's instructions at all, they knew how to arrest the labor camp workers themselves.

They directly sent people to communicate with some tribes in central Leviathan, and supported the local tribes to annex other tribes, and bought them at the price of an iron knife for each captive.

There is a standard for the captives they buy, that is, as long as they are men, and they are men over 15 years old.

Not only that, these captives also need to undergo special treatment and survive. Only such slaves will they buy and send them to the South Kunlun Supervisory Commissioner in the south.

Compared with the rough European slave hunting team, Daming is much more enlightened.

For reform-through-labour workers who have not undergone special treatment, they will release them after the ten-year reform-through-labor period and give them a sum of money to go home.

Daming will arrange for the reformed-through-labor workers to live in Yongping County and give them land.

However, in the Southern Kunlun Supervisory Commissioner, if a person dies without descendants, the land needs to be reclaimed.

Of course, they can also adopt some children, but most of these children are orphans sent from India.

If there is no Ming, they will be sent to the American colonies after defeat, or be beheaded by other tribes.

They didn't know whether what they had experienced was the standard required by Daming, or the bad taste of the slave hunting team.

They only know that they can still survive in the territory of Daming.

"How many fields and labor camps are there in the mansion?"

When Wu Aheng returned to Kunlun County from the north in military uniform, Yan Yingyuan greeted him at the gate of the county seat, and chatted about business with him as he rode back to the county government.

"South Kunlun Prefecture has 52 mu of paddy fields and 320 million mu of irrigated land. It is estimated that the grain output can reach about 300 million shi."

"The number of reform-through-labor workers is now 140 million, which is enough for the time being, and the lower officials have not bought any more."

Yan Yingyuan responded to Wu Aheng, and at the same time looked at the situation on the street.

Buildings full of Ming Han style are scattered throughout the city, and a large number of local faces of Yingzhou and Ming Dynasty fill the streets. Occasionally, you can also see the faces of many Europeans who sold slaves for entertainment.

While Yan Yingyuan looked at the street, Wu Aheng also told about Xu Xiake and the others' upcoming arrival in Kunlun County.

He asked Yan Yingyuan and Yan Yinshao to prepare 30 shi of grain each to supply the Western Fleet, but Yan Yingyuan felt that there was no problem.

The two returned to the study of the county government in a hurry. After they sat down, Wu Aheng stroked his beard and said:
"This time I came here, apart from preparing food, I just wanted to ask you and Gengming (Yan Yinshao), how many immigrants the South Kunlun Supervision and Envoy Division can accept."

Facing Wu Aheng's question, Yan Yingyuan responded without hesitation:

"About 50 people, but if the land needs to be divided, we can only relocate more than 6 people with one person per [-] mu."

"Well... If that's the case, when Xu Xiake arrives, I will send a letter to him to bring back to Guochao, and let Guochao immigrant [-] people come to South Kunlun to supervise the envoy."

"In addition, this time the fleet also brought more than 3 people. If they can eat it, let us eat half of it first, and distribute the remaining half to the three kingdoms of Tang, Huai, and Ji."

"The next official takes orders..." Yan Yingyuan bowed in response, and Wu Aheng also got up and said:

"Okay, since you can arrange it, then I won't intervene. Many natives from the north are coming south to harass. Tomorrow, I have to go back to strengthen the defense line."

After Wu Aheng finished speaking, he waved his hand to signal that he was going to rest, and Yan Yingyuan also left the study after returning the gift.

(End of this chapter)