The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 172 Cloud surge

In Daqin, long-distance travel is not an easy thing. People go from one place to another with long distances, inconvenient transportation, bad weather, sleeping in the mountains, and even encountering robbers and robbers...all kinds of troublesome things. There are many.

Although the control of the people in the Qin Dynasty was much looser than that in the Ming Dynasty, freedom of travel is still subject to various restrictions and taboos. It is not something that ordinary people can take a "travel as soon as they want".

Under normal circumstances, the people of the Qin Dynasty went out for study tours and sightseeing, demoted officials and exiles, rushing for exams, doing business, visiting relatives, admiring the magnificent rivers and mountains, etc.

Like previous dynasties, in the officialdom of the Qin Dynasty, being demoted was a common thing. The losers in the power struggle were expelled from the center of power to the cold and cold places on the border. They spent hundreds of thousands of miles in exile and became some people. A transformation in the course of life.

Students rushing to take the exam adhere to the principle that "it is better to travel thousands of miles than to read thousands of books" and set out a year before the imperial examination. The magnificent scenery and various life styles along the way can provide him with a lot of life materials for the subsequent imperial examination.

For businessmen, only by selling goods from the south to the north can they make a profit, so buying specialties from a certain area and transporting them to the other side of the country has become the key to making profits. As a result, these merchants walked on the road for many years and became travelers on the road.

Ordinary people adhere to the principle of "better to have more than less" when traveling with their luggage. They wish they could tie up all their belongings with ropes, wrap them in cloth, and take them with them to feel at ease.

The reasons for this are, firstly, that the transportation within Daqin is not convenient, and sometimes the travel time can even last for several years. And if you have other opportunities in other places and want to deal with the business elsewhere, you only need to send people back to deal with the ancestors after they are settled. Just stay at home; secondly, many things are not fully prepared in the inns and B&Bs along the way. You need to prepare some daily necessities, bedding, candles, tea, chess pieces, folding chessboards, pens, ink, paper and inkstones, tea cups, knives, etc. by yourself.

In the luggage, travelers will also prepare cooked mugwort, rhubarb, mirabilis, licorice, dried ginger, Sichuan pepper and other items that have aromatic effects, such as resuscitating, removing dirt and killing insects.

In Da Qin, the biggest problem is that the roads are difficult to travel. If you can choose to take the water route, you will not hesitate even if you have to go a long way.

Because many roads are not smooth, let alone the first-class national roads in Qi State that are paved with asphalt, cinder or cement. Even on the main traffic arteries, many roads are full of potholes and muddy in rainy days, making it difficult for vehicles to pass.

Compared with other areas, people living in Jiangnan have much more convenient travel, and they often travel by boat and car. Travelers only need to go to the river ferry and spend dozens or hundreds of coins to take a boat trip. In some places, ferries are more convenient. For a few hundred pennies, you can rent a small boat and go down the river to enjoy the beautiful scenery along the way.

As a member of the Daqi royal family's visit to Qin, in this midwinter season, they naturally chose to travel by boat when going to Denglai to pay homage to their ancestors' imperial mausoleums.

From Jiangnan to Denglai, if you take the water route, you generally have two options: one is to walk slowly along the Grand Canal, walk through Yangzhou, pass through Huai'an, pass through Jining, arrive at Dongchang Prefecture (today's Liaocheng), and then abandon The other is to take a boat directly down the Yangtze River, sail into the sea, then turn around and go north to Jiaozhou (now Qingdao), where you can take a train to Penglai, the administrative office of Denglai. .

In view of the lower water level of the Grand Canal in winter, the shallow draft, and even congestion and waiting conditions in many sections, Dan Wang Qi Weining and Emperor Sun Qi Zexuan decided to go by sea after a brief discussion.

The iron ship "Great Eastern" returned to Hanzhou mainland more than two months ago, fully loaded with passengers and goods. It can no longer "pretend" for this trip, but as a member of the royal family, it is still necessary to have the due pomp. Said.

A motor-driven sailboat with a displacement of 1,500 tons, belonging to Qi Guo Jiangnan Trading Company, was temporarily requisitioned and became the exclusive vessel for this royal mission.

On the ship, in addition to several descendants of the Great Qin royal family and officials from Honglu Temple, there were also dozens of businessmen from Qi and Qin who accompanied him all the way to the northern region.

After leaving the Yangtze River Estuary, everything you see is endless sea water. Under the strong northeast trade wind, the "Fushun" lowered all its sails, turned on the steam engine, and puffed out billowing smoke at a speed of 12-15 knots. Speed, heading north-west, galloping through the sea.

"One is tremblingly holding out the steel sword, the other is swinging with the steel sword. One is risking his own life to get in, and the other is doing it in the clouds and rain. The leather drum is thumping, and the gun is beeping and the sword is being used.… ...A purple lion shows off his majesty, and a white-faced enchanting is fighting on horseback. ...You and I will live and die without end, and we will win in a thousand battles with fear. We keep calling for murder, and we will never get tired of being passionate. There have been widespread disputes in ancient and modern times. It is not like this. Fighting in the water.…”

"Hey hey hey..."

"Hahaha……"

In a corner of the deck, several officers of the Royal Guards of Qi gathered their heads together, staring at a storybook novel. While reading, they let out bursts of obscene laughter.

On the other side of the ship's side, some businessmen were leaning on the railing, gasping for air, and some even made retching sounds, obviously suffering from seasickness.

After vomiting out almost all the gall in their stomachs, they leaned limply against the side of the ship and secretly swore in their hearts that no matter how hard the land journey was, they would never take this expensive ship again.

Looking at the several officers of the Qi State sitting together over there, all of them were beaming with joy, as if they were indifferent. They were really born to be marine citizens.

"...The man was so angry that he only used his gun to pierce his heart; the handsome woman was so anxious that she opened her mouth to eat her head. The one who used the double cannon went back and forth to attack the soldiers in the crotch; the one who used the round card, clamped up and down to meet the general at the navel..."

"Hahaha……"

Suddenly, the officers burst into laughter, causing the passengers on the deck to look sideways.

By the way, this Qi country is really amazing. Even a group of Qiu Ba can recognize the characters, read and understand.

"As members of the Royal Guards, you need to be careful in your words and deeds, and pay attention to your decency." General Mingwei (Brigadier General) of the Royal Guards walked over with a majestic expression and shouted loudly.

"Yes, General!"

Several Imperial Guard officers who were reading the novel immediately stood up and saluted General Mingwei.

""Jin Ping Mei Ci Hua"?" General Mingwei took the book over. It was a novel about world affairs that was widely circulated among the people. There was a strange look on his face. He couldn't help but shook his head, and then threw it away. "Obscene and filthy works can be viewed in private without any hindrance, but you guys are making such... such senseless noises, which only adds to the joke... Get back to the cabin!" "Yes, General."

Several guards officers put away their books and ran towards the gangway as if they were running away, preparing to hide in the cabin and continue to appreciate this wonderful "wonderful book" in the world.

"I'm afraid General Liu is a little too harsh." After Zhu Jiaxi saw that scene, he couldn't help but smile and shake his head and said: "It's up to the Qin soldiers and generals. Maybe during this long journey, they would have shouted and gathered together. We drank and gambled together."

"What about your Ming Dynasty?" Yuan Zugeng, the owner of Futai Trading Company, felt a little unhappy after hearing this. What do you mean? If you praise the people of Qi, you won't belittle our country Qin so much, so he asked sullenly.

Don't look at the shopkeeper Zhu Da in front of you who is engaged in the fur and timber business. He has short hair, wears a double-breasted robe and straight trousers, and looks like a Qi man. But after dealing with him for a long time, all the businessmen in the circle knew that this shopkeeper Zhu Da was an authentic Beiming native, and he also had the blood of the Zhu Ming royal family. Maybe the business he was running also belonged to the Beiming royal family.

There are many Northern Ming merchants like him engaged in semi-open and semi-smuggling trade in Daqin. It is said that these businessmen only need to pay a certain handling fee in the Qingyuan Governor's Territory of Qi State (today's Hakodate City, Hokkaido, Japan), and they can receive a certificate issued to them by Qi State, and then run around in the name of Qi State merchants. Come to Daqin to do business.

Of course, many of these Beiming merchants pretending to be Qi people were sent by the Beiming government to spy on Da Qin's intelligence, spread various rumors, abduct Da Qin people, and even secretly instigate Da Qin officials and merchants.

If Beiming's Xizuo is accidentally captured, the Qin court will severely punish him. Depending on the severity of the crime, he will be sentenced to beheading, hanging, imprisonment, exile and other punishments.

However, the government sometimes turned a blind eye to these half-hidden Beiming merchants and allowed them to come and go. First, after all, the merchants of Beiming were acting in the name of Qi people and had certificates issued by the local governor-general of Qi. If they dealt with them rashly, they would inevitably lead to disputes with Qi; secondly, many goods shipped from Beiming , is really what Great Qin needs.

Grain, timber, fur, ginseng, deer antlers, Dongzhu... all have strong market demand in Daqin, especially grain and timber, which can more or less reduce the dependence on Qi merchants.

In the Jiangnan area, where nearly 40% of Daqin's population and 60% of its economic output are concentrated, almost all farmers have stopped growing food and have begun to plant crops such as cotton and hemp with higher economic value. This has made the area Extremely dependent on food inputs from external regions.

Huguang, Annan, Cambodia, Siam, Yunzhou, Zhenzhou and other regions continuously transport rice and wheat to various parts of Jiangnan through rivers and seas. The scale is large and the price is low enough for the people of Jiangnan to make " The decision to abandon grain and plant mulberry trees.

It can be seen that in the list of these food supply areas, except for the Huguang area, which is still within the territory of Daqin and can be fully controlled, the food production areas in several other areas are controlled by other countries. Once a regional conflict occurs, it is likely to affect the entire Jiangnan The region's food supply is stable.

As for wood, after more than two thousand years of continuous felling, almost all the giant trees in the mainland that could be used to build palaces and build large ships have disappeared. With its own resources alone, it is simply impossible to build large-scale buildings and ocean-going merchant ships on a large scale.

Although the Liaodong region has large tracts of primeval forests, they are all located in deep mountains and dense forests. Due to the difficulty of land transportation, they cannot be utilized at all.

The Zhenzhou and Kuye Islands occupied by the Beiming Dynasty, and the Annan and Nanyang territories occupied by the Qi State, have a large amount of timber resources, are not far from the sea, and have convenient transportation and an absolute cost advantage.

Whether it was to expand the sources of food and timber, or to balance the trade monopoly of Qi merchants, the Qin court had reasons to adopt a tacit attitude towards Beiming's semi-open and semi-smuggling trade practices.

Having one more trading competitor can also slightly curb the price monopoly formed by Qi's increasingly powerful trading companies.

In terms of food prices, the rice imported by Qi from Annam, Champa, Cambodia, Siam and other regions was less than six cents of silver per stone more than fifty years ago. But now, the price of rice per stone has slowed down. It has grown to one or two cents of silver, which has doubled!

Although there is an impact of inflation, the increase in food prices is indeed a bit high.

The land south of the Yangtze River is covered with cotton, mulberry and hemp, and rice cultivation is less than one-tenth of the arable land. The food needed by tens of millions of people has to be imported from other places.

Qi State almost indirectly controls the food supply in Jiangnan through its extremely advantageous shipping method. The annual trade profits earned may not be less than cotton fabrics, making it one of the few "excellent" commodities in Qi State.

Therefore, whether it is to stabilize domestic grain prices or to restrain the expansion of Qi's commercial power, even if Beiming is a serious problem that Da Qin wants to get rid of quickly, as long as it can be of benefit to Da Qin, it may not be impossible to use one or two .

Although this kind of trade behavior is somewhat suspected of "funding the enemy" and "helping the enemy", it is the lesser of the two evils. Daqin has also obtained cheap supplies of food and timber from it, which is of great benefit to the country and the people. Very beneficial.

As a businessman of the Qin Dynasty, Yuan Zugeng might look high on the merchants of the Qi Kingdom, and even lower his profile a little. But you Beiming, who are just wandering overseas in remote and wild places and continuing to survive, how can you put them in the same position? In my eyes, Da Qin!

"Well, it's pretty much the same." Zhu Jiaxi glanced at Yuan Zugeng and said calmly: "But even though my Ming army general was so ridiculous and playful, I still beat your Qin army on the battlefield and lost troops and ground. In the waters of Korea and Japan, do you, the Qin Navy, dare to send ships to compete with our Ming Navy?"

"What? Do you, the Ming Dynasty, want to have another fight with the Qin Dynasty?" Yuan Zugeng asked: "Today is different from the past. In the northwest of our Qin Dynasty's Wei Town, the destruction of the Junggar Tatar chieftains is just around the corner. If you, the Ming Dynasty, start another border quarrel, in the end I’m afraid I’m going to face a disaster.”

"Haha..., is that so?" Zhu Jiaxi sneered twice, shook his head and said, "Battle formations cannot be won by relying on self-righteousness and words!... Let's see, who will face destruction in the end? Disaster, the real chapter will be seen on the battlefield."

With that said, Zhu Jiaxi tightened her fur clothes tightly, held her head high, and turned around to leave.

The situation in North Korea suddenly became tense as Li Linzuo, the general manager of the southeast of North Korea, asked for the title of King of Silla for himself, and North Ming Dynasty increased troops to Donglai (now Busan, South Korea) and Chongjin.

In response to the threat from Beiming, Daqin also responded tit-for-tat. In addition to moving troops from the pass to Liaodong, it also dispatched more than 3,000 troops from Shandong and stationed in Hanyang to deter Beiming from acting rashly and disrupting the existing balance in North Korea.

The two countries are so at war with each other that there is a great danger of the third Qin-Ming War breaking out.

(End of this chapter)