Chapter 1098: A Glimpse of Yangkou
Chapter 1098: A Glimpse of Yangkou
Fu Bao leaned lazily on the soft pillow with gold thread, while the maids came and went like butterflies flying through flowers, holding various dressing boxes and doing her makeup.
Huan Wen sat aside, looking at his wife's delicate makeup, and said, "The official ship can't carry much cargo. I borrowed some boats from the Xi family, which should be enough. These boats will follow behind the troop transport ship, and there will be no trouble along the way."
"The Xi family is willing to lend you a boat and even boat workers. This is a big favor." Fu Bao said, "You are stupid! Don't you know that you owe a favor?"
Huan Wen was silent for a moment, then said, "Your Majesty does not allow the use of government ships for private purposes."
Fu Bao had nothing to say.
Her father dotes on her, but there are some things he won't give in to without reason.
It is normal for you to carry some luggage with you when traveling on an official ship, and no one will be too critical of you.
In order to subsidize the transportation of troops, the imperial court also allowed each person to carry a box of a fixed size. No matter what was in the box, it was usually filled with some scarce goods. After arriving at the destination, they would find familiar merchants to sell it and earn the difference between the two places.
It was clearly stipulated that soldiers could be transported in this way, but officials did not have this facility. However, no one would criticize them for carrying a few boxes with them, and generally no one would say anything. However, it was indeed a bit excessive to carry goods openly.
The maid carefully opened the gilded incense box, and the fragrance immediately spread.
This is ambergris, which is usually transported from the Western Regions by Hu merchants. As for where they got it from, no one knows, maybe they are also second-hand dealers.
The ambergris used in this Fu Bao is a blended incense, which is a finished product after blending with other spices, but it is still more valuable than gold. If she wasn't so likable, she wouldn't have gotten such a whole box.
After opening the incense box, Fu Bao took a little and smeared it on his hands. After thinking for a while, he smeared a little on his neck and behind his ears.
Huan Wen watched silently from the side.
The Huan family of Longkang was not so extravagant. One reason was that their family was the Xing family and was quite oppressed. The other reason was that they really had no channels to buy ambergris. During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, not only women used ambergris, but men also used it, and even in greater quantities.
If you marry a princess and bring her home, is it easy to raise her?
"Housekeeper Liu Miao will go with you, along with fifty people from Xuchang." After applying the spices, Fu Bao stood up, walked in front of Huan Wen, and chuckled, "Does it smell good?"
Huan Wen turned his head and looked, and the maids all lowered their heads.
Seeing Fu Bao's intimidating gaze, Huan Wen smiled and said softly, "My lady has jade-like bones and skin as white as ice, and a subtle fragrance that is better than orchid, musk and ambergris."
Fu Bao chuckled, hugged Huan Wen gently, and said, "You are as mature as my father."
Huan Wen could only laugh awkwardly after hearing this.
"When you pass by Yangkou, just hand the goods over to the Zhao family in Wancheng. The Zhao family used to be from Nanyang State. Thanks to my uncle (Liu Mi)'s selection, he will find a way to contact the people of Jin." Fu Bao released her hand and said softly, "My husband, my daily expenses are very large. You must be more diligent in your business in the future."
Huan Wen nodded.
Marrying a princess has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantages are obvious, but the disadvantage is that the expenses are really high.
However, Fu Bao did not spend his money. With the financial resources of Longkang Huan family, it might be a bit difficult. The most realistic way is to make more money through business, and then find a way to build a manor, so as to make a steady income.
However, doing business is not an easy thing.
After Zhuge Hui took office as the governor of Jingzhou, the Jin court quickly abolished Xiangzhou and merged all the counties into Jingzhou.
He also appointed Guanglu Xun Lu Ye as the governor of Jingzhou to serve as a check and balance.
However, in such an important border area, even if Lu Ye was not a single-vehicle governor without leading troops, he could not control Zhuge Hui. So, border trade gradually began.
This is a gray trade that neither side supports openly, but both are happy to see.
Currently, not many people know about it, and it has not been widely spread. Fu Bao also heard about it from his father and uncle, so he asked the housekeeper Liu Miao to think of a solution.
Liu Miao's method was to gather a group of Xuchang merchants, have them prepare goods, and then follow the troop transport ship southward, which was equivalent to taking advantage of the safety protection of the troop transport. After arriving at the place, he relied on the relationship of Liu Mi, the Minister of Agriculture, to do business with the Jin people, on the condition that he would share the profits after the success.
Of course, Fu Bao's manor (Jingfuyuan) also prepared some wealth and goods, which were sent to Yangkou to trade with the people of Jin.
This business is very profitable now, but it will not be so profitable when more people get involved, so Fu Bao plans to make some money now and get the money to build the manor - she is a little money-grubber.
On the 21st, Huan Wen left Xiangyang with a thousand transport troops.
All of a sudden, all the ships anchored on Huihu Lake and Caizhou River headed south and rushed towards Yangkou in a mighty manner.
******
Yangkou City had been renovated, and a large banner with the Chinese character "梁" was flying on the top of the city wall. There seemed to be some soldiers, but no one knew where they came from.
After the boat stopped at the river below the city, Huan Wen could not help but climb onto the top cabin of the boat to overlook the surrounding area.
He was shocked at the first sight.
There are only two rivers drawn on the map, the Mianshui River and the Yangshui River. But if you really fight a war according to this map, you will definitely be killed, because in addition to the two big rivers, there are also small rivers and ditches as dense as a spider web.
These ditches are so small that they don’t even deserve names, but they are real rivers.
Farther away, reeds grew thickly on the muddy land, and occasionally a few water birds flew by, stirring up circles of ripples. The weather in late August was still very hot. It was noon now, and Huan Wen seemed to feel the mist between heaven and earth, which made him sweat and even his breath was filled with dampness and heat.
This damn place is even hotter than Jiangnan.
Groups of people wearing burlap shorts walked in the soft mud, wielding shovels and pickaxes, constantly digging the wet soil.
Some of the soil has been soaked under water for tens of millions of years, and countless plants and even corpses of humans and animals have rotted in it. After being dug out, it was piled up on the shore and compacted repeatedly to form black dams.
Bubbles kept coming out from the bottom of the water, emitting a foul smell, but the people working there were already used to it and turned a blind eye to it.
Thanks to their efforts, the sandbar surrounded by reeds and water was gradually raised and its surface was covered with black silt.
Reed huts appeared on the sandbar, and naked children were playing and laughing.
Huan Wen noticed that no crops had been planted on any of the sandbars.
It seemed that people simply cleared the grass and trees on the sandbar, padded the low-lying and wet areas with silt, and then built long fences to surround the sandbar, forming isolated islands.
Maybe we can grow crops only next year.
He walked to the other side of the ship and looked towards Yangkou City.
There were already some people growing crops near the city. He had heard of these people: the people of the merchant settlement introduced by the Yu family of Yingchuan.
The Yu family is truly glorious!
There is a good piece of land near Yangkou City. Perhaps hundreds of years ago it was similar to the silt swamps in the distance, but after repeated transformations since the Three Kingdoms period, it has become a farming area with ponds, irrigation canals, and farmland. It is the place where the military garrisons of the Eastern Wu Dynasty were stationed.
Until last autumn, this land seemed to have produced one season's worth of grain, but now it has been occupied by merchants introduced by the Yu family.
But they are not all just sitting back and enjoying the fruits of their labor.
Huan Wen observed that the Shangtun militia continued to expand outward at the edge of the farmland, filling in two small rivers and dredging another swamp, apparently intending to transform it into a second pond to irrigate the second farming area.
Yes, after all, they have to make money by growing crops, and the more land they can reclaim, the better.
From this perspective, it’s not too much.
Huan Wen quickly got off the boat, and when he stepped onto solid land, an ox cart appeared not far ahead.
More than ten people followed the ox cart, crying.
On the cart was a roll of bulging reed mat. Judging from a pair of dark blue bare feet sticking out from the edge of the mat, it must be a corpse.
He sighed and couldn't help but look in the direction the ox cart was moving: dozens of new graves had been piled up on a barren river beach in the east.
The graves are very simple and look like inconspicuous mounds of earth from a distance, just like these humble people who died silently during the land reclamation.
These dozens of new graves are actually just the beginning!
Huan Wen withdrew his gaze and came to the north of Yangkou City.
A piece of land was cleared here and surrounded by a low fence.
Inside the fence, people were bustling and noises were rising. Merchants with various accents gathered here, bargaining with great enthusiasm.
Some people have a completely disdainful expression, and their words are extremely harsh, devaluing other people's goods to the point of being worthless. But when the owner of the goods is extremely annoyed and asks him to get out, this person is like a root under his feet, and he just won't leave.
Others looked like river bandits, picking up goods at random while observing secretly.
It may be unfair to say that they are pure pirates because they also do business themselves, but they give people a feeling of being fierce, sinister and greedy.
Therefore, don't blame the Xuchang merchants for seeking favor from Princess Jingfu. Huan Wen, the Duzhi Commander who had 3,000 transport troops under his command, was really a hot figure in the Jingbei area, second only to the Admiral Yang Bao.
The surrounding terrain is so complex and the population is so desolate that it is really difficult to track down the thieves who row into the river or hide in the reeds after killing and robbing. In fact, many thieves are local residents who temporarily go out to rob and then hide in the countryside. The locals will deliberately conceal and protect them. How can you track them?
It is good to lean against a big tree for shade, this is a truth that businessmen understand best.
"Zhuge Daoming is really open-minded..." After walking around outside the fence, Huan Wen was filled with emotion.
After hearing this, the princess's household official Liu Miao laughed and said, "I'm afraid Zhuge Daoming only wanted to defend Wuchang and Xiakou, and never thought about recovering the lost territory. I wonder how many of the Wuchang merchants who came to Yangkou are from the Zhuge family. I think if he puts some effort into it, it won't be a problem to make a million dollars a year. In a few years, the Zhuge family will be extremely wealthy."
Did the Zhuge family participate in these transactions? Huan Wen did not know.
But if he were in Huan Wen's shoes, he would never miss this opportunity. Even if he didn't use the money from the business, he could still support the army.
You are aloof and don't care about money, but your officers and soldiers need money and food.
It’s just that—with business so prosperous, how could one still have the heart to fight a war?
(End of this chapter)