sweeping the world

Chapter 618 One of the Three Transit Places
Jiankang is located on the edge of the Yangtze River, so of course there is a ferry, and there are not only one ferry, but as many as twenty. The three largest ferry are on the north side of the city wall of Jiankang.

The Yellow River Basin and the Yangtze River Basin have always been the relatively densely populated areas of the Central Plains dynasties. The main reason is the abundance of water, which is also related to farming. Sufficient water means that the irrigation system is developed. With more output, of course, it can feed more people. people.

The reason why Jiankang has grown to a population of more than 200 million is mostly related to its location on the edge of the Yangtze River. In addition to the rich water resources, it is also the mature application of Yangtze River water transportation after years of development.

In fact, Jiankang was the first city in the world with a population of more than one million. If the history had not been changed by Liu Yan, it would have grown to have 230 million residents at one point, compared with Chang'an in the Han Dynasty, Chang'an in the Tang Dynasty and Luoyang, and Bianjing in the Song Dynasty. population is even greater.

The total population of the small imperial court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty was close to 500 million according to official statistics. Jiankang alone has a population of close to 200 million. That is an exaggeration.And according to the official household registration statistics of the small imperial court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the population of Yangzhou, not counting Jiankang residents, is nearly 200 million. It is conceivable how sparsely populated the rest of the territory should be.

A considerable part of Yangzhou's population migrated from the north of the Yangtze River. More than 100 million people migrated southward just because of the "clothes and hats crossing to the south". After that, many people fled southward one after another, which also made Yangzhou the most problematic area. The conflict between the so-called "Northern" and "Southern" has never ceased.

Jingkou is a large port, which was once used as a fleet base and was later converted to civilian use.Because the location of the port is near the estuary of the Yangtze River, and the inland waterways and sea shipping in the Han Dynasty are well developed, Jingkou has gradually shown its commercial role, and it has become extremely prosperous in just seven months.

Liu Yan set foot on the land south of the Yangtze River. When he came to Jingkou, the first thing he saw was rows of shops. It was because of the clearing of the market that he couldn't see the crowds that the market should have.

"People?" Cai Xian, the urging officer in Jingkou, was asked where all the people went, hesitantly said: "There are shops and warehouses, and most of them are temporary open spaces in the wild."

The so-called reminder officer is actually the manager of the market, responsible for counting the types and quantities of goods, and supervising the exchange of goods.

Jingkou is not a county, there is no so-called county magistrate, and it is independent from Dantu County. The official post is the largest official position, and there are Jicheng, Jiwei, Liucao and many small officials.

Speaking of warehouses, the fleet can see a large area of ​​neat warehouses on the Yangtze River. They are located at the foot of a mountain on the southeast side of Jingkou.

Jingkou has been changed to civilian use. Ships coming down from the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River will basically stop temporarily before going to sea. Many caravans value the convenient location of Jingkou, which makes Jingkou a very important cargo transfer point. Of course it is Requires the existence of a warehouse.

Liu Yan didn't feel much about the clearing of the field when he came. He knew that it was part of the majesty of the king. As a king, if he really wanted to be close to the people without a bottom line, it would not be good for himself or the country, especially Liu Shen, the only son, the royal family. On the premise that there are only two males.

To put it bluntly, it is really stupid for a king to put himself in danger and not take his own safety seriously.If there is an assassination, the country will inevitably fall into turmoil, and if there is no death, it will cause a political earthquake. Anyway, as long as there is an accident, the unlucky ones are definitely the majority, and the one who has influence is definitely not the king alone.

So, don't talk about the king treating his subjects well, and the subjects will not do wrong things, wait for the good side to think.It is the right thing to use the utmost caution to ensure security, so let alone why you have to do the kind of "self-isolation from the people", especially in ancient times.

After Liu Yan walked around in person, he could feel that there were quite a lot of people behind the door panels of each store, and some pairs of curious and awe-inspiring eyes could be seen through the larger gaps in some door panels.

"It seems that Jingkou is really developing well." Liu Yan cheerfully pointed to various signs on the street: "Eat, drink, clothes and housing are all available."

Cai Xian seemed fortunate to be able to hang behind Liu Yan, and under Cai You's gaze, he said almost flatteringly: "It's all thanks to the king's instructions."

So it’s not wrong to say that the conversion of Jingkou to civilian use came from Liu Yan’s order. The consideration was that a cargo transfer station was really needed near the Yangtze River estuary, but Liu Yan didn’t pay attention to the follow-up development.

There are at least two sergeants standing guard beside each shop, which is a necessary kind of vigilance.The sergeant in one of the rooms slapped the door panel under Liu Yan's signal, and shouted to the people inside to close the door panel.

The so-called door panel is a long but not wide wooden board, which is stuck in a kind of card slot.

At this time, the store basically uses door panels. That is because the store needs a relatively large facade to open the door and do business. Furthermore, the hinge has not been invented yet. The traditional door takes up a lot of space, so it is undoubtedly the most suitable for disassembly and assembly with door panels. .

When the people inside closed the door panels, more than a dozen sergeants came to guard them. When the door panels were closed a little bit, the people inside could be seen. It was a crowded scene.

People who were crowded together, when the door panels were gradually closed, most of them were sweating on their foreheads, and almost everyone looked like they wanted to see Liu Yan but dared not.

"The villain pays homage to the king!"

"The little one kowtows to the king!"

The people left the shop under the urging of the officials, and when they got to the street, they knelt down one by one, and the words they yelled were also uneven.

"The Han family does not kneel down except for sacrifices and criminals." Liu Yan said the truth, and his voice sounded very gentle: "Get up."

Whether it is the early Han Dynasty or the current Han Dynasty, it is not advocating to kneel on the ground. The common people bow to salute when they meet officials, and all officials only need to bow to salute when they meet the king. Kneeling, in addition, the criminal loses the right not to kneel.Therefore, even if the people see the king, they just need to bow and turn around, and don't stare stupidly.

It can’t be said that the reasons for worrying that kneeling will lose one’s spine if it becomes a habit are probably a kind of respect for the people under the rule.

Liu Yan just wanted to see what kind of cloth was sold in this shop selling cloth. First, a sergeant went in to check it carefully, and then went in to see that most of the shelves were silk and Sichuan brocade. On the contrary, there was very little linen, so he called Here comes the store manager.

The shopkeeper was a fat man who looked a little pampered. It could be seen that he was in absolute tension, as if his body would go limp and fall to the ground at any moment.

Liu Yan is the king, whether he likes it or not, he has to make a statement, and Xun Xian will ask some questions instead.

"Most of the silk is from Yangzhou, and the Shu brocade is purchased from the land of Shu by using the Yangtze River." In retail, the samples are placed on the container, and after the customer places the order, the goods are shipped from the warehouse.”

It can be seen that there are many samples in the store, such as silk, Shu brocade, and numbness in various colors.There are also a lot of ready-made clothes, basically embroidered with some gorgeous and complicated patterns or patterns, and even embroidered dragon-shaped patterns can be seen.

Now the dragon does not refer to the emperor, so there is no such thing as taking care of the dragon's body, and the dragon does not only have a certain appearance, the more common one is the dragon that rides the clouds and rides the fog.The style of the Jin and Wei Dynasties, how come there is no spectrum, there are many unconstrained ideas, the dragon only appeared in the Wei and Jin Dynasties with the color of clouds and fog, giving the dragon a design that can fly.The dragons in the pre-Qin period were either simple and cute, or they were like big snakes.The dragons of the pre-Han were fierce and majestic.

By the way, many people may not believe it, but there are really not many dynasties that raised dragons to unique heights, and there are very few dynasties that use dragons as totems. On the contrary, bird totems are more popular.

It was not until the Ming Dynasty that the dragon was officially certified, and it was not until the Manchu Qing Dynasty that the emperor stamped it with an exclusive brand.

I really don't know how the modern saying of the descendants of the dragon came about. Anyway, in the Ming Dynasty or the Manchu Qing Dynasty, if you dare to say that you are the descendants of the dragon, you will definitely be dragged to the vegetable market and wiped off your head.

"The people walking here are all merchants." Cai You must have gone to learn about Xiangxi's situation. As he walked, he said to Liu Yan: "Except for food, drink and accommodation, it's all big business."

Liu Yan has already discovered that although Jingkou is a ferry, the area it occupies is really quite large, even wider than that of some counties, and the land used for building warehouses is very large.

In fact, Jingkou is now the center of trade between the north and the south. Whether it is north or south of the Yangtze River, goods from Bashu and other places are transported here as much as possible, and then purchased by merchants from all over the country for distribution.Such a situation will naturally be due to Han's effective use of inland waterways and sea navigation. Inland waterways and sea transportation are far more convenient than land routes, and can save more costs.

Liu Yan recalled it for a while, and asked: "If my memory serves me correctly, Penglai in Qingzhou and Panyu in Guangzhou are the other two big reminders, right?"

Cai You is in charge of resource allocation, and business and trade are also within the scope of his authority, which affirms Liu Yan's question.

Penglai is located in Dongmou County. It is not far from the Yellow River estuary. It can not only connect with the Liaodong Peninsula, but also quickly enter the Yellow River waterway. It is indeed suitable as a cargo transfer point.

Panyu is actually the modern Kan-1 River. It is actually to connect with the Indian subcontinent on the other side of Jiaozhi. There are not many commodities shipped there, mainly to receive resources from the Indian subcontinent and some offshore islands. Mainly.Centrally captured slaves are also one of its functions.

After patrolling in Jingkou, Liu Yan set off again, and the people who were cleared after they left returned, talking about what happened just now.

The shop that Liu Yan walked in to watch was full of people for a while, basically they were asked about some inexplicable things, some merchants who were not in the cloth business actually bought them, and those cloths that Liu Yan personally touched were even more expensive. There are merchants asking for sky-high prices.

Yangzhou has a large population and a high degree of development, not only in terms of agriculture, but also in terms of infrastructure, with roads extending in all directions.

There is a canal excavated in Jingkou, named Pogangdu, which was used to connect the Qinhuai River and Taihu Lake during the Three Kingdoms period. It can also lead to Jianye, which can be regarded as the main transportation line of Yangzhou.

Thanks to the existence of Pogangdu, there are also two large water ponds, Lianhu Lake and Chishantang, and there is a foundation for the construction of an irrigation system, resulting in the extremely developed agriculture and mulberry industry.

Liu Yan's team walked not far from the south bank of the Yangtze River. They would first go to Gaoli Mountain to climb up and look far away. They went to the top of the mountain and looked south, and they could have a panoramic view of a large area of ​​fertile fields.

"At least two or three million mu of farmland, no wonder Jiankang has such a large population." Tian Shuo, a servant, rarely speaks, but now he is looking at the endless farmland with bright eyes. I don't know if he discovered it later What started to frown: "Why didn't you plant trees? This won't let the wind be stronger and blow down the stalks?"

Planting trees at intervals between farmlands is something that has only been advocated in recent years, especially in the south. It is the experience gained from the frequent occurrence of hurricanes and typhoons in coastal areas.

This is on the edge of the Yangtze River, and the wind is not too weak. It can be imagined that the closer the farmland is to the Yangtze River, the worse the harvest will be. Tian Shuo really doesn't understand that the small imperial court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty is not good at fighting. It is necessary to plant more trees along the banks of the Yangtze River.

The Han Dynasty did not set up a big farmer, and the servants in addition to managing the horse administration also took care of the agriculture and mulberry. Tian Shuo's trip to the south was not just to accompany Liu Yan on inspections. He would spend most of his time looking at the agriculture in various places. Waiting for Liu Yan to enter Jiankang, that is, when he is running around.

By the way, rice is not grown on a large scale in the south now. Apart from wheat, millet is the most planted, followed by broomcorn millet, chestnut, millet, and beetroot. Rice is now the staple food in the Indian subcontinent.

The Han Dynasty regained Jiaozhi. Apart from continuously invading Linyi and Funan to rob, it was just doing the selection of rice seeds. It had already carried out breeding and improvement experiments in Guangzhou, and waited for several generations of rice seeds. Slowly go north to carry out repeated cultivation and improvement, anyway, it is definitely not a direct promotion.

If you want to plant the food on a large scale all over the country immediately after getting the food from where, it is really something that people who don't understand agriculture will do.

For example, if you get good rice seeds from South Asia, you will plant them in the north, because rice seeds are not suitable for the relationship between climate and water and soil. It is by no means uncommon and exaggerated that the grains fail. It really needs a slow process of cultivation and improvement. .

On the contrary, root foods like potatoes and potatoes are not picky about climate and soil quality.

Taking advantage of the fact that the Bering Strait can go directly to North America by land, Liu Yan sent a team to try to go there, taking risks in order to find more species.He also kept asking the South 1 Sea Fleet to search for new continents, and also wanted to get more species, especially potatoes.

(End of this chapter)