Yangzhou, formed by the alluvium of the Yangtze River, is a floodplain, with an average altitude of only five meters, so there are many rivers here since ancient times. In addition to the adjacent Yangtze River and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, there are Guhangou, Caohe and Huaisi River in the north, and Yangzijin and the ancient canal in the south.

Among them, the ancient canal has the most humanistic atmosphere and is closely connected with Yangzhou. This ancient canal can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period, Wu State dug a ditch in Yangzhou for the Qi State, which became the beginning of the Grand Canal, to the Sui Yang Emperor period, greatly expanded this canal, connecting the north and south regions.

Bai Juyi vividly illustrated this point, and wrote in "Sauvignon Blanc": Bianshui and Surabaya flow flow to Guazhou Gudutou.

The "Surabaya" in the poem originates from Qufu, Shandong, passes through Xuzhou, joins with Bianshui, runs through the ancient city of Yangzhou, and finally joins the ancient canal, and then goes all the way south to the ancient ferry head of Guazhou.

It can be seen that Yangzhou's waterway network is extremely developed, closely connected with the capital and the Jiangnan region, and is also a natural and important window for foreign trade.

Of course, the prosperity of the region is inseparable from the support of pillar industries, and Yangzhou has been an important salt producing area since ancient times, and the two Huai transshipment make the Si Yamen located here.

Salt tax is the second largest tax in the Ming Dynasty after the grain tax, and Huai salt is responsible for the supply and marketing to most of the Ming people, and the sales area is mostly prosperous, and the sales volume alone can easily reach millions or even tens of millions of taels of silver.

Due to the low price of salt in the Ming Dynasty and the natural monopoly of salt, the salt industry is undoubtedly a profiteering industry, and its profits have reached an astonishing level.

It is Huaiyan's potential wealth-making ability that has led to many big salt merchants and nobles with amazing net worth. And these huge riches gathered in Yangzhou City, which directly created the prosperity of Yangzhou's entertainment industry, and even gave birth to "Yangzhou Thin Horse" to cater to the perverted psychological needs of salt merchants.

The boats of Yangzhou wharf are constantly coming and going, there are fisherwomen singing across the bank, there are Huanxi women holding wooden mallets and busy washing clothes, the river surface is flat and wide, the blue waves are rippling, and the willows on the riverside are still around, showing a beautiful picture of the water town in the south of the Yangtze River.

Yangzhou City can be said to be a place where every inch of land is valuable, so there are also many houses scattered around Yangzhou City, and many people choose to live here to make a living. Although they could not be sheltered by the city, they were very close to Yangzhou City.

Lin Haoran was wearing a square scarf, wearing a blue straight embellished, stepping on square-toed shoes, red lips and white teeth, and bright eyes.

With the construction of Yangzhou New City, the Grand Canal of Beijing is from the east of Yangzhou City to the south gate, like a palm to hold Yangzhou City in the palm of the hand, but it makes Lin Haoran look at the river and sigh.

Lin Haoran took a carriage to the corner of the canal, followed the "banknote gate" of Yangzhou City across the river, and saw several officials of the Nanjing household department collecting ship taxes on the ships coming and going.

There are 13 before and after the establishment of the banknote customs in the Ming Dynasty, namely: Chongwenmen, Hexiwu, Beixin, Zhengyang, Linqing, Jining, Xuzhou, Huai'an, Yangzhou, Shangxinhe, Hushu, Jiujiang, Jinshazhou, and Miao County.

In the fourth year of Xuande, because the merchants refused to use the depreciating Daming treasure banknotes, the government allowed merchants to use the Daming treasure banknotes to pay the commercial tax at the commercial transportation center to dredge the Daming treasure banknotes and take the opportunity to increase taxes.

It's just that the Ming treasure banknote is very indisputable, to the first year of Chenghua changed to copper money, and during the Hongzhi period, the banknote tariff was converted into cashier, but the name of the banknote customs has not changed.

According to rough statistics, about 230,000 taels are recorded in the banknotes of this dynasty every year, which can be said to be an important income item of this dynasty. Yangzhou is located at the throat of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and its importance is self-evident.

Lin Haoran looked across the river at the towering Yangzhou City and the bustling banknote gate, but he did not choose to cross the river into the city, but walked directly to a tea stall.

"Guest, please be seated!"

This is a husband and wife tea stall, where the old woman is in charge of boiling water to make tea, and the little old man is greeting guests, and he seems to greet Lin Haoran and his party warmly.

In mid-April, it is already early summer in Yangzhou, and the sun overhead is like a furnace, making customers sweat like rain, and it is also the peak season for tea stall business.

Lin Haoran nodded noncommittally, and chose the most shady position, which was to sit down, while looking at the men and women who came and went for business trips and outings.

Yangzhou is located north of the Yangtze River, but it is a serious city in the south of the Yangtze River. Jiangnan is not divided by the Yangtze River, but is actually a relatively vague concept.

Although Yangzhou is located on the north side of the Yangtze River, it is not only an important economic town, but also the humanities, language, customs and architecture are all in the style of the Jiangnan area, so it has been regarded as "Jiangnan" by the world from ancient times to the present.

"Guest, your tea!"

The little old man is an honest and responsible person, and he seems to bring the tea to the table neatly.

"Did you hear that?"

"What's going on in Yangzhou City?"

"This is a terrible thing! …… Lin Qingtian arrived in Yangzhou, and now he lives in the post station in the south of the city! ”

"Lin Qingtian has really arrived? I'm afraid Yangzhou City is going to be lively, I heard that someone has already found someone to write a petition and prepare to file a lawsuit!"

……

There were a few guests at the adjacent table, one of whom had just crossed the river, but he saw that in the curious eyes of his companion, he threw out a big news that he had just gotten, which made his companion look expectant.

Hey?

Meng Zhao heard the conversation of these tea customers, but he didn't care to drink the tea brought to his mouth, so he secretly glanced at Lin Haoran, the teacher sitting opposite, suspiciously.

Throughout the Ming Dynasty, the official who can afford the three words "Lin Qingtian" is none other than his teacher, but his teacher obviously sat here, never exposed his whereabouts at all, and never stayed at the post station in the north of the city.

The corners of Lin Haoran's mouth were pursed with a faint smile, and he picked up a bowl of coarse tea and tasted it. Although the tea here seems bitter, he never dislikes it, which reminds him of the hard days in Changlin Village in the past.

Meng Zhao's mouth moved, but in the end he didn't say anything. He is not the same as Li Tingchen, his temperament is more stable, he has always paid attention to respecting the teacher, and he does not dare to throw out the doubts in his heart and disturb the teacher.

"Stop!"

But I saw a fat boy coming from the east, looking sweaty. I don't know if I couldn't find a sedan chair to accommodate his figure, or if I was sitting on a sliding pole to show off his gorgeous outfit.

The four thin sedan chair men were also sweating, and when they heard him shout to stop, they were greatly relieved, and they seemed to cooperate with the tacit understanding to slowly put the fat boy down.

"I'm dying of thirst, hurry up and bring the tea!"

The little eyes of the fat boy in the fancy clothes looked at this side, walked straight into the tea stall, and gave direct orders to the little old man who greeted him, but he glanced at the shady table occupied by Lin Haoran, and said arrogantly: "You let me go!" ”

Lin Fu immediately looked at each other angrily, Tie Zhu was holding the hilt of the knife and ready to strike at any time, and Meng Zhao was accusatory: "This is what we occupy first, how can we give it to you?" ”

"You are so bold, do you know who my son-in-law is?" The two family members immediately stepped forward and asked fearlessly.

This......

The tea stall couple saw that these two parties were about to have a conflict, and knew that neither side was a role to be messed with, but they cast a sympathetic look at Lin Haoran's side, obviously not optimistic about Lin Haoran's side.