A river flotilla composed of more than a dozen large official ships sailed south in the Jiangnan Canal, and 2,000 cavalry escorted on both sides of the canal, and the boat ride in the canal was much more interesting than in the Yangtze River, the scenery on both sides of the river was constantly changing, many women were washing clothes by the river, and the houses on the shore were curling with smoke, and one village after another.

The ships were all passenger ships of about 1,000 stones, but the main ship was a giant ship of 5,000 stones, which was the one they were on the Yangtze River.

This time, Guo Song came to Jiangnan to inspect without notifying the state officials in advance, he brought his family, so he didn't want to trouble the government to prepare a special residence, he and his family basically lived on the main ship, and the various conditions on the ship were very good, and they were relatively low-key, and they were not noticed.

During the day, Guo Song's family would gather together, and at night, they would go back to their cabins to rest.

On this morning, the fleet entered the territory of Suzhou, and the houses on the shore became more dense, and villages and towns continued to appear, and there was almost no barren land.

Xue Tao sat in front of the window and asked her husband a little puzzled: "Husband, I found that from Runzhou, there are all villages and towns on both sides of the river, and I didn't see farmland, is the population in the south of the Yangtze River so dense?" ”

Guo Song smiled slightly: "Of course there is farmland, but it is not by the canal, most of the traffic of the people in Jiangnan is by waterway, the canal is the most important river, it is normal for people on both sides to be people, not only the transportation is convenient, but you can also rely on the river to eat, but then again, the Jiangnan area is indeed the most densely populated place in the Tang Dynasty, and now at least about thirty percent of the people live in the Jiangnan area." ”

"Shouldn't it be Guanzhong and Central Plains?" Xue Tao was still puzzled.

Guo Song shook his head, "The prosperity of Chang'an does not mean the prosperity of Guanzhong, before the Jingyuan Mutiny, the land of Guanzhong was full of large and small powerful estates, and ordinary homesteaders had no place to stand at all, and basically ran to Chang'an to make a living, including the counties around Chang'an, there are actually not many people in the countryside of Guanzhong, as for the Central Plains, the war has been fought for decades, how many people do you think there is left." ”

Liu Caichun next to him said with a smile: "Eldest sister, it is indeed like this, probably from the beginning of the Anshi Rebellion in the north, a large number of farmers have fled to the south of the Yangtze River, and they have not stopped for so many years, in fact, including our family, my great-grandfather is Tianbao fled from Luoyang to Huaiyin with a large family in the fifteenth year, lived in Huaiyin for a few years, and moved from Huaiyin to Changzhou County, Suzhou. ”

Guo Weiwei said with a sympathetic face: "Little lady, you are so pitiful, you are so young and wandering around!" ”

Liu Caichun gently pinched Guo Weiwei's pretty face, "Is it good that you are smarter with this little head, that was more than forty years ago, do you think I am that old?" ”

There was a burst of laughter, and the flotilla sailed under a small bridge, on which a group of children jumped and jumped, and then ran away, leaving behind a trail of laughter........

Guo Song looked at a group of children and couldn't help but sigh softly, "It's a pity that Han Rong is old!" ”

"What does the husband feel again?" Xue Tao pursed his lips and smiled.

"I'm not emotional, but grateful, grateful to Han Yun for handing over Jiangnan to the imperial court in the most peaceful way, saving it from the ravages of war, leaving the richest piece of treasure land to the imperial court, and making immortal contributions to the imperial court, if he can be five years younger, I will definitely use him as the prime minister!"

"Didn't the husband say that his son is also a talent?"

Guo Song nodded, "Han Tingshi is really good, like his father, he knows the overall situation, I will consider reusing him!" ”

"Daddy, look, that's Tiger Hill!" Guo Weiwei pointed to a hill road in the distance.

"Yes, it should be Tiger Hill, then Hanshan Temple should be nearby."

As soon as Guo Song's words fell, a melodious bell sounded from Hanshan Temple in the distance.

"Boom-"

The fleet picked up speed and headed for the county seat of Wuxian.......

Suzhou is the focus of the southern tour of the Guo Song Dynasty, it has the highest tax in the south of the Yangtze River, the largest population, the largest area, Suzhou in the Tang Dynasty includes today's Suzhou, Shanghai, Jiaxing and other places, north to the Yangtze River, south to Hangzhou Bay, west to Taihu Lake, the terrain is flat, the river is vertical and horizontal, the land is fertile, it is one of the most important rice producing areas in the whole Tang Dynasty.

In addition, Liu Caichun's maiden family is also in Suzhou, his father, uncle, aunt and dozens of other people, but Guo Song did not have time to accompany Liu Caichun back to his parents' home, so he asked his wife Xue Tao to visit Liu Caichun's home on his behalf.

But even if Xue Tao goes is a big deal, Xue Tao is the concubine of the King of Jin, to a large extent, she has been regarded as the queen by the world, her movement to travel alone is not smaller than that of Guo Song's travel, the magistrate has to arrange it in advance, and the Liu family has to prepare, although it is not extravagant, but at least it is necessary to ensure safety and have the minimum reception conditions.

However, Liu Jialing's class achieved great success in Chang'an, making Liu Caichun's father earn a lot of money, and Guo Song married Liu Caichun as a concubine, and gave the Liu family five shops on Xi'an Gate Outer Street as a dowry, so that the Liu family can get rich income every year, and the current Liu family is also famous in the surrounding ten miles and eight townships.

After Xue Tao and his sisters stayed in Suzhou for a day, they were escorted by hundreds of cavalry and sailed to Songling Town, south of Wu County, where Liu Caichun's maiden home was located.

Guo Song inspected the markets and villages accompanied by Xiao Jian, the assassin of Suzhou, Guo Song did not have a clear purpose to inspect various places, and his inspection itself showed an attitude, which was not only to appease all parts of Jiangnan, but also to swear power to Jiangnan, which was the most powerful means to promote all parts of Jiangnan to return to the imperial court.

Guo Song came to the canal wharf in the south of the city, which is the most concentrated and prosperous place of commerce in Wu County, surrounded by thousands of shops, from small needles and threads to large grain, oil and cloth, everything is here.

Guo Song saw a word for salt written on the sign of a shop, and Xiao Jian hurriedly explained: "This is a government-run salt shop, and there are forty-seven government-run salt shops in Suzhou, distributed in various counties and towns. ”

Guo Song smiled, and when he came to the salt shop, there were more than 20 people queuing up to buy salt, and he asked an old man: "May I ask my husband, how is the salt here sold?" ”

"There are two kinds of salt, one hundred and forty-four wen a bucket of fine salt, and sixty wen a bucket of coarse salt, and there is one price everywhere."

"And before?" Guo Song asked again.

"In the past, the fine salt was 350 wen a bucket, and the coarse salt was not sold, but now the coarse salt is sold, and it is cheap, which is a kind of care for the poor!"

Guo Song immediately left the salt shop, Xiao Xiaojian hurriedly followed, he explained: "In the past, the price of salt was a little higher, mainly to raise the local army, but also to build warships, other taxes in the south of the Yangtze River are very low, the commercial tax is only five percent, and the imperial court, the field tax is five rice per mu, the household tax is only the same money at most, and the various expenses of the army and the government also mainly rely on the salt tax. ”

Guo Song is very aware of the huge profits in the salt tax, three hundred and fifty wen a bucket, at least seventy percent of the profits here are salt merchants, but Guo Song did not say anything, he didn't want to pursue the past.

"Chang'an has official direct supply stores for coarse grain, coarse cloth, and coarse salt, why are there only official salt stores here?"

Xiao Jian hurriedly explained: "Your Highness doesn't know, Suzhou's grain output is stable, the price is low, the highest bucket of rice is only 30 yuan, brown rice is only 10 yuan per bucket, as for coarse cloth, every household spins and weaves their own cloth, and there is never a shortage of cloth, so although the imperial court requires the establishment of three coarse direct supply stores, but considering the actual situation in Suzhou, coarse grain and coarse cloth do not need to be managed by the government for the time being." ”

Guo Song said lightly: "Although you are the main producer of grain and cloth, there are some things that do not need to be consistent with the imperial court, but I think it is necessary to write a report to the imperial court and let the imperial court approve it, instead of deciding whether to open a store yourself, what does Xiao Yuanjun think?" ”

Xiao Jian wiped the sweat from his forehead, and hurriedly said: "The humble post is not well considered, and when the humble post goes back, I will write a paper to the imperial court to apply." ”

...........

Xue Tao and his entourage returned to the main ship at dusk, and of course she had to report to her husband on today's visit.

"I thought that Caichun's family was thin, but today I learned that their family is a big family, with sixty or seventy people, and Caichun's grandmother is actually alive."

Guo Song was stunned, "Didn't her grandfather and grandmother all pass away?" ”

"Her grandparents and grandmothers have indeed passed away, today this grandmother is her grandfather's concubine, almost seventy years old, a large family treats her as a treasure, a very kind old lady, she likes Xiaowei very much, and she has to bring a gold bracelet to Xiaowei."

"Does she know who you are?"

Xue Tao shook his head, "I can see that she doesn't know anything, and no one in her family told her." ”

Xue Tao said a little sadly: "I said I came from Chang'an, she actually cried, she said that she is also from Chang'an, she learned pipa when she was young, and came to Suzhou with Caichun's grandfather in her twenties, and never went back, she didn't know where her parents were buried, Caichun wanted to bring the old man back to Chang'an, but the family did not agree." ”

"Mean, it's a bit of a bad day?" Guo Song asked with a smile.

"It's a bit of this feeling, it's okay, but Caichun insists on bringing Grandma Shu back to Chang'an, and the atmosphere is a little different, polite or very polite, but it's obviously a bit fake."

"Cai Chun just wants to take her grandmother away?"

Xue Tao nodded, "When I came back, Caichun told me that it was very difficult for her father to be a ling, and he failed several times, and the relatives in the family avoided their father and daughter, treating them as plague gods, and no one was willing to help them at all, only Grandmother Shu secretly stuffed more than a dozen pieces of gold jewelry to her and helped them survive the most difficult time, so she came back this time to visit Grandmother Shu." ”

Xue Tao asked her husband again, "I also sympathize with the old lady very much, does my husband think it is possible to bring her back this time?" ”

Guo Song thought about it, and then smiled faintly: "It's not convenient for me to meddle in this kind of family internal affairs, but I think if Caichun's father wants to take her to Chang'an, then it should be possible." ”

Xue Tao nodded thoughtfully.