Along the ancient river in the south of the Yangtze River, the light boat travels dozens of miles a day, and soon passes Jiaxing, and then goes further to enter the Changhe waterway, Ding Ji asked Xu You for instructions, and decided to rush overnight, and strive to arrive in Qiantang the next day.

Night sailing has always been a technical work that tests experience and luck, but the water conditions of this waterway from Suzhou to Qiantang are relatively peaceful, there are no dangerous shoals and rapid waves, and the commercial transportation is developed, all kinds of ships are busy, and the high-hanging air dead wind lanterns reflect each other, and the night will shine as if it were day. Over time, night flights have become the norm in this area, and there are generally no dangerous situations.

Not long after Xu You fell asleep, he was startled by the noise outside, got up and went to the board of the boat to take a look, and it turned out to be a Jinkou. Since the Wei Dynasty, in order to collect tariffs, that is, the tax of Guanjin, eleven Jinkou were built on the golden waterway connecting the Sanwu region to the imperial capital Jinling, the first seven Jins were west of Danyang County, and the last four Jins were between Wu County and Huiji County. "This kind of commercial tax has always been the bulk of the government's tax revenue, and the low annual income is one million, and the high one can reach as much as four million.

There were more than 100 boats of all kinds parked in front and behind the mouth of Jinkou, and many people were standing on each boat, either whispering or watching from the sidelines, or asking each other for news across the river. What's more, seeing that it was impossible to clear the customs in a short period of time, he actually spread out a high-quality pu mat tens of meters long on the second floor of the building and boat he was taking, covered it with luxurious silk and satin, set up a table and incense, lit a candle the thickness of a child's arm, and from time to time a beautifully dressed maid served a stack of food and pastries with incense floating for ten miles. A middle-aged man with a big belly sat on a brocade futon, leaning on not a three-legged table behind his back, but the soft and fragrant arms of two beautiful maids, wearing a Jinxian crown and a wide robe, but untied the belt, revealing the silk crotch inside, with an aristocratic demeanor.

"Who is this, such a big show?"

"You don't know Qiantang Guoda?"

"Guo Da? Qiantang big Jia Guo Mian? ”

"Except for his golden boat, who has such a grand style to make sails out of twenty catties of gold?"

"Golden Sails? If the wind doesn't blow, what is the use of it except to show wealth? ”

"It's useless, but Qiantang and even Wu County, do you know how many people want to board this ship, taste the rumored slush wine that is only available in winter, and listen to the most famous concubine Sun Shenfei in Qiantang?"

"Huh? It turns out that he is the Guo dog slave known as 'Slush Shock'? I thought ......"

"Why do you think so? Is it still a delicate and shy little lady in the drunken moon building? Ha! ”

"Be careful, be careful! Guo Da is most annoyed by others mentioning this, it is really heard, beware of your life! ”

As soon as these words came out, everyone was silenced, which made Xu You's ears a lot clearer. He followed the focus of everyone's gaze, and saw that on the ship, which was three or four times larger than all the ships around, there was a golden three-foot sail erected on the bow, and a Guo character was engraved on the sail, and hundreds of lights reflected the bright moonlight, shining the Guo character like a thousand feet of golden light.

Twenty catties of gold may not be considered rich in later generations, but in this era, gold, as a top currency, is more of a collection value, a full twenty catties, and it is definitely a big businessman on the rich side!

Zuo Yan was also watching the excitement at the bow of the boat, and when he turned around, he saw Xu You hurriedly coming over, and said, "Lang Jun, why did you come out too?" Is it noisy and disturbing the dream? ”

Xu You looked at Jin Jingchuan and said, "Who is this?" ”

"It should be Qiantang Guo Mian, in the entire Wu County, there is only one ship with golden sails."

Anyone who has heard the story of Shi Chong and Wang Kai in the Western Jin Dynasty fighting for the rich understands that no matter when, the face-to-face competition between the rich and the rich has never stopped. Since Guo Mian's golden sail is so popular, many wealthy people who are also rich will follow suit. But since Zuo Yan said that there is only this one, it only shows one problem, this Guo Mian Guo Dalang's background is not simple, at least he is not a pure businessman, so others don't even dare to imitate it!

Xu You had previously read Mr. Tang Changru's book "The Continuation of the Historical Treatise on the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties", which said that in order to obtain asylum, merchants often turned to nobles and officials, and even royal merchants appeared around the emperor. They used each other's power to earn huge amounts of wealth that ordinary people could not have accumulated for several lifetimes, and then used this wealth to influence each other, and even used it to enter the political arena and bring the living habits of the lower classes into the upper class.

When it came to the Northern Qi Dynasty, it finally counterattacked and formed a pattern of merchant politics!

From the lowliest businessmen and the like, after a hundred years of hard work, they began to control the most fundamental power hub of the empire, in the final analysis, it is not people and human wisdom that determine the final victory, but the magic that belongs to money for the rest of their lives!

Guo Mian...... Small print called dog slave? ”

"Yes, I heard that he hates to hear others shout this little word the most, and he will kill someone when he hears it."

Xu You said with a smile: "The parents of the body are naturally no exception, this person has such a violent temperament, and it is not unusual for him to be able to develop to such an extent." ”

Zuo Yan lowered his voice and said, "I heard that Guo Mian has a relationship with the King of Jiangxia......

Tang Changru divided the merchants into three levels, the first class was the central entitlement, the second class was the engrace of the local princes and generals, and the third class was the small merchants and hawkers, wandering and eating scoundrels.

Guo Mian obviously belongs to the second class!

In another place, a merchant in a small county, how could He De have a relationship with the nobles of Tianhuang? But Qiantang is different, it belongs to the most economically developed land of Chu State, the land of Sanwu, the river is fertile and there is the rao of the sea and land; Rare and strange gathered, so the merchants and merchants together. The history is known as "tribute and business travel, all out of their place." "With such confidence, he naturally has the capital and access to climb the king of Jiangxia, Xu You has a hunch that when he arrives in Qiantang, there will not be too few opportunities to deal with this Guo Mian Guo dog slave!

Xu You nodded and said, "What happened ahead?" ”

"Ding Ji went to inquire, and he is probably coming back soon......"

Before the words fell, Ding Ji jumped back like an ape from the wooden plank that was placed on the stern of the front boat, and Ding Ku'er quickly pulled back the plank with his hands and feet, and handed over a bowl of ginger soup to him to ward off the cold. Ding Ji took a sip and drank it, looked up and saw Xu You, hurriedly came over, and said with a smile: "Lang Jun is awake?" ”

"Not long after I woke up, Uncle Ding, is the river silting up again?"

"No, no, the river is open. It seems that the lord of Tianjin received an urgent order from the Taishou Mansion, requiring the customs to be closed and strictly inspected by ships, especially the large ships that have cleared customs, and every place must be carefully searched, and everyone must check the place to compare and screen the body shape, appearance, accent and other matters. ”

The so-called pass is equivalent to the water and land passes of ordinary people, proving that this thing is necessary if you want to clear customs. It contains all kinds of detailed information about the holder, who is the name, where he is from, where he is going, how tall he is, whether he has a beard, facial features, etc., etc., which is already a very operational proof document in the era when there is no photographic technology. In the Tang Dynasty, the system of passing through the place was stricter, and because of this, the monk Xuanzang, who learned scriptures from the West, actually smuggled out of the country, and this section was hidden in "Journey to the West".

Zuo Qiqi said: "This is like searching for criminals......

"What Zuo Langjun said is that I am familiar with the thief Cao of Changhejin, and I asked in private, as if I was searching for a thief at sea......"

A thief is also a pirate, what kind of pirate can make the government want to block the most important waterway connecting the counties in the south of the Yangtze River, but also block him in the hundreds of boats that pass by?

(Happy New Year)