Since the Tang Dynasty and the Song Dynasty, Yangzhou has been a very wealthy place. In the Tang Dynasty, there was a saying that "the state capital of the world, Yang Yiyi two", and this dynasty called Yangzhou "Little Bianzhou". Yangzhou is not a single trading city, Huainan two roads are rich in tea, salt, silk, silk, the land is rich, people are good at business, has always been the place where the wealth of the imperial court comes out. Zhao Xingde knew when he was studying in Taixue that the wealth of Henan Road and Jingdong Road could only be self-sufficient. Hedong and Hebei Zhulu, due to the large number of garrisons, not only can not pay taxes, but also need the imperial court to provide food and salary every year. Huainan, Jinghu, and Jiangnan Zhulu are the important places for the imperial court to pay taxes and source materials.

After the Liao soldiers plundered Yangzhou, although the killing was extremely heavy, the ships were loaded with utensils, cloth, and books and transported to the north. But in fact, most of the salt merchants and tycoons living in Huainan fled first when they heard the news, and the losses suffered were limited. Although these people are worried about the impact of the war and will not return to Yangzhou for a while, most of them have sent stewards back and are also concerned about the situation here. Wealthy businessmen who had fled had large sums of gold and silver in their hands, and many were planning to make a comeback, but there was no suitable opportunity.

If the South China Sea stocks are attractive enough, they will not be able to raise funds. However, Zhao Xingde, Zheng Bin and others do not intend to turn stock and securities trading into a big casino for fundraising, but try to ensure equity credit, after all, the more people benefit from this, the greater the credit accumulated by Zhengxintang, and the greater the wealth derived from it.

There is great expectation for trade in the South China Sea. The sea route is blocked, and the Jiangnan workshop is full of all kinds of utensils. However, the Liao Kou and the Great Food Pirates invaded one after another, which made people particularly nostalgic for the peaceful days. However, everyone knows that maritime trade is extremely profitable. In addition to the three bulk commodities of silk, porcelain, and tea, such as paper, lacquerware, mercury, medicinal herbs, hoes, iron pots, calligraphy and paintings, fat powder, needlework, etc., are all loved by overseas people. Every time a sea ship arrived at a port, the locals would try their best to come up with the goods to exchange with the Song merchants.

In addition to barter, merchant ships also drew graphics and directly hired people to dig medicinal herbs. He even personally sent sailors to go deep into the mountains and mountains to search for treasures, some precious medicinal materials, spices and other things, the people did not know at all, they grew very well in the deep mountains overseas, and they were not much older than what the Song Kingdom could collect, and the deep mountains grew extremely huge, and the people of the Central Plains had never seen it before. For a small fee, the caravan can be led by a guide. Trade in exchange for gold, silver, gemstones, ivory, rhino horn, spices and medicinal materials, etc., Fanbang and the Great Song Dynasty have tenfold, dozens of times, or even a hundred times the price difference.

For the people of the Song Dynasty, things like gold and silver, pepper, peony, cloves, beans, agarwood, and wood incense will be bought at home as long as they can buy them. The suma wood used for dyeing and the bird feathers added to the weaving are all raw materials that are urgently needed for weaving and spinning. Ambergris and other exotic treasures are even more priceless, in the second year of Xuanhe, Guangzhou City's Bosi tribute is only one catty and two taels, it is rare to see on the market, and it will be sold at a sky-high price every time. Legends of getting rich at sea spurred greedy desires, and those who disappeared into shipwrecks are rarely mentioned.

On the other hand, the war made people pay more attention to the fineness of gold and silver that they carried, and they could not wait to sell the goods such as cloth, porcelain, and tea that they had hoarded in their warehouses for light goods such as gold, silver, precious stones, ivory, rhino horn, and strange fragrances. Gold and silver were worth a lot more than before, and copper coins themselves were scarce, and some people even exchanged stored grain for pepper, because pepper was much more valuable than grain for the same weight. As a result, the more frightening the war, the greater the demand for gold, silver, and treasure. The prices of land and houses continue to fall, and in places like Yangzhou, the prices of fields and houses have plummeted.

The Yangzhou government and the chamber of commerce bought the mansion that the owner did not intend to rebuild, although it was a ruin, but only one-tenth of the previous price, the chamber of commerce took out the land according to the division of the neighborhood and bid for it, and the income exceeded the cost of acquiring the mansion, and the money earned was enough to build the central fortification. After the government began to build on a large scale, the wealthy merchants and magnates also began to rebuild the mansions destroyed by the war. In addition, some people are buying land near the city on a large scale, following the path of the Mulberry Garden and Weaving Workshop on Jiangnan Road. business. All of this has to hire a large number of people, and the crowd waiting for soup kitchens on the dock is gradually thinning, and the entire Yangzhou market is showing a certain vigorous momentum, and Zhizhou Tan Zizi and others are so happy that they can't keep their mouths together.

Yangzhou was originally a place full of businessmen, and since this time, everyone is talking about this change, although there are still many people who are waiting and watching, but a few bold people have made their bets. At the head of the crane tower, a guest was drinking wine, and one of them asked with a smile: "Lao Du, are you really sure?" Although you can make a lot of money by planting mulberry trees and opening a weaving workshop, the grange near the city is also much more expensive than in other places. Several other officers also looked at this person suspiciously, it was Du Fujiao.

"Be quiet," Du Blowhorn felt contempt, leaned over, and lowered his voice: "I'm afraid that no one will raise the price with you?" ”

He was so careless, Meng Ying couldn't help but look out twice, there was no one else, so he was relieved. These days, with the acquiescence of Zhao Xingde, Du Chuijiao spent a lot of money to buy land outside Yangzhou City, Meng Ying, Ding Ban and others also knew that Du Chuijiao's eunuch bag was very rich. Everyone doesn't care that Du Chuijiao is the general of the Xia Kingdom, and the two countries of Song and Xia are still in an alliance, and gold, silver and copper coins are common in the world.

"You're so rare and weird." Du Fujiao lowered his voice, but he couldn't hide the smugness on his face, "Yangzhou City is only repairing artillery forts now, not city walls, which is clearly modeled after Chang'an City." This is a place of importance, and the general does not allow tall buildings to be erected inside the city to block the artillery firing boundary, so that without the constraints of the city wall, the neighborhoods and shops in the city will sooner or later expand outside the city. According to the decades of experience in Chang'an City, in as little as two or three years, as fast as five or six years, the price of land outside the city will skyrocket. ”

"Really?" Although everyone was skeptical, they had to believe Du Blowhorn's statement.

"I really can't see it," Ding Ban patted Du Fujiao's shoulder, "Lao Du, you have this ability, why are you still a soldier and eat food?" All the officers laughed together, and after the release of military power with a glass of wine, Cao Bin, a famous minister of the two dynasties of Taizu and Taizong, once said, "A good official is not too much money", and he was regarded as Guigao by the generals, and the court could also encourage it. There are very few honest and self-respecting generals like Di Qing and Yue Fei. Therefore, it is a habit for everyone to say that they will return to their hometowns when they have money.

"What's this little fuss?" Du Fujiao shook his head and said with a sneer, "I think at the beginning, I planned to earn a knighthood and return to my hometown when I earned enough money, but if I followed the general to do such a big thing, if I was disarmed and returned to the field, I would definitely get sick." He patted his chest with a "thump", shook his head, and said, "Work hard, this bone is going to run around." When he said this, everyone burst out laughing. Meng Ying said with a smile: "Lao Du, we have warm mountains and soft water here, I think you don't want to go back, you bought so many fields, why don't you stay here with General Zhao and be a rich man?" ”

"Hey," Du Fujiao shook his head and said with a smile, "It's too far away from Chang'an, hehe......"

He spoke so frankly, causing all the Song officers to laugh and scold together, and everyone listed the places in the southeast that are better than Guanzhong, the southeast is rich in products, and the utensils are exquisitely made, if the waist is full of money, life in the southeast is much more comfortable than in Guanzhong, but Du Blowhorn just smiled and prevaricated, making people feel that he is a rich man who wants to return to his hometown to show off.

"It's hard to come out once, and everyone won't get drunk and go home." Someone shouted.

The officers agreed loudly, and their voices were eye-catching. In the future South China Sea Naval Division, sailors, gunners, and musketeers will each account for about one-third. When the warship was not built for the time being, Zhao Xingde practiced the artillery team and gunners on the shore. In addition to requiring them to master all the tactics of the land artillery battalion and the fire battalion, Zhao Xingde added special subjects such as maneuvering sailboats, rowing sampans, and practicing gun aiming on swinging wooden boards. The training was so rigorous and tiring that even the officers were a little overwhelmed.

Each battalion has a holiday every 10 days, and most of the officers and soldiers do not sleep in the battalion, and often go to Yangzhou City in groups to get drunk and rest to relieve the fatigue and pressure they bear during training. Zhao Xingde also understands very well that if there are no distinguished guests visiting today, he will also relax with these subordinates.

Zhu Sen and He Fang went to Yangzhou together, Zhao Xingde was very happy, and the three of them made an appointment to go to the county garden to enjoy the flowers.

Yangzhou County Garden is very famous among the scholars of the Great Song Dynasty, and it also originates from an elegant incident when Han Qi knew Yangzhou during the Qingli period. The literati and artists gather in Yangzhou, and they must go to the county garden to enjoy the flowers. In the nursery of that year, there is a peony flower that blooms beautifully, this flower is divided into four branches, each branch bears a large flower, the flower is pure vermilion, and the only circle is surrounded by gold wire, which is called "gold around the waist". Han Qi specially invited Wang Qi, Wang Anshi, and Chen Shengzhi, who worked in Dali Temple at that time, to enjoy the flowers together. Who knew that in the next 30 years, these four people successively became the prime ministers of the Great Song Dynasty, which is the story of the "four-phase hairpin" that the Great Song scholars have always talked about.

Zhao Xingde held a banquet in the four halls of the county garden to entertain the two friends. This hall is built by Han Qi to commemorate the grand event of the year, "four and" take the meaning of "good day, beautiful scenery, appreciation, pleasure" of the four together, the year was built magnificently, although it has been slightly old at this time, but just in season, the surrounding group of flowers compete for beauty, everywhere is purple and red, the hall is placed in the wine high meeting, quite refreshing.

"Rebuild Donglin?" Zhao Xingde looked at the two old friends and said in surprise, "You want to rebuild Donglin Academy?" ”