Chapter 602 The Flying Rain Across the River in Eastern Zhejiang (Middle

The shallow water of the green pu is clear, and the waves and rain are urgent.

The painting frightened the geese near and far, and the mist wanted to mess up the high and low mountains.

It is better to lose the canopy and semi-leak field, and the number of short cables is broken and turned idle.

Xi Weng rode the vastness on this day, scratching his head and sitting among the smoke and clouds.

"Crossing the Ping Lake in the Rain" Song Dynasty: Shen Kuo

- I'm the dividing line -

The territory of Suzhou, which has been resettled, is surrounded by mountains and rivers near and far, and between lakes and lakes.

Wang Poxian, one of the top businessmen in the Kannai industry, is also inspecting and inspecting the local tea mountains and other characteristic industries, and making corresponding assessments of output, quality, and input cycle.

That's what he's done. His ancestors sold tea and goods all the way along the Western Regions, and gradually made a fortune and had a place in the East Market of Chang'an. Today, however, his achievements are clearly even less so.

And now he is not only one of the founders of the semi-official Tonghai Society under the rule of the Taiping Army, but also has the identity of a special tea commissioner in the Shangzhi Bureau; At the same time, he was also the initiator of one of the merchant associations and mutual aid groups that migrated from the Northland.

Therefore, at this time, he took the initiative to come to the frontier area where some soldiers were still under fire, not only for official tasks, but also for some personal demands and purposes.

This is also a normal and associated mode of existence of many local merchant groups and trading associations associated with the Taiping Army today;

They have been so active in following and active in every place where the Taiping army has fought, and sparing no effort to provide all kinds of help and convenience for the measures and means they have promoted.

Of course, what they can value is not the short-term benefits of hoarding and buying low and selling high, but the market gap and preconceived long-term benefits left behind when the Taiping Army occupies and cleans up the old forces.

At least even after the Taiping Army's local supply and marketing system was established, it could not include and accommodate the types and needs of all fields, which is the meaning of their existence as businessmen who moved with the army.

For Wang Poxian, the merchants in the Guannai behind him or the Beidi Trading Cooperatives Association were undoubtedly the latest to appear and serve under the rule of the Taiping Army.

It is not comparable to the Lingdong merchant group from outside the Lingnan and with Cantonese merchants as the core, or the Annan merchant group, which is mainly engaged in overseas trade; However, the merchant groups with regional characteristics such as Hunan, Jingnan, and Jiangxi, which are relatively unclimated, can still consciously take a long time.

Especially in this new development place known as rich and familiar in Jiangdong, whoever can seize the lead as much as possible means greater space and room for development, as well as the possibility of overpowering the other party in the subsequent internal competition.

Therefore, they not only took the initiative to seek to underwrite various service projects and products with the army, but also invested almost at a loss to the work of rebuilding order and resuming production in the localities.

Therefore, now Wang Po is walking in Suzhou first, although the sores and traces left by the fire are still there, but in the tea mountain orchards, paddy fields and canals, many figures have gradually gathered to be gathered to organize and work

Among them, the green seedlings in the rice fields have begun to be planted, and the new shoots that have grown in the cold and steep weather in the early spring have begun to approach the first crop of the new year that can be picked.

Therefore, according to Wang Poxian's preliminary assessment, although there are problems of war devastation and unattended and abandoned for a period of time, the tea mountains that have been inspected in Suzhou alone can provide at least 300,000 to 400,000 quintals of raw leaves.

If it is used to grind into shelf-stable tea cakes or fried into canned dried leaves, it also produces 70,000 or 80,000 quintals. Whether it is sold to other countries through Guangfu in the south, or loaded on ships in the nearby coastal areas to go north to Silla and Wa Kingdom, it is a considerable amount of profit.

"Labor creates value, labor makes people free, and labor creates a happy life."

At this moment, Wang Po couldn't help but think of these big-character slogans erected in the fields. Suddenly, the road in the distance was speeding again with several couriers.

Soon after, someone pasted a brand-new notice on the woodblock erected at the intersection and read it aloud:

"Good news, good news. The Taiping Division has taken Haiyan County (Suzhou), and the West Road Centaur of Wukang County will be on the shore of Linping Lake (Hangzhou). ”

- I'm the dividing line -

Hangzhou, in the military office in Lin'an City.

"Why, why?"

Dong Chang, the former training envoy of Hangzhou Badu and the assassin of Hangzhou, also sat on the rope bed with a look of anger and roared loudly:

"I still have at least four counties and tens of thousands of soldiers to fight... The Taiping thief is really too deceitful.,Don't you want to give people a way to live?。。 Then just fight a fish and break the net. ”

"And Jiang Huan's bastard who doesn't know the general situation and good intentions, this is a matter of life and death, once the Taiping thief can cross the Linping Waterway, let alone say that it is Yanguan County that bears the brunt; It's his Qiantang and Yuhang's land, can he be protected alone? How dare you"

"Is there any reward for the messengers who went south to contact the other people; Don't be stupid and wait, then send someone to the station, as long as you are willing to send troops to support and work together to repel the foreign peace thieves, local affairs are naturally easy to discuss."

As the eight capitals of Hangzhou in the past, the only remaining capitals are Rao Jing of Tangshan and Wu Wenju of Yuqian, as well as Wen Yu of Fuchun Town, Du Ling of Xindeng Town and other subordinates; It was silent and solemn listening.

It wasn't until after the military discussion was dissipated that they turned around in groups and gathered together in groups and whispered:

"This Taiping thief came too fast, and the five people in Suzhou were wiped out overnight! Three families perished, one surrendered, and one fled to sea. ”

"Now even Xu Ji, who occupies Yanguan Town, has abandoned his foundation and fled to the state capital. Dong Tuanlian is afraid that he also has palpitations. ”

"Chen Sheng from Yuhang County has a letter. He's already led his troops to the state city round. It is said that the territory of Hangzhou has many lakes and fields and few dangers, and only by refusing to defend the city can it continue to negotiate the conditions at the right time. ”

"It seems that whether it is Jiang Huan's place or Dong Tuanlian's side, they are determined to do a good job before they can decide their own futures and encounters."

"Actually, if the Taiping thief is really unstoppable, let us descend; But those Taiping thieves still want to take away the land and property in our name, and dismiss those tenant slaves and maids, which is really too much. ”

"What did we do to raise an uprising? Isn't it to keep this hard-earned family business? Which of these fields, which mountains and forests, are not the hard work of our ancestors for generations. ”

"Why did these grass thieves come and rely on a few words of truth for the poor sticks, so they casually took them with empty mouths and white teeth to invite people to buy people's hearts. Isn't this determined to force all good people to have no way to live? ”

Then they saw a messenger covered in sweat galloping towards them, and fell into the dust, got up again, and rushed into the inner office, shouting the latest news:

"The Taiping thief's boat division raided Baoguan Town south of Linping Lake and burned three water villages in a row; The Qiantang Navy hurriedly went to the rescue, but was intercepted by the thieves who were ambushed on the shore and intercepted the Dongcaotou Waterway with firearms. ”

"More than half of the 100 boats were burned and sunk, and now the Cao River is empty. Jiang Tingshi, the state city, has agreed to all the conditions, and promised Fuyang, Xincheng, and Xiling all over the country, but asked Dong Tuan to train and send troops to help quickly, and the enemy will be under the city. ”

And not long after, in the small courtyard where several merchants in Lin'an City stayed, carrier pigeons also flew away, and brought the news that Dong Chang's troops had begun to send troops to the north.

At the same time, it is the key point where the waterways converge near Qiantang in Hangzhou-Chi'ankou (town); The middle door was also wide open to the table full of fragrant flowers, and the crowd of kneeling to greet them was enshrined on the side of the road.

And among the most well-dressed pedestrians in the front, there was also a slight murmur.

"Why did Aye come out? Since the peace thief, he has taken away all the fields and mountains and forests that we have, and let go of all the slaves and maids, tenants. ”

A young man in a green coat and a scarf was also asking inexplicably

"What can you do if you don't fall. Do you know that you can't stop it, and you have to take the lives of the people? ”

In the middle, as the patriarch and father, but a thin old man with a bundle of thorn firewood on his back, said in a deep voice without raising his head.

"Of course, the Taiping thieves are extremely harsh to the big families and gentry, but is Jiang Huan in the state city better? Just the apportionment and support under the tug-of-war between him and Dong Chang made many more orphans and widows in the clan, and how many people had to suffer from hard labor. ”

"At least according to the news from the north and the sights of the people who have returned, the Taiping thief has his own rules and laws; Maybe after taking away our slaves and maids, there will be no more unprovoked killings and harms, at least people can have a life left. ”

"Even if you and my father and son end up in a different place, everything is still possible. At least the family still has some livelihood from shipping and cargo, so they won't have nothing. It's a big deal that after the clan is dismantled and the family business is divided, at least there are still people who can pass on the heirs of the clan. ”

"But if you continue to fall under the command of Jiang Huan or Dong Chang, and continue to go down to fish and meat, I am afraid that many people will never be able to see the next year. Over time, I'm afraid that you and my father and son will inevitably fill the gap. What is the use of this false name of poetry and book heirlooms! ”

I saw that between their words, the pioneer armor soldier holding the Taiping Green Flag high in the distance had slowly arrived in front of them. However, the old man pushed away the support from the left and right, and got up tremblingly and shouted with all his might:

"Xixiang sinner Cao, greet the master of peace."