Chapter 225: The Development of Cangzhou

Although with Xu Qing's explanation, the people at the banquet were still quite panicked, called the imperial doctor, checked them one by one, and removed the swelling of Cheng Yanjin, and more than an hour passed. Seeing Cheng Biting Jin, except for his big mouth, everything else was still the same, so he was relieved.

After the feast, the ministers returned to the front. In the afternoon, it was another discussion, and Xu Qing was awarded "Huang Yue".

Xu Qing was the marquis, and the matter in the inspection of the customs had also spread to the outside of the Taiji Palace at this time. But this rumor is like a gust of rain, and the criticism and legend before Xu Qing have come to a settle. It's like watching TV and seeing the finale, and finally looking forward to seeing the protagonist pay homage to the prime minister, and automatically make up for the end of the whole play. A group of students took Xu Qing as an example and studied every day, no matter how jealous and red-eyed they were, they had to suppress it in their hearts and dare not bark in front of the public.

However, the deep-seated reason is that Xu Qing occupies a small island in that undercurrent that no one can rush down for the time being. In that struggle that no one saw clearly, Xu Qing quietly became the winner, and the former giant crocodile couldn't win against Xu Qing. Those little fish behind the giant crocodile, who would dare to pounce?

And those people in the court who thought they were from Xu Qing's faction were also relieved, and they didn't have to worry that if Xu Qing fell, they would be excluded. Last time, Xu Qing was the chief examiner, and now many people have become the chief officials of the county order. They are on the political side, and they have also been influenced by Xu Qing's politics in Cangzhou, seeking truth from facts and being flexible, and they have quietly become sparks in various places in Datang. Some people thought that Xu Qing had spent a lot of effort to build the holy land in Cangzhou, and secretly worked hard to move to Cangzhou. You can't go to Cangzhou, even if you go to Hebei, it's good. Therefore, the strength of the Xu clan is now the strongest in Hebei, Chang'an, and Luonan.

Xu Qing traveled, this time with 500 soldiers and 100 cavalry, to inspect the seven counties where the locust plague was infested. In order to prevent the common people or the local gentry from making things difficult, Xu Qing must have a force that can counter violence with violence.

Arriving at the first county seat, Xu Qing immediately summoned all the lizheng and arranged for a new temporary county order. Let the lieutenant organize all the villagers to catch locusts, but those who violate this order will be dealt with as a crime against the holy decree. On the other side, Xu Qing sent cavalry out to inform the rest of the counties that they would immediately start catching locusts without waiting for Xu Qing to arrive. It is stipulated that every county, no matter what method you use, must hand over 10,000 catties of locusts to me every day, and if you do not pay it on time, you will be investigated and dealt with on the spot.

The pressure of catching locusts was transmitted from top to bottom, and the seven counties in Guanzhong began to call on the whole people to catch insects. During this period, there were gossips to confuse the public and incite the masses to make trouble, but they were all surrounded and suppressed by Xu Qing with his troops. Don't talk about exterminating the clan, copying the family is at least, and it doesn't matter how deep your background is, anyway, it is exiled to the border, and it just so happens that Xue Yantuo is short of manpower.

When Xu Qing was catching insects, Cangzhou:

Since Xu Qing left, the history of Cangzhou has been served by Zhao Lu, the original commander of Nanpi County, and there is also Changshi Zhan Zeng. The original Cangxian county commander Qin Shi had already been transferred out of Cangzhou, and he also served as a assassin in South Hebei Province. It's just that the state in charge of Qin Shi is much richer than the original Cangzhou, and it is not near the sea, so it is called Xingzhou. Xingzhou has a county under its jurisdiction, called Qinghe County, where Cui's family is.

Let's talk about the changes in Cangzhou these days, nearly half a year has passed, and Cangzhou is becoming more and more prosperous day by day. After the beginning of spring, a large number of traveling merchants poured into the city, but did not bring goods, but participated in the annual Cangzhou Chamber of Commerce. In the Chamber of Commerce, every businessman present at the meeting has the right to give advice to the head of the Chamber of Commerce. For example, where there are more thieves and where the roads are more dangerous, they will always take out money or send additional soldiers to protect them. In fact, this is not the most important thing, the most important thing is that on this day, Cangzhou Thorn History will come to the scene in person to listen to everyone's opinions.

In the past half a year, the furs of the Bohai Sea and other specialties of Liaodong have arrived in Cangzhou one after another. As long as the price of high-quality and inexpensive foreign goods leaves Cangzhou, the price can be doubled and sold. This made the merchants of Cangzhou make a lot of money. And the merchants of Cangzhou also transported some goods to Liaodong for trading. During the Tang Dynasty, the Central Plains copper was cheap and silver, and the exchange rate was relatively high, while Liaodong or the island, but the silver was cheap and copper was expensive.

In addition, this route is short and relatively safe, so more and more people are participating in this bumper harvest route. Of course, Zhao Lu would not let go of such a good opportunity, and hurriedly sent someone to pay additional taxes in Huanghua Port. The berthing tax of the ship, the overnight money is basic, and the tax set by Xu Qing is a draw, for every ten yuan earned, one penny will be drawn. Silver was not a common currency, so it was taxed according to the manner of goods.

In less than half a year, this Huanghua Port has collected nearly a year's tax revenue from Huanghua County, which can be described as a lot of money. Those who collect taxes are so profitable, not to mention the businessmen who are already making money. One and a half of the profits were given to the government, two were traded to the Chamber of Commerce, and one and a half of the people ate horses and chewed, and their wages were gone. In general, the gross profit of ten cents is only five cents. This is by sea, and by land is slightly lower, less than three cents.

But this is also a high profit, compared to the past, being exploited by the official uniforms along the way, it is already a big profit. It can be said that now 30% of the silver in South Hebei Province is concentrated in the hands of Cangzhou merchants, and today's Cangzhou Chamber of Commerce is notoriously wealthy.

In addition, Cangzhou's salt was continuously transported to the border and other places, and salt merchants in many places were bankrupt by this low-priced salt. Then as soon as the Cangzhou Chamber of Commerce made a move, it immediately acquired most of the salt merchants in southern Hebei. Since then, the Chamber of Commerce can not only receive the annual tribute of the merchants, but also get a large part of the profits. The Chamber of Commerce promised that at the end of the year, a portion of the money would be divided. This dividend is not only available to businessmen, it is all the people, as long as they are Cangzhou people, they can get a little dividend.

In addition, repairing bridges and paving roads, recruiting bodyguards to escort them, is also paid by the Cangzhou Chamber of Commerce. With the services of the Chamber of Commerce, Cangzhou's businessmen have enough confidence.

And those big families also discovered this huge business opportunity and wanted to intervene to make a profit, but found that this Cangzhou Chamber of Commerce wanted to be monolithic, and it was still red, and they couldn't be touched at all.

If you talk about fighting for money, they can't win Cangzhou for a long time, 30% of the wealth is in their hands, and 20% is on the road, you are a divided clan power, what to fight? The strength can't fight, and the family has no choice but to use its innate advantages - to report to the government, focus on agriculture and suppress business.