Ji Yi, who left Jingdong Shang City, went west along the canal, and when the official ship he took left the territory of Xuzhou, where industry and commerce was developed, and entered the territory of Yingtianfu, a bleak and sad atmosphere came to his face.

In the past, Nanjing Yingtianfu of the Great Song Empire had a feeling of being very different from the neighboring Xuzhou.

Although Xuzhou has also suffered the impact of the money crisis, the vitality of the economy has only been temporarily suppressed and has not been lost. At this time, Xuzhou was the second largest handicraft center in China, second only to Tianjin, the capital of the Great Zhou Republic, and surpassing neighboring Haizhou.

The three pillars that support Xuzhou's handicraft industry are charcoal, iron smelting and porcelain.

Among them, coal, in the coal mining industry, Xuzhou ranks first in the country (including Zhou)! Xuzhou Coal is shipped through the canal and Jingdong, and is marketed in the Central Plains and Southeast China.

The iron smelting industry of Xuzhou Li Guojian has also made leaps and bounds under the promotion of Haizhou Metallurgical School. Regardless of the quality or output of the product, it can compete with the metallurgical industry of Zhou Guoxuandefu.

With the convenience of canals and shipping, the iron tools of Li Guojian are also sold all over the world!

The porcelain industry near Xuzhou is already very developed, because Xuzhou has coal resources, and it is close to the canal, the Huai River and the Haizhou port, which is convenient for export.

Therefore, the porcelain industry for the international market and the southeast market has gradually developed.

Among these three pillar industries, ironware, especially military-grade ironware, is not marketable at all, so the smelting yard of Liguojian will always be smoky. Coal is a must, and now is the Xiaoice period, and the winter without coal heating is very difficult. As for porcelain, it was mainly exported or sold to the south. The financial crisis in the Central Plains did not have much impact on overseas markets, and the impact on the markets in Jiangnan and Minyue was not very severe.

Therefore, the markets in Xuzhou and Haizhou that Ji Yi saw were quite passable, but Ying Tianfu was a little depressed.

The farms and grass markets along the canal are all in a state of extreme malaise. The market is deserted, and most of the shops are door-paneled, and no one is operating.

Yingtianfu City, which originally had two or three hundred thousand inhabitants, has now become very cold. There are few pedestrians on the streets and alleys, and shops have closed down, only near Yingtianfu Yamen and Guanyi, there is still a little popularity.

In the pavilion of Yingtianfu City, Ji Yi met the newly appointed deputy envoy of Jingdong Road and the head of the soldiers and horses, sentenced Xuzhou affairs, and leveled the navy to make Pan Xiao'an.

Pan Xiao'an, who is over 50 years old this year, has changed from a former capitalist of the forbidden army to a civil engineering expert, and has been responsible for the construction of Qionglin Palace, Kaifeng Xinxi City, and Nanjing Xiangyang Mansion City. This time, he was ordered to build Xuzhou City.

According to Pan Xiao'an's plan (of course, he did not do it himself, Pan Xiao'an raised a large group of craftsmen and craftsmen in the construction industry), Pengcheng, where Xuzhou Prefecture is located, will be expanded into a stepped fortress with 24 prismatic forts.

As the core of the fortress is a 12-sided fort built on the periphery of the old city of Xuzhou, and the 12 corners of the 12-sided fort will extend out of 12 prismatic forts. At the same time, on the outside of the 12 faces, 12 prismatic forts will be built to connect the 12 walls with flying bridges.

The 24 out-of-forts will wrap the city of Xuzhou, and the artillery deployed on the out-of-fort can support each other to form a dense crossfire!

In addition to this 24-cornered fortress, Pan Xiao'an also planned to build four eight-sided and octagonal fortresses in Liguojian, Peixian, Xiaoxian and Huaiyang Army.

In addition, Pan Xiao'an will also make great efforts to improve the canal and waterway system in Xuzhou and Huaiyang to strengthen Xuzhou's central position and prevent flooding.

"Does the official family want to use Xuzhou as the eastern capital?"

In a clean room in the pavilion, after listening to Pan Xiao'an personally finish talking about the "Great Xuzhou Plan", Ji Yi was very surprised.

Now the imperial court's finances are not rich, and a huge amount of money has been allocated to build Xuzhou, how can it not be suspicious?

One Nanjing Xiangyang is not enough, do you want to build a Tokyo Xuzhou?

But then again, Xuzhou is indeed more suitable than Kaifeng to be the capital of the Great Song Empire, which is now on the verge of fragmentation.

With Xuzhou, the center of coal, porcelain, and iron smelting, the imperial court could at least ensure that the southeastern commercial powerhouses would not get out of control—not only militarily, but also economically.

At least Jingdong Shang Market is inseparable from Xuzhou's coal, porcelain and ironware!

The geographical location of Xuzhou is also very superior, since ancient times, it is the key to the north, the gateway to the south, and the place where soldiers must fight. Moreover, it is also the hometown of famous emperors, and the folk customs are also relatively martial. You can also recruit troops from nearby Shandong and Huainan, and you can recruit soldiers of good quality.

If there is a fortified city as a foundation, Xuzhou can indeed build a capital in the case of the economic rise of the southeast.

Of course, Xuzhou is also deficient in Kaifeng, that is, it is not in the hinterland of the Central Plains. The Song Dynasty, which was too far away from Shaanxi, Hedong and Hebei and had Xuzhou as its capital, would have difficulty controlling Shaanxi, Hedong, Hebei and other places.

In addition, there is a problem with building the capital of Xuzhou, that is, Xuzhou is a real industrial and commercial capital, and the nearby Jingdong Commercial Market is a seaport and financial center on a par with Tianjin.

The Great Song Dynasty, with Xuzhou as its capital, was inevitably controlled by the emerging industrial and commercial capital. The Great Song Dynasty will gradually become the second ...... of the Great Zhou No, it's not even as good as Da Zhou.

Because the Great Zhou Republic was a republic of military citizens and commercial citizens.

The military landlord class of the Great Song Dynasty was very weak, and it was concentrated in Shaanxi, Shuofang, and Hebei, and if the capital was moved to Xuzhou, then the pillar of the imperial court would be the industrial and commercial bourgeoisie.

What power did such a court have to dominate the vast territories of the northwest, Hebei, Henan, and southwest?

"The official family doesn't mean that," Pan Xiao'an shook his head, "The official family just wants to divide King Yun as the king of the East China Sea, and use Xuzhou as a base to defend against enemies from the direction of the East China Sea." ”

"This ......" Ji Yi was confused, "What does it mean to divide the seal?" ”

Pan Xiao'an said with a smile: "It is to cut off a small half of Haizhou as the East China Sea State, and take King Yun as the king of the East China Sea to guard the East China Sea." With Xuzhou as the backing of the East China Sea, this can ensure that the country's eastern gateway is safe. ”

"This ......" Ji Yi thought about it, it seemed to make some sense, but it was a little inappropriate. It is a way to use the East Sea King to guard the southeast coast, but if the East Sea King is not appeased, what should he do? ”

"No," Pan Xiao'an smiled and waved his hand, "Although King Yun is only eight buckets tall, he does not have the bearing of a king, and he is obsessed with learning, and he will never have the ambition to divide in the southeast." ”

"The king of the East China Sea has no ambitions, so he is afraid of the people around him......"

"Not so much." Pan Xiao'an said with a smile, "The king of the East China Sea will marry the niece of the official as a concubine, the beautiful lady is the daughter of a great Confucian, and she will definitely persuade the king of the East China Sea to be close to the gentleman and far away." ”

"Your niece? The daughter of Confucianism? Ji Yi didn't understand at once that Pan Xiao'an only had one sister-in-law, Pan Qiaolian, but there were a lot of sisters in the Pan family. However, Ji Yi couldn't remember that Sister Pan married Da Ru.

"It's Wu Meiniang, the eldest daughter of Wu Chongdao, the head of the Great Zhou Dynasty!"

"Ah......" Ji Yi rolled his eyelids, and said in his heart: This is good, even if Zhao Kai doesn't have this mind, with Wu Meiniang blowing the pillow wind every day, it is difficult for the southeast not to be chaotic!

Pan Xiao'an saw Ji Yi's surprised appearance, just sneered, and said: "Yizhi, Your Majesty is prosperous in the Spring and Autumn Period, and his health is good, there is no problem in being the Son of Heaven for another thirty years." When the time comes, you and I will not be alive...... As long as the southeast is not chaotic when the Son of Heaven is alive, you and I will do our duty for the Great Song Dynasty.

How about placing it after the Son of Heaven and the Dragon Dominating Bintian, you and I can't control it, let future generations worry about it!

Besides, there are now faint signs of the second place in the Zhou country in the southeast, and I don't dare to think about what will happen in another thirty years. I know that the king of the East China Sea is surnamed Zhao after all...... Isn't that enough? ”

Ji Yi frowned: "It's not like this, it's not like this...... The Son of Heaven should have recruited me into Beijing to Xuanma, and there will definitely be a way to do it then. ”

"It's not without ......," Pan Xiao'an stroked his gray beard, wanting to speak but stopped.

Ji Yi looked at him and said, "If you have something to say, you can say it." ”

"Just say it!" Pan Xiao'an said, "Now the Great Song Dynasty is not weak, but has a tendency to disintegrate. The Quartet is trapped in the southeast, and the scholars and doctors are trapped in industry and commerce. If you want to solve the danger of the world, there are only two ways, either to inhibit industry and commerce, or to rely on industry and commerce.

If you want to curb industry and commerce, you must move the capital to Xiangyang, so as to collect the rice of Jinghu, the brocade of Bashu, the brave warriors of Shaanxi and Huaixi, and the romance of Guanluo, Sichuan, and Jinghu.

If you want to rely on industry and commerce, you should move the capital to Xuzhou, control the East China Sea, and control the south of the Yangtze River. With the wealth of southeast industry and commerce, raise the courage of Shandong and Huaixi. ”

In Pan Xiao'an's view, today's Great Song Dynasty has been divided into two major interest groups: scholars and industrial and commercial capitalists.

Moreover, because the industrial and commercial groups in the southeast relied on the power of silk, sea salt, ironware, porcelain, coal, and financial capital to exploit more than 300 state armies in the interior, the contradictions between the two sides were so acute that it was difficult to reconcile.

If you want to please both ends, it is destined to be thankless.

Ji Yi listened to Pan Xiao'an's words, but frowned deeply and was noncommittal.

Although he has always been a high-ranking official of the imperial court, he has served in the local area for a long time, especially in the southeast and Jiaozhi for many years, and he does not know much about the situation in the Central Plains and Kaifeng Prefecture. Therefore, it is simply impossible to imagine that the contradictions within the Great Song Dynasty have intensified to the point where they need to be suppressed by moving the capital.

But moving to the capital is something that shakes the country's foundation, so can it be carried out casually? And should the Great Song Dynasty rely on industry and commerce or on scholars?

The power of industry and commerce seems to be strong, but in the whole country, the only state capitals that can really ensure the advantage are Xuzhou, Haizhou, Quanzhou, Guangzhou, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Xiuzhou, Mingzhou, Yuezhou, and other nine prefectures, and perhaps a few or a dozen or so state capitals with balanced industrial and commercial forces and scholars. Based on less than 20 state capital armies, can the Great Song Dynasty dominate more than 400 state armies across the country?