Although he had heard Qin Yu talk about the current situation in Yangzhou, when he really arrived in front of the city, King Rong couldn't help but be surprised. The wide moat was tightly and neatly encircled under the city, but there was not much water in it, and in some places there was sedimentary silt; The tall city walls stood majestically, and the banners on the city gates could barely see their original colors after they had been exposed to the wind and sun. Looking south of the city, the water in the circular harbor is clear, but only a few small boats are moored motionless, making people wonder if they can still move. Is this Yangzhou? A bustling city that has been quiet for many years. When King Rong saw the scene in Yangzhou, he couldn't help but feel sad in his heart.

Due to the war, the current Yangzhou has long since lost its former prosperity. Now that the Song and Yuan dynasties are bounded by the Huai River, and Yangzhou is located in the former enemy, it seems impossible to restore the previous weather.

"Now the north and the south have stopped fighting for a year, and the northern soldiers dare not ride south, and the people's livelihood has recovered, but it is only a matter of one or two years." Qin Yu seemed to see the worry in King Rong's heart, and said, "Copper mining in Yangzhou is also very prosperous. ”

"Oh? Yangzhou also has a copper industry? King Rong's eyebrows raised.

Qin Yu smiled, took out a well-cast bronze mirror, and presented it to King Rong.

King Rong took the bronze mirror and looked at it, the bronze mirror is in the shape of a peach, which is very unique, and there are phoenixes, seas, and moons in the picture, constituting a beautiful artistic conception of the moon, which is extremely exquisite.

Qin Yu told King Rong that since Liu Bi, the king of Wu in the Western Han Dynasty, boiled the sea for salt and opened mountains to cast money, Yangzhou has become a casting place, especially the manufacture of copper mirrors, and Yangzhou bronze mirrors in the Tang Dynasty are also famous all over the world for their tribute mirrors. Although Yangzhou is no longer the origin of tribute mirrors, the concentration of talents and the development of science and technology have made Yangzhou bronze mirror casting technology still lead the times.

The bronze mirror of the Song Dynasty, represented by the Yangzhou bronze mirror, is outstanding in the modeling and decorative arts. The shape inherited the circle of the Han and Tang dynasties and the eight-petal diamond shape since the Tang Dynasty, and the Song Dynasty changed to a six-petal diamond shape, and also created a bell-shaped, sub-zigzag and a round bronze mirror with a handle close to the modern meaning. Yangzhou bronze mirror ornamentation is mostly decorated with entwined branches and flowers, pine branches, immortals and goddesses, birds, beasts, fish and insects, clouds and smoke pavilions, springs and streams, rugged mountains, and babies and children playing as the main ornaments.

Qin Yu said that Yangzhou has a large area, and it has small copper mountains and large copper mountains for copper mining and smelting. The large and small copper mountains are respectively in the six-in-one belt and Gaoyou under the jurisdiction of Yangzhou. The local area meets the living consumption needs of Yangzhou through copper smelting and copper casting. At the same time, Yangzhou is also a place where coins are minted. A large number of coins from the government were hoarded in Gaoyou, and the reason for this was, on the one hand, the need for war preparedness, and it was not excluded that they would be used to negotiate donations with Yuanhe. At that time, the coins were minted on the spot, and then slowly diverted out, which was also known as the "world's money warehouse" in Yangzhou. Although the city of Yangzhou is full of holes and the people's livelihood is withered after war, as long as there is no more war, it should be able to recover soon. Therefore, Qin Yu persuaded King Rong to come to Yangzhou to have a look, and the intention was for this.

"Although the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal is a little congested, it will soon be dredged. Qin Yu said.

As he was talking, the car drove to the Dongguan Ferry.

Yangzhou City, which arose due to the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, has many ferry ports. The Dongguan Ferry Port is one of the most famous. The ferry port is close to the east gate of Yangzhou City and Dongguan Street, the most prosperous urban artery in those years. From here, you can still see ships passing by the canal from time to time, which is a must-see place for Yangzhou travel.

During the reign of Tang Jingzong, due to the shallow siltation of the Guanhe River in the region, blocking the transportation, the salt and iron transshipment made the king spread the Qiligang River, around the south of Luocheng City, Yangzhou City, the east of the city, here is the main ferry outside the East City Gate. During the Song Daguan period, a new city was built on the east side of the old city of Yangzhou, and seven city gates were set up, and the east was called Lijin Gate, commonly known as Dongguan. Most of the merchants from Jiangbei to Yangzhou enter and exit from Dongguan, and Dongguan has become a witness to the prosperity of salt transportation and Cao Yun. Since the opening of the Grand Canal, this thoroughfare with the canal outside and the city area inside has become a gathering place for business and cultural exchanges. In the Tang Dynasty, Yangzhou had the reputation of "the first commercial port in the southeast", and Dongguan Gudu was the most prosperous traffic point in Yangzhou at that time. There is a wharf and there is a market, and the convenience of the boat and the busyness of the transportation have given birth to a prosperous ancient street with intensive commerce and trade - Dongguan Street. This also fully illustrates the close relationship between the transportation of the Grand Canal and the prosperity of the local economy.

King Rong saw here that Yangzhou City was returning to its former prosperity, and at this time, Qin Yu told him that Qian Junchuan, the owner of the "Yihe Villa" who lived in seclusion in Yangzhou, might come to greet him.

King Rong didn't know who this Qian Junchuan was, and he had always been wary of strangers, even if Qin Yu told him that this person was the Wuyue Qian clan, he still couldn't be completely relieved in his heart.

But when he saw Qian Junchuan, most of those thoughts were gone. First of all, Qian's mansion did not lose its dignity at all, and this Qian Junchuan probably didn't look old, his long gray hair was curled up high with a crown of rosewood, and he seemed to have a faint echo when he spoke. The Qian family is also an ancient nobleman, and the old rites of the nobles should be no stranger than the Rongwang Mansion. But this Qian Junchuan, ignoring the constraints of those old rites, stepped forward, grabbed King Rong's arm, and laughed heartily at first sight: "Your Royal Highness King Rong, you are finally here." ”

King Rong was a little hesitant at first, not knowing whether to answer according to the etiquette or casually. In fact, Qian Junchuan is like this, where does King Rong have any corresponding etiquette. He glanced back at Qin Yu, but Qin Yu seemed to have nothing to do with him, and put on a noncommittal expression. King Rong thought about it, forget it, leave him alone. So he hugged Qian Junchuan's arm, like a friend he hadn't seen for many years, and smiled brightly, "Master Qian, I've been walking so hard this way." ”

After a few words, the heads of the two ancient nobles have become as close as a family. However, he still didn't expect that he immediately saw his sweetheart, who was still the second lady of the Qian family, Qian Jinxuan.

At that time, Miss Jinxuan followed her father not far away, standing with the maid, watching King Rong and his father talk happily. King Rong has always been thinking about how to communicate with Qian Junchuan, and he has no time to pay attention to the surrounding situation, but Qin Yu has long noticed the shadow of the young lady, and a slight smile hangs on the corner of his mouth. It wasn't until King Rong was pulled to his daughter by Qian Junchuan and introduced each other that King Rong noticed these eyes that were as clear as a snow-capped mountain and ice lake.

As soon as King Rong saw these eyes, his heart was shocked. Those eyes did not have a faint color and an empty expression like other aristocratic women, but black and bright as lacquer, as if carved with pure ink ice, cold and clear.