Today's Tianjin Sanwei has become one of the three major ports in the world along with Quanzhou and Guangzhou.

When Lian Zining got out of the carriage, he couldn't help but be stunned.

The transfer of grain, the development of shipping, but also led to the development of Tianjin's transportation industry and commerce, in the Haihe River, the South Canal, the North Canal three rivers confluence of the Sancha estuary gradually formed a continuous more than ten miles of business area, warehouses, money villages, guild halls and other industries came into being, gathered here, the development is extremely prosperous.

Lian Zining looked at it at a glance and saw three big rivers sparkling and converging here, one is the North Canal leading to Jingshi in the southeast and northwest directions, one is the Haihe River running almost east-west, and the other is the South Canal running in the northeast and southwest directions. On both sides of these three big rivers, there are actually inns and restaurants, I don't know that there are tens of thousands, all the shops are carrying a long series of lanterns in front of them, with the name of the store written on them, and the lights from the inside of the store almost illuminate this place into a city that never sleeps.

The place where Lian Zining set foot is on the east bank of the North Canal, under his feet is a solid bluestone slab, although it has been snowing heavily for several days, but there are not too many traces of snow on it, obviously someone has cleaned it. And on the bank of the river, there is a stone railing, with an iron chain in the middle, and there is a small wharf not far away, and I don't know how many ships are docked here.

Among the restaurants, brothels, casinos, and inns on both sides of the strait, there are extremely lively sounds, and there is a prosperous scene in the world.

In the river, there are even many painting boats, and there is a faint sound of silk and bamboo on them. There are also many people who are feasting and drinking on the railing, chanting poems.

Lian Zining has a feeling of being on the banks of the Qinhuai River. For a moment, he felt as if he had returned to Hizen Port in Fuso. However, it is larger and more prosperous than Hizen Port. What is lacking is the location of Hizen Port near the sea and an excellent natural harbor.

"What a prosperous resort!"

Lian Zining couldn't help but feel a little emotional, in his opinion, in terms of the prosperity of commerce alone, I am afraid that it has surpassed Jingshi.

Qinglan also came down, she wore an ordinary family's skirt, and the clothes were not expensive. It looks like a newlywed young woman from a wealthy family.

She glanced around, smiled with some surprise, and said, "Ah, it's so prosperous here!" When I was in the capital, I often heard people say that Tianjin Wei Nai is a scenic spot in the north, and now I see it, and it really deserves its name. ”

Lian Zining said: "Yes, since the Yongle Dynasty, Tianjin, as the largest port in the north of the Grand Canal, has developed for more than 100 years, and now it has a population of more than 800,000. Although it is less than the capital, there are no people here who do business, and it is in this market. It is much more prosperous than the city of Beijing. Look at the intersection of these three rivers, following these three rivers, one bank of each river. There is a long street, which adds up to six. This street is thirteen miles long, on this street. How many shops do you have? How many big ships are moored in the three big rivers? How many goods are moving in and out of this place every day? With the six long streets at the mouth of the Sancha River as the core, the entire Tianjin ground is not much smaller than the city of Beijing. ”

In the eighteenth year of Zhengde, Tianjin Wei was changed to Tianjin County, and the management of the county yamen was established, and in the twenty-eighth year of Zhengde, Tianjin County was upgraded to Tianjin Prefecture, the prefect Yamen was established, and the Tianjin town guard eunuch was established. And the collection of gold and silver in this place, as the cost of the palace, in the first year to levy 800,000 taels, in the past two years, has increased to more than 2.7 million taels per year, the internal expenditure, most of the dependence. Liu Jixiang, the eunuch of the imperial horse eunuch, was promoted from the eunuch of Tianjin Town. ”

The two talked while walking, although it was already night, but the street was still full of people, very lively, and even Zining and his party were not conspicuous in the flow of people.

Lian Zining had already studied this place thoroughly a few months ago, and it was easy to speak at this time.

"At the beginning, Zhengde opened the sea, which is now presided over by the first assistant of the cabinet, when the sea was first opened, there were only three major ports in the country, Tianjin Port in the north, Quanzhou Port and Guangzhou Port in the south, these three places, are highly valued by Lord Yang, he left his words in the court, if the sea opened for three years and did not see the treasury silver increase of three million taels, then he invited himself to return to his hometown, and then he did not come out."

Qing Lan knew that Lian Zining had always had the habit of being a good teacher, so she smiled and playfully answered: "What is the result? ”

"The result!" Lian Zining laughed: "In the first year of opening the sea, just one Tianjin Port collected more than 2 million business taxes, and this time, everyone in the court shut up, and Lord Yang also sat firmly in this position." At the beginning, the herdsmen of these three ports were all the henchmen of Lord Yang, and the Tianjin prefect was now the official secretary Zhang Yi Zhang, although this lord had a bad reputation, they all said that he was corrupt and good at asking for bribes, but his talent was extremely high. ”

He pointed to the streets of Tianjin: "Twenty years ago, this was still a mudflat, a place where birds don't, and the scale it has today is the foundation laid by Zhang Yiyi." ”

The two walked side by side, talking and laughing in a low voice, while looking at the scenery on the side of the street, with heavy snow above their heads and the river flowing around them, Lian Zining suddenly seemed to have found the feeling of shopping with his girlfriend in his previous life.

He only walked for a while, and when he saw that the snow was still non-stop, he frowned.

Qing Lan knew his mind very well and asked, "What's wrong?" ”

"It's snowing at this season, and I'm afraid the people are going to suffer." Lian Zining glanced back at the way he came: "Originally, there were a few snowfalls this winter, this year can be a good New Year's Festival, this time it is cold in spring, it is too bad, the wheat is frozen to death, rotten seeds and seedlings, and the harvest will be a big loss." ”

Qing Lan didn't understand this, and Lian Zining couldn't understand anything he said, but he just felt as if he was very powerful, staring at him and nodding in adoration.

Lian Zining thought of the problem of promoting a large number of corn to the Central Plains after thinking about it, and gave up this idea first, how to take care of his own territory first.

Tianjin City is completely different from other cities in this era, and the commercial areas of other cities are all in the city, but Tianjin City is not. In the beginning, it existed as a castle of arms. It is an earthen city, and the circumference of this earthen city is more than nine miles. The city was three feet five feet high and two feet five feet wide. Its shape is long from east to west, short from north to south, very much like an abacus, so the people of the time called it "abacus city". This abacus city is very south of the three forks, the area is not large, and the soldiers alone are stationed nearly 17,000, and the families of the soldiers are more than 100,000, plus the yamen of the prefect of Tianjin, the yamen of the county of Tianjin, and the yamen of the eunuchs of Tianjin. The Yamen of the Zhigu Salt Transfer Division, etc., is almost already stuffed, where is there still a land boundary to develop?

It was the commerce of Tianjin City, which relied on the canal to develop at the beginning, and later, the entire Sancha estuary area was occupied.

Due to the extreme prosperity of Tianjin City, it is not an exaggeration to say that every inch of land is gold, which is almost equivalent to the Wangfujing of Beijing in later generations. Xujiahui in Shanghai, Fifth Avenue Manhattan in New York. Right here, a three-room façade on the street costs more than 500 taels a year. If you want to bring a yard later, there is no discount for one thousand taels! In Beijing City, you can buy three houses of this size at this price. And here, you can rent if you want. If you want to take it down, it's a dream! Unless the master's family is forced to do it, it is really helpless. Otherwise, it will never be sold, after all, this Tianjin city is now thriving, and no one knows how far it will go in the future.

It is because Meng Xiangchi Meng has become a celebrity in this area, and the surrounding businessmen are talking about it in and out of words, and even those who run the boat know that Tianjin Wei has come to Meng Dayuan, and he has a big deal under his hands.

Meng Dayuan just came to Tianjin Weibei Canal East Street in the first month of this year, he didn't come alone, but with a whole thirty big ships, six or seven hundred guys, good guys, that sea boats, each of them is at least five hundred big guys, even the shortest one is fifteen or sixteen zhang long! The longest is already 2,000 materials, it has to be more than 30 zhang long, and a city seems to float on the water, if it weren't for the abundant water of the Grand Canal, I'm afraid that the boat wouldn't be able to drive in!

On that day, the mast was like a cloud, covering the sky and the sun, giving people a great shock! So much so that some locals often talk about that scene more than ten years later.

The old and young masters of Tianjin City also thought that they were knowledgeable, but they had never seen a fleet of such a size, and everywhere this fleet went, the streets on both sides were crowded with people, and even the big willow tree was full of people, just to see this great bustle.

The ships were all branded with a unified flag and the word 'Meng' written on them. Everyone is a second monk who is confused, and they only know that the master's surname is Meng, but they don't know what the origin is and what they are doing here.

Even the adults in the city were alarmed, the prefect, the county, and the town guard all climbed the city wall to watch, and the tax collectors under the town guard eunuchs also took the springboard and pounced on them like wolves.

Everyone is waiting to see the show, and many people are gloating in their hearts, what about your big deal, and you can't honestly let the mermaid meat?

This is probably the hatred of the rich.

As a result, the ending was jaw-dropping, those tax collectors were thrown down with their hands and feet open, some were thrown directly into the river and drowned half to death, and some were thrown to the ground and broke their legs.

Everyone was in an uproar, why was this person so arrogant and domineering?

Then a steward who came down from the boat swaggered up to a few adults and said a few words, and the town guard eunuch left without saying a word, while the other adults became very enthusiastic.

So that night, everyone in Tianjin City knew that the Meng family, from Lijin County, Shandong, was a local wealthy family, and the owner of this room was Meng Xiangchi, the son of the Meng family, who was doing maritime business on a voyage to Fuso Korea. As for the background of the people, it is the Shouning Marquis Mansion in the capital, and it is said that even the squire of the Criminal Department and the Shangshu of the Military Department are involved in it!

Compared with others, a few officials here are a fart!

Then on the second day, on Haihe North Street, 'Meng Ji Boat Company' is opened, this boat line is amazing, occupying a full eighteen storefronts, and there are three small wharves by the river, which can unload tens of thousands of catties of goods in one day.

On the day of the opening, the prefect, the prefect, and the salt transfer envoy all came to congratulate in person, and even the town guard also sent congratulatory gifts.

The subtext is, I can't afford to mess with it, I admit it!

Lian Zining and his entourage were on East Street of the North Canal. So walk to the confluence of the Sancha estuary and turn to the left. I entered Haihe North Street and walked all the way. After a while, I was still far away, and I could see a huge storefront.

A dozen or so shops, hung two feet in diameter of the big red lantern, each with the words 'Meng Ji Boat Line' written on it, not far from the door, on the shore, parked a lot of boats, this boat is huge, at a glance you know that it is a sea boat. This is also a coincidence. It seems that a fleet of ships has just returned, and is unloading their cargo, hundreds of men, but on this cold day, they are only wearing a pair of nasal calf shorts, naked and topless, showing strong muscles, and their bodies are steaming and sweating profusely to move things down.

There were a lot of cars parked on the shore. Unloading a cart is quickly pushed to the warehouse behind the shop to store, dozens of carts are busy back and forth, and the flow of materials is huge.

Lian Zining saw boxes of swords and paper fans among the goods that had been transported. There was also a lot of sulfur, and even large pieces of copper ingots in it, apparently from a trip to Fuso. The harvest is very rewarding.

After looking at it for a while, Fang Zi went up a few steps. I walked into the store, but it was something like a hotel front desk. There is a shopkeeper in it, and a young man is responsible for serving tea and pouring water, but it is where he comes to negotiate business.

Qing Lan was inconvenient to show up, she had already returned to the car, and Lian Zining was guarded by others, and she went in by herself. The clothes he wore were not luxurious, in order to hide people's eyes, and even a little old, the shopkeeper was not there, but Xiao Er leaned lazily on the side of the counter, raised his eyelids and glanced at Lian Zining, and then drooped down again, with undisguised contempt in his eyes.

"Shop!" Lian Zining shouted.

"What's it called? Rushing to mourn? Don't you see that this place is busy? The guy howled, tilted his head and walked in front of Lian Zining, looked him up and down, and sneered: "You want to go to Fusang with the boat, right?" The quota is full, so come back in a month! However, if you can come up with fifty taels of silver, the lord will give you a place to come out. ”

"Nothing!" He sneered: "Look at your poor and sour appearance, it doesn't look like you can take out all this silver." ”

Lian Zining glanced at him and didn't speak again.

He had received the news that he had come here, and then he said to the shopkeeper: "I want to sail a thousand miles to Shichahai on the 37th of March." ”

This is also a code, but I didn't expect that the shopkeeper didn't see it, but made a guy embarrassed here.

At this moment, a man in his thirties walked in outside, and when the man saw Lian Zining, he immediately looked shocked, trembling all over, and had an unbelievable expression on his face.

The guy hurriedly greeted him, snorted his waist, showed a flattering expression on his face, and said with a smile: "Master Liu, are you here?" ”

That Liu Ye didn't seem to have eased up, nodded, walked up to Lian Zining, and said with his hands crossed: "You are?" ”

Lian Zining said in a deep voice: "You know me? ”

Before Liu Ye could speak, the guy on the side said: "Who the knows you, and you don't pee to take care of yourself, you are a ...... Ah......h

Before he finished speaking, Liu Ye had such an extremely strange expression on his face, shocked, angry, and incredible. He turned around suddenly, slapped a big ear scraper on the guy's face, and directly fanned him to his knees, two teeth and a mouthful of blood foam spurted out, he looked at Liu Ye with a stunned face, his teeth leaked, and he said aggrievedly: "Brother-in-law!" ”

That Liu Ye glared at him fiercely: "Shut up, or Lao Tzu will kill you!" ”

Lian Zining looked at it coldly, and it was already a little more clear.

He said lightly: "You are not mistaken, I am the person, there are distinguished guests outside, and you have someone to welcome you in." ”

"Yes!" This Liu Ye trembled all over, and hurriedly responded, he lowered his head, and didn't dare to look at Lian Zining at all.

Lian Zining shook his head: "Let's go, take me to see Wang Hu." ”

"Yes."

That guy is full of spirits, Wang Hu, that's the big steward! He has the final say on everything we have here.

Seeing Liu Ye leading the way in front with his waist bent over, and Lian Zining walking slowly to the back, he couldn't help but feel cold in his heart.

I seem to have provoked some great person.

After a tea time, Lian Zining met the real person in charge of this place, Wang Hu.

MI6 Deputy Thousand Households.

The so-called Meng family, a big family in Lijin, is naturally just a disguise. This boat company was set up by Lian Zining with money. Wang Hu was ordered to take a group of backbones south, and first bought a lot of big ships through Zhang Yanchang's channels. Then he recruited enough people in Shandong to come to Tianjin and form this ship.

Here, Lian Zining paved a road for his family.

A way out.

If Lian Zining's plot is revealed, then he will naturally have to escape, with Lian Zining's arrangement, it is not difficult to escape from the Beijing Division, but after escaping from the Beijing Division. And how?

East, west, north and south, the army is hunting, the world is wanted, where can you flee to?

If you want to go to the Northeast, the only way is to go to the sea.

And if you come from Beijing to Tianjin, you can get there in more than an hour, and when you arrive in Tianjin, you can sneak here. Secretly go out to sea by boat, once you reach the sea, the sky is high and the sea is wide, and there is no obstacle.

This is a secret room in the courtyard behind the façade. On the second floor, the windows are ajar to allow you to see every move below. The courtyard below is brightly lit and full of people. It's very lively.

"I've seen an adult!" Wang Hu kowtowed heavily and said respectfully.

"Come on. Get up! Lian Zining smiled faintly and waved his hand: "I didn't expect me to come, right?" ”

"I really didn't expect it." Wang Hu smiled: "There is nothing to prepare for the mark. ”

Lian Zining smiled faintly: "Fortunately, you didn't have any preparations." ”

"This?" Wang Hu naturally heard the sarcasm in Lian Zining's words, and couldn't help but feel his heart jump, a little overwhelmed.

Liu Ye, who was standing with his hands hanging down on the side, trembled, and the beads of sweat on his forehead were already oozing out.

Wang Hu noticed his abnormality, glared at him fiercely, and said in a low voice, "What's the matter?" ”

That Liu Ye said it quietly and quickly, Wang Hu couldn't help but look embarrassed, and arched his hand and said, "My lord......"

"Don't talk yet!" As soon as Lian Zining stretched out his hand, Wang Hu's remaining words were held back, and he only heard Lian Zining say: "Tell me, how is your business here?" ”

Speaking of this, Wang Hu suddenly came to his senses, and his eyebrows fluttered: "My lord, if you want to talk about this, you have to talk about it well." What we do is the business of ocean going to buy from here, sell from there, buy from there, sell here. This back and forth, is a huge price difference, this Tianjin city is the north-south thoroughfare, everything can be bought, is done with this business, it is also very smooth. But everyone in Tianjin City knows that we have a background and ability, and many businessmen who have goods in their hands but have no ship and no way out are leasing our ships to go to sea, earning four or six cents, four of us, and six of them. ”

He stretched out a finger: "In January, our fleet went to Goguryeo, and then to Fuso, and only came back two days ago, and this time we earned a full 100,000 taels of silver." ”

"Oh? It's not bad, it seems that there is a year, and this capital can basically be returned. I didn't see it, Lao Wang, you can do this business. Lian Zining said with a smile.

Wang Hu hurriedly waved his hand: "My lord, don't say that, you don't know who we are?" We are a fighting sweat, the job you gave, someone else may earn more, you must not let me stay here for a long time, we want to hurry back to Zhenyuanfu, or stay there comfortably. ”

"Sooner or later, you just put your heart in your stomach." Lian Zining's words suddenly changed: "But I see, your business here can be better." ”

The smile on Wang Hu's face couldn't help but stagnate, and Lian Zining turned to Liu Ye and said, "That guy, is it your brother-in-law?" ”

Liu Ye's face turned pale for a while, he knelt on the ground, and said in a trembling voice: "My lord, after the mark came here, I took a concubine...... There is no way to discipline under the mark, and the sin deserves death...... Under "

"Come on." Lian Zining interrupted him with a wave of his hand and said, "What about the shopkeeper?" ”

"He, he's going to gamble." Liu Ye originally wanted to tell a few lies, but Lian Zining looked at him coldly, so he said it honestly.

"You're sincere." Lian Zining glanced at him coldly: "You go down." ”

"Yes!" Liu Ye kowtowed and went out tremblingly.

"Your Excellency." Wang Hu was about to speak, but Lian Zining suddenly slapped the table and said angrily: "Wang Hu, do you want to die?" ”

"My lord, mark it?" Wang Hu was so frightened that he quickly knelt on the ground, kowtowed again and again: "Mark the guilty, mark the guilty!" (To be continued.) )