Zhuge Liang pointed out in "Longzhong Pair" that the geographical environment of Jingzhou is "according to the Han Dynasty in the north, the South China Sea, the east of Wuhui, and the west of Bashu", Jingzhou as the core area in the middle of the four regions in the southeast and northwest at that time, transportation has always been relatively developed. Xiangyang is located in the central area of Jingzhou, and the traffic roads are more developed, and Liu Biao moved the capital of Jingzhou to Jingzhou because of Xiangyang's superior geographical environment.

After years of painstaking management by Liu Biao, and thanks to the fact that it has never been affected by the war for more than ten years, the military town, which was originally a battleground for soldiers, can now almost be said to be the best in the Central Plains in terms of culture and economy, and the population base of more than one million alone is enough to prove everything.

The Linjiang Wharf outside Xiangyang City is busy, and most of the business travelers from all over the world are concentrated here to buy and sell each other. Although Liu Biao had ordered the suspension of trade for a long time when he was at odds with the Sun family in the early years, it was only for Cao Cao in the north and the Sun family in the east, and the Jingnan counties in the south and Bashu in Sichuan in the west still maintained the original commercial market.

It's just that I don't know when it started, and the trade routes between Xiangyang and Jiangdong and Jiangbei slowly recovered. Perhaps this is an inevitability, because no matter how developed the so-called smallholder economy is, it still needs to have a certain amount of business to support it. And the appearance of Lu Ren, an outlier figure, also played a big role here, because it was probably he who accelerated the process of resuming trade between the Jingxiang region and the east and north.

During the period when Lu Ren had taken refuge in Jingzhou, Lu Ren became almost the only person who could do business by water between Jingxiang and Jiangdong with the help of some intricate relationships, and even got involved in the important trade markets such as grain, rice, salt and iron between the two places. With him, the one who leads the crab eater, there will be no fewer people who follow the trend......

In the beginning, some bold guys between Jingzhou and Jiangdong were only sneaky and almost smuggling, but later they were already blatantly doing business and paying taxes. Correspondingly, the Jingzhou official only turned a blind eye at the beginning, and later simply canceled the order to cut off the trade route. The reason is actually very simple, no one will get along with money, since the business and trade between the two places cannot be prohibited, so instead of letting the people smuggle and miss a large amount of tax revenue, it is better to simply let go of a little tax into the pocket, so that at least everyone can be happy.

When Lu Ren left Jingxiang, he handed over most of Xiangyang's industries to Mi Zhu, but this did not mean that he gave up the trade routes in Jingxiang and even central Sichuan. On the contrary, the current Mizhu is like Lu Ren's general agent of the business group in Jingxiang area, and its own business center is placed on some other business routes in Yizhou.

Generally speaking, it is that Yizhou sends the goods to Jingzhou, and Mi Zhu resells the goods to others after receiving the goods here, and the rest of the things make Mi Zhu have a headache for himself, and he can do what he wants. This is actually good for everyone, take Lu Ren as an example, Lu Ren can concentrate a small number of outstanding talents at all levels in Yizhou, and at the same time, because there is no direct involvement in Jingxiang, there will be no direct conflict of interest with the local wealthy families. Like before, Lu Ren's business still had to deal with Cai Mao, but now he doesn't have to worry about anything, and if he wants a headache, he will have a headache.

But then again, Mi Zhu is a person with Liu Bei's support, and under normal circumstances, Cai Mao would not dare to have a direct conflict with Liu Bei. What is the situation between the two is unknown, but from the perspective of the business cooperation between the two Mi Cai, it seems that a certain consistency has been reached. In short, in terms of the overall business situation of the Jingxiang area, it is still peaceful, and Mizhu has also made great contributions to the opening of the northern trade routes in the Jingxiang area...... The Jiangdong area in the east is Lu Ren's own direct business area, and Mi Zhu's hand can't reach out, so of course he has to go north to run business.

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Not to mention how busy the Xiangyang wharf is, the Jingzhou Navy barracks more than ten miles away from the wharf seems a little unusual. The sound of military training could not be heard here, but the snoring of soldiers who slept until dusk in the land camp came and went. Occasionally, there would be a few soldiers who ran out of the tent because of the urgency, but without exception they were lazy and lazy, and when the convenience was over, they ran back to the tent and fell asleep. Vaguely, I could hear some noise in the depths of the camp, but when I listened closely, it was all "buy big and buy small, buy and leave", and then it was the sound of dice and bowls clashing.

There are many warships docked in the military port, but they are different from old to new, and the quality is uneven. If you take a closer look at one of the older ones, you may be able to find unrepaired scars. On some warships, you can even see sailors hanging on mast sail ropes to change clothes and dry clothes. Let's put it this way, the Jingxiang Navy has not been trained for a long time and the military discipline is loose, and the failure of the Navy warships to maintain well can be seen.

In fact, it is no wonder that Liu Biaowen does not practice martial arts, and almost never asks anything about military matters, and usually throws them to Cai Mao and Zhang Yun. And Jingxiang has not fought any battles for so many years, and almost all of the battles used in the past few battles have been army, and the more than 30,000 naval troops in Xiangyang are basically eating dry food.

The Navy is like this, and the Army is no better. In fact, Jing Xiang's soldiers and horses, except for those henchmen who Cai Mao firmly controlled, and who would often train some combat effectiveness, the rest were all mixed rice type. Alas, who has made Jing Xiang peaceful for so many years, and the upper echelons have no sense of crisis?

A naval colonel walked out of his cabin and stretched out in the setting sun, looking at his lazy expression that he didn't look like an officer. After stretching his waist, the colonel yawned a few more times, called his soldiers and asked, "Now is it...... Ahh ”

"It's almost unitary time."

"So late? It's still bright! ”

"The camp has already been opened, and the villain didn't dare to wake you up because you were sleeping. Do you want to go and get it ready for you now? ”

The general looked at the sky, touched his stomach again, shook his head and smiled: "You kid is very caring, don't disturb me to sleep if you know it's okay." No, while the sky is still quite bright, call a few boats and some brothers who have eaten to go to the docks to patrol around. I haven't patrolled the river today, so it's hard for me to explain it if I don't do something. When the patrol is over, I will change into civilian clothes and walk around the docks, and you will bring the fleet back to the camp on my behalf. ”

"Yes!"

The colonel was satisfied and sat down in a place on the bow of the ship, while his own soldiers rushed to deliver the order. It's just that the soldiers are still thinking secretly while running: "What kind of river is patrolling, don't you just want to go to the Qinglou at the dock?" Alas, people are officials, and they have money in their hands......"

It didn't take long for the river patrol fleet to come to the vicinity of the wharf, and on the river it would shout to some small merchant ships for interrogation, and after the interrogation, some money would quietly fall into the pockets of the generals and soldiers. Seeing that it was getting dark, he was about to give the order for the ship to dock, and he was about to spend his own time, when suddenly a large fleet of ships appeared in his sight.

"Huh? What kind of ship is that? How come you've never seen one!? ”

The soldiers took a closer look and said, "My lord, the fleet is hanging with a merchant flag......

"Merchant flags? Good fellows, the ships in this fleet are comparable to warships. ”

The general groaned for a moment and then let out a sinister laugh: "Lean over and take a look!" Such a large caravan may have a lot of oil and water...... Well, it's a good time to come out today! ”

As soon as they heard about "oil and water", the eyes of these sailant soldiers lit up, and their original lazy and lazy expressions were suddenly replaced by sufficient energy. Only the soldier hesitated and asked, "This fleet is so large, and the ships in the team are comparable to warships, so you need to guard against fraud......

The general waved his hand impatiently and said, "What are you suspicious of, no wonder you're just a soldier after so many years." You don't want to think about it, Jiangxia has the eldest prince in the way, where can Sun Quan get by? And to be able to dispatch such a large-scale fleet to do business, there is no other family except the Mi family! Do you remember how much the Mi fleet gave us last time? That's the rich man! We didn't even board the boat, so they just threw a bag of money over...... Hurry up, lean on me. Last time it was just a small bag, this time I want a big bag! ”

"But my lord, the Mi family has a big business, we can't afford to offend, right?"

The general laughed and said, "What are you afraid of? The marriage between the Mi family and the Lu family is enough in other places, but this is Jingxiang, and it is our territory. When he enters our territory, he has to listen to us no matter how big his family is. Hurry up and get on it! ”

All the sailors worked together, and the fleet approached the paddlewheel caravan, and the colonel was smiling happily on the mast, and his mouth was also humming an unknown tune.

Soon the warship blocked the way of the paddlewheel caravan, and without waiting for the other party to answer, the general ordered the soldiers to board the ship. It's just because the other party's broadside is very high, and the warship has to be built from the three-story ship's floor to reach it.

Rushing onto the deck of the paddle wheel with great momentum, the general shouted loudly: "I am the general of the Xiangyang Navy patrolling the river, and now I want to board the ship for inspection!" Where are you caravans, report your name quickly! ”

When the sailors on the paddle wheel saw the sailors forcibly boarding the ship, they wanted to stop them, but a delicate female voice called them: "Don't do it, they are officers and soldiers." ”

When the hatch opened, Mi Zhen walked to the deck, followed by several female guards selected by the Yizhou swordsman battalion. Mi Zhen had an angry face at the moment, and when she saw the general, she didn't give a salute, and snorted coldly: "Who are you?" Even if it's a Jingxiang navy, you can't force it to board my boat without saying a word, right? ”

At the moment when Mi Zhen stepped onto the deck, the general and the first sergeant were dumbfounded, and their mouths were all straight down, and Mi Zhen didn't hear half a word of what he said later. It wasn't until Mi Zhen saw their ugliness that she snorted coldly and turned her head away in disgust, and then the general came back to her senses and said in her heart: "What a beautiful little lady! And this temperament is spicy and energetic! Lao Tzu likes it! (To be continued.) )