Zhigu Village.
In every war in the past few years, this shipping hub has been targeted by the enemy and suffered considerable losses. But after every war, it always recovers rapidly and expands even more.
It is now approaching late autumn, the wind and waves on the sea are getting stronger, and the sea breeze is getting cooler, but the sea is still far from freezing. Experienced sailors calculated with their fingers that it would be about two months before the ports in Liaodong and Korea would freeze. At that time, sea ice stretched for miles or even dozens of miles, completely cutting off sea access. So now we have to work extra hard to arrange for the fleet to enter the port and load the cargo.
After the navy took control of the central capital, their territory was no longer two pieces facing each other across the sea, but became a complete half-ring. Theoretically, land transportation will be opened up and the dependence on sea transportation will be reduced, but in reality this is not the case.
The construction of the Dajin Kingdom's road, delivery and post system began in the Tianhui period and was completed in the Taihe period. The person responsible for perfecting it was Xu Ding, who was the minister of the Ministry of Industry at the time and is now the minister Youcheng of the Kingdom of Jin Dynasty. During this period, there was also a story of a horse delivering lychees for Emperor Sejong at a distance of 700 miles a day.
However, the so-called perfection did not last long, because after the end of Taihe, Dajin continued to fight with Mongolia, post soldiers and post horses from various places were constantly deployed, and post stations and post roads were also rapidly destroyed. At present, what the Dinghai Navy has inherited are fragmented roads, empty maintenance manpower and ancillary buildings that look like ruins. If you want to restore them to their original appearance, I am afraid it will take three to five years to achieve results.
Therefore, maritime traffic is still in full swing. According to the records issued by Zhigu Village, the business of many maritime merchants is several times better than last year. The Southern Dynasties once blocked the demand for food in the north, but this in vain caused the price of food transactions to rise sharply. When prices fell back, the shipments of various materials were only more than before. So the amount of withdrawals in Zhigu Village also went up somersaults.
The number of goods collected and distributed has increased, the number of merchants stationed and exchanged has increased, and the attached shops, warehouses, docks, and forts have been expanding. Up to now, Zhigu Village is no longer the long strip that stretched along the Xin'an Sea, but has become a "Y" shape extending to Lushui and the upper reaches of the Lugou River. The left and right slashes of the "Y" character form Wuqing County must be included.
Even further upstream, when Chen Ran led his troops to fight with the Mongols, many temporary camps were built one after another. Around these camps, stables or continuous buildings were built out of thin air for renting out for profit.
Guo Ning knew that some of them were established by merchants themselves, some were established by profit-making organizations affiliated with the Left and Right Division, and some were built by local soldiers using their own military pay and rewards to make extra money.
It is taboo for the military to do business, but Guo Ning has not yet figured out whether it is appropriate for military personnel to do business in a private capacity and whether they can control it. So let’s turn a blind eye.
In terms of the scale of the building and the prosperity of pure enjoyment, this place is still far away from Daxing Mansion in Zhongdu. However, the difference between the two places is also very clear.
In a big city like Zhongdu Daxing Mansion, which is the military and political center, almost all the wealthy people in the city are concentrated in the sects of nobles and officials. Although there are now more left and right officers of the Ding Navy taking a share of the pie, the resources are still concentrated. Being governed, and the ability to control resources is closely related to political status.
But in a port like Zhigu Village, which was formed due to commerce and smuggling, resources are flowing rapidly, and the officials representing the Ding Navy face the merchants and leaders at sea, and are members under the same rules. , so they have less time to display their official power, and the atmosphere between the military and civilians is very harmonious.
Of course, this is under normal circumstances.
Once something big happens in Zhongdu, and this big thing is related to the direction of Zhigu Village, the atmosphere will not be harmonious. Although the officials guarding the place tried their best to pretend that nothing happened, the solemnity in the air still lingered.
Zhou Keshan took his fleet and arrived at the port within an hour, planning to leave the port that day.
He is a subordinate of Ding Haijun, but his external identity is more like Ding Haijun's agent or collaborator at sea. With this, it was more convenient for him to travel to various places in the Southern Dynasty and Song Dynasty. At least on the surface, everyone could make sense of it, and it would not involve the delicate relationship between the Jin and Song Dynasties.
However, since he has this status, he and his fleet rarely undertake the transportation tasks issued by the Marshal's Palace, but have to make money seriously. After opening up the grain trade, Zhou Keshan stayed in Chuzhou, Gaoyou and other places in the Song Dynasty for a while. Through the introduction of local officials, he obtained a batch of bronze mirrors and lamps produced in Huzhou and transported them all the way back to Zhigu Village. .
This batch of bronze wares will be completely eaten by the Marshal's Mansion at the previously agreed price and melted into money. And Zhou Keshan will get a batch of exquisite silk ribbons and make a fortune by reselling them to Goryeo.
The person responsible for transporting and delivering Lingluo fabrics is the official stationed here in Zhigu Village. Local officials and several petty officials were all familiar with Zhou Keshan. Therefore, Zhou Keshan did not shy away from them and arranged for a batch of ironware to be shipped to the ship.
The iron tools didn't take up a lot of space, but they were very heavy and there were a lot of them, because the first batch of iron tools put into the ship's warehouse were all iron needles. This is a commodity in short supply in Goryeo. As long as it is sent to Yecheng Port, the price will increase five times.
The reason why profits are so high is because copper and iron are prohibited materials. The Song Dynasty strictly prohibited bronze wares from leaving the country, but Zhou Keshan still sold them. Just as the Jin Kingdom strictly prohibited iron wares from leaving the country, Zhou Keshan also did business. This was a special discount given to Zhou Keshan by Ding Haijun, and it was also the basis for him to occupy a certain position at sea and in front of the merchants of the Southern Song Dynasty. After all, the more in-demand goods mean more money, so who can have trouble with money?
After the iron needle, there are shovels, shovels, iron pots and other items, all of which can be turned around and sold at high prices.
Zhou Keshan's Zhiku reported loudly while counting: "Ten thousand iron needles, five hundred shovels, fifteen hundred iron shovels, two hundred large iron pots...and the ones we promised before." Where’s the iron axe?”
These are normal operations when sending and receiving goods on a daily basis. Many materials are not included in the records of the guide, because the guide is just a cost account, and there are also private account records. This is not clear, but it will be a disadvantage.
But at this time, the atmosphere on the dock was really different from the past. Nazhiku reported twice, and suddenly an officer came running with dozens of soldiers, shouting: "This is iron! How can iron be shipped out!"
Naoku had rarely been scolded like this here, and he looked annoyed at that time.
Zhou Keshan quickly stopped Zhiku, took a few steps forward and said with a smile: "Sorry, sorry, I'm afraid this general just came to Zhigu Village not long ago, so I looked a little unfamiliar..."
Before he finished speaking, the officer punched Zhou Keshan in the face and knocked him down.
This punch was not light, and blood spurted from Zhou Keshan's face. He was lying on his back, holding his nose and trying to calm his cheeks. A reckless man was picked out from the back of the boat, it was Wang Erbai.
This guy had been at sea for a long time, and his temper became a bit violent. He couldn't help but fly up and kicked the officer out of the trestle, and fell into the sea.
