Early the next morning, Li Yun changed into ordinary robes and went out with a few followers.
At this time, Tianjin Mansion was the commercial center of the Zhou Dynasty and the location of many newly established official offices, giving it the status of accompanying the capital. And compared with the solemnity of Zhongdu Daxing Mansion, it is more practical and functional. As a result, population and wealth continued to gather here.
The city plan that the emperor and his ministers had planned two years ago based on their generous ideas would undergo major changes almost every six months, and the city area would continue to expand.
Li Yun and his party were riding on horseback and looking around casually, they saw that the originally desolate place, the reclaimed fields had been leveled, and large trucks had transported the gravel, which was compacted and elevated mercilessly.
Tianjin Prefecture is low-lying, prone to seawater intrusion, and the land is extremely salty. It’s difficult to harvest the land here, so everyone didn’t feel bad when they saw it. On the other hand, among the convoys transporting earth and rocks to fill the elevated ground, there were several large trucks transporting heavy stones... They might have been mined from the Fangshan area and transported hundreds of miles away, which was really a big deal.
Everyone walked forward, heading towards the seawall in the east of the city. When it was first built, the road was very straight and wide. Now there are many shops along the street. In order to compete for business, each shop built its own ceiling and counter, encroaching on the street bit by bit. Only when we reach the main road that connects the east and west does it feel much wider.
After autumn every year, the water volume of several rivers in the upper reaches of the Haihe River decreases greatly. In addition to water transportation, many commercial materials must be transported by land, passing through several major roads in Tianjin Prefecture.
These material transport fleets usually belong to some powerful government agencies or large businesses. Recently, various places have paid heavily to hire skilled craftsmen from the Southern Dynasties, and have worked hard on vehicles. New four-wheeled carriages have been adopted one after another. The body is very large, and the wheels look unusually thick.
Tianjin Prefecture and Daxing Prefecture combined are a metropolis with a population of more than 1.5 million, and it is the core of the entire Central Plains and the North. It handles and consumes countless materials, which is comparable to the prosperity of the Song Dynasty in the Southern Dynasties. This type of fleet is usually not used to transport food and cloth, but is specialized in transporting expensive materials, such as medicinal materials, spices, silk, porcelain and the like. One team often involves tens of thousands of dollars in business, and there is no room for delay.
Therefore, it is strictly forbidden to encroach on the main road. The people from the Police Patrol Court have specially set up a group of archers to keep an eye on it all day long. There is also a team responsible for emergency repair and smoothing of the road.
These main roads themselves are also connected in all directions. Where there are no shops on both sides of the streets, there are all large warehouses with high walls. Half of these warehouses are tall masonry buildings built by Ding Haijun using his own financial resources before the Tianjin Prefecture was established. Now it is under the name of Li Yun's Qunmu Station, and it is subleased to merchants from Song Dynasty, Goryeo and other places at high prices every now and then. The supply is always in short supply.
For example, Shi Miyuan, the prime minister of the Southern Dynasty, used two large treasuries here for a long time in the name of Fuzhou merchants. What is stored and transported daily in the warehouse is not ordinary goods, but iron coins and copper coins.
The matter of coining money has always been a shortcoming of the Northern Dynasty. A hundred years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, Dajin minted very little money and mostly used Song and Liao coins. Guo Ning established himself in Shandong and then started mining and metallurgy. However, the area mainly mined gold and silver, and he was not good at the technical work of coining money.
When the scale of trade between the north and the south increased dramatically, the north once fell into a money shortage. Fortunately, Li Yun was able to convince Shi Miyuan, the prime minister of the Southern Dynasty, at this time. So Shi Miyuanhe and Dazhou joined hands to restart multiple copper and iron mines in Huainan and Huaibei on the border between the two countries. The number of copper coins produced this year is said to have exceeded the highest annual minting quota during the reign of Emperor Xiaozong of the Southern Dynasties.
Half of these privately coined coins were directly transferred to the Great Zhou Dynasty's finance; the other half was the private wealth of the Prime Minister. The old man was willing to spend it on Da Zhou, so Da Zhou was naturally overjoyed and held the God of Wealth high.
Among them, Li Yun's coordination is indispensable. Li Yun also knew that the man with the title of Fuzhou merchant was actually Shi Miyuan's nephew, Shi Songzhi, who had been beaten up by Li Yun.
Of course, if there is a chance for the two of them to meet again now, they will smile and forget their grudges for the sake of gold and silver.
Li Yun followed the main road, passing through five or six large-scale markets, all the way to the east of the city, just after Chen hour.
As a well-known local middleman, Shi Sansao did not go around Fangshi personally to solicit customers. Instead, she bought a small courtyard next to Fangshi and lived there.
The small courtyard is located at the end of a deep alley. There are many people passing by in the alley. Most of them are following people to meet this Shi Sansao and ask her to help her handle things. There are also some people with cheerful faces and holding snack boxes for giving gifts. , it seems that with the help of this middleman, I made money or received benefits.
Zhang Lin, the governor of Tianjin Prefecture, is a very meticulous and tactful person. Li Yun remembered that in his early years, he rectified the business in Zhigu Village and restricted the scope of various dental shops and individual dental brokers and brokers. There were also various written regulations that could not be exceeded.
But Sister-in-law Shi is really awesome. Looking at her well-connected people, it is obvious that her assistant is not only involved in recruiting people, but also involved in guarantee transactions and even matchmaking of various businesses. It seems that she is not restricted by the rules of Tianjin Prefecture.
I haven't checked this carefully for several months, but there is such a luxurious person in Tianjin Mansion?
Li Yun stood outside the alley gate. He was not in a hurry to go in. Instead, he paid attention to the merchants coming in and out. He thought for a long time. The old soldier who led him here was a little worried and explained from the side: "This Shi Sansao is indeed a capable person in the local area. We have inquired, and the reputation is good both officially and among the people. Doctor, we don’t often use people in our house, so we occasionally rent some people, and we don’t dare to neglect them.”
After pondering last night, these veterans roughly understood what Li Yun was staring at. They are all veterans. Li Yun never had a fit at home, and they did not bother a little maid. However, when they followed Li Yun here, they guessed that Li Yun was about to cause trouble, and they could not help but think of a little excuse for themselves.
Just after saying a few words, someone suddenly cheered loudly in the courtyard: "Aha, distinguished guest! Distinguished guest! Mr. Shang is here!"
The person called "Mr. Shang" was Li Yun's veteran soldier who was responsible for recruiting servants.
Even though they were separated by the courtyard wall, Sister-in-law Shi came out like a whirlwind as if she smelled the scent.
This Yapo is about fifty years old, looks very shrewd, but has a smiling face and is not annoying. Halfway through the run, she was obviously startled because she noticed Li Yun following behind, casually wearing a chinchilla robe.
Li Yun can almost be regarded as one of the founders of Tianjin Prefecture. When this place was still called Zhigu Village, he came here on behalf of the current Emperor of the Zhou Dynasty and received many merchants' properties. Later, he also built a bridge between the North and the South, laying the foundation for The basis for the prosperity of this place.
Although Sister-in-law Shi San had never seen Li Yun with her own eyes, she had heard people describe the appearance of this young minister of Zhou Dynasty. Immediately, a smile spread across her face, she bowed her body from a distance, said hello, and repeatedly asked people to clean the house and prepare tea, looking extremely respectful.
Li Yun smiled and said: "You're welcome. I see that your business is booming and I can't delay. So I found a quiet place to ask a few words and then left."
"Please, please, it's quiet here in the alley and no one will disturb you." Shi Sansao smiled brightly and led Li Yun to the edge of the alley, where the carriages and sedan chairs were parked: "If Mr. Li has anything he wants to ask, I, the old lady, will answer you. !
"I guess you have already prepared a whole set of arguments about the little maid in my house. But I am too lazy to listen to them. You can write me a statement later, just follow your usual style and be more detailed."
The veteran soldier Shang Qi who was following Li Yun said "ah".
Sister-in-law Shi was a little stunned at first, then smiled and said: "What do you mean by this? Mr. Li, I, I don't understand..."
Li Yun put his hands in his sleeves and seemed to catch a glimpse of a few figures flashing in the alley's forks or corners. He looked intently, but found nothing. Not even the pedestrians walking in the alley seemed aware of it.
He sneered a few times and turned back to stare at Sister-in-law Shi:
"Are you, the recorder, so full that you are using this little trick to plot against me? You don't even dare to investigate, so why bother dragging me into trouble?"
