Looking at this young man who claimed to be a merchant, not only Gao Baoxu was impressed, but also Gao Yanhui, the original envoy, had to think carefully.
Is he really just a businessman?
Regardless of the demeanor and behavior, or the sense of calmness, it gives people an illusion.
If he didn't understand Wei Qi, Gao Baoxu would naturally not believe it so easily. But it was because of Wei Qi that I knew that Lei Zhenzi was indeed Wei Qi's childhood friend. Although he was born into a merchant family, he traveled extensively since childhood. Not only did he have rich life experiences, but he also had a very good understanding of all parts of the world.
In this era of frequent wars, this kind of merchants who travel around the world are often the targets that local governments want to win over.
Because such businessmen often have unique vision and even have huge financial resources. The most important thing is that they travel around the world and understand all states in the world even better than the local officials and generals. This can be said to be the best living map in emergency times, especially wartime.
So if you think about it more deeply, the utilization of these merchants is huge. Therefore, as a descendant of the Gao family in Jingnan, although Gao Baoxu has no real power, he still has this vision. So when Wei Qi said he wanted to introduce Lei Zhenzi to him, Gao Baoxu, who always liked making friends, readily agreed.
When I heard Lei Zhenzi's words, I naturally gained some understanding. Although he did not travel far and wide, he rarely even went out to Jingnan's territory. But we also know that when merchants like Lei Zhenzi usually travel around the states, without the support of the feudal towns, it would be really difficult for them to travel around the world.
Because along the way, either the goods were swallowed up by the feudal town, or they were occupied by bandits along the way. This is an inevitable thing in today's world. Good hope can save money and avoid disaster, but miserable hope often even saves one's life.
Therefore, merchants in cross-border state capitals in this era either had strong power and led bodyguards that were enough to protect them. Of course, it cannot threaten the local political power, otherwise it will be regarded as a threat.
Either there must be extreme means that will make the vassal towns everywhere look at him with suspicion. The means involved are nothing more than money and eyesight. Money naturally means road money and taxes, and eyesight naturally means that they will betray or even provide some intelligence information.
This kind of convenience and magical power of merchants can be said to be extremely subtle in this era. Especially some neighboring hostile forces. Merchants often do not have enough rights to do business across borders, and it is generally impossible to do so smoothly.
But merchants all over the world are still doing business!
This illustrates a problem. They can freely travel to all states in the world, and naturally they have their own special methods!
In this period, it is no exaggeration to say that this kind of method is powerful!
Jingnan is a special place. Not only are big merchants from various prefectures gathered here, but also local merchants in Jingnan have emerged near Jiangling Prefecture because of Jingnan's special geographical location.
Goods from all over the world can be found in Jingnan. This is due to the specialness of Jingnan. This little middle ground is more than just a golden triangle. Because not only is there someone in charge here, but they also manage it very well.
This is not only a place where merchants from various states in the world gather, but also the middle ground for merchants from various states in the world to trade. It can be said without hesitation that the prosperity of Jiangling Mansion comes from merchants from all over the world.
Therefore, although Jingnan certainly raided envoys from various places, it was very tolerant towards these merchants who traveled around the world. So today's Jiangling Mansion is not only very prosperous, but also receives news from merchants from all over the world.
Because coming from the Central Plains, if you want to go south to Lingnan, in this era, the only way is to go through Jingnan and Chu. This is the most important way. And if this peacemaking mission wants to go to Lingnan quickly, it is obvious now that they have no choice but to go through Jingnan and enter the Chu territory.
Moreover, Jingnan surrendered to the Central Plains, and the Chu region was also canonized by the Central Plains. This was an obvious and feasible path. So as long as these forces don't get carried away, they shouldn't embarrass the Central Plains team. However, Jingnan is still peaceful now, but it can be said that the Chu Kingdom has been in constant chaos since the Ma family withdrew.
From the initial power of Su Qing in the Southern Tang Dynasty, to winning over the barbarians in Western Chu to divide and rule. Later, when the warlords Liu Yan and Wang Jinkui came to power, and even now when Zhou Xingfeng ruled alone, it can be said that the land of Chu was already full of ten houses and nine empty houses.
It is no lie that all ten houses in Chu land are empty and there is no one in the area.
At the end of the Tang Dynasty, there were nearly 500,000 households in the Chu region, but according to statistics in recent years, there were only 890,000 households in the entire Chu region. Moreover, most of these populations are still concentrated in Langzhou, Tanzhou, Hengzhou and Yongzhou. Of course, the main populations are in Langzhou and Tanzhou, so many places in Chu District actually have no population.
The reason why Jingnan is so awesome is that the population of Jingnan, which is only a land of three states, is half that of Chu. As Jingnan connects the north and the south, it is natural to know some of the conditions of its neighbor.
Zhou Xingfeng, who had just seized power and occupied Chu Territory, was determined to revive Chu Territory. Unfortunately, Chu Xi has been completely separated, and he can no longer reunite. Then there are not many other state capitals in the Chu region that he can actually control. In addition, the population is sparse, so the only area that is really controllable in Chu District is around Langzhou.
Regardless of whether it is Langzhou that he, the Wu'an Jiedushi, controls, or Tanzhou that he has jurisdiction over, his real control is not 100%. As for Hengzhou and Yongzhou in the name, anyone with a discerning eye knows that they already belong to Zhang Wenbiao. Although Zhou Xingfeng had his own extraordinary methods, everyone understood the principle that the sky is high and the emperor is far away.
Of course, this is not the main thing. The main thing is that there is no one in the Chu land, so it is desolate everywhere, which naturally attracts bandits to dominate the mountains and become kings everywhere. Therefore, whether merchants or feudal lords, when passing through a certain state capital, they must carefully avoid local bandits.
So when he heard Lei Zhenzi's words, not only Gao Baoxu was surprised, but Gao Yanhui was even more nervous. Now we have to pass through Jingnan, and then we have to take the road through Chudi. Therefore, these two closely related places are naturally indistinguishable from each other.
Zhongyuan is now very powerful on the surface, but when it comes to other vassal towns, whether they can show off their dignity is another matter. Of course, especially a small or medium-sized team was sent. You must know that this team alone is enough to sweep through the state capital with few people in Chu District.
So the reason why everyone is worried now is based on this premise. I hope that this team of sending relatives will not threaten the local power territory!
