Hepu has been an important town in the Lingnan region since ancient times.
This place is surrounded by mountains and the sea, with relatively flat terrain, abundant products and abundant natural resources.
During the Tang Dynasty, Hepu County was an important seaport in the south and an important starting point of the Tang Dynasty Silk Road.
From here, the Tang Dynasty's fleet could reach most of Southeast Asia and even sail as far as India.
In the Song Dynasty, Hepu County was an important port with an extremely prosperous city, and foreigners came from all over the world to trade here every day.
However, by the Ming Dynasty, Hepu County began to decline rapidly.
The reason is naturally very simple, that is Zhu Yuanzhang's sea ban.
However, under the maritime ban, it was not just Hepu that declined. Quanzhou, Fuzhou and other areas in Fujian also suffered a serious decline.
After all, since ancient times, these areas have relied on port trade as a pillar industry, and through pillar trade, they can quickly accumulate wealth, which has created the prosperity of these port cities.
Since the sea ban, the mainstay industries have collapsed rapidly, leaving nothing but chicken feathers. The local economy has naturally declined rapidly.
Although the sea ban is now relaxed, it is only the sea ban in Shanghai County that has been relaxed, and it has nothing to do with Hepu County, so Hepu County is still in poverty.
The people are hungry, coupled with the violent floods, the people here are displaced, and there are refugees and disaster victims everywhere.
These people are like locusts passing through the border. As long as they can eat anything, they will eat it all, leaving nothing behind.
When Zhu Biao and Li Jin came outside Hepu County, they saw such a scene.
The people relied on each other and waited beside the muddy road, hoping that someone would give them some food so that they could fill their stomachs.
Unfortunately, this place has now lost its ability to attract outsiders and can only become involved in each other.
Except for Li Jin and his group, he didn't see anyone walking here in Hepu County.
The victims saw someone walking from the pipeline towards Hepu County, like ants, squeezing towards Li Jin and others, holding a broken bowl in their hands, hoping that Li Jin and others could give some food.
Zhu Biao was about to take some dry food from the carriage, but was stopped by Li Jin.
If you take out food in this situation, you will be surrounded by disaster victims instantly and you will not be able to escape.
Now is not the time to show kindness. On the contrary, Li Jin needs to act more vicious so that he can reach Hepu County smoothly.
"Come here, drive away all these unruly people."
"If you dare to block my carriage again and run it over, I will not be held responsible if someone is killed!"
After saying that, Li Jin's guards faithfully pulled out their swords and looked at the surrounding refugees fiercely.
Seeing this, the surrounding victims were shocked and fled far away, never daring to approach Li Jin's carriage again.
After Li Jin's carriage slowly drove into Hepu County, he discovered that the environment and infrastructure in the county were not bad.
Although the houses in Hepu County are not luxurious, most of them are built with blue bricks.
The streets below are also paved with stone bricks. It can be seen that although Hepu County is in decline, the lives of the people in Hepu County are pretty good relying on the rich natural resources.
It is only possible that in recent years, due to frequent floods, the harvest in Hepu County has been seriously affected, which has led to the emergence of refugees.
Li Jin observed the situation in Hepu County through the carriage curtain, while silently calculating something in his heart.
He found that there were still many grain shops in the county, but none seemed to be open. He wondered if there was a food shortage, which led to the closure of the grain shops.
As the carriage moved forward, the people in the county looked much better than the refugees, but their faces were still full of food, and it seemed that they had been hungry for too long.
However, seeing such a luxurious carriage, these common people couldn't help but take a second look, wondering which dignitary would actually choose to come to their place where birds do not lay eggs.
Finally, Li Jin's carriage stopped at the gate of the county government office in Hepu County.
Li Jin slowly got out of the carriage, and then asked someone to go to the door to announce that the prefect had arrived, and asked the people inside to come out quickly to greet him.
However, after Li Jin made the announcement for a long time, no one came out to greet him. Instead, a sharp-mouthed government official came out of the county government office and said to Li Jin disdainfully:
"The county magistrate said that the prefect's seat is in Qinzhou, not in Hepu."
"Your Majesty, please move on and quickly go to Qinzhou to take office. The Hepu Temple is small and cannot accommodate your great Buddha."
Seeing how arrogant this man was, Li Jin was immediately angered.
He walked forward in a few steps, kicked the arrogant government servant, and then said slowly:
"After today, I have the final say in Hepu County."
"I want to see who is against it and who is in favor!"
