The officialdom in the capital was like a black vortex, constantly rotating in place, and the sky was gray, as if there were always some invisible conspiracies hidden.

In comparison, the Macau Peninsula, which is located at the southern end of the Ming Dynasty, ushered in a ray of spring.

This place is no longer a barren land, nor a place to live under the control of foreign races, but a place to be prosperous in the Ming Dynasty.

As the Xiangshan New City covering an area of ​​four square kilometers rose, the population here also grew rapidly from hundreds to thousands to tens of thousands, and now it has approached the 100,000 mark.

At Xiangshan New Port, large sea ships arrived from the sea and followed the Xijiang River to the port. Ships also continued to leave the port and headed towards Leizhou, Hangzhou, Japan, Southeast Asia or Europe.

After years of rapid development, Xiangshan New Port has now connected Leizhou, Hangzhou, Japan, Nanyang and Europe and other places, becoming one of the most prosperous ports in the world.

Since Xiangshan New Port has become the most important external window of the Ming Dynasty, wealthy businessmen come here with goods every day to conduct bulk transactions, which often cost hundreds of thousands of taels, which has greatly promoted accommodation, catering and entertainment in Xiangshan City.

industry.

At the beginning of its construction, Xiangshan City made a relatively systematic urban planning.

The main street here is distributed in a tic-tac shape, and there are small streets and alleys in the street, which can be connected to the main street, making it like a maze here, but it also presents the beauty of rules.

Since there are many Portuguese residents here, there are also many European two-story buildings in terms of architectural style, with marble statues standing on the walls, with beautiful shapes and lifelike appearance.

Dongdongdongdongdong...

As noon approached, a mechanical sound came from the north of the city.

Xiangshan New City did not build a drum tower, but a Western bell tower was built next to the church. Every time the corresponding time point is reached, several crisp mechanical sounds will sound.

The people of the Ming Dynasty have always been tolerant and are willing to accept such new things. They did not stick to the notation of time, but chose to follow the time when the people of Xiangshan began to use the Western world.

In particular, Western clocks have become popular in Xiangshan City, which has led many gentry to use this unique Western clock, which has also aggravated the popularity of Western time.

Perhaps it was these seemingly insignificant friendly small actions, or perhaps it was the joint pursuit of profits between the two sides that led to a deeper cooperation in maritime trade between the two sides.

Although the merchants of the Ming Dynasty voluntarily gave up their routes in Japan, they chose to work hard in the Southeast Asian countries, and exchanged more and more spices from the poor South Asian people, and then sold these spices to the Portuguese.

The silver obtained by Portuguese traders from Japan cannot support the huge cost of purchasing Nanyang spices, so it is natural for South American silver to be transported.

It is precisely because a commercial trade around spices was quietly formed. It not only benefited the Ming merchants, but also the Portuguese merchants, and even the people of Nanyang and the Ming people could benefit from it.

If this continues, although this decadent dynasty cannot become prosperous and strong, it will undoubtedly be conducive to the economic development of Guangdong and will also enable the Ming Dynasty to maintain contact with the world.

Xiangshan County Yamen, Guangdong Maritime Boxet Office and Xiangshan Guard Yamen are all located on the main street in the city. It is these three major Yamen that jointly manage and protect Xiangshan City.

Although Xiangshan New City has just been built less than two years ago, with the rapid increase in migrant population and the demand for commercial land, there is now a plan to build an outer city.

The sun is high in the first month of the year and the temperature is still at a lower level.

With the arrival of a giant ship, many passengers got off the ship. Although some people chose to go directly to Guangzhou City, more people were still willing to choose this Xiangshan City nearby.

A group of people walked from the pier and appeared in the ever-changing streets of Xiangshan.

There are many food stalls on both sides of the street here, selling various local snacks. Due to the cold weather, in addition to the hot porridge, there are some barbecue foods here.

In a food stall, a little old man was grilling the oysters that had just been picked from the beach. The oysters had been pried open, and the oyster meat was grilled particularly tempting, and the aroma was even more scattered in the streets.

"Aren't two oysters baked for one cent? Why are they so expensive now?"

A girl in thick clothes came to the stall, looked at the wooden board with the price written on it, and asked the little old man busy grilling oysters.

The old man looked kind and had a broken front teeth. He replied in a local accent: "This guest, you haven't come to Xiangshan for a year, right? No one wants ten oysters in the past, but no one wants them.

The two are probably the price of the previous year, but now everything is more expensive. The oysters are really going to be at this price this year!”

The girl couldn't help swallowing and spitting when she looked at the fragrantly baked oysters, and then frowned and asked in confusion: "Why is this?"

While taking care of oysters with bamboo shoots, the old man explained seriously: "In the past, no one came to this beautiful mirror, but now people come and go, most of the wealthy businessmen and noble men are rich, and oysters are not sold for three cents.

If you are worried about selling, you will definitely be taken away by your colleagues if you sell it for one or two cents!"

"Okay! Just give us... a basket first. I haven't eaten oysters for a long time!" The girl swallowed and spitted, saying with some expectation.

"Okay!" The old man responded and sighed again: "We are really grateful to Lin Lei Gong. We built Xiangshan City in Haojing and opened the sea here, which made us ordinary people have a pause.

Eat it!"

"Give me ten! Isn't it? Our group of businessmen have more to do business, so that we can make some money to live with the Portuguese!" A merchant walked in and sighed.

typical.

The girl listened to the conversation between the two, her chin gently raised and her face looked very happy.

This girl is naturally Hu Niu. She finally returned to Xiangshan City from the capital. If she hadn't done a few heroic and righteous things on the road, they would have actually come back sooner, and even had the chance to rush back to Changlin Village for the New Year.

Ali looked up at Hu Niu's proud look and asked, "Hu Niu, why are you happy?"

"I will be happy if I praise my brother. Are you unhappy?" Hu Niu said naturally.
Chapter completed!