The next morning, Chen Qing took Zhao Yingluo to Hanyang County on the other side, escorted by 3,000 soldiers.
There are no garrison troops in Hanyang Prefecture. Except for the 20,000 garrison troops in Xiangyang City on the entire Jinghu North Road, there are no garrison troops in other states. There are only a few hundred state troops at most.
Of course Chen Qing was interested in Cangcheng outside Hanyang City. Cangcheng has a circumference of twelve miles and is like a small county town. It was a logistics center built by Li Gang to suppress Yang Yao's rebellion. It was also used to resist the southern invasion of Wanyanchang's army.
time also played an important role.
Now Cangcheng has no military role and has been placed under local management. After Hanyang Prefecture turned it into a commercial warehouse, it suddenly burst into great vitality. Merchants rented warehouses here to store inventory, which led to the rapid development of Hanyang City's commerce.
In fact, it was not because of the arrival of the Western Army warships that the business in Jiangxia was deserted. The fundamental reason was that Shangcang City in Hanyang had driven commercial development and had been developing rapidly for two years, while the Western Army warships had been stationed in Jiangxia for less than a month.
There were no troops stationed in Hanyang Mansion, and only two hundred state soldiers were responsible for maintaining order. When the prefect and the magistrate heard that His Highness King Yong had come to inspect, they were so frightened that they hurried out of the city to greet him.
Although Hanyang Mansion was under the jurisdiction of the imperial court, who would dare to neglect King Yong's arrival?
"Li Qing, the humble magistrate of Hanyang, meets His Highness King Yong!"
"Zhou Lin, the low-ranking magistrate of Hanyang, comes to see His Highness!"
Chen Qing smiled slightly and said: "Don't be nervous, you two. I'm just inspecting Ezhou and stopping by to see the business in Hanyang City. I have no other intention!"
"Your Highness, please go into the city and rest at the government office. We will report to Your Highness!"
"There's no need to go to the government office. I'll just take a look. If my subordinates don't allow it, I don't want to alarm you."
The two state officials looked at each other and secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Magistrate Li Qing said: "I am humble enough to accompany His Highness on inspection!"
"Can!"
Chen Qing took Zhao Yingluo on a carriage and drove towards Hanyang City. Outside Hanyang City, he saw a large number of shops, various footwear shops, teahouses, taverns, etc., one after another, very lively and prosperous, quite
It feels a bit like Jingzhao City. Just outside the city, Chen Qing can feel the strong commercial atmosphere.
The carriage entered the city under the escort of hundreds of soldiers, and a noisy and lively atmosphere hit the face. The city was full of shouts and people coming and going, shops were densely packed, various signboards were dazzling, and the entire commercial atmosphere was extremely lively.
You must know that the Western Army and Zhang Jun's army were facing each other hundreds of miles away on the Han River, and the place was still so prosperous without being affected at all.
"Prefect Li!" Chen Qing opened the car window and shouted.
Li Qing was riding on a horse. He quickly urged the horse forward, "Please give me your orders, Your Highness!"
"I just want to ask, if the business here is so developed, how many people are there in the county?"
Li Qing quickly explained: "Your Highness does not know that the prosperity of commerce has nothing to do with the people of this county. Neither the buyers nor the sellers are from Hanyang Prefecture. They are businessmen from various places. They just use Hanyang City to trade. Local people are not
There are many, and the county’s population is less than 100,000.”
"I see!"
Chen Qing smiled and nodded, "If you put it this way, the commercial street shouldn't be long!"
"Your Highness is absolutely right. This section to the east of the city is about a mile away. The rest of the city is similar to Jiangxia City and is relatively deserted."
After a pause, Li Qing continued: "Actually, Hanyang is not prosperous in business, but has a considerable warehousing industry. We have Shangcang City, and a large number of merchants store goods here."
"Then go to Cangcheng and have a look!"
Chen Qing ordered: "Turn around and go to Cangcheng!"
The carriage slowly turned around and headed towards Cangcheng outside the city, escorted by hundreds of soldiers.
Cangcheng is located on the southeast bank of the Yangtze River. The waterway has been widened so that merchant ships can sail directly into the city. In addition, a north city gate has been opened to facilitate the transportation of goods to the county seat.
Chen Qing's carriage entered Cangcheng from Beicheng. Cangcheng was very large, with a circumference of twelve miles. It was like a small county town. It also had streets and rivers, running water and land in parallel.
But Chen Qing felt that there were very few merchants on the street, and compared with the prosperity of the county town, it was much deserted.
Chen Qing simply got off the carriage and walked. On one side were huge warehouses and on the other side was the river, where goods could be unloaded at any time. Chen Qing liked this warehouse city very much.
Of course he came to inspect with consideration. After Xiangyang is captured in the future, the Han River-Shangzhou Road will be opened, and most of the supplies from Jiangnan and overseas can be stored here, while the supplies going to Bashu will continue to be transported to Jiangling.
If they were all shipped to Jiangling, and then turned around and shipped to Xiangyang, the distance would be much longer, and after the Han River passed Xiangyang, Wanshi Ship would not be able to reach it, and they would have to change ships in Xiangyang, which would be a bit troublesome.
It would be better to use the warehouse in Hanyang and put the goods directly in Hanyang, but this involves another issue, that is safety.
If you want to be safe, you must garrison troops and have special warehouses. Once you garrison troops, you will cause unnecessary trouble with the court, and he is not willing to mix them with other merchants' goods.
Of course, Chen Qing did not want to drive out all the merchants in order to monopolize Cangcheng. When he was strongly encouraging business, it was best not to do such a thing.
"Is the warehouse fully rented?" Chen Qing asked.
"More than half of it is rented out."
Chen Qing was startled, "There are so many, where are the merchants renting them?"
"Reporting to Your Highness, there are Jinghu South Road, Jinghu North Road, Huaixi Road, and merchants from the Central Plains. They come from various states and counties. Mainly because of the shortage of ships, their goods are stored in the warehouse and will be shipped slowly when ships are available.
go back."
"I see!"
Chen Qing had no intention of reading any more. It was obviously unrealistic to rent a warehouse in Hanyang Mansion.
On the return boat, Zhao Yingluo smiled at Chen Qing and said: "Actually, my husband can consider building a warehouse group in Xiangyang. The Wanshi ship will directly transport the goods to Xiangyang, unload the goods, and then use the fleet to transfer them to Shangzhou, and then use camels and large ships to transport the goods."
Another advantage of transporting it to Jingzhao and building a warehouse in Xiangyang is that it can take care of the Central Plains."
Chen Qing nodded and said: "After unloading part of the cargo, we still have to continue to Bashu and travel the Han River section of the waterway."
Zhao Yingluo pursed her lips and smiled and said: "Actually, the impact is not big. If you have traveled thousands of miles of sea routes, do you still care about traveling a few hundred more miles of water routes?
In addition, you can also divide the goods at the source, put the cargo ships going to Jingzhao together, and put the goods going to Sichuan Road or Jinghu South Road on another large ship, and send their own goods to each, so that you will not go through unnecessary mistakes.
."
Chen Qing smiled and said: "You are right, we can travel tens of thousands of miles by sea, and we don't care if we travel hundreds of miles more by river. All the goods will be sent to Xiangyang, and then a transshipment office will be set up in Xiangyang, and the transshipment office will decide where to send the goods?
Anyway, there will also be fleets delivering goods from Jinghu South Road and Sichuan Road. When the fleets return, they will carry the goods to Jiangling or Hengyang, and the problem will be solved."
“What do you mean, my husband, is that the materials on the Sichuan Road must also be transported by water to Xiangyang, and then sent to Jingzhao, making a large circle of thousands of miles?”
Chen Qing nodded, "You don't know how difficult it is to transport goods along the Shu Road. After all the hard work, you have to cross Zhongnan Mountain again. The camel team takes more than a month to make the trip, and thousands of them die from exhaustion every year."
Camels, and it is not easy to transport bulk materials such as copper coins and grain.
If you take the waterway, it will take more than a month. You can transport the goods from Chengdu to Shangluo County in Shangzhou by waterway, and then use camels or carts to transport the materials from Shangluo County to Chang'an. The land is much shorter and the road is smooth.
In fact, it is the best transportation route.”
Zhao Yingluo smiled thoughtfully and said, "Only now do I know why my husband tried every possible means to capture Xiangyang?"