Food, fabrics, and handicrafts shipped from all over the country, furs, medicinal materials, and weapons produced in the North are all sold and exchanged in Human Village. Another important product is slaves.
Young men, women, and even children who have been captured from various places and have lost their freedom are all commodities available for sale in the market of Human Village.
Not under the control of the government, with illegal trade as the largest source of income, there are some similarities between Humanzhai and Okura Castle, but there are also obvious differences between the two.
One is the object of trade. Okura City is located in the city above the South China Sea. The shipping company is engaged in maritime cargo trade between Middle-earth and Western countries in Europe. Humanzhai is located on the northern border of the Ming Dynasty. The main trade here is The targets are Manchu, Mongolian, Uighur and other northern nomadic tribes
Another difference is the management of the city
At that time, Sima Zhufeng single-handedly built the defense and management of Dakang City. All matters were controlled by "Wanjintang" and clear regulations were formulated. The entire city was managed in an orderly manner.
The Human Village is in a lot of chaos. The Luanhe River Basin is the only way for the traveling horse teams of the northern nomadic tribes to enter the Ming Dynasty. Many merchants from all over the Central Plains also transport goods here to trade with the horse teams of these nomadic tribes. Over time, A market spontaneously formed
A few years later, the scale of goods trade in the Luanhe River Basin became larger and larger. Many powerful forces found it profitable and wanted to annex and control the market here. These forces not only came from China, but also from the northern grasslands. After fierce fighting, After many lives were lost in the fighting, all parties finally reached a compromise and stopped fighting. After all, everyone is driven by profit. Only in a peaceful situation can the trade of goods be carried out. Otherwise, even if they occupy this area by force, no use
So Human Village was built, not by one force alone, but by an alliance of all forces. After the castle was built, all other spontaneous markets in the surrounding areas were wiped out. Fangshi became the only place in the entire Luanhe River Basin where goods trade could be carried out [
It has been more than 30 years since the Human Village was built and it is only 260 miles away from the capital. Of course, it is impossible for the Ming court to be unaware of its existence. Several ministers have written letters proposing that the court send heavy troops to exterminate this unpopular village. The walled city bound by royal law was wiped out from the territory of the Ming Dynasty
However, neither the original Emperor Guangzong nor the later Emperor Xizong Zhu Youxiao to the current Emperor Chongzhen Zhu Youjian did not issue an order to send troops. One of the reasons is that the strong ground of the Human Walled City is difficult to defend and difficult to attack, and more importantly, this The existence of Chucheng Walled City was actually quite beneficial to the security of the northern border of the Ming Dynasty.
It has been more than 200 years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. After reaching its peak during the Yongle Emperor, it gradually began to decline. Especially in the Taichang and Tianqi dynasties, it went from bad to worse. Since Chongzhen, natural disasters have continued to deplete the country's strength, reaching the point of collapse.
A hundred years ago, Yongle Emperor Zhu Di conquered all parts of northern Xinjiang and surrendered. Today's Ming Dynasty has long since lost its glory, especially the northern border, which is facing many crises. Although Mongolia has been divided, the troops of each tribe are still there. The emperor changed the name of his country to the Qing Dynasty and gathered the elite soldiers of the Eight Banners to invade the country many times. After several battles, the Ming Dynasty always lost more than it won.
After Chongzhen ascended the throne, the situation became more serious. With the military power of the Ming Dynasty today, the rebels who had arisen from all over the world were already overwhelmed, and there was no time left to deal with foreign invasions.
The reason why the northern peoples invade the border is actually due to their way of life. These peoples have always been nomadic and are not used to growing food. The output is extremely unstable. Once the climate changes, they will often be in a situation of food shortage, so they enter the customs. Robbery became their usual means of making a living.
However, the northern prairie also has its own unique resources: animal skins, wool, and medicinal materials are all needed by the Ming Dynasty in China. The rich copper and iron deposits can also be smelted to make weapons and other utensils.
For a long time, the nomadic tribes in the north have traded with Ming merchants in Humanzhai to exchange their specialty products for food, cloth and other necessities of life, which has alleviated their life crisis to a certain extent. If there were no trade channels between the two sides of Humanzhai, that would be The northern nomadic tribes who have been cut off and lost their food sources may invade the pass more often.
This is also the reason why several generations of emperors of the Ming Dynasty did not rashly send troops to encircle and suppress the Human Village. However, this special city, which is not under the control of the government and has no royal law, actually survived for a few days less than 300 miles away from the capital of the Ming Dynasty. Ten years of being ignored by the court
It was already dusk of the next day when siblings Li Hu and Zhu Huichan arrived at Shihou Road on the bank of Luanhe River.
The three of them camped out one night next to a stream in the forest and set out early the next morning. The horse Zhu Huichan originally rode had its hind legs chopped off, but it just happened to be the black horse riding Wan Lei.
In order to avoid the officers and soldiers, the paths they took were all remote wilderness trails, which were quite rugged and difficult to navigate. However, Zhu Huichan was in high spirits and in a good mood. She seemed to have forgotten all about the grievances and hardships she suffered from being robbed yesterday, and she regarded this trip as a Normal outing
She even hoped that a few more bandits and bandits would jump out from the roadside to cut off the path and rob others, so that she could get over her addiction to traveling around the world to eliminate evil and promote good. Unfortunately, the sky did not follow people's wishes, and the journey was quite peaceful without any accidents.
By the time the sun sets in the west, the tall walls of Humanzhai have appeared in the valley in the distance.
There is a road a hundred feet in front of the city gate. It is made of several rough wooden logs and is placed in the middle of the road. More than ten men with knives on their backs and leather armors stand guard beside it [
Although Human Village does not have royal laws, it does not have all the rules. The biggest rule here is that once you enter the city gate, you are never allowed to fight. Otherwise, the forces in charge of the city will join forces to kill the violator. He will also be expelled from the city and will no longer be able to enter Human Village.
This rule exists to ensure that all merchants can trade with peace of mind in Human Village without having to worry about robbery. In contrast, merchants must also pay a price, that is, they must pay what they carry when entering the city. 10% of the value of the goods as protection fee
Of course, the rules prohibiting fighting are only valid in the city. If the cavalry does not have enough self-protection power, after the trading horse team leaves the city, the goods and money will be robbed, but Human Village does not care. In fact, this kind of thing happens every year. Quite a few
There is a wooden table beside the road in front of the checkpoint. Sitting behind the table is a middle-aged man wearing a melon cap and a silk robe. He is the steward responsible for collecting regular money. The steward at the gate of the city is not very good because he has to collect all the money. It would be difficult for someone who is not well-informed and has rich experience in market transactions to make a roughly accurate valuation of goods in the city.
The middle-aged steward looked at them a few times before Li Hu and the other two rode up to Luka and said to Li Hu: "As usual, we will receive eleven taels of silver."
"Eleven taels" Li Hu said
"Not bad," the middle-aged manager said, "A first-class female slave is worth a hundred taels, and a child is worth ten taels. As usual, the commission must be paid eleven taels of silver before entering the city."
Princess Kunyi of the Ming Dynasty, who is a high-class female slave, was actually treated as a female slave worth only a hundred taels of silver. The prince Zhu Cixiang was even less valued. Zhu Huichan, who was worth only 10% of a female slave, couldn't help but get angry when he heard this.
She was about to yell at Li Hu, but she grabbed her arm and whispered: "Don't reveal your identity." She flicked a piece of silver and it flew out and landed in front of the middle-aged manager with a "dang" sound. on the table
The middle-aged steward took the silver and weighed it in his hand. After making sure that it was not less than eleven taels, he said to the guard next to him: "Open the roadblock and let them enter the city."
In terms of the size of the city, Human City is far inferior to the capital. It is also inferior to Okura City, but it is still the size of a medium-sized town.
The streets in the city are all paved with stone slabs. There are not many pedestrians on the wide and flat roads. Except for some coolies hired to carry goods, ordinary civilians are rarely seen. There are many large cars parked beside the streets, and some are carrying bags. The mules and horses were guarded by the drivers and bodyguards who escorted the goods.
Judging from the clothes, appearance and appearance of these people, more than half of them are barbarians. At most, less than 30% of the caravan is Han people. It seems that the name of this "Human Village" is worthy of its name.
Most of the houses in the city are built with huge stones. They are usually not very high, but are extremely sturdy and generous. They do not look like houses where ordinary people live, but warehouses where goods are stored.
On both sides of the street, there are also some rather tall and grand buildings with well-decorated facades. In front of the gate is a signboard of a certain market. There are many people coming in and out. It seems that they are the merchant cavalry traveling through the city to trade goods. place
This kind of market scene is hard to see in other places. After Li Hu and the others entered the city, they couldn't help but take a few more glances. Especially Zhu Huichan, who had been staying in the palace for many years, rarely had the opportunity to go shopping on weekdays. Here, whether it was the weird-looking barbarians wearing strange clothes or the crowded and bustling markets filled with caravans and horses, she felt novel.
The horse galloped out of Wuliu Street, and a rather tall and elegant three-story building appeared in front of him. This house was not a city. A blue flag hung in front of the building said "Deyuan Inn" in four big characters. Money embroidered with three stacked ingots