webnovelfull Chapter 636 Commercial District
Chapter 636 Commercial District
Today's feast is absolutely the most luxurious banquet since the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. The civil and military officials have never even heard of it before, let alone eaten it.
Faced with such a lavish feast, everyone present naturally ate to their heart's content. When they were full, they would rest for a while and then continue eating. They would also raise their glasses to each other a few times. The emperor and his ministers drank with great carefree joy.
The banquet lasted for a full three hours before it ended, and more than 90% of the guests, including Liu Bei and Xu Shu, had to be carried out.
The next day, Liu Bei did not immediately summon Xu Shu to the palace for a meeting. Instead, he, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei took Xu Shu out of the city on horseback. They planned to take Xu Shu to see the thriving rice paddies, the busy farmers wielding new farming tools, the billowing smoke from factories and the bustling workers, and finally to the military camp to see the Han army's military bearing. They wanted to show Xu Shu through their actions that they now had everything they hadn't had back then, and that they no longer had to be so poor that they were practically picking their toes.
This shows that Liu Bei still wanted to win Xu Shu back and did not want to completely part ways with him.
While Liu Bei was inspecting the city with Xu Shu, Liu Shan was also busy. He, along with his close confidants Guan Xing, Zhang Bao, Jiang Wei, and Xia Tong, led Liu Jun on a stroll around the city.
Currently, the most prosperous area in Jiangling City is the commercial district. The official residences, government offices, aristocratic mansions, and ordinary people's houses have always been inhabited by the same group of people, and there's not much to see or do there in decades. Only the commercial district gathers merchants from all over the country, making it a bustling commercial hub with a large flow of people, offering a different scene every day.
So Liu Shan took Liu Jun to the commercial district, wanting his cousin to see the prosperity of Jiangling with his own eyes.
Liu Bei has been on the throne for half a year. In that long time, the buildings in the commercial district have been completed, the merchants have moved in, and the wounds caused by Yu Jin have been basically healed. The commercial district is bustling with people, and there are enthusiastic shouts of vendors everywhere.
Liu Jun followed the three idiots into the commercial street. When he looked up, he was slightly surprised. The street was full of people. Some were dressed in silk robes, some in coarse linen clothes, and some even in the costumes of the southern ethnic minorities. These people were arguing heatedly in different accents.
Not only that, there are also many cattle, horses, donkeys and mules on the street. They will defecate in the street as they walk by. Whenever this happens, several workers with brooms and dustpans, and red sleeves with the word "sanitation" written on them on their left arms, will come out to clean up the feces and quickly restore the street to cleanliness.
Looking at the shops along the roadside, many shops have set up tables at their entrances, displaying their goods for customers to view up close. They offer a wide variety of products, including silk fabrics, tea, and more.
Liu Jun asked curiously, "Aren't you afraid that displaying the goods at the entrance will tempt someone to steal them and run away?"
The general public in the Han Dynasty was not as civilized as people in later generations; if given the chance to rob someone, they would absolutely not pay for it.
As if in response to Liu Jun, as soon as Liu Jun finished speaking, a thief who was loitering in front of the stall suddenly grabbed two canisters of tea and ran away. However, before he had run five meters, a crossbow bolt was shot and hit the thief directly.
Liu Jun quickly looked in the opposite direction of the crossbow bolt and saw three officials dressed in black standing in the window of a room on the second floor. One of them was holding a crossbow and pointing it at the trembling thief.
Liu Jun exclaimed in astonishment, "Shoot them directly? That's too brutal!"
They only stole some things; it's not a capital offense.
Liu Shan explained, "Those are arrows without arrowheads, intended as a warning rather than for killing. If the thief accepts the warning and stands still to await punishment, he will be dealt with leniently. If he tries to escape, we will have to switch to real arrows, but they will not be aimed at vital organs."
As soon as Liu Shan finished speaking, a group of uniformed constables carrying short sticks rushed over and subdued the thief. Guan Xing saw this and shouted to the constables in charge, "Yu Yang, come here."
The head constable was none other than Yu Yang, a merchant who had defected to Guan Xing when he went deep behind enemy lines to attack Pan Zhang, and who later followed him to Jiangling with farm tools.
Yu Yang was no ordinary constable; he was the head of the commercial district, holding the title of Director of the Ministry of Revenue. He was in charge of the commercial planning, population flow, and security of the entire commercial district. Anyone who wanted to open a shop in the commercial district had to give him face. This was a lucrative position that he wouldn't trade for even a vice minister's post.
Upon hearing the shout, Yu Yang turned around and his expression changed drastically. He immediately waved for his subordinates to take the thief away, and then jogged forward to greet them, bowing respectfully and saying, "Your Highness, Marquis Shence, what brings you here today?"
Liu Shan, a frequent visitor to the commercial district, had long been acquainted with Yu Yang. Upon hearing this, he did not answer but instead asked, "Yu Yang, as the person in charge of the commercial district, why are you wandering around the streets all day in your black robes instead of handling official business at the yamen?"
Yu Yang smiled obsequiously and said, "Your Highness, I am used to being idle and really can't sit still in the yamen. Besides, I can't get anything done in the yamen. I can only understand their needs by going out and having more contact with the merchants."
He used to be a traveling merchant who went all over the country, always on the go and never had a moment of rest all year round. For such an excellent field worker, asking him to sit in an office and relax would be torture for him. After all, there are no mobile phones or short videos in this day and age, so it's really hard to pass the time.
Liu Shan didn't say anything more, but instead pulled Liu Jun aside and introduced him: "This is my cousin, my own brother. This is my cousin's first time visiting Jiangling. Why don't you show us around?"
"Your Highness, please; Marquis Shence, please; Cousin, please..." Yu Yang stepped aside, bowed, and gestured for everyone to go first.
Liu Jun followed closely behind Liu Chan, observing carefully. He was surprised to find that the further they went in, the more dazzling the goods became. There were handicrafts such as bamboo woven stools, fruit baskets, and pen holders, as well as daily necessities such as pottery jars, iron pots, bowls, and plates. In particular, the bowls and plates were not only as white as snow, but also printed with beautiful patterns. He wondered how they were made.
Finally, Liu Jun even saw many exquisite vases, all as white as snow and carved with various patterns, so beautiful they seemed otherworldly. The prices were also outrageous, with the cheapest starting at 500 baht.
Liu Jun asked in surprise, "This vase..."
Liu Shan explained, "This is porcelain, which is an improvement on pottery. It is fired with special clay. There is a village called Jingde in Poyang County. The clay there is most suitable for firing porcelain. Most of the porcelain in Jiangling is transported from there."
Liu Jun couldn't help but exclaim, "This is truly a masterpiece! There are many merchants from the Western Regions in Luoyang. If this were sold to them, the price would probably be more than ten times higher. Unfortunately, with Ma Chao's chaos in the Western Regions, the newly opened Silk Road has been cut off again, so it's estimated that it won't be able to be sold in the short term."
Liu Shan smiled and said, "Don't worry, I believe it won't be long before Father Emperor reopens the Silk Road. It's about time, let's find a restaurant to eat at."
The commercial district not only has shops, but also restaurants, inns, and warehouses for bulk goods transactions. In short, whatever you want, you can basically find it in the commercial district.
The group walked along the street toward the restaurant. As they passed a shop, Liu Chan suddenly stopped, then stepped back and went back to the shop they had just passed. Looking up, he saw the three large characters "Yihong Courtyard" on the signboard above the entrance.
Liu Shan asked in surprise, "Is this a brothel? When did such a place open in the commercial district? How come I didn't know about it?"
The nearby shops were all bustling with activity, but this detached three-story building was closed, clearly not yet open for business.
Yu Yang explained, "It opened seven days ago. After all, this is a commercial area with so many wealthy merchants coming and going. It wouldn't make sense if there wasn't a brothel here."
Liu Shan said excitedly, "Then what are we talking about? Let's go in and take a look. We'll eat here. It doesn't matter where we eat."
The expressions of everyone behind him changed drastically, and Guan Xing hurriedly said, "Damn it, Your Highness, we can't go to this place! His Majesty will beat you up if he finds out."