In late October, the north wind whistles in my ears, and the wilderness on Hebei East Road is bleak.

However, when Wu Haogu and his group approached Daming Mansion in Beijing of the Song Dynasty, they immediately felt a different kind of prosperity.

The roadside is no longer deserted, it is all just harvested farmland.

It is now when you are about to eat at noon. The villages and manors that can be seen everywhere near the official road are all wafting out of smoke, giving people a feeling of prosperity.

Going further forward, you can see the tall city gate tower.

The tall, thick and solid city walls exuded a vibrant aura in the sun.

The carriages and horses coming and going on the official road were flowing endlessly, filled with porcelain shipped from nearby Cizhou and Dingzhou. From time to time, there were also groups of cattle and sheep driven toward Daming Prefecture City, showing a lively scene.

Wu Haogu led the horse and walked side by side with Ximen Qing in front of his group, walking slowly with the traffic. While breathing the prosperous atmosphere that was almost exactly the same as Kaifeng Mansion, he felt incredible.

Because of the "Sanyi Return to the River" incident, Hebei East Road was almost depressed everywhere, but a Daming Prefecture City flourished. It really means "around the Daming Poverty Circle".

But if you think about it carefully, Daming Fucheng flourished in the middle and late Tang Dynasty because of its strong town in Weibo, and became the leading city in Hebei.

When the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty, Daming Mansion was even carried to the capital and built it as the Anti-Liao Base Camp in the east and west Hebei. Xiongcheng was blocked, and although it was not used to resist the Khitan cavalry who ate vegetarian food and chanted Buddha's name, it blocked the surging Yellow River water. Daming Xiongcheng was safe and sound in all the Yellow River breach incidents.

Therefore, all the wealthy businessmen and wealthy families on Hebei East Road moved from their hometowns to Daming Prefecture City, greatly prospering this city, which is no less than Kaifeng Prefecture.

At the same time, since the Yellow River flowed northward, the water volume of various waterways near Daming Prefecture increased greatly, and its navigation capacity increased several times. The cattle and sheep fur from Khitan, porcelain from Dingzhou and Cizhou, and various goods transported from the south along the Zhongcanal-Yellow River, were all gathered in Daming Prefecture.

"Dalang, there is Beihemen in front. Not far from the right side of Beihemen is Xiashui Pass, which is the waterway from the Yongji Canal to enter Damingfucheng from the north. Because the Yongji Canal is also connected to the Yellow River flowing north, there are many ships entering and leaving Xiashui Pass, and there are often blockages."

Ximen Qing’s hometown, Yanggu County, is next to Daming Prefecture. Some people in the Ximen clan also open a medical clinic and pharmacy in Daming, so she is very familiar with the situation of Daming Prefecture. Before she even entered Beihemen, she took the initiative to become a tour guide for Wu Haogu.

When he was walking to the extremely wide moat north of Daming Prefecture, Wu Haogu and others also encountered traffic jams. Carriages, horses and pedestrians entering the city lined up, and the speed was similar to that of snails crawling.

"Sister," Wuhao Ancient Road, "the land route into the city seems to be blocked."

Ximen Qing nodded and said, "I didn't get stuck when I came back last time. I don't expect it to be like this today."

The great monk Lu Zhishen, who was walking behind, interjected: "It should be related to the battle in Hengshan on the west side."

Guo Jing and Lu Zhishen were walking side by side, and then smiled and said, "Hengshan is not far from here... How could the road in Daming Mansion be related to Hengshan?"

"It's relevant," said the monk, "It's October now, and if the Western thieves don't fight again, it's too cold. The Sa family guessed that the war is coming to an end.

And this war is probably very unfavorable to the Western thieves!

At this time, Hebei East and West Routes had to be strictly guarded against the Liao people going south, and the investigation of Daming Mansion entering the city was naturally strict."

Not to mention, this monk's analysis is quite reasonable.

Wu Haogu suddenly thought of Ma Zhi at this time, "Will there be trouble when Brother Ma enters the city, right?"

"No," Ximen Qingdao, "I have arranged the quotation long ago and can pass the custody. Besides, Master Zhishen and Xiaomi official are there. Who would make things difficult for Master Zhishen and the friends of the Mi family?"

Ximen Qing said it was right. When the group passed the pass, Lu Zhishen presented his certificate of vassals and monks. The soldiers guarding the gate were probably also Buddhists, and they all folded their hands together to salute the monk. They had no intention of leaving any difficulties to everyone who arrived with Lu Zhishen.

Once you enter Beihemen, there is a straight and wide street that leads directly to the palace city of Daming Mansion. Daming Mansion is the capital of the Song Dynasty, and there is also a palace city with palaces and pavilions in the center of the city.

On both sides of the street, like the inner city of Kaifeng Prefecture, there are shops and restaurants lined up one after another, and the alleys intersecting the street are also extremely prosperous. The most prosperous one in Wuhaogu, the northeast corner of Daming Prefecture is the northeast corner. The most lively one in Anping Street, which is the street where Wuhaogu and others are now located, as well as the sides of the Yongji Canal.

The former is the largest cattle, sheep, horse and pack trading center in the entire Song Dynasty.

The latter is the largest gathering place for porcelain in the Song Dynasty. Now China's porcelain production center is still in the north. Dingzhou and Cizhou on West Hebei Road are all famous porcelain capitals. The products of Ding Kiln and Cikui will be collected in Daming Prefecture. Porcelain merchants will sell them to Kaifeng Prefecture or Haizhou. Most of the porcelain exported from Haizhou are transported from Daming Prefecture.

Wu Haogu was not interested in porcelain, but he was already planning to set up a horse farm, so he paid attention and found that there was a horse market street specializing in selling horses in the streets and alleys that crossed Anping Street. So he thought about settling down and then pulled Ximen Qing and Ma Zhi who knew horses to come over to see. If there were good horses, buy them first and rode them back to Kaifeng Prefecture. Then he found a way to build a small manor in Hebei, which could raise dozens of stallions, and about a hundred foals were enough.

He had already thought that his horse farm would not require the number, but he wanted to cultivate tall and strong mares. When the mares were "determined" and then asked them to mate with stallions of sweat or Arab species, they would probably be able to raise high-quality war horses.

Of course, this is probably a money-burning business that requires continuous investment for decades to see the effect. It is similar to the Liuyi Academy that Wu Haogu is preparing to open...

Only those who can make money can only manage their families, and those who can burn money can save the world!

...

In the south of Daming Prefecture, a tall wall enclosed an old house under construction. The house covers a large area and can be seen from a high place, but all of them look dilapidated. Workers come in and out, setting up shelves around some pavilions, preparing for overhaul.

In the garden of the big house, there are also many people dressed as farmers to remove weeds, while others are also cutting off the ridges that were blooming out at some point, all of whom are very busy.

Just in the back garden of the mansion, on the second floor of a renovated pavilion, there was a man in his fifties who were browsing, wearing a blue blouse, a Confucian shirt, a few long beards, and fluttering sleeves. He looked straight as if Cao Guojiu of the Eight Immortals, looking at the construction in the yard with his hands behind his back. The eyebrows and eyes were full of joy and could not be hidden.

This man is the leader of the Pan family's generals. Pan Xiaoyan, who had just been named the governor of Enzhou, is Pan Xiao'an's brother.

His mood is so good now. Because the Pan family generals are about to be happy!

Yixi was that his son Pan Yi married a German princess. This was nothing. The princess of the Song Dynasty had no bottom line and would implicate the prince-consort and not be allowed to take actual positions. In other words, the generals of Kaifeng Prefecture were keen on marrying the Tian family to consolidate their existing wealth.

The second joy is amazing! King Duan Zhao Ji fell in love with Pan Xiaoyan’s eighteenth sister Pan Qiaolian!

This Duan King is likely to be the emperor in the future! If he marry Pan Qiaolian, then Pan Xiaoyan will be the national uncle at that time.

Moreover, Pan Qiaolian is not the kind of weak woman who can’t help but be fertile. She is a fertile figure. She will be the prince if she gives birth to a son in the future!
Chapter completed!