First there is Matsue Prefecture, then there is Shang-Beach! As early as the Southern Song Dynasty, the famous Dashang-Hai was famous for its merchants. The ancient name of Songjiang Mansion was Huating, and the Tang and Song dynasties set up a special city shipping lifting division and a freight yard here, that is, the ancient customs.

During the Yuan Dynasty, it became more and more prosperous, and the five townships in the northeast of the Huating Pavilion set up Shang-Hai County. In the Ming Dynasty, Shanghai became the first gateway to the sea because of its unique geographical location, and the shipbuilding industry and textile industry were equally famous in the world, and the most elite naval fleet was stationed for a long time, and Shanghai gradually became an important port and trade town no less than Quanzhou, Fuzhou, Hangzhou, Yangzhou and other places.

At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Zhang Shicheng occupied Songjiang, expanded and built a strong Songjiang mansion city, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered Xu Da to divide his troops to seize it, and ordered in advance to collect 90 million bricks to be transported to Jinling.

Qian Hegao, a wealthy gentleman of Shanghai County, took the opportunity to try to fight for the world, and was escorted to Jinling to be beheaded after the whole army was annihilated, so Zhu Yuanzhang was worried about the instability of the people's hearts and gave up the collection of bricks and tiles.

In the three years of Hongwu, all parts of the world were in ruins, and the imperial court levied 300,000 pieces of military cloth from Songjiang Prefecture, and the wealth of Shanghai and Hai can be seen from this.

In the eighth year of Hongwu, government-run schools were set up in various towns and cities of Songjiang Prefecture, and scholars who passed the examination were everywhere.

In the twenty-fourth year of Hongwu, Huating County lost 736,900 stone of autumn grain.

In the thirtieth year of Hongwu, he ordered to rebuild the city of Songjiang Mansion and guard the palace of thousands of households.

Since the first year of Hongxi, Xu Hao also designated Songjiang Prefecture as the most important city for the development of trade.

In this way, this historical ancient city where the traditional culture of Wuyue in the south of the Yangtze River flourished, gradually gathered countless gold diggers from all over the country, and a variety of cultures merged with each other, and began to move towards the world's first international metropolis hundreds of years in advance.

Last year, Xu Hai took a huge amount of money to the increasingly prosperous Songjiang Mansion and found his wife's maiden brother Zhong Tancai, whose cheeks were thin. The eyeballs are a little protruding outward, fair complexion, slender and long, and he is in his twenties.

Zhong Tancai wore a pair of the most popular gold-rimmed round glasses on his nose, and wore a blue-gray facsimile satin robe, a Persian satin sheepskin coat, white-gray satin trousers, and fashionable satin shoes and white silk stockings.

This dress is unusually beautiful and beautiful, and it has a bit of a rich atmosphere.

Zhong Tancai smiled and said, "My brother received a letter from my sister, and I know that my brother-in-law always arrives in the past few days. So every day I called the boys to wait on the docks. My brother-in-law came to stay with me, there was nothing inconvenient. ”

"Hmm!" Xu Hai, who has a self-respecting identity, agreed, knowing that his family was not here, so he would stay for a few days temporarily, and then change places when he was familiar with it.

Zhong Tan was about to pick up his brother-in-law and invited him to sit in his own carriage. Although Xu Hai was accustomed to luxury, he couldn't help but be secretly surprised by this expensive carriage in this emerging city with a strong mercantile atmosphere. Competing for wealth was the most talked about way for some of the wealthy businessmen to show off, and the first handicraft workshops specializing in the production of luxury goods were born.

The carriage was speeding towards the restaurant on the flat cement road, and Xu Hai saw that Zhong Tancai's scene was so generous, and his actions were so luxurious. It's a kind of feeling of living in vain, who made him always be a low-key person in the capital, and only after he came out did he realize that the sea and the sky were wide.

Although it doesn't have the unusual comfort of sitting in your own carriage like a cloud, this style of posture is not too much.

From time to time, ornate four-wheeled carriages pass by on the road. The style is almost the same, so Xu Hai asked, "How much do those carriages cost?" ”

"It depends on the time of day, but also on the location." Zhong Tancai patiently explained, "For example, there are more people who ride in carriages during the New Year. The price is very expensive, and a carriage costs seven or eight taels of silver for an hour. Usually it is only one or two pieces of silver, and most people can't afford to sit down, and the sedan chair is for officials and scholars, and the carriage is naturally for rich businessmen. ”

Xu Hai said with a smile: "Then it's better for me to drive a carriage, we have a high-headed horse." ”

"I'm afraid it may not work." Zhong Tancai pointed to the various emblems on those carriages, "Brother-in-law, you don't know, there are many sects and nine streams here, and there are too many bizarre things. Like the mud city bridge facing west, Kaozi Road, Xiucai Street and other places of carriage shops, in fact, the cars are not very elegant, but those horsemen have formed gangs, the power behind them is the largest, arrogant and abnormal, do not agree with the word, you can't afford to be idle.

In addition, the carriage shop in the area of Desheng Street, the car is very particular, and the horses are also excellent, which are all driven by the sons of high-ranking officials and nobles, and there are gangs underground. Then there are the carriages scattered everywhere, the price is fair, and there are also various forces behind it, but they are relatively weak, and they are trying to survive in the cracks, and they are very chaotic. In addition, the cheapest is the pheasant carriage with the fishing bridge, and I dare not come to the center of the city when I am idle, and I will be beaten once. So if you want to drive a carriage dealership, you have to deal with gangs, how can we be in the company of those ruffians and hooligans like this? ”

Xu Hai was surprised and said: "The security here is so chaotic. ”

"Not really." Zhong Tancai smiled bitterly: "Located by the sea, if you make a mistake, you will hide by sea, where can you find it?" Or if you are killed and thrown into the river, it is simply a headless unsolved case, of course, it is simple for the government to arrest people, just say hello to all parties, and ensure that someone will come to confess the crime the next day. ”

Xu Hai is naturally not afraid of this, jokes, no matter how powerful Songjiang Mansion is, it is better than the Xu family? He asked, "Which car is the car we are sitting in now?" ”

"Neither, it's my brother's own." Zhong Tan was very proud.

"How much silver?"

"The car is only two or three hundred taels, but the price of the horse is too expensive, like my big white horse, it cost more than eight hundred taels."

Xu Hai smiled and said: "Eight hundred taels of horses is nothing, I have a jade lion and a rolling dragon, which is a first-class famous horse, at least worth three thousand taels." Not to mention my third brother's sweat-and-blood BMW, you can't buy it for 100,000 taels of silver. ”

Zhong Tancai smiled and said: "That's, who dares to compare with the third master?" The system and thousands of households in Songjiang Mansion all claim to be the third master's disciple, and the admiral of the water master, Lord Mu, is still your son-in-law. ”

"So swaggering?" Xu Hai shook his head and said in a deep voice: "I have to write to tell the third brother, Mu Xiu is in the forest." ”

After eating in the restaurant, Zhong Tan took him to the best green building, and when he went up to the second floor, he saw the first elegant room on the left with a curtain. A handsome man with a good appearance stood at the door with a spring breeze on his face, and said delicately: "Zhong Dashao is here." ”

Zhong Tancai greeted and stepped into the room. Xu Hai followed behind him, only to feel the aroma of fat powder coming to his nose.

Naturally, he is very immune to this Xu Hai, and the prostitution industry in Songjiang Mansion is developing, and it is impossible to catch up with the Qinhuai River. However, unlike the famous prostitutes in Jinling with high buns and big sleeves, advocating the elegant makeup of the Han and Tang dynasties, the pink sisters here are popular for petite and exquisite, and the satin jackets are cut to fit very well, highlighting the graceful posture of the ups and downs.

The famous prostitute who served Xu Hai was the top brand in the Qinglou. A snow-white goose egg face, delicate facial features, seven exquisite tricks, the best thing is a little cherry mouth, smiling when not smiling, it is really two Hong Qiushui everywhere.

Xu Hai nodded and said, "Huating's prosperity is really worthy of its reputation. ”

A child of a wealthy family like Xu Hai was very generous, and he couldn't help but say that he had wrapped up the people, and he didn't stay in the Qinglou for more, and just took people to leave in a carriage.

But Xu Hai didn't know where to go. Listening to their talk about what kind of autumn garden they were going, I couldn't help but ask, "Why do you want to go there?" ”

Zhong Tancai explained: "Qiuyuan is a pedestrian street, which was funded by the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce three years ago, and the whole street is full of all kinds of interesting buildings. The largest is the Chinese Garden, there are also houses in various styles, and there are also foreign styles such as ancient Rome, Byzantium, and Persia. Locals don't visit the autumn garden three or four times a month. Even if it's not decent, if you don't buy a few things there, you can't claim to be a good customer. ”

Xu Hai was shocked while laughing secretly in his heart. Isn't the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce a family business led by red leaves, funded by sisters-in-law, and brothers and sisters with shares? I didn't expect there to be a huge momentum outside, no wonder the third brother always has endless silver, and he dares to make a lot of money quietly by it.

Zhong Tancai relished this and continued: "When I first arrived in Songjiang Mansion, I thought that a person like us from the capital, with a graceful demeanor, would go to Qiuyuan to make a show, and no one would be able to compare, right? How elaborate are our clothes? The latest style in the palace, which one of the family members wear is not luxurious?

Who knows, when I arrived in the Autumn Garden, I was almost angry! Look at the rings on people's hands, the color of the clothes is more uniform than mine, the sewing is exquisite, all leather shoes, and the carriage is sophisticated, the groom's dress is much better than ours, my mother seems to be this group of people who are determined to collapse my platform, out of my ugliness, do you want me to be angry? ”

Xu Hai laughed, and the two of them didn't pay attention to the two sisters opposite each other when they spoke, "Since ancient times, when it comes to novel and ingenious styles of clothes and jewelry, one is from the palace and the families of dignitaries, and the other is from the Qinglou, presumably Songjiang Mansion is the atmosphere brought out by the Qinglou, right?" ”

"That's right." Zhong Tan smiled at the two sisters, "It's from the hall that is popular, there are some popular famous prostitutes, who come up with new tricks all day long, whether it's clothes, jewelry, or buns, and come up with new tricks to come to the Autumn Garden to compete." Not only are there ready-made jewelry shops and ready-to-wear shops, but now there are even beauty salons designed for women to take care of their hair and faces, so that even women from good families are vying to imitate them, and it is no wonder that Shilin scolded Songjiang Mansion for being the first to corrupt the atmosphere. ”

Xu Hai said disdainfully: "The bullshit atmosphere is corrupt, how can there be no Qinglou Chu Pavilion in the provinces?" Who hasn't been there? When they are gone, let's talk about the corrupt morals. ”

"Yes." The sister on the other side smiled: "Some officials are strict and high-minded on the surface, but they don't have that disgusting face when they go to bed?" ”

When he arrived at the Autumn Garden, Xu Hai opened his eyes, the pedestrian street where cars and horses and sedan chairs were not allowed to pass, the well-dressed, colorful men and women strolling on the stone road at will, all kinds of buildings on both sides, colorful signboards, welcoming waiters and so on.

It's a pity that there is no iconic neon sign, although Xu Hao has set up a special research team, but he is still researching it today, who makes him not have a little concept of electricity.

Xu Hai walked and looked, a qiē is so fresh and so familiar, everything is unchanged, the Xu family's new house also has a variety of buildings, and the two sides learn from each other.

Nowadays, even Europe has not yet given birth to the so-called foreign garden, which is nothing more than a castle lawn, so it was called a new garden in the Ming Dynasty.

Xu Haishu said: "Autumn Garden, Autumn Garden, it should be a garden, why don't you have a pavilion and rockery?" Could it be that all the gardens in Matsue Prefecture are like this? How many two- or three-story brick houses are built on a piece of grass, and with some white pillars, dare to call it a garden? This is really laughing to death in the mainland. ”

Zhong Tancai said: "This is actually all shops, most of the real gardens are private houses, there are also pavilions, rockeries, water pavilions, lotus ponds, Qiqu Bridge, Songjiang Mansion is not also Jiangnan." By the way, the largest garden is Xu Garden, isn't that your home! I forgot. ”

As soon as these words came out, the eyes of the sisters accompanying both sides instantly lit up, and they all asked, "The dare to love is the Xu family?" ”

Zhong Tancai smiled with honor: "It's not just the Xu family, but also the fifth young master of the main room!" ”

"Where, where." Xu Hai said humbly embarrassedly, without the slightest ostentation on his face, and then asked blankly: "My family has a garden here?" Why haven't I heard of it? ”

"Oops!" My sister's eyes could drip water, hugging his arm tightly, and pointing to the end of the road, "Who in Songjiang Mansion doesn't know Xu Yuan of the British public?" The area is enough to cover the entire Autumn Garden, if the fifth young master can take the slave family to visit, I would rather not have a penny for you and sleep for three months. ”

"I'd rather sleep with you for a year." The other sister was not to be outdone.

Xu Hai smiled bitterly: "However, the family rules are strict, and it is never allowed to bring outsiders to stay at home." But it's okay to invite you to go shopping, but I don't know if it's mine, but don't be an impostor. ”

Not to mention the two sisters smiling, it is the beginning of April, the sun shines in the sky, the buildings are dazzling, the green trees are sprouting on the road, the buildings on both sides are lined up, the tourists are weaving, being here, it is really like walking into a modern city.

After walking around, buying some ridiculously expensive jewelry and jewelry, the four of them took a carriage to Xu Garden. After crossing a bridge, another change to a prosperous scene, people come and go to the bustle of business swept away, replaced by elegant taste, the road is very wide, the houses are red walls and blue tiles.

However, as far as the eye can see, you can still see low and old wooden houses, as well as narrow alleys, dirty streets, and labyrinthine alleys.

Some pedestrians on the street are dressed very fashionably, others are dressed in rags, patrolling shops in long shirts and policemen in new clothes coexist, beggars are lying on the road, drunken seekers are staggering, scholars with hands behind their backs, energetic students in Mao suits walking together, gray-haired old women, neat little daughters-in-law, and officers and soldiers of the sailors in straight military uniforms.

Tall restaurants, buzzing teahouses, bathhouses and sewage draining from sewers are all signs that China's legendary metropolis is at the beginning of a radical change.

The old and the new, the new merchant class and the traditional gentry class, the conservative and the enterprising, the feudal and the relatively progressive ideas, the burgeoning export trade, the traditional farming and reading homes, the new schools and colleges, all coexisted in this great city. (To be continued......)