I am Da Song

Chapter 370 Heaven on Earth
In the spring of the sixth year of Jianye, Zhao Huan officially started his southern tour with the imperial battalion.

With more than 120 people and [-] six warships, they set off from Tokyo, entered the Bian River and went down the river at an extremely fast speed, traveling more than [-] miles a day.

After entering the Huaihe River from the Bianhe River, the water flow is faster, and the speed of the fleet has shocked all the officials accompanying it.

It took only one day and one night for the fleet to reach the lower reaches of the Huaihe River from the middle reaches of the Huaihe River, and began to shift towards Hangou.

It wasn't until they entered Hangou that the speed of the fleet slowed down, and everyone finally had leisure to stand on the deck and watch the scenery of spring flowers blooming and willows on both sides of the strait.

Go straight down Hangou, and you will arrive at Yangzhou, an important economic town in the south.Basically, the literati in the Tang and Song dynasties traveled southward, and they all took this waterway that was full of water.

The literati, scholars, and female officials and servants of the imperial camp all boarded the deck, admiring the beauty of the green water and green mountains.

Even Zhao Huan stood at the bow of the ship under Yanying's begging, and accompanied them to see the prosperous Song Dynasty.

The fleets on Hangou are staggered, and hundreds of ships compete for the current. One side of the river is covered with white sails, reflecting the prosperous economy of the Song Dynasty.

On both sides of the Strait, there are the most typical green willows and red flowers in the Central Plains, the green mountains are like Daisy, and the sky is blue.

What pleased Zhao Huan the most was the peaceful atmosphere along the coast. Every village was located between green waters and green mountains.From time to time, you can see the old man fishing on the shore, looking like a fairy.The woman wears gauze according to the bank, with beautiful appearance and bright new makeup.

The whole world is immersed in the peaceful and prosperous age, completely ignorant of war, and unaware of the raging flames of war outside the Great Wall.

In particular, the fleet did not stop at Yangzhou, but directly went south to stop at Suzhou, which made Zhao Huan deeply moved and full of ambition.

In history, when the Jin army invaded south, Jin Wushu broke through Suzhou, massacred more than [-] people, and left dead bodies lying on the pillow.

However, Zhao Huan's crossing not only helped the building to collapse, but also directly reversed the entire Kingdom of Jin.

Therefore, on the basis of its prosperity, Suzhou City has gone one step further and become the brightest pearl in the southern part of the empire.

The economic center of Song Dynasty was in the southeast, and the most prosperous city in the southeast was Suzhou.

His degree of prosperity can be said to exceed the imagination of ordinary people.

When the Ming Dynasty was founded, the tax revenue of a city in Suzhou was equivalent to more than one-tenth of the national tax revenue.

In the Song Dynasty, when Suzhou was also known as Pingjiang Mansion, it was an unparalleled economic, taxation, and food center.

During the reign of Taishang Zhenghe, Pingjiang Prefecture transported 650 million shi by water to Tokyo.

In the Jianye period, after the name was changed to Suzhou, the number further rose to more than 960 million shi, and it is very likely to break through the 1000 million shi mark this year.

1000 million stones of grain!Moreover, it is still Song Stone, which is the largest weight unit in all dynasties.Changing to Hanshi is equivalent to more than 2000 million stones.

If Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Ce, the princes of the late Han Dynasty, had Suzhou as a land of abundance and an important economic center, they would be able to destroy all the princes in the world.

The annual income of 3000 to [-] million shi of grain, relying solely on economic warfare, is also an advantage that makes others desperate.

In terms of taxation, Suzhou can even compete with Tokyo.

Han Yu said: "Nowadays, taxes are distributed all over the world, and Jiangnan occupies nine out of ten. Among the Jiangnan states, Su is the largest, has a large number of soldiers, and has the largest tax revenue."

This place alone provided Da Song with more than 4000 yuan in various taxes last year.

There is heaven above, and Suzhou and Hangzhou below, which has become a well-known saying in the world.

The local people can boast: "Thousands of miles from all over the world, there are rare and rare treasures from overseas and exotic lands, and there is no complete collection of them."

As for Marco Polo coming to Suzhou, he was shocked to say that this is the Venice of the East, which is simply putting gold on Venice's face.

Whether in the Song Dynasty or in the later celestial dynasties, Venice is not worthy to be placed with Suzhou at all.

In the Celestial Dynasty, there is not much to say. Suzhou, as the number one economic center in the entire Suzhou Province, has a real industrial output value of [-] trillion yuan.Known as the strongest prefecture-level city on the surface.

Venice does not even have a tenth of the fraction of Suzhou!
As a result, Venice is sinking every year, and it is impossible to build a billion-euro sea dam.

Even in their dreams, they dare not call themselves "West Misty Rain Gusu."

In Song Dynasty, although the gap between the two sides is not so big, it is probably the difference between an international city and a dirty town in the countryside.

What's going on in Venice?In the dark Middle Ages, walking on the street may be poured on the head by a pot of feces from the window on the second floor at any time. Men must wear high heels when going out to avoid stepping on feces.The nobles did not take a bath all year round, and the serfs could only eat black bread mixed with sawdust and stones.Hard enough to open a human skull.

Suzhou... not much to say, I never get tired of fine food, and I never tire of fine food.The rich eat more extravagantly than Emperor Zhao Huan.

Even ordinary people can eat rice and refined grains.

An important reason why Suzhou has such a prosperous and prosperous scene is that Suzhou is located in the delta plain at the mouth of the Yangtze River.It is also close to Taihu Lake in the south.Under the administration of officials from generation to generation in the Song Dynasty, the local water conservancy was "like heaven and earth". There were gates and gates outside. When there was drought, the gates were opened to divert the benefits of river water, and to close the gates when floods occurred. Murray.

What is even more shocking is that Suzhou City directly diverts water into the city, and the water flows through the state. Numerous rivers become the blood of the city, so that the people in the city can live by the river and walk by the water. Divert water into the house, divert water into the garden.

If we must make an analogy between the East and the West, we must compare Constantinople in the West with Suzhou City.

Yujia's fleet stopped directly at the north gate of Suzhou City. The north gate is called Qimen. Three waterways converge here, and the embankment of the city gate is less than three feet away from the river.

There are smoked willows and painted bridges on the bank, and clouds and trees surround the embankment.There are Sanqiu osmanthus and ten-mile lotus above the river.

Zhao Huan got off the dragon boat, landed and entered the city of Suzhou.

In the city, there are pearls and households full of Luoqi. Knowing Suzhou, Hu Quan has led officials to welcome him in front of the city gate.

"The minister waits to welcome the holy driver."

Zhao Huan waved his hand with a smile, and said, "Excuse me, Zhu Qing, get up."

Hu Quan stepped forward and said: "The official family is tired from boats and boats, should we go to the palace to rest first?"

"Alright, I have heard about Suzhou gardens for a long time, they are so beautiful. Where will the Suzhou government build my palace?"

Hu Quan said with a smile: "The official palace is in the most famous Baihuazhou in Suzhou City. It is really a grand scene in the southeast. Back then, King Wu built a platform here to watch Wu destroy Yue. There are poems that say that light boats come and go lightly. In the smoke, the weeping willows on both sides of the bank are short canopies. It’s like a place where the sun is slanting and the wind is blowing, and the peach blossoms are falling randomly on the river.”

"Wonderful! It's really a good scene, good words and good artistic conception!" Zhao Huan couldn't help clapping his hands.

"It's a place where the sun is slanting and the wind is blowing, peach blossoms are falling randomly and the river is red. I can't write such a beautiful and picturesque scenery! It really makes people intoxicated."

Hu Quan said with a smile: "At the end of spring and the beginning of summer, it is the time when the peach blossoms are in full bloom, and officials can enjoy the scenery here calmly."

"and……"

"And what?"

"I'd better stop talking, let the officials experience it for themselves."

(End of this chapter)