From the Carp that Brings Children to the Celestial Officials

Chapter 514 Trade Development
Time flies, and another five years have passed.

Although choosing to have ordinary craftsmen build the city and market of Toadheart Island took dozens of times longer.

But it did indeed make Toadheart Island famous.

Over the course of five or six years, countless merchants traveled to and from this place, transporting large quantities of timber, bricks, tiles, lime, and other materials.

Then, through the tireless work of craftsmen and laborers day and night, Toad Heart Island was gradually transformed.

This island in the middle of the lake, which originally only occupied a small dot on the geomantic map, has become one of the most prosperous commercial ports in the Bingzhou area.

Each of the four sides of Toad Heart Island has a dock built to receive ships from different directions, and cargo ships come and go day and night.

The boats were adorned with flags from Jizhou, Bingzhou, Sizhou, and even further afield, Yunzhou, Qingzhou, and Liangzhou. The boatmen shouted work chants as sacks and wooden crates were unloaded one after another.

The lake water lapped against the base of the piles, and the air was filled with the smells of wood, grease, and tea; even the wind seemed lively.

Warehouses were built one after another on the island, all of which adopted a modern structure.

The bottom is covered with moisture-proof stone slabs, the ventilation windows are wide open, and pulleys and rails, which are said to have been designed by a craftsman from Yuanling County, are installed in the corners of the walls.

Goods can be easily pushed into the warehouse by simply placing them on a wooden cart, greatly improving efficiency.

In order to regulate the trade in the market, You Ming ordered that the market be divided into four areas.

The East Ward specialized in grains, oils, and daily necessities; the South Ward sold silk and tea; the West Ward dealt in ironware and minerals; and the North Ward was reserved for medicinal herbs and spices.

The planning of these markets was basically determined by the nature of the trade routes.

To the east lies Qingzhou, the location of the imperial canal, where grain and oil trade flourishes. Sizhou, located in the southern part of Bingzhou, can directly receive silk and tea from the south. Liangzhou to the west is particularly rich in minerals and ironware. The grasslands and snow-covered forests to the north are rich in medicinal herbs and furs.

Each market has a unified pricing standard and a dedicated supervisor responsible for price monitoring.

Meanwhile, a "business council" was also established on the island.

All transactions are written into contracts and jointly stamped by the Yuanling County Government and a notary. If a party breaches a contract, they will be disqualified from the transaction.

This move was very popular with merchants. Although the process was a bit cumbersome, the contractual guarantee made payment terms more stable and goods safer.

If anything goes wrong, the government officials will indeed step in to mediate.

Many merchants found it unbelievable, as commerce had always been considered a lowly profession, and there had never been a case where the government had come forward to enshrine protections for merchants in official documents.

Especially at the beginning, You Ming deliberately made several cases of overdue payments and powerful people abusing their power into ironclad cases in order to buy horse bones with a thousand gold pieces. This greatly deterred the villains and gave the merchants great confidence.

As trade increased, the number of workers, artisans, cargo owners, and boatmen on the island also grew.

During the day, horse-drawn carriages rolled along the stone-paved road, kicking up clouds of dust.

At night, the restaurant was brightly lit, and street vendors lined up, selling hot noodle soup and sweet wine.

The merchants chatted and laughed, while their employees bustled about carrying ledgers.

Toad Heart Island was bustling with activity, like a shining jewel on the blue lake.

……

You Ming's true form sat cross-legged in the cave of Yuanling Mountain, while a wisp of his spirit remained on Toad Heart Island. At the very center of Toad Heart Island stood a sizable temple. Since this place was no longer considered Bixia Yuanjun's sacred site, it was now only used to worship You Ming and his various assistant deities.

He occupied the main hall all by himself, while the other deities, who did not even have the right to have statues erected, were enshrined in the side halls in the form of memorial tablets or portraits.

You Ming's wisp of consciousness constantly enveloped the entire Toad Heart Island.

In places unseen by mortals, a network of crisscrossing routes eventually connects to Toad Heart Island.

Countless magnificent golden ships traveled back and forth along these routes, while countless buffs appeared in the void.

Because Toad Heart Island had not yet been built at the beginning, it was at most a lowest-level "station", so the routes formed by connecting with other places were only first-level routes.

As Toad Heart Island was gradually developed, it transformed from a [station] into a [relay station], then upgraded to a [market], and finally to its current status as a [commercial town].

This has resulted in most of the routes connecting to Toadheart Island becoming Level 3 routes, and some even becoming Level 4 routes.

For example, the route connecting to Changning Prefecture is a level 4 route, as Changning Prefecture is also a [commercial town].

The bonuses from the Level 4 route are quite substantial.

You Ming glanced at it and found that "Transportation capacity +40%, speed +25%".

Additionally, there are special effects: "Nearshore Acceleration: Speed ​​+35% when driving in shallow waters and aquatic grasslands; Public Sentiment: Public sentiment increases moderately when trading."

Although others cannot see this bonus through intuitive data, they can clearly feel it during the trade process.

Any merchant who travels this route will find that they can carry more goods and travel faster, even saving a quarter of the time, when crossing this stretch of waterway.

Especially when approaching shallow waters, the speed increases dramatically, as if an underground current is pushing the boat forward steadily.

This feeling is absolutely amazing.

Merchants are profit-driven, and over time, all roads that have been blessed by the [Wanshangtongliu] cheat code have become the most prosperous places for trade.

This also benefited nearby cities such as Yuanling County, Changning Prefecture, and Tai'an Prefecture. The county magistrates and prefects of these governments almost regarded Toad Heart Island as a god of wealth.

After all, nobody wants to turn down money.

During these five years, You Ming was naturally not idle. He continuously added some nearby prefectures and cities to the trade route.

Later on, he no longer needed to use the [Reputation Wooden Fish] to increase the favorability of the city gods in various places.

Because many cities are eager to do business with Youming, their favorability towards him has long since shifted from wary to neutral or even friendly.

However, You Ming did not include every city in his trade system.

A city either needs to be in a superior geographical location or have some special output; otherwise, why would it include you?

However, even after all these years of careful selection, there are still as many as thirty-nine trade routes connecting to Toadheart Island, each linking to anywhere from seven or eight cities to more than a dozen.

The longest trade route connects the three cities of Yuanling, Changning, and Sizhou, extending all the way to Yunzhou south of the Cangyuan River, bringing southern spices directly to Chanxin Island by waterway.

Then, using Toad Heart Island as the distribution center, the routes continue to expand to other routes.

(End of this chapter)