Going from Danzhou to Qiongzhou is a road with many mountains and rivers. Although the diameter is only about two hundred miles, it is the most troublesome. Sea transportation is the fastest way.

Danzhou is located in the northwest corner of Hainan Island, while Qiongzhou (Haikou) is in the northeast corner. It takes less than three hours to travel by sea.

Baisha Port, now Haikou Port, was a must-visit place for merchants traveling from north to south.

"Qiong County has been known as the Paradise since the past, and it has been known all over the world for its easy governance. It's old... The exotic and fragrant trees are the product of Wenjia. Merchants moved north to the Jianghuai, Fujian and Zhejiang areas, with tens of millions of people every year.

, its products are rich." He also said, "Haikou is the gate of the port and the gathering of sails and rafters!"

"The Biography of the Great Harmony of the Tang Dynasty" records that when Jianzhen lived at the home of Feng Ruofang, the leader of Wan'an Prefecture, when he saw Feng Ruofang meeting guests, he would burn the incense imported from abroad, which amounted to more than 100 kilograms each time.

**Incense, also known as neem, is the best frankincense and a best-seller in maritime trade at that time.

This shows that Hainan is not as desolate as the world sees it, and the transit port business is like Hong Kong in later generations.

When Li Jia brought several large ships with thousands of materials to Shenying Port, he saw this scene:

Large ships came out of the port one after another, loading and unloading towering trees, many of which came from precious wood such as golden nanmu. The draft was heavy, and the water in Baisha Port was shallow. Hundreds of trackers were sweating on the shore.

, kept pulling, and the skin turned bronze.

Those who enter the port are fed with salt, iron, fish, rice and other items, which are very heavy to eat. Due to the sparse population, the most popular people in Baisha Port are the trackers.

Li Jia and others came from Danzhou. In addition to some cloth, the ship was loaded with copper coins. It was not very heavy, so there was no need for trackers and they would naturally enter the port.

Thousands of sails passing by and heavy traffic are not the so-called adjectives.

Hundreds of sailing ships are constantly coming and going. If they are not driven by profit, how can they work hard like rain?

He had never seen such a prosperous ancient port. Li Jia was fascinated to see it for a while. Baisha Port was so prosperous. What would the legendary Guangzhou Port and Quanzhou look like?

"New ones? Three big ships with thousands of materials, you should pay one hundred and fifty guan!" The tax collector glanced at the three half-empty ships, sneered, and said casually while writing in his hand.

"How come there are so many?" Li Jia asked in surprise.

"This gentleman, Baisha Port should pay five guan for every 100 materials, and your three large ships with 1,000 materials should pay 150 guan!"

The tax collector looked at Li Jia, who was dressed in silk and satin, and had an extraordinary temperament, and his tone instantly became much softer.

"Pay it!!" Hearing this, Li Jia didn't know whether to scold himself for being stupid or scolding the shipping company for his gluttonous appetite.

In public, Li Jia cannot afford to embarrass this person if he directly bribes him.

Under the envious eyes of the people around him, a box of copper coins was carried out, and then dozens of well-built sailors came out with armors and swords, and their fiery eyes instantly converged.

"Who knew that this tax is not calculated based on the value of the items, but based on the size of the ship? It is really ridiculous! The price of everything transported by ships is not equal, so the taxes will naturally be uneven. Tax evasion will cause great harm to the country.

!”

Li Jia sighed.

"Mr. Lang, this has always been the case until now. Officials are lazy and the court can do nothing about it. This method is not a good idea!"

Zhang Weiqing also followed at this time. The training strategy was still following the rules at this time, and the real three-talent formation had not yet been formed.

Li Wei stayed in Danzhou, and the command of the several hundred sailors and soldiers was handed over to Zhang Weiqing.

Leaving behind the necessary guards, Li Jia led a hundred people and landed ashore in a mighty manner.

Baisha Port is not big, with two main streets, one horizontal and one vertical, about three to five miles long. There are rows of shops, including tortoiseshell shops, leather shops, wine shops, rice shops, noodle shops, gauze shops, lacquerware shops, porcelain shops, etc.

The largest and most numerous are the grain and spice shops.

Hainan is short of food, and the merchant ships coming from the Leizhou Peninsula, although the food is cheaper than the spices, the taxes are the same, and the price of food is more than 30% higher than that of the mainland.

The port is small, and merchants speaking various local dialects are constantly coming and going. They are rubbing shoulders and sweating profusely. It is not just an adjective, it is extremely crowded.

Not surprisingly, the largest number of merchants were still Arab merchants, which Li Jia felt a little uncomfortable with.

After walking for nearly a quarter of an hour, Li Jiacai led a hundred or so people to his own warehouse, where goods shipped from Yongzhou and purchased from Hainan for transportation to the north and south were stored.

"Lang Jun, this kind of warehouse is very common in Baisha Port. Our house occupies an area, and the rent alone costs dozens of guan every month!"

As Li Langjun looked left and right, the shopkeeper in charge of Hainan affairs explained with a smile.

"It occupies quite a large space!" Li Jia nodded. The warehouse in front of the store and in the back was about the size of a football field. There were about a dozen clerks coming and going. They were full of energy and were quite motivated to move the goods.

"We have to unload some cloth and other things on the ship later!"

"I've known you were coming for a long time, so all the land has been cleared!"

After resting for a while, Li Jia became interested and began to think about going out for a walk.

"If you are interested, you can let him lead the way!" The big shopkeeper waved his hand, and a young boy ran over, nodding and bending, looking quite smart.

"Mr. Lang——"

"Let's go!" Li Jia waved his hand, led a few people, stepped out of the threshold, and walked on the stone street. He began to think about his next move.

"Where are you going?"

"Let's take a stroll first!" Li Jia thought casually and said casually.

"Okay!" The boy's eyes moved and he nodded quickly.

Li Jia didn't say anything along the way until he stopped in front of a butcher's shop. The butcher's shop's original facade was two to three feet wide, revealing half of the empty meat case. A few red-headed flies were hovering on the meat case.

A muscular butcher was lying on a bamboo chair behind the butcher case, snoring.

"Butcher, butcher!" Li Jia walked up to the meat case, slapped the door panel twice and shouted. The butcher was half asleep. He opened his eyes and said impatiently: "The meat has been sold out. Come back tomorrow!"

"Your butcher shop is sold out so early? Can you still do business?"

The butcher saw that Li Jia was neatly dressed and had a generous expression. He knew that Li Jia was not an ordinary person, so he stood up and muttered:

"There are fewer people eating pork. When there are more customers this time, the business will decline. In a few days, we will have to change our profession, otherwise it will be difficult to support our family!"

"Is there any channel for beef?" Li Jia looked at it and asked casually.

"There are at least 20,000 people in Baisha Port. Not to mention beef, there are also all kinds of delicacies from the mountains and seas. However, cattle are expensive and the food is small! Only two or three per month."

"As long as you have a way!" Li Jia smiled, took out a handful of silver beans from his sack, and placed it on the butcher's table. The butcher's eyes instantly lit up.
Chapter completed!