In October, the sixth year of Longqing's reign.

There are still two months until the yuan change.

But for ordinary people, whether there is a change on the throne or not, it actually has little impact.

If you are a little more closed-minded, you will still ask, huh? The old Taoist priest finally died?

However, as far as Jining Prefecture is concerned, the people are quite knowledgeable and can even use this matter as a talking point.

This is simply because it is only sixty miles away from the capital city to the east and more than three hundred miles away from the Chief Secretary of Shandong Province.

Of course, the most important thing is that the state is adjacent to the Huitong River in the south and connected to the Jishui River. It is located at the end of the entire Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal.

During the Yongle period, the Nanwang Water Conservancy Project was built here, and the River Governor's Office was also established.

It can be said to be the transportation artery between the north and south Zhili waterways.

When Li Chengming and Chen Yinzhao got off the boat, they felt the smoke and smoke of people coming and going.

People were coming and going on the pier, including scholars, wealthy businessmen, and some wearing turbans and straw sandals.

There was a roar of voices and various accents echoed.

As soon as they got off the pier, a strange person approached them and wanted to sell something to the two of them, but was stopped by the attendant behind them.

Li Chengming ignored it, just grinned and stamped his feet: "I finally arrived in Jining Prefecture. I feel down to earth. This building is too confusing."

It was his first time traveling far away, and just taking the boat back and forth made him shake his head.

Every time I change ships, it’s a rare respite.

At the beginning, the emperor promised Li Wei, the biological father of Empress Dowager Li and the head of the country, to join the Maritime Chamber of Commerce.

As the eldest son and grandson of Li Wei, Li Chengming was sent by Li Wei at the end of June to explore the ports in Zhejiang and the situation of maritime merchants on the grounds of experience - of course, he was only the leader, and all the work was still done by the shopkeepers.

Now more than three months have passed in the blink of an eye, and I am just about to return to Beijing.

At present, he was passing through Nanzhili to visit his elders, and then transferred from the Huaihe River to Shandong, preparing to change ships in Jining and head north.

Chen Yinzhao didn't feel any discomfort.

He glanced at the attendant behind him and saw that nothing was left behind, so he said: "The boat is leaving tomorrow morning. Let's go. Let's go to the official post to rest first."

Chen Yinzhao is the eldest son of Pingjiang Bofu. He is a little older and turned 28 last month.

And Li Chengming is seventeen years old and still a little out of touch.

While following him, he said: "Brother, aren't we going to Fujian?"

If you want to form a chamber of commerce to undertake shipping, you have to survey several ports to see how much profit others can make.

Chen Yinzhao looked at him strangely: "Didn't Uncle Wu Qing tell you? He sent someone else over there."

"Let's just bring back what we've learned about Ningbo Port and the records of several shopkeepers."

He gestured to the two of them with his lips, which contained a summary made by the shopkeeper who had accompanied them.

Li Chengming slapped his forehead: "Oh, I remembered it."

He quickly put it behind him and asked again: "Brother Shi, do you think this business can be done?"

Chen Yinzhao hesitated and said: "I don't understand business, but since several shopkeepers have said that there is huge profit, they shouldn't be able to fake it."

He is the eldest son of Uncle Pingjiang. He has been rich and noble for generations, and his vision is higher than that of Li Chengming.

He said he didn't quite understand it, but in his heart he felt that there was much to be done.

Of course, he couldn't say this, otherwise his father, Uncle Ping Jiang, would not be able to bargain with Uncle Wu Qing.

In-laws are in-laws, and if you want to work together to make money, you still have to leave some room.

Li Chengming nodded thoughtfully, but he believed it naturally.

The two walked side by side, with one attendant following behind and the other leading the way.

Jining Prefecture is no better than Beijing. The streets are a bit old, and you can often see things like poultry droppings on the road.

Li Chengming covered his nose and held his breath from time to time while fanning himself with his hands.

Jining was originally Jining Prefecture in the first year of Taizu Wu, but it was downgraded to a state in the 18th year.

Regulations have been reduced, but the population has been increasing day by day in the past two hundred years.

As a result, it had to be continuously expanded on the basis of the state city, adding an outer city.

Among them, Guanyi is also in the outer city.

The two of them walked around and took a look.

The not-so-wide bluestone streets extend all the way to the city gate, with shops lined on both sides and wooden signboards swaying gently in the wind.

There was a constant flow of people inside and outside, and there was an endless stream of cars and horses.

Occasionally, a few gentry in official uniforms can be seen walking slowly, accompanied by a few servants carrying burdens, which looks quite impressive.

Most of them are ordinary people in simple clothes, carrying their bags on their shoulders and carrying their families.

Li Chengming suddenly pulled Chen Yinzhao's sleeve and pointed to a house in surprise: "Taizu customized it. The house must not exceed three rooms or five shelves."

"There are seven rooms and five racks here! Doesn't the government care?"

Chen Yinzhao has been out many times, so his experience is naturally richer.

He looked at the brother-in-law who left Beijing for the first time after writing this note, and patiently explained: "Customization is customization, but when the people don't abide by it, it will be difficult for the government to handle it."

The imperial court strictly enforces regulations, and people generally violate the regulations, so partial handling by the government is the norm.

But this is not easy to say on the street, so we can only speak vaguely.

Li Chengming didn't understand. Seeing that Brother Shi didn't want to explain to him, he could only press the button.

Still looking around curiously.

There was constant commotion along the road.

"Selling flat food!"

"Eternal Life Fruit! Immortality Fruit!"

There are constantly vendors carrying things to sell.

"I've been using this fork for a year and it's all polished!"

"Wait for Panzi, let me hang out for a while."

"You idiot, you're back! You idiot, if you don't kill me today, I'll kill you!"

None of the three religions lowered their voices.

Li Chengming complained: "The outer city is really poor, but it's not like there are no inns in the inner city."

Chen Yinzhao had no choice: "That's not what the old men insist on saying. It's better to stay at Guanyi when you are away from home."

Li Chengming and his entourage were followed by attendants, and they were not easy to mess with at first glance. Even pickpockets stayed away, so naturally no one stood in their way.

After walking for about two miles, the two of them arrived at Guanyi Station.

There was no need for the two of them to talk, and the attendant went inside to complete the formalities.

The two of them randomly picked a table to sit down and ordered some food.

Except for the table for two people in the inn, all the other seven or eight tables were full of people.

Seeing that they were all messengers delivering letters and businessmen traveling from north to south, I didn't take it to heart.

We started chatting casually.

Not long after, the attendant finished checking in and reported to the hotel with a copy of the residence.

Chen Yinzhao was stunned, took the Di newspaper and asked curiously: "Isn't the Di newspaper posted and announced? How can I buy it casually?"

The Di Bao was issued by the General Affairs Department and recorded current events in the central government. It was always intended for local civil and military officials to see.

Even if there was a need for the officials and the people to know, they would at most copy it and post it at the official post and outside the city gate.

The attendant is said to be an attendant, but in fact he is a royal guard, so he is naturally reliable in doing things.

After hearing this question, he immediately replied: "Master, the post said that it has been like this since August."

"According to the Di Bao in July, the General Affairs Department changed its chief officer, which increased the number of publications published by Di Bao."

"But it's quite expensive."

After saying this, he still hinted at reimbursement.

Li Chengming hurriedly came over and asked curiously: "What, will anything big happen after we leave?"

Chen Yinzhao said while looking at it: "No matter how big it is, can it be bigger than the title of civil servant?"

He still remembered how beautiful it was on the day he left Beijing, watching the ceremonial team escorting Ding Anbo from a distance.

"Oh, there is a big event. At the beginning of July, Emperor Daxing honored him with his posthumous title. Yi Tianxi said: Qitian Long, Dao Yuanyi, Kuanren, Xianwen, Guangwu, Chunde, Hongxiaozhuang Emperor, the temple name is Mu Zong."

Now that this has happened, I have to take back what I said earlier.
To be continued...