Just as the Sui and Tang dynasties began negotiations between Zhongdu, Zhang Xuan also arrived in Zhongdu. At this time, Lai Hu'er had already launched a naval offensive first. He personally led hundreds of warships to the west along the Yangtze River to clear Du Fuwei's water transportation capacity. {net (<[<<

After two years of separation, Zhang Xuan once again came to Jiangdu, which he had governed. News spread that hundreds of thousands of Jiangdu people came outside the city to welcome the return of the former Jianghuai recruitment envoy.

The two sides of the canal outside Jiangdu City were already crowded and stretched for more than ten miles. When Zhang Xuan's boat appeared on the Jiangdu Canal, thunderous applause and shouts suddenly sounded on both sides of the canal. Countless people cried with joy and cheered loudly. Hundreds of thousands of arms were waving on both sides. Many white old men knelt down on the shore, as if welcoming the hero's triumphant return.

Jiangdu has been in decline for too long after the Yu Culture and Mutiny. They are extremely eager to get the opportunity to be reborn and long for prosperity to return. When Zhang Xuan arrived, everyone saw a glimmer of hope. Zhang Xuan carries the dream of a new life of hundreds of thousands of Jiangdu people.

When Zhang Xuan walked out of the big ship, thunderous cheers broke out from both sides of the Taiwan Strait again. Zhang Xuan waved his hand to pay tribute to the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. He was really moved by the enthusiasm of the people of Jiangdu. Hundreds of thousands of people went out of the city to welcome his arrival, and he only stayed in Jiangdu for several months.

At this time, dozens of white and old men were brought up by officials. They knelt down and worshiped, "The little people pay homage to His Highness, and wish His Highness, a thousand years! A thousand years!"

Zhang Xuan quickly reached out and asked, "Sir, please get up quickly and kill Zhang Xuan!"

The old men were helped up by the soldiers and cried for the old man with joy: "We are looking forward to the stars and the moon finally waiting for His Highness to come back."

Zhang Xuan knew this old man, who was at the Presbyterian Church of the Jiangdu wealthy Liang family. He was at least 85 or 86 years old. He served as the leader of the Jiangdu gentry for nearly 30 years. Zhang Xuan smiled and said, "I haven't seen you for two years, and Liang Weng is in good health!"

When Liang Shiweng saw that Zhang Xuan recognized him, he felt even more excited and hurriedly said, "Thank you for your good fortune, Xiaomin is in good health. With the golden words of a thousand years old, the old man will definitely live a few more years."

At this time, Zhang Xuan whispered to the elders: "Zhang Xuan understands that everyone's requests, restoring the prosperity of Jiangdu is also the most urgent matter that Zhang Xuan needs to solve. Yu Wenji has been arrested and will be publicly executed in Zhongdu soon. The Wagang army will also be wiped out. I went south this time to completely wipe out Du Fuwei. He is a major concern in Jiangdu. This time, I must be completely eradicated. I believe that the Tongji Canal will be restored soon and the trade between the north and the south will flow again. I promise everyone that within three months, the Jiang will no longer have any worries about bandits!"

Zhang Xuan's words seemed to have grown wings and spread rapidly among the crowd. The banks of the canal were completely boiling. Men, women, young and old cried with joy. Countless people raised their arms and shouted, "Long live! Long live the King of Qi!"

In the official room of Jiangdu's left-behind office, Zhang Xuan was listening to the report of Chief Li Qingming. Although Li Qingming served as Chief Li Qingming, in fact, Jiangdu's government affairs were fully responsible and assigned the jurisdiction of Jiangdu to the left-behind office, which undermined the possibility of Jiangdu's Shangtai Shangtai Lu Zhuo interfering in Jiangdu affairs.

"In the past three months, Beizhi mainly visited major families and major commercial banks in Jiangdu, reversed the outflow of Jiangdu population, restored most of Jiangdu's handicraft industry, and also stabilized the grain prices in Jiangdu. According to Beizhi's original plan, it is necessary to temporarily concentrate the freight fleet in the hands of the government, so that the transportation can be concentrated and the army can participate in the escort."

"How is the effect?" Zhang Xuan asked directly.

"Report to Your Highness, due to the decline in grain prices, the outflow of population in Jiangdu has stopped. Moreover, due to the continuous war between Meng Haigong and Jiangnanhui, a large number of people fled to Jiangdu. In the past few months, the population of Jiangdu has recovered from 500,000 to 700,000. However, they are all temporary refugees. The burden on Jiangdu has increased. Beizhi has been busy resettling refugees for this period of time, and it is a bit in a hurry."

Speaking of this, Li Qingming couldn't help but smile bitterly. He planned the civil war between Jiangnan and Meng Haigong, but he had to face the refugee wave that ended up.

"If you don't have enough manpower, you can transfer people from Donghai County. The return of Xuzhou refugees in Donghai County is almost completed. I will immediately transfer the officials there to help you deal with the Jiangnan refugee problem. This is an opportunity to win people's hearts. We must seize this opportunity."

"I understand this, and I am also working hard to resettle the refugees in Jiangnan."

Zhang Xuan nodded and asked again: "How is the progress of centralized transportation of cargo ships?"

"This incident can be said to be twists and turns, and it is unexpected."

“Talk about it in detail.”

Zhang Xuan was very interested in this matter. Zhongdu has gradually become the economic center of the north, while Jiang is the economic center of the south. If the two economic centers can be unified, huge economic energy will be bursting out. Li Qingming proposed to control the freight fleet, which is indeed a good idea.

"Before, Beizhi visited the three major cargo merchants in Jiangdu, Baijie Shipping, Nanhe Shipping and Quantong Shipping. They own more than 90% of the cargo ships in Jiangdu, with more than 600 ships in Jiangdu. Among them, the background of Baijie Shipping is Dugu family, while the background of Nanhe Shipping and Quantong Shipping is Jiangnan Association. I proposed that the shipping of the three ships will be coordinated by the government, but they were unanimously rejected. Several visits were strictly rejected, so I considered establishing the Beihe Shipping, which will provide cargo ships with free transportation of materials to merchants, and squeezed them out with competition. Unexpectedly, Du Fuwei helped me a big favor."

"You mean Du Fuwei's army attacked the cargo ship?"

“That’s right!”

Li Qingming nodded and smiled, "Du Fuwei's army robbed the merchant fleet in Qiao County, Xia Pi County and Pengcheng County at the same time, resulting in heavy losses of dozens of merchants. More than 400 ships were taken away by Du Fuwei. There are only less than a hundred cargo ships left in the three major ships. The day before yesterday they came to me, hoping to temporarily rent the official ships, but I refused."

"What are you going to do next?" Zhang Xuan continued to ask.

"Weizhi intends to take a two-pronged approach. On the one hand, we set up a North Shipping Ship, mobilizing 500 cargo ships from all over the country to Jiangdu, completely defeating the three major ships by free freight. At the same time, we remove the firewood from the bottom of the pot, and ordered the Jiangdu Shipyard not to build private ships. In this way, within three months, the Jiangdu government will be able to monopolize freight. At that time, we will collect some freight fees appropriately. Not to mention making money, at least we cannot lose money. Weizhi has calculated that as long as the current price of the three major ships is half the price, we can maintain the balance of revenue and expenditure."

Zhang Xuan secretly praised that Li Qingming was worthy of being a minister of the Ministry of War to a left-behind chief of the government. He did not disappoint his expectations. Only he could quickly open up the situation and reverse the current situation where Jiangdu business was controlled by major forces. Lu Zhuo was indeed not good. He did not have such courage and skills.

Although he was very appreciative, Zhang Xuan did not show it on his face. He pondered for a moment and asked again: "What is the shipbuilding ability of Jiangdu Shipyard? How big can it be built?"

This is also a very concerning issue for Zhang Xuan. Although he had collected the best boatmen in the north and obtained drawings, it was still very difficult to build large ships such as Hengyang Boats. So far, only one was built. If the Hengyang Boats could be built in the south, it would be the best.

Li Qingming shook his head, "I'm afraid he's disappointed. Jiangdu lost nearly half of his population this year, most of which were excellent craftsmen, and most of the ship craftsmen left. At that time, thousands of huge dragon boats were built in Jiangdu, but at present, the Jiangdu boat yard can only build a cargo ship of about 500 stone, which is not as good as Beihai County boat yard. Your Highness, please say something unpleasant. We intercepted Yu Culture in time last year and did not take down Jiangdu. This was a major strategic mistake for us. You must know that Jiangdu at that time had collected more than half of the essence of the Great Sui Dynasty."

Zhang Xuan didn't say anything, and Li Qingming didn't need to point out this point, and he also understood in his heart that he had indeed made a big mistake.

After pondering for a long time, Zhang Xuan said: "Excellent talents will not disappear out of thin air. We will make up for the loss and use various methods to attract the return of these excellent craftsmen."

Zhang Xuan patted Li Qingming on the shoulder, "I will give this task to you. You don't care about the refugees next. Leave it to him. It will come in two days. You will do your best to restore Jiangdu's manufacturing capabilities. I don't care what methods you use, and you don't have to worry about whether the court will agree. You can report this matter directly to me."
Chapter completed!