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Chapter 1107: A New Market

Engaging in mountain warfare within the Bashan region against the locals, the rebels were clearly no match.

It didn't take long for the mountainous areas around Ba County to be entirely pacified.

Large groups of rebels were routed by Padi Tu's main force of flintlock riflemen.

Once the rebels broke into smaller groups, they were strung up and severely beaten by the local Tujia warriors, utterly unable to fight back.

In just half a month, the area around Kaixian became remarkably safe. The common folk no longer had to fear rebels suddenly appearing and killing them, and many began preparing to return to their villages.

But it was winter now, and they couldn't plant crops even if they returned to their villages. Many had their homes burned down by the rebels, so they couldn't return even if they wanted to, leaving them in an awkward predicament.

Just then, they suddenly heard someone shouting in the city: "Roads are being built! Recruiting road construction workers! Wages are three catties of white rice per day! Those who want to come, quickly report to the county yamen! Hurry, or there won't be any spots left!"

That last half-sentence was incredibly persuasive!

The common folk had barely any time to think, and immediately rushed towards the yamen.

Kaixian began large-scale road construction.

As the saying goes, if you want prosperity, start with the roads.

After all, it was the winter of the ninth year of Chongzhen's reign, the slack farming season, and the rebels had been eliminated. If not now, when else would be a better time to build roads and earn money?

The common folk eagerly signed up and participated.

Sichuan was very poor at the time, its people's destitution comparable to Shaanxi's. The wage of three catties of white rice a day was simply too enticing. This news quickly spread to every mountain village, and even those who hadn't fled to Kaixian couldn't resist descending the mountains now, joining the road-building army en masse.

Between Kaixian and Wanzhou, there was already a rather poor official road.

What the common folk had to do now was to widen, reinforce, and flatten this official road, making it as straight as possible, avoiding winding paths, and ensuring the gradients weren't too steep, all to facilitate large-scale freight transport.

And while they were building roads towards Wanzhou, Wanzhou was also building roads towards Kaixian.

Besides Kaixian, where Padi Tu was stationed, Zheng Gouzi, Gao Chuwu, and Zheng Daniu were also simultaneously beginning operations in their respective areas.

The Tujia Pacification Commissioners from several surrounding mountain strongholds had all been won over by Gao Family Village's "trade offensive." Each stronghold swiftly issued a general mobilization order, and large numbers of Tujia soldiers rallied together, beginning an active advance against the rebels.

Hiding in the mountains?

That tactic only worked against government troops; it wouldn't work against the locals.

Where in any nook or cranny could you hide from the locals?

The locals could track you down even if you hid in a crack in the ground.

The Gao Family Village Militia fought the tough battles, and the locals finished them off—perfect!

In the northeastern Sichuan region, the rebels lost their foothold and were continuously driven westward. After the Gao Family Village Militia completed their community outreach in an area, clearing out the rebels and mobilizing the locals' enthusiasm, they immediately set off again, continuing their westward pursuit of the rebels.

Meanwhile, at the Nanhui Mouth Market.

A merchant named Yao Xingjuan had just arrived in front of a wool sweater shop.

Yao Xingjuan was not a legitimate merchant; he was actually a smuggler, the type who was half-merchant, half-pirate. When he wore merchant clothes and moved about, he went by Yao Xingjuan.

But when he boarded a sea vessel and secretly smuggled goods at sea, he was known as Yaoxing Juan.

Today, he came to Nanhui Mouth Market primarily to buy "Warm and Sleepy Textile Factory" brand wool sweaters. These were of excellent quality, featuring special weaving techniques and patterns from ethnic minorities, and were now becoming popular in coastal cities.

Especially the Japanese nobility, who quite liked these wool sweaters. After all, Japan was very cold, and they didn't produce much wool locally, so they had no choice but to buy them.

Yao Xingjuan planned to purchase a large batch of wool sweaters at Nanhui Mouth, transport them to Nagasaki Port in Japan, and, as for the price, it would naturally be several times higher, allowing him to heavily gouge the Japanese nobles there.

Just as he was daydreaming about his profits, he looked closely and saw that the wool sweater shop was actually closing down.

The shopkeeper was directing the shop assistants to pack up the goods, preparing to move them.

Yao Xingjuan was startled. "Oh, shopkeeper!" he exclaimed. "Why are you closing? Are you not setting up shop here anymore?"

The shopkeeper nodded with a smile. "That's right. The coastline at Nanhui Mouth has too shallow beaches, and ships can't dock close enough. It's inconvenient to do business here, so we're moving."

Yao Xingjuan grew anxious. "If you move," he asked, "where will I source my wool sweaters from in the future?"

The shopkeeper laughed. "You can follow the coastline towards the mouth of the Yangtze River, then go upstream from the Huangpu River estuary. There are signs all the way, and you'll quickly find the new market."

Yao Xingjuan was greatly surprised. "The market moved to an inland river port?" he asked. "Can our sea vessels even enter that river?"

"They can!" the shopkeeper laughed. "The Huangpu River is even more convenient for docking than here. You'll know once you get there."

Yao Xingjuan replied, "Why would I go to the Huangpu River now? Your shop isn't even fully closed yet. Just give me a few large bundles of wool sweaters. I'll visit the Huangpu River next time I return."

The shopkeeper chuckled. "I can give you the wool sweaters now, but you really should go check out the Shanghai Port on the Huangpu River. It's a newly built seaport. The Assistant Minister of Revenue from Nanjing invested a great deal of effort to build it. All sorts of excellent goods from Suzhou, Nanjing, and other places are gathered there. It's much larger than this Nanhui Mouth Market. Things you couldn't find at Nanhui Mouth Market before are all available at the new market in Shanghai Port."

Hearing him say that, Yao Xingjuan indeed became a little interested.

He purchased a few large bundles of wool sweaters and loaded them onto his ship. Then, steering his large vessel, he left Nanhui Mouth, followed the coastline north, and after passing Chongming Island, the mouth of the Huangpu River was already in sight.

Interestingly, at the mouth of the Huangpu River, surprisingly, two small stone fortresses had been built on both the left and right sides. And on top of each fortress, a very rudimentary lighthouse had been constructed.

It was clear these lighthouses were temporary, and many workers were busy beneath them, evidently intending to make these two lighthouses more elaborate and attractive.

Long strips of cloth were hung from the temporary lighthouses. One side read: "Merchants from all nations are welcome to trade here." The other side read: "Honest dealings, fair for all."

"The authorities are interesting," Yao Xingjuan thought to himself. "They're actually doing something like this. It seems capable people have joined the government; they understand the importance of vigorously developing maritime trade."

His ship had just reached the mouth of the Huangpu River when two government patrol boats approached. "Who goes there?" they hailed.

Yao Xingjuan thought he was about to be extorted. While giving his name, he had already prepared some silver fragments to bribe the sailors. To his surprise, the sailors were startled and quickly pushed his silver away. "No, you mustn't!" one exclaimed. "The new Assistant Minister of Revenue is very strict! If we took even one copper coin from you, we'd be dead men when we returned!"

Yao Xingjuan was greatly astonished. "There's such a thing?" he muttered.

He couldn't help but ask, "If you gentlemen don't accept offerings from merchants, then how do you manage your livelihoods...?"

The sailor laughed. "The Assistant Minister of Revenue raised our military pay! Our pay is quite good now. If we lost our jobs for accepting a few small silver fragments from you, that would be truly unprofitable. Quick, let's see your travel permit... Alright... Done, you can go in."