However, Shi Lei has really gotten all the benefits of giving out potatoes. As long as Li Shimin is not full of malice, he doesn't care how much he is willing to use potatoes.

His main focus was on how to organize the situation after taking office. If he didn't get rid of the people from Guangzhou, not only would his plan to build a base and make a fortune be ruined, but whether he could wear this hat was still stable is a question.

So he had to cheer up and attend a welcome banquet organized by the Guangzhou Governor. I heard that all the well-known figures in Guangzhou have almost arrived this time and want to have a good relationship with him, a guy in charge of force. In the future, he will rely more on his army.

After entering the Guangzhou territory, although Shi Lei was very low-key and kept his own 1-acre and 3-point land, he actually arranged his subordinates to collect the situation in Guangzhou early on, mainly the group of members of the special forces who followed him and set out for him.

He has been in the past few days to digest the information at hand. If something too deep may not be analyzed, at least he must have a relatively clear understanding of the political structure of Guangzhou. Don’t go to the wrong temple and burn the wrong incense when the time comes. In the future, it will be difficult for him to work in Guangzhou.

Although Guangzhou is not well-known in the hinterland of the Tang Dynasty, it is actually very famous in Lingnan and is relatively prosperous. Although the population is still a little less than that of a large area here, the people who can take root in this place have to be considered good for their small lives than other Lingnan prefectures and counties.

Moreover, since Guangzhou can become Shangzhou, its scale is definitely not much smaller. The Tang Dynasty's own population is about 150,000. Of course, this is the population of the entire Guangzhou area, mostly distributed in the surrounding rural areas, mainly growing grain, and the permanent population living in Guangzhou city is only about 20,000.

Moreover, the situation in Guangzhou is quite special. One Guangzhou City is divided into two counties for management. Generally speaking, the western part belongs to Nanhai County and the eastern part belongs to Fanyu County. There is no separate Guangzhou City unit. But they are all subordinates of Guangzhou County, so many things can be made by the governor, and there is no much trouble.

In addition to the agriculture that relies on for survival, which occupies the largest labor force, the handicraft industry in Guangzhou is also relatively developed, and mainly serves foreign trade projects, such as porcelain, silk, etc. It is obviously for foreigners who come here to do business. It is not that convenient to sell inland markets, and the competition they face is also different.

The relatively most active industry in Guangzhou is overseas trade. Many Arab and Persian merchants, carrying spices, rhinoceros horns, ivory and other luxury items, traveled thousands of miles to dock in Guangzhou, a port that was old.

After waiting for their commodity distribution to be completed, they will bring up the specialties of the Tang Dynasty, such extremely beautiful silk and porcelain, as hard currency, and run back to their respective countries to sell them. The profits will be made in return. This is an important reason why they are willing to take risks and travel across the ocean to do business.

Of course, Shi Lei felt that there was another reason that prompted them to come to Guangzhou. At this time, Guangzhou did not have the Maritime Bureau, which means there was no customs, so there would naturally be no relevant tax.

Even though the Tang Dynasty still had various restrictions on them, this benefit was still great. It was the same as legal smuggling, so how could it not be attracted to it?

However, those who do business with them are not locals in Guangzhou. There are not necessarily a few people in Lingnan who can afford the top luxury goods in the hands of these merchants. Lingnan is not a developed region, and the real wealth is Feng Ang and others.

The real dealers of the foreign merchants are actually those who are powerful in the inland, and they must be those with relatively strong influence. The caravans under these people will also sell the luxurious silk and porcelain they need most when purchasing goods from the foreign merchants, and they will also make two money back and forth.

These top luxury goods were eventually distributed to the Jianghuai River and the rich northern land headed by Chang'an. These two places also gathered the wealthy classes of the Tang Dynasty.

But only these caravans under the powerful are able to do this job. One is that this thing has too high requirements for the amount of funds, and ordinary people basically don’t have this capital. Another is that the requirement for connections is not a little bit.

If you don’t have strong strength to guarantee it, you can’t even enter the local market. These businesses that are aimed at the powerful are naturally controlled by local powerful figures. Therefore, if you don’t have this influence, it is not realistic to break through the barriers they set up consciously or unconsciously.

There is another historical reason. Ocean Trade is actually only now available to the table. In the past, such trade was more accomplished through the so-called "tributary".

These foreign merchants from various countries have actively or passively become envoys of various distant countries or countries that simply do not exist. They have heard the reputation of the Central Plains thousands of miles away, so they would rather risk their lives than pay attention to the greatness of the Central Plains Empire.

Then the very happy emperors who were fooled would give them several times their contributions to see the generosity and prosperity of the Central Plains Empire, among which silk and porcelain are still big.

Now, although as time goes by and accumulate, we have gained more and more knowledge about the real situation of these overseas countries, there are still many restrictions on these merchants. Except for some port-type cities, they have limited opening of trade to them, and ordinary merchants still cannot access them.

This kind of foreign trade activity that contains huge interests is basically still controlled by the nobles, and must have certain power to ensure it.

Even though the Tang Dynasty specifically prohibited the business of nobles and the people from competing for profit in order to encourage the development of private business, its role was still relatively limited.

However, Shi Lei has become the beneficiary of it now, so naturally he will not comment on this.

It is precisely because Guangzhou has such a special background that it is not surprising that at this reception party, it is a business spokesperson from different countries and the Tang Dynasty's nobles.

The person who came out to greet Shi Lei was even more familiar. The nobleman who once wanted to sell the house in Chang'an to Shi Lei and wanted him to give his brothers was the current governor of Guangzhou, who was on par with Shi Lei, but he led his superiors.

But the other party's attitude still made him a little strange. It can't be said to be flattered, but judging from Shi Lei's current identity, his courtesy seems to be a bit super standard, which makes Shi Lei feel a little confused.
Chapter completed!