As the saying went, Qiantang River had been prosperous since ancient times. Yet after Wang Yan had governed it for three years, its prosperity had reached even greater heights.
This was necessary, and Wang Yan had done it deliberately. If all nine counties of Hangzhou developed evenly, that would only breed mediocrity and would not be conducive to governance. As the seat of the prefecture, Qiantang received the greatest share of resources.
At the same time, Qiantang had to be developed into an economic center, drawing the great households of the other counties to flock there. In the local county towns, one could buy only ordinary daily necessities and slightly more expensive goods. But for high-end goods, one had to go to Qiantang. Gathering major merchants in one city and one place intensified competition, boosted commercial vitality, and fostered industrial clusters.
This was essential to making Qiantang even more prosperous. It would not only absorb the great households and gather talent from within the prefecture, but also devour the resources of neighboring prefectures and counties. In ancient times, a single prefecture's strength was not enough to support a great city. It had to draw nourishment from the surrounding regions...
Outside Qiantang City lay a bustling panorama of life.
There were scholars traveling in groups during the warm spring, ladies from wealthy families out enjoying themselves together, merchant caravans delivering goods from all directions, and rough men in tattered clothes leading cleanly dressed children by the hand. There were nobles riding in carriages and officials striding hurriedly along. Nearby, constables worked in pairs, wearing light armor and resting their hands on the swords at their waists. Their eyes constantly swept across the crowd, giving off an intense sense of oppression.
Not far away stood a newly built market. People hawked their