During the Ming Dynasty, Huaian was second only to Nanjing as the administrative center of the Liangjiang region; it was a place of immense wealth. At that time, the Viceroy of Grain Transport not only held the concurrent post of Governor of Fengyang but also oversaw the entire 3,000-li stretch of the Grand Canal spanning several provinces, making him a true pillar of the imperial court. If the Ming Dynasty had an official ranking of viceroys, the Viceroy of Grain Transport would have ranked just below the Viceroy of Nanzhili. This status made Huaian, the seat of the viceroyalty, a de facto provincial capital, with an economic GDP far exceeding that of Yangzhou to the south.
Though the Viceroy of Grain Transport has since been stripped of his local gubernatorial powers, rendering Huaian no longer the political center of the north, its prosperity remains incomparable to other provincial capitals. Zhao An and his party traveled north along the Grand Canal toward Huaian, but they did not head straight to the Grain Transport Yamen without pause; instead, they stopped frequently along the way.
Why? Because Censor Zhao needed to conduct a field investigation. One has no right to speak without investigation, after all. The Old Ancestor had instructed him to see what the Viceroy of Grain Transport was up to, and that meant he had to make a show of "seeing." Of course, Zhao An’s true identity as the Young Lord was strictly confidential.Except for Ren Zhaoyang, Baili Yunlong, and a f…
Chapter 197