Commodity Economy Of Wei River Basin In Northern Henan In Qing Dynasty

The Wei River Basin in the Qing Dynasty is located in the northern part of Henan and mainly includes Weihui Prefecture and Zhangde Prefecture.In Henan Province,it borders Huaiqing Prefecture to the west and Kaifeng Prefecture to the south.It is connected to Shanxi,Zhili,and Shandong Provinces outside the province.It is rich in natural resources and has a suitable climate.It is an important agricultural production area in the north of Henan Province.In the early Qing dynasty,with the stability of the regime,the population continued to increase,agricultural production was restored and developed,and the area of arable land was increased compared to previous dynasties.With the introduction of extra-terrestrial crops such as sweet potatoes and widespread planting,the types of crops have increased,and economic crops such as cotton and medicinal materials have gradually been planted in large areas.A large number of these economic crops provide raw materials for the development of handicrafts.As a result,the textile industry and other handicrafts develop rapidly.This has promoted the further development of the commodity economy.The major commodities circulated in the Wei River Basin are grain,cotton,and medicinal herbs.Urban and rural markets have become the primary markets for the circulation of these commodities.The Wei River Basin is an important production area for grain and cotton.Hui County medicinal plants are well-developed,and there are many urban bazaars.Therefore,the Baiquan Temple Fair became a venue for South-North medicinal materials trading in the early Qing Dynasty.The important commercial town in the Wei River Basin is a market for the distribution of grain,cotton,and medicinal materials.Because of the convenient transportation of the Wei River waterway,Daokou Town has become an important distribution center for grain and grain has been circulated to provincial-level markets such as Zhili and Shandong.Along the Wei River,as the Wei River plays an important role in grain transportation,important towns such as Daokou Town and Chuwang Town have appeared.With the continuous development of the commodity economy,coupled with convenient local transportation and abundant resources for resources,merchant groups have emerged in the Weihe River Basin.Wuan businessmen in the north of Henan Province have developed rapidly after the middle Qing Dynasty,and their commercial scale has gradually expanded.They changed from transporting to local merchant and formed a merchant group with geographical characteristics.