Topp (forty-two years of Ming Jiajing (1563) belonged to Yande Township, Jieyang County, and Chenghai County was assigned to Chenghai County after its establishment. Today is the Qiaotou, Yunlu, Mukeng and Xiayi areas of Jiang Duo Street, jinping district, Shantou. It was once a prosperous ancient port city. This historical fact may be little known now. Turning to the Yongzheng edition of Chenghai County Records in the Qing Dynasty, only a few words were recorded, "Top City, 30 miles south of the city", which failed to clarify the prosperity of Top City in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
As an ancient port city, Top has a unique geographical position. It is located at the junction of Haiyang (now Chaoan), Jieyang (now Jiedong), Chenghai and Chaoyang. According to Han Rong, it is an ideal berth for passing ships. Ships were the main means of transportation in Ming and Qing Dynasties. Under the influence of monsoon, they set sail in March and April, waiting for the southeast wind, and entered Fujian and Zhejiang from Guangdong. In August and September, I sailed smoothly from Guangdong to Gaozhou and Hainan by northwest wind. Then you can go to Japan, Korea, Indochina Peninsula and Nanyang Islands. In this way, when there are more ships moored in Top Port, there will be barter, which will gradually develop into trade and radiate to Chenghai, Jieyang, Haiyang and Chaoyang. This is how the port city of Top was formed. The products of Chaoshan area, such as homespun, porcelain, tea, sugar, fruit, etc., are all gathered in Top City, from which they are exported to foreign countries, and exotic products such as spices, jewelry, medicinal materials, fragrant rice, sweet potatoes, soybeans and tin are imported from foreign countries. Today, there is still a warehouse in Zhangpu that has been converted into a residential building. Tang Zhen, who came to Chenghai to teach Oracle Bone Inscriptions the South China Sea Juren during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty (1662 ~ 1722), wrote a poem "Ancient Seas Connected with Ancient Seas".
Since the establishment of the Top Water Army Village in the 14th year of Jiading, Song Dynasty (122 1), the policy was further tightened in the early Ming Dynasty, but people were still allowed to go to the sea by boat for non-governmental trade after receiving the "ticket summons". When foreign maritime merchants pay tribute to China, they only need to "report all the goods of this ship to the official and extract the assessed tax according to the number". Therefore, in order to strengthen the trade management and tax collection in Beipu, the government has set up some management agencies in Top. According to Chenghai County Records, in the early Ming Dynasty, Top Inspection Department was set up as the management organization of public security, customs and coastal defense. "Tuojiang River is unwilling to be idle" is a poem written by Zhao Guixi, a Chaoyang student, holding Zhang Kun, inspector of Top Supervision Office. Hongwu four years (137 1), sent a centurion He Zhang to set up a salt division; In the tenth year of Hongwu (1377), Xu Mao, an official, built a river berth in Topp. In the ninth year of Yongle (14 1 1), Ambassador Li He of Hebi rebuilt Hebi Station again. Although the government has set up a series of management agencies in Topp, in order to make profits, the rich and the poor constantly violate the trade ban, and local officials consider stabilizing society and increasing financial resources. Then they acquiesced, and a large number of wealthy businessmen emerged at this time, such as "Liu Tuku (1) Hujiapu". Those who went to Topp to be officials also made huge profits from it. Some of them bought rural real estate near Topp and settled down. Judging from the dozens of acres of rural industries purchased by Xu Daodao, the income of Top officials at that time was considerable. If the ancient city of Topp was not so prosperous at that time, the government could not have set up so many management institutions here. Top, as a port city, is in full swing. It is said that a wealthy family built a house in the early Qing Dynasty, and Mr. Wang was asked to choose a site for it. In order to test whether the master is greedy for money, Mr. Wang asked the master to look at the flagpole once a day (in the old days, the flagpole could stand in front of the ancestral temple or the mansion), or once every three years? The master was greedy and replied that he would see the flagpole rising every day. So Mr. Wang inclined the door of the house at an angle to Qiaopu Port. Therefore, every day when he stands in front of the door, he can see the ships sailing out to sea raising their masts and sails. Legend is a legend after all, but from this legend, we can know that Gutup's "Haiyan returning around the mast" is a good haven with deep water and slippery waves. Topguantan still has its old name, but now it can only be used as a fish pond because of the long-term accumulation of silt.
Judging from the formation of rural areas in Chaoshan area, the surnames of residents in villages dominated by agriculture are one to several, and if they are commercial towns, they range from dozens to nearly a hundred. Because since it is a port city, businessmen from all corners of the country and people from all walks of life gather here to make a living and settle down. Top has more than 50 surnames and a population of 20,000 in history, and there are legends of "8,000 and 12,000". In the third year of Emperor Kangxi of Qing Dynasty (1664), in order to sever the connection between Zheng Chenggong and the southeast coast, the court ordered a large-scale internal relocation, forbidding residents to live within 30 miles of the coast and forbidding the people to go to sea, so the bustling Top City was once abandoned. In the eighth year of Kangxi (1669), the governor of Guangdong took office. However, the port city moved from the original Shabei Port to the northwest side of the southeast fort, under the school yard of Pengzhou Lock City, and was called the new port by the top people. It was not until Shantou opened its port that the management function institutions and town trade set up by Top were gradually replaced by Shantou.
Note: ① Earth storehouse, which was called money house in ancient times or the place where ancient hipsters kept valuables.
(2) the top Li Si, three miles, the next. According to legend, the old one once lived in Li San, with a population of 8,000, and the next one lived in 22,000.