Summarize the characteristics of Jiangnan towns during the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Most of them are located in places with convenient transportation. They are large in number and densely distributed. They are located between cities and villages. They have industrial and commercial activities as their main functions. They have a wide radiation range and commercial activities are closely connected with the surrounding rural areas.

In the first year of Hongwu (1368) of the Ming Dynasty, Yingtianfu (now Nanjing) was designated as the capital. In the thirteenth year of Hongwu (1380), the Zhongshu Province was abolished, and the prefectures and prefectures directly under the Zhongshu Province were changed to six ministries directly under the jurisdiction. Commonly known as Zhili. In the 19th year of Yongle (1421), the capital was moved to Beijing, the capital was renamed Nanjing, and Zhili was renamed Southern Zhili.

In the second year of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1645), the Jiangnan Chengxuan Government Envoy Department was established in the southern direct jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty, which abolished Nanjing's status as the capital. The governor's office was located in Jiangning Prefecture (today's Nanjing), and later The Chengxuan Political Envoy Department was changed to a province, and the Jiangnan Chengxuan Political Envoy Department was changed to Jiangnan Province. Together with Jiangxi Province, it was under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Liangjiang, and the Governor of Liangjiang was stationed in Jiangning Mansion.

In the 18th year of Shunzhi (1661), Jiangnan Province was divided into two parts. The east was called "Jiangnan Right Chief Envoy" and the west was called "Jiangnan Left Chief Envoy". In the sixth year of Kangxi's reign (1667), the right chief envoy to Jiangnan was renamed the chief envoy to Jiangsu, and the left chief envoy to Jiangnan was the chief envoy to Anhui. Jiangsu comes from the first words of Jiangning and Suzhou, while Anhui comes from the first words of Anqing and Huizhou.

In the 25th year of Qianlong's reign (1760), Jiangning Prefecture was designated as the capital of Jiangsu Province, and Anqing Prefecture was designated as the capital of Anhui Province. At this point, the administrative divisions of Jiangsu and Anhui provinces are roughly the same.

In addition to abundant precipitation, the Jiangnan region also has two major water systems, the Yangtze River and the Qiantang River, which are connected to each other through canals. The Jiangnan region is dotted with rivers and numerous lakes, including the three famous freshwater lakes in China, namely Poyang Lake in Jiangxi, Dongting Lake in Hunan, and Taihu Lake in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.

In the long-term development process, a large number of water conservancy projects were built to connect them with each other, such as Wu Zixu opened the Xu River, Fu Chai dug the Hangou and the Jiangnan Canal, etc., so it has always enjoyed the title of "water town and country" reputation. The natural geography of Jiangnan formed under such climate and topography is significantly different from that of the north.