Daming Town Haiwang

Chapter 1824, the first stop in Tianjin

After receiving the support of the two cabinet ministers Liu Jin and Wang Shouren, Emperor Hongzhi's plan to travel around the Ming Dynasty was followed by heated discussions in the early court, and finally got the approval of the ministers.

Next, Emperor Hongzhi also made a series of deployments. First, he arranged for the prince Zhu Houzhao to supervise the country. Cabinet ministers Zhong Zhong, Wang Shouren, six ministers, and five military governors assisted the prince in handling state affairs. The chief assistant Liu Jin followed Emperor Hongzhi. travel.

In terms of the arrangement of the entourage, Emperor Hongzhi really kept everything simple. He only brought dozens of palace guards and dozens of Jinyiwei and Dongchang’s secret fans, a few small eunuchs to serve Emperor Hongzhi, and a few to record the emperor’s daily life. civil servants.

In addition to taking a small number of people, Emperor Hongzhi also asked everyone to pass on plainclothes, and came to a private visit in a micro-service, intending to really take a look around and feel the customs and customs of various parts of Daming.

I don't plan to notify the local governments anymore, I can go wherever I think of, and I will be wherever I play.

Of course, this is also what Liu Jin hopes. If the emperor travels with great fanfare, it would be a trivial matter to have a few thousand people or tens of thousands of people.

In history, Qin Shihuang traveled eastward to mount Taishan to enshrine Zen. It was escorted by a hundred thousand troops. The places he passed along the way were cleaned up early. It can be said that it seriously affected the production and life of the people wherever he went.

There is absolutely no need for Emperor Hongzhi. Now that the Ming Dynasty is peaceful with singing and dancing, and the country is rich and the people are strong, there should be very few people who want to assassinate him as the emperor.

Qin Shihuang was different at that time. He destroyed the six kingdoms. The elders and children of the six kingdoms hated Qin Shihuang to the bone. There were too many people who wanted to assassinate Qin Shihuang. Therefore, every time he traveled, he was grand and mighty. For the protection of the large army, the places along the way were also cleared in advance, and even the dragon chariot he was riding on had undergone many modifications to strengthen the defense.

Therefore, even if Emperor Hongzhi only brought dozens of people with him, there was no problem at all.

On the spacious concrete road from the capital to Tianjin, more than [-] Mercedes-Benz cars are speeding on the road, followed by several large trucks in the distance. People who don't know it must think it is a convoy of a certain commercial company.

After all, cars are very expensive, especially Mercedes-Benz cars, which have never been something that ordinary people can consume. Now there are more than [-] cars, and only those big commercial firms can afford them.

Emperor Hongzhi sat on one of the cars, looking at the scenery outside the window with great interest.

The earliest cement road in Ming Dynasty has been built for nearly 20 years.

If it is placed in later generations, the 20-year-old cement road is estimated to be rotten. The tofu dregs project of later generations, let alone 20 years, can make the newly built roads become potholes with just one rain. It's just a layer of cement skin on the surface, and the sand and soil under the ground have not been compacted.

But here in Daming, the quality of projects is often linked to life. Since Zhu Yuanzhang formulated strict project management methods and accountability systems, project quality has been quite strict.

Almost all the information about the workers and engineers who built the road, the materials used, which factory produced it, etc. must be engraved on the road, and a special monument must be erected to record these things in detail.

Once there is a problem with this road, the government can then use this information to hold the relevant responsible persons accountable. Zhu Yuanzhang, who hates tofu projects, is very strict in this regard, and he will lose his head at every turn.

This cement road has been built for nearly 20 years, and its quality is still very good.

There is not a trace of potholes or damage on the road. The green belts in the middle and on both sides of the road have grown over the years, and the trees planted have become towering trees, providing shade for passing pedestrians to rest.

Thanks to the rapid development of Daming over the years, the convenient transportation and a large number of tourists brought by the cement road, there are rows of houses everywhere on both sides of the road, various inns, teahouses, restaurants and the like. Everywhere you can see, the business is quite booming.

Because the flow of people on this road is very large.

Not only are there fast-moving cars, four-wheeled carriages, bicycles, etc., but there are also a lot of pedestrians on foot. This road runs through the two most prosperous cities in Ming Dynasty, and it passes hundreds of thousands of people every day. .

The continuous and huge flow of people has brought a lot of business to the small shops on both sides of the road. If you are tired, you have to sit down and rest, drink a cup of tea or something, and if you are hungry, you want to eat something. When you are tired and sleepy, it is night You also need to stay in a hotel for one night or something.

This road feeds thousands of people in the area along the route.

It also allows more and more people to choose to build their houses on both sides of the road, which is closer to the road, and the traffic is more convenient. At the same time, they can also do some small business along the way.

"This tree has grown into a towering tree!"

"There are clusters of houses and shops on both sides of this road."

"When I went to Tianjin, the trees on both sides were only a little tall, and there were few villages on both sides of the road."

Emperor Hongzhi watched it with great interest. When he thought about it carefully, he seemed to have not gone out for a walk for many years. After taking a look, the last time he went to Tianjin was when Hongzhi was more than ten years old.

"Your Majesty, as the saying goes, if you want to get rich, you must first build roads."

"This Beijing-Tianjin cement road connects the two most prosperous cities in Ming Dynasty, Beijing and Tianjin. I don't know how many people pass by this road every day."

"The transportation is convenient, and you can do some business. Naturally, it will attract a lot of people to settle down on both sides of the road."

Liu Jin, who was in the same car with Emperor Hongzhi, also replied with a smile.

"Yes, if you want to get rich, build roads first!"

"Look at the houses on these two sides, all of them are beautifully built. Thinking about it before, the houses of the common people in my Ming Dynasty were all dilapidated and dilapidated."

"Now it seems that the people of my Ming Dynasty have really become rich."

Emperor Hongzhi nodded in deep agreement.

For a place, the road is the link that drives prosperity, and for a country, the road is the meridian for activating the economy, allowing the rapid and continuous flow of goods between various places.

Without the convenient transportation that has been vigorously built now, there would be no prosperity and prosperity of Daming.

In the past, when there was a famine in the north, it was not easy to transport food for disaster relief, but now it is different. Basically, no one is growing food in Beizhili, but there will be no shortage of food in Beizhili. grain.

Because there are railways, roads, and automobiles for transportation, grain can be adjusted for you from Liaodong in minutes.

Emperor Hongzhi was very aware of the importance of transportation. In recent years, Daming has not been free from famines.

In fact, because of the unique geography and climate of Daming, and the influence of the subtropical high pressure, the precipitation in Daming is basically floods in the south and drought in the north or drought in the south and floods in the north, and it is rare to say that there are times when the weather is smooth.

Droughts, floods, and locust plagues occur almost every year, but the impact on Daming has become weaker and weaker now.

The Ming Dynasty carried out extensive infrastructure construction in various places, the focus of which was the river lifts, dams, reservoirs and the like that were valued by all dynasties. The existence of these projects greatly reduced the impact of natural disasters.

Of course, the most important thing is that the traffic conditions in Daming have improved now. If you have a severe drought in Henan, I can immediately send you food from Liaodong, Hezhong, Western Regions, Shandong, Nanzhili, Huguang and other places, and the food will be provided to you. Send a few hundred catties, enough for you to eat until next year.

Corn, sweet potatoes, potatoes, etc. will send you a few hundred catties. These things are very cheap, easy to grow, and have high yields. No one wants them anymore.

No matter how big the famine was, it couldn't hold back such a large-scale disaster relief from the imperial court. Even if the land was so dry that there was no harvest, the common people could sit at home and complain leisurely for months.

This was something that was unimaginable in the past, but this is the current situation of Daming. The impact of natural disasters on Daming has become smaller and smaller, and it has even reached the point where it has no major impact.

The number of farming people is decreasing, and a large number of people have migrated out. Among the remaining people, a large number of people have entered factories and workshops to work. Factories and workshops are even less affected by natural disasters.

Therefore, Emperor Hongzhi always attached great importance to and supported infrastructure construction.

Even though it would cost hundreds of millions of dollars to build the railway to Sichuan, Emperor Hongzhi still wanted to build it, because once the Sichuan railway was completed, it would open up the lifeline of the southwest region, and the entire Yunnan-Guizhou-Sichuan region would benefit.

Even if it is to dredge the Yangtze River, build ports, wharfs, overhaul dams, and build Yangtze River Bridges in the Yangtze River Basin, it will cost a lot of money.

Emperor Hongzhi still needs to repair it, because once the Yangtze River shipping is brought into play, the beneficiary Huguang and Jiangxi can take off, and then the economy along the Yangtze River can be formed. If these places develop their strength, the south of Ming Dynasty can take off.

The role of infrastructure construction is very huge, especially for Daming whose infrastructure construction has just begun. Wherever the road goes, the people along the way can become rich and develop accordingly.

Emperor Hongzhi sighed unceasingly, and at the same time, there was still a little achievement in his heart. His hard work over the years finally had results and rewards.

Take a look at the houses along the way and the life of the common people in Ming Dynasty. Compared with the past, it has undergone tremendous changes. The people of Ming Dynasty are really rich now, especially the common people in the Beijing-Tianjin area. Just look at this house It can be seen that they are all living a good life.

(End of this chapter)