Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 831 Shipbuilding
The spring breeze brought a bit of earthy smell.

Zhu Yixi looked up, and at some point outside the window, it had already started to drizzle, and the spring rain was as expensive as oil.

For the Western Region, which is thousands of miles away, Ming has been preparing for several years, and must completely solve the Western Region, and then seek Central Asia.

If it is not resolved at this time, it will be too late after a few years.

However, Zhu Yixi still has some feelings after being on the throne for ten years.

In the second year of Shaowu, the world was initially established, and now there are 3 million people.

As early as the third year of Shaowu, the north began to compile the households of Qimin, and re-registered the book, the yellow book, that is, the household registration book.

Up to now, nine provinces and one prefecture in the north have a total population of 670 million. In the nineteen counties of Shuntian Prefecture alone, there are nearly 3 million people.

Next is Shandong with 10 million and Hebei with 8 million.

The four huge provinces of Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningsui and Sui all together do not have 10 million.

The progress in the south was slower, especially in the four provinces of Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi. After four years, it was concluded that the total population of the four provinces reached 50 million.

In particular, Jiangxi Province is the leader, reaching 5 million, ranking first in the world.

In feudal society, a huge population represented its strong productivity, and agricultural production could be intensively cultivated, and artisans, handicraftsmen, and merchants were not absent, and there were everything that one expects to find.

As a result, Shaowu's nine-year taxation (grain converted into silver), that is, after the central and local accounts were distributed, reached a terrifying 70 million yuan.

Among them, the payment of commercial taxes (taxes, customs duties, and special salt, iron, tea, and wine) has reached a terrifying 30 million pieces.

Accounting for [-]% of the world's tax revenue, the government and the public have attracted attention.

Also because of this, the fiscal surplus of the Ministry of Households is around 10 million silver dollars every year, and the imperial court can be described as rich and powerful.

When the court has money, it can naturally support more troops, and the total number of soldiers and horses in the world has also crossed the threshold of 800,000.

Among them, the number of people in the Beijing camp (including the soldiers and horses in the garrison area of ​​the general army) has jumped from 300,000 in the early years of Shaowu to about 500,000, and the number of frontier troops, patrol battalions, and inspections is about [-].

The annual maintenance of the army has also become the bulk of the finances, about 30 million, the maintenance of officials is about 10 million, and the public works are about 5 million.

Xungui annual salary, clan support, one million yuan a year.

And disaster relief is available every year, ranging from two to three million to as many as tens of millions, which is simply impossible to measure.

Therefore, in a feudal society, normal expenditures would not lead to financial bankruptcy at all. The biggest possibility was accidents, including disasters, border troubles, and rebellions.

For example, the Anshi Rebellion had only one rebellion, so it could last for a hundred years. The Qing Dynasty was a Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and it collapsed, and the finances barely survived.

Fortunately, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, all three types were available, and financial bankruptcy was certain.

It can be said for sure that Shaowu's finances during the years were healthy, and the annual surplus was enough to meet each of the three things.

But if these three kinds are combined, Zhu Yixi feels that he will also be beaten to death.

However, fortunately, Zhu Yixi still has an internal treasury.

The eight major customs offices in the world are completely controlled by the emperor and become his internal money. Without the restraint of literati, he can spend as he pleases.

Although it can't reach the exaggerated figure of over [-] million annual income during the Qing Dynasty, the annual income of the eight major customs is very simple.

Coupled with the sugar and mining businesses run by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the emperor was extremely rich.

Last year alone, the income was 5 yuan, which was equivalent to the income of several provinces.

It is precisely because of this that last year, the Ministry of Internal Affairs obeyed the emperor's decree and built a separate palace in Chengde as a place for playing and hunting in the future.

Due to the long distance, the loss exceeded one million.

What's funny is that the Inspector's Office was quiet and didn't dare to move at all.

"The Ministry of Finance allocated 5 million to prepare for the Northwest War."

"Yes!" The secretary serving at the side, a young eunuch, came up to him and began to write.

The first-hand Guange script is beautiful.

The emperor nodded slightly, he was satisfied, and then he only needed to submit it to the cabinet for drafting.

The young eunuch is the Suitang of the Supervisor of Rituals, and he is the second largest eunuch in the Supervisor of Rituals after Tian Ren, the eunuch of Bingbi.

It's not that Tian Ren has been abolished and retired, but that there are too many talents in the palace, and the emperor is too busy to draw up decrees, so he needs a secretary with him.

At this time, the talents in the palace jumped out.

"By the way, how is the dock in Tianjin?"

Suddenly, the emperor remembered something and asked suddenly.

At this time, the memory of the personal eunuch Liu Afu must be reflected. He must not only carefully remember the identity and background of the official, but also remember the thoughts of the emperor.

"Master, it has been built for half a month."

As soon as Liu Afu rolled his eyes, he lowered his head and said in a respectful voice: "I heard that this shipyard occupies a huge area, and the labor cost alone costs 3000 people, and it can build a large ship with [-] materials."

"The Ministry of Households allocated 500,000 yuan, which is very distressing. It has been delayed for several months!"

This simple sentence puts a nail in the head of the household department.

After all, the dock was built by the emperor himself, and the Ministry of Households complained about the delay, which naturally easily aroused the emperor's displeasure.

However, Zhu Yixi didn't care, and even ignored it.

Because eunuchs are such creatures, they are naturally picky. When they say who is good, they either collect money or hook up. At this time, they should pay attention.

Internal and external confrontation is not terrible, what is terrible is internal and external collusion.

.

A typical example is Zhang Juzheng, who drafted his own edict, stamped it himself, and executed six errands. The good guy has more power than the emperor.

"Get ready, stop going to Yuquan Mountain, I'm going to Tianjin."

The emperor commanded bluntly.

"Yes!" The eunuchs all bowed and nodded, expressing their obedience, and their obedience was extremely strong.

This is a civil servant again, maybe it's Shangshu again.

Which emperor doesn't love eunuchs?

Sure enough, the officials who heard the news the next day went to the shuffle one after another, asking the emperor to act cautiously.

After all, after more than a month, I will be able to try it. It is not a good time to go to Tianjin at this time.

There were also some discussions among the cabinet, but most of them were young and energetic cabinet members, and several cabinet elders remained silent.

What needs to be explained is that last year, two years after Gao Hongtu entered the cabinet, he retired from his official position and went home to retire. He accepted the emperor's reward and returned home with honor.

Jiang Riguang, who looked forward to the stars and the moon, finally entered the cabinet, and the number of cabinet members reached five again.

The first assistant is Zhao Shu, the second assistant is Wang Yingxiong, and the group assistants are Yan Chongxin, Lu Daqi, and Jiang Yueguang.

Since Wang Yingxiong and Lu Daqi were both from Sichuan, and Jiang Yueguang was from Jiangxi, there was a balance between the north and the south in the cabinet.

The former Beiren cabinet has also become a thing of the past.

"Go!" Chief Assistant Zhao Shu said calmly, "It's just Tianjin. You can come back in a few days. Now it's different."

Hearing this, several people immediately woke up.

Yes, before the winter of last year, the railway track from Beijing to Sanjiaodian was repaired, and the horse-drawn carriages could travel directly, arriving at Sanjiaodian in two hours, and then going to Tianjin by boat.

Half a day is enough.

"Brother Yanruo, you will stay behind this time!"

Zhao Shu smiled slightly and said to Lu Daqi.

"Yes." Lu Daqi bit the bullet and agreed.

The cabinet must follow in the footsteps of the emperor and obey orders at any time, and at this time in Beijing City, there must be one person in charge of leading the various ministries to avoid mistakes and omissions.

The emperor's trip was relatively light, and he didn't even take him with him in the harem. He just brought two or three princes, plus a few people from the cabinet, and easily boarded the carriage and headed for Tianjin.

It is said to be easy, but the Beijing camp still dispatched 5000 people to escort them all the way, for fear that it would be wrong to come out.

In fact, there is also a waterway between Tianjin and Beijing, but because of the need to meet the needs of the city of Beijing, the congestion is heavy, so the rail carriages were built to ease the transportation pressure.

It is conceivable that if the dragon boat departs from Beijing, the entire canal will be blocked for at least half a month.

"Father, I heard that private railways are also valuable, aren't you afraid that someone will steal the railway tracks?"

The second son of the emperor Zhu Cunhua, king of Qi, is ten years old and has not yet officially left the palace. He is very excited to travel with the emperor this time.

On the side, the eldest prince Qin Wang Zhu Cunhao and the crown prince Zhu Cunqu stood by, the little people looked very mature.

Zhu Yixi glanced at the crown prince, and then asked Zhu Cunhao, "King Qin, what do you think?"

"I would like to report to my father, the railroad track is almost unstoppable day and night, and the Maxie people don't stop, only a moment or two apart, how can the railroad track be pulled down?"

Seeing his father's gaze, Zhu Cunhao felt a little excited, and said politely, "Besides, the railroad track is very special. Once it's sold, it will definitely be discovered."

"The imperial court punished them severely. I heard that they moved to Jilin every now and then. I don't think many people have the courage to do so."

"Where's the prince?" The emperor nodded slightly and patted his head, the latter's eyes were full of joy.

"Father, I see that there are houses and post stations near this railroad track. Because there are rewards for confiscating the government, the common people will keep their eyes open and will naturally guard for the court."

"Hmm!" Zhu Yixi didn't favor one person over another, and rubbed his head.

Qi Wang Zhu Cunhua, who asked the question, was in a hurry, and said wateryly: "Father, I also know these two reasons."

"Well, it's also very nice of you to ask that question."

The emperor smiled and pointed to the land outside the car. The crowd said: "With the railway tracks, it is convenient for people to come and go, and the court can also transfer troops and horses. Everyone benefits. Coupled with severe punishment, naturally no one wants to Recklessly."

The brothers looked into the distance.

There is a canal, and ships can be vaguely seen. The crowd is like an ant colony, densely packed, and the number cannot be counted.

This is the first time they have seen the canal.

Then, they saw the sea.

Although the Bohai Sea is relatively shallow, and due to the Yellow River, it is also relatively yellow, and there are tidal flats everywhere, but it is still a sea after all.

The vast expanse is boundless, and the waves are rolling.

The fishy smell of the sea breeze was blowing, and the princes couldn't help opening their eyes wide. The blue sky and white clouds, the school of sail fish, and the endless reeds all filled them with joy.

So fresh, so interesting, much better than Xishan and Imperial Palace.

It's a pity that the emperor didn't stop because of their lingering gazes. The carriage whirled and arrived at the dock.

Dagukou Dock.

This is a large shipyard with an advanced scale, and it is also the largest shipyard in Ming Dynasty, because it can build a large ship of [-] materials, about [-] tons.

Even in the West, this is a remarkable figure.

And in its design, there are even preparations for a sea-going ship.

A big boat with five thousand materials is just the foundation.

But even five thousand materials are enough to dominate the China Sea.

There are dozens of cannons on each side, just thinking about it is exciting.

Although there are many credits of Western missionaries, the most critical reason is the emperor's support?
Just introducing a shipyard cost 500,000 silver coins, enough to rebuild another Tianjin City.

In fact, Dagukou Dockyard was originally a small city, in addition to a large number of craftsmen, they also lived in their families, accommodating tens of thousands of people.

In order to protect the dock, several forts were even built nearby, and twenty red-clothed cannons were in place.

But in fact, the Dagukou Dock is located near the Haihe River. These forts can not only protect the dock, but also protect the estuary.

Zhu Yixi even prepared a hundred artillery pieces at the mouth of the Haihe River.

As for the reason, it was because the Manchu Qing Dynasty was too impressive, and the Tianjin landing was really difficult to solve. If some forts were not built, Zhu Yixi felt a little unstable.

"Your Majesty, this big ship with [-] materials is almost in the shape of Europa. It is enough to load a large number of artillery, and it is specially supplied to the navy."

In front of the emperor was a western-style warship. A large number of craftsmen were like ants beating on it, constantly constructing, and the scene looked majestic and majestic.

On the other side, a few missionaries were there to guide, and they didn't seem to see the emperor coming.

"Not bad!" Zhu Yixi was extremely satisfied looking at the big boat about [-] meters long and tens of meters wide in front of him.

The three decks are exciting to look at.

This is the sailing warship.

He desperately wanted to experience sailing out to sea, but unfortunately, his status restricted him, and no one in the court was willing to hand over the life and death of the emperor to the sea.

Zhu Yixi didn't want to either.

At this time, the missionary was brought over, saluted very politely, and then said: "Your Majesty, the [-]-material ship you mentioned is only available in Spain, the Netherlands and other big countries in Europe. This is their first-class battleship. .”

"Only by owning such a big ship can one be the overlord of the sea."

"I understand." Zhu Yixi thought in his heart: "Then how many cannons can this ship carry at one time?"

"It can carry a hundred doors, which is the most powerful force in the entire Far East."

"Not even the Dutch?"

"As far as I know, they don't have such a first-class warship in the South China Sea."

The missionary said: "It's not that they don't have such craftsmanship, but that the cost of a first-tier battleship is too high. They think that in the South China Sea, second-tier warships from third-tier warships are enough."

"How much is a third-tier warship?"

"About three thousand materials."

That is [-] to [-] tons.

Indeed, before, in the entire East Asia region, a [-]-ton large ship was the most powerful.

But now it is not possible. China has surpassed such a figure, and even began to overtake in curves.

(End of this chapter)