prosperous age

Luo Bingliang was the adopted son of Luo An after Luo Chun's death, so Luo An's rank of commander-in-chief had been inherited by Luo Chun for a generation, so Luo Bingliang could only inherit his ancestral position as a captain with salary.

By the time of Luo Sigong, the family's financial situation had fallen into a rather embarrassing situation. He obtained a way to rise through the Beijing Guard Martial Arts Society, but he worked diligently and conscientiously in the Jinyiwei and eventually was promoted to the commander-in-chief of the Jinyiwei, Junior Tutor and Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince, Junior Protector and Grand Protector of the Crown Prince, and Left Commander-in-Chief of the Rear Army Governor's Office, the highest position among officials.

After Luo Sigong died in the ninth year of Chongzhen, his son Luo Yangxing became the last official in charge of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the first governor-general of the Qing Dynasty.

In the 17th year of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng's peasant army captured Beijing, Emperor Sizong of the Ming Dynasty hanged himself, and Luo Yangxing was tortured by the peasant army. He offered 30,000 silver coins and was detained instead.

When the Qing army entered the pass, Luo Yangxing led his people to surrender to the Qing and was highly valued. Dorgon ordered him to resume his original position, governor of military affairs in Tianjin and other places, and added the title of Prince Grand Tutor.

Later, because he received the Southern Ming envoy Zuo Maodi and others, he was suspected by Dorgon and was removed from the post of governor. He lived in idleness with the titles of Prince Taifu and Left General.

In the sixth year of Shunzhi, he was demoted to the position of Zhejiang Zhangyindusi, and the Luo family fell into decline.

It can be said that the Luo family rose to prominence because of Luo An, but fell because of Luo Yangxing. Luo Yangxing was also listed as a traitor because of being a slave of three surnames, which also made a name for himself.

It was somewhat inappropriate for the Jinyiwei official to take the lead in surrendering to the Qing Dynasty given the Luo family's situation.

However, Wei Guangde had no idea that Luo Yangxing, who was later called a big traitor, was the grandson of Luo Bingliang in front of him. At that time, Luo Bingliang gave him a good impression and was a shrewd person.

With Liu Shouyou's recommendation, Wei Guangde confidently gave Luo Bingliang the task of demonstrating the rapid-fire musket at the military parade, which brought a glimmer of hope to his career.

"Shandai, if you have nothing to do, why not come to my Ministry of Works and have a seat."

Finally, Jiang Zhi suddenly said.

"it is good."

Wei Guangde really has no plans for today and tomorrow, so he has no objection to Jiang Zhi's invitation.

When they returned to the Ministry of Works' duty room, the clerk served them tea.

Jiang Zhi asked about the naval review during the trip to Tianjin. He was happy to learn from Wei Guangde that Emperor Wanli was very satisfied with the navy.

After all, the Ministry of Works has made indelible contributions to the development of the navy to its current state.

The shipyards under the Ministry of Works were responsible for the construction of the vast majority of naval warships, and the Nanjing Armory Bureau was almost entirely responsible for the casting of the South China Sea naval artillery, all of which earned the imperial court a lot of face.

After chatting, Jiang Zhi also brought the topic back to the point and asked, "Yesterday, Minister Cao reported back to the Ministry saying that the Prime Minister and you are interested in opening ports in Tianjin and Guangzhou, and asked the Ministry of Works to select a location off the coast of Tianjin to build a port terminal?"

"It's true."

Wei Guangde nodded slightly, "At that time, I did tell Minister Cao to let the Ministry of Works select a site for construction as soon as possible, mainly because the Prime Minister intends to use Tianjin as a port for foreign trade for the northern provinces.

Guangzhou has always had a huge maritime trade, and there are already relatively complete docks in the area, so there is no need for the Ministry of Industry to build one there.

One in the south and one in the north, two trading ports were developed at the same time. Naturally, the Tianjin Wharf had a direct impact on the implementation of the Prime Minister's decision.

Therefore, Shunqing must hurry up and handle the Tianjin Wei matter, select a site as soon as possible and start construction as soon as possible, and never delay Guangzhou."

Obviously, the main reason for Jiang Zhi and Wei Guangde's conversation this time was because the court was going to open the sea again.

You know, the court had just completed the opening of Songjiang Prefecture to the sea, and was immediately preparing to open ports in Tianjin and Guangzhou. The speed was really hasty.

"I know what you're worried about, but there's no need to worry.

The imperial court already has Yuegang and Songjiang Prefecture, and is now planning to open sea ports in Tianjin and Guangzhou. There will be no new ports opened for a long time, so you can rest assured."

Wei Guangde guessed that Jiang Zhi was worried that the court would continue to open coastal ports, causing the Ministry of Works to be overwhelmed.

After all, the Ministry of Industry only has a limited amount of silver for raw materials every year, and there is not much silver available in the Jieshen Treasury now. Even with the silver for building the Tianjin port, the Ministry of Industry does not know what to do with it for the time being.

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde spoke again: "Songjiang Prefecture opened the sea mainly because it can take advantage of the Yangtze River waterway and the Grand Canal to transport inland goods abroad.

It can be said that the purpose of opening the sea to the sea by Songjiang Prefecture was to export goods from Sichuan, Shaanxi, Huguang and other places.

The Tianjin Port is mainly responsible for the export of goods from the north, while Guangzhou is responsible for the export of goods from Guangdong Province and southwestern Yunnan and Guizhou.

In this way, the Ming Dynasty had suitable foreign trade ports in the north and south and inland, which was also beneficial to local economic and trade.

As for Yuegang, due to Fujian's terrain, Yuegang still mainly exports goods to Fujian and surrounding areas, but Yuegang's trade volume should gradually stabilize in the future and will not increase significantly, so the Ministry of Industry does not need to pay much attention to it. "

To be honest, if Tianjin and Guangzhou were opened as ports, Wei Guangde no longer felt that there was a need for other cities to open to the sea.

After all, commodity production is limited these days. No matter how many ports are built, it is just dividing the cake and it cannot be expanded at all.

In this case, there is no need to continue building seaport terminals.

With Wei Guangde's words, Jiang Zhi dispelled his worries and immediately said: "In addition, the construction of the Jiayun Canal is going smoothly and is expected to be completed in two years. In time, the Grand Canal can bypass Xuzhou and reach the capital directly.

only"

"Just what?"

Wei Guangde asked. He wondered if the construction of the Jiayun Canal had encountered opposition from merchants in Xuzhou, so his attitude was inevitably a bit stiff.

But unexpectedly, Jiang Zhi was not talking about the Jiayun Canal, but the Songliao Canal.

"A few days ago, news came back from Liaodong that the survey of the Songliao Canal has yielded preliminary results. The elevation difference between the two places is quite large, nearly 20 meters. If the canal is dug, the water of the Songhua River will continuously flow into the Liaohe River, out of Yingkou and into the sea.

It is so huge that they are worried that it will affect the waterways of the Songhua River and Heilongjiang River."

The principle that water flows to lower places does not need to be taught.

When building canals in ancient China, the differences in terrain were fully taken into consideration, and canals with large elevation differences were constructed with extreme caution.

“Are there any plans for the canal route?”

Wei Guangde didn't care so much. Although the drop of several dozen meters was large, a dam could be used to block the water flow.

There are quite a few dams like this one on the Grand Canal.

"There are two. One is to dig more than 300 miles from the main stream of the Liaohe River to the main channel of the Songhua River. The investment is large, but there is enough water to ensure the navigation of the channel.

The original idea was to use a tributary of the Liao River to connect with the Tu River. Although the channel was short, the water flow was weak and only small boats could pass through, which was not the purpose of river transportation.

Jiang Zhi said, "The Ministry of Works made calculations based on this and believed that the construction of the Songliao Canal was of little practical significance and did not recommend its construction."

Finally, the main reason why Jiang Zhi invited Wei Guangde over was that the Ministry of Works opposed the construction of the Songliao Canal.

After all, the original purpose of digging the Songliao Canal was to build a canal that could ensure navigation in the Liaodong and Nurgan regions.

But now it seems that digging the river requires large investment but has small carrying capacity, so it is actually of little significance.

Even if a small amount of materials is transported from Liaodong to the Heilongjiang River Basin, it would be better to rebuild the shipyard in Laomiwan and build ships directly on the banks of the Songhua River.

From Anlezhou to the dock near Laomi Bay, it is only a few dozen miles by land transportation, so a small amount of supplies can be fully guaranteed.

Wei Guangde also understood what Jiang Zhi meant, but he still asked, "So the Ministry of Industry thinks there is no need to build the Songliao Canal?"

Jiang Zhi hesitated for a moment and said, "That's true. The actual value of digging the Songliao Canal is not great. There is not enough material to be transported north through the new canal."

"I see. Then the Ministry of Industry should rebuild the shipyard. Since there are not many materials to be transported north, we can land at Liaohe River and transport them to Tuhe River for loading. For large amounts of materials, I think it is better to hope for sea transportation.

Although there has been no precedent for reaching Nurgan by sea, since it is connected to the sea, I think we should be able to find a route.”

Wei Guangde did not force it. He had already asked Xu Qiaoan to send the navy warships to patrol the north after the grand review to find a sea route to Nurgan City.

However, Wei Guangde didn’t know that the Songliao Canal, a canal that had been conceived since the Ming Dynasty, had not been built until hundreds of years later.

Even though Emperor Kangxi had pushed for the construction of this canal, it was forced to be suspended due to a border conflict with Russia in the northeast.

Subsequent advocates such as Xiong Xiling, Zhang Jian, Zhang Taiyan, and Sun Yat-sen all pushed for this project at different times, but until the beginning of the new century, the Songliao Canal remained on paper.

Even in 1994, when the State Planning Commission approved the report on the comprehensive development and utilization of water resources in the Songliao River Basin, the project still made no progress.

In fact, it was a wise move for the Ming and Qing dynasties to abandon the Songliao Canal.

After all, due to the geographical location, the actual navigation time of the Songliao Canal is limited, and there will not be too many ships coming and going, and they mainly carry military supplies.

Regardless of whether it was the Ming Dynasty or the Qing Dynasty, in fact, they were in a state of shrinking their strength with respect to areas outside the Northeast, and neither of the two dynasties had plans for long-term layout in the Nurgan area.

In other words, Wei Guangde knew the strategic value of the vast Siberia to China in the future, so he pushed for expansion to the north.

But even so, it can be seen from the response from the Ministry of Works that the officials of the Ming Dynasty were not actually willing to invest too much in the north.

In their eyes, the bitter and cold areas are worthless. Even if the land is vast, what is the point if it cannot be cultivated?

The imperial court spent a lot of effort to conquer a place where the Han people could not live for a long time, which was a complete loss-making deal.

The Ministry of Works is considered the stronghold of the Jiangxi Gang headed by Wei Guangde. Even so, it is clear that if the Ministry of Works really submits the Songliao Canal plan, most of the ministers in the court will probably stand up to oppose it.

Don't expect Zhang Juzheng to speak for Wei Guangde. He may just tacitly agree, not support. If he doesn't openly oppose at that time, it will be considered keeping his promise.

Fortunately, Wei Guangde already has a backup plan, which is the sea route. Although there are still many restrictions, at least the obstacles are much smaller.

Under the name of building the Beihai Navy, he could also get the support of Emperor Wanli.

In this way, a small amount of materials are transported by land to the Songhua River, and then shipyards build ships to connect to the Heilongjiang River Basin. Bulk materials are transported by sea. Although it is more troublesome, at least the nominal investment is less.

Seeing that Wei Guangde had no objection, Jiang Zhi immediately said, "Then I will withdraw the people from Liaodong and organize some people to go to Tianjin to survey the terrain first."

"That would be the best, and we'll try to complete the preparations for Tianjin's opening to the sea before the end of the year."

Wei Guangde was not sure about the time frame Zhang Juzheng had planned, and he just asked for preparations.

Although there are docks in the Haihe River, the inland docks are not as convenient for ships to enter and exit as the offshore docks.

The estuary directly affects the throughput, which is why the navy warships could not enter Zhigu in the past.

The river is so wide that it can't accommodate too many ships.

After leaving the Ministry of Works, the attendant in front of the sedan chair whispered in his ear: "Master, there is news from the palace that the representatives of the Spanish, Portuguese and Egyptian missions have sent letters to the palace and want to visit you.

In addition, representatives from Korea and Ryukyu also sent gifts to the palace, just like usual."

As a cabinet minister, Wei Guangde received a lot of gifts every year.

Korea and Ryukyu, the two countries that paid tribute most diligently to the Ming Dynasty, were always present. Whenever an envoy arrived, the Wei Palace would present gifts.

However, the small Southeast Asian countries such as Siam, Java, and Sumatra may not have figured out the way for the Ming Dynasty court, so there has been no movement.

Well, their dealings with the Ming Dynasty were mostly about submitting a memorial to Guangdong every year, and then engaging in large-scale trade in goods in Guangzhou.

"Go home."

Wei Guangde just nodded slightly and got into the sedan chair.

After working in the Ministry of Works for a long time, Wei Guangde returned to his mansion and went straight to the backyard.

In the main hall of the backyard, Xu Jianglan was sitting on the official hat chair on the left. There were several boxes on the coffee table in front of her, and the same was true on the tables on the left and right sides.

When Wei Guangde entered the main hall, he saw her staring at the box in front of her.

"master."

When the maids at the door saw Wei Guangde coming in, they all came forward, knelt down and bowed, then retreated to the back.

Wei Guangde didn't go to see the boxes, but was attracted by the two exquisite clocks on the left side of the door and walked over immediately.

There are two clocks, one with a spire and the other with a tower style. Wei Guangde thinks both of them have a European architectural flavor.

The pointed-top clock was all gold, and Wei Guangde was not sure whether it was real gold or gold-plated.

However, according to Wei Guangde's impression, it seems that Europe is not very sensitive to pure gold. Many of their so-called gold products actually have a very low gold content, or are simply gold-plated, inlaid with many tortoise shell, agate or enamel decorations, which look very gorgeous.

The tower clock is made entirely of wood with carved patterns, and the white dial is inlaid with many golden patterns, which is very elegant and beautiful.

Wei Guangde didn't really understand these things and couldn't confirm what they were.

But it does look pretty good.

"Sir, this is a self-ringing clock sent by the messenger from Elijah. It is said that when the pointer moves to a place with scales like this, it will ring by itself.

Just now, both clocks rang once."

The maidservant next to him immediately came forward to introduce the item to Wei Guangde, telling him the origin and function of the item.

At this time, Xu Jianglan had already stood up and walked over, but she had a few gift lists in her hand.

"The things in this room were all sent by envoys from the three European countries. Some of them are new and I am still looking at them.

The rest have been put into the warehouse. They are all on the gift list. They are all things given away in previous years."

"Ah."

Wei Guangde reached out to take the gift list and took a look at it. From the combination of letters and Chinese characters, it was obvious that the barbarians had put a lot of thought into making this gift list.

"Haha, the Portuguese have lived in Haojing for a long time, and they have learned all the rules of my Ming Dynasty."

Wei Guangde smiled.

"Pah, you still have the nerve to say that."

Xu Jianglan spat with disdain.

No matter what, she is the daughter of a noble family. Although she can accept the things that happen in the Ming Dynasty officialdom, it does not mean that she likes them.

"This should be something they picked up. It seems they sent many gifts to the Guangdong government." (End of this chapter)