prosperous age

Mario's confusion is understandable. These days, both the East and the West only have outhouses, which are incredibly smelly. It's hard to imagine what it would be like if they were installed inside a building.

"There is already a solution to this problem: simply design toilets in the same location on each floor, and connect them with pipes that go directly underground."

Simply dig an underground pool to store the excrement, and have a night soil collector remove it periodically.

Wei Guangde spoke up.

The toilet in the inner courtyard of the Wei family mansion was built next to the courtyard wall, with one end of the septic tank extending out of the courtyard wall.

Regularly, night soil collectors would haul away the excrement, and the same was true in the outer courtyard. Moreover, the toilets were concentrated in one area, and in order not to affect the main residence, a side gate was opened next to it so that the night soil collectors could haul away the excrement without having to use the other gates.

"This stench..."

Mario still couldn't understand. He could figure out everything else, but the stench was something that was hard to get rid of.

"Don't worry about that, there's a way."

Having been in the Ming Dynasty for so long, Wei Guangde had naturally long since resolved some of the inconveniences in his life, but he kept them a secret for some reason.

Ultimately, these are all shady dealings. If word got out that it was Grand Secretary Wei who designed them, he might be impeached for neglecting his duties.

Next, Wei Guangde explained the design of the "S"-shaped ceramic pipe to Mario, and then used water to rinse it to prevent odors.

"Wow, this design is really ingenious."

Mario was both surprised and impressed upon hearing this, but he finally asked, "Lord Wei, is it really a good idea to build the toilet indoors like this?"

Since this had never happened before, Mario couldn't even imagine what it would look like once it was built.

Although he was amazed by the ingenious design of the "S"-shaped tube, it ultimately challenged his previous design ideas.

At that time, no architects in Europe had designed it this way. Mario himself also lacked imagination, meaning he didn't have much design talent. He did things in a conventional way, which is why, although his teacher was very famous, he was somewhat unknown.

"So how do you design toilets in Europe?"

Wei Guangde asked curiously.

"Lord Wei, my initial design for the building was a U-shaped five-story structure, so my first consideration was to build a separate building in the courtyard as a toilet."
Later, because of Lord Wei's request not to design a courtyard, I considered following the method popular in European castles, building independent huts on each floor near the inner wall, and using pipes connecting them to the ground to serve as toilets.”

Mario began by saying that his initial designs were based on the popular European design style at the time, with each floor of the castle equipped with a room specifically for urination and defecation, which people called a private room.

This rudimentary private chamber was a small room with a slide leading to the moat or public cesspool, through which excrement would drift or float around the castle.

"Um"

Wei Guangde found it quite interesting and couldn't help but think of the small rooms that protruded from the outside of some ancient castles in Europe in later generations, with pipes connecting to the ground ditches.

According to Mario, that small room is probably a private room, or a toilet.

“I plan to turn the fourth and fifth floors of the building into a guesthouse, or hotel. The inner rooms can be built into the kind of private rooms you mentioned.”

Wei Guangde suddenly mentioned it.

The original plan was to provide toilets in the guest rooms, which was a common practice in Ming Dynasty inns at that time, where toilets were often located in remote areas of the inn.

Since he planned to build a unique Western-style building, Wei Guangde naturally intended to put a lot of thought into it, making sure that every aspect was different so that merchants and dignitaries from all over the country could see it.

They then influence others, thereby spreading these ideas.

Change should begin small and proceed step by step.

"By the way, how did you design the opera house?"

After discussing the restrooms on the upper floors, Wei Guangde thought of the other functional areas he had initially requested.

"As you wish, this part, the first and second floors, are now a single unit. The second floor contains the theater's private rooms and seating areas, where you can get a clearer view."

Mario pointed to a section of the design and explained that, according to Wei Guangde's requirements, the ground floor facing the street would definitely be used as shops, but two spaces would be reserved: one for the inn's reception hall and the other for a stage.

There was no cinema at the time, but since Wei Guangde had referenced Wanda Plaza in designing this site, he naturally wanted to include elements such as entertainment, shopping, and dining in the building.

Without a movie theater, it becomes a cinema. A single-story building is not suitable for a cinema, so the first and second floors of some areas have to be combined.

This was a piece of cake for Western architecture, which is known for its large-span, high-ceilinged spaces, and it was easy to modify it according to Wei Guangde's ideas.

With shops on the ground floor, restaurants and entertainment venues on the second and third floors, and a hotel on the fourth and fifth floors, Wei Guangde considered it a very good design.

Some time travelers create commercial pedestrian streets to make money, but he simply moved Wanda Plaza to the Ming Dynasty, which is no less impressive.

"Furthermore, Lord Wei, the building occupies a huge area, so saying it would take two years is probably a bit difficult."

After showing Wei Guangde the latest design drawings in detail, Mario continued.

"Oh, how long will it take?"

Wei Guangde realized that Mario needed more time to complete the building, so he immediately asked.

"It seems that it will take about four years to complete. After all, it is difficult to build in winter, so it takes about half a year to start construction."

Winters in Beijing are very cold, so for safety reasons, construction cannot proceed blindly.

The weather is too cold, which is also a test for building materials, so construction is definitely not possible.

"Does it really take that long?"

When they initially said it would take two years, they now told him it would take four years to complete, and Wei Guangde frowned.

"If we provide more artisans, can't we shorten the time required?"

Wei Guangde made the suggestion.

"It's difficult. This place is spacious enough, but it can only accommodate this many people at most."

Rather than increasing the number of craftsmen, we should focus on increasing the manpower in the quarries and stone transport to ensure a sufficient supply of materials.

Mario thought for a moment and then shook his head.

Fortunately, the building Wei Guangde wanted to build wasn't a large building that required a particularly high space; it only required the first and second floors to be connected, and it was only three zhang high.

This height is easy to solve.

Buildings like Western cathedrals, with ceilings often tens of meters high, are truly troublesome to construct.

It's not the construction itself that takes time, but the additional facilities required during construction, which are extremely costly.

"This year, we must clear the site and make all the necessary preparations. At the stone quarry, you should arrange for people to stock up on the required brick and stone materials to the maximum extent possible."

After giving Mario some instructions, Wei Guangde turned to his steward and gave him further instructions.

As he walked out of the construction site, Wei Guangde couldn't help but look back.

The construction period for Western buildings is too long. If it were a traditional Chinese wooden building, which is usually three stories high, it could be completed in a year if there were enough materials.

Of course, the interior decoration can only be described as very basic.

For example, palaces in the imperial city often take several years to build, but that doesn't refer to the time spent on construction, but rather the time spent on the interior's carved beams and painted rafters.

Many lintels and other features in the imperial city, as well as doors and windows, were designed with specific shapes, and some even required artists to paint on them.

In addition, royal buildings always require the utmost precision, which naturally involves a great deal of effort.

In contrast, vernacular architecture is not so particular; as long as it is sturdy and durable, it will be completed quickly.

Two-story houses are the fastest to build in rural areas, typically taking three months to complete and be ready for handover. Three-story buildings will not take more than six months to construct.

It is clear that the construction time of wooden houses is significantly shorter than that of brick and stone houses.

Time flies and the year is coming to an end. The various government departments are also busy finishing up their work for the year.

With the performance evaluation system in place, all tasks, big and small, had to be completed and reported before the end of the year.

Meanwhile, in the cabinet office, the young emperor was on his way today, accompanied by Feng Bao. The purpose was to review the Ministry of Revenue's report to the cabinet, to understand the state of the court's various revenues and expenditures in the soon-to-be-past Wanli ninth year, before formally submitting a memorial, which could also be considered a public announcement.

At this moment, Zhang Xueyan, the Minister of Revenue, held a note in his hand and slowly read out the financial situation for this year.

"The annual revenue and taxes totaled over 23.1 million taels of silver, while the total expenditures amounted to 22.5 million taels, leaving a surplus of over 600,000 taels of silver in the imperial granary."

Upon hearing that there was a fiscal surplus this year, the young emperor at the head of the table, his chief attendant Feng Bao, Zhang Juzheng to his left, and Wei Guangde to his right all unconsciously showed a hint of a smile on their faces.

Later, Zhang Xueyan explained that of the 23 million taels of silver revenue, 18.7 million taels were in kind, such as grain tax, while the remaining 4 million taels came from commercial taxes such as salt, iron and tea taxes, customs duties, coinage revenue, and silver exchange fees.

The fiscal revenue of 23 million taels was absolutely the highest in the Ming Dynasty in two hundred years, and the record of 4 million taels of tax silver was also the highest in two hundred years, both of which were record-breaking revenues.

Although it was still far behind the fiscal revenue of 50 million taels of silver in the Song Dynasty, it was already a remarkable figure in the Ming Dynasty.

However, the joy on Zhang Juzheng and Wei Guangde's faces only lasted for a moment before it faded. They knew that after the data was released, they didn't know if censors would use it as an opportunity to impeach them for embezzling money, extorting money, and competing with the people for profit.

After all, commercial taxes alone have nearly doubled compared to previous years, with customs duties and silver exchange being the most significant increases, and minting revenue reaching as high as 200,000 taels of silver.

In terms of expenditures, the Ministry of War accounted for the vast majority, reaching more than 40%. This included not only the huge military pay for the nine border garrisons, but also the tribute trade with the Mongol and Jurchen tribes, with the court's expenditures reaching a staggering one million taels.

The expenses of the royal family and the imperial clan also accounted for nearly 40%, with a total expenditure of nearly seven million taels of silver. Of this, the palace took more than one million taels of silver from the Ministry of Revenue, while more than five million taels were for the stipends of the imperial clan.

"Previously, Zonglu's wealth was only a little over a million taels. How did it suddenly increase so much?"

When Zhang Xueyan was talking about royal expenses, the young emperor at the head of the table couldn't help but interrupt.

The palace's expenses have ballooned from one million taels of silver annually at the beginning of the dynasty to two or three million taels annually now. However, the inner court's annual revenue has also increased considerably, but some of it has been saved. Instead, the inner court's deficit has been deliberately increased in order to ask the outer court for money.

This year alone, the inner court has taken more than 1.5 million taels of silver from the Ministry of Revenue for palace use. However, the young emperor may have seen the inner court's accounts and knows the exact amount, so he doesn't care.

He was more concerned about the amount of money Zhang Xueyan revealed that was spent on the imperial clan in local areas, and how it had suddenly increased so much.

"Your Majesty, after the court initially established the law of permanent stipends for the imperial family in the middle of the year, we issued a document to all provinces to clear up the accumulated arrears from previous years, and at the same time verified the actual expenditures for the year."

After calculation by the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Rites, the annual stipend for the imperial clan had exceeded four million taels. The excess was to be set aside from reserves and provisions for transport, to make up for the debts accumulated in earlier years.

Zhang Juzheng rose, bowed to the young emperor, and replied.

It's obviously not possible for the local government to make up for all the arrears from previous years; those are debts from so many years ago.

Many provinces have been in arrears on their stipends for over twenty years.

Even so, the various princely residences still produced the IOUs they owed from the past.

The accounting process at the time was a complete mess, causing quite a stir.

In order to obtain the money, each prince's residence convened a clan meeting and finally reluctantly agreed to the court's demand for permanent stipends for each branch of the clan.

However, it was also pointed out that the debts accumulated over the past twenty years must be made up.

Making up for years of accumulated debts is something that local governments simply cannot afford within a year, and neither can the imperial court.

Therefore, a commitment was made to provide supplies in installments, with half of the supplies coming from the initial shipment and half from the remaining funds. This meant that the imperial court was responsible for half of the local debt repayment.

The imperial family, local authorities, and the imperial court were embroiled in a bitter dispute over reaching this agreement.

At the same time, the amount of differential transfer between provinces was also determined, since many provinces were simply unable to pay the imperial stipends, because too many members of the imperial family had moved in, and the difference in stipends and tax silver had to be transferred from other provinces to make up for the difference.

Therefore, the two empress dowagers in the inner court also acknowledged the agreement that the maximum stipend for newly established vassal states would not exceed 150,000 taels of silver, which was also an intermediate value taken from the various branches of the imperial clan.

The highest annual stipend belonged to the Prince of Zhou, which was close to 400,000 taels of silver, while newly established vassal states received only tens of thousands of taels, a huge difference between the two.

If an agreement is reached, the imperial court will acknowledge making up all outstanding debts within five years; otherwise, the local governments will continue to default on their grain stipends.

This move was extremely destructive and was the main reason why the various branches of the royal family had no choice but to eventually submit.

The imperial stipend of over four million taels of silver accounted for 20% of the court's annual revenue, so the pressure was considerable.

Wei Guangde was quite satisfied with this, as it at least restrained the young emperor. Even if history remained unchanged in the future, and he still disliked his eldest son and favored his youngest son, Prince Fu, he could not bestow unlimited rewards upon him.

This revision of the Imperial Clan Laws imposed restrictions on the emperor's bestowal of mansions and land upon princes and dukes.

Although Wei Guangde did not know exactly how much reward Emperor Wanli gave to Prince Fu, it was said to be worth tens of millions of taels of silver, and it was said to be money that Emperor Wanli had embezzled from the war reserve silver in the Changying Treasury of the Court of Imperial Stud.

Therefore, in the later years of the Wanli reign, the court had no money to send troops to quell the rebellion of the Jianzhou Jurchens and had to start levying additional taxes on Liaodong.

The Liaodong tax was one of the so-called three taxes during the Chongzhen era. The other two taxes were the suppression tax for bandits and the training tax for new soldiers.

If the Wanli Emperor's court had been able to come up with ten million taels of silver in one go during the later years of his reign, they could have crushed Nurhaci.

The war to aid Korea against Japanese pirates in the mid-Wanli period cost less than eight million taels of silver.

The reason I thought of all this was because the eldest prince, Zhu Changluo, was born, while the first child born to Empress Wang Xijie was Princess Zhu Xuanying.

It must be admitted that the inertia of history is enormous and cannot be reversed by human effort.

Faced with this situation, Wei Guangde had to consider how to persuade the young emperor if Wang Xijie was unable to give birth to a legitimate son. (End of Chapter)