The world of film and television starts from the flow of money

In 1608, the Zhaowu Era entered its tenth year. The empire spanned two oceans, the population exceeded million, and gold and silver poured into Taicang like a tide.

At this moment, Yi Huawei set his sights on the grand blueprint of reshaping the Chinese land - repairing canals, building new cities, establishing schools, and expanding seaports.

The decrees for large-scale construction flew out of the Forbidden City, but they did not arouse any public resentment. On the contrary, the market was hotly discussing the dividends of "construction vouchers", craftsmen were scrambling for work badges in "state-owned workshops", and refugees found a place to settle down on the construction sites. A construction revolution based on "finance, technology, and system" that completely overturned the old rules of "laboring people and wasting money" was sweeping the empire.

Yi Huawei was well aware that the endless levy of corvée labor and additional land taxes were the source of the disaster left over from the civil engineering projects of the previous Ming Dynasty. The most important thing for the construction of the new dynasty was to "fill the treasury and not impose additional taxes on the people."

The Sado Gold Mine and the Iwami Silver Mine paid 4 million taels of silver annually, becoming the “perpetual treasury” for imperial projects. The Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue jointly established the “Zhaowu Construction Department” to store the money in a special account. All national projects (except canals, highways, and imperial mausoleums) were paid for with this money, without touching any taxes in the interior.

The Ministry of Works posted detailed project budgets in the Beijing News and local government offices (e.g., "Opening the Jiaolai New River, budget of 2.8 million taels of treasury silver, 700,000 workers, three years of construction"). The source of the funds was clearly marked as "Japanese mining tax", so that the people knew that "it was not your fat and blood."

For profitable projects (such as canals that charged ship taxes after dredging, government warehouses that were rented out, and toll roads), the Zhaowu Construction Company issued "Zhaowu Engineering Profit Coupons."

The denominations were 5 taels, taels, and taels, with an annual interest rate of %, guaranteed by the future income of the project. After the project became profitable, the subscribers could receive the interest annually from the designated bank of the Ministry of Revenue, and the principal would be repaid after ten years.

As soon as the coupons were issued, wealthy businessmen, retired officials, and even well-off families rushed to buy them. The "Reconstruction of the Grand Canal Coupons" alone attracted 5 million taels of silver, far exceeding the budget! Private capital poured into national construction and benefited the people's livelihood.

A new commercial department was set up to supplement the labor with commerce. Franchise rights were auctioned and the development rights of ancillary facilities were open to bidding. For example, the 30-year franchise rights for the newly built official warehouses, docks, and shops around the dams along the canal were auctioned for 1.2 million taels of silver.

The "land development rights" of designated neighborhoods in the new city (such as the Tianjin Wei expansion area) were awarded to the winning business to build shops and houses for rent. The court collected 20% of the tax and the auction price was 900,000 taels. Merchants saw this as a good opportunity to "make money from sitting on the land" and bid enthusiastically. The money they received directly offset the cost of the project.

Yi Huawei personally inscribed a plaque with the words "Study things and reduce the people's labor" and hung it in the lobby of the Ministry of Works, using imperial power to promote technological revolution and minimize manpower consumption.

The upgraded version of the "keel tipping car" - the "Tianhe Car" - is promoted at canal construction sites and large stone quarries. The giant sprocket is driven by water power, driving dozens of buckets to work continuously, with an efficiency 100 times that of civilian laborers! One "Tianhe Car" can replace 500 strong men.

When mining stones, people no longer lift stones by hand or pull stones by oxen. Instead, they set up hardwood-clad iron rails and use oxen or horses or hydraulic capstans to pull stone pulleys. This method was adopted by the Xishan Stone Quarry in Beijing, which increased its transportation capacity by twenty times and reduced casualties.

When building the city foundation, wooden rammers were no longer used. The craftsmen of the Ministry of Industry made cast iron rammers, which were pulled by oxen and horses or driven by water, and repeatedly raised and lowered using the principle of levers. The foundation of the new city wall in Tianjin originally required 10,000 men to ram for three months, but now 3,000 men use the "magic rammer" and it can be completed in one month, and it is as solid as a rock.

In June, the Ministry of Industry promulgated the "New Compilation of Construction Methods", which standardized the brick and tile sizes, beam and column specifications, and bracket styles across the country. "State-owned Building Materials General Factories" were set up at canal nodes (such as Huai'an and Linqing) and in the suburbs of major cities (such as Fangshan in Beijing and Longtan in Nanjing).

Inside the main factory, hydraulically driven sawing, stone crushing, and billet pressing machines roared and operated on an assembly line. Standard blue bricks, glazed tiles, and mortise and tenon wood components were transported to the construction site by canal boats, and the craftsmen only needed to assemble them according to the drawings. Seventy percent of the new city wall of Yingtianfu was built with prefabricated bricks, and the construction period was shortened by half.

Minor criminals and prisoners of war (especially Japanese samurai) were no longer exiled or executed, but were organized into "technical service camps."

The strong ones are trained to operate heavy machinery such as the "Tianhe Car" and the "Shenxing Rammer", or engage in dangerous operations in stone quarries and forest farms.

Skilled craftsmen (such as former Japanese swordsmiths and carpenters) entered building materials factories, specializing in the processing of precision components.

The camp implemented a "work point redemption system": completing the daily quota of work points would be deducted from the prison term; those who exceeded the quota would be rewarded with money and food. This move not only solved the shortage of high-risk labor, but also gave prisoners hope. Among the construction labor, prisoners accounted for more than 30%.

In October, Yi Huawei issued an edict: "Carrying out large-scale projects will not harm the people, but will actually be an opportunity to support and enrich them!" A humane system that benefits the grassroots has transformed laborers from coolies to beneficiaries.

Completely abolish unpaid corvée labor! All construction projects must recruit workers through public notices and pay them according to their skills.

Strong laborer (digging, carrying): daily salary 30 wen (market price 20 wen), two meals a day, and meat every ten days.

Craftsmen (carpenters, bricklayers): Daily salary of 80 to 120 wen, depending on skills.

Mechanical operators (such as Tianhe vehicle helmsman): daily salary of two hundred coins, equivalent to that of low-ranking military officers!

The wages were paid daily or ten-day periods, with copper coins or "work tickets" (which could be exchanged for rice at the government warehouse) distributed on the spot by the commissioner of the Zhaowu Construction Department. The slogan of "100 coins a day, meat for every meal" attracted many refugees to the canal construction site.

Laborers were registered as "workers" and insured by the Construction Department. If injured at work, they would receive medical treatment at government expense and receive an additional three months' salary. If they died, they would receive a pension of 20 taels of silver, and their descendants could be enrolled in the "Charity Bureau" or "Craftsman's Camp".

Simple schools were set up on construction sites, and the children of laborers could attend for free, and were taught "Xunmeng Ji" and the basics of mathematics. The outstanding ones were recommended to enter the prefecture and county community schools, which completely changed the fate of "laborers serving for generations".

When recruiting refugees, priority was given to those who brought their families with them. During the intermission period of the project, the government organized the reclamation of riverbanks and hilly wastelands near the construction site. The reclaimed land was exempt from tax for five years and belonged to the reclaimers after it was reclaimed.

On both sides of the Jiaolai New River, 300,000 refugees worked as laborers, and within two years, 700,000 mu of land was reclaimed! When the project was completed, many of them had become wealthy farmers and voluntarily stayed to settle down, becoming the foundation for the maintenance of the New River.

Driven by the three currents of "finance, technology, and system", one after another world-class projects have been built at an unprecedented speed and benefit:
The Jiaolai New River (the bloodline of the empire) connects Jiaozhou Bay and Laizhou Bay, avoids the rough waves of the Shandong Peninsula, and shortens the sea route for grain transport by thousands of miles!

The project cost three million taels of silver, 70% of which came from "project coupons" and 30% was guaranteed by future ship notes of the canal. Thirty "heavenly river vehicles" dredged day and night, and the slide rails transported millions of cubic meters of stone. The "magic ramming" built the embankment as hard as iron. Two hundred thousand laborers were hired, and the average daily consumption of grain was 6,000 shi, and no one starved to death. When the project was completed, one million acres of fertile land were added along the coast, and 100,000 refugees settled down.

The port was expanded, a bastion-style city wall was built, and a Maritime Customs Office, a huge official warehouse, and a shipyard were set up inside.

The land concession auction was used to offset 40% of the construction cost, and the balance was paid in Japanese gold. Prefabricated blue bricks accounted for 70%, and hydraulic cranes were used to lift huge trees. The entire city had a brick-built "dragon spitting water" drainage system underground (a method borrowed from the legacy of Song Bianjing). 30,000 convicts in the technical service camp operated machinery, and 50,000 hired workers were paid daily. Before the new city was completed, merchants had already competed to rent shops, and prepaid rent was used as labor costs.

The "Zhaowu Imperial College" built on the mountainside in Western Hills of Beijing is ten times the size of the old Imperial College and has practical colleges such as the study of things, navigation, and agronomy.

When the last glazed tile of "Zhaowu Imperial College" was completed in Xishan, Yi Huawei and Ren Yingying climbed the bell tower of Tianjin New Town. Looking down, thousands of sails were sailing on the canal, merchants and travelers gathered in the new town, and students from the academy were thronging. On the old construction site, the former laborers have become self-employed farmers with land and houses, and children are reciting imperial edicts in community schools.

Ren Yingying asked in confusion, "Your Majesty, I have read history and saw that when the Qin Dynasty built the Great Wall and the Sui Dynasty dug the Grand Canal, the people were filled with resentment and the country collapsed. Now our dynasty's projects are a hundred times greater than before, so why are the people so happy with their food and drink?"

Yi Huawei put a "Zhaowu Engineering Coupon" into Ren Yingying's hand. The gold coupon sparkled in the sun:
"The evil of the Qin and Sui dynasties was to drain the pond to catch all the fish! They treated the people's strength as worthless and took away their wealth like a bag of sand."

"My law is to benefit the world!"

"Use the gold from Japan to exempt us from taxes - financial communication!"

"Use the ingenuity of studying things to replace the flesh and blood body - technical innovation!"

"Use the wages of hired labor to support thousands of households - Zhihui!"

"Moreover, the benefits of the project will be shared by all citizens - this coupon will earn interest year after year, and can be held by the young and old!"

"People are not stupid, who would not want their country to be prosperous? As long as their labor is rewarded, their injuries are taken care of, and their profits are expected, then they will pick up hoes like clouds, not for servitude, but to build a prosperous world together!"

The sound of the bells echoed on the shores of the Bohai Sea and in the hearts of the 200 million people of the empire. The buildings of Zhaowu were no longer monuments stained with blood and tears, but rivers of wealth, ladders for social advancement, and towers that united the people.

When the dividends from the engineering coupons fell into the pottery jars of ordinary people year after year, and when the prototype of the steam engine blew out the first puff of white mist in the Gewuyuan, this empire was supporting a golden century that truly belonged to all people and surpassed all old eras with the most solid foundation.

...............

The twelfth year of Zhaowu.

Emperor Zhaowu Yi Huawei made a decision at a grand court meeting in Fengtian Hall that shocked the ancestral temple and overturned the ancestral system.

When the huge "Complete Geomancy Map of All Nations" depicting the known world's territories was slowly unfolded under the Danbi, and when the imperial edict of "dividing the land and enfeoffing the kings, and having them guard the borders" resounded through the palace, a grand machine with imperial power as its hub and princes as its tentacles, driving the entire empire to expand into unknown areas, was suddenly started.

The core of the imperial edict is a cold and tempting iron law - "Prince Zhaowu's Outer Vassal Succession Order":
"I have received the mandate of heaven and have governed the Chinese and the barbarians. However, the world is too vast for one person or one family to rule alone. I will follow the ancient system and enfeoff princes and nobles to govern the world and strengthen the frontier forever.

Article 1: When a prince reaches adulthood, if he is not the crown prince, he must be granted the title of prince, a title, ceremonial guards, and a golden book.

Article 2: The place where the prince is enfeoffed must be outside the current territory of the Ming Dynasty! The East China Sea Islands, the South China Sea giant continent, the far western vassal states, the northern desert... All the places that have not been ruled by the king as shown in the map can be made into countries!

Article 3: When a prince is conferred the title, the imperial court will grant him the "Three Treasures of the Founding of a Nation": one volume of "Zhaowu Qinding Vassal State Regulations" (regulating the official system, laws, taxes, and military strength); three "Jinghai" class warships (equipped with 100 flintlock muskets and 12 Portuguese cannons); and a "Tuomin" letter (allowing him to recruit craftsmen, farmers, soldiers, and prisoners in the local area, with the first batch not exceeding 5,000 households).

Article 4: After the prince is enfeoffed, he must expand his territory by 100 li, build a city and set up a government, and pay tribute every year. The imperial court will set up the "Lifanyuan" to supervise the affairs of the vassal state and send envoys to inspect.

Article 5: The prince and his legitimate sons and grandsons shall live in the vassal state for generations, diligently manage state affairs, and protect the central court. Then the title of king will be eternal and the country will prosper along with it!

Article 6: If a prince clings to the capital and refuses to go to his fiefdom; or within three generations of his descendants, a successor king leaves his fiefdom without permission and returns to China…then the prince’s title will be automatically revoked, his name will be removed from the imperial family’s imperial genealogy, his descendants will be demoted to commoners, and will never be registered with the clan again! The fiefdom will be taken back by the imperial court and governed by counties!”

As soon as this decree was issued, the whole court fell into dead silence.

Princes have been sent out since ancient times, but this kind of forced, thorough, and "real seal" that is a bet on the survival of the bloodline has never been seen before! Staying in the capital to enjoy the good life, the descendants will become commoners after three generations; going to the wilderness to open up, although it is a life-threatening situation, you can keep the title of king forever and have children! This is a gamble with no way out, forcing the descendants of the dragon and the phoenix to become the pioneers of the empire's expansion!
The "Complete Map of the World" became the core prop of this feudal drama. This huge map, jointly drawn by court painters, Western missionaries (such as Matteo Ricci's disciples), and returned scholars, was the first to directly show the vastness of the world to the core class of the empire:

East: Beyond Japan, there are the huge "Gold Mountain Continent" (California) and "South China Sea Giant Island" (Australia), with notes on the side: "The land is vast and sparsely populated, gold mines are exposed, and there are fertile fields for thousands of miles."

South: South of Luzon, Java and Malacca are the continuous "Spice Islands" and the vast "Indochina" (the Indochina Peninsula and most of the Malay Archipelago), marked with: "Rice is harvested three times a year, spices fill the fields, and Sikkim is rich in mines."

West: Crossing the "Lion Ocean" (Indian Ocean), marked with "Indian Countries" (India), "Former Persian Land" (Iranian Plateau), "Sea of ​​​​the Arabs" (Arabian Sea) to the "Red-haired Foreign Countries" (European countries), with a special note: "A hub of trade routes, with unique and exquisite skills, but countries are competing with each other."

North: Beyond the Nurgandusi is the vast "Luo Wilderness" (Siberia), marked as "mountains of fur and endless forests, but it is bitterly cold and sparsely populated."

Yi Huawei held the golden staff and pointed at the map himself:

"The King of Chu is extremely brave and resolute. He has granted you a fiefdom in the south of 'Jinshan Island' and named you 'New Chu'! Take its gold and jade, and clear its fertile land, and make it my eastern vassal!

"King Qi, you are a man of maritime knowledge. I have granted you a kingdom east of the 'Giant Island of the South Sea' and named your kingdom 'Hai Qi'! You will control the South Sea, raise giant animals (kangaroos), and grow crops!"

"King Zhao, you are good at pacifying the people. I will grant you a fiefdom at the mouth of the Mekong River in the 'Central and Southern Continent' and name your country 'An Zhao'! A place of thoroughfare, a warehouse of rice, and pacify the Baiyue people!"

"King Wei, you are a skilled craftsman. I will grant you the title of 'Precious Wei', the southernmost island of the Spice Islands (Sumatra or Java). You will collect incense and refine tin, and build a port for trade!"

The faces of the princes who were named were either pale, excited, or solemn, but in the face of the huge difference between "eternal royal title" and "demoted to a commoner", no one dared to disobey the order.

A "dragon migration" destined to go down in history, driven by the supreme will of the empire, began. (End of this chapter)