I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Chapter 484 Departure from Beijing Camp

Tianjin Wei.

The twentieth year of the first month of the second year of Tianqi.

Since Tianjin Wei established its government in the first year of Taichang, Tianjin Wei has never been as prosperous as it is now.

Benefiting from the opening of the sea and farming, a large number of refugees without livelihood came here, bringing a large amount of labor force here.

Pedestrians and merchants from all over Gyeonggi and Jiangnan also came in droves, hoping to establish an early foothold in this important place in Gyeonggi and expand their financial resources.

Dignitaries and dignitaries want to purchase properties here and plan their layout in advance.There were even some traders and lackeys who came here to see if Tianjinwei was becoming increasingly prosperous to see if they could settle down and find a way to make a living.

Although these people have different purposes, there is no doubt that their role is to provide a large number of jobs for the refugees gathered here.

Zuo Guangdou, the prefect of Tianjin Prefecture, knows this best.Thinking of this, he stopped the brush in his hand and looked at the still-dry handwriting on his inscription pad, feeling very emotional in his heart.

When he became the governor of Tianjin Prefecture in the first year of Taichang the year before last, there were only 15 Tianjin Guards. This was because it was on the side of the capital and the result of the continuous accumulation of population in the 200 years of the Ming Dynasty.

In addition to the officers and soldiers stationed there and the local residents, only the Caogang people passing through the border and the salt merchants who bought land to build salt piles for inspection and transportation would pay attention to this place.

In the eyes of others, Tianjin is far less attractive than the capital city [-] miles away.Why bother coming to a "deserted" place like Tianjin to suffer when there is nothing there?

But now, just over a year later, Tianjin Wei’s situation has completely changed.

After Zuo Guangdou's simple statistics, Tianjin Wei's population has roughly increased to 21, an increase of more than [-]%.And judging from this rate, there will probably be more people this year and next.

Thinking of this, Zuo Guangdou felt a headache. Forget it if these refugees were recruited to work in the fields.But I worked hard this year to cultivate the land and recruit refugees to occupy the farmland.However, there are only 5000 households, or about [-] people, who come to Tianjin to farm.

Although this number is very good, compared with the more than 6 new additions, this number is not enough, or even small.

This also means that there are more than 4 new people struggling to make ends meet in Tianjin Acropolis, and the accompanying security problems are also increasing. Problems such as gambling, trafficking, business disputes, maritime trade disputes, customs taxes, etc. are really making things difficult. Zuo Guangdou had a headache.

"Your Majesty, the Jingying camp will board the ship today, and the money and food ordered by the imperial court have already been loaded onto the ship. Do you think our Yamen would like to send some to the Jingying camp as a courtesy to the landlord?"

Zuo Guangdou, who was still thinking, was interrupted by a voice outside the door.Zuo Guangdou came back to his senses and knew that Tong Fan was outside the door, but after hearing this, he shook his head and said:
"No need, I'll just prepare the money and food. If I go there, I'll disturb them. Just send the Yamen to have a look and maintain order, so as not to cause any trouble."

"My subordinates know."

Hearing Zuo Guangdou's words in the room, the judge outside the door could only nod helplessly.As he expected, the prefect didn't even give the Beijing camp face.

However, although Tong San was helpless, he also knew that Zuo Guangdou had never liked this kind of welcoming and sending off.

He was used to it, and he wasn't worried about Zuo Guangdou's troubles. He had a big backstage.

On the other side is Tianjin Ferry Pier.

Under the supervision of the generals of each battalion, the soldiers of the two battalions of the Yaowu Army were lining up to board the ship in an orderly manner.

However, despite the general's supervision, the entire team was not very fast, and only half of them were on board until now.

This is because most of the soldiers in the Beijing camp came from the inland area of ​​Shandong, and many of them had never seen a ship, let alone the sea.Although these people had been warned about the precautions before boarding the boat, many people were still frightened and did not dare to go on board after actually seeing the sea.

Finally, under the roar and beating of the general, these soldiers were able to get on the ship.But after getting on board, he was even more panicked. He panicked when he saw the boat rocking slightly, which made other people laugh.

On the dock, Sun Yingyuan and Zhao Shujiao couldn't help but complain while watching their men and horses getting on board.

"The Tianjin government office is very tough. It doesn't even have an official."

Seeing that the yamen did not come to greet him, but only sent some yamen to come, Zhao Lejiao, the general of the Yaowu Army, immediately showed a look of dissatisfaction.

He had been in the military for many years, and although he knew that the status of civilian officials was much higher than that of military attachés, as a soldier in the Beijing camp, it was really unreasonable for the Tianjin government office not to send even a single official.

"Haha, don't be angry, General Zhao. I know this Zuo Guangdou. He is from Donglin. He is very familiar with Liu Yishui, Sun Chengzong, Ye Xianggao and others, and is a close friend with Yang Lian, the governor of Liaodong.

He is an upright man and is usually very tired of these greetings. Even last year when Ye Xianggao came to the capital and passed by Tianjin, he only handed over a letter and did not greet us, let alone us. "

As a general personally selected by the emperor, Sun Yingyuan was far more familiar with this feudal official than Zhao Shujiao.Zhao Shujiao did not expect Zuo Guangdou to be so tough in the background. No wonder such an inhumane approach could still be fine in the officialdom.

"We are afraid that we will be the worst off. Although the boat ride is fast, I heard that the wind and waves are also very strong. If it touches the rocks, the boat will be destroyed and people will die. Many of these soldiers have never been on a boat. If they stay on it for a long time, they may I had vomiting and diarrhea, and it was very uncomfortable. By the time I got to Liaodong, I probably wouldn’t be able to stand up, let alone fight.”

Sun Yingyuan also nodded when he heard this. He also felt that this matter was very rushed and they had not much preparation at all.

This is especially true for the navy officers and soldiers. When he was chatting with the navy people just now, he saw some navy officers and soldiers from Denglai complaining, saying that they had set off on the second day of the first lunar month because they had not had a good life in consecutive years.

"The imperial court's arrangements have their own reasons. We can't criticize them. We just need to do our part."

As he spoke, he looked to the northwest and said to himself:

"But now the Taining Marquis and his army from the capital have set off, and they are probably reaching Yongping Mansion now."

Because they didn't have enough rest, they set off on the 15th.But Chen Liangbi and the others were different. They left on No. [-] according to their original plan.

"Although they set off early, if the Navy people are right, even if I wait for No. 20 to leave, I estimate that I will arrive sooner than they do."

Seeing that all the soldiers had boarded the ship, Zhao Shujiao didn't say much and directly called Sun Yingyuan to board the ship.It was already too late for them to set off, and if they delayed any longer, it would be really late.

Sun Yingyuan nodded silently, followed Zhao Shujiao and got up and walked to the boat.

This time, only two battalions of the Beijing camp with about 9000 people were deployed. For this purpose, Denglai and the Tianjin Navy gathered more than 100 naval and civilian ships, and their scale was much larger than before to transport grain.

And compared with transporting food, transporting people requires more care. The navy officers and soldiers did not dare to neglect this and were cautious, lest any accidents occur.

"Let's sail!"

Along with the sound of trumpets, the ships in Tianjin Port raised their sails one after another. Hundreds of ships raised their sails together, making it feel like they were blocking out the sky and the sun.

Although this kind of situation has long been accustomed to the bustling Tianjin Port, the scene of hundreds of ships racing to go to sea is still very spectacular, causing people on the dock to scream in surprise.

As for the soldiers in the Beijing camp on the ship, no matter how scared they were, it was still useless. They could only stabilize their bodies while praying with uneasiness that the journey would be safe and that they could reach Liaodong smoothly.
-
Whether it is Tianjin or Beijing, the news of the departure of the Beijing camp is just a topic for people to talk about after dinner.

For them, what happened in Jingying is just temporary news. What they care more about is how to make a living and how to have a better future.

For this reason, some scholars lined up outside the library every day, hoping to read and copy books inside, whether for fame or to make money by copying books.There are also some illiterate people who go to Tongzhou, Zunhua, or Tianjin to work.

"The imperial court newly established the Jingshi Tongwen Museum, originally to translate Western works for the use of the Ming Dynasty. However, there were too few Western monks and the translation was slow. For this reason, His Majesty showed mercy and ordered the Jingshi Tongwen Museum to open a department to recruit students. As long as they are scholars or above If you are a student, you can go to the Tongwen Hall of the Capital to apply. If you are outstanding, you can apply even if you have no merit."

Now in a teahouse in Beijing, Dr. Bao is reading from a copy of "Da Ming Daily".

Some of the customers in the teahouse drank tea and some drank wine, but most of them were listening carefully to Dr. Bao's reading.Nowadays, listening to newspapers has become an important way for people in the capital to have tea and drink, or to have fun after tea and meals.

After all, under the emperor's feet, a brick can knock out two officials. If someone doesn't understand the political trends, ordinary conversations will be impossible.

"It's a good job. I heard that some Westerners have come to Tianjin recently. I can't understand what they say. They have to rely on translators to translate. But translators are hard to find. For this reason, some people doing business with Westerners For merchants, the monthly salary for a translator can be as high as twelve taels per month. If you are willing to follow the merchant to Macau or Nanyang, the monthly salary can be as high as 20 taels or more."

A businessman wearing a square hat and Tsing Yi was immediately surprised when he saw that the Capital Tongwen Hall was recruiting students to learn Western languages.

He had long heard that translators were hard to find, but he didn't expect that the emperor would actually recruit people to learn Western languages. This was a great opportunity.

"Hmph, the scholars of the Ming Dynasty ignored the classics of the saints and did not learn anything about Western languages. They are really abandoning the basics and chasing the weak. Now that the imperial court has restructured the Imperial College, scholars have such skills, they might as well be admitted to the Imperial College to study. What's the use of learning Western languages."

As soon as the merchant said his words, everyone immediately laughed and ridiculed him.In their opinion, Western language is of little use, and they might as well go to the Imperial College.

According to the system promulgated by the previous imperial court, each Chief Secretary can select 20 young and promising people from each school in the prefecture and county under their jurisdiction to study at the Imperial College in Beijing every year, and then select 20 people to study at the Imperial College in Nanjing.

During the Ming Dynasty, a total of 13 scholars were selected from [-] provinces in the two capitals to study. The academic system was the same as before, which was still four years.

Once you are successful in your studies, you will be able to take part in the examination or go to the Ministry of Civil Affairs to wait for vacancies to be filled.

Compared with going to the Capital Tongwen Hall to learn Western languages, one is really like heaven and the other is underground.

(End of this chapter)