Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

After the thirty-six guards of the imperial army were determined, Zhu Youjian and his ministers continued to discuss the guarding of the South City District.

Compared with the inner city, the districts in the southern city are larger, with only eight in total and seven city gates.

After consultation with his ministers, Zhu Youjian decided to arrange eight guards to be responsible for the eight districts and guard the nearby city gates.

Yuan Keli calculated the guard posts of the Five Military Commandery and suggested:

"The Left Military Governor's Office has six guards in Beijing. The Right Guard of the Cavalry is assigned to the Crown Prince, the Dragon and Tiger Guard guards Dongzhimen, and the rest stay in the Left Guard, Zhennan Guard, and Shenyang Left and Right Guard."

"I think we can assign the Zhennan Guard to be in charge of Yongding Gate, and also be in charge of Zhengnanfang to the west where the Xiannongtan is located."

Zhu Youjian nodded in approval and said:
"Zhennanwei can be responsible for Zhengnanfang and the southern part of Zhengdongfang, which is the area north of the Temple of Heaven. It is responsible for the interior of Yongdingmen."

"As for the Yongding Gate and Yongdingfang outside the city, assign another guard to be in charge, and the two guards will guard the inside and outside respectively."

As the most important city gate in the south city, the defense of Yongdingmen is of course of paramount importance.

In addition, there are the Temple of Heaven and the Temple of Agriculture inside the city gate. The area is really too large, so the ministers think it is appropriate to arrange a guard inside and outside the city gate.

After their discussion, the loyal vanguard who had previously failed to guard the Temple of Heroes were arranged to guard outside the Yongding Gate.

Zhu Youjian nodded in agreement, then looked at the large open space and pond to the west of Xiannongtan and the east of Tiantan, frowned and said:

"The construction of South City is so poor that there is still so much land within the city walls that has not been utilized."

"Wouldn't it be a waste of the city wall's defense? Would it be a waste to enclose these places?"

"I think these ponds should be dug deeper, like the Jishuitan and Shichahai in the north city, and formed into several large lakes connected by rivers."

"It can be used to store water and prevent urban flooding. It can also be used to create water flow and place tools such as water pestles and water mills."

This was what Zhu Youjian had always intended to do. He was displeased with the bumpy ponds in the south city and thought that he should dig two large lakes, just like the Longtan Lake and Taoranting Lake were dug in later generations, and collect the water in the ponds into them.

At the junctions of the lakes, artificial drop can be created, and hydraulic machinery can be placed using water flow.

In this way, some water power workshops can be built in the South City, so that the people there can have an industry.

As the ministers listened to the emperor's plan, they became more certain that the emperor's plan to transform the capital during the relocation of the garrisons was not a whim.

What made them even more certain was that the emperor took out the design drawings of the townhouses and said to everyone:
"These new courtyards were designed by officials from the Ministry of Works and the Academy of Literature and Thought under my orders."

“It’s highly regarded in the university town area, and students like to live there.”

The ministers knew that the spacious roads, convenient running water, and heating and cooling pipes in the townhouses made residents feel more comfortable.

The reason why many powerful people are willing to go to western Beijing is because of these.

They also took the initiative to build momentum in the court to promote pipeline renovation in the capital.

Chen Qiyu, the Minister of the Imperial Household, said:

"I think the drainage ditches in the capital should be renovated, and the main sewer channels should be dug under the wide streets."

“Rivers and lakes outside the city must also be renovated to remove sewage from the sewers.”

It can be said that the capital's drainage ditches are quite good, which has prevented the city from suffering from serious flooding.

However, as the population of the capital city grew, and the drainage ditches became clogged due to disrepair, they became increasingly overwhelmed. This is why many people in the capital city called for the construction of sewers.

Zhu Youjian had considered this factor when widening the street, and immediately said:

"The sewers must be dug, and not only as sewer pipes, but also divided into several layers to lay water supply pipes and future connected heating and cooling pipes."

"It is a comprehensive pipe network, and the main roads must be wide enough for people to pass through so that repairs can be carried out in a timely manner."

"Bunkers will also be set up at each sewer node to serve as underground fortresses."

"The guard posts in charge of each prefecture must also station soldiers there and conduct regular inspections to ensure that the sewers are unobstructed and can be used in wartime."

"Some sewers connecting important places will even have narrow tracks laid to allow rail mining cars to pass through. This ensures that artillery from other places can be transported there without interference."

This requirement was so high that the ministers were secretly shocked. They knew that even if it was just to build a main sewer on the street, it would not be a small project.

What's more, bunkers have to be built as city defense fortifications.

Minister of Revenue Bi Ziyan said:

"Your Majesty, this request is too high and will cost a huge amount of money."

"The Ministry of Revenue really can't afford to pay more money and food, not to mention we have to fight a war."

"What's more, if the sewer is too wide, some treacherous people will hide in it, just like the Worry-free Cave in Tokyo of the former Song Dynasty."

This view was echoed by some ministers, who believed that building such a good sewer system would be too costly and laborious, and not so meaningful. On the contrary, it might cause disadvantages and allow evildoers to hide in it.

Instead of using the money and grain to build sewers, it would be better to use it to build an outer city and enclose all the outer districts within the capital.

Zhu Youjian disagreed with their suggestions.

Because in his opinion, building a city wall is not as good as digging a sewer.

As an obvious defensive fortification, the role of the city wall will become increasingly smaller in the future.

On the contrary, underground fortifications are more helpful in defending cities.

Moreover, the reason why he put forward such high requirements for the sewers was that he aimed at the future, ensuring that the sewers could be used for a long time without the need for frequent digging.

It should be like the Fushou Ditch in Ganzhou, which has been used for thousands of years.

(Ganzhou Fushougou was built during the Northern Song Dynasty and is still in use after being repaired by successive dynasties. The local chronicles of the Ming Dynasty record: It is two to three feet wide, five to six feet deep, built with bricks and covered with stones)
After hearing the ministers' reasons for objection, most of which were about money and grain, Zhu Youjian said:
"The transformation of the capital this time is a long-term project, so don't rush it."

“We will start with the southern part of the city and build an underground pipe network while renovating streets, rivers and lakes.”

"Pipelines for sewage and water supply that can be buried underground should be placed together in layers as much as possible, and they should also be accessible to people to facilitate city defense needs and future maintenance."

"The Ministry of Works can send people to Kaifeng, Ganzhou and other places to investigate and determine how to build it."

“If the results of the transformation of Beijing are good, it will be used as a guideline for urban construction in the future.”

Talking about his own arrangements, Zhu Youjian pointed to Zhengnanfang and said:
“First, dig a lake in the low-lying area west of Xiannongtan, and build a park and a hydraulic workshop around it.”

"Then we will plan the streets, build temples, markets, and the communities around them."

"The size of the community must be able to accommodate the residents who are relocated from the Martyrs Temple and Mingtang. In the future, most of the residents from the two places will be resettled here."

“This place will serve as a demonstration community and a model for the transformation of the capital city!”

When they heard that the emperor was not going to demolish and rebuild all at once, but was going to create a model first, and try out the three-district division just like the three districts in the capital before, the officials were relieved, thinking that the emperor was still very cautious and still in a familiar way.

However, Bi Ziyan, who was troubled by the financial situation, still made a suggestion:

"Since this place is built to accommodate residents, they should contribute." "I think we can recruit laborers from the relocated households and have them dig ponds and build houses."

"There are also the Zhennan Guards in charge of Zhengnanfang, and even the Zhongyi Vanguard outside the city, who should also send able-bodied men to help rebuild Zhengnanfang."

This made Zhu Youjian open his eyes wide, and he felt that Bi Ziyan was even more radical than himself.

In order to prevent trouble during the demolition, he decided to build resettlement housing first and then move the residents there.

Unexpectedly, in order to save money, Bi Ziyan actually suggested conscripting civilians. The court only needed to make plans and provide some materials and let them build the resettlement houses themselves.

In this way, the cost of transforming the capital city will be much lower.

Zhu Youjian originally planned to renovate the capital city in five to ten years, but it is estimated that it can be completed in three to four years.

But thinking of the possible complaints from the people, Zhu Youjian said:
"Is it possible to recruit civilians in this way? Will they feel resentful?"

"I renovated the capital so that the people can live and work in peace and contentment, not to increase their burden."

Bi Ziyan said as a matter of course:
"City construction is not the business of individual households. Isn't it reasonable to levy corvée labor?"

“Only by completing the transformation as soon as possible can the people live and work in peace, rather than having to bear corvée labor all the time and unable to rest.”

Yuan Keli also said:
"I think that in addition to those sent to guard the city and those stationed outside the city, all other soldiers in the capital should be conscripted to transform the southern city area."

"This is the only way to complete the transformation of the southern urban area as soon as possible, without wasting time and money."

Most of the other ministers shared the same attitude. They did not think there was anything wrong with conscripting labor and felt that it was right to complete the reform as soon as possible.

If we really build communities one by one like the emperor did, it will probably take ten to eight years to complete the transformation of South City. By then, there may be no people left. Who would be willing to spend so much time?
In particular, Han Yu, in order to ensure that he could produce significant political achievements in more than two years, turned his attention to the transformation of the capital, saying:

"Last year and the year before last, when Shuntian Prefecture was hit by disasters, the court used work as relief and summoned civilians to build roads and dredge rivers."

"I think if there is another disaster in the future, we can call on civilians to come to the city to work and participate in the reconstruction of the southern city area."

A group of ministers spoke a lot, and the core idea was only one, which was to recruit civilians to do the work.

Zhu Youjian was very tempted by this, but after some thought, he rejected the proposal of directly conscripting labor service.

Even military households were not conscripted because they would be too busy to take care of everything when the garrisons were relocated.

He said to his ministers:

"When the garrisons were relocated, similar communities had to be built to house the families, and cemeteries and martyrs' cemeteries had to be built to rebury the ancestors."

“These people should not be requisitioned and should not be burdened with more burdens.”

"Also, I want to make one thing clear. Military service is military service. We cannot make military households perform corvée labor and increase their burden."

"The soldiers in the battalion are specialized in fighting, not doing labor service. If you want to recruit them, you must get the approval of the Privy Council."

"The Privy Council should also set a limit on how much time the guards directly under the garrison can work without pay each year. And how much subsidy should be given for time exceeding this limit."

"Soldiers cannot be asked to work for free at will. That is not their responsibility."

Zhu Youjian hated the fact that ministers and nobles would often force soldiers to work or even do private labor for their families, and he imposed clear restrictions on this.

A policy was also issued that each health logistics department must set up a labor company, and both paid and unpaid labor must go through the company.

The company's profits will serve as the income of the entire garrison, and the garrison officers and elected members can supervise them.

With so many restrictions on the conscription of able-bodied men from the garrisons, Zhu Youjian was even more cautious about conscripting civilians. He said:
“Nancheng District should serve as a pilot for the Beijing City Council and take the lead in establishing a council.”

"Whether to recruit civilians for the reconstruction of South City and how long to recruit them for will all be voted on by the parliament and let the people of South City decide for themselves."

“If the scale of the collection is large, then we will transform the streets, rivers and ponds of Zhengnanfang, the southern part of Zhengdongfang and Chongnanfang together and plan several large communities.”

“If the scale is small, we can first transform the pond near the street and establish a community as a pilot.”

Let the people decide for themselves.

Anyway, he is not in a hurry about this matter. He has the patience to reform for five or ten years.

However, officials have little patience because their terms of office are mostly only three years.

This was when Zhu Youjian implemented the term system and fixed the time for selecting officials.

In the past, officials were transferred more frequently and there was no time to get things done.

Han Yu and others all planned to complete the transformation as soon as possible as a mark of their political achievement.

So these people frowned when the emperor handed the matter of conscription of corvée labor to the parliament for decision.

However, the Minister of Rites Cheng Jiming agreed very much because he was also one of the persons in charge of the re-making of rituals and music.

Cheng Jiming loudly agreed with the emperor's decision to let the people decide on corvée labor, and requested that the National Assembly Preparatory Office be responsible for setting up a parliament in the southern city district.

Obviously, he wanted to take the preparations for the establishment of the National Assembly a big step forward while serving as Minister of Rites, and leave his own mark on this event that would surely go down in history.

Zhu Youjian was very pleased with his enthusiasm and ordered:

“All residents in Nancheng District who pay taxes according to the law and have a clear place of origin can have the right to vote.”

"Those with a status of Gongshi or above have the right to be elected."

“First, we divide the shops into districts and set up neighborhood committees. Then the neighborhood committees organize and directly elect district councillors with one vote per household.”

"The planning of the South City District should also be told to the councillors. Let them explain to the people what kind of South City District the court wants to build."

“We will strive to establish the South City District Council before the summer solstice. The Ministry of Works’ design plan and construction budget will also be submitted to the council for approval before this date.”

Upon hearing this, Shang Zhouzuo, the Minister of Works, felt bitter.

He had heard before that the emperor was going to establish a national council to discuss world affairs with the scholars and people, and he felt that he had met a wise and enlightened monarch.

Now that the emperor had asked the Ministry of Works to submit the design plan and construction budget to the parliament for approval, he felt the trouble.

If we fool around, the emperor will definitely be dissatisfied, and the people who see the truth will also blame us.

But the plan was too detailed, and he didn't have confidence that the officials in the Ministry of Industry would follow the plan.

After all, it was well known that the Ministry of Industry was lucrative, and he had no confidence in making these officials stop.

Once he is discovered, he will still be blamed, and the emperor and the people will not listen to any reasons he gives.

This forced him to think about how to formulate the plan so that it would satisfy the emperor and the people and enable the officials to implement it.

He had already vaguely realized that this matter was a big test for the Ministry of Industry.

Maybe it will be like the Ministry of Revenue last year, ushering in a purge. (End of this chapter)