Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1241 The Prosperous New Capital

The fleet stopped at Xinyongzhou for a few days to rest and reorganize before leaving as scheduled to continue its final journey.

As they traveled further south, the weather grew hotter and hotter. After a few days, they finally arrived at Xinjing, a port city in the south.

As the ship slowly docked at the Xinjing Wharf, Sun Hao immediately spotted the city of Xinjing, located not far to the north. Compared to Xinyongzhou, which they had passed through earlier, Xinjing was much larger. Judging from the area of ​​the city and the height of the city walls alone, it was comparable to some of the major county towns of the Ming Dynasty. This was something that the less populated Xinyongzhou could not compare to.

After all, the King of Song was wealthy and powerful, and he had no shortage of men under his command. In addition, the Song Kingdom had discovered rich gold mines, so it was natural for the King of Song to build a better city. Moreover, looking from the deck, not only was the new capital city very lively, with shops lining the streets and crowds thronging the city, but there were also several places outside the new capital city that resembled villages and towns. The roads from the dock to the city were neatly paved with stone slabs, which were even better than the ordinary official roads of the Ming Dynasty. Such a scene was incomparable to that of the new Yongzhou.

After disembarking, Sun Hao did not directly contact the officials at the dock in Xinjing, nor did he reveal his identity to others. Instead, he strolled along, looking around as he walked, heading towards the nearby city of Xinjing.

The city of Xinjing was bustling with activity. Along the way from the dock to Xinjing, one could see people coming and going everywhere. Some looked like merchants, some looked like dockworkers, and others were ordinary people hurrying along, their occupations unknown. There were even several porters and sedan chair carriers at the dock exit. When the latter saw Sun Hao coming out of the dock, they hurriedly went up to him and asked if he needed to hire a sedan chair. It was only three miles from the dock to the city, and a sedan chair ride would only cost five copper coins, guaranteed to be fast and stable.

Smiling, Sun Hao waved his hand, declining the man's offer to solicit business, and continued walking. He was no weak scholar who couldn't even fight a chicken. Although the Sun family was an official family, Sun Chengzong was a military commander who led troops into battle. The Sun family members not only studied but also practiced martial arts, and Sun Hao was no exception. Moreover, without a strong physique, Sun Hao wouldn't have been able to adapt to life at sea so quickly on his journey from the Ming Dynasty to the New World.

The road, paved with bluestone, was in very good condition, only about three miles long. Upon arriving in Xinjing, he was surprised to find guards at the city gates, something he hadn't seen in Xinyongzhou. Thinking back, Sun Hao recalled Zhu Mincheng's letter mentioning a previous attack by local natives. It seemed that since that incident, Xinjing had strengthened its defenses, establishing guards at the city gates, much like county towns in the Ming Dynasty.

Entering Xinjing was convenient; Sun Hao entered the city smoothly after showing his Ming Dynasty identity document, without any entrance fee. However, this only applied to Ming Dynasty citizens. For locals dressed as natives who came to Xinjing, in addition to registering with an identity card issued by Xinjing, they also needed to pay a small entrance tax if they were carrying goods. Of course, this entrance tax was not large and did not need to be paid upon entry; it could be paid upon leaving the city within a specified time by presenting the entry registration document.

If not all the goods are sold, a percentage of the quantity of goods brought back can be deducted as a gate tax. When Sun Hao noticed this regulation, he nodded inwardly. He wondered who had given this idea to the King of Song, but it was quite good. It could not only effectively manage the order of entering and leaving the city, but also generate some tax revenue to make up for the expenses of city management.

Upon entering the city, the scenes before Sun Hao gave him a fleeting illusion of returning to the Ming Dynasty. The city's layout and many features were almost identical to those of the Ming Dynasty. A main road ran across the city from south to north, while another main road intersected in the very center of the city from east to west.

Around these two main avenues, the city is divided into many areas like a grid. On both sides of the main avenues are rows of shops and residences. In addition, there are various areas for different purposes in other parts of the city, such as residential areas, commercial areas, market areas, workshop areas and entertainment areas. Although it is small, it has all the essential parts. In addition, most of the people in the city are dressed as Ming people, but there are also a small number of people dressed as local natives. Sun Hao even saw a few people who were obviously Europeans in the city, speaking Chinese that was not very fluent, and gesturing with their hands to talk to the Ming people who seemed to be merchants.

The bustling and prosperous atmosphere of Xinjing was obvious, which surprised Sun Hao, who had been to Xinyongzhou. He originally thought that Xinjing was better than Xinyongzhou, but both places had not been established for long, less than three years in total. Even though Xinjing was not short of money or immigrants because of the discovery of gold mines, it was probably only slightly better than Xinyongzhou.

But when he arrived, the prosperity of Xinjing astonished Sun Hao. He never expected that Xinjing could develop to this extent in less than three years. The commercial prosperity and the flow of people were completely beyond his expectations. If he hadn't been in the New World, judging from what he saw, Sun Hao would have thought he had arrived in a prosperous part of Jiangnan.

As he strolled along, Sun Hao would occasionally stop to browse the shops and inquire about the types and prices of goods sold. He spent over an hour wandering around Xinjing before finally arriving at the Song Prince's Palace in the city center.

The Song Prince's Mansion was located in the area where two main roads ran through the city, and it occupied the largest area in Xinjing (the capital). Of course, this was only in the context of Xinjing; after all, this was the New World, not the Ming Dynasty's mainland. Even the Song Prince's Mansion couldn't be built as magnificently as those of princes in the Ming Dynasty, much less occupy half the city in such extravagance. Although the Song Prince's Mansion was large, it wasn't that large. In Sun Hao's opinion, it was even slightly smaller than his own Sun family's old residence, and in the Ming Dynasty, it would only be considered the size of an average official's mansion. However, the plaque bearing the title of "Prince's Mansion" was genuine, and there were guards standing at the entrance. In addition, the two large stone lions and the dismounting stone in front of the main gate demonstrated the majesty of the prince's mansion.

"No lingering near the Prince's Mansion!" Just as Sun Hao arrived in front of the Prince's Mansion, stopped and looked up at the plaque, a guard standing at the gate shouted loudly, while gripping the embroidered spring knife hanging at his waist, looking very vigilant.

Although the other party spoke fluent Mandarin and was dressed in the uniform of a prince's guard, their accent sounded somewhat stiff. In addition, their faces were slightly flat and their eyes were narrow. If Sun Hao was not mistaken, these guards should be the elite Eight Banners troops that the Song Prince had recruited from Liaodong.

The Later Jin and Qing dynasties, which once dominated Liaodong, have vanished without a trace, and the Eight Banners, with their iron cavalry and unparalleled archery skills, have also become a thing of the past. After the Ming Dynasty recovered Liaodong, it relocated and resettled the Eight Banners in Liaodong, and at the same time strictly ordered all Manchus to grow their hair long, change their clothes, and adopt Han surnames and names.

Under this policy, Liaodong has now become entirely Han Chinese territory. Except for the northern Nurgan region, which is still under the autonomy of the Solon tribe, a large number of immigrants have gone to Liaodong to fill the areas previously occupied by the Manchus. Moreover, this policy continues. If it is implemented in this way for decades, there will be no more Manchus in Liaodong in the future. In this way, it will be impossible for Liaodong to experience a situation like that of Nurhaci.

Sun Hao remained standing, refusing to leave as requested. He straightened his clothes, took something from his robes, and said to the guards, "I am Sun Hao, the Chief Secretary of the Prince Song's Palace. I have just arrived in Xinjing from the Ming Dynasty. This is my official credentials. Please inform the Prince that Sun Hao has arrived as agreed!"

"Chief Secretary?" The other party was about to shoo Sun Hao away when he saw that Sun Hao was not leaving. But Sun Hao actually produced an official certificate and said that he was the Chief Secretary of the Prince of Song's Palace, which made the other party stunned.

As a subordinate of the Prince's residence, he naturally knew that the residence was indeed lacking an important official, namely the Chief Secretary. However, as a mere guard, he naturally had no idea what was going on. But now, a person suddenly appeared claiming to be the Chief Secretary, which made the other party suspicious.

The man took Sun Hao's official document, opened it, and glanced at it. Unfortunately, he was illiterate and couldn't understand a word written on it. However, seeing that the document looked legitimate and had an official seal on it, he figured it wasn't fake. After thinking for a moment, the man told Sun Hao to wait at the entrance, then turned and strode quickly into the Prince's mansion with the document in hand.

Sun Hao, standing at the door, didn't mind and waited quietly with his hands behind his back. After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the tightly closed inner gate of the palace suddenly opened, and several people walked out. The person walking at the front and in the center was wearing a red brocade robe with four dragon medallions and a purple-gold crown on his head. Although his appearance had changed slightly due to his age, Sun Hao still recognized him at a glance. Wasn't this his junior brother, Prince Song, Zhu Mincheng?

"Oh my! Senior brother! You've finally arrived! I've been waiting for you. Why did you come so suddenly? You didn't even tell me beforehand." Zhu Mincheng took three steps in two, smiling broadly as he walked up to Sun Hao. Before Sun Hao could formally bow to him, he reached out and grabbed Sun Hao's hand, saying, "Come on, come on, this isn't our home ground. There's no need for all this formality. I've been waiting for you for the past two years, and I was wondering when you would arrive yesterday. I didn't expect you to come today. No wonder I heard magpies chirping this morning. It turns out it's this happy occasion."

"Your Highness..." Zhu Mincheng's enthusiasm touched Sun Hao's heart. Although they had kept in touch through letters for the past two years, they had been separated for quite some time. While waiting, Sun Hao had been wondering how Zhu Mincheng would react to seeing him. He hadn't expected his junior brother to be so warm and welcoming, especially since his words made him feel completely at ease.

At this moment, the people who came out with Zhu Mincheng also nodded and smiled at Sun Hao. Zhu Mincheng didn't bother to exchange pleasantries with Sun Hao at the door and took his hand to enter the palace. When the group arrived at the main hall, Zhu Mincheng arranged for Sun Hao to sit in the first seat on his left, then sat down in the main seat and greeted everyone with a smile to take their seats.

(End of this chapter)