I want to be emperor

Chapter 844

The social environment, economic structure and even real estate prices in different regions in different eras are very different.

Today's urban real estate prices in the Great Chu Empire are in a very special period, which is different from the traditional agricultural era, and also different from the later modern industrial era.

The real estate structure of contemporary large cities in the Great Chu Empire, that is, cities like Songjiang, is very characteristic of the times.

In later modern times, the high real estate prices are often in the administrative, commercial and financial center areas with good environment and good surrounding supporting facilities, such as Manhattan in New York, Chiyoda in Tokyo, and Gangnam in Seoul. These places are often rich people gather.

But in the nineteenth century, and even the beginning of the twentieth century, not to mention the rich, even regular high-income families would not live in the real city center...Of course, this does not mean that the rich do not have mansions in the city center , In fact, there are also, but they don't live there all the time, they only go to live temporarily when they go to the city to do business.

why?
There are other messy reasons, but the core point is: the environment in the city center is terrible!

In the modern industrial era, the steam engine used for power in factories burned coal, and coal was still used for heating and cooking in the private sector... This means that in cities with a high concentration of population, countless coals are burned every day, which in turn produces massive amounts of waste gas.

The reason why London from the nineteenth century to the first half of the twentieth century was known as the city of fog... is for this reason.

Secondly, a large number of people gather together, the daily travel needs of millions or more people, coupled with the huge living needs at all times, coupled with the huge cargo transportation needs brought about by dense factories, in the absence of In the age of cars.

These people's travel needs and material needs require a large number of horse-drawn carriages to maintain short-distance transportation within the city.

A lot of wagons means a lot of horses...horses means dung, piss, and dead horses.

Coal and horses, these two things, coupled with the concept or ability of industrial pollution that is basically absent in modern times, all kinds of factory pollutants are directly discharged into various drainage channels and rivers in the city without reservation.

All of these directly lead to the poor environment of modern big cities!
From the second half of the nineteenth century to the first half of the twentieth century, London was shrouded in dense fog all year round. The Thames River was dirty and smelly, with countless garbage and even animal carcasses. The content of various heavy metals was seriously exceeded, let alone drinking water. Or go swimming and the like, people who are not used to it in special weather, such as high temperature evaporates water vapor, but there is no wind, you will be fainted if you are close to the river...

And this is not an isolated phenomenon, but a common situation in big cities. At the same time, Paris, Berlin, and New York are basically the same, and the environment in the city center is very bad...

The various buildings in the city center may seem grand, but they are actually not suitable for human survival. They are much more serious than the smog in a certain place in later generations.

This has also led to a very special phenomenon. The rich, high-income earners and even the middle class who have already married and started a business are more inclined to live in the suburbs all the year round, and some rich people even live in the outer suburbs altogether.

For them, the city center is actually a huge factory, which is used to make money... not a place to enjoy life.

This is a direct result of productivity!
In order to reduce costs, modern factories will inevitably cluster together in big cities, and the huge urban population brought by a large number of factories has prompted the emergence of modern big cities with a population of one million workers.

Then it brought a series of industrial and domestic pollution problems!
This process also inevitably occurred in the Great Chu Empire that started industrialization, and it was especially evident in Songjiang City, which had a population of more than 300 million and was still growing rapidly.

Songjiang City, with a population of more than 300 million, is actually very densely populated, with serious traffic and environmental problems. However, a large number of people like Sun Xu continue to pour into Songjiang City from all over the country every day.

Many official agencies of the empire predict that in five years, that is, the 40th year of Chengshun, the population of Songjiang Prefecture may reach about 500 million, and the growth rate will not stop...it may continue to grow at a high speed until the 50th year of Chengshun At that time, the population of Songjiang City may even exceed tens of millions.

Although many people in the empire think this prediction is very exaggerated, Luo Zhixue thinks it is not exaggerated at all... In 1850, the population of London was about 200 million, but by 1910, the population of London had reached more than 700 million!

Once a metropolis develops to a certain scale, it will have a very large siphon effect on the population, funds, and materials in the surrounding areas, not to mention Songjiang, the largest super city in China.

And such a huge population growth rate, especially the huge traffic and environmental pressure brought by it, are always pressing on the senior officials of Songjiang Prefecture.

Li Xuanbing, the new prefect of Songjiang Prefecture, looked at a series of forecast reports and remained silent... The series of forecast reports in his hand made him feel quite at a loss!

What are you talking about, according to the current population growth rate and the growth rate of factories and enterprises, if you don’t take decisive countermeasures, Songjiang City doesn’t have to wait until Chengshun’s 50 years... After ten years of survival, it will be completely submerged in horse manure... At least one year Rice thick!

Although he knew that these were some exaggerated descriptions deliberately made by experts and scholars in order to attract the attention of the authorities, and it was actually unlikely to happen, Li Xuanbing still couldn't help but imagine the scene where his magistrate's yamen was flooded with horse dung!
Too Nima is scary!

And most importantly, as the prefect of Songjiang, Li Xuanbing couldn't live in the suburbs all year round like those rich people, and would only go to the city when necessary.

He, Li Xuanbing, has to stay in the center of Songjiang Mansion for many years... the most densely populated and most polluted city in the city. This place used to be the county seat of Shanghai. Later, the prefect of Songjiang also moved to Shanghai. The subsequent development of the entire Songjiang City, In fact, it was developed around the original county town...

To the north is Beicheng District north of Suzhou Creek, to the south is the city south of Lujiabang, to the west is Xicheng District to the west of Jing’an Temple, and to the east... that is the Huangpu River!
As for the area east of the Huangpu River, there is no large-scale development for the time being, only small-scale local self-development, which is still in the suburban area. Well, it is mainly separated from the urban area by the Huangpu River, but there is no bridge on the Huangpu River!
There is no bridge on the Huangpu River, not because the bridge technology of the Great Chu Empire is not good, and even a bridge of a few hundred meters cannot be built... but because they want to build a bridge spanning the Huangpu River without affecting the navigation of the Huangpu River. It is very difficult to build the Jiangjiang Bridge, because it requires very high clearance height of the bridge.

The shipping industry has long put forward a request. You can repair the bridge if you want, but you must at least guarantee a navigable altitude of more than ten meters and a main channel width of [-] meters...

Those bridge designers saw that you were paralyzed... and still repaired wool. If I had this level of technology, I would have built the Jinling Yangtze River Bridge. River Bridge.

The Ministry of Communications of the Great Chu Empire will convene a group of bridge experts every two years to demonstrate the feasibility of the construction of the Jinling Yangtze River Bridge... In the past two years and two years, more than ten years have passed, and no one can give a clear answer. construction plan.

Luo Zhixue personally questioned it several times, but the results were mixed. If it can't be repaired, it can't be repaired... It's not a matter of cost or money, but the technology is not up to that level, and it can't be done if it is insisted on.

So much so that gossip spread in the bridge industry, saying that whoever can build the Jinling Yangtze River Bridge is very likely to be awarded a title, and it will be a title above a baron. Once awarded, the descendants will be after the baron. It is also possible to pass the assessment to inherit the title of Jazz.

In the meritorious title system of the Great Chu Empire, in addition to the five levels of real noble titles of Duke and Bozinan, there are also two levels of honorary titles specially established as Lord and Jazz.

Among them, the lord is quite special. This title has no title salary, nor any political privileges.

The title of Lord in the early days was very special. At that time, it was specially prepared for the honorary titles for the direct heirs after the initial title of Earl and above, reduced until the Baron was reduced. This title has no salary and privileges, but it can be a hereditary title...

However, among the nobles above the earl in the Great Chu Empire, none of them have been cut down after being reduced to the baron, so the title of lord has not been awarded for a long time.

At the beginning of the reunification, Luo Zhixue, in order to appease the meritorious officials and also to smoothly recover the military power of the generals, so as not to cause any accidents, Luo Zhixue gave special preferential treatment to most of the founding heroes, and quite a few military merit conferred titles were awarded to the original titles. Three generations, or two, one generation of special grace.

It is only 35 years since the founding of the empire, and the large-scale conferring of titles is still five years after Chengshun. Even if some nobles have a short life and die quickly, the heirs will also die quickly...but even if they die quickly, the original nobility is gone. , but you can continue to reduce the inheritance, this can last for several generations.

It can't be that four or five generations of people will die in just two to thirty years... No matter how unlucky they are, it won't be like this!
Therefore, although the title of the early Lord was established, it was not awarded.

Correspondingly, since the low-level nobles such as viscount and baron generally have only one or two generations, there are many cases where nobles are reduced to civilians. Earl and above expanded to all noble systems.

The heirs of any noble family after the title of Baronet can obtain an honorary title of Lordship without any salary or political privileges, and can continue to be hereditary in the future, and will not be abolished...

The meaning of this title is: my immediate ancestors are nobles...

In addition to the Lord, Luo Zhixue later established the title of Sir.

In the Great Chu Empire, jazz does not belong to the strict nobility title, but cannot be hereditary, and the descendants cannot obtain the title of lord for life, but although it cannot be hereditary, the descendants cannot obtain the title of lord, but the gold content of jazz Not bad, because this title comes with a salary and more important political privileges.

After all, the Great Chu Empire is also an imperial power country. Since the aristocratic system has been created by Zheng'er Bajing, the aristocrats naturally have certain political privileges. The most important one is: officially recognized noble sons (including those who have no actual titles) The inherited son of the baron, the son of the viscount), if he joins the army, high school graduates can directly enter the three major military academies to study (equivalent to granting a warrant officer).

Those who have a high school or technical secondary school degree or above in politics can directly become officials without taking the exam.

Of course, in the early stage, the son had to have a high school or equivalent technical secondary education.

Otherwise it is useless!

But this is nothing to aristocratic families. If you were born in an aristocratic family, enjoy top-level resources, and can't even go to high school, why do you want to be an official... It's better to just eat and wait to die. In one day, the implicated family was ransacked and exterminated.

Therefore, even lifelong jazz, which is not included in the traditional aristocratic sequence, is very attractive. Even the second sons of many big aristocratic families will try their best to get a lifelong jazz title because they have no right of inheritance... But most of them are difficult to succeed.

The title of jazz is generally awarded to soldiers with outstanding meritorious service, civil servants with outstanding political achievements, and outstanding people who have made outstanding contributions in their respective fields.

In other words, the professors and lecturers in the Royal Institute of Technology, except for a small number of traditional nobles above baron and young lecturers who have just stayed in school for a few years, other senior lecturers and professors are almost all lifelong jazz...

In other words, the teachers in the Royal Institute of Technology are almost all nobles, even more exaggerated than the military!
This shows that the Great Chu Empire attaches great importance to scientific research!

In the Great Chu Empire, studying can really change the destiny of oneself, one's family, and even future generations.

And for some talented and hard-working geniuses, as long as you showed your talent when you were in elementary school, then really, you don’t have to worry about anything, just go straight to the scholarship all the way, not only do you not need to spend money, local government ethics institutions For the sake of your political achievements, you will be given various benefits and conveniences, including scholarships, job arrangements for your parents, and so on.

If you can study all the way up and finally get admitted to the Royal Institute of Technology... the local education officials are happier than your parents!
Those are all achievements!

In the Ming Dynasty, there was a social ethos that paid attention to child prodigies, and it was even worse in the Great Chu Empire. This kind of emphasis was not even promoted by the people, but by the government...or it was promoted by Luo Zhixue in his early years and then Habits to stay.

30 years ago, when he was poor and blank, Luo Zhixue directly established the Royal Institute of Technology in order to engage in scientific research and development, and then searched for geniuses with high IQs from all over the country, and then threw them a bunch of messy textbooks, allowing them to teach themselves !

Back then, in order to search for geniuses, the local governments and counties directly set tasks and gave rewards... You have to find one or two geniuses for me, if you can't find them, you will hit the board, and if you find them, you will be rewarded.

Then it continued for several years, and gradually although the Royal Institute of Technology was formalized and began to recruit students directly from high school students, this custom and tradition was still passed down, and college students with more students in the jurisdiction would be regarded as high school students. For a good political performance, if there is a student from the Royal Institute of Technology, it will be a great political performance.

That's why local officials attach so much importance to discovering and cultivating talents.

Not for anything else, just for promotion.

(End of this chapter)