Haisheng Mingdi

Chapter 749 Entering the Forbidden City

In July, there is fire, and in August, it is not young.

When the sweet-scented osmanthus was fragrant, Emperor Zhu Yihai, escorted by the Beiyang Fleet, landed in Tianjin on the sailing battleship Beijing, and went to Beijing under the escort of Jinwu, Qianniu, and Nei Siwei.

On the day of the Double Ninth Festival, the emperor arrived in Beijing and entered the city.

After more than half a year since the recovery of Beijing city, the crown prince toured the north. After some repairs, the capital city has regained its brilliance.

The garrison going north, as well as the family members who moved with them, as well as the soldiers and horses that were abolished and resettled in the two provinces before, and the refugees gathered to appease the people, made this place recover a little bit of vitality.

Even in the capital city and several major towns on the outskirts of Beijing, many shrewd businessmen went north immediately after the liberation.

After Zhu Yihai landed from Tianjin, along the way to Beijing, the transportation from Dagu to Zhigu in Tianjin, and the North Canal from Tianjin to Tongzhou resumed transportation, which was very lively, but the canal from Tianjin to the south was much deserted.When the Tartars were still in Beijing, the Grand Canal was basically broken.

Especially when the Ming army ascended to Lai, and then the Tartar Canal officials dug and diverted the Yellow River, completely interrupting the Grand Canal in Shandong.

At this time, the Ming army regained the customs and returned to Beijing. A large amount of materials, money, food and even personnel were transported to Dagu by sea, and even sailed directly to Tianjin.

From here, the tank boats went straight to Tongzhou. A large amount of materials were stored in Tongzhou first, then distributed to Beijing, and then continuously imported into Beijing through the Datong River.

The Huitong River has sufficient water, and even a large number of civilian ships can pass through it to and from Beijing and Tongzhou.

Both sides of the canal are very lively, and it can even be said that it has been the busiest half a year since the end of Chongzhen.However, Zhu Yihai made a special inspection of the counties and townships inland on both sides of the canal, and found that these places are much deserted.

The Tartars have been in Beijing for several years, and they have caused serious harm to the Beijing-Tianjin area. They raced to enclose land, forced people to invest in it, and even hunted down escaped people. Coupled with the deteriorating situation, they intensified their raids on the people of Gyeonggi. .

And when they fled, they mercilessly carried out the final search and destruction. Everything that could be taken away was taken away, and everything that could not be taken away was destroyed. From money and food to livestock to people, everything was taken away. Those who don't leave will be slaughtered.

Cities, villages and towns were all set on fire, even wells were filled in, bridges were destroyed, and even the Datong River they deliberately sunk and destroyed.

After Tu Guobao, Ma Guozhu and others recovered Beijing, the crown prince took the place of the emperor to patrol the north, and the four old cabinet ministers assisted, and all kinds of troops and materials were transferred to the north. But now we can only give priority to restoring Beijing, Tianjin, and Tongzhou. Especially the canal line.

As for other places, they can only recover slowly.

The land of Gyeonggi used to be full of Huangzhuang Huangdians, manors of powerful ministers, etc., but now, it has been completely reshuffled.

During the Yuan and Ming dynasties, Beijing used to have a population of one million. Jishuitan at the end of the Tonghui River was also one of the busiest and largest commercial districts in Beijing.

On both sides of the Beijing-Tianjin Canal, there are countless granary workshops.

There are even as many as one million Caoding trackers on the entire canal.

Carriers, sailors, trackers, porters, shallow husbands, spring husbands, businessmen, even prostitutes and thieves, countless people rely on water transportation and canals for their lives.

Today, Beijing and Tianjin are also the first to come back to life with the canal.

Fortunately, Daming is now mainly shipping by sea, and has been operating in Denglai for several years. There are a lot of materials, money and food stored there. They are shipped from Tokyo Port to Tianjin Port, and then shipped to Tianjin, Tongzhou, and Beijing. Thousands of miles north of the Grand Canal.

In this way, only less cost is required to re-dred the Beijing-Tianjin section of the canal, and the transport capacity has been greatly increased, which has also injected a steady stream of power into the rebirth of Beijing-Tianjin.

After Zhu Yihai arrived in Daming, this was the first time he visited Beijing.

At first glance, I think it is very broken, even very earthy.

It doesn't have the atmosphere of the Forbidden City, the Forbidden City of the later generations, and it is not even as good as the Datong City built by later generations, or the preserved city wall of Xi'an.

broken.

Although it has been repaired for more than half a year, there is an emperor's order, and it can be used as long as it can be used, so the officials also act according to the order.

It turned out that the shanty towns outside the outer city of Beijing were set on fire by the Tartars when they left, and they were almost burnt down. The shacks of the poor, the shops along the street, and some workshops outside the city were all burned. up.

After the prince came, he simply asked people to clean up the shantytowns outside the city wall that had been expanded due to the increase in population. Anyway, there are not so many people now.

After clearing and leveling, the outer city wall of Beijing was clearly revealed again.

The moat was dredged, and the city walls and gates were simply repaired.

Sijiu City was also caught on fire, and most of them were destroyed, and they were simply cleaned up, and those that were expanded and built in disorder were simply demolished and cleaned up.

After demolition and cleaning everywhere, although the city of Beijing is still in disgrace, it is much tidier.

The government offices of various ministries and halls sent vanguard troops to Beijing, and they also stationed in to take over their own offices, and did their own restoration and finishing.

During the Mid-Autumn Festival, in the city of Beijing, the courts of the imperial court had already begun to officially open their offices to handle affairs. The emperor arrived after the Double Ninth Festival, and it was already too late.

Although the capital was destroyed by the Tartars, the foundation is still there. Although the Ming Dynasty moved its capital in a hurry, its prestige is here, and business gangs from all over the world rushed to come here.

Under the auspices of the prince, the entire inner and outer city of Beijing was re-planned, including residential areas, residential areas, office areas of various government offices, workshop areas, and commercial areas.

Some adjustments have been made to the original layout.

Even the vacant land that was demolished outside the city has already begun to plan and deploy in advance.

These planned lands are invited to be constructed by investment, and sold or leased after completion. Due to the cooperation model with the contractors, after completion, some land or houses and shops are given to the contractors, allowing them to sell or lease or use them for themselves, etc. It's going pretty well.

Anyway, when Zhu Yihai entered the city, several main roads had already been repaired, and they were even neater than before.

And the cannons erected on the top of the city, and the military uniforms standing tall, also make people feel very safe.

The Imperial Palace and the Forbidden City have undergone simple repairs. Although it is simple, neither the prince nor the elders dared to be careless. Even if the funds are limited, some have to be picked here.

Although there is no comprehensive overhaul, there will be no weeds everywhere, or even leaking roofs, or damaged houses.

The red walls were also repainted, the tiles on the roof were inspected, and the damaged ones were replaced, and even the beams and columns were repainted.

On the surface, it is still very bright.

However, the furnishings inside seemed a little simple, but all the valuable things were taken away by the Tartars.

Zhu Yihai didn't pay much attention to this, he didn't even realize it.

It was only when the crown prince pleaded guilty to him that he noticed it, but he just waved his hand indifferently, "They are all decorations, it doesn't matter, let's get down to business first.

I am very satisfied that Beijing and Tianjin can be restored so well in such a short period of time. "Zhu Yihai patted Hongjia on the shoulder as a compliment.

Zhu Yihai lived in the Forbidden City in Nanjing for a period of time. The Forbidden City in Beijing was basically built on the basis of the Forbidden City in Nanjing, and the overall layout is basically the same.

"Compared to Tokyo Horai Palace, this place is much more spacious."

Zhu Yihai also lived in the Penglai Palace in Dengzhou for three years, but it was originally a small yamen that was temporarily remodeled, so he still didn't think it was wrong.

"If you say that the Tartars are quite particular, they set fire to destroy everywhere, but they showed mercy to the Forbidden City, so they didn't burn it?"

He thought it might be because the Tartars still had illusions, thinking about coming back in the future.Or maybe, since all the good things were taken away anyway, the palace was not burned down.

But in any case, the Forbidden City is basically well preserved, and this palace that cannot be taken away is still very valuable.

I think that Beijing was originally the fiefdom of Zhu Di when he was the king of Yan. After the battle of Jingnan, a minister said that Yanjing and Beiping were the land of the emperor's Longxing.

Zhu Di then promoted Yanjing to the status of Beiping Mansion, took Beiping as Beijing, and changed Beiping to Shuntian Mansion, which was called Xingzai.At the same time, people began to be relocated to enrich Beijing, and refugees, wealthy households in the south of the Yangtze River, and businessmen in Shanxi were forcibly relocated from various places.

In the fourth year of Yongle, an imperial edict was issued to build the Beijing Imperial Palace and city walls based on the Nanjing Imperial Palace, and sent personnel to various places to mine valuable wood and stones and transport them to Beijing. The preparation work lasted 11 years.

In order to harvest those precious nanmu, 1000 people entered the mountain, and only [-] people left the mountain.It is equally difficult to mine the stones for the construction of the palace.

Jinshen Hall, which is the largest Danbi stone that was renamed Jianji Temple during the Jiajing period, was mined in Fangshan, southwest of Beijing, and transported by tens of thousands of laborers. A well, when the weather was extremely cold in the twelfth lunar month of winter, water was drawn from the well and the road was poured into ice. It took 28 days before it was delivered to the palace.

The gold bricks specially used for the imperial palace were fired in Suzhou, Jiangnan, and the tribute bricks were fired in Linqing, Shandong.

It was not until the 18th year of Yongle that the Beijing Imperial Palace and Beijing City were completed, and the completed Beijing Imperial Palace was larger than the Nanjing Imperial Palace.

The newly built Beijing city has a circumference of 45 miles and is in a regular square shape. It was built according to the ideal capital shape in Zhouli Kaogongji.

Fourteen of the sixteen emperors of the Ming Dynasty lived in the Forbidden City in Beijing.

However, just after the completion of the palace in the 18th year of Yongle, a fire broke out in the following year and burned down the first three halls. It was only after 20 years that the first three halls and Qianqing Palace were rebuilt.

A hundred years later, during the Jiajing period, the Forbidden Purple City was on fire again, and the former three halls, Fengtian Gate, Wenwu Building, Meridian Gate, etc. were all burned down. It took four years to rebuild them all.The three newly completed halls were renamed Huangji Hall, Zhongji Hall, and Jianji Hall.

But 40 years later, in the 25th year of Wanli, another fire broke out in the Forbidden City, burning down the first three halls and the rear three palaces, and the reconstruction project was not completed until the seventh year of Tianqi.

These halls caught fire many times, and each reconstruction cost a lot of money. The main reason is that the materials used are quite special. For example, the beams and columns are mostly made of golden nanmu, and the old, thick and straight nanmu is also needed. Other stone materials are also very precious.

Even bricks and tiles are specially made.

Even the paint used is not ordinary.

Not to mention the craftsmanship, which is also top-notch. Even the pillars made of golden nanmu still need to be wrapped with hemp. The specific process is to first brush a thin base oil on the pillars, then catch the seam ash and then sweep the ash. , then wear hemp, then press hemp ash, then medium ash, then fine ash, and grind it finely.

Even the hemp must be combed in the early stage, and then used after combing smoothly. One process of batching hemp, and more than a dozen processes such as head pulp and sticking hemp.

Therefore, the cost of building a palace is too high.

If the Tartars set fire to it when they leave, Zhu Yihai probably won’t be able to live in the new palace in this lifetime. Although they have moved away the prices they can take away, the red walls, glazed tiles, and gold bricks of these palace corridors are all spent. Great price.

Not only did it cost a lot of money, but it also took a lot of working hours. It is not easy to find so many old craftsmen now.

Zhu Yihai took the blueprint of the Forbidden City and made arrangements.

He himself lives in the Qianqing Palace, the first of the three inner halls. The Prime Minister's Office is located outside the Qianqing Gate.

The Jiaotai Hall behind the Qianqing Palace is also the place where the empress meets her wives during important festivals, and it is also the place where the emperor keeps the 25 seals.

The last Kunning Palace is the queen's bedroom, but now the queen's seat is vacant.

"The prince lives in Ciqing Palace."

The Ciqing Palace is to the east of the Qiansan Palace and to the south of the Renshou Palace. It has red walls and green tiles.

To the south of Ciqing Palace is the Wenhua Palace and the Wenyuan Pavilion where the cabinet is located.

Ciqing Palace has always been the residence of the princes of the Ming Dynasty. It is located on the east side of the outer court area of ​​the imperial palace, a relatively independent area.

The Qianqing Gate is the boundary between the inner and outer courts of the imperial palace. Inside the gate is the living area of ​​the emperor and his harem concubines. The emperor lives in the Qianqing Palace, and the empress lives in the Kunning Palace. There are Ci Ning Palace and Renshou Palace where the Empress Dowager lived.

The northernmost is the Xuanwu Gate.

Sleeping in the front and sleeping in the back, the sleeping area in the back is actually very large. Even the six palaces in the east and west, the twelve palaces are all a palace group, and they are also divided into the front hall and the back sleeping area. The hall is the sleeping palace, and there are three east and west side halls each, and several side rooms each.

One concubine can live in one palace, and concubines and nobles with lower status can live in the side hall.

Basically, concubines can have their own palace, and concubines below can at least have their own side hall or side room in the palace of concubines, and there is no need to open a shop.

Zhu Yihai allocated a palace to each of the nine concubines and nine concubines. The other low-ranking beauties, Zhaoyi and Jieyu, even often agreed to these, and they were arranged by Chen Huangguifei and Ruan Guifei, who are now in charge of the harem affairs.

Zhu Yihai arranged for Concubine Chen Huanggui to the Palace of Compassion and Concubine Ruan Guifei to the Palace of Renshou. Anyway, there is no queen mother or concubine.

The Hall of Mental Cultivation to the west of Qianqing Palace is equivalent to the second bedroom of the emperor. Although the Hall of Mental Cultivation is not as good as Qianqing Palace, the head of the last three halls, it still has eighteen buildings. The main hall is seven rooms wide. There are three rooms in depth, which can integrate office, living, meeting guests, and banquets. There is a warehouse on the southernmost side, and an imperial dining room on the north side of the warehouse.

Compared with the single function of Qianqing Palace, living here is obviously more comfortable.

After the abolition, Mrs. Zhang was left by Zhu Yihai in the Penglai Palace to recuperate from asthma, and all the other concubines came.

"The prime minister's office is located outside the gate of Qianqing. The prime minister and the attendants and lecturers are on duty. If there is anything, I will know it immediately."

The cabinet is still in Wenyuan Pavilion.

Wenyuan Pavilion is on the east side of the Meridian Gate, which is considered to be at the front of the previous dynasty, and it is also convenient for cabinet ministers to communicate with the outside world.

The emperor usually summoned his ministers, and he chose the Wuying Hall on the west side of Fengtianmen, and the Wenhua Hall on the east side. Zhu Yihai left it for Prince Hongjia.

"Your Majesty, how to arrange the guards of the imperial city and the imperial guards in Gyeonggi, please give your majesty an order."

Zhu Yihai thought for a while, "There are nine internal and external admirals, five city soldiers and horse commanders, etc. to perform their duties..."

(End of this chapter)