Mixed with salted fish in Hongwudang

Zhu Yunxi's attitude towards eunuchs is very complicated. From a humanitarian point of view, this matter is a bit contrary to human nature.

But starting from the actual needs, such a thing is indispensable in the huge palace.

Therefore, we can only reduce the resentment of this group as much as possible, or transfer their resentment to other people.

After all, I and Lao Zhu will rely on this group of people to serve me and Lao Zhu in the future. If some people with ulterior motives enter the palace, don't they think they will live longer?

Li Chenggui could also guess Daming's thoughts, but when he thought of being such a villain, he felt a little bored in his heart.

But no matter how tired he is, he has to grit his teeth and endure it.

After all, with his national strength, let alone fighting against Daming, even the Ming army stationed on the peninsula could destroy him.

The reason why Daming still has his humble life is that he needs to rely on his fame to rule the peninsula on his behalf.

Once Da Ming gains the hearts of the people here and annexes the peninsula without any effort, he will immediately abandon his flag.

Li Chenggui is well aware of this, so he has always been dissatisfied with Daming, secretly accumulating his own strength.

However, the power he has accumulated is not for fighting against Daming, but for running away in the future.

He has been to Daming, seen the super long coastline of Daming, and the prosperity of the capital of Ming Dynasty.

It is precisely because I have been there that I have a deep understanding of the gap between the two countries.

On the contrary, his rebellious son, Li Fangyuan, had never been to Daming, so he was able to maintain a high fighting spirit all the time, thinking about overthrowing Daming and regaining the glory of the peninsula!

While Li Chenggui was feeling restless, Li Fangyuan of the Northern Dynasty was gearing up to plot a plan against Daming.

Li Fangyuan is different from Li Chenggui, he has no resistance to Daming's proposal to pay tribute to four hundred eunuchs.

Moreover, he not only gave the selected family 100 taels of silver as requested by Daming, but also paid them an extra 100 taels of money from his own small treasury.

After selecting a sufficient number of children, he also specially trained them, taught them some assassination techniques, cultivated their patriotic education and so on.

In the end, they arranged for their father and brother in the army to bind them firmly with themselves.

Compared with Li Fangyuan's wolf ambition, the King of Goryeo is much more peaceful. He just paid for people step by step, and then sent them to the embassy.

For the Korean lineage, their throne was originally taken.If it weren't for Daming, they would still be struggling to survive in the deep mountains and old forests.

The embassy of Ming Dynasty in Japan was built directly next to the Iwami Silver Mine.

Firstly, it is guarded by the Ming army, and secondly, it is convenient to take a boat here, and you can go straight to the north and south along the coastline to the imperial capital for two days.

Daming did not encounter any resistance in buying eunuchs in Japan, and even after the conditions were set out, because there were too many people who signed up, it had to be screened layer by layer.

This is because Japan has never had enough food to eat, and many poor farmers simply cannot afford to raise their young children.Now that they have one more chance to survive, it is a good thing for them.

In contrast, Vietnam is more complicated, and there is great resistance from both the government and the people.

But it was not difficult for Li Jishou, who wanted to please Daming wholeheartedly. He used the name of countering the rebellion to capture many prisoners, and very thoughtfully castrated them for Daming so that they could be given to Daming.

Because Daming has always been ambiguous about Vietnam, he nominally supports the orthodox Chen family in Vietnam, but he is not very resistant to him as a powerful minister, especially the military officers of the emperor's grandson family, who have a very good relationship with him.

Not only helped him smuggle raw silk and ironware from Daming, but also helped him sell grain to Daming, allowing him to earn millions of taels of silver every year.

Of course, he also reciprocated, allocating several ports in the coastal area of ​​Vietnam for the Ming warships to use without charging any fees.

Therefore, after receiving the request from Daming's ambassador to Vietnam, he immediately organized an army to conquer the small disobedient surrounding countries and sent a sufficient number of eunuchs to Daming.

Zhu Yunxi was very satisfied after receiving the replies from the ambassadors of the three countries, and specially rewarded them to come to Daming to attend the old emperor's birthday banquet.

Except for Li Fangyuan from the Northern Dynasties who could not come due to illness, the kings and powerful ministers from several other regions expressed their willingness to come to Daming for a pilgrimage.

Zhu Yunxi had long planted nails around Li Fangyuan, knowing that this guy had been harboring evil intentions, but he just didn't bother to take care of him.

A small place can be destroyed in an instant.

Once he finishes cleaning the north side, it will naturally be the turn of the east side.

After confirming the pilgrimage list of the overseas vassal states, Zhu Yunxi started to welcome the Daming vassal king who came to Beijing again, and arranged Lao Zhu's birthday banquet.

In order to celebrate Lao Zhu's birthday, Zhu Yunxi paid 50 taels of silver from his treasury to decorate the palace and hall, and renovated the post house under Honglu Temple.

He also specially ordered his own navy to bring elephants, lions, rhinos, giraffes and other "auspicious beasts" from Vietnam, Africa and other places as gifts.

Although neither he nor Lao Zhu cares about this stuff, the people of Ming Dynasty like to watch it.

Under Zhu Yunxi's intensive arrangement, a group of vassal kings entered Beijing one after another.

Zhu Di attached great importance to this visit to Beijing. Although he was far away from the capital and turned to Kaifeng halfway to take over the line of King Zhou, he was still the first among many princes to enter Beijing.

After entering the capital, Zhu Di was shocked by the earth-shaking changes in the capital.

Although he often inquired about the local conditions and customs of the capital when he was enfeoffing the land, reading reports from his subordinates and conducting on-the-spot investigations are two different things.

In the report, what he saw was "the grandson of the emperor renovated the capital, built tall towers to divert water, built tall buildings into the clouds, and leveled the road like a mirror..."

This kind of brief text can only be seen roughly, and it is even easy to be misleading.

However, when he was really driving on the newly built road in the capital without feeling any bumps, the shock in his heart could not be added.

"How did Zhu Yunxi manage to build such a smooth road in less than a year?"

"This kind of road is really smooth as a mirror, without the slightest pothole!"

Zhu Di turned a few more turns in disbelief, but no matter which street the carriage entered, what he saw was the same blue-gray road surface...

What surprised him even more was that all the open channels that had been seen everywhere disappeared, replaced by shallow pits every ten feet, covered with iron nets.

Zhu Di ordered someone to call his servant in the capital to ask him about the purpose of the iron net.

"Reporting to Your Highness, this is the sewer."

"Ordinary people have it at the door of their house, and they can dump dirty water."

"The iron net on the road here is used to block dead leaves, branches, etc., and prevent them from clogging the sewer..."

Zhu Di nodded when he heard the words, as if he understood the function of the sewer.

"What made this road?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, this thing is called cement, and it is a magical thing developed by the emperor's grandson a few years ago!"

"This thing is used with clay and river sand. It is invulnerable to build a city. It can be used to build roads in an instant. It is the most convenient..."

After Zhu Di heard the phrase "invulnerability", he felt very disapproving. He had never seen any impenetrable city walls, even the Tongwan City outside the Great Wall, which was not as mysterious as it was mentioned in the history books.

He got out of the carriage in disbelief, and slashed and stabbed vigorously on the ground with his saber. After seeing sparks flying all over the road, but still unable to damage the road, he was completely desperate.

"Is this the work of cement?"

"This thing is so powerful, if it is used to build a city, it is really an iron wall!"

Zhu Di retracted his sword in despair, and looked at the tall tower in the distance.

"If Gu's predictions are correct, the tower is the water tower mentioned in the report, right?"

"Yes!"

"Now residents in the city only need to pay a certain water fee every month, and they can bring sweet water to their homes for free use, which is very convenient and quick."

"And there is not much money, only a few dozen copper coins per household, which is much cheaper than buying water in buckets before, and there is no limit..."

"Our palace is also equipped with tap water. The installation fee is allocated by His Majesty, and the monthly water fee is 100 taels of silver..."

Zhu Di was unhappy on the spot when he heard this.

"Why do we have to pay 100 taels a month?"

"Returning to Your Highness, this is the emperor's grandson's rule. Not only do we charge more, Jin Wang, Qin Wang, Zhou Wang, etc. all charge the same price!"

"If you don't charge so much, it won't show the dignity of our royal family..."

It was the first time Zhu Di heard that "noble" was explained in this way, and he was so angry that he almost vomited blood on the spot.

"However, it's not just the royal family that pays more. Rich households such as nobles in Beijing, officials, merchants, etc. also have to pay more."

"It is said that it is calculated according to the amount of land occupied by the mansion. The smaller the people are, the less they pay."

Hearing this, Zhu Di felt a little more balanced in his heart. After all, he was not the only one who was unlucky.

But he quickly thought of a slot, thought of a possibility.

"The whole city's water comes from this water tower?"

"Yes, even the imperial palace draws water from here."

Hearing this, Zhu Di looked at the water tower and muttered to himself.

"If someone has evil intentions and poisons the water tower, wouldn't it be easy to kill the people in the city?"

The old servant didn't know that this was Zhu Di's heart, and thought that Zhu Di was really discussing safety issues with him.

"Reporting to Your Highness, there are people guarding the water tower above and below. Not only the people from Wucheng Bingmasi, but also people from Jinyiwei and Dongchang are stationed there. The precautions are very strict, and idlers can't get in!"

"Oh……"

Zhu Di frowned subconsciously, thus putting out the idea of ​​poisoning from the water tower, and focused his eyes on the houses on both sides of the road.

"Are these houses new, too?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, yes, the emperor's grandson ordered people to push back the original house and rebuild it."

"Tsk tsk..."

Looking at these three-storey houses, Zhu Di was amazed. These houses are much more regular than before, with uniform white walls and black tiles, and uniform door decorations. They are as beautiful as paintings...

"How much will it cost?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, it is said that it cost 2000 million taels of silver, and some of the Lifang in the capital are still being flipped, and the cost will continue to increase..."

"This……"

Zhu Di was completely speechless. He scraped three feet of the fief and forced the outside of the Great Wall to pay tribute, which was only one million 80 taels of silver a year.

The emperor's grandson spent 2000 million taels of silver to flip the cover just to make the capital look good.

Comparing the two, as an uncle, I am not even worthy to carry shoes for my nephew!

"It's really the power of the whole country..."

After being shocked, Zhu Di didn't want to take the carriage anymore, but led the old servant of the Beijing Palace to wander on the cement road, pointing to places he didn't understand and asking questions from time to time.

"This place is not a city gate, nor is it close to the city wall. Why dig a few feet deep? Is it necessary to build a cave for Tibetan soldiers?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, there are different opinions here, and there has been no definite explanation."

"However, the old slave went to the palace to give gifts to the imperial concubines and empresses in the harem before, but I heard the eunuchs in the palace say that the emperor and grandson will build underground roads. In the future, both carriages and pedestrians will be able to pass underground. ..."

Zhu Di secretly kept this matter in his heart, thinking that in the future when he entered the capital, he must send people to guard against soldiers who suddenly rushed out of the tunnel.

But this is something for later, the premise is that God gives him this opportunity!
Zhu Di walked a few more streets, and saw that the familiar bell tower and drum tower were gone, replaced by a taller building with a huge chime bell on it.

"Is this thing used to tell the time?"

"I seem to have seen something similar in the palace of my father before."

"Your Highness is wise!"

"This thing is called a self-ringing bell. A special person is responsible for winding it every day. Every half an hour, the big bell will make a clanging sound, which can be heard clearly within a radius of ten miles."

"Many people now work and rest according to the sound of the bell, and even officials in the DPRK and China listen to the sound of the bell."

Zhu Di nodded approvingly when he heard the words, thinking silently in his heart, he must find a way to get this thing for his father, and put it in the center of Beiping City. Much more convenient.

"By the way, Gu heard that the grandson of the emperor built a new palace, but why didn't he see it along the way?"

"Your Highness, the emperor's grandson's new palace is in the suburbs, not in the capital."

"Outskirts?"

Looking at the completely new capital city, Zhu Di couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

"The capital is so prosperous and prosperous, the emperor's grandson's new palace must be more magnificent, right?"

The old servant smiled slightly upon hearing this.

"I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint His Highness. The emperor's grandson's North Palace is nothing special, and it's not even as grand as the Hope School next to the bell tower!"

Zhu Di was very puzzled when he heard this.

"impossible?"

"The emperor's grandson allocated 2000 million yuan to renovate the capital, but he is not willing to build a luxurious palace for himself?"

"Returning to Your Highness, it is said that many people gave advice to the Empress Dowager, but they were all rejected by the Empress Dowager because he had no money."

"However, the old servant heard that the emperor's grandson refused because the North Palace is only for temporary office use, and a new palace will be built in the future."

"It turns out that since it is a temporary office space, it is indeed not appropriate to build it with great fanfare."

"If your Highness has spare time, you can go to the nearby Hope School, which is where the essence of the capital lies."

"Nowadays, many foreigners will go there to visit and appreciate the learning atmosphere of our Daming capital!"

"Hope Academy?"

"Take Gu over there to have a look!"

"promise!"

Not long after, Zhu Di came to the Hope School led by the old servant. When he saw the tall buildings in the school, as well as the tree-lined corridors and gardens, he was shocked again.

He had been here in the early years, when this place was just a patchwork of messy houses.Unexpectedly, in just two years, this place was built so magnificently.

If the old servant hadn't emphasized that this place was a school, he would have even thought it was Zhu Yunxie's new palace.

"Such a big school, I'm afraid it can accommodate 1 people, right?"

The old servant said proudly.

"It's more than that!"

"Now not only the children of the people in the capital are flocking to it, but even children from other places come here to study from thousands of miles away."

"There are tens of thousands of people in the elementary school alone, and more than 5000 people in the middle school..."

"That's not even counting the Royal Academy. In the Royal Academy, there are many honorable children, as well as the princes in the palace, and the princes and grandchildren of the vassal family."

"The sons of King Jin's family are studying here!"

"The old servant also heard that the grandson of the emperor once advised His Majesty to let the disciples of the vassal princes who are eight years old go to Beijing to study, but for some reason, His Majesty refused..."

Hearing the old servant's regretful tone, Zhu Di wished he could kick him away.

Wouldn't this bastard think it's a good thing to study in Beijing? Isn't this a hostage?

If Zhu Yunxi really made such a request to him, would he, the uncle, agree or not!

Zhu Di pondered for a long time, but he didn't swear, he just said something vaguely.

"Father Emperor Shengming!"