My uncle's name is Zhu Di

Chapter 228 Preparing to Move the Capital
What could be more exciting than Homecoming?Although Zhu Di was not born in Beiping, in the 13th year of Hongwu, he officially joined the feudal clan, and it has been more than 20 years. The best youth, bitter and sweet, were all in Beiping.

And without the control of parents and elder brothers, they are free to do whatever they want.

Zhu Di likes Beiping so much... Now he is returning to his hometown with the honor of the Son of Heaven.

Zhu Di really wanted to imitate Liu Bang, the great ancestor of the Han Dynasty, and sang a song called "Great Wind Rises..."

"Xu Jingchang, come here for me."

Xu Jingchang urged his horse, and when he reached the front of Sheng's chariot, Zhu Di smiled and said, "Is it your idea to invite so many old people?"

Xu Jingchang said with a smile: "It's all because of His Majesty's profound virtue. The old neighbors who came here looked up to His Majesty and wanted to see, but His Majesty has lost weight."

Hearing this, Zhu Di became even more excited, "Is it my own...Xu Jingchang, have you prepared anything? I want a reward."

Xu Jingchang said with a smile: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, Beiping is short of cattle, horses, livestock, gold, silver and cloth, and even salt land... I promise to arrange it properly."

Zhu Di was overjoyed, "Okay, let's go to the city!"

In this way, Zhu Di entered Beiping amidst cheers. The streets along the way were decorated, the roads were paved straight, and more soldiers and civilians lined the road to welcome him.

Zhu Di leaned forward, waved to the people frequently, and received countless voices of long live.

Empress Xu's chariot followed Zhu Di. She was also excited when she saw this scene... After all, when Li Jinglong's hundreds of thousands of troops besieged Beiping, Zhu Di went out and did not return. She personally led the troops to defend Beiping and fought bloody battles.

Perhaps among these people, there are soldiers and civilians who fought side by side together!
Empress Xu's joy at being able to return to Beiping is self-evident.

Surrounded by the emperor and the queen, they entered the former Yanwang Mansion.

After Zhu Di ascended the throne, Yanwang Mansion became the Qianlong Palace. In order to welcome Zhu Di's arrival, Xu Jingchang also ordered renovations... So after entering the palace, Zhu Di was full of joy.

"Okay, it's still better here, better than Yingtian, I wish I could live here forever."

Xu Jingchang was not surprised at all. Zhu Di had known about moving the capital for a long time.

What surprised him was Empress Xu. Look, my aunt liked Peiping quite a lot.

"Nephew, now the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty oppose His Majesty's move of the capital. Auntie asked you, what do you think?"

Xu Jingchang immediately said: "Of course I support moving the capital!"

"Really?" Empress Xu asked in surprise.

"That's natural." Xu Jingchang said: "Your Majesty wants to move the capital, and Beiping is an important border defense town, so it's only natural for the old capital of the Yuan Dynasty to move here... I have also drawn up a statement, which I plan to dedicate to Your Majesty!"

Empress Xu was overjoyed, "It's rare that you have such a heart, you are indeed my good nephew."

Zhu Di also heard it, so he smiled and said, "Okay, let's talk while eating."

Xu Jingchang also prepared a banquet for Zhu Di to wash away the dust... Only Zhu Di, Empress Xu, Han Wang Zhu Gaoxu, Zhao Wang Zhu Gaosui, emperor Zhu Zhanji, and Xu Jingchang participated in the meal.

Even Huang Guan, Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites, is not qualified. As for the big banquet for the emperor from all walks of life in Beiping, it will be held three days later, and the banquet will be given after Zhu Di has rested.

In a word, this is a chat among family members, and outsiders are not qualified to meddle.

"Xu Jingchang, tell me, how is Beiping doing now?" Zhu Di asked curiously.

"Returning to Your Majesty, all the businesses in Beiping are booming, everything is booming, and everything is fine."

Zhu Di smiled, "Okay, let me ask you, how about moving the capital?"

"That's even better. I just want to tell your Majesty, don't listen to the nonsense of Yingtian and those people... Moving the capital to Beiping just balances the north and the south, and develops the north. It will have a great effect on the country's long-term stability and border security. There are many benefits. Your Majesty To move the capital is a well-thought-out and appropriate move, and it will definitely benefit the country and the people."

Zhu Di slapped his thigh excitedly, looked around at his two sons, and said to Empress Xu: "Listen, how good this is! I should have asked Jing Chang for his opinion in the first place, and the princes of the court really disappointed me. "

Empress Xu smiled and said, "No, this is our nephew, a family, and they must be different from those people."

Zhu Di couldn't wait to say again: "Jingchang, I heard that you have also drawn up a strategy. If you want to move the capital, what should you do?"

Xu Jingchang said seriously: "I have repeatedly calculated that if the capital is moved, the Ming court needs to prepare a budget of [-] million taels of silver in order to succeed."

"What?" Zhu Di was a little dumbfounded, "How much did you say? How did you figure it out?"

Even Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaosui moved their buttocks, brother, how dare you say, how much is Daming's annual income now?If you really say that like you, I am afraid that I will not eat or drink for 20 years.

At the beginning, Zhu Yuanzhang was determined to be the capital, and he didn't spend so much money!
"Your Majesty Qizuo, if you want to move the capital, the first thing is food. The Grand Canal must be repaired. After all, during the Battle of Jingnan, the canal was damaged in many places. It will take more than 1000 million taels to rebuild the canal, and 200 million yuan will be invested every year. Two maintenance. This is not counting the money for building water transport ships."

Zhu Di hummed: "It won't take so much... The budget reported by the Ministry of Industry is 300 million taels."

"They didn't count the money for recruiting civilian husbands. If Your Majesty continues to recruit civilian husbands for free like before, Shandong will definitely turn against...Your Majesty can ask Yuan Gang."

Zhu Gaosui also hurriedly said: "Father, my son knows a little bit about this matter. Shandong is really too hard. Governor Yuan braved his ruin and returned the property of the Confucian Mansion to the common people... Many bandits and bandits have been recruited. Don’t try to recover. If we recruit civilians on a large scale, I’m afraid that what we’re doing now will fall short.”

Zhu Di frowned when he heard that, he couldn't recruit civilian husbands for free, and if he wanted to build the canal, the expenditure must be huge.

"Jingchang, the courtiers didn't say anything about it, but you have this opinion. What's the reason? Are you trying to deceive me?"

Xu Jingchang smiled and said: "Your Majesty, in the past you wanted to move the capital, and the courtiers opposed it. If you made up your mind to move the capital, and they dared not expressly object, what would happen?"

Zhu Di was startled.

Zhu Gaosui said with a smile: "Naturally, it is doubled... If there is a civil uprising, they will say that it was the father who moved the capital. The idea of ​​moving the capital."

Zhu Di was surprised, "Third brother, who did you listen to?"

Zhu Gaosui said: "Isn't my boy in charge of the mansion newspaper? I have met many literati, and their methods are not difficult to understand."

After thinking about it, Zhu Di sighed helplessly.

This is called the evil of meeting the king!

As the emperor, those who oppose you may not be loyal ministers, but those who obey you may not be good people... The complexity of the government is far beyond what outsiders can imagine, and they may not understand it when they are in the situation.

All it takes to build canals is a headache.

But Zhu Di is not a person who retreats easily.

"Jingchang, you just said [-]... [-] taels, besides the river workers, what expenses do you have?"

"The next thing is to spend on the construction of Beiping City... The palace will be expanded into an imperial palace, and everything will be in accordance with the specifications of the heavens. The three main halls alone are not enough if there are no two million taels. And when the emperor arrives, the outer city needs to be built to defend the emperor. An outer city costs more than 200 million taels. Moreover, all government offices in six departments and five prefectures have to be relocated, which is also a huge sum of money... just the construction cost alone will cost more than 500 million taels, and 3000 million yuan will be spent , for land acquisition compensation.”

"Land acquisition? What land acquisition?"

Xu Jingchang said: "Your Majesty, the buildings around King Yan's Mansion must be demolished. Land is needed for the construction of the yamen, and tens of thousands of officials go north and also need housing. They will definitely occupy the houses of the people in Beiping. The court has to give compensation. , Your Majesty can't make the people sad!"

Before Zhu Di's eyes, the scene of the people warmly welcoming him suddenly flashed. It is true that the houses cannot be occupied in vain.

"Do you really need 2000 million taels of compensation? This is too much."

King Zhu Gaoxu of the Han Dynasty suddenly said: "Returning to my father, some time ago, in order to transfer the land of the guard to the whole guard... the Yamen of the prefect of Shuntian has signed a contract with the guard, and it is not allowed to requisition the land at will... If it is necessary to requisition , need to give three times the compensation. Since Beiping City is also included, the people in the city have also received the same contract."

Zhu Di frowned first, then his face changed instantly!
He seemed to understand something... Some people clamored to support their move to the capital, but actually set up obstacles for the move. How do you set the standard of compensation like this?

"Xu Jingchang! I want you to take it back now!"

Xu Jingchang hurriedly said: "I obey the decree...but I dare to ask your majesty to think carefully. After all, it will hurt the hearts of the people of Beiping. They warmly welcome your majesty, are loyal to Daming, and regard your majesty as their father. How can a father live up to everything?" Thousands of people, the fathers of Peking!"

Zhu Di was so angry that his eyes widened and he gritted his teeth, no wonder so many people came to greet him.

"Xu Jingchang, you kid is worse than Jian Yi and Xia Yuanji! You have been very busy on the way I came to Beiping! It turns out that you are busy with these things. You dig a hole for me, you are deceiving the king!"

Zhu Di was so angry that he slapped the table, Empress Xu was stunned for a while, but she also understood.

She coughed lightly at first, and then said to Xu Jingchang: "You did this out of good intentions out of love for the common people. But you know that His Majesty wants to move the capital to Beiping, and you shouldn't let His Majesty down!"

Xu Jingchang thought over and over again, and finally plucked up the courage to say: "Returning to Your Majesty, I think that Beiping at this time does not have the conditions to become the capital of the Ming Dynasty... The north is withered, and the output is too little. The most basic food products must be obtained from the south." The supply, the national treasury is empty, and there is not enough funds to support the capital move... The minister still has several accounts that have not been settled, the most important of which is safety. If His Majesty wants to move the capital, he must use large-scale troops against the Mongols, at least to expel them Leaving Monan is the only way to ensure the safety of Beiping. The large-scale use of troops and various expenses are tens of millions of taels. Moreover, the dead and wounded soldiers need to be compensated. If the court ignores it, it will be His Majesty's fault. As for the responsibility, you must tell His Majesty everything. I can only say that the conditions for moving the capital are not ripe in the short term!"

Seeing what Xu Jingchang said, Empress Xu was also worried that she would anger Zhu Di, so she said, "I just arrived in Beiping today, let's talk about this later, let's have dinner..."

"Don't!" Zhu Di stopped Empress Xu suddenly, and said with a smile: "Xu Jingchang, I believe what you said, and I don't object to the two tens of millions of taels of silver... I will appoint you to be in charge of moving the capital and raising money now." , even one or two taels less!"

Xu Jingchang: "..."

　I'm still spraying now...but it's a little bit better, and I've taken several medicines.Everyone also pay attention to your health...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)