At the beginning of the civil castle, the Ming God of War was a little panicked

Chapter 343 Touring Jiangnan

Nanjing City, Railway Station.

The steam train made a whining roar and slowly drew near the station.

King Ning received the imperial decree from the emperor to go on a tour, and he ran over from Chengdu Mansion early, and led the officials of Tian Mansion to meet him at the station.

The train stopped, and the first to get off was a team of Jin Yiwei.

Yuan Bin looked around and after confirming that there was no danger, he turned around and knocked on the door of the carriage.

The car door opened, and Zhu Qizhen walked out of the train accompanied by Fan Zhong and others.

From Beijing to Nanjing, it is about two thousand miles away. In later generations, it only takes less than half a day to get there by high-speed rail.

The speed of the most primitive steam train is only about [-] kilometers per hour, and it ran for two days and two nights.

For Zhu Qizhen, it was a torment.

However, others were quite excited, as if they had discovered a new continent.

Because the train does not need to rest, as long as the coal is replenished at the stations along the way, it can continue to run without getting tired.

Moreover, trains are used to carry people and goods. Just imagine, if a war breaks out, truckloads of soldiers, horses, weapons and equipment, food and supplies will be transported to the front line without interruption, and the opponent will surrender before the fight begins.

Fighting is not only about numbers and equipment, but more importantly, supplies.

When Emperor Taizong conquered Mongolia in the north and conquered Annan in the south, it took more than half a year to prepare for each war.

Before the soldiers and horses move, the food and grass go first. Before the army goes out, a vanguard team is needed to go out to explore the road and open a grain road.

This grain road will be related to the trend of the entire battle situation. In the first battle of Tumubao, the grain road of the Ming army was cut off by Oala, resulting in the siege of the army. If Zhu Qizhen hadn't broken the boat and fought his back, the history of Emperor Mingmen would repeat itself.

But with railways and trains, everything has changed.

No matter when and where a war breaks out, the soldiers and horses of the imperial court are coming day and night, and the supply of goods and supplies is continuous, so how can they fight on the opposite side?
King Ning stepped forward and said respectfully: "Your Majesty is welcome to go on tour!"

Zhu Qizhen stepped out of the train, heaved a sigh of relief, and said, "After sitting for two days and two nights, I'm exhausted!"

It's not that he's being hypocritical, it's really... the trains of this era don't consider comfort at all, even the most luxurious Class A carriages are just gorgeously furnished and the seats are spacious.

The whole carriage is like a huge iron can, not to mention the loud noise, the key is that the air circulation is extremely poor, and, because the carriage is at the front, the soot from the locomotive steam engine keeps pouring into it, which makes people feel nauseous after a long time .

Accompanied by everyone, Zhu Qizhen walked out of the station. It was the end of spring and the beginning of summer, and there was a kind of charm of "the river flowers are red at sunrise, and the river is as green as blue in spring".

King Ning couldn't help smiling, and said: "The emperor has worked hard, and the ministers have prepared a banquet to cleanse the emperor."

"The banquet is fine, extravagance and waste are not advisable!"

Zhu Qizhen waved his hands, and said with a smile: "I understand the wishes of the gentlemen, let's get down to business first, and I want to take a longer walk in the south of the Yangtze River later, so I can take a look!"

King Ning is a person who is good at attacking the mind. Hearing this, he immediately murmured in his heart.

The so-called business is just patrolling the railway. To be honest, the main purpose of letting the emperor come here is to go through the motions.

He didn't even expect that the emperor really came here in person.

However, it doesn’t matter if it’s here, the railway and the New Deal are all about people’s livelihood, and the emperor seems to take it seriously when he comes.

As a result, the stock of the Railway Bureau will rise even more!

Therefore, when he heard the news of the emperor's tour, he was so excited that he didn't fall asleep for three days and three nights.

Where is this emperor? It is clearly a golden dragon, walking on the railway, with the superpower of turning iron into gold!

But... What does it mean to take a walk in the south of the Yangtze River and take a look?

Where to go, what to see?
After thinking about it again, what can Jiangnan have?
Beauty!
The emperor is now in his 20s, at the time when he is full of blood, and when he came to Jiangnan, he didn't go to the Qinhuai River to see beautiful women, but to see the scenery?
But, what if the queens and concubines in the harem find out...

Forget it, don't think about it, when the time comes, as the emperor's uncle, I will put my face down and take this pot personally!
"Your majesty has been exhausted all the way. I suggest that you should go to the palace to rest for a while, and then go to inspect the railway tomorrow. Then, I will accompany the emperor to walk around. I don't know what the emperor thinks?"

Zhu Qizhen looked at the sky and saw that it was already evening, so he said, "Alright, the Qing family will make arrangements. I will go to the Railway Bureau tomorrow and personally condolences to everyone."

King Ning hurriedly nodded: "I obey the order!"

Zhu Qizhen went all the way back to the palace to rest, but King Ning didn't dare to be negligent, he first ordered the whole railway bureau to prepare to welcome Shengjia, and then went to the bank of Qinhuai River.

Although the singing girls by the Qinhuai River are famous all over the world, this is the emperor after all, and he has to personally choose a few beautiful ones, so as not to let those vulgar fans sweep away the emperor's elegance.

The Qinhuai River at this time is when skinny horses are popular, and at a glance, eight of the ten women are emaciated, and two are yellow and emaciated... hungry!
Raising thin horses is a synonym for a deformed aesthetic in this era. Rich people will buy good-looking girls from poor families and train them, teach them singing and dancing, piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, and sell them as concubines to rich people when they grow up. Or enter the Qinlou Chu Pavilion to make a profit from it.Because poor women are often thin and weak, the name "thin horse" comes from this.

Literary hero Zhao Yi said in "Kao Yu Cong Kao Raising Thin Horses": "People in Yangzhou raise virgins and sell them as concubines, which is commonly called raising lean horses. Its meaning is unknown. Baixiangshan Poetry Cloud: Don't raise a thin horse, don't raise a thin horse. Teach the little prostitutes, the future is in the present, if you don’t believe me, remember: the horse is fat and walks fast, and the prostitute can sing and dance. In three to five years, I have heard that it has changed to another master. Song Mantang quoted it, thinking that the theory of raising thin horses is based on this.”

I don't know why, those dignitaries like to be thin, the thinner the better. Therefore, the thinness of the thin horse is not only due to natural frailty, but also deliberately starved.

King Ning came to the river and found the largest painting boat directly.

This ship is refitted from a treasure ship. It is three stories high, with carved beams and painted buildings, which is extremely luxurious.

It was a middle-aged woman who went out to greet the guests. Seeing King Ning's extraordinary demeanor, she had a flattering smile on her face.

"Master, you haven't been here for a long time!"

King Ning was stunned for a moment, thinking when did I come here?
Then he realized that this set of rhetoric was just a trick used by the bustard to solicit customers, and everyone would say that when they met strangers.

He nodded calmly, and said: "I heard from others that your place is the front of Qinhuai River, how do you say it?"

"Oh, sir, you're talking, our painting boat is refitted from an official boat, how can it be compared to those small fishing boats?"

"Who asked you about the ship?"

King Ning's face was slightly displeased. Did I come to you to take a boat?

The old bustard hurriedly apologized: "What the uncle said is that the girls here are all beautiful, especially Miss Lianxiang, who is this year's oiran, and there are countless famous students who come here every day..."

This person was very noisy, King Ning didn't listen much to what he said next, he only knew that there was an oiran called Miss Lianxiang.

It's not very good to hear this name, it's so vulgar!
"Then call it out and let me...cough cough..."

King Ning almost slipped his tongue, and hurriedly pretended to cough.

Fortunately, the old bustard kept talking about how good and beautiful their Miss Lianxiang was, how good she was at piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, and she was proficient in everything, and then changed the subject: "I don't know something, the people who seek to see Miss Lianxiang every day are really There are too many, if you are interested, you need to make an appointment."

King Ning frowned, I saw that the emperor hadn't made an appointment yet, so why did I still need to make an appointment when I came here?

"It's just a singing girl, still need to make an appointment?"

"I'm really sorry, the person who made the appointment has already been scheduled for ten days later, look..."

Hearing this, King Ning was about to turn his face on the spot, but after thinking about it, he came here to make fun for the emperor, if something happened at this juncture, it would be hard to say or not to spread the word.

Forget it, it's better not to be familiar with these people.

Snapped!
He took out a stack of bank notes from his pocket, all in denominations of one hundred taels, and there were ten of them, and threw them directly on the table beside him.

The old bustard's eyes were staring, and he quickly shut up.

Ning Wang said lightly: "Do you still need to make an appointment?"

"No, no need..."

The old bustard carefully put away the bank note, seeing the other party's disdainful attitude, she thought to herself, this time I met the God of Wealth.

"Please go upstairs!"

The old bustard led the way in person, and King Ning followed her up the stairs and came to the door of a room.

"Girl, we have a distinguished guest!"

After King Ning entered, the old bustard left knowingly, but after only about a cup of tea, King Ning came out.

The old bustard was a little surprised, in such a short time, he didn't finish singing a single song, so why did he come out?

Miss Lianxiang is born with a natural beauty, could it be this... no?
She couldn't hide the strange look in her eyes, looked at this person again, and thought in her heart, she doesn't look very old, only about 30 years old, why not?

Should I take this opportunity to recommend some secret recipes handed down to him...

"come here!"

"what……"

The old bustard was thinking wildly, but saw the other party waving to her.

Immediately afterwards, King Ning took out five more banknotes and said, "I will cover your ship, including the people on board, for three days!"

The old bustard stared at the bank note, this time the denomination was not 100 taels, but 1000 taels, that is 5000 taels of silver!
"Master, are you... want to entertain some distinguished guests?"

"Not bad!"

King Ning nodded and said: "From tomorrow onwards, you will no longer be open for business. This is half of the salary. After three days, I will give you half again!"

The madam felt like she was dreaming, 5000 taels of silver was only half of it.

You can earn 1 taels in three days, and you dare not do it in your dreams!

She stretched out a slightly trembling hand, tremblingly took the bank note, and then said in the same trembling voice: "You... just give orders!"

King Ning thought for a while, and said: "Miss Lianxiang, there is no need to say more. Are there any other girls here?"

"Yes, yes!"

The bustard immediately called out all the girls in the boat, as for those who were receiving guests, they drove them away...

Just kidding, those poor scholars, all of them claim to be romantic and suave, but when they pay for their money, they dig and search. Even if they sit for a day, they still can't get a few taels of silver. How can they be compared with this God of Wealth?

Among these women, King Ning chose four more beautiful singers, counting Miss Lianxiang, there were five of them in total, and he thought that it should be enough.

But, after all, I don't worry, who knows what the emperor's aesthetics are, if five of them don't like it, my railway bureau can't open it?
So, I selected eight women from other boats as backup, thinking that this time should be enough.

He went around by the Qinhuai River, and the people who come and go here on weekdays are all dignitaries, or romantic talents, and if he sends some more people, there shouldn't be any problems.

As for the painting boat, he asked his guards to guard the boat in advance, and replaced the boatmen who served tea and water with his own people.

After everything was prepared, he waited for the holy car to come tomorrow, and then he left with satisfaction.

Early the next morning, Zhu Qizhen brought people to the Railway Bureau and began to inspect.

It is said to be an inspection, but it is actually equivalent to condolences. Anyway, it is to look here, ask there, and then walk along the railway.

When the craftsmen of the Railway Bureau and the people of Nanjing City learned that the emperor was coming, they burst into tears with excitement.

Your Majesty, live!

When the White Lotus Sect rebelled back then, the emperor personally led troops to destroy it. At that time, some people were lucky enough to see Long Yan, but more people just heard about it.

It is said that at that time, the White Lotus Sect summoned the heavenly soldiers and generals to come down to earth, each of them was invulnerable to swords and guns, water and fire, and was unstoppable.

However, the emperor came to the front of the formation in person and only breathed a sigh of relief. Those people were immediately defeated, and they were defeated in the end.

Anyway, among the people, after all kinds of embellishments, the real situation of the battle has long been forgotten, but the rumors of the emperor blowing his breath to destroy the magic soldiers have been passed on as miraculous.

Zhu Qizhen didn't know that he was so magical.

He just saw a thriving scene and felt very relieved in his heart.

As the emperor, what he has to do is to show the world the way, and someone will naturally do the next thing.

For example, some technical problems encountered by the railway bureau, at this time there is no need to ask yourself, Belin has already answered them one by one, and put forward many opinions and suggestions for the current situation.

As for Tang Xinggu, the censor of Zuodu, he had prepared many questions along the way. After all, he was a censor, so he always had to ask some questions.

If you don't look for a sense of presence all the time, wouldn't you become a little transparent?

However, when they arrived at the scene and heard Beilene communicating with the other party, she fell silent.

The lines are interlaced like mountains, he can't understand the issues discussed by others at all, after thinking about it, let it go, this is not his own battlefield, so let's be a little transparent!
After a day's trip, Zhu Qizhen is very satisfied, everything is developing in a good direction, this is the Daming he wants.

According to the itinerary discussed by the cabinet and the Ministry of Rites, they should have continued to the southwest, all the way to Chengdu, and inspected the entire railway line.

However, since he has left the capital, he will naturally not be subject to these restrictions, at least play for a few days before talking.

The south of the Yangtze River is good, and the scenery is old and familiar!
When you come to Jiangnan, if you don't take a good look around, wouldn't you let down such beautiful scenery?

King Ning came forward, with an imperceptible smile, whispered: "Your Majesty, please rest assured, I have already made arrangements!"

(End of this chapter)