Daming Jingtai: I am the eternal benevolent king

Chapter 414: Patrolling the South, a world of difference

Zhu Jianji approved, and the soil dug out of the river was transported to Qinghai pasture for storage.

At the same time, a plan to revitalize Qinghai was proposed.

It is estimated that it will take thirty years to build Qinghai into Jiangnan beyond the Great Wall.

At the same time, he sent his eldest grandson Zhu Houyong to inspect the south.

Zhu Houyong is seventeen years old this year. He was born in Moscow and grew up in Moscow. The cultural education he received was different from that of the Ming Dynasty. Even though the old emperor sent many lecturers and bachelors to teach the emperors and grandsons of the vassal states, after all, there were regional differences.

This difference is closely related to local culture and natural environment.

Even though the Shang Kingdom destroyed the Muscovite Kingdom and the 80 million Muscovites dropped sharply to 53 million after the occupation, they were also forcibly Chineseized, but more or less local culture influenced the Shang Kingdom culture.

Including Moscow architecture, it has become a trend and has been popular in China for a while.

Zhu Houxing had just returned to China and was not used to etiquette yet.

"Why are the prices of beef and mutton so high?" Zhu Houying asked.

Yue Fei was stationed in Wuchang for eight years.

Zhu Houying set off in November and took a train to Wuhan, Hubei Province.

Zhu Houyong remembered that there were no memorials about the epidemic in the imperial court. Besides, Mobei suffered a snowstorm and many animals froze to death. Last year, the people in the north had enough to eat. It is understandable that the price of meat has risen this year. of.

It is equivalent to saying that every day is a little Spring Festival transport.

If you want to secure the throne, you won't be able to understand the place.

It is also the first bridge across the Yangtze River in the Ming Dynasty.

Similarly, Wuhan has six large port passenger terminals and more than twenty small port passenger terminals. In the 63rd year of Jingtai, the central government issued an edict requiring the prefect of Wuhan to consolidate the small stations into the main station, and may approve two more passenger stations as appropriate. .

All major official residences in Wuhan can already communicate directly with the central government.

The fourth son wanted to inspect the south in person, but things in the court were busy and his son Zhu Youyi had to help him, so he let his grandson go.

Among the three towns in Wuhan, Hankou is a plain alluvial created by the Han River diverted from the north of Guishan into the Yangtze River. During the Jingtai period, river reclamation was carried out to fill in Hankou, giving it its current territory.

Zhu Houying asked: "Don't we raise cattle and sheep locally?"

The average house price is about 3,000 yuan. A building in a good location can be sold for 7,000 yuan per square foot, and a building in a remote location can be sold for about 2,000 yuan. However, it may take six or seven hours by bicycle to reach the city center.

Finally, I dyed my hair back and straightened it.

One complex railway station cannot be solved, but splitting it into nine can run smoothly.

Li Bai once wrote here, "The jade flute is played in the Yellow Crane Tower, and plum blossoms fall in May in Jiangcheng." Therefore, Wuhan has been called Jiangcheng since ancient times.

Before Jingtai, Wuhan was a must-go place for business from the north to the south. However, in the fifteenth year of Jingtai, the imperial court officially proposed to build Wuhan into the world's economic center.

The imperial court has spent more than one billion yuan to develop Wuhan, such as the famous Wuhan Military Factory, Wuhan Heavy Industry Manufacturing Plant, Wuhan Petroleum Processing Plant, Wuhan Iron and Steel Group, etc. If a war breaks out now, Wuhan can provide more than half of the Ming Dynasty's ordnance supply.

Wuhan is home to the world's largest bridge, the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge.

However, the history here is extremely long. The three towns of Wuchang, Hankou and Jiangxia are combined into Wuhan. Huang Zu in the late Eastern Han Dynasty was the governor of Jiangxia, and Sun Jian died in the Battle of Jiangxia.

The old emperor laughed at why he didn't shave his hair short. Zhu Houying said that his grandfather wouldn't allow it, which made Zhu Qiyu laugh.

Wuhan's nine railway stations carry an average of 17 million passengers every day.

The prefect of Wuhan knew that this thousand-year-old man was not a fool and knew a lot about farming.

Zhu Houyong learned that in an ordinary factory in Wuhan, an ordinary worker can earn 2100 yuan for a full month of work. Excluding necessary expenses such as social security and medical insurance, he can earn about 1750 yuan.

Wuhan has a total of nine railway stations. This is the city with the most railway stations among the cities in the world. Because the nine provinces are thoroughfares, business travelers from all over the world can take trains. In this era, unlike later generations, a super large railway station can complete the transportation. .

Wuhan was upgraded to a provincial government in the 47th year of Jingtai.

He had yellow curly hair that was dyed and permed, similar to the hair color of Europeans. He was sprayed half to death as soon as he appeared in front of the courtiers.

In the 60th year of Jingtai's reign, the Center wanted to build the central region into a science and technology city, focusing on the development of science and technology. With several years of steady development, Wuhan had initially realized the electrical revolution. In the 63rd year of Jingtai's reign, the first thermal power plant was successfully constructed. In the 64th year of Jingtai's reign, the official residence received electricity. In the 65th year of Jingtai's reign, the official residence already had a telephone line.

As the thoroughfare of nine provinces, Wuhan brings together merchants from all over the world.

Although this city is new, its name was also given by the old emperor.

This year he will inspect Huguang, next year he will inspect southwest China, and next year he will inspect Jiangnan. Within three years, Zhu Houting will take a good look at the place.

"Keep it up, isn't this a plague? There will be many deaths."

"Back to Your Highness, it's not that the price of meat is high in Wuhan, but the price of meat is high in the entire central region. Mobei was hit by a disaster last year, and the price of beef and mutton has increased overall. If you sell it to Wuhan, the price is too high. The current price is 30 yuan. It’s better for the court to pay for it, otherwise the price will be higher.”

When Zhu Houyong entered Wuhan, his first impression was that there were many people and it was lively.

Wuhan is right on the granary of Huguangda. The price of rice is 3.2 yuan per kilogram, the price of noodles is 2.4 yuan per kilogram, the price of pork is 16 yuan per kilogram, and the price of beef and mutton is 30 yuan per kilogram.

Cities like Beijing and Tianjin have water that restricts their population size. Wuhan is the confluence of three rivers and is a city built on a river.

It can be regarded as a big project that shocked the past and the present, but compared with the eight major projects of Emperor Jingtai, it can only be said to be a small project.

Construction started in the 21st year of Jingtai and took 19 years to complete. It was opened to traffic in the 41st year of Jingtai, with a total cost of 37 million.

Nowadays, electricity has become a very fashionable saying. Rich people want to have electricity and use electric lights to make calls and telegraphs.

This city was also built at the initiative of the old emperor. It was also the first city without city walls in the Ming Dynasty. The city can accommodate a population of 30 million people.

In the 2700th year of Jingtai's reign, Wuhan had a total population of million.

He glanced at the Wuhan magistrate, thinking that he had just returned home.

"Chitose, Wuhan is affluent, and everyone eats meat, and they are also naughty. They like to eat beef and mutton. In previous years, Mobei supplied meat livestock. This year, the supply has been cut off. There is simply insufficient supply of locally raised meat. It is normal for prices to rise."

Zhu Houyong didn't hold on: "With the price of beef and mutton so high, won't there be merchants going to other provinces to buy it? I heard that sheep farmers in Anhui are losing money this year, why don't they buy it from Anhui?"

"Didn't you just know this? The official has already organized people to buy it."

Obviously, the industrial chain here is in the hands of the powerful class, and meat dealers cannot go to other places to purchase goods. As a result, the price of local beef and mutton continues to soar.

That night, Zhu Houyong's attendants often spoke well to the Wuhan magistrate.

But Zhu Houying secretly made a note.

Hubei as a whole has a registered population of 2.1 million and a permanent population of 1.6 million. It can be considered a province with a net population outflow.

The economy seems to be developed, but in fact, compared with the truly developed coastal cities, it is still a little behind.

In the 2000s of Jingtai, some economists proposed the concept of super cities. A city with a permanent population of more than million and an economy that belongs to a first-tier city is considered a super city.

In Wuhan, there are two super cities, one is Wuhan and the other is Xiangyang.

The population of Xiangyang exceeds 20 million, which is purely a matter of luck.

It was the imperial court's tilt in resources that made Xiangyang prosperous. In the 60th year of Jingtai, in order to build a science and technology center, the imperial court invested 3 billion in Xiangyang. It wanted to build Xiangyang into the Pearl of Central Science and Technology City, mainly developing batteries and refrigerators.

The investment from the imperial court attracted a large number of workers to Xiangyang and settled in Xiangyang, which turned Xiangyang into a super city.

And waiting for the capital to subside, Xiangyang will continue to decline.

There are a total of three refrigerator cities to be built in the palace, Xiangyang in Hubei, Qingdao in Shandong, and Yangzhou in Jiangsu.

The first hand-made refrigerator in the Ming Dynasty was already used in the palace in the 62nd year of Jingtai. However, it is not yet possible to mass-produce it and fly it into the homes of ordinary people.

With Xiangyang as the center, we will build cities with supporting industrial chains for refrigerators, such as Nanyang in Henan, Xunyang in Hubei, Suizhou, Yicheng, and Jingmen Prefecture in De'an, etc., to set up supporting industrial chains.

These cities have also jumped from a population of one million to small cities with a population of more than five million.

In the 31st year of Jingtai, the imperial court spent 20 million yuan to rename Baling as Yueyang next to Dongting Lake in Yuezhou Prefecture, expand Yueyang City, and renovate Yueyang Tower.

In the 16st year of Jingtai's reign, the palace spent billion yuan to build a washing machine factory in Yueyang.

The main reason why we chose Yueyang was that the person who invented the washing machine was from Yueyang. He wanted to invest and build a factory in his hometown, so he built the factory in Yueyang.

Yueyang is under the jurisdiction of Yuezhou Prefecture. It originally had a population of 1200 million, but its permanent population was only 900 million. With the investment and construction of factories by the imperial court, there has been a net inflow of 400 million people in recent years, and it is expected to become a super city within ten years.

During the Ming Dynasty, Dongting Lake was the largest in history, with a vast area of ​​800 miles of Dongting Lake.

The main reason is that the Jingjiang levee often leaks out, constantly enlarging the area of ​​Dongting Lake.

This is not a good thing, people will die every year.

In the ninth year of Jingtai, the first major project of the Ming Dynasty was to repair the Dongting Lake embankment. At that time, the old emperor gave a fatal order to the Ministry of Industry. The embankment must ensure that it would not leak for fifty years, regardless of the cost.

A total of 97 taels of silver was spent on the Jingjiang embankment, and it has not been revealed to this day.

Of course, about 20 taels of maintenance costs were invested every year. By the th anniversary of Jingtai, the old embankment was demolished and rebuilt with concrete, so there was no flooding in these years.

Today's Dongting Lake is 1100 miles across! The mist is vast, and the vast expanse of blue is vast!
This is the result of fifty years of returning farmland to the lake. Since the 15th year of Jingtai, the farmland has been demolished to expand the lake surface, and it continues to expand.

The Ming Dynasty had no shortage of arable land, and would rather immigrate more people, but also protect the rivers and lakes.

Yunmengze, which once disappeared, was washed away by the expansion of Dongting Lake, which was mentioned in ancient books.

He even rushed out of Honghu Lake.

Historically, Hong Lake was created during the Jiajing period when the Han River was diverted, so it rushed out of Hong Lake. Before that, there was no Hong Lake. No, to be precise, there was Hong Lake during the Yunmengze period.

In the fifty-third year of Jingtai, Honghu Lake appeared, and its area expanded year by year.

Don't think that the bigger the lake, the better. You are totally wrong. The bigger the lake, the more dangerous it is. Once it floods, it may destroy the entire Yuezhou Prefecture!

Since the 927th year of Jingtai, the imperial court has invested million yuan in the cost of regulating Dongting Lake every year. This cost has increased every year. As of the th year of Jingtai last year, the cost of regulating Dongting Lake was as high as million yuan.

It was not until modern dam technology matured that Dongting Lake finally stopped flooding and became a tourist attraction, an important flood discharge site, a hub lake for flood relief, and an important base for fish and crab farming.

The Dongting Lake in Zhu Hooyong's eyes is from the highest point, and the shore cannot be seen at a glance.

Even he felt a heroic spirit in his chest while boating on Dongting Lake, and the poems of ancient people appeared in his ears.

Dongting Lake tourism is the focus of Hubei tourism, receiving 1.2 million tourists every year.

In the fifty-sixth year of Jingtai, the old emperor changed Yuezhou Prefecture to Dongting Prefecture on a whim, but in the fifty-eighth year of Jingtai, it was changed back.

Because Hunan next door quits and wants to change Changde Prefecture to Dongting Prefecture. Dongting Lake is the division between Hunan and Hubei. This lake is Dongting Lake.

As a boundary lake, why should Hubei use it? We in Hunan also want to use it.

Therefore, Changde Prefecture was changed to Dongting Prefecture, and Hubei stopped doing it. In the end, it was simply not changed at all, and it was abolished.

The constant changes made Dongting Lake popular.

The washing machine factory in Yueyang also needs to build supporting facilities. Changde in Changde Prefecture in Hunan, Chongyang in Wuchang Prefecture, and Jingmen in Jingzhou Prefecture have all received investment.

Washing machine factories were also built in three cities, one in Turpan in the Western Region, one in Yueyang, Hubei, and one in Seoul, North Korea.

Zhu Houying stayed in Yueyang for three days and sent people to make secret visits for three days.

I found that Dongting Lake tourism has a lot of tricks. There are many cases of forced buying and selling, selling at low prices and high prices, and there are even cases where tourists are beaten violently.

None of these were mentioned in the memorial to the Central Committee from the Chief Secretary of Hubei Province.

In recent years, with the tourism boom, the issue of tourists being ripped off by tourists has indeed been published in newspapers. The tourism bureau sent people to conduct unannounced visits, but nothing was found.

Zhu Houyong also checked it out. After knowing it, he kept calm and took the train to Changsha.

He took a special train.

But there was a problem with the train in Xiangyin. According to the railway staff, someone stole the nails on the track, so the train was temporarily stopped at the station to wait for maintenance ahead.

Zhu Houying frowned and asked, "Do nails often get lost?"

"No, it was an accident."

Zhu Houyong sent people to get off the train and go to other trains to ask passengers. As a result, other trains did not open the doors, so his people could not ask at all.

This is a problem.

If it doesn't happen often and you're not worried, just ask.

As the prince's grandson and the future emperor, there is no need for him to put himself in danger, as long as he knows in his heart.

The train stopped for two hours before setting off again.

"Just stop in Xiangyin."

Xiangyin is a city on the south bank of Dongting Lake and the northern gateway to Changsha.

In fact, Hunan is a poor province, not much better than Guizhou. The total population is 1.7 million, but the permanent population is only 9000 million, and most of them go out to work.

The city of Xiangyin is very strange. There are high-rise buildings everywhere. People don’t feel tired when climbing the buildings?
There are no elevators these days.

There are elevators made of wood and pulled by ropes, but no one dares to ride on them.

Looking at the report, Xiangyin has a population of 340 million, but in the urban area of ​​Xiangyin, there are almost no people. This may be due to working days.

When I got off work in the evening, I didn’t see the prosperity I imagined.

The report shows that Xiangyin has a net population outflow of 60 people, and there are still 280 million people living in the urban area. The housing price is 1300 yuan, and the investment value is very high.

The agents who sell houses will continue to recommend houses in scenic spots to tourists, swearing to ensure that the house prices will increase for tourists.

Houses in scenic spots are selling well, but few people are staying there.

Housing prices remain high and there are not many people in sight.

This is the current situation in Xiangyin City.

But when Zhu Houyong inspected the city, he found that it was deserted. Several small restaurants were closed and did not do business in broad daylight.

He wanted to eat local snacks, but his men ran for half an hour before getting one.

It's also very unpalatable.

"Is this a ghost town?"

Zhu Houyong compared the city with a population of three million in the Shang Dynasty. It was almost full of people. Moreover, Xiangyin's urban planning only reached the second ring road, making it a densely populated city.

The most important thing is that the imperial court invested 90 million in Xiangyin to build a washing machine casing factory. Xiangyin should be fully developed.

But what Zhu Houyong saw was that there were few smiling faces, and there were not many prosperous shops. At night, few of them turned on the lights.

It is said that the hottest business in Xiangyin is real estate agency.

Adjacent to Dongting Lake, many silly tourists are willing to invest in buying houses in Xiangyin, causing people in the urban area to follow suit and speculate on real estate.

"I ask you, where are you?" Zhu Houyong summoned the magistrate of Xiangyin County.

"Your Highness, this person probably hasn't come back yet." The magistrate came up with a poor excuse.

"You haven't come back? Where have you gone and you haven't come back? You go and find it for them. I want to take a look." Don't treat Zhu Houying as a fool.

He grew up abroad, but he is not a fool.

"This, this..." The magistrate knelt on the ground, sweat dripping on the ground.

"Go find it!"

Zhu Houyong originally didn't want to meddle in these nosy matters, but he was too cruel to deceive him!
In a city with a population of three million, there are very few people seen. Where have they gone? Why is a wealthy county in central China so desolate?
The key is why the court doesn’t know!

The palace has been investing here throughout the year, and what about the factories it invests in? What about the workers?

Why is the economy not improving?
This is deception!

"Do you think I can't deal with you since I don't even have a king's title?"

Zhu Houyong said with a gloomy face: "Tell the prefect of Changsha to come here! Come here to the Hunan envoy! Come here to the Hunan patrol envoy! Come here to the guarding eunuch!"

"I want an explanation within one day!"

"I want to see three million people!"

"It won't be over until you see this!"

Zhu Houying was very angry on the way here. He was prevaricated everywhere in Hubei. When he arrived in Hunan, it was even worse than in Hubei. He was bullied and kept in the dark.

"Your Highness, what time is it now? One day is not enough to send someone to inform you." The magistrate said.

"Call up!"

Zhu Houyong said: "In the 63rd year of Jingtai, all provincial governments were connected to the telephone, and all official residences could communicate by phone!"

"Dang Gu doesn't know anything?"

But the county magistrate said: "We live in a remote and remote country, and the phone lines are still being constructed and haven't been connected yet!"

"No, during the memorial at the beginning of this year, Xiangyin already had a phone call, and Gu saw this memorial!"

Zhu Houying discovered a bigger problem.

There is a huge difference between the place that the center sees and the real situation of the place.

No, they are completely two places!
The place in the center's eyes is a place of prosperity, peace, development, and people's upliftment.

In fact, the place is deserted, you lie to me and I lie to you, and the people live in dire straits!

For just a moment, Zhu Houyong was extremely frightened.

He only hunts on behalf of the sky and has no right to dispose of it.

Moreover, in this remote place, if he was killed and the thief went into Dongting Lake, who would be able to find the real murderer?

Even if he can temporarily mobilize the guards, will the guards really obey his orders?
broken!

Zhu Houying began to regret that he shouldn't have had an attack at this time.

"Your Highness, please forgive me!"

The county magistrate really didn't dare to kill Zhu Houyong. If it were Zhu Jianji's other grandson, it would be okay to kill him. This is the eldest son of the great grandson, the eldest son of Zhu Youyi, and the eldest great-grandson of the old emperor! This is the future emperor of Ming Dynasty!

It is absolutely impossible without someone special to protect you. Besides, as long as something happens to Zhu Houyong here, everyone will die.

Don't think that the old emperor is kind. That's because no one touches his bottom line. Even if Zhu Houying dies, all the officials in the dynasty will go crazy. If the old emperor is not used, the officials will bloodbath Hunan first.

What's more, Zhu Houyong did not conduct private visits and secret investigations, but went on a hunt on behalf of the sky. It was a patrol. Every time he went to a place, the local health office received orders in advance, took precautions in advance, and defended him at any time.

And beside him, there were factory guards and forbidden troops, as well as shadow coordination.

It's just that Zhu Houying temporarily changed his formation and came to Xiangyin, otherwise he would have been guarded by local guards.

"Most of the people in Xiangyin go out to work. They work for a few months and then come back."

"As we all know, Hunan is poor. Although Changsha Prefecture is good, it is not as good as Guangdong and Nanzhili. People are willing to go out to work and earn money to spend back."

"So I don't dare to deceive the central government, let alone His Highness Qiantose."

The magistrate's attitude made Zhu Houyong relieved.

"Tomorrow, you can defend yourself in front of the envoy of Hunan and the prefect of Changsha." Zhu Houying simply rested and ended today's trip.

In fact, the chief envoy of Hunan was waiting for him in Changsha. When he learned that he had changed his itinerary, he immediately took the train to Xiangyin.

Early the next morning, all senior Hunan officials arrived in Xiangyin and knelt outside the hotel where Zhu Houyong stayed all morning.

Only then did Zhu Houyong give an imperial edict to see them.

"I want to know the truth." Zhu Houyong asked the Hubei guards to defend Xiangyin, and he gained confidence.

"Your Highness."

"It's not an old minister who deceived the central government."

"But a small city like this cannot retain people."

"If housing prices can no longer be maintained, it will be even less able to retain people. A small city like this can only survive on tourism and the washing machine shell factory invested by the palace."

"How many workers can a shell factory support? There are three million people in Xiangyin who need to eat."

"Indeed, I didn't report it."

"That's because they come back during the Chinese New Year. They will come back when it's time for spring plowing and summer harvest."

"Who are you fooling? How many people are still farming now?" Zhu Houying didn't believe a word: "I'm just asking you, what's going on with the phone line?"

"It will be opened soon. It's not the end of the year yet. It will be opened before the sixty-sixth year of Jingtai." The chief envoy said again.

"You really do one thing after another!"

Zhu Houyong sneered: "If the great-grandfather of Emperor Gu is here, do you still dare to talk like this?"

"Even though His Majesty is here, I speak with facts."

"What a fact!"

Zhu Houyong knew that the Hunan chief envoy was not afraid of him. He caught thieves and caught the dirty things, but he didn't catch the stolen goods. Why should he say that he was deceiving the superiors and concealing the secrets?
"Thank you for the compliment, Your Highness."

This kind of old official is simply not something that a young man like Zhu Houyong can deal with.

"Has the call been connected in Changsha?" Zhu Hooying asked.

"Connected."

"I will go to Changsha immediately, call the palace, and ask His Highness the Crown Prince to make the decision!" Zhu Houying looked like he was incompetent.

The chief minister smiled and said yes.

When the phone over there is connected, the phone line here can also be connected.

Even if Zhu Jianji comes in person, there is nothing to say. The imperial court has a system, and promotions are subject to the inspection of the capital, which is in the hands of the staff. Even the emperor cannot easily change the system.

When it comes to catching thieves and dirty things, it can only be said that Zhu Houyong is too impulsive.

Arrive in Changsha and call the central telephone number.

Zhu Houyong heard the voice of his grandfather and told him what he saw in Xiangyin, but Zhu Jianji only responded a few times and had no special reaction, which disappointed him.

"Huang Jue, Jinshi in the 33rd year of Jingtai."

"In the 59th year of Jingtai's reign, he was promoted to chief envoy for his contribution to the construction of Guizhou highway."

"You're right, right?"

Zhu Jianjian said over the phone.

At this moment, Huang Jue was kneeling on the ground: "Your Highness has a good memory."

The kneeling ceremony of the Ming Dynasty was also changed. Only the emperor, empress, prince, and queen mother were allowed to kneel, and no one else was allowed to kneel. The queen mother and empress were only allowed to kneel on formal occasions, and they were not allowed to kneel in other places. Etiquette, for the emperor and the prince, they also knelt down during the court meeting, and it was decided according to the circumstances at ordinary times.

However, even in ordinary times, the emperor and the prince were always kneeling, and this almost never changed.

Even for royal families such as princes and princes, kneeling is really abolished.

Subordinates only bow to their superiors, and kneeling is completely abolished. This is also the case in the army. In the army, military salutes are performed directly, and military salutes are performed by both superiors and subordinates.

This was proposed in the forty-fifth year of Jingtai, implemented in the forty-sixth year of Jingtai, and has been in use for twenty years.

Therefore, Huang Jue, the chief envoy of Hunan, had to kneel down to answer the phone even though he was on the phone.

"There are still a month and a few days until the Chinese New Year. The whole of Hunan needs to be connected by phone. Is it possible?"

Huang Jue's eyelids twitched: "Your Highness, this is indeed a bit difficult."

"I don't want to hear about difficulties. I just want to ask you if you can do it?" Zhu Jianyan said calmly.

"can!"

"The Chinese New Year is coming soon. Should we go home to celebrate the Chinese New Year? The entire Hunan Province will conduct a census during the Chinese New Year. We will send people to do the counting. You only need to be responsible and cooperate."

Zhu Jianzhen said calmly: "In addition to population, all information such as wages, annual income, work, age, marriage, real estate, land, etc. must be counted."

"I want to see the true face of Hunan."

"Huang Jue, do you want me to see it?"

Huang Jue trembled all over. If he checked like this, wouldn't everything be revealed?
The Ming Dynasty actually counted the population once, in the 35th year of Jingtai. After that, it increased and decreased from the base number. The number of births was based on the population in hospitals, and the number of deaths was based on the number of funeral factories.

This is simply not allowed.

Even in the 65th year of Jingtai's reign, some people still gave birth at home, and there were still stable wives among the people.

Deaths are even more difficult to count. Cremations are not mentioned at all. Whoever mentions them dies. Or they are buried. They are basically buried in their own land.

Residents who had no land in the city were buried in cemeteries.

The price of cemeteries is very low, and basically every family can afford it. However, some people want to speculate on cemeteries, which is absolutely not allowed.

Therefore, there is no way to count the number of deaths.

The imperial court conducts major statistics every ten years and small statistics every five years. Basically, they increase or decrease the original number of people and write it by themselves.

If the local government wants good policies, it will adjust the population upward. If it feels it is too dangerous, it will adjust the population downward. Anyway, it depends on how greedy the officials want to be.

Statistics are bullshit.

The more statistics you add, the more confused you become, and in the end it is still a confused account.

But the Ministry of Household Affairs sent people to make statistics, which was different.

Not to mention how many can be counted, the fraud over the years can definitely be detected anyway, and his official title will definitely be lost.

"Envoy Huang Bu, can you do it?" Zhu Jianji asked again.

"I'll do my best, veteran."

"I am a soldier. When I am marching and fighting, there is no word "effort". There is only completion or failure. Ambassador Huang Bu, are you completing? Or failing?"

Huang Jue gritted his teeth: "I can finish it!"

"Okay, Gu is waiting for your good news in the center. I hope you will join the center in the future and work for Gu by his side."

Zhu Jianjian hung up the phone.

Huang Jue's whole face collapsed.

He can control Zhu Houyong, but in front of Zhu Jianjian, he is a scumbag.

Don't think that Zhu Jianzhen is a half-king, in fact he is the emperor. The old emperor didn't care about anything at all. Now it's Zhu Jianzhen who has full authority to make the decision even if he doesn't care about big things.

Apart from the title of emperor, he is the real emperor.

This time Zhu Houyong felt happy.

It's up to the old man to take action.

Wait until this old guy enters the center and see how I deal with you.

In the next few days, Zhu Houying received favors from many officials, and they gave him everything, but Zhu Houying was not short of these things.

His grandfather loved him very much, and his palace was full of good things.

He was young and energetic, and just wanted to compete.

He disliked Huang Jue, so he disliked all Hunan officials, so he basically had no contact with him.

But in Changsha, he really felt the feeling of a big city.

The only big city in Hunan is Changsha.

Changsha has a population of 1890 million and a permanent population of 1470 million. It is not a super big city. In the past two years, Changsha was still a super first-tier city. However, due to the European plague, foreign trade was blocked, and Changsha businessmen found that it is difficult to achieve greater development in the middle of the country.

Therefore, these businessmen left Changsha, causing Changsha's economy to decline and its population to plummet, from a peak population of 2200 million to 1890 million.

Now, Changsha has only two pillar industries.

One is Hengyang mineral water, and the other sells water and has become a Fortune 500 company.

This water plant was originally located in Hengyang, but moved to Changsha in recent years.

The other is the publishing industry. There are a total of 1200 publishing companies in Changsha. Among the ten books read by people in the Ming Dynasty, one must be published in Changsha. This central city has created an economic miracle by relying on the cultural industry.

In fact, tourism in Changsha is not bad either.

As a major tourist province, Hunan has been overtaken by Guizhou in the past two years, but it has managed to win back by relying on Hunan cuisine.

It is also because Changsha has developed so well that it has attracted talents from nearby counties. For example, urban talents from the western mountains have basically gathered in Changsha, which has also caused the local governments and counties to not develop. Changsha's population has been siphoned off by coastal cities, causing Hunan to become a net population outflow. province.

Hunan has a population of 1.7 million, but its permanent population is only 9000 million.

In fact, if we really look into it carefully, it is impossible to even have 9000 million people. Hunan is estimated to only have a population of to million people.

So, where have all these people gone?

From Shaoguan, we entered Guangdong, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Hong Kong, and Macau.

The one in the northwest is called Xikou, and the one in Hunan is called Chuang Nanguan. They all entered Guangdong from Shaoguan to work. They may come back, or they may not.

The housing prices in Hunan are still high. Who is taking over?
The court had no idea.

This was Zhu Jianqi's shortcoming after taking office. In order to see better-looking reports, he turned a blind eye to some local affairs. He only wanted to see a beautiful report, a report card worthy of praise. What does this mean to the people? Good or bad, he doesn't care.

In the past few years, the local government and the central government have derailed, and the court has gradually lost the emperor's control. Along with this, there have been more and more other problems.

Zhu Houying stayed in Changsha for four days, then went to Yuanzhou in Chenzhou Prefecture, and entered Guizhou from Yuanzhou.

I have never been to the southern part of the empire.

Everyone thinks that the south is as warm as spring, but those who have experienced winter in the south will find that it is colder than the north.

The south of Ming Dynasty was also heated.

Without heating, it can really freeze someone to death.

But heating costs are twice as high as in the north.

Maintenance costs for heating equipment are high. Due to the humidity in the south, heating equipment is prone to rust, corrosion, insect bites and other problems. The cost of maintaining equipment is too high. Secondly, the heating period is short and the cost cannot be recovered. There is also high pollution, and the company has to pay Pollution treatment fees are another expense.

Daming Heating is a private heating company and has nothing to do with the court.

There are three to five heating companies in each region, and users can choose them at will. The prices of each company are different, so they can compare prices and choose freely.

The imperial court was responsible for supervision.

As for those remote areas, no companies are willing to go there, and the court doesn't care, because the court will not set up state-owned enterprises. If you are a player and referee, you will not be able to do well, and the money you make will not go into the pocket of the court, but will go to someone. Some people's pockets.

Therefore, when building collective heating in buildings, the court set it up. The court only supervises but does not provide services.

The heating company can open it whenever it wants, with no requirements.

In the 55th year of Jingtai, there was a case of deliberate bankruptcy of a heating company, which caused a cold winter in the Ming Dynasty and caused widespread criticism among the people.

The imperial court only increased the deposit. Those who opened a heating company must pay a deposit and strictly controlled qualifications.

Therefore, the heating costs in each region are different, and the heating levels are also different. Users have the right to choose and heat themselves, without any restrictions.

Hunan, for example, has a three-month heating period, an average room temperature of 23 degrees, and charges 26 yuan per square foot. It is a relatively expensive area in Ming Dynasty.

In fact, the time when the room temperature is 23 degrees Celsius only lasts for two weeks. The rest of the time it hovers around 18 degrees Celsius. Occasionally it can reach 19 degrees Celsius if I have a conscience.

The pollution treatment fee paid by the heating company is also a bad debt.

In places like Hunan, the weather is humid, the wind is light, and the pollution generated takes a long time to dissipate, making it easy to produce smog and other polluted weather.

It takes money to deal with air pollution.

However, this amount of money is still a blur until now.

This was under Zhu Jianqi's control. The old emperor didn't know whether it was collected or not, but he felt that it was confiscated because the haze weather had appeared in the south, and the treatment costs were paid for by the imperial court. No one mentioned this money at all. .

In other words, it was collected and corrupted.

No one knows.

After Zhu Jianjie Bingzheng, he hadn't found this step yet.

When Zhu Houyong was in the Yuanzhou Hotel, the room temperature could reach 27 or 8 degrees, which was unbearable. It was too cold outside and he caught a cold every time he went in and out.

Most of his attendants were cold.

He also complained, why is it so hot in the south? In fact, it is not bad to spend the winter in the south, it is even hotter than in Moscow.

However, during an unannounced visit on the street, we found that the temperature in ordinary people's homes could not reach 18 degrees. Heating was not much better than not heating, and they had to wear cotton-padded jackets in the house.

When the news reached Zhu Houxing's ears, he asked someone to change to a hotel.

As soon as I checked, it was broken.

It was a heating company, and they knew that dignitaries and dignitaries were staying here, so they set fire to death.

That kind of small hotel with no power will burn your ass and freeze you to death.

"In this case, why don't we pay the heating bill?" Zhu Houxing realized that the problem here was not that simple.

He found out after sending someone to ask.

In order to induce people to pay their heating bills, the heating company made the heating very hot when the heating was first started, and then it immediately became cold after everyone had paid their bills.

Those who are hot are all dignitaries, those who are powerful are hot, and those who have no power or power are cold.

If you don’t pay, that’s fine.

If they don't stop your gas, they will burn it as usual and then come to you to collect the money.

It's okay to report a suspension, but you can't find the window. The staff are sick all day long. Anyway, if you take the tube, you have to hand it in.

If you don't pay, they will sue you, because the loss of personal credit for this small amount of money is really not worth the loss.

Therefore, the common people had to hold their noses while having sex.

If it's not hot, just pull it down and treat it like burning paper for them.

Zhu Houyong finally understood why his great-grandfather was unwilling to die in the first place. The court really couldn't collect the money, and in the end it fell into the hands of local gangsters. And who were behind these people? Self-explanatory.

"Such a huge empire seems to be prosperous, but in fact it is two heavens of ice and fire. No wonder my great-grandfather always said that fire cooks oil. You don't know it until you look at it. But you will be shocked when you look at it. This is the place, the real place!"

Zhu Houying didn't even know how to manage it.

Let him take care of it, but he can't.

Everyone knows who is behind these companies.

Replacing a group of enterprises means changing the soup but not the medicine.

Even if it is Zhu Jianji's Shang Guo team, how can these people not be greedy when they get there?

"There is no solution."

After Zhu Houying circled Yuanzhou for three days, he boarded the train to Guizhou. He went to Guizhou to celebrate the New Year, and Liping Mansion should be ready.

Guizhou Railway is a small road to heaven.

Construction started in the 42nd year of Jingtai and took 23 years to complete. It was not completed until the 65th year of Jingtai, making Guizhou fully open to traffic.

For example, the Guiyang railway was opened to traffic in the 29.8th year of Jingtai. However, it took years to build the railway to connect every village and every town in the Ming Dynasty. The court spent a total of billion yuan to build Xiaotian. road.

Sitting on the train, Zhu Houying saw the train climbing and running on the mountain road, and he couldn't help but feel proud: "Only the Ming Dynasty can build such a railway! No matter how strong the Shang Dynasty is, it is not even a bit worse than the Ming Dynasty."

(End of this chapter)