Daming Jingtai: I am the eternal benevolent king

Chapter 424: Malacca Swallows Everything: Skin color freedom and height rising steadily

The most prosperous areas in Malacca Province are all along the Strait. Besides Kuala Lumpur, there are also cities such as Malacca, Seremban, Muar, and Wenlu, with a population of around ten million.

And after the imperial court upgraded Singapore to Xingjing.

The population of cities along the line was siphoned to some parts of Xinjing, and the permanent population dropped below 10 million.

As of the 5300th year of Jingtai's reign, the permanent population of Xinjing reached 2100 million, and the registered population was only million.

The flow of people is mainly the flow of people attracted by the nearby cities after upgrading to the capital.

The newly built capital city of the Ming Dynasty was a good development opportunity for industry, agriculture and commerce, and it naturally attracted a large number of people. As for how many people the city would absorb, it would depend on whether there were many subsequent job opportunities.

Singapore in the Ming Dynasty included three large islands on the opposite coast, many small islands, and included Johor in Malacca Province into Singapore.

After being upgraded to Xinjing, the large city Wenlu was also assigned to Xinjing and became a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Xinjing.

Because the imperial court does not establish a new Zhili, it will need to include more cities to provide sufficient resources for the new capital.

Therefore, Xingjing allocated the southeast corner of Malacca Province to Xingjing, including Li, Xinglou, Zamei, etc. in Xiaoxi.

On the sea, all the islands surrounding Xinjing are allocated to Xinjing. The island closest to Shen Guo is more than ten kilometers away in a straight line.

Xinjing's navy is distributed on all islands and reefs to surround and defend Xinjing.

Fortunately, King Shen had no desires and did not dare to covet the land of the Ming Dynasty. He did not dare to object to the garrison under his nose. After all, there had always been a garrison.

However, Xinjing is still expanding. This city, which emerged in the 14th year of Jingtai, has experienced more than fifty years of ups and downs and has become ancient and vicissitudes of life.

After it is confirmed to be upgraded to the capital, the old city needs to be renovated and then expanded on its basis.

The architectural style of Xinjing was modeled after Fuzhou, because when Liang Yuan was stationed here, he hired Fujian craftsmen to build the city, so it continued the Fujian architectural style and incorporated the Guangxi architectural style.

Because the first batch of immigrants were from Guangxi.

Later, some European craftsmen moved in. They settled here and integrated European architectural styles. Xinjing is a city with a very mixed architectural style.

But it is an inclusive city with a very mixed race of people. There are indigenous people, refugees from Southeast Asia, Indian slaves, European craftsmen, and black Africans, as well as all Chinese ethnic groups.

In the great racial integration, the first city was Xinjing.

After fifty years and three generations of integration, China has been completely integrated.

The skin of people in Xinjing is obviously fairer than that of people in Kuala Lumpur. This is because there are about hundreds of thousands of shipwrights from Northern Europe who were settled here and attracted another three to five million stowaways from Europe. After three generations of repeated blood mixing, their appearance has become closer to that of Ming people. appearance.

But in terms of skin whiteness, it is still not as good as the northerners of the Ming Dynasty.

Originally, the skin color of northerners is already white, and with the fusion of white-skinned blood, the skin color is naturally whiter, and the geographical environment determines that people in these areas will be whiter.

But the whitest areas in the Ming Dynasty were Sichuan and Chongqing.

People in the Sichuan Basin are already white due to more cloudy days, less sun, less moisture, and after blending in with European ancestry, they become even whiter. Their skin color is a little yellower than that of white people, but more delicate than white people. They have less hair and no body odor, which is more in line with the Chinese people. People's aesthetics, so Sichuan and Chongqing are the most abundant in beauties.

Next is Jilin and Heilongjiang. Due to the cold climate, the skin color in these two places is whiter. Although the Northeast was only developed during the Jingtai Dynasty, and immigrants were only here for more than 50 years.

But if you drink water from Heilongjiang and Songhua Rivers, your skin color will naturally become whiter if the soil and water support you.

In addition, the slaves of Ottoman and Timur were used to develop the Northeast. About two million slaves became Ming people due to their merits, and they also merged with the Huerha people, Sauron people, etc. Over the years, the Northeast , and successively moved in hundreds of thousands of Arab merchants and millions of Muscovite slaves, which resulted in further whitening of skin color.

In recent years, I have become whiter and whiter, a kind of cold white, a little whiter than people from Sichuan and Chongqing.

National skin color statistics show that Chongqing, Sichuan, Jilin, and Heilongjiang are firmly in the top four, and Beizhili ranks fifth.

There are about 70 million registered residents in Beizhili. People in Beizhili have white skin. The main reason is that the world's powerful and powerful people gather here, and the beauties from all over the world also gather here. The fair-skinned beauties from all over the world also gather in Beizhili. After more than ten years, my skin color turned white.

In addition, North Zhili diverts water from the Lena River, and the glacial water has changed the water quality of North Zhili, which naturally creates a whiter complexion.

In terms of appearance, the people in Beizhili are ranked first in appearance, and they attract beauties from all over the world to Beijing every year.

Ranked sixth is Shanghai. Among all the cities and counties in the south of the Yangtze River, Shanghai is the only one with fairer skin. This is because Shanghai is one of the two major transit stations for Ming slaves. There are many white slaves transiting in Shanghai, which creates Shanghainese. It is close to the water and is also the city with the most mixed races.

Ranked seventh, I’m afraid no one would have thought that it was Guangxi.

The local people in Guangxi are very dark. Because the sun in Guangxi is very hot, their skin color must be darker. However, the Guangxi soldiers are the treasure of the old emperor. They are the first to mix blood with the white women. The white women are not the only mixed-race Guangxi soldiers. The natives of Southeast Asia , Indian slave women, were all the first people in Guangxi to eat crabs.

This leaves Guangxi and Jiaozhi, ranked seventh and eighth.

Areas exposed to the harsh sun have whiter skin, which is directly related to mixed race. Guangdong, one of the most developed provinces in the Ming Dynasty, has the darkest skin.

Because Cantonese people are xenophobic and superstitious, they hate Bai Nu and think Bai Nu is unknown, so few people are willing to marry Bai Nu.

However, Guangdong is also divided into regions. Hong Kong, which is famous for being a slave transit station, has fair skin color, but Hong Kong people are discriminated against by Cantonese people. Guangdong does not regard whiteness as beauty. They regard healthy skin color as beauty and natural color as beauty.

They also laughed at the people of Guangxi, who had forgotten their ancestors and actually mixed blood with slave girls, thus tarnishing the Yanhuang bloodline.

Guizhou and Yunnan people also have the same idea as Guangxi people. They don't like white skin and believe that health is beauty.

Ming Dynasty is all-encompassing, and there is a problem with unified aesthetics. Everyone should have their own ideas, and it is easy to be swayed by capital if others follow their opinions.

As long as your skin color is healthy, there is no need to pursue it too much. You should pursue the beauty of human nature. No matter how beautiful a person is, they are like a snake and a scorpion, and they are still bad. No matter how ugly people have a beautiful heart, they are also beautiful.

Ranked ninth is Fergana.

Don’t think that the various ethnic groups in Central Asia who have white blood are white. On the contrary, their skin color is very dark, and their skin color is closely related to the climate.

The Ming Dynasty occupied this most fertile basin to clean up the indigenous people. Most of the people who moved there were northwest people. The skin color of the northwest people was neither black nor white, and their skin became white. This was mainly because they purchased a large number of Moscow slaves from the Shang Dynasty. These slaves brought White complexion.

The same is true for the tenth-ranked Western Region. The thirty-six countries in the Western Region are the transitional races of East Asia and Central Asia. They are not actually in the Han cultural circle. They were forcibly included by the old emperor according to the territory of the Han and Tang Dynasties.

As an important transit point on the Silk Road, and also invaded by various ethnic groups in history, the source of the population in the Western Regions is very complicated.

The Ming Dynasty defeated the Mongols and rescued the people of the Western Regions from the clutches of the Mongols. The old emperor regarded the people of the Western Regions as his own children.

The reason why the skin color has become darker is because when the China River was built, millions of slaves of various skin colors became people from the Western Regions. After they merged with each other, the skin color became darker, so they ranked tenth.

Otherwise, you can still go up.

In the past few years, some female slaves from Moscow have moved in, and their skin color is indeed becoming whiter, and they are expected to rise in the ranking in the future.

Ranked eleventh is Singapore.

Zhu Houying was walking on the streets of Singapore and found that Singaporeans are really fair and their appearance is different from that of traditional Ming people. However, Zhu Houying, who likes mixed race, is really a beauty after three steps and a handsome guy after five steps, which is very eye-catching.

The city of Singapore is still expanding.

After a long discussion of the expansion drawings in the court, it was finally decided that half of the building would be modeled on Chang'an in the Western Han Dynasty, the other half would be modeled on the Spanish capital, and then a replica of the Alhambra Palace would be built to serve as the Xinjing Museum.

Half Chinese and half Western, it attracts tourists to Xinjing.

Half of the Alhamra Palace is open to the public, and the other half is used as the emperor's palace, waiting for the emperor to stay when he visits the new capital.

Zhu Jianzhen was not interested in the palace, so he simply made it half a museum and half for sightseeing.

Allowing common people to enter the palace to visit definitely demonstrates Zhu Jianji's courage. This would put the common people above the imperial power, and even the old emperor was very cautious.

Zhu Jianjian didn't care whether the imperial power was in his hands, or whether the palace was visited, but whether his words worked or not. He wanted face, and it didn't matter whether he wanted face or not.

The new capital in the drawings will be as big as two Beijing cities, making it the largest capital in the Ming Dynasty. It is expected to be completed in 30 years, with a total investment of more than billion.

At present, the construction of Spanish City has begun. There is a shortage of stones in the Ming Dynasty, but there is an abundance of stones in Malacca Province.

Some people may ask, there are castles all over Europe, but China has always used wooden buildings in its six thousand years of history. Why?
Some idiots will say that stone castles can withstand wind and rain, and can withstand being attacked. China does not build castles because China is backward.

Anyone who thinks like this is crazy.

Six thousand years ago, China left the Stone Age and entered slavery. Fifteen hundred years ago, China moved from slavery to feudalism.

Of course we don’t need to build cities with stones, because we can bake bricks! Because we can build wooden buildings.

Which is better, brick or stone?

It's obvious when you look at the current buildings.

It must be a brick.

If stone is so good, why not use it now? Because the stone is expensive? hehe!

You haven't seen the Stone City in the Stone Age, so you think that Chinese architecture is backward. Isn't this just stupid?

The bastion is great, but the city wall is poor?
How many fortified cities were captured during sieges in the cold weapon era? They all survived without running out of ammunition and food. Even in the era of hot weapons, it was not easy to attack a city.

and!

There is a huge problem here. If the brick wall falls down, the defenders can quickly build the wall. If the stone falls down, you can build it with your butt. If it falls down, the city will be destroyed.

As for architectural style.

Some people will say that Chinese buildings are all wooden buildings. Wooden buildings are easy to catch fire, have high maintenance costs, and will rot if they are in disrepair for a long time.

But haven't you thought about it? Wooden buildings are comfortable, but haven’t you considered the practical issues of being warm in winter and cool in summer?
It has been in disrepair and the people are gone. What’s the point of repairing it or not? The purpose of building houses in ancient times is not to be seen by people two thousand years later.

The stone house is cold in winter and hot in summer, making it very uncomfortable to live there.

And the style is ugly!

The Chinese nobles who pursue beauty have very advanced aesthetics. There was the Silk Road in the Western Han Dynasty. Didn’t Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty know about the architectural style of Central Asia? Why didn't you learn? Because it’s ugly! Because it does not conform to Chinese aesthetics, otherwise China would already have European-style architecture.

Modern people are used to seeing Chinese architecture, so they think European-style architecture is beautiful.

By the same token, Europeans also think Chinese architecture is beautiful. This is due to aesthetic fatigue, which is normal.

The most important thing is that wooden buildings test the level of carpentry, which must be extremely high. If you look at the simple mortise and tenon structure, you can see the pinnacle of Chinese architecture.

Why do later generations always underestimate the wisdom of their ancestors? Don’t forget that before the early Qing Dynasty, the world hegemon was China, which was leading the world in all aspects. If something was not good, other countries would have paid tribute long ago, and then the dynasty would learn from it.

Throughout the history of the world, we have been learning good things. The imported good things were gradually localized, turned into our own customary aesthetics, and finally became our own.

The same is true for China. China's strength lies in learning. Without learning, it proves that it is not suitable for this land.

Moreover, don’t use the aesthetics of common people to evaluate the aesthetics of scholar-bureaucrats. Scholars-officials have been pampered since childhood. They only play and play. They are not social animals. What good things have they never seen? There are still top circles, how can their aesthetics be lower than that of ordinary people?

Indeed, after the mid-Qing Dynasty and the Western Renaissance, the level of architecture did surpass that of China, in terms of material selection, geometric composition, architectural style and other aspects. This is understandable. If you fall behind, you have to admit it.

Why did he suddenly overtake on a curve?

Because technology, architecture and technology are closely related, people are ahead in technology, various advanced tools have been manufactured, and some boldly conceived buildings can be built. Naturally, they are ahead, and naturally they are ahead in all aspects.

anyway.

The architectural style of Xinjing is a combination of Chinese and Western styles, a blend of ancient and modern.

After Zhu Houzhen hovered in Xinjing for three days, he went north to Siam.

Siam was split into two provinces by the Ming Dynasty, Sinjing and Sinyang.

In the 1.7th year of Jingtai's reign, Sinjing Province was renamed Thonburi Province, or Thai for short. The provincial government was still in Thonburi, with a population of million.

The initial name was Chao Phraya, because the largest river in Thonwu Province is the Chao Phraya River, and Bangkok is the plain washed out by the Chao Phraya River, which is the Bangkok Plain.

However, it is easy to confuse Mekong and Chao Phraya, so it is better to use the name of the city as the name of the province. If Siam is used, it may awaken some people's memories.

So I chose the name of the province from Thonburi, Chonburi, Saraburi, Lopburi, Singburi and other places, and used it as the name of the province. There are really many places in Thailand called "Li", but Ming Dynasty did not have this habit, so they used it as the name of the province. The "li" is removed and it becomes swallowing force.

The great city of the Ayutthaya Dynasty was Bianjing, the third capital of the Ming Dynasty. In recent years, Bianjing has continued to expand, and Bangkok has been completely expanded into Bianjing.

Ayutthaya is very close to Bangkok.

When Bianjing was established as Zhili, it included wealthy places such as Bangkok, Chonburi, Phetchaburi, Samut Songkran, Pattaya, Prachinburi, Saraburi, Nakhon Pathom, etc. It can be said that the entire Bangkok Bay was in Bianzhi Lili.

Bianzhili has been sucking blood and swallowing Wu province.

In the 65th year of Jingtai, Bianzhili was withdrawn and the Bianzhili area was returned to Tunwu Province.

But keep Bangkok.

The population of Bianjing has gone from a peak of 3900 million. After excluding these cities, there are only 2600 million people left, while the permanent population is 3100 million.

Because Bianliang was the third capital of the Ming Dynasty and was also a coastal capital, all the good policies of the court would be tilted towards Bianliang.

Moreover, Bianjing is an important place for stabilizing the Baiyue region.

The imperial court set up the Bianjing Camp here, a governor's office and a minister of military aircraft, with a standing army of more than 80 soldiers and naval forces.

It can be said that Bianjing is the political center of the entire Baiyue Land.

Before the advent of trains, the imperial court would have a cabinet minister who would work in Bianjing.

Although the central government abolished the Nanjing imperial court, there was still a small imperial court in Bianjing that could handle major military affairs at any time.

With the rise of trains, some officials were gradually ordered back.

But there must be an important cabinet minister who is in charge of Bianjing and handles all matters in Bianjing. Even today, when telephones and telegraphs have appeared, the imperial court has not been abolished.

After the industrial revolution, Bianjing added a minister of industry who was responsible for building factories in Bianjing. Basically, Bianjing had everything that the northern and southern Beijings had.

That’s why Bianjing has attracted so many migrant workers.

With the abolition of Bianzhili, the surrounding talents are gathering in Bianjing. It is estimated that Bianjing will have a population of more than 30 million before long.

It is difficult to manage such a large population.

The imperial court uses a city-county system, with multiple districts in the city. Districts and counties are at the same level. There are fourteen districts in Bianjing. This time only Bangkok is left. All resources in Bianjing will be tilted into Bangkok.

In the next ten years, Bangkok will become the largest district and county in Bianjing.

Bianjing is the former great city with a very strong Buddhist atmosphere. There is almost no foothold for Islamic and Christian religions here, and there are only a few Mazu believers, because Bangkok is close to the sea and relies on the sea for food.

Basically, people who live by the sea believe in Mazu.

According to statistics, there are 6 million Mazu believers in the Ming Dynasty, more than the Yellow Sect, almost squeezing out the Yellow Sect and becoming the fifth largest sect.

Bianjing was established very early and was built on the basis of a large city. It has a strong Buddhist atmosphere.

After years of expansion, the temples have not been destroyed. The original Ayutthaya has been transformed into an inner city, and the Ayutthaya Palace has also been changed into the Bianjing Museum. There are few items on display from the Ayutthaya Dynasty, and more treasures shipped from China.

However, the Dacheng Dynasty built many temples, and these temples were all sealed one by one by the old emperor. Now they have become popular tourist attractions and are popular every day.

Bianjing is not the capital of Buddhism. The capital of Buddhism is in Liaoning.

The old emperor moved all good things to the country. Although Bianjing was under construction, it was built on the basis of ensuring that the country would not be divided.

Just like setting up officials in Bianjing, the fundamental purpose is to control the entire Baiyue land and prevent it from being divided.

The imperial court will indeed spend money to build Bianjing and promote the industrialization of Bianjing, but it will not put core technology in Bianjing.

If you look at where the Ming Dynasty's military factories are located, you can see what the imperial court was thinking.

There is only one small military factory in Baiyue, which is in Jiaozhi.

The supply of military factories in Baiyue mainly depends on Qiongzhou Prefecture. Qiongzhou Prefecture has the most complete military industry chain. Jiaozhi is just eating the leftovers of Qiongzhou Prefecture.

The imperial court did not set up a military factory in the land of Baiyue because it was worried that Baiyue would rebel. By the time the imperial army arrived, Baiyue was already gone.

The Beijing-Bianjia Railway was put on the agenda when railway technology had just matured, and it was successfully built in just three years.

By connecting the Beijing-Bianjia Railway, it connects the entire Baiyue Land. Because the railway is built across the country at the same time, it will be built at the same time in various places, so the speed will naturally be faster.

With electricity, Bianjing was also the third place to be connected to a telephone, which shows how much the imperial court valued this place.

It’s impossible not to pay attention to it. The entire Baiyue Land, including Cochin and Borneo, has a population of more than one billion people and a permanent population of about 1.5 billion. How can it be possible not to pay attention to it?
Moreover, this is the most important grain-producing base of the Ming Dynasty. Its strategic location is equivalent to that of the Northeast. It produces too much grain and it is also a wealthy coastal area. After the advent of the maritime era, this place will contribute about one billion in taxes to the court every year.

As a tax-rich land, the imperial court cannot overemphasize it.

Zhu Houyong discovered that the people in Bianjing were very dark. They did not pursue white skin, but a healthy complexion. It was extremely hot here, but they still liked outdoor sports. It would be strange not to tan.

The girls here are different from the girls in Beijing. The girls in Beijing pursue white skin and beauty, while the girls here pursue healthy nature. Yellow skin is yellow skin. There is no need to change one's bloodline for the so-called whiteness.

From this point of view, Bianjing people are more culturally confident.

In fact, the imperial court also issued an imperial edict regarding the skin color dispute among the people, believing that healthy people are the best looking, and excessive pursuit of white skin is a pathological behavior.

Han people have yellow skin, fine skin, less hair and no odor, which is normal. The so-called white skin is also healthy whiteness, not pathological whiteness.

In order to make themselves whiter, some people starve themselves and refuse to eat. They have pathological whiteness and only harm themselves.

On the contrary, it is very good that Bianjing people do not overly pursue whitening.

Zhu Houyong didn't know that Bianjing is a major cosmetics consumer market.

Xinjing ranks low in cosmetics consumption.

There are two cosmetics production bases in Daming, one is Seoul, North Korea, and the other is Shenzhen, Guangdong. All cosmetics in the world basically come from these two places.

Housing prices in Bianjing are very high.

Because the climate here is good and suitable for northerners to spend the winter, the imperial court built hundreds of sanatoriums here, and older officials of the imperial court would come here to spend the winter.

In summer, there are very few people here.

The migratory birds have left, and the locals are working in factories to make money. The weather is too hot to go out for a stroll.

The local wealthy people went to the north to escape the summer heat.

Because of the extremely hot weather, the average life expectancy in the entire Baiyue Land, including Guangxi, Guangdong and Yunnan regions, is very low.

The average life expectancy in the Ming Dynasty was about 67 years old, but in the Baiyue Land, the average life expectancy was 61 years old. Because the weather was too hot, going out to work would completely shorten your life span.

The biggest shortage here is ice.

In winter, merchants from the north come to sell ice. Storage is difficult, so the price of ice is relatively high.

It is indeed possible to make ice from saltpeter, but the military-controlled products of saltpeter are not allowed to be sold to the public.

The imperial court subsidizes the use of ice in these hot areas every year. Every household has one, called ice supplement. The northern region has a heat supplement in winter, which is a heating subsidy. The old emperor treats everyone in the world equally.

This money began to be distributed in the 45th year of Jingtai and has been distributed for 20 years.

Just wait until the electrical revolution develops.

It is expected that in the 67th year of Jingtai, refrigerators will be sold in batches.

Within ten years, refrigerators will be in every household.

The largest air conditioning factory in the Ming Dynasty was located in Bianzhili, with the main factory in Bianjing. Now Bianzhili is merged into Tunwu Province, which means that the combination of Tunwu Province and Bianjing will become a pillar industry in the region in the future. chain.

Zhu Houying came out from Bianjing to check out the entertainment projects in Pattaya.

Pattaya is an entertainment city. It was originally planned to be built as a casino, but the court did not approve it. However, when soldiers of the Ming army were stationed here, many romantic places were left over from history. After these years of development, it has become an entertainment city. capital.

Zhu Houyong didn't dare to mess around outside. If something happened, his grandpa Huang would not pamper him.

He just came to see the show.

The most famous show here is the song and dance show and the music show. There are many classic plays and the actors gathered are also the top stage actors in the country.

Often when big names come, it's hard to get a vote.

There are also fireworks shows, light shows, iron flower shows and other big shows in the evening. Almost everyone who travels to Thon Vu Province will come to Pattaya to dive and watch the shows.

In addition to watching stage shows, Bianzhili’s basketball and baseball teams are in Pattaya.

There are also basketball and baseball games every day.

A few years ago, a literary and artistic street was built, selling handicrafts, peripherals, souvenir books, T-shirts, etc. This street is very popular and crowded with people every day.

After the separation of Bianzhili, Thonwu Province attached great importance to Pattaya and put comedy, cross talk, sketches, talk shows and other entertainment activities on the Pattaya stage.

The two most famous stages in the Ming Dynasty are one in Pattaya and the other in Nanjing.

Nanjing is mainly based on musicals and is known as the capital of music.

Pattaya is the capital of drama.

Except for the lack of gambling, Pattaya has everything. If there is a show, there must be food. Food from all over the world gathers here. Next to the art scene, there is the largest night market in the country.

Zhu Houyong had a great time, starting from Pattaya and taking a train to Chiang Mai, the largest city in Thon Vo Province.

Thonburi is not the largest city in Thonburi Province.

The population of the province is only 1200 million, while Chiang Mai has a population of 1500 million, because it is the junction of four provinces, Yunnan, Dali, Nanzhao, and Lancang. All goods going to and from the four provinces pass through Chiang Mai.

In the 63rd year of Jingtai's reign, the chief envoy of Thonwu Province wanted to move his seat to Chiang Mai.

But was rejected by the center.

Because Chiang Mai is an inland city and cannot accommodate more people. 1500 million people have seriously damaged the local natural environment. If the government is moved again, all the natural environment near Chiang Mai will be scrapped.

As an inland city, the population reaches 1500 million, which is a terrifying number.

Now is the era of maritime transportation and the era of globalization.

Trading by the sea is the core of urban development.

Daming is the world's manufacturing factory, and transportation and manufacturing are the pillar industries of many provinces.

As one of the most important coastal provinces in the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Houyong did not see too many nonsense things, not to mention that they were still under investigation at this time, and many old and serious cases were brought to justice.

Head east from Thon Vo Province and take the train to Vientiane Province.

Vientiane Province is the new Yangzhou. The name was changed in the 65th year of Jingtai. It was originally called Jinxi Province. Because there is a Xi River running through the province, and there are golden sands in the Xi River, I wanted to call it Jinxi Province.

After collecting many opinions, they all felt that Vientiane is more memorable than Jinxi, and as Vientiane is the capital of Laos, the place name can be regarded as a historical inheritance, and Vientiane in Laos was assigned to Vientiane Province.

It was designated as Vientiane Province, or Siam for short.

Thon Vo Province is bounded by the Dompanafei Mountains and the Pasak River, and Mekong Province in the south is bounded by the Bien Dan Mountain.

The permanent population is only 3000 million, and the registered population is 7200 million. The actual permanent population does not exceed million, and most of them are elderly.

The young labor force has been attracted to Thon Vu Province.

When Vientiane Province was first established, there was also a piece of ocean. However, due to geographical isolation, the entire Vientiane Province was surrounded by mountains. If a piece of the ocean had to be included, it would derail Mekong Province, Thon Vo Province, and Bianjing. Later, It is better to turn Vientiane Province into an inland province and not have access to the sea.

After all, the important provinces of the Ming Dynasty were the three coastal provinces of Tunwu, Bianzhili, and Mekong, so it was right for Vientiane to suffer some losses.

What Zhu Houyong saw was not peace, but a lot of problems.

He visited several cities. The cities were very dilapidated. They were cities that were repaired when they were occupied in the early Ming Dynasty. They have not been repaired in recent years. Many of the asphalt roads have rotted away, and even mature dirt roads can still be seen.

This is something you cannot see in other provinces of Ming Dynasty. No matter how poor Dali is, there are no dirt roads.

In the entire Vientiane Province, there is no city with a population of more than 5 million. They are basically very small cities with a population of about 1 million, and they are not very competitive.

To be reduced to this shows that even the court does not pay attention to it.

Officials who came to serve as officials in Vientiane Province felt that they were exiled. They stopped working after coming here and worked day after day until they retired.

Jingtai has been here for sixty-six years, but Ming Dynasty still has such a poor province.

This was something Zhu Houyong didn't expect at all.

Vientiane Province not only has a net outflow of population, especially the female population, most of them go to the neighboring Thon Vu and Mekong provinces to work.

The divorce rate in the province is also high. Now the people left are basically the elderly with their grandchildren. Their sons and daughters-in-law are divorced and they are still in love. The couple has also gone to work in the next province.

The most bizarre thing is that in the 63rd year of Jingtai, in Khon Kaen City, the provincial capital of Vientiane Province, a junior high school closed down because the entire junior high school only enrolled three students and it closed down in desperation.

For example, junior high schools in Bianjing are overcrowded and there are not enough teachers.

In the Ming Dynasty, which had a population of four billion, it was a wonder that Vientiane Middle School could not recruit students.

Everything is rotten in one place and rotten everywhere.

Population loss, economic recession, and education have naturally declined. All good teachers and doctors have gone to work in Bianjing, and the rest are all bastards.

Educational resources are definitely getting worse.

Those whose families have the means will definitely send their children to study in Bianjing. Those whose families cannot afford it must choose a good school.

Vientiane Province was the first region forced to undergo educational reforms in the Ming Dynasty.

The mergers that allowed elementary schools, junior high schools, and high schools to merge resulted in the closure of more than half of the schools.

Walking on the streets of Khon Kaen City, Zhu Hooyong could not see many young people, and even very few people.

The provincial capital of Vientiane Province has a population of only 120 million.

Vientiane, the largest city, has a population of only 210 million.

The vast province of Vientiane has completely fallen behind in the national provincial rankings, struggling in the last few places.

Zhu Hooyong also discovered a problem, that is, the people in Vientiane Province are very short.

I didn’t have any special feelings in Kuala Lumpur, Xinjing, Bianjing, and Pattaya, but in Khon Kaen in Vientiane Province, I really felt short.

Zhu Houyong is not tall, only 178. He is wearing a horse-faced skirt and does not look tall.

But when he walked on the streets of Khon Kaen, he felt like a giant walking into a Lilliputian country.

When the Ming Dynasty was in Jingtai in the 173th year, height statistics were conducted. At present, the average height of men in the Ming Dynasty is 175, while the average height of the north is around 165, the average height of the south is around 160, and the average height of Baiyue is around .

The provinces with the highest average height in the country are Jilin and Heilongjiang. The average height of these two provinces is above 183cm.

Across the North, anything below 175 is considered a third-class disability.

Today’s children are well-nourished and balanced, and each generation grows taller.

The average height in Beizhili is around 176.

The heights in the northwest region are all around 174, the heights in Jehol and Mongolia are also around 175, and the heights in Liaoning and North Korea are not short either.

Throughout the north, people are taller.

As for women, the average height of women in the north is around 165cm, the average height of women in the south is around 158cm, and the average height of women in the Baiyue Land is around 150cm.

Eight years before Jingtai, the average height of men nationwide was estimated to be around 155cm.

The north is taller, with an average height of around 162cm, while the average height in the south is around 150cm. People at that time were poorly nourished, could not eat meat, eggs and milk, and could not supplement enough protein. In addition, they worked too early, which caused physical fatigue.

The average height in the land of Baiyue is even shorter. When the Ming army came, they saw groups of 140-cm dwarfs, who were also the same height in Japan.

The average height of women across the country is around 146.

Really short.

Despite being so short, the Ming Dynasty was definitely the tallest in the world during the same period.

Those white slaves were all over 1.60 meters tall, and they were really not as tall as the wise men.

Over the past fifty years, the last three generations of the Ming Dynasty have been able to keep up with nutrition, and their height has skyrocketed. Now a fourteen-year-old child is almost 1.8 meters tall. Regardless of north or south, everyone has grown taller.

The Han people themselves have the gene to grow taller. The height of Ming Dynasty is already a downgraded height, and it was even higher in the Spring and Autumn Period, Warring States Period, Qin and Han Dynasties.

Nowadays, it is normal to grow taller. The ancestors of the Han people were taller.

But Baiyue Land is still short.

The main reason is that it is too hot. People who live in such hot areas all year round are prone to anorexia, and the food is mainly sour and spicy. These foods are not conducive to growing taller.

To grow taller, you need to eat more meat and drink more milk.

In areas with a hot climate, greasy food cannot be eaten. It is normal for the human body to not take in enough nutrients and not grow taller.

but.

Zhu Houyong found that people in Vientiane Province seemed to be shorter than other provinces.

Although Vientiane Province is poor.

But all citizens of the Ming Dynasty must be able to eat meat freely, and meat, eggs, and milk must be available, and the price is not expensive. People on subsistence allowances can also afford meat and eggs.

Why can't you grow taller?

The people living in Vientiane Province are all Han Chinese. Although they have some indigenous genes, they are mostly Han genes and European genes. How could they not grow taller?

Zhu Houyong found that the local food was too spicy.

The imperial court also has statistics on spicy eating.

The most spicy areas in the country are Vientiane Province, Guizhou Province, Chongqing Province, Sichuan Province, Yunnan Province, Guangxi Province, and Dali Province. The eighth is Jiangxi Province, and the ninth is Jiaozhi Province.

Bianzhili, Tunwu and Malacca provinces do not eat spicy food.

These provinces mainly have sweet foods. Their taste is similar to that of Jiangnan people, with light and sweet foods, so they have a lot of diabetes.

People from Vientiane Province and Guizhou Province are both very fond of spicy food, but people from Vientiane Province are even better.

This statistic is calculated based on local chili sales.

And these spicy-eating areas have the most open anorectal hospitals.

I have to admit that spicy food tastes delicious, but eating too much is bad. It not only hurts the skin but also hurts the intestines and stomach. The incidence of stomach diseases is high, and the incidence of gastric cancer is extremely high.

Zhu Houying bought some random meals and added a little spiciness. As a result, he drank water all afternoon and the spiciness was not relieved.

He can't eat spicy food, not even spicy food.

He saw the locals put a lot of chili peppers when eating. He thought it was not spicy, but he almost vomited blood.

The peppers here are all grown with extremely spicy peppers. No one likes spicy peppers, everyone likes them to be super spicy. Devil’s spicy peppers cannot be eaten.

Devil's hot pepper is mainly used in industry to make chili essence, or used to smear on the bottom of ships to prevent marine organisms from parasitic on the bottom of ships.

Devil's Spicy is grown in Vientiane Province.

Vientiane Province is the industrial base for deviled peppers.

It is still a rubber, sugar cane, and tea base, with plantations one after another, but it is still appallingly poor.

As a poor province with mountains and rivers, it should become a tourist city, but as a result, officials in Vientiane Province failed, causing the entire province to be completely scrapped.

Zhu Houzhen recorded in detail in his travel notes that after returning to Beijing, he would report to his grandfather and send a capable official to Vientiane Province.

But he didn't want to think about it. Couldn't the old emperor think of such a simple truth?
Because there is a net outflow of population.

No matter what industry is developed, manpower is needed. If you want to attract local people to return, you must at least provide job opportunities first. If you rashly bring people back but there are no job opportunities, wouldn't it be a hooliganism?

The problem is that the development of tourism also requires a corresponding industrial chain.

These industrial chains require money to build.

Just take Jingtai eight years ago. Why did the Ming Dynasty not develop the north, but instead invested all its resources in the south of the Yangtze River?
Because one point invested in the south of the Yangtze River can earn two cents, and one point invested in the north will lose two points.

The same is true.

Investing in Vientiane Province is simply a loss of money, there is nothing you can do about it.

Even if the old emperor wanted to invest, no one would follow. In the end, the central government would just subsidize the local area, but the local area still could not develop.

Therefore, Vientiane Province is in such a state of ruin that the court cannot do anything about it.

Vientiane Province is rich in mineral resources, but the court does not need them. Moreover, there are few human resources and the cost of mining is high. It would rather buy them from abroad than mine them by itself.

This is the dilemma of Vientiane Province.

The court had no idea.

Therefore, the officials who came from the imperial court were unabashedly showing off their behavior. They no longer wanted to be promoted and had no desires and desires. Who could do anything to them?
Therefore, Vientiane Province is getting worse and worse.

(End of this chapter)