Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 479 Traditional Craftsmanship
"Woo-"

On the twentieth day of the twelfth lunar month in the third year of Hongxi, a team slowly walked into Fengyang Railway Station amidst the sound of the train whistle.

Inside the station, merchants wearing silk and satin saw this team and began to hide, all because there were sergeants wearing mandarin duck jackets standing in the team.

It has been more than four years and three months since trains appeared in the public. In addition, the Beijing-Beijing Railway has been built from Beijing to Fengyang, the central capital, so there are not many businessmen using trains for trade.

Although Zhu Gaoxu had relaxed the clothing restrictions on merchants in the second year of Hongxi, in order to avoid trouble, they would still subconsciously avoid officials.

"Your Highness, the train has been coordinated for you. You can get on the train now."

Not long after, the station master of the train station came jogging over and knelt down to flatter someone in the crowd.

The only one who could walk around freely outside the city and be called "His Royal Highness" was Zhu Zhanhe, who was studying in the military academy.

Twenty-year-old Zhu Zhanhe was wearing a plain round-neck robe, and he was accompanied by the Crown Princess Mu, who was followed by several girls and a plump palace maid in her thirties.

The palace maid held an infant baby in her arms, which was obviously the child of Zhu Zhanhe and Mu.

"Your Highness, this is today's newspaper."

In addition, every year, officials would use purses and cars to bring furniture for their relatives and relatives northward, which was also the bulk of the income.

"Now that you're ready, let's go. It's not good to delay for too long. I have to go to Yanran Dusi to take up a post in early March. It's better to go early."

"It's not bad..."

Opening the door, there is a five-foot-wide bed inside, along with a table, chairs and bench where you can sit and make tea, and a separate toilet.

As he grew older and spent four years in the military academy, Zhu Zhanhe paid more and more attention to newspapers.

Based on his knowledge, each locomotive can basically send one train every hour, and each train can carry 500 people.

It seems that the last ride left a shadow, so before getting on the train, Zhu Zhanhe specifically asked: "What is the speed of this train like this?"

There are 32 passenger and freight locomotives running on the Beijing-Beijing Railway, which amounts to about 2.4 million locomotives a year.

Not long after, with the whistle blowing, the train pulling the prince and grandson began to drive towards the north.

There are four beds in the compartment, upper, lower, left and right, just like the beds he had in the military academy.

"A sleeper berth is a carriage with bedrooms and rooms. In order for Your Highness to live comfortably, I propose to change this carriage from three bedrooms to one. It is very spacious. Your Highness, please come in."

At this rate, it will take at least three and a half years for the Beijing-Beijing Railway to recover its costs.

Apart from the coal and water carriage, this train has only one carriage.

Zhu Zhanhe nodded and asked at the same time: "Is this sleeper the latest one?"

The toilet is small, but better than nothing.

Zhu Zhanhe looked at the room in front of him, secretly made a wish, and then invited Mu to enter the room to rest.

"This is the latest version of the train. If it only pulls one section, the fastest speed is about one hundred and twenty miles per hour. According to the current situation, it will take about fourteen hours to arrive, so this car is a sleeper car."

Of course, this is because one-third of the Ming Dynasty’s population gathered along the Beijing-Beijing Railway.

"Yes, but it only takes a few stops, and very few people finish the ride. After all, the fare is really not something ordinary people can afford."

"Sleeper?" Zhu Zhanhe was stunned. He didn't know that he hadn't been home for two years and the train had sleepers.

Zhu Zhanhe nodded and walked out of the station under the escort of the team. A specially arranged train appeared in front of them.

If nothing else, just in terms of controlling public opinion, one issue of the newspaper is worth more than dozens of Jiangnan scholars talking about everything.

Along the way, Zhu Zhanhe was looking out the window. He was not unfamiliar with farming, so he also saw some new crops appearing from time to time, such as tomatoes, peanuts, and sweet potatoes being the best ones.

Calculated, Fengyang Mansion can take eight buses in one day, and the number of people is about 3,500 to 4,000.

Although the imperial court relaxed the road guidance policy, if you can't find a job in time when you go to Beijing, you will have to stay on the streets.

This full ticket is the income of an ordinary laborer for twenty days, which can buy one hundred kilograms of rice and eat it for more than a month.

You must know that the current wages of ordinary laborers in South Zhili are only 20 yuan, and in Shandong, Henan, and North Zhili are only 15 yuan. Only in the two capitals are they slightly higher, ranging from 30 to 50 yuan per day.

A soldier handed him a newspaper. After Zhu Zhanhe took it, he immediately opened the newspaper and started reading.

In this regard, the webmaster provided explanations respectively.

When Mrs. Mu who was beside him saw this, she immediately turned sideways with her child in her arms and coaxed her.

Facing Zhu Zhanhe's inquiry, the webmaster showed a somewhat embarrassed smile.

Under the guidance of the stationmaster, Zhu Zhanhe came to the middle of the carriage, which was the only compartment with a door in the carriage.

Of course, this only refers to the period from Mao hour during the day to Hai hour at night. After Hai hour, there is only arrival, but no departure.

For the people of this era, the bold ones are always in the minority, and most people are still conservative. Although it is slow for them to go to Beijing by boat, it is cheaper and more affordable.

"Do people take cars a lot?"

The stationmaster gestured flatteringly to Zhu Zhanhe to walk in. Zhu Zhanhe curiously walked into the carriage and saw a path less than three feet wide, and there were also open compartments.

"In the future, I will also let people take convenient trains."

"It has just been launched less than two months ago." The stationmaster explained, and Zhu Zhanhe asked other questions, such as the current passenger volume of the train, what the fares are, and what the fares are for sleepers and trains.

There are 30 stations from Fengyang to Beijing. If each station costs 10 yuan, it will take 300 yuan to take the bus from Fengyang to Beijing.

Taking a trip from north to south, you can earn about 200 yuan normally, excluding labor and costs, and the freight is basically the same.

He held the "Da Ming Bao" in his hand and looked through the newspaper for useful information.

There is a lot of space on the construction of railways, introduction of trains and new crops. After all, the construction of railways involves the livelihood of millions of workers.

For the Beijing-Beijing Railway alone, from Beijing to Fengyang, the daily number of workers varies from 50,000 to 70,000. In a year, there are tens of millions of people, and the money sent out is nearly one million yuan.

All this money fell into the hands of workers, who used their hands to feed their loved ones.

This move alone has made the economies of the provinces along the Beijing-Beijing Railway prosperous.

Benefiting the people through industry is one of the reasons why the Ming Dynasty continued to carry out large-scale projects and became increasingly wealthy and the people's lives became better and better.

Of course, in addition to this, Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu's attitude of not rushing work is the main reason why workers can work comfortably.

"This newspaper said that the imperial court is preparing to start building the Beijing-Tianjin Railway and the Central Plains Railway after the completion of the Beijing-Tianjin Railway."

"If this is completed, the goods north of the Yangtze River in the Qinling Mountains will be able to flow."

Zhu Zhanhe commented on the news in the newspaper with a smile. After hearing this, Mu asked curiously: "What about the circulation of goods?"

"Well... take food as an example." Zhu Zhanhe chose a good example:

"Food in Huguang is very cheap, only three hundred cash per stone, but in some places in Shanxi and Shaanxi, food can reach five hundred cash per stone."

"The imperial court has Changpingcang. If millions of stones of grain can be purchased from Huguang and shipped to Shaanxi, the people of Shaanxi will be able to eat cheap rice."

"But what about the farmers in Shaanxi?" Mrs. Mu couldn't help but ask. When Zhu Zhanhe saw what she said, he also smiled and pointed at the newspaper and said:

"It is written here that the imperial court has established many mines and handicraft workshops in Shaanxi. Some farmers can work in factories, and their income in a year is several times higher than farming."

In a mechanized agricultural society, agriculture is indeed not particularly hard, but in this era, farming is undoubtedly synonymous with hardship, especially in the northwest region where the precipitation line has moved eastward and the yield is not high.

A one-stone-per-acre yield is considered good land in most areas of Shaanxi. In this case, it takes hard work to cultivate five acres of land to support oneself and barely buy some oil, salt, sauce and vinegar.

In comparison, although the wages in Shaanxi are not as high as those in North Zhili and Northeast China, it is much easier than farming.

Many mines today have used concrete, tracks and mine cars, making work much easier than before.

The reason why these things can appear is also due to the emergence of steam pumps.

The emergence of steam pumps not only reduces the cost of operating mines, but also eliminates the need for workers to crawl around in muddy pits and endure the pain of soaking their feet in water all day long.

Without standing water, laying tracks and hauling mines would be much easier.

Although the environment is still harsh, miners in the Ming Dynasty are the easiest and have the highest wages compared to any country in the same period.

For example, the Japanese miners who mined silver at the Iwami Silver Mine could only buy three kilograms of corn for a day's work, barely enough to feed two people, or even enough to eat.

On the other hand, for miners in the Ming Dynasty, even the wages in Shaanxi were enough for them to buy ten kilograms of rice and a fat chicken, so that they could comfortably go home and eat with their families for a day.

As state-owned mines raise labor prices, many private mines have to follow suit.

During the Hongwu period, coal miners in Shanxi basically earned thirty cents, and forty cents was considered excellent.

Now that the government has intervened in the market, the official wage of 130 yuan has forced these unscrupulous coal mines to raise their wages.

In Shanxi today, a miner's wage of less than 100 yuan is regarded as a means of humiliation.

A large number of private coal mines closed down due to low profits, and were subsequently taken over by the government to continue to expand production.

"The price of coal in Jiangnan is getting cheaper with the construction of the Beijing-Beijing Railway and the Northwest Railway."

"I remember ten years ago at this time, one hundred kilograms of coal cost one hundred and thirty cents, but now it only costs one hundred cents."

"When the Beijing-Beijing Railway and the Northwest Railway are completed, I estimate that the price of coal will be as low as 80 cents."

Zhu Zhanhe spoke enthusiastically, but as he spoke he couldn't help but sigh: "It's a pity that the rich families in Jiangnan like to use firewood to cook and eat. I think the price of firewood is not cheap, but is getting more and more expensive." "

"It's okay in Jiangnan, but you didn't know that it's north of Yanshan..."

Zhu Zhanhe had talked about the situation in Modong and Mobei many times. Every time after hearing this, Mu felt that His Highness was a little unfounded. But when she thought that her father-in-law said these things, she did not dare to be too presumptuous.

"Dad is right. It would be a pity to kill criminals, but I think instead of being exiled, it would be better for them to plant a hunting ground for me!"

A smile appeared on his face, and he looked at the scenery outside the window and sighed: "Hundreds and thousands of years ago, these places were also green mountains and green waters lined with trees, but now..."

After hearing this, Mrs. Mu looked out the window. Although there was farmland and green, there was basically no tree in sight.

Zhu Zhanhe lost interest, picked up the newspaper and continued to read with a frown. One of the news items made him smile.

In the corner of the news, he saw that the imperial court was preparing to build a railway in Longchuan that would lead to Manmo. Although it was only more than three hundred miles away, he saw a name he had not seen for a long time.

"Jiang Huai, do your best, and I will come to your place when I come back from my one-year internship in the army." Now Zhu Zhanhe is no longer so resistant to the life he has been assigned. Instead, he sometimes envies that he can experience many things that others cannot. Experience life.

Whether you go to middle school or military school, or go north to join the army, or go south to work as an official in the future...

All of this made him understand a lot of things.

After calming down, Zhu Zhanhe took the newspaper and speculated on his father's thoughts and thoughts.

Time passed little by little, during which Zhu Zhanhe fell asleep. When he woke up, it was still dark, and the candle fixed on the car became a weak light.

He stood up and took out a few books from his suitcase to read, and before he knew it, the sky was getting brighter.

Taking advantage of the time to stop to add water and coal, Zhu Zhanhe asked someone to buy some sweets and come back to eat.

Setting up a stall seems to have been engraved in the flesh and blood of the Chinese people. Although the train station is not very crowded, there are quite a few villagers who come to set up stalls around it.

For these people, the court also allowed them to set up stalls and sell food, as long as they packed up before leaving.

Several desserts and cakes were brought, each cake had a corner cut off.

This corner was eaten by soldiers to prevent anyone from poisoning Zhu Zhanhe.

Zhu Zhanhe lived like this for many years. When he was in middle school and military academy, the large canteens in the schools were basically contracted by people from Xichang and Jinyiwei.

Although their craftsmanship was poor at first and people complained about their food, they gradually became much better at their craftsmanship, and even the students at the military academy found it difficult to suspect that they had other identities.

After barely eating a piece of food, Zhu Zhanhe set out on his way home.

Finally, two hours later, the train he took stopped at the familiar Beijing East Railway Station.

When he got out of the carriage, he saw a crowd of people walking towards the outside of the station.

The scale of the Beijing East Railway Station was such that Zhu Zhanhe once complained that his father had built it too big and had no people, so it was quite wasteful.

But when he returned to Beijing this time, he had to praise his father's foresight.

Since the Northeast Railway has been built to Shenyang, and the Northwest Railway has also been built to Zhangjiakou, Beijing East Railway Station has undoubtedly become a transfer station for merchants from all over the world. All kinds of commodities gather here, and large quantities of fruits, vegetables and flowers are shipped to Beijing.

"It's so cold..."

Feeling the biting cold wind in Beijing, Zhu Zhanhe couldn't help but shudder. Then he hurriedly walked out of the East Station under the escort of guards and got on the carriage heading for the Forbidden City.

Isolated from the cold wind, he felt a touch of warmth.

The carriage windows were changed to horizontally sliding glass windows, and there was a layer of wooden windows on the outside to protect the glass.

Zhu Zhanhe opened the glass window and the wooden window, then closed the glass window and looked at the Beijing East Railway Station outside the window.

People were coming and going, and there were more than a thousand people at a glance.

"With so many merchants, has Beijing's population also increased?"

Zhu Zhanhe asked the Xichang Baihu official who was responsible for protecting them on the carriage. The Baihu official bowed after hearing this:

"Back to Your Highness, at the time of the previous winter solstice, Shuntian Mansion reported that there were 720,000 people in Beijing."

"That much increase?" Zhu Zhanhe took a breath.

You must know that since the Ming Dynasty moved the capital, Nanjing's population has never recovered to its former height. Today it is only less than 500,000, while Beijing is developing better and better.

“Do you still use water transport to transport grain?”

After learning about Beijing's population size, Zhu Zhanhe's biggest concern was Beijing's food problem, which his father had mentioned.

"Using both train and water transport, five million tons of grain can be transported to Beijing every year."

"That's fine." He nodded and leaned against the carriage, and soon fell asleep.

Although there was a bed, his motion sickness did not subside, so he did not sleep well yesterday.

Now I am resting on this carriage for a while, so that I can go to see my father and grandfather.

It seemed that he was too tired. He felt that he had not rested for a while when he heard the voice of Bai Huguan calling him.

After forcing himself to open his eyes, he found that the carriage door had opened at some point. He was about to get out of the car when he saw Bai Huguan walking to the carriage door and making a gesture of getting on, and at the same time he bowed and said:

"Your Highness, Your Majesty said that you don't need to go to Wuying Palace because you are tired from traveling. You should go to Daming Palace to see the Supreme Emperor first, and then rest in Daming Palace."

Baihuguan's words made Zhu Zhanhe's heart warm: "Okay, then I'll sleep a little longer."

Zhu Zhanhe gave the order and continued to fall into sleep.

This time he felt that he had slept for a long time. Before the carriage stopped, he slowly woke up and rubbed his eyes.

"Reached?"

"Less than a mile."

Baihuguan responded to Zhu Zhanhe. After a while, the carriage stopped, and Zhu Zhanhe also arrived at the Daming Palace where he had been away for a long time.

After getting off the carriage with Mu and her son in another carriage, they took a carriage to the Yangxin Hall of the Daming Palace.

"Your Majesty, Zhu Zhanhe, brings the Crown Princess and the Imperial Grandson to seek an audience with the Supreme Emperor!"

"Come in!"

Zhu Zhanhe sang loudly outside the Yangxin Hall, and soon there was a response from inside.

When Mrs. Mu walked into the Yangxin Hall with anxiety, Zhu Zhanhe immediately saw Zhu Di who was maintaining a carbine.

Compared with two years ago, Zhu Di has more gray hair, but he still retains his power.

"grandfather……"

Zhu Zhanhe saluted Mu, but Zhu Di focused on the child in Mu's arms: "Come, bring it over and show it to me."

"Yes……"

Zhu Zhanhe took the child, carried it to Zhu Di and handed it to him.

Zhu Di was quite skilled in holding the baby. After taking it, he looked at the sleeping baby in his arms and couldn't help but smile: "I am also a great-grandfather."

"Has this child been named yet?" Zhu Di asked, obviously planning to name the child.

"Not yet. I used to call him Badger."

Zhu Zhanhe responded. After hearing this, Zhu Di frowned and said, "How can you choose a nickname after an animal?"

"It's easy to make a living with a bad name..." Zhu Zhanhe responded awkwardly. Zhu Di frowned when he saw this: "Call me Zhu Qiyue!"

He decided on the name of the child, and Zhu Zhanhe had no choice but to agree, hoping that his father would not regret it.

"Okay, you guys are already tired from traveling. Have you eaten yet?"

Zhu Di asked Zhu Zhanhe, who shook his head: "We haven't eaten yet. Father asked us to come to Daming Palace to rest for one night and stay with you before returning to the palace."

"He does mean it." Zhu Di nodded, stroking his beard before saying:

"The Crown Princess should take the Emperor's grandson to rest. I'll have a chat with this boy."

"I excuse myself..." Seeing this, Mrs. Mu stepped forward to take Zhu Qiyue, then went down to rest with the child in her arms.

After he left, Zhu Zhanhe smiled and said, "Grandpa, my grandson hasn't eaten yet."

"Here are pastries. If you are hungry, take them yourself." Zhu Di pushed the pastries on the table and then said:
"The life in Daming Palace is also comfortable, but it's so comfortable that I always have nightmares."

"Nightmare?" Zhu Zhanhe was a little confused. Upon seeing this, Zhu Di said quickly:

"You have never met your great-great-grandfather. Over the years, I have been worried that your great-grandfather will say that I did not do well after I left."

"No way. You have done so well and the people are praising you. How could it be bad?" Zhu Zhanhe didn't believe it.

As far as he knew, the common people thought highly of his grandfather and father. Even the Confucian scholars in Jiangnan mostly criticized his father, and his grandfather seemed to be rarely criticized by them.

"Really?" Perhaps because he was old, Zhu Di didn't believe Zhu Zhanhe's words.

Zhu Zhanhe immediately said after hearing this: "If you don't believe it, why not take a train to Jiangnan and ask, the people will indeed praise you."

"praise me……"

Zhu Di had a proud smile on his face, but soon he seemed to think of something again and sighed quickly:
"What a pity. Although the people praise me, I don't deserve it."

"Why?" Zhu Zhanhe felt that his grandfather seemed to be old and always felt sorry for himself.

"In his later years, your great-grandfather most hoped to solve the problem in Mobei, but I failed to do it well. That Mahamu is still wandering around, and he has conflicts with Yanran Dusi from time to time."

"Last time we went out and returned without success, I was too embarrassed to cause trouble for you. It seems that I won't be able to solve this problem in this life..."

Zhu Di felt sorry for himself, and his sighing look, coupled with the matching expression on his face, inevitably made Zhu Zhanhe feel uncomfortable.

"Grandpa, don't worry, if you can't take care of it, your grandson will take care of it for you in the future!"

"Um..." Zhu Di was speechless and said quickly: "It's not that it can't be dealt with, it's just that it will cost more to send more troops."

"I have calculated that if we bring 30,000 cavalry and 60,000 auxiliary troops, there is a high probability that we can win this battle with only this number."

Zhu Di raised two fingers, but quickly shook his head: "But..."

"Are you worried about the high cost?" Zhu Zhanhe understood immediately and said quickly: "It's only two million yuan. The national treasury is full now. My father will definitely be willing to allocate it to help grandpa fulfill his wish."

"That being said, I...ah!" Zhu Di sighed, wanting to say something but stopping himself. Seeing this, Zhu Zhanhe quickly stood up, patted his chest and said:
"Grandpa, don't worry. I will go back to the palace tomorrow to talk to my father. I think my father will definitely support it."

"This...isn't this good? If he beats or scolds you, I'm afraid you won't be able to bear it." Zhu Di's nose felt sour, but Zhu Zhanhe bowed and said:
"Grandpa, don't worry. I'll wait for good news tomorrow."

"Oh... eh... okay..." Zhu Di reluctantly agreed, and Zhu Zhanhe felt distressed when he saw this:
"Grandpa, please have a good rest and take care of yourself. When I settle the matter, you will have to lead the troops to fight."

Seeing Zhu Zhanhe like this, Zhu Di touched his hand, with tears in his eyes.

"Hey, my grandpa has so many grandsons, but you are the most like me..."

(End of this chapter)