Rebirth of Zhu Di's son

Chapter 134 Letter from Zheng He
Ancient Chinese newspapers began in the Tang Dynasty. "Kaiyuan Miscellaneous News" was published in the Kaiyuan year of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. It is the earliest official newspaper known to later generations.

The article "Reading Kaiyuan Miscellaneous News" written by Sun Qiao of the Tang Dynasty is the earliest record of this ancient official newspaper.

Official newspapers developed greatly in the Song Dynasty. At that time, there were titles such as "Di Bao" and "Chao Bao". Their content mainly included the emperor's edicts and orders, the emperor's daily words and deeds, the court's decrees and communiqués, and information about the appointment and exemption of rewards and punishments for officials. News and ministers' memorials.

"Tabloid" began in the late Northern Song Dynasty and became popular in the Southern Song Dynasty. It was implicitly called "news" by readers at that time and was an unofficial newspaper.

Yes, it’s called news.

Words like brain-dead, pussy, funny, fashionable, sharing, transvestite, traffic, toothbrush, news, work, caliper, martyr, hotel, God, universe, world, classmate, hand slide, luggage, diary, economy, manager, president, etc. It existed in ancient times and did not appear in later generations. It is just that the meaning of some words is different from that of later generations.

The content of "tabloids" in the Song Dynasty was mainly about ministers' memorials and news about the appointment and dismissal of officials that were not included in "Di Bao". They also published some discussions on resisting the invasion of Jin soldiers, so they were banned by the court at that time.

Historically, in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the imperial court allowed people to set up their own newspaper offices. Under the supervision of the imperial court, some manuscripts of Di newspapers copied from the cabinet and other relevant yamen were compiled and sold publicly. Most of these newspaper offices were located in Beijing.

The newspapers published by this type of newspaper office are commonly known as "Beijing News" and sometimes also called "Di Bao". The content consists of three parts: emperor's edicts, court affairs, and official memorials.

The "Beijing News" in the late Ming Dynasty once published social news.

The "Beijing News" published by the newspaper office had a masthead. After the 11th year of Chongzhen's reign, movable type printing was widely used.

Historically, from the middle of the Ming Dynasty, publishing and delivering the Beijing News became an open profession.

"Since you have read the "Jinling Xunbao", you should know what the Huimin Industrial and Construction Bureau does. In every issue of the Xunbao, there is news about recruiting farmers as craftsmen." Yu Yanzhao looked at Wu Tengfei and said.

Wu Tengfei looked embarrassed and said, "Senior brother, to be honest, this kid really didn't pay attention."

"Since March of the second year of Yongle, the imperial court has officially established a new yamen under the Ministry of Industry, called the 'Huimin Industrial and Construction Bureau'. This bureau is similar to the Huimin Pharmacy. The purpose of its establishment is to benefit the people. Specifically, it is Recruiting idle farmers and building roads and bridges for a fee can be said to be a rich salary."

Yu Yanzhao continued: "Since March of the second year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court has launched various construction projects such as fourth-level road construction projects, county school renovation projects, Changke Academy, Household Bank, and Royal Bank."

"What is a fourth-level road construction project?" Wu Tengfei asked.

Yu Yanzhao answered directly: "The so-called four-level road construction refers to the construction of four-level roads: national highways, provincial roads, county roads, and rural roads."

He then added: "The transformation of county schools means that each county transforms the previous county school into a middle school, and various prefectures and cities also build regular academies. Now the Imperial College has been renamed Imperial College. As long as you complete your studies in the regular academy, you can He will be awarded the title of Juren by the Provincial Education Bureau and has the qualifications to be an official."

“Since then, the fourteen prefectures and four Zhili Prefectures in Zhili have jurisdiction over nearly a hundred counties. Household banks and Royal Banks have been built and put into use one after another. The remaining money in the hands of the people can be deposited in the bank to increase profits, or it can be mortgaged We borrowed money from banks to buy property and buy various businesses.”

Wu Tengfei knew a little about banks. After hearing what Yu Yanzhao said, he asked: "Brother, I heard some students said that after depositing the money in the Royal Bank, you can deposit it at the Royal Bank in another place. take out?"

"Yes, you plan to ask your elders to deposit the money in the Royal Bank in the jurisdiction of Beiping Prefecture, and then withdraw it from the Royal Bank in the capital, right?"

Yu Yanzhao saw through Wu Tengfei's thoughts at a glance and said bluntly.

Wu Tengfei smiled naively and said, "I can't hide anything from my senior brother."

"Although this is feasible, there is a time lag. Because on the day your elders deposited the money into the Royal Bank in the jurisdiction of Beiping Prefecture, you will not be able to check the money at the Royal Bank in the capital."

Yu Yanzhao said meticulously: "When someone else remits money to you from other places, there is a special name in the bank - remittance."

The students present did not know much about the banking industry. When they heard Yu Yanzhao's explanation, they all pricked up their ears and listened carefully.

"When the Royal Bank within the jurisdiction of Beiping Prefecture receives the money transferred from your elders, it will issue four vouchers on the spot with the same format but different colors - remittance slips."

"These four remittance slips are the remittance slip, the collection slip, the filing slip, and the collection slip. The bank will give the remittance slip to your elders and leave the other three remittance slips."

"The remittance slip left by the bank belongs to the archive copy and will be archived for future reference. The other two remittance slips are the withdrawal copy and the receipt copy, which will be sent to the Royal Bank of Beijing by the post courier."

"After the bank in Jingshi receives these two remittance orders, it will sign one of the receipt copies and keep it in the remittance warehouse to be redeemed. The other withdrawal copy will be sent by the courier in the form of a letter according to the name of the person who withdraws the money on the order. After finding you at the address and verifying your identity, the courier will hand over the withdrawal slip to you."

"Only with the withdrawal coupon of this remittance order and the name issued by the Yamen to prove your identity can you pay this remittance from the Royal Bank of Beijing."

"Because it requires the use of post couriers and consumes the bank's manpower and material resources, banks have to charge a certain percentage of handling fees for long-distance remittances."

Yu Yanzhao explained patiently.

"Senior brother, after I enter school for two years, should I go to the local government to practice political affairs like the former supervisor?" Su Xin asked.

"Of course." Yu Yanzhao nodded and said, "Jinling Changke Academy has had this rule since its establishment."

In the early Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang stipulated that the supervisors of the Imperial College should study for a certain period of time and go to various yamen of the imperial court in batches to experience political affairs, just like the internships of later generations. This system was called the supervisor's history system at the time.

Although the Ming Dynasty has implemented the new imperial examination policy, it still uses this historical system.

"The first batch of students from the college who chose to major in medicine have now gone to Huimin Medical Center to experience their careers." Yu Yanzhao continued.

He believed that in a few years, the first batch of Jinling Academy students who were proficient in medicine would complete their studies and become the first batch of medical examinees in the Ming Dynasty.

Most of these students will even pass the joint examination and the palace examination, and become the first batch of medical scholars since the founding of the Ming Dynasty!

After more than two years of development, Daming Huimin Medical Center in Beijing has become a comprehensive medical institution involving medical consultation, pharmaceutical research and development, production and sales.

At present, Huimin Medical Center can produce traditional Chinese medicine granules, pills, decoctions, powders and other prepared medicines in various dosage forms.

In particular, pill-cooked medicine is the most common, which is later known as pill-cooked Chinese patent medicine. Common diseases in the internal and external departments of women, children, otolaryngology, etc. are all treated with pill-cooked medicine.

In other words, Daming’s medical level has been further improved after two years of hard work by Huimin Medical Center.

After all, grinding medicinal materials into powder is not difficult. The grinding machine invented by Hu Hui, which uses human power to pull a spring rotating shaft, has been popularized in all prefectures and counties in Zhili.

The principle of this manual powdering machine is relatively simple. One end of the rotating shaft is installed in a steel-cast jar. Put the medicine into the jar, close the lid, and then use the rotating shaft to drive the blade in the jar to grind the medicinal materials into powder.

The most difficult things to make are springs, steel cans and blades.

Fortunately, the Ming Dynasty had Mo Qiaosi, and many smelting technologies have been greatly improved after thousands of experiments.

at the same time.

In the palace, there is a side hall of Wenhua Hall.

Monk Dao Yan retracted his hand, turned to look at Zhu Di who was sitting next to him, and said, "Your Majesty, the prince's pulse is normal. The dizziness is caused by overexertion."

"Gao Xu, these two years have been really hard on you."

There were tears in Zhu Di's eyes, and he said with a hint of guilt.

"Father, your words are serious." Zhu Gaoxu responded quickly.

Yesterday, when Zhu Gaoxu was inspecting Mo Qiaosi, he suddenly fainted, which frightened Zhu Di, Queen Xu and others.

Dai Sigong, the envoy of Taiyuan Hospital, personally checked Zhu Gaoxu's pulse and told Zhu Di and Queen Xu that Zhu Gaoxu was caused by overwork and that he would be fine if he rested for a while.

Zhu Di was worried, and in the name of discussing the matter, he sent someone to invite Monk Dao Yan to the palace, and quietly asked Monk Dao Yan to check Zhu Gaoxu's pulse in the side hall of Wenhua Palace.

"Thank you, Master."

Zhu Gaoxu stood up and bowed to Monk Dao Yan.

The hard work of these two years was very worthwhile for him.

The Ming Dynasty's infrastructure construction and imperial examination reform are advancing steadily. In time, it will definitely bring about radical changes to the Ming Dynasty.

As for improving the medical level of Ming Dynasty, Huimin Medical Center has been accumulating strength, and now it has made amazing achievements.

As for the advancement of science and technology, Mo Qiaosi took the lead. Light industrial products that began to transform into industrial society, such as telescopes, eucommia rubber tires, mercury mirrors, foot-operated high-efficiency textile machines, and mechanical clocks, gradually entered the stage of history.

In addition, in the past two years or so, under his influence, Zhu Di not only improved the industrial and commercial tax, but also implemented a tax system reform that never increased taxes and divided the land into acres.

Since it was not yet time to reform the military system and implement the integration of officials and civilians, he did not take the initiative to mention these two aspects to Zhu Di.

"Your Majesty, good news, there is a letter from Zheng He." While the father and son were drinking tea with Monk Dao Yan, the eunuch Li Xing hunched over, walked quickly to the palace, and said respectfully.

"When was the letter sent?" Zhu Di asked.

Li Xing replied: "May [-]th."

"It seems that Zheng He will be able to return home soon." Zhu Di said with a happy face: "Read it quickly."

"Yes." Li Xing bowed.

"I, Zheng He, look to the north and kowtow while aboard the Tianyuan ship. I sincerely pray for your Majesty's safety."

"The fleet led by Wei Chen has arrived at the old port. Along the way, he visited various countries. Wherever he went, everyone praised our emperor for his great achievements, and looked forward to doing business with the Ming Dynasty. The porcelain I brought with me on the ship, Silk, tea and other items are even more popular.”

"I respectfully request your Majesty to prepare some more wonderful Chinese artifacts and transport them to the old port within four months to meet the trade needs of our overseas friends. I am in a foreign land, and I am deeply impressed by the wisdom of our emperor's decision-making on the cruise. I feel that I want to To make a country prosperous and strong, we must not ignore the ocean. Wealth comes from the ocean. If the sea is peaceful, everything will prosper."

“Wealth comes from the sea?”

Zhu Di tasted Zheng He's words carefully and asked in a low voice.

"Okay!" Monk Daoyan caressed his beard and said with a smile, "The poor monk has accomplished two of the most valuable things in his life. He assisted an unparalleled saint and taught an unparalleled talent."

Zhu Di nodded and said, "Zheng He does have some insights."

Monk Daoyan thought for a moment and said loudly: "The poor monk would like to advise your majesty to spread Zheng He's memorial to the world through the imperial newspaper, vigorously promote the merits of the ten thousand-mile patrol and the benefits of being friendly to neighbors, so as to eliminate criticism and revitalize the country's strength. In the name of preparing goods to go to sea, it promotes various commercial prosperity, and in order to appease the expectations of ministers and workers, it appeases the hearts of the people."

"Yes, that's what I meant!"

Zhu Di said with gleaming eyes.

He paused, looked at Li Xing who retreated to the entrance of the palace, and said, "Li Xing?"

"My servant is here." Li Xing bowed and walked in quickly, bowing.

Zhu Di ordered: "Li Xing, quickly go to the General Affairs Department and send Zheng He's letter to the Di Di newspaper, and then ask the General Affairs Department to rush to print a special issue of "Jinling Xunbao", and write down the content of Zheng He's letter word for word. The bad ones are attached! Remember, use the headlines on the front page!"

"The slaves obey the order."

Li Xing hurriedly accepted the order, then bowed and retreated.

Zhu Di looked outside the palace door again and said loudly: "Is Changsheng here?"

"The servant is here."

Changsheng, who was standing outside the hall, immediately bowed and walked in quickly, bowing and saluting.

Zhu Di ordered: "I have given you an oral instruction, and all ministers and workers from the Ministry of Revenue who are on duty today should come to the Wenhua Hall to discuss matters."

"Your servant accepts the order." Changsheng respectfully accepted the order and then withdrew.

"Your Majesty, if this poor monk still has something to do, I won't bother him any more."

Monk Daoyan stood up and bowed his hands.

Zhu Gaoxu hurriedly said to Zhu Di: "Dad, let me take the master out of the palace."

"That's fine." Zhu Di was just about to ask someone to carry a sedan to take Dao Yan back to Tianjie Temple. At this time, after hearing what Zhu Gaoxu said, he nodded immediately.

After a while, Zhu Gaoxu and Monk Dao Yan came out of the Wenhua Hall.

Not long after, the two of them crossed the Jinshui Bridge, passed through the Meridian Gate, and came to the latest shock-absorbing four-wheel carriage made in Yongle [-] years ago outside the palace gate.

The tires of this four-wheel carriage are made of vulcanized Eucommia gum, which has high wear resistance and strong pressure resistance. Coupled with the latest spring shock absorbers, it has become the first choice of senior officials.

Monk Dao Yan was an experienced man, so he could naturally tell that Zhu Gaoxu had purposely sent him off, so before getting in the car, he grabbed Zhu Gaoxu's sleeve.

"Master?" Zhu Gaoxu pretended to be surprised.

Monk Dao Yan said: "Your Highness, if you have something to say, you might as well say it directly."

Zhu Gaoxu looked around and saw that no one was approaching, and the driver not far away was Wei Xian, and the guards were all East Palace guards.

So, he lowered his voice and said: "Master, are you sure my body is okay?"

"Monks don't lie, let alone this kind of matter related to the Heavenly Family. Your Highness, please relax, you are indeed dizzy due to overwork, and there are no other abnormalities in your pulse."

Monk Dao Yan stroked his beard and said, "The Imperial Imperial Hospital envoy Dai Yuan is an upright man and would not deceive His Highness. Your Highness is overly worried."

"There is Master Lao."

Zhu Gaoxu thanked him with his hands, and then made an invitation gesture to signal Monk Dao Yan to get in the car.

He has some knowledge of medical skills and some understanding of his own situation. The reason why he is so cautious is because of the nature of the time traveler who is afraid of death.

After receiving a positive reply from Monk Dao Yan, Zhu Gaoxu secretly breathed a sigh of relief and decided to take a good rest for the next period of time and spend more time with his wife and children.

Two quarters later.

"Did you all hear what Zheng He said?"

In the Wenhua Hall, Zhu Di sat on the dragon chair, across the royal table, and asked all the household ministers standing and sitting in the hall.

"I heard you."

The officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs headed by Yu Xin said in unison.

"Okay!" Zhu Di nodded and said, "Prince, Yu Xin?"

"My son is here!"

After Zhu Gaoxu and Yu Xin stood up, they walked to the center of the hall, bowed and said in unison.

"Order you two to join the six ministries to supervise the chief secretaries of Zhili, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, Jiangxi, Huguang, and the Yamen of Songjiang, Suzhou, and Hangzhou to build 88 more sea-going ships and prepare all the additional ships requested by Zheng He. Grow goods.”

Zhu Di ordered loudly.

"His Majesty--"

Yu Xin said with a bitter look on his face, almost pleading.

Zhu Di interrupted: "It will be shipped to the old port within four months, without any mistakes."

"Your Majesty, the national treasury is now empty, with less than 100 million taels of silver in stock. Your Majesty not only needs to build ships, but also purchase various materials. Without silver taels, it will be difficult to complete."

Yu Xin had to bite the bullet and report respectfully.

Zhu Di said with a straight face: "I only want results. You can figure out a solution for the money."

"Your Majesty, I am a humble minister——"

Yu Xin wanted to say more, but was interrupted by Zhu Di's question.

"Prince?"

Zhu Gaoxu immediately bowed and said: "My son, I obey the order!"

Zhu Di looked around at the crowd and said, "I'll say it again, the supplies prepared for Zheng He's fleet must arrive at the old port within four months."

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(End of this chapter)