The room goes through the late Ming Dynasty, and the back door leads to North America at the beginni

The red lady flipped through the account books.

"Currently, the industries wholly owned by our royal family mainly include the 'Anxianglai Makeup Company', 'Yirenfang Women's Clothing Company' and the Da'ei Royal Reclamation Company, as well as various shops and other small industries."

"Then there are joint ventures with the imperial court, mainly including Ruyang Glass Factory, Nanjing Glass Products Factory, and North American Precious Metal Mining Company..."

The red lady talked about the property of the Da'ei royal family one by one.

Here, the Damei Royal Reclamation Company is mainly responsible for managing the fields, orchards, vegetable gardens, forest farms, fish ponds and other industries owned by the royal family.

Whether it is in China or in North America, it is not occupied by the royal family.

In China, the royal family basically bought it from the court, and most of them were property that was not easy to sell.

As for the North American side, the land was allocated to Liu Sheng in successive divisions.

As Liu Sheng said at the beginning, public and private affairs should be clearly distinguished.

Although North American Reclamation Liu Sheng did not personally open up wasteland and cultivate the land, he provided the funds and tools for the initial reclamation, and Liu Sheng personally sent every immigrant there.

In this way, after the collective reclamation of a camp is completed, his part should naturally be included when dividing the fields.

Of course, royal lands accounted for a very small proportion in each camp, and they were previously managed by the Da'ei government in North America.

After the organizational structure of the Da'ei Imperial Household Office was improved, people from the reclamation company were sent to supervise it.

As for the joint venture industries with the imperial court, there are not many.

At present, it is mainly the glass industry and North American precious metal mining companies.

Among them, the royal family holds a slightly larger shareholding in the Nanjing Glass Products Factory, but its shareholding in the North American Precious Metal Mining Company is relatively small, only 20%.

This company specializes in searching for gold and silver and other precious metal deposits and mining them, and is extremely profitable.

Although the royal family does not account for a large proportion, it has also received millions of taels of silver from it this year.

This is because there are not many gold and silver mines currently being mined in North America. When a large-scale gold mine is discovered in San Francisco in the near future, the annual income will definitely be higher!
But the red lady didn't know this.

She only felt that the royal family's income of more than 8 million taels of silver this year was worth more than 11 million silver dollars.

First, more than 5 million yuan was spent to share the military expenses of the Guards, and more than 3 million yuan was spent to repair the damaged palaces in the Forbidden City in Nanjing and the Forbidden City in Beijing.

Although there are not many people in the royal family at present, it costs hundreds of thousands of yuan a year to feed and clothe them.

Finally, another million yuan was given to the guards, maids, and eunuchs as salaries, annual rewards, etc.

There are also gifts for some nobles and important ministers, which cost hundreds of thousands of yuan.

The total expenses amounted to more than 10 million yuan!

In other words, the royal family can only save more than one million yuan financially this year.

Even if there is no need to spend so much on building the palace next year, the daily maintenance and repairs are estimated to be hundreds of thousands of dollars less.

Based on this calculation, the royal family's financial surplus next year is estimated to be only more than 3 million yuan at most.

It sounds like a lot, but it may not be enough when you encounter emergencies that require a large amount of money.

How can this make the red lady not anxious?
What's more, she also wants to increase internal funds as soon as possible to reduce Liu Sheng's financial pressure...

"I'm thinking about what other profitable and suitable industries I can start to add more income to the royal family."

Hearing what the red lady said, Liu Sheng only felt warm in his heart.

Then he asked, "Do you have any promising industries?"

The red lady shook her head.

Liu Sheng's heart moved and he said: "Why don't we open another bicycle factory?"

"Bicycle factory?" The red lady was confused for a moment, "What is a bicycle? How is it different from a car?"

The red lady knew about the existence of cars in the tablet given by Liu Sheng, but she didn't know about bicycles.

Because in Liu Sheng's era, bicycles were almost eliminated and were rarely seen in daily life, and even less common in tablet videos.

Liu Sheng explained: "Bicycles are a simpler vehicle than cars. With our current technology in Dawei, although we cannot produce mature models, we can produce basic models without any problem."

There are two main problems in producing bicycles today.

One is the axle and chain, and the other is the tire.

As early as when Wang Hui was developing steam trains, the axles and chains were hand-made through the exquisite memory of Ming craftsmen.

Now, over the past year or so, a relatively mature production process has been developed that can carry out large-scale production.

As for tires, it is really difficult to solve without rubber.

But bicycles do not necessarily have rubber wheels.

Bamboo wheels, covered steel wheels, rubber-coated wheels, etc. are all available, but their performance is not as good as pneumatic tires.

In fact, Liu Sheng remembered that as early as the early Qing Dynasty, someone in China had developed the first generation bicycle.

This man's name is Huang Luzhuang, a native of Yangzhou.

He had extremely high talents in physics and engineering machinery manufacturing, and relied on self-study to invent many things that were unimaginable at the time.

There are dozens of inventions such as bicycles, flashlights (searchlights), automatic theaters (probably between revolving doors and movies), self-propelled fans, thermometers (an early model of thermometers), humidifiers, mechanical dogs, etc. .

It is a pity that the Qing Dynasty only inherited the dross of the Ming Dynasty and carried it forward. There was no stage for great inventors like Huang Luzhuang to shine.

Therefore, he could only be regarded as a local oddball at that time.

In later generations, his talent was valued and promoted by people, and he became famous. He was even called Edison in the early Qing Dynasty by Westerners.

After Liu Sheng remembered this person, he asked Xiu Yiwei to search for him, but he couldn't find him. He was probably not born yet.

Although Huang Luzhuang was not born, Liu Sheng knew how to make mature bicycles. It was still easy to open a bicycle factory.

After the establishment of this factory, in addition to manufacturing bicycles, it can also manufacture non-motorized vehicles such as human-powered rickshaws (rickshaws) and four-wheel carriages.

When Liu Sheng explained about bicycles, human-pulled carts, and four-wheeled carriages, the red lady's eyes lit up.

"If this factory is opened, business will definitely be easy and we can make a lot of money!"

Liu Sheng smiled and said, "Then I'll leave this matter to you."

"it is good."

Liu Sheng knew that the red lady was actually an active person.

Only because she became a queen and had to take care of the harem, she rarely went out.

He might as well find more things for the Red Lady to do outside the palace, so that she could move more.

But then he reminded, "When you are in charge of the Internal Affairs Department, the important thing is to select and employ people. As long as you select the people and leave the work to them, you don't have to do everything yourself."

"Ok, I know."

The red lady smiled and nodded, with two small dimples showing on her pretty fair and rosy face.

Immediately, the red lady remembered something more important.

"Tuanzi will be five years old next year, it's time for enlightenment."

While speaking, the red lady glanced at Liu Rui, who was taking his sister to read comic books.

Liu Rui was born in December of the 1641th year of Chongzhen (), and was actually just over three years old.

But according to the way people calculated age at this time, it was indeed five years old (virtual age) after the new year.

In later generations, it would be normal to go to kindergarten at the age of three or four.

Liu Sheng nodded and said, "It's time to enlighten him. However, we cannot educate him according to the methods of previous royal families. We must use new methods."

"new method?"

The Red Lady knew that Liu Sheng came from the later generations.

Later generations were far more developed than the Ming Dynasty in all aspects.

The same is naturally true for education. It can even be said that everyone is like a dragon.

Therefore, Lady Hong was quite curious and looking forward to Liu Sheng's idea of ​​educating the prince.

Liu Shengdao said, "In the past dynasties, the royal family used to educate the prince, especially the prince, by finding many famous teachers and scholars to educate the prince alone."

"Even the other princes are studying together, and the number of them is not large."

"In this case, although it is convenient for the princes to learn some knowledge that only the royal family can learn, it also limits their social interaction."

"The absence of a complete social environment is not conducive to the princes building a complete personality, that is to say, it is not conducive to their mental growth and soundness."

The red lady nodded slightly, agreed, and asked, "What are you going to do, Your Majesty?"

Liu Sheng said, "I plan to open a royal school in the Forbidden City, including kindergarten, elementary school, junior high school, and high school."

"In the future, not only will all princes and princesses be sent to study, but also nobles, ministers and children of martyrs will be selected to enter."

"Let the number of students in the school be as large as possible, and the teaching should be similar to that of regular schools outside."

"But the quality of the teachers will be very high, and the various hardware facilities will also be very good."

"In this way, and providing the princes with a few private tutors in their spare time, it will be enough for them to learn the knowledge they need, and at the same time, they will have a relatively healthy growth environment."

In fact, Liu Sheng had paid attention to the cultivation of princes and princesses early on.

For example, nowadays the children of concubines are basically raised in their own palaces.

In addition to cultivating the relationship between mother and child, it is also helpful in shaping the normal psychology and personality of the children.

For example, in the education of princes in the Ming Dynasty, except for the generation of Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di's sons, most of them in the future were models of failure.

This is also the reason why the emperors of the Ming Dynasty were so weird.

The next day.

New Year's Eve.

Liu Sheng, the concubines in the harem, and the princes and princesses gathered together to have a New Year's dinner. During the dinner, Concubine Hui Bai Taiwei suffered from morning sickness, but she was more than one month pregnant.

Confirming her pregnancy on the last day of the third year of Qianyuan was another happy event for Liu Sheng and Dayei.

···
Qianyuan four years.

After the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

Liu Shengxian issued an edict announcing the establishment of the "Da'ei Royal School".

It will take half a year to prepare.

Build a campus, select teachers, compile teaching materials, and select students.

If all goes well, school will start on the first day of August this year (the first day of August is chosen because of the lunar calendar).

The nobles and ministers of Dawei were moved when they heard the news.

This day.

Natural restaurant near the Forbidden City, in a private room on the second floor.

Several off-duty Guards brigade commanders and deputy brigade commanders gathered together for a meal.

A gathering of generals of the Guards was actually something that was tabooed by the emperor. Even though the possibility was much smaller in Da'ei, a few people still chose this restaurant specifically.

Because Tiantianju is a royal property.

They chose to have dinner here, firstly, to make money in their pockets for the royal family, and secondly, to show that they were aboveboard and not planning anything evil.

Natural Ju's wine and dishes are rich in variety and taste very good.

It is said that many dishes were passed down by Liu Sheng.

Several of them were from the military, so they waited for the food and wine to arrive, and then started eating and drinking. When they were almost done eating, they slowed down and started chatting.

Zhou Xingxian, commander of the Second Brigade of Huben Guards, couldn't help but said, "Have you heard? The Holy One is going to build an imperial school in the Forbidden City."

Wang Kuan, commander of the 3rd Brigade of Shengjie Guard, said, "How come you haven't heard of it? It seems that the Holy Spirit intends to publicize this matter, and it is being discussed everywhere now."

The others also nodded, indicating that they had heard of it.

Zhou Xing immediately said with great interest: "I heard that the children of nobles and ministers will be selected to go to school with the princes. Isn't that equivalent to the princes studying with them?"

"This is a great thing. Do you think there is no chance that our child will be selected?"

Reading accompaniment sounds like a servant.

But that depends on who will be the companion.

According to the experience of other dynasties, if you serve as a companion to a prince, if the prince inherits the throne in the future, the companion must be close to important officials.

Moreover, according to Liu Sheng's wishes, the children of nobles and ministers should still be classmates of the princes.

That status is another level higher.

Therefore, the senior generals of the Guards were very concerned about this matter.

Liu Tichun, who serves as the brigade deputy of the Second Brigade of Huben Guards, said, "It's hard to say. It depends on how the Holy One chooses."

"If we talk about the literary talent of the children of each family, I am afraid that the children of us military generals' families are not very qualified."

"But if we choose someone with military talent, our children should have a lot of hope."

The others couldn't help but nod in agreement after hearing this.

The Guards generals spend most of their time in Nanjing, and their lives are much more stable than those of the Standing Army generals.

In the two or three years since the founding of the People's Republic of China, most of these generals have gotten married and had children.

Some generals even had wives and children.

Either due to the influence of genetics, family environment, or both, most of the children of these military generals' families showed talents as military commanders, and only a few showed talents in literary matters.

Based on these generals' understanding of Liu Sheng.

If Damei Royal School selects students, in addition to considering status, talent and talent must also be considered.

In fact.

Not only these military generals were discussing the "Royal School", but also a group of senior civil servants in Nanjing were also discussing the matter.

Many of these civil servants came from the Qing Ming Dynasty. Even those from the Wei tribe were not young. They got married early and had many children and grandchildren.

Considering the age of the emperor's eldest son Liu Rui, these senior civil servants were even more eager to enroll their family members in the "Royal School".

Many people inquired openly or secretly, hoping to know Liu Sheng's selection criteria in advance so that future generations could prepare early.

When Liu Sheng learned the news from Xiuyiwei, he just smiled and did not interfere.

Because he did deliberately let people publicize the "Royal School" thing.

One is to hope that more people will pay attention to this matter so that we can select truly suitable "Royal School" students in the future.

The second is to let this matter attract the attention of the government and the opposition so that he can do other things.

For example, rectify the salt industry.

···
In the fourth year of Qianyuan, it was the twentieth day of the first lunar month.

Tianxin Palace.

Xu Du didn't dare to look more after being led in by the guards.

When he reached the position of saluting, he performed a standard salute of bowing to heaven and said respectfully: "General Xu Du, please see your majesty!"

"Flat body."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Xu Du straightened up and took the opportunity to take a quick glance at Liu Sheng.

Three years ago, after he took the initiative to defect to Wei in Zhejiang, he came to Nanjing with many people to meet Liu Sheng.

I was lucky enough to take a quick look at Liu Sheng in the main hall.

deep impression.

Three years later, he felt that Liu Sheng's appearance had not changed much, but he seemed to be more powerful than before.

Xu Du felt in his heart that this was what he should do.

Three years ago, Damei had just been established. Although it occupied several provinces, it had not yet unified the south.

Now Da'ei has unified the world, leaving only Gansu in the northwest and Liao in the northeast that have not yet been captured.

Liu Sheng was already the founding emperor of the unified dynasty.

Naturally majestic!

At the same time, Liu Sheng was also sizing up Xu Du.

At that time, Xu Du was perhaps only somewhat famous in Zhejiang, and was at most known to some Jiangnan literati.

But Liu Sheng, as a later generation lover of late Ming historical novels, was quite impressed by Xu Du.

Xu Du, courtesy name Ziyu, was from Jinhua Prefecture, Zhejiang Province.

When he was young, he obtained the title of scholar, went to Jiaxing Prefecture to study, and met many Jiangnan literati.

Later, I traveled with some friends to the Sanwu area and witnessed the darkness of officialdom in Jiangbei, Jiangnan, and Zhejiang, the corruption of officials, and the misery of the people, so I became determined to help the world.

He made good friends with Chen Zilong and was recommended, but failed to be appointed by the court.

So he returned to his hometown, scattered money, recruited warriors, formed friendships, and made weapons.

Prepare to revolt and overthrow the corrupt rule of the Ming Dynasty.

In the spring of the fifteenth year of Chongzhen's reign, he sent his subordinates to participate in the Kuocangshan Peasant Uprising, preparing to contact party members from all over the country in the summer to launch an uprising together and directly occupy the entire Zhejiang Province.

Historically, he first attempted to conquer Xuanping in the summer of the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, but failed.

It was not until winter that the mother's funeral was carried out, with tens of thousands of mourners, and she was accused of treason, and then the officers and soldiers were killed and revolted without preparation.

Because the rebel army originally originated from the funeral procession and had its heads wrapped in white cloth, the later rebel army used this as a symbol and was nicknamed "Baitou Army".

Within ten days, the Baitou Army gathered 100,000 people and captured many counties in Jinhua, causing a great earthquake in Zhejiang.

Unfortunately, the attack on Jinhua Fucheng was blocked, and they were defeated at the foot of the city and retreated to Ziwei Mountain.

Perhaps it was because of their gentry class background and their compromising nature. After the defeat, Xu Du felt that he was unable to fight against the Ming army, so he contacted Chen Zilong to discuss surrender.

Because Chen Zilong promised to avoid the death penalty, Xu Du surrendered.

As a result, he was executed by the governor of Zhejiang.

but.

In this time and space.

Damei Chongzhen captured Nanjing in March of the fifteenth year and established the country in early July. Naturally, Xu Du's experience was very different from that of later generations.

When Da'ei attacked Zhejiang, he led his men to start an uprising in advance and joined the Kuocangshan peasant army to surrender to Da'ei.

Afterwards, his troops were reorganized, and Xu Du was sent to the officer school in Nanjing for his service.

After completing his studies in Xudu and passing the exam, Xiuyiwei was established shortly and was in urgent need of talents.

So Xu Du was transferred to the Embroidery Guard.

Initially he was just a major battalion deputy, responsible for supervision and intelligence collection in several counties.

Maybe it's because of his talent in this area.

In two or three years, Xu Du was promoted successively.

Now he is the head of the two-star Brigadier General of the Xiuyi Guards, responsible for overseeing the work of the Xiuyi Guards in the Jiangbei area of ​​​​South Zhili. (End of chapter)