golden scales

A clean street environment and an excellent drainage system can solve urban sanitation problems to the greatest extent and reduce infectious diseases.At the same time, the collected domestic waste and waste water can be used as raw materials for composting to increase land fertility and support agricultural production.In fact, in Yanjing, Linqing, and Jiangnan metropolises with a population of over one million, the authorities have long noticed this problem. There are special people who collect the garbage in the neighborhood and buy the excrement in the city.

Zhu Cilang remembered reading a report in his previous life, saying that in a certain place in Hunan, the old city never had water because of the sewers built in the Song Dynasty.On the contrary, in the new urban area, which has only been built for 20 years, the roads often accumulate water due to insufficient drainage.He had specially observed the drainage system of the Forbidden City. Although the foundation was laid by the Mongols, he had never seen any stagnant water.

Of course... this may also be related to the Little Ice Age, severe drought in the north, and too little precipitation.

However, in the capital and Tianjin, he has seen the drains of the Ming people. Although it is not as exaggerated as the Kaifeng city mentioned in the historical records-some people make the sewers their home, and even gather thousands of bandits-but they are far superior to those of later generations. "Urban Sewage Discharge Pipeline".In his plan, the sewer is only reserved for space. One is because the drought in Shandong will continue for several years, and the other is also because the current financial resources are not enough, so it can only be treated in stages.

At present, the most important thing is to organize households and work for the common people, and remove corvees and squad troops.

Squad army is a system in which the northern provinces send guards and military households to serve in the Nine Frontiers. It was originally used to polish and train a strong army for rounds of battle, and later became a handyman and a military slave.Now that the Nine Borders have fallen, the squad army will naturally die without a problem, but it is still necessary to completely declare the end of this system.

Corvée is unpaid labor, the most distressing obligation for the people.If there are few males in the family, the whole family may not be able to solve the problem.The Longqing New Deal implemented a whipping law, merging taxation and labor into the collection of silver, the so-called poll tax, which was still a bad thing enough to ruin the family and property of ordinary people, and naturally became the main reason why people concealed their household registration.

If corvee labor can be exempted and head tax removed, the common people will no longer need to hide their household registration, and their resistance to the work of registering household registration will naturally be reduced.

The resulting labor gap was filled by recruiting civil servants and paying wages.If it is necessary to build a key project like the Lexia Line of Defense, in addition to recruiting civil servants, there will also be an engineer battalion dispatched together with prisoners of war. At the current level, it will not cause the problem of labor shortage. foundation soil.

……

"Grandfather Kui Xin, it's been hard work, get up and talk." Zhu Cihong stepped forward to help the white-haired Wang Zheng.

This old man whose surname is Wang, whose name is Zheng, and who is called Kui Xin, has been missed by Zhu Cihong as early as the early years of Chongzhen.He is Wang Zheng, a great scientist who was called "King of South Xu and North" together with Xu Guangqi in the Ming Dynasty.In other words, Wang Zheng can be regarded as Zhu Cihong's commoner pen pal, who finally met after eight years of correspondence with Zhu Cihong.

"But I never thought it would be His Royal Highness the Crown Prince! The guilty minister will die!" Wang Zheng refused to get up, and the 73-year-old was full of tears and agitated.

Zhu Cihong used the name of his previous life to communicate with Wang Zheng in letters, exchanging questions on physics, machinery and language translation, and occasionally discussing Catholic teachings.Wang Zheng only thought that he was a rich man in Beijing, but he didn't think he was the prince of Huangming. In his letters, he often regarded himself as an elder, called him a little friend, and encouraged him to study.Seeing the real dragon at this moment, it is unavoidable to feel uneasy amidst the agitation.

This anxiety is not because of fear that the crown prince will bear grudges, but because of fear that Daming will have another carpenter emperor in this crisis.How can you not be afraid when you think that you actually "lured" the prince to go out of business?

Zhu Cihong used a pseudonym because he didn't want to be implicated by him.

At that time, Wang Zheng returned home from the inspector Qian Shi of Shandong Province and the military supervisor of Liaohai Sea for pardon, so he was under surveillance.And the case he was involved in was the very sensitive Kong Youde rebellion case, of course Zhu Cihong didn't dare to have anything to do with him publicly.Otherwise, not only would it not be able to help him, but it would also cause him to be missed by villains.

After Zhu Cihong arrived in Shaanxi, the retired official at home was recruited to Shandong by a transfer order. Except for the servants around him, no one even knew about such a trivial matter.Under the care of his sons Yongchun and Yongshun, Wang Zheng finally arrived in Shandong, but he was at a loss. The entire Shandong province was not prepared for this transfer order, so he could only take care of Wang Zheng according to his previous position and support him.

It was not until Zhu Cihong arrived in Laizhou and settled the urgent affairs that he was picked up from Jinan.

"Kui Xingong, I have always been outspoken, and please forgive me." Zhu Cihong said with a smile: "Dare to ask Kui Xingong, would you like to be the priest of the Royal Technical Academy?"

Wang Zheng was lifted up by Zhu Cihong, reluctantly sat on the chair, and looked at the crown prince with tears in his eyes: "My emperor has this yamen?"

"It's not a yamen." Zhu Cihong said, "It's an academy that I plan to invest in to establish, but it teaches natural sciences such as mathematics, physics, and chemistry."

The communication with Wang Zheng in these years has benefited Wang Zheng a lot.If Western missionaries such as Pang Diwo and Tang Ruowang opened a window for him, then the crown prince led him into another world.In the era when there were naturalists in the West, Zhu Cihong had already divided the natural sciences into different categories and pointed out the fundamental differences among them.

"Now that the country is in decline, how can Your Highness be distracted from such miscellaneous studies?" Although Wang Zheng has great enthusiasm and love for natural science, he still can't get rid of the narrowness of "the physical is called a tool".

Zhu Cihong never thought of changing others, although he did change others all the time.He changed his angle and said, "Gong Kui Xin, now the bandits are a hundred times stronger than me. If there is no sharp weapon, how can we compete with the bandits? For example, the 'Crane Yin' and 'Siphon' you invented before are used in farmland. Originally, it would take ten The number of acres that can only be irrigated by one person can now be undertaken by one person, and these nine people can be dispatched to participate in the restoration of the great cause, otherwise they can only be rushed to the fields. From this point of view, isn’t chores also a military weapon?”

"Miscellaneous learning is naturally a weapon of war." Wang Zhengdao: "However, with the respect of His Highness, it is not appropriate to be here personally."

"Haha, that's why I asked Mr. Kui Xin to host it." Zhu Cihong pushed the boat smoothly: "I have moved most of the Beijing and Tianjin craftsmen to Denglai, and there are always people who are willing to learn. Kui Xin only needs to talk about this miscellaneous biography With the way of Mo and Ban, I can concentrate on governing the army and the people. Wouldn’t it be more convenient?”

"Veteran, dare not follow orders!" Wang Zheng returned home from Chongzhen five years after being pardoned, and never served as an official again.Now that he has long since extinguished the idea of ​​being an official, he is naturally happy to be able to engage in the career he has loved all his life, and has the approval of the crown prince.

Knowing that Wang Zheng was old, Zhu Cihong specially met his two sons, compared Wang Zheng to a national treasure, and ordered them to take good care of them.At the same time, it also gave the Technical College the treatment of unlimited quotas. As long as Wang Zheng thinks it is suitable, he can accept it, and absolutely no one cares.The only rationed accounting room is only used to keep accounts and ask for money, and it will never be supervised.

Wang Zheng was not surprised by this level of trust in the prince. Over the years, he had laid a sufficient foundation of trust.He knew that the crown prince's scientific level was far above his, so he could only encourage himself to go all out.

"Your Highness, there is a man in Beijing who knows astronomy and geography, and is proficient in several languages. Can he be called to Shandong?" Wang Zheng asked.

"Yes." Zhu Cihong agreed.

"This man is from Tessie..."

"Tang Ruowang?"

"It's this person!" Wang Zheng smiled, knowing that the crown prince is also a fellow, there is absolutely no reason not to know Tang Ruowang.

"Hahaha," Zhu Cihong laughed, "Father Tang will be here in a few days."

Wang Zheng was overjoyed: "With him here, I will have more confidence."

Zhu Cilang smiled: "I still need him to help me cast the cannon, but Kui Xingong has to work harder on the construction, navy, and ship cannon. Lexia's line of defense is related to the safety of Shengjia, and it must be formed before the end of this year .”

It was impossible for Li Zicheng to go south before Wu Sangui was dealt with, but Zhu Cihong did not think that his loss to Wu Sangui's coalition forces with the Manchus was a coincidence.The variable now lies in Wu Sangui alone.If he could withstand Li Zicheng, it would be impossible for the Qing army to enter through Shanhaiguan.If he couldn't stand it, would he still surrender to the Qing Dynasty?

In the original historical script, Dorgon's condition for him was nothing more than to occupy Guan Ning as king forever.Later, the Manchurians reneged on their promises by crossing the river and demolishing bridges, and drove Wu Sangui to the south of Caiyun, planting the seeds of the San Francisco Rebellion.

In any case, before the 18th year of Chongzhen, Shandong was still safe.It can even expand the scope of control to the entire Shandong province, and even the Jianghuai area. (To be continued.)