Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 1003 Exploring People's Feelings
During the Ming Dynasty, the prosperity of the south of the Yangtze River, Nanjing, Suzhou, Hangzhou, and Yangzhou were once cities with a population of nearly one million, far from being comparable to those in the north.

Now because of the confrontation between the north and the south, the north and the south of the Grand Canal are impassable. Except for Yangzhou, which was unable to recover and changed from a commercial city to a military center, cities such as Nanjing, Suzhou, and Hangzhou were able to recover quickly.

The main reason for this is that Xiao Qihui, Zhang Cunren and others surrendered at the beginning, so that many places in Jiangsu and Zhejiang did not fight a big battle and preserved their vitality.

Time gradually arrived in late December, and some days later, it would be three years of co-ruling.

The city of Nanjing is extremely lively. Since the return of the imperial court center, the rich and powerful families and the warehouses of the chamber of commerce have been located here. Many trades and orders have been negotiated in Nanjing, and then funds are injected into local workshops. The settlement of large trades, Most of the settlements between the government and firms were carried out in Nanjing, which made Nanjing gradually become a financial center and accumulated a lot of wealth.

Nanjing is close to the Yangtze River, and the transportation is convenient. Large ships can directly arrive in Nanjing. The business is extremely prosperous. The fixed population and floating population have exceeded one million, surpassing Guangzhou, the economic center in the south, surpassing Hangzhou, Suzhou and other places, and becoming the number one in the world. commercial city.

There are 99 large industries in the city, more than ten large markets, countless shops, and more than 30 money houses. It can be said that the capital of merchants in the world, Nanjing and Wu account for six out of ten, and the other four and three are in Guangzhou and Wuchang. One point is in central Fujian, and the north cannot be compared at all.

The city of Nanjing is divided into the palace city, the imperial city, the inner city and the outer city. The palace city is now the residence of the royal family, while the imperial city is occupied by various yamen of the imperial court. The inner city mainly gathers princes, nobles, rich gentry, and various chambers of commerce. , especially in Xishi near the Qinhuai River, there are more than 20 large and small shops, including more than [-] sugar shops.

Sugar is something that not everyone can afford. There was no sugar in Europe before, and only the nobles could afford it after they had it. So Europeans left a habit to change it. In order to show that they are rich, they like to put sugar hard , Sweet can kill people.

The situation in China is better. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, there is a record of sugar making in "Qi Min Yao Shu". By the Song Dynasty, sugar had become a necessity of life. Of course, this is only for the nobles and the rising bourgeoisie. Get sweetness with dates, beets, etc.

Those in the city, such as those in the sugar shop, are mostly facing the wealthy class in the city. Most ordinary people will not come here, but in the outer city market.

The outer city is mainly a land for the lower class people to inherit, and the land price here is not high, because the grade is relatively low, and most of the aristocratic families are unwilling to buy land here, and buying land here loses the meaning of being close to the power center.In the outer city, it is mainly a concentration of handicraft workshops. There are more than hundreds of various handicraft workshops. Among them, there are thousands of people working in the government's cannon making workshops. There are also thousands of folk bookstores and cotton spinning workshops. people, at least dozens of people.

At noon that day, Wang Yan dressed up a bit, mainly to ask Xu Yanyan to help him cover the iconic scar on his face. He wore a square scarf, a blue Taoist robe, a leather belt around his waist, and cloud shoes on his feet. With a long sword and a Japanese fan, which is the most popular among scholars nowadays, he went outside the city to investigate the people's sentiments.

Wang Yan thinks that he has a good way of governing the country, and the economy of the Ming Dynasty is thriving by him. However, the Jinhua Rebellion in the first half of the year made him doubt whether there was something wrong that caused dissatisfaction among the people.

He wants to listen to it today, take a look at it, and get to know all kinds of things in Nanjing.

After dressing up, Wang Yan left the palace, and Wang Fuzhi and Gu Yanwu were with him. They were older, and they looked like Mr. Wang Yan, and their temperament was better than Wang Yan. Behind them, more than a dozen people followed. The guards, they were all very nervous, for fear that something might happen.

The three of them walked from the inner city to the outer city. The streets were full of traffic and bustling, and the people chatting on the street seemed very leisurely. Wang Yan walked all the way and found that these people were dressed in brocade clothes and almost no coarse clothes.

Wang Yan and his party were going out of the city, so they didn't wear particularly gorgeous clothes, just ordinary cotton cloth, which actually attracted the attention of many people along the way, and this kind of attention was obviously a bit of disdain and pride.

Feeling these gazes, Wang Yan frowned slightly. Gu Yanwu was from the south of the Yangtze River. He said to Wang Yan: "Nanjing is prosperous, the princes and grandsons, rich and noble people gather, there is a lot of traffic every day, and the people in the city spend a lot of money. Over time, the people in the city are affected by what they hear and see. , it’s also very extravagant, likes to compare and compete for wealth. A few years ago, the trend of the Qing army going south was suppressed. Now the situation is a little better, prosperous and prosperous, and it has recovered. Anyone in the city who occasionally wears clothes that are not brocade is popular. ridiculed, so everyone is vying to wear brocade clothes."

Wang Fuzhi nodded, "Etiquette collapsed and music deteriorated. Since Jiajing Wanli, Neo Confucianism has been challenged, and the atmosphere in the south of the Yangtze River has been like this."

After hearing what the two said, Wang Yan thought for a while. Although he attacked Confucianism, he had to admit that everything has two sides, and Confucianism also has its benefits. He restricted people's desires and made the whole society have a common moral standard , can make the society stable, and the study of the mind also has the problem of the study of the mind. He pursues the Tao in the heart.

He promotes commerce, and commerce seeks profit, and the people will naturally be affected. However, in the Ming Dynasty, Jiangnan was economically developed, and the gentry loved money, not because of his talent, but because of the inevitable result of social development. It's just adding fuel to the fire.

Wang Yan shook his head. Everything has two sides. He encourages business and develops the economy, and he needs to bear the consequences. If the people do not have a sense of comparison and vanity, business will not develop. No one bought the silk and satin.

Things are always reversed, if you don’t pursue interests, everyone can’t be a false sage, and it’s inevitable that you can’t pursue interests too much. In the process of social development, problems will arise if you are too radical or too conservative, too left or too right.

Wang Yan felt that after going back, it was necessary to read the doctrine of the mean again, so that he could get a clue and grasp the scale.

Thinking about it, everyone has already arrived outside the city. As the New Year is approaching, the market outside the city is also bustling with people.

Most of the people here wear coarse cloth clothes, and those who are in better condition wear high-quality cotton Taoist uniforms like Wang Yan. The colors are very single, far less gorgeous than those in the city. The entire city of Nanjing is divided by several walls. Classes and strata are clearly defined.

Wang Yan was walking on the street, and many people came to the market to buy new year's goods. Because a large number of troops were stationed in Nanjing, and the salary of the Five Zhongjun Army was very high, compared with the average workshop worker, they had to pay six or seven renminbi more per month. , coupled with the distribution of rewards for suppressing the rebellion at the end of the year, the family members of the army spent a lot of money, and satin chickens and ducks were bought whole, which attracted the envy of the people.

Gu Yanwu heard that the restaurant in front was very lively, so he said to Wang Yan: "Your Highness, the teahouse and wine shop have the most news, let's go and have a seat."

(End of this chapter)