"The Beijing-Tianjin Railway has been officially completed and is scheduled to officially start operating on the first day of October."
"Beijing-Tianjin Railway stocks soared, reaching as high as 55 silver dollars per share!"
"Train tickets are on sale today. One-way train tickets to and from the Beijing-Tianjin area are priced at 110 Wen each!"
In the early morning in the capital, accompanied by the slightest bit of autumn chill, the shouts of newsboys rang out in the streets and alleys of the capital. Soon, a large number of people poured out from every corner and quickly sold out all the newspapers in the hands of the newsboys.
"Haha, the Beijing-Tianjin Railway has finally been completed. This stock has risen to 55 yuan, making a lot of money!"
"I have heard about this train countless times. Now that it has finally been repaired, I must go take a look and take a ride on this train."
"Yes, yes, let's go together, let's go together!"
"I also want to see what this train looks like and how it moves on the rails."
"I heard that this train is as powerful as an ox and can pull hundreds or thousands of people at a time. I don't know if it's true or not."
"Of course it is true. I have seen it a few times. The train is the same as a big snake. The steam locomotive is dragged in front. There are many compartments in the back.
There were bursts of sirens and billows of black smoke."
"It actually looks quite scary, but its strength is really great. The strength of an ox is nothing compared to it. Being as strong as an ox is simply an insult to it."
"Is it really that powerful?"
"Just buy a ticket to see and see. It's not expensive anyway. It's only 110 yuan per ticket. Just think of it as a novelty. I heard that the emperor will also take this train to Tianjin that day. Maybe you will be lucky enough.
I'm riding the same train as the Emperor."
"real?"
"This is still fake. Buy your tickets quickly. If you don't buy your tickets, they will all be sold out by then."
"Yes, yes, go buy the tickets, go buy the tickets, there happens to be a football match in Tianjin that day, so I will go to Tianjin to watch the match."
"Yeah, why didn't I think of that? From now on, it will be much more convenient to go to Tianjin to watch football matches. You can just take the train."
"..."
Following the report in the Ming Dynasty Morning Post, all the old and young men in the capital knew about the official opening of the train. People who had nothing to do and happened to be going to Tianjin suddenly began to come to the train station in the South District to prepare to buy the train.
Ticket, try something new.
After all, there are only a few people who have ridden a train, and a new thing like a train is definitely the most attractive thing to attract people's attention, plus the stocks of the Beijing-Tianjin Railway Company.
Young and old people in the Beijing-Tianjin area have been paying attention to this railway and this train for a long time. After waiting for more than a year, when the railway was finally completed and the train was running, they naturally wanted to see what this train is like.
The ticket office of Xincheng Railway Station in the South District of Beijing has already been crowded with people. There are long queues at every ticket gate. There are really too many people joining in the fun.
The most indispensable thing in the Beijing-Tianjin area is people with nothing to do. For any new things, these old and young men who are full and have nothing to do will go and join in the fun.
"Give me a train ticket to Tianjin on the first day of October."
"Excuse me, do you want to buy a train ticket departing at that time?"
"Is there still time?"
"Of course it depends on the time. There are dozens of trains every day. Starting from a quarter past nine o'clock in the morning to a quarter past eight o'clock in the evening, there is a train at every moment."
"Ah, I will take the same train that day."
"How can we know the emperor's itinerary? Whether we can ride on the same train as the emperor depends on luck. Our ancestors smoked, so naturally we can get the glory of the emperor."
"Yes, yes, then buy me a train ticket for now~"
"I have a train ticket for this quarter, please show me your ID card."
"Do you want an ID tag?"
"Of course you need an identity card. If you don't have an identity card, it would be a mess."
"Here, here, luckily I brought my ID tag with me~"
"This is 110 copper coins~"
A lot of jokes were made here at a window in the train station because of buying train tickets.
There are many requirements for purchasing train tickets. For example, only silver notes and silver coins issued by the First Bank of the Ming Dynasty and copper coins minted by the imperial court will be accepted. The change will only be in accordance with the proportion stipulated by the imperial court.
At the same time, they are also required to show their ID badges and so on. Because of these things, many people have quite strong opinions, but they still cannot stop everyone from wanting to take the train and have a taste of something new.
The train tickets sold out very quickly, and all the train tickets for the first day of October were sold out that morning, and even the train tickets for the second and third days of October were all sold out.
Young and old men in Beijing really want to experience the feeling of this train.
In the imperial palace, above the Jinluan Hall, many ministers were discussing matters in the morning court.
"Your Majesty, the kings of Siam have submitted their credentials in the hope of becoming a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. This is the sixth time that they have submitted their credentials in the hope of becoming a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty."
Fu Han, the Minister of Rites, reported to Emperor Hongzhi.
"What do you, my dear friends, think of this matter?"
Emperor Hongzhi nodded slightly. The Siam Kingdom had to submit its credentials to the Ming Dynasty almost every year, hoping to become a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, because after becoming a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, it would be able to enjoy many benefits, and at the same time, there would be no need to worry.
Ming Dynasty sent troops to attack itself.
Therefore, there are many countries that want to become vassal states of the Ming Dynasty. Among them, there are dozens of large and small countries in the Nanyang region. Almost everyone wants to become a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty.
"Your Majesty, Siam is committed to the Ming Dynasty and is determined to learn from our Chinese civilization. This is a manifestation of the Ming Dynasty's majesty in the world. I think it is reasonable to agree to Siam's request."
Some ministers stood up and expressed their opinions.
"Master Zhang, this is wrong."
"Siam, like other barbarian countries, is afraid of power but not moral. If it hadn't been for our Ming Dynasty's army sweeping across the Southeast Asian countries, Siam would not have petitioned to become a vassal state every year."
"Back then, when the Ming Dynasty asked them to become vassal states, none of the Nanyang countries except Luzon were willing. Now, they want to become vassal states of the Ming Dynasty."
"I really think that the Ming Dynasty is a vassal state. I can enter whenever I want and leave whenever I want."
"I believe that Siam's request should be rejected. If they want to become a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, they must first learn from our Chinese civilization. They just want to gain benefits from our Ming Dynasty, and they do not really want to learn from our Chinese civilization.
Etiquette."
Immediately, a minister stood up and pointed out Siam's intentions very directly.
The Kingdom of Siam only saw the benefits of becoming a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, but did not really want to learn Chinese culture. The King of Siam has not changed his surname to a Chinese name and has not talked about becoming a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty.
You should look at Korea and Japan. From top to bottom, they are trying hard to learn from the Ming Dynasty. Everyone changes their surnames to Chinese, speaks Chinese, and writes Chinese characters. This is truly a vassal state.
"Well, that's good~"
"Reject the request of the King of Siam and wait until they really want to learn our Chinese culture sincerely before considering this matter."
After hearing this, Emperor Hongzhi nodded and expressed his support, and then made a decision.
The King of Siam and Emperor Hongzhi naturally knew about it. Now they send people to send several ships of tribute to Emperor Hongzhi every year, hoping to please Emperor Hongzhi.
It's just a pity that Emperor Hongzhi didn't want anything from the King of Siam. He refused every time and didn't bother to accept your tribute. Don't expect me to give you a gift in return. It's just a dream to want to be the same as before.
"Your Majesty, the King of Spain wrote to my Ming Dynasty, hoping to form an alliance with our Ming Dynasty to jointly fight against the attacks of England, France and Portugal."
After talking about Siam, we soon talked about the war in Europe. Spain also kept conveying its intention to continue to form alliances with the Ming Empire.
In fact, to put it simply, I just want to draw Daming into trouble.
"Reject Spain's demand for alliance."
"But we were allies after all, and we can't watch Spain being bullied. We replied to the Spanish minister that we, Ming Dynasty, can provide loans to Spain and sell a batch of arms and weapons to them."
Emperor Hongzhi refused without thinking, and at the same time he did not forget to do business.
This loan was naturally handled by the First Bank of the Ming Dynasty, and the arms sales must have been produced by Miyun Iron Works, and the two Hongzhi emperors were both major shareholders. As long as the negotiation was successful, Emperor Hongzhi could make two profits at once.
Earn interest and make money selling arms.
"Yes~"
Fu Han nodded quickly.
As the Ming Dynasty communicated with countries from all over the world, the contacts became more and more frequent, and the work of the Ministry of Rites also became arduous. The biggest part of it was receiving foreign envoys, and it was very busy every day.
After discussing this matter, many ministers in the imperial court were silent for a long time. Seeing that they had nothing to report, Xiao Jing raised his voice and shouted to withdraw from the court.
"Your Majesty~"
At this time, Liu Jin stood up.
"Liu Aiqing, what's the matter with you?"
Emperor Hongzhi looked at Liu Jin and asked with a smile.
Everyone in the government and the public knew that Liu Jin was very lazy and rarely spoke unless something happened.
"Your Majesty, the Beijing-Tianjin Railway has been completely completed recently and is scheduled to be officially opened to traffic on the first day of October. I would like to invite Your Majesty and all the princes from the DPRK and China to take the train together to witness this great historical moment!"
Liu Jin quickly said respectfully.
"Haha, okay~"
"The Beijing-Tianjin Railway has finally been completed after more than a year. I have heard so much about the trains and railways that my ears have become calloused. Now I finally have the opportunity to take a ride in person.
Let’s experience what this train is like.”
When Emperor Hongzhi heard this, he immediately laughed happily and agreed immediately.
"Let's all go together and take a ride on this train to see the first train in Ming Dynasty!"