At the Nanjing Railway Station, Wang Shouren, many senior officials from the Southern Zhili Province, and officials from the Six Ministries of Nanjing were all present, waiting patiently for the arrival of Zhu Houzhao and Liu Jin.
It is the first time for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to come to Nanjing, which is a big event for the entire Southern Zhili.
Because this time, Emperor Hongzhi, represented by the crown prince Zhu Houzhao, came to Jiangnan to inspect Jiangnan on behalf of the emperor. Officials at all levels in Jiangnan, Nanjing's six ministers, ministers, etc. were extremely excited after receiving the news, and made a lot of preparations in advance.
In addition to Zhu Houzhao, Liu Jin is undoubtedly worthy of their welcome.
A popular figure around the emperor, a cabinet minister, and a man in his thirties, it is almost certain that he will become the chief minister in the future, and even now, most of the cabinet affairs are handled by Liu Jin, Liu Jian
I spent most of the time drinking tea with Li Dongyang.
Liu Jian is old, already 80 years old, and is thinking about returning to his hometown for retirement. Li Dongyang is in poor health and often asks for leave due to illness. Naturally, this matter basically falls on Liu Jin.
Liu Jin has always been a practical official who likes innovation. Not long after he became a cabinet minister, he came up with a new memorial system.
Say hello, say hello, and please do not write memoranda that flatter you. If you write once to criticize, if you write twice, you will be transferred to the frontier to become an official. If you dare to write a third time, you will be dismissed from office.
When you write a memorial, you should state the important things directly. Don't make it stinky and long like a lazy woman who binds her feet. Don't quote scriptures and show off your literary talent and knowledge. Talk about something when it's important, and don't waste the precious time of the cabinet and the emperor.
After such strict regulations, everyone now does not dare to write memorials. If there is nothing important, try not to write memorials.
For this reason, Liu Jin naturally suffered another wave of impeachment and attacks, saying that Liu Jin blocked the way of speech, deceived the saints, and controlled the government.
However, Emperor Hongzhi had great trust in Liu Jin. All those who impeached Liu Jin were reprimanded, and everyone knew what to do. They just had to do what Liu Jin said.
At the same time, everyone also knows that Mr. Liu Ge is someone who cannot afford to offend and must not offend him. When he comes to Nanjing this time, he naturally has to give him a good reception so as not to have to wear shoes when he returns.
The only person who can truly understand Liu Jin is probably Wang Shouren.
Compared with other officials, he seems to be the most relaxed one.
He has known Liu Jin for many years and knows Liu Jin very well. Although Liu Jin has many rules in doing things, it is also for the sake of the court and to improve the efficiency of the government. As for Liu Jin himself, he has always been very easy-going and has nothing to do with it.
exquisite.
What really worries Wang Shouren is the current situation in Nanjing.
Because of what happened the winter before last year, Nanjing's economy was hit hard and has been on a cliff for two consecutive years.
From the tax collected by the Nanjing Taxation Office, we can know that the tax revenue in all parts of South Zhili has increased, especially in Songhu, where the growth has been the most rapid.
This year alone, the tax revenue received by Songhu has exceeded 100 million taels of silver, contributing one-tenth of the tax revenue of the Ming Dynasty. It has far surpassed Nanjing and has become the third largest city in the Ming Dynasty after Tianjin.
City.
But here in Nanjing, in the twelfth year of Hongzhi, Nanjing was still the third largest city in the Ming Dynasty. In terms of tax revenue, it could receive more than 70 million taels of silver a year.
However, in just two years, Nanjing's economy fell into a cold winter, and tax revenue fell off a cliff. This year, Nanjing's total tax revenue has not exceeded 30 million taels of silver.
You must know that it is almost winter now, and there are only a few months left. This tax is not even one-third of Songhu's. The gap is really huge.
Although Wang Shouren is the Chief Envoy of Southern Zhili, the situation in Southern Zhili as a whole is still very good.
Southern Zhili has always been a tax-rich area of the Ming Dynasty, and the land south of the Yangtze River is extremely wealthy.
With the development of capitalism and colonialism, coupled with the Yangtze River water transportation, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, developed and convenient maritime transportation, and the opening of railways.
The development speed of South Zhili is also very fast, especially driven by Songhu, the development is extremely rapid.
Nanzhili also delivered good results.
Especially in terms of taxation, after Wang Shouren's successive attacks, the taxation work in the Jiangnan area is much better than before. Taxes are easier to collect, more are collected, and they are more standardized.
However, what happened in Nanjing still overshadowed his political achievements.
Nanjing has always been a famous city in the Ming Dynasty. It used to be the capital of the Ming Dynasty, but now it cannot even compare with Songhu. Even Guangzhou in Guangdong and Guangxi, Crescent City in Nanyang, Kaifeng in Henan, etc. are all developing extremely rapidly.
There is a strong tendency to catch up with Nanjing.
If this continues, the capital of Southern Zhili may be moved to Songhu in the future.
"Coming, coming~"
I don't know who shouted, which brought Wang Shouren back from his thoughts.
Everyone looked at the railway in the distance, and a train was slowly approaching the station.
"Woooo~woooo~"
The train slowly stopped amidst the sound of whistles.
An excited Zhu Houzhao and a smiling Liu Jin stepped off the train.
Zhu Houzhao wore a bright yellow prince's robe, a gold silk crown on his head, and a golden dragon embroidered on the bright yellow clothes; as for Liu Jin, he wore a crimson official robe with cranes embroidered on the clothes. It was obvious at a glance that he was a serious official.
"I will pay my respects to His Highness the Crown Prince!"
When officials from the Six Ministries of Nanjing, Wang Shouren and others saw him, they immediately saluted Zhu Houzhao.
"No need, no need~"
Zhu Houzhao waved his hand. He was always annoyed by these red tapes.
Soon, His Highness the Crown Prince of Ming Dynasty's huge team marched out of Nanjing Railway Station in a mighty manner, letting everyone here in Nanjing soon know that His Highness the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty had come to Nanjing.
Zhu Houzhao came to Nanjing this time and had many tasks, including supporting the opening ceremony of the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, and also going to Xiaoling to pay homage to Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty. In the past, he would send a British duke or a prince-in-law to pay homage every year, but this time Zhu Houzhao
He's actually here, he must be going to pay homage.
We will also inspect the flood-stricken areas in the south of the Yangtze River to convey the emperor's concern for the people. Finally, we will go to Songhu to inspect and see the development of Songhu.
The news that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has arrived in Nanjing also made the whole of Nanzhili and Nanjing excited.
It has been a long time since the emperor or prince came to Nanjing.
Since the capital of the Ming Dynasty was moved to Beijing, the status of Nanjing has become worse day by day. The six departments of Nanjing have all become nursing homes. Those who come here to be officials have no future, no future, and are waiting to eat and die.
The last emperor to come to Nanjing was Emperor Xuanzong. Since then, no emperor or prince has come to Nanjing. This makes the young and old men in Nanjing and Nanzhili feel very unhappy.
Originally, the country of the Ming Dynasty was Nanjing. Before the capital was moved, Nanjing was the largest city in the Ming Dynasty, and everyone could enjoy many benefits.
However, once the capital was moved, Nanjing's status dropped drastically, and it was something that neither father nor mother loved.
Now, Tianjin and Songhu have surpassed Nanjing, and several cities are catching up with Nanjing. They may surpass Nanjing in the future.
But what is even more sad is that Nanjing is now very depressed.
There used to be huge industrial zones with thousands of factories. Millions of people came to work in Nanjing every year, which drove the development of Nanjing in all aspects.
The scale of the city is constantly expanding, all kinds of businesses are particularly easy to do, and housing prices are constantly rising.
However, in the past two years, a large number of factories have closed down or moved to Songhu. No one came to Nanjing to work, and many places were turned into ruins.
The once bustling and bustling streets have become extremely depressed, with few people around, and housing prices have been falling again and again.
Two years ago, a house in Nanjing cost 1,000 taels of silver. But now, even if a house is sold for 100 taels of silver, no one wants it. This makes countless people who buy houses in Nanjing have nowhere to cry.
The sense of loss and huge contrast make Nanjing people extremely eager to make changes, hoping to go back to the past, back to two years ago.
The arrival of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has brought hope to the whole of Nanjing. Everyone is eager for Nanjing to develop again because of the Crown Prince's arrival.
Of course, we also hope that through the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, we can slowly change the current situation in Nanjing and allow Nanjing to resume development.
Four-wheeled carriages drive through the streets of Nanjing.
Liu Jin looked at everything here carefully through the car window.
Even after some temporary superficial work and whitewashing by local officials in Nanjing, Liu Jin could still see it.
Nanjing is indeed much more depressed than when I came here two years ago.
Many of the shops above were closed, and there were no signboards. The windows above restaurants and teahouses were all closed, so it was obvious who was there.
In some places passing along the way, you can see unfinished houses that were only halfway built and then stopped. When passing the factory area, although the factory gate was blocked, Liu Jin could still see that these factories
It has been deserted for a long time and overgrown with weeds.
It is extremely quiet inside the factory. You can't hear any roar at all. There are also tall chimneys with no smoke coming out. You can see swallows building nests on them, and from time to time there are groups of them.
Birds stayed on it and flew around.
Even when the convoy entered the old city of Nanjing, it could be seen that the old city had become extremely depressed, with shops unable to do business; many houses were empty, and many people went to work in Songhu.
"Perhaps we should go to the Qinhuai River and see if the number of flower boats there has also decreased."
Liu Jin looked at all this and saw that despite the whitewashing by local officials in Nanjing, it was already so depressed, which showed that Nanjing was indeed in too much decline now.
