It's New Year's Eve in the capital, and with bell towers and clock towers everywhere telling the time, the whole capital suddenly falls into a sea of celebration.
From every corner of the capital, countless fireworks bloom in the sky, colorful and extremely beautiful. Firecrackers are blasting in the streets and alleys, making it very lively.
Da Vinci stood in the school dormitory building, drawing quickly, preparing to record everything in front of him with the brush in his hand.
To be honest, he had never seen such a lively scene. Countless fireworks and firecrackers turned the entire capital into a noisy city, a city that never sleeps.
The capital city is the largest city in the entire Ming Dynasty and also in the world. It is a super city with a population of several million. It is prosperous, lively, noisy and wealthy everywhere.
This is especially true during the Chinese New Year.
The streets are brightly lit, like giant dragons extending to the end, and no one knows how much whale oil will be burned in one night; the buildings in the communities are also brightly lit, as bright as day, and every household is gathered together. , celebrating the arrival of the New Year.
The nights here are bright, and the howling cold wind does not scare the people of Ming Dynasty at all. They enjoy the best of this era.
The brush in Da Vinci's hand turned rapidly, and soon a picture overlooking the night view of the Ming Dynasty capital appeared on the paper. Turning over the paper, Da Vinci pondered for a moment, and then he picked up the pen and wrote on it.
The capital of the Ming Empire was the most prosperous, affluent, and bustling city I have ever seen. This painting was painted on New Year's Eve, the 24th year of Hongzhi's reign in the Ming Dynasty.
If you don't visit the Ming Dynasty in person and experience the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty firsthand, you may never feel the feeling of the night sky being illuminated.
Countless fireworks light up in the sky, countless beautiful flowers bloom in an instant, and the deafening sound of firecrackers in the streets and alleys will even make you think you are on a battlefield.
The straight, brightly lit streets look like giant dragons, and the countless lanterns on the Imperial Square make people feel like they are in a sea of flowers. The tall buildings are so bright that they are as lively as daytime.
On the walls of the Imperial Palace and Imperial City, Emperor Hongzhi and Zhu Houzhao were also watching the fireworks in the capital. The Imperial City was extremely majestic and it was the highest place in the inner city.
"Time flies so fast, it will be twenty-five years soon."
Emperor Hongzhi looked at the fireworks that were going off all over the capital, and he had to lament that time flies by, and in the blink of an eye, he has been the emperor for 24 years.
He ascended the throne at the age of eighteen, and in the blink of an eye he is already 43 years old. Even Zhu Houzhao is already 22 years old, and he has a lot of children, and he has become a grandfather.
"Father, this Chinese New Year is getting more and more lively. In the past, there weren't many people setting off fireworks."
Zhu Houzhao was naturally heartless. He did not lament the passage of time at all, but he noticed a problem.
The New Year's fireworks in the capital are becoming more and more lively. In the past, there were fireworks during the New Year, but not many. In other words, the powerful ministers around the imperial city would set off fireworks during the New Year.
But look at it now. Fireworks are being set off all over the capital. It is extremely lively. When countless fireworks are roaring together and competing for beauty, the scene is extremely shocking.
"This shows that our lives in Ming Dynasty are getting better and better."
"Everything in front of us shows that our Ming Dynasty is in an unprecedented prosperous era."
"I just hope that this prosperous era can continue forever, and that our Ming Dynasty can always be prosperous and strong."
When Emperor Hongzhi and Zhu Houzhao were together, he no longer had the airs of an emperor, but more of a father.
"You have grown up, you are already 22 years old, and you have become a father yourself."
"The power of Ming Dynasty will eventually fall on you, and it's up to you to carry it up."
"You are no longer a child. There are some things I hope you understand and I hope you can truly grow up."
"Stop being willful, you must slowly take on the responsibilities that a prince of the Ming Dynasty should have, and you must also learn how to deal with national affairs, so that the prosperity of our Ming Dynasty can continue."
After hearing what Emperor Hongzhi said, Zhu Houzhao curled his lips slightly and talked about it again.
You are in your prime, so it won't be a problem for you to resist casually for another ten or twenty years. By that time, you will have almost had enough fun.
"I see."
Zhu Houzhao replied a little impatiently.
When it comes to these things, Zhu Houzhao also seems to be rather annoyed. What he likes is doing research. Governing the country is really too time-consuming, much more difficult than doing research, and there are also complicated interpersonal relationships to deal with.
.
These ministers in the court are not fuel-efficient lamps, they are all human beings.
A diligent person like Emperor Hongzhi was easily manipulated by these ministers. If Liu Jin hadn't appeared, I don't know what would have happened to the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Houzhao was particularly troubled by these things. Every minister seemed to be loyal, claiming to be serving the country and the people, and sharing the emperor's worries, but it was probably difficult to know what was going on behind the scenes.
There are also those so-called ways of governing the country and the art of emperors, which are even more annoying to Zhu Houzhao. They are a lot of mess, which may not be of any use, but they are still regarded as classics.
If the traditions passed down from dynasty to dynasty were really useful, each dynasty would not have perished in three hundred years.
What Liu Jin said still works, it is easy to understand, simple and clear, as long as you grasp the key things, grasping the general direction is the right way.
The emperor should be thinking about the development direction and route of an empire, instead of being immersed in reviewing endless memorials like Emperor Hongzhi every day.
"Well, it will definitely be different if you become the emperor anyway."
Zhu Houzhao had already made plans in his heart. After he ascended the throne, he would definitely carry out some reforms to reform the current inefficient bureaucratic system.
"You went to the Western Regions, rivers and other places this year. Isn't it very fruitful?"
"After the New Year, you will take charge of this Shuntian Mansion. I would like to see what political achievements you can make."
Emperor Hongzhi looked at Zhu Houzhao, thought for a while and said.
"Ah, take care of Shuntian Mansion~"
When Zhu Houzhao heard this, he couldn't help but scratch his head.
As the magistrate of Huairou County, I am not even qualified. Even though I am often absent from Huairou County, and I am gone for more than half a year, I am now allowed to take charge of Shuntian Mansion.
The Shuntian Prefecture is in charge of the capital, and there are a lot of things to do. If you let yourself take care of it, how will you have time to travel around and do the research you like?
"You have done very well in Huairou County. It's time to try to take charge of a larger place step by step."
"I'll let you take charge of Beizhili in a few years. Let's see how well you manage a province. If you can manage a county well, you can manage a state capital. If you can manage a state capital well, you can manage a province.
."
"When you can manage a province well and the Ming Dynasty falls on your shoulders, I will feel relieved."
When Emperor Hongzhi and Zhu Houzhao chatted, they always used "I" instead of "I". The father and son talked heart-to-heart, and the entourage was more than ten steps away.
"Okay, I do have some gains and ideas."
Zhu Houzhao thought about it and nodded in agreement.
"I was only eighteen years old when I ascended the throne. Your grandfather taught me nothing. The teachers I hired were all civil servants, and all I learned was the Confucian system of governing the country."
"When I first took charge of the country, I didn't understand anything, so I listened to all the civil servants. At the same time, I could only work hard on my own, thinking that diligence could make up for my shortcomings, so that I could live up to the legacy of my ancestors."
"But slowly I discovered that treating a country is really not an easy task. Diligence alone is not enough. Wisdom and experience are also needed."
"I don't have much experience, so I can only rely on those civil servants."
"However, although those civil servants keep saying they are loyal to the emperor and serve the country, and all of them can write beautiful articles, most of them are mediocre people, and they are trying to push themselves too far. They think that because I rely on them, they can do whatever they want."
"For ten years, I worried about state affairs every day and worked extremely hard every day. However, although the Ming Dynasty has improved somewhat under my governance, the people are still in poverty. Only the gentry and civil servants are getting better and better.
"
"I have been thinking hard about how to break the situation, but no one taught me, and I don't have any experience in governing. I only listened to those civil servants, but I was fooled by them and almost became a puppet."
"Obviously the imperial court is already very poor and the national treasury is empty. The grain and taxes collected by the imperial court every year are gradually declining. It stands to reason that the taxation should be thoroughly investigated and commercial taxes should be levied to replenish the national treasury so that the imperial court can have money to go abroad.
Defend the Tatars and bring disaster to the interior."
"But as for the civil servants, as long as it involves business taxes, re-measurement of land, and gentlemen paying taxes as one, they will collectively oppose it."
"They would rather the court die in poverty, would rather be driven south by the Tatars every year, would rather have internal and external troubles, but they would definitely not touch the interests of those civil servants and gentry."
"But the court needs money. The money and grain it receives every year is getting deeper and deeper. The gentry is tax-free, and a large number of fields are concentrated in their names. They are getting more and more comfortable, but our court is getting more and more precarious."
"My emperor must be very frustrated. No matter how hard he works, he can't just watch the Ming Dynasty decline, and his body is exhausted again."
"If it hadn't been for the appearance of Liu Jin, who broke the deadlock, and then the current situation of the Ming Dynasty gradually emerged, I can't even imagine what the Ming Dynasty would be like now."
"You are lucky. My health is still good, so I can slowly hone you and accumulate experience from being a county magistrate, prefect, and chief envoy. You should cherish it."
"Being in the emperor's family, you are already the luckiest!"
