In the capital city of the Ming Dynasty, accompanied by the howling cold wind and the goose-feather heavy snow, the earth was soon replaced with white plain clothes. It was another winter!
In the study of Liu Jin's mansion, Liu Jin was thinking about the affairs of the court.
Since the opening of the railway, the southwest region has developed rapidly. In just a few years, Chengdu has become the engine and driving force for the development of the southwest region, beginning to drive the rapid development of Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan and Chongqing.
In the future, we only need to continue to build railways to Yunnan, Guizhou, and Chongqing. The development speed of these places will slowly keep up with the pace of the Ming Dynasty.
The surging waves of capitalism and colonialism will inevitably attract a large number of people to continue to migrate out of the country. The ecological environment of these places can also be gradually improved. If the ecological environment of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River is improved, so will the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
There is nothing to worry about.
"As the old saying goes, a man will not be rich without windfall, and a horse will not be fat without night grass."
"The same is true for a country. The Ming Dynasty has been able to develop to the present, and all regions are developing in a balanced manner. This is inseparable from external colonial plunder. Without the continuous input of huge wealth, resources, land, etc. from the outside,
Words that nourish Ming Dynasty."
"It is absolutely impossible for the Ming Dynasty to be in the situation it is today, let alone spend a huge amount of money to develop the southwest region. Once the southwest develops, the development of various parts of the Ming Dynasty will be really balanced."
“The northern industrial region represented by Beijing and Tianjin, the western region represented by Chang’an and Kaifeng, the eastern region represented by Songhu and Nanjing, and the middle reaches of the Yangtze River region represented by Hanyang and Nanchang.”
"There are also the southern regions represented by Guangzhou, Quanzhou, and Qiongzhou, and even Southeast Asia and overseas provinces have developed in a very balanced and average manner, unlike in later generations where the gap between the east, middle and west was very large."
"Facts have proven that people who get rich first are not willing to bring the poor to get rich together. They will only find ways to set up high-walled compounds to prevent others from becoming as rich as themselves."
"So development must be balanced, so that it is more balanced and more reasonable."
Liu Jin thought about later generations. Due to the input of external wealth and the poverty and weakness caused by hundreds of years of war, it is really not easy to develop. He can only think of ways to involute and concentrate resources first.
To develop key areas and fields.
The results are also very obvious. The differences between the east and the west are very large. There are many people but few resources. The internal structure is very complicated and the development is extremely unbalanced.
The current Ming Dynasty, because it can feed itself back by plundering a steady stream of wealth and resources through overseas colonization, coupled with the development of industry and technology, has created the powerful Ming Empire today.
The development of each region is very balanced, and the gap between them is very small. There is no reason to say that people in Beijing and Tianjin are much better than people in Liaodong.
In fact, the living standards and income of wage earners in Beijing and Tianjin are not as good as those of farmers in Liaodong. Farmers in Liaodong can earn hundreds of taels of silver just from farming a year.
As for the wage earners in the Beijing-Tianjin area, a couple who work hard can only earn more than 100 taels of silver a year, which is not as good as the farmers in the Liaodong area.
There are also overseas farmers and planters whose income is quite good. Some planters who grow rubber can even earn a considerable income of several thousand taels or tens of thousands of taels of silver a year.
A wage earner in a super city.
While all regions are developing in a balanced manner, the price level in Ming Dynasty has always been maintained at a low level. Especially the price of grain, which is related to the national economy and people's livelihood, is very stable and has always been at a low level.
Those grain merchants and salt merchants who used to be incredibly wealthy have long since declined.
The emergence of cement roads and cars, trains and ships made the transportation of grain more convenient. More importantly, the Ming Dynasty continued to expand, incorporating granaries and meat warehouses into its territory, and mechanized farming greatly increased grain production.
All of this has seriously undermined the basis for the previous ability to raise food prices to make huge profits, and also determined that the price of food is destined to not fluctuate.
Even if there is a drought, flood or locust plague in a place, the impact will be minimal.
The wealth of the entire Ming Dynasty society is growing and expanding rapidly. More importantly, the distribution of social wealth is more reasonable and can spread to more people and the common people at the bottom. For example, if you are willing, you can do it at any time.
You can emigrate and live a happy life as a landlord.
The impact of this is that the entire Ming Dynasty was prosperous and prosperous, it was unprecedentedly prosperous and powerful, and society has never been as stable and prosperous as it is today.
"Work for a few more years, and stop when you're fifty. While you're still young, travel around, eat and drink, and don't worry too much."
In the end, Liu Jin also set a plan and goal for himself. He would stop working for a few more years. It would be boring to be the chief minister of the cabinet for a long time.
Power is addictive, but human life is very short. Even if you hold power all the time, how long can you hold it?
In the end, it is not going to turn into a pile of loess. If that is the case, why should you keep hanging on to it? When it is time to retreat from the rapids, retreat early and do the things you want to do while you have time and energy.
"Master, it's not good, it's not good!"
"The old lady suddenly fainted!"
Just when Liu Jin was thinking about his future retirement life, the housekeeper hurried over to report.
"What?"
When Liu Jin heard this, he immediately became anxious and hurriedly went to visit.
In Liu Jin's mother Wang's wing, Xu Waner, Li Zhen and the servants in the family were all very anxious. The old lady was taking a nice walk, but she didn't know what was going on and fainted all of a sudden.
, fell heavily to the ground, and his head was bleeding.
"What do you guys do for food?"
"Is there anyone to help the old lady when she faints?"
Li Zhen scolded the maid who had been serving Wang.
If there is something wrong with this old lady, it will be a big deal.
Liu Jin lost his father when he was young, and he was brought up by the Wang family. He endured a lot of hardships at that time. One can imagine the hardships involved for a female prostitute to raise a child by herself and also provide education for him.
You must know that in the past, studying was very expensive, but it is not possible for new students to study for free now.
"Madam, it was the old lady who said she wanted to see the snow by herself, but she fainted."
The maid quickly replied in fear.
At this time, Liu Jin had already hurried over.
"mother!"
Liu Jin came to the bedside and looked at his unconscious mother, feeling anxious.
"I've already gone to see the doctor."
Xu Waner also said quickly from the side.
"How could such a good person faint?"
Liu Jin looked at the maids.
"We didn't know either. The old lady said she wanted to see the snow and she said she was afraid we would freeze, so she didn't let us go out. As a result, we fainted immediately after we went out."
The maid cried again and said.
The old lady has always been very kind to them. She has never beaten or scolded them as servants. She always thinks about them as maids. She also gives a lot of rewards during festivals and festivals. They all like to serve such an old lady very much.
, and have always respected the old lady.
Now that something like this happened, they were very sad and were already crying.
"You guys didn't take good care of me. You should take good care of me later on."
Li Zhen looked at the maids and said angrily.
"We know we are wrong, we know we are wrong."
When the maids heard this, they were frightened to death and quickly cried and shouted.
Liu Jin is the Duke of Liao and the current chief minister of the cabinet. Xu Waner is the sister of Duke Ding. Li Zhen is also the granddaughter of the Six Ministers. This is definitely the top wealthy family in the Ming Dynasty.
Since it is a wealthy family, there are many rules, especially for managing the large number of maids and servants below. There are even more rules, and there are also severe punishments. Once you make a mistake, it is a trivial matter to deduct wages, and only get whipped.
This is what everyone is most afraid of. When the whip is struck, the skin will be ripped apart and the pain will be excruciating.
"Okay, let's talk about this later."
Liu Jin waved his hands, sat on the edge of the bed, looked at his mother, tears streaming down his face.
I remembered my childhood, and the past, when I was very poor. My mother suffered a lot, endured a lot, and was tired before she could raise her up and provide for herself to study.
Thinking about it, Liu Jin became even more sad.
Not long after, several doctors hurried to the house. This time, they specially invited professors from Daming Medical College to come for treatment.
"How's that, doctor?"
After the doctor finished reading, Liu Jin quickly asked.
"The old lady must have fainted because of her old age, coupled with the hardships and hardships she endured when she was young, her body is weak and her energy and blood are depleted."
"I fainted and then fell on my head. I'm afraid the situation is more serious than that."
After reading it, the doctor also spoke bluntly to Liu Jin.
After Liu Jin heard this, he couldn't help but burst into tears.
"I'm only over sixty years old, how could this happen?"
Liu Jin couldn't accept such a thing. He was only over 60 years old. The average life span of future generations is almost 80 years old. His mother was only over 60 years old. She only celebrated her 60th birthday two years ago and now she just fell down.
, actually saying that there is more danger than good, Liu Jin cannot accept it no matter what.
In fact, in this era, more than sixty years old is considered a long life, and the average life span is only thirty or forty years old. What's more, Liu Jin's mother did suffer too much when she was young. She was overworked and accumulated a lot of money.
question.
That is to say, when Liu Jin became successful later, he was able to take some time off and continue to cultivate. Otherwise, the situation might have been even worse.
