As the New Year is approaching, the cold wind is howling, snowflakes are flying, and the sky is freezing, icy and snowy.
However, no matter how cold the weather is, it can’t stop people from going home to celebrate the New Year.
Since the 20s, the Beijing Railway Station has begun to enter the peak period of the annual Spring Festival. The population of the entire capital has exceeded 10 million a few years ago, with millions of people from all over the country.
Migrant workers work here in the capital.
There will be two peak periods for passenger traffic during the Spring Festival and Qingming Festival.
Needless to say, the Spring Festival is the most important traditional festival for Ming people. There is almost half a month of holiday before and after. Even if you are thousands of miles apart, you can go home and reunite with your family by train or bus.
As for the Qingming Festival, it is also extremely important to the Ming Dynasty people. Qingming sweeps tombs and worships ancestors. This is an extremely important and sacred moment. There are also about 7 days of holiday every year.
Compared with later generations, people in the Ming Dynasty had relatively more holidays during this period.
Of course, this is also related to the traffic conditions when Liu Jin formulated the holidays. At that time, the traffic in Daming was far less convenient than it is now, so the holidays naturally took longer.
More importantly, Liu Jin, who came from a later generation, felt that there were too few holidays in later generations. Even if there were statutory holidays, they often had to take extra time off and piece together the weekend time. He wished that the working people could work 24 hours a day.
Working hours is the best.
On the other hand, it is different in Europe and the United States. Almost one-third of the year, and even half of the time in some areas, is on vacation, and the daily life is very restricted.
Therefore, when Liu Jin formulated the holiday code, he formulated the current holiday time after comprehensive consideration of many factors. Basically, any holiday is a week.
The Spring Festival lasts for half a month, the Qingming Festival lasts for one week, the Dragon Boat Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival each have five days, the Ming Dynasty National Day lasts for one week, and the Emperor and the Supreme Emperor's celebrations also last for five days. If calculated in this way, it is almost 36 days of holiday.
It can be said that this is definitely a great conscience.
During this period, the Ming Dynasty was rich and powerful, occupying almost all industries and fields around the world, which also determined that the Ming people's Xiu Mu Code could be well implemented.
If your life is not good, even if you are told that you can take a break, you may ask to work overtime. But if your living conditions are good, even if you are given double wages, you may not be willing to work overtime.
The living standard of people in the Ming Dynasty is definitely far higher than that of future generations. Even if they live in the capital area such as the Beijing-Tianjin area, the life of ordinary people in the Ming Dynasty can still be very good.
Based on the current wage level in Gyeonggi Province, as long as both husband and wife are working, the combined income of the couple can reach 400 taels a year.
In this era, this is definitely a considerable amount of income.
You must know that prices in the Ming Dynasty are extremely cheap. Food, meat, fish, beef, mutton, vegetables and fruits, etc. basically cost a few cents per catty, and 1 tael of silver is equal to 1,000 cents.
If the couple works, they can easily support seven or eight children, and they can also build a beautiful house in their hometown. Even if they want to buy a house in the capital, it is a bit unrealistic. The housing prices in the capital have indeed risen.
There are too many.
Nowadays, holidays in Beijing generally start at 6,000 taels of silver. The pressure to buy a house in Beijing is indeed very high.
However, people in the Ming Dynasty during this period had many choices, and they did not necessarily have to go to big cities. The Ming Dynasty had a vast territory, a sparse population, and a large number of vassal states and colonies overseas. Anyone who emigrated could live a good life.
If 400 taels of silver are converted into the currency of future generations, its purchasing power should be more than 500,000. The couple can earn 500,000 yuan a year from working, and they can live a good life in future generations.
And this is the income of ordinary people in the Ming Dynasty. You can earn this kind of income by working as a waiter in a store, working in a factory, etc. If you have the opportunity or do hard work on a construction site, your income will be much higher.
Have a prosperous life, plus a good vacation.
During this period, the life happiness index of Ming people was very high.
When the Spring Festival comes, millions of people working in the capital are eager to return home. They wish they could go back to their homes immediately, see their children and parents, and brag to the people around them about their work in the capital.
Life.
When the peak customer period comes, the train station will usher in the busiest time of the year.
It was better during the Qingming Festival, but during the Spring Festival, the weather was extremely cold due to the cold weather, and sometimes it snowed heavily, so the court paid special attention to it.
Just like this year, Emperor Zhengde issued multiple imperial edicts one after another, requiring all localities to do a good job in Spring Festival travel related work, and go all out to ensure that every Ming Dynasty person can go home and reunite with their families, and at the same time ensure the safety of Spring Festival travel.
Prevent various traffic accidents.
As the chief minister of the cabinet, Liu Jin would also come to the train station at this time to take a look at the preparations at the train station.
Here at the Beijing Railway Station, Liu Jin and Zhong Fan were watching the lively scene in front of them.
The huge square outside the train station was filled with people. Hundreds of thousands of people crowded the square. The large number of people crowded together made the originally cold weather seem to suddenly become less cold.
People are waiting to enter the train station in an orderly manner. There are many loudspeakers installed around the square, which continuously play the latest train information over and over again, reminding passengers who have purchased train tickets to check in time and enter the station to take the train.
"It feels a little warmer than before, and tea is provided!"
Liu Jin looked at the sheds here and there. There were train station staff here providing free tea to everyone. The weather was really too cold.
The temperature here in Beijing has now reached ten degrees below zero. It is such a cold weather and it is still snowing. You can clearly see that many people have a lot of snowflakes on their bodies, and many people have eyebrows.
, there is still frost condensation on the hair and beard.
Some hot tea is provided for free. After drinking a cup of tea, the whole person can become extremely warm and comfortable.
The railway stations and railways in the Ming Dynasty were privately owned, which was very different from later generations.
For example, the railway station in the southern district of Beijing was built by Liu Jin. It is also a private property of Liu Jin and the current prince.
When the Beijing-Tianjin Railway, the first railway in the Ming Dynasty, was built, Liu Jin built large-scale railway stations in Tianjin and the capital, all of which he paid for himself.
The land is still your own private land, the money is your own private money, and this train station is naturally your own private train station.
A private train station, which also means that all profits and so on belong to the private sector.
The railways in the Ming Dynasty were basically private railways. Of course, many of them were public and private. The court provided part of the funds, and the society raised part of the funds, and then they were listed on the Tianjin Stock Exchange.
There are only a few railways that raise funds to build railways in this way, such as the Changcheng Railway. Because it is a railway to Sichuan, the investment is too large and no one is willing to invest. Therefore, this railway belongs entirely to the imperial court.
Railway stations and railways are privately owned, so in many cases these private owners pay more attention to their own industry. There are many kinds of considerate services at the train station.
The tea in front of you is just one of them. For example, here at the train station, there are many government officials, policemen and the like constantly patrolling, maintaining order and arresting thieves and the like.
During the Chinese New Year, when everyone's pockets are bulging, thieves are most active, especially at the train station, a place with a very large flow of people, which is the favorite place for these thieves.
Every year, some people's hard-earned money is suddenly stolen by thieves, which makes everyone cry.
Combating thieves is also an important task here at the train station.
Although there were many people at the scene, the overall order was very orderly.
Since the emergence of trains, it has become more and more important means of transportation, and it is also the most popular means of transportation.
In many aspects, it has now become more and more perfect.
Both the railway dispatching system and all aspects of operation have been very perfect. Even during the peak period during the Spring Festival Transport, it can still be very orderly.
"Trains are much better now than before. In the past, they were still chaotic and lacked management."
"During the Spring Festival travel season, a large number of people show up and are in a hurry. Problems can easily occur."
"What we need to worry about most now is the highway. There are more and more cars now. Driving home for the New Year in this winter is often easy to cause accidents."
"At this time of year, we can receive reports from various places that many vehicles have accidents on the roads, causing serious traffic accidents."
Zhong Fan smiled and said, he used to be the Minister of Industry, but now he is the Cabinet Minister and is still responsible for this matter, so he knows these things very well.
In the Ming Dynasty, the most likely accidents are not trains, but cars and highways. Especially in winter, when the roads are slippery and there are many vehicles, accidents can easily happen.
"Well, we must be strict and local governments must carry out relevant de-icing, snow removal, emergency rescue, and rescue work to ensure everyone's safety as much as possible."
Liu Jin nodded solemnly and then gave the order.
"yes!"
Zhong Fan also quickly replied solemnly.
At this moment, in a community in Beijing, Wang Erzhu and Li Erxiu were also preparing to go home for the New Year, and this time, they chose to drive home.
