Tianjin, the huge Tianjin Port is extremely prosperous. Ships from all over the Ming Dynasty and abroad arrive in Tianjin all the time, and there is also a ship leaving Tianjin Port to go to all over the world.
As the largest port in the north and the closest port to the imperial capital, it is the largest and most prosperous port in the entire Ming Dynasty.
At this time, at a dock, more than ten ships had just arrived at Tianjin Port. The workers at the dock were busy unloading the ship, which was different from previous ships.
These cargo ships were not loaded with gold and silver, nor with goods from inside and outside the Ming Dynasty, but with all kinds of animals.
There are elephants, lions, hyenas, wild dogs, buffalo, zebras, crocodiles, etc. from the African grasslands. There are also koalas, kangaroos, emus, etc. from Australia, and there are also tigers from Tianzhu.
, leopard, monkey, etc.
All kinds of animals turned more than a dozen large ships into a noisy zoo. When unloading, the dock workers were all frightened, but soon they looked at them very curiously.
Various animals.
Although this is not the first time I have seen animals from overseas, it is quite amazing to transport so many kinds of animals to Tianjin at one time, with more than ten large ships dispatched at the same time. Such a large-scale effort is quite amazing.
You must know that just collecting these various animals from all over the world, and they are all alive, is already very difficult. What is even more difficult is to transport these animals to Tianjin in good condition.
This requires more than just money. Without huge power, it is simply impossible to collect these animals from all over the world to Tianjin.
Of course, what makes people more curious is why so many animals are collected here in Tianjin?
The animals arriving at the Tianjin port were quickly transported to the capital in large four-wheeled carriages. More than a dozen large ships and hundreds of animals of various sizes, including the food these animals ate, took thousands of four-wheeled carriages.
Horse-drawn carriages came for transportation, and the long transportation team, coupled with the noises made by these animals, immediately attracted the attention of all the gentlemen in Tianjin.
"That's the elephant?"
"It's really huge. The ears are bigger than a cattail leaf fan. Isn't the nose too long?"
"The most valuable ones are the ivories. It is said that a pair of ivories like this now costs several thousand taels of silver."
"A few thousand taels of silver! My dear, isn't this piece of ivory worth more than a dozen houses?"
"That's right. Only the really rich can afford it. I just don't know what's so special about something made of ivory."
"Tsk, tsk, it turned out to be a big white insect. This is the first time I have seen a big insect."
"I have only seen tiger skin once before, but I have never seen a live tiger, or a white tiger."
"The skins of these white tigers are probably worth tens of thousands of taels of silver."
"Ten thousand taels of silver, that's about it. I heard that these tigers come from Tianzhu. There are many tigers there and they are rich in big white insects."
"Roar~"
"This is a lion. The sound is really scary. It is similar to a stone lion. The mane is so long and thick!"
"I heard that this lion is an animal from the African savanna."
"And that horse, one white and one black, is really magical. There is such a horse in the world."
The old and young men in Tianjin looked at the animals in the four-wheeled carriage and kept discussing it. They really gained experience and saw hundreds of animals at once.
The long queue headed towards Tianjin, attracting lots of attention along the way.
In the capital, at Liu Jin's house, it was already three o'clock in the morning. Liu Jin was still sleeping in with his two beloved wives in his arms. He had never felt tired when he was marching and fighting in the past.
After returning home, Liu Jin was so tired and happy from working hard every night that he couldn't get up at all in the morning.
Fortunately, the servants in the mansion are very sensible and know Liu Jin's living habits and daily routine.
As long as he didn't go to morning, Liu Jin would sleep until he woke up naturally, then do some morning exercises, and then sleep soundly until noon before getting up.
"Ms. sir, it's time to get up!"
Xu Waner snuggled into Liu Jin's arms, her face flushed, and Liu Jin's hands were dishonest again.
"Why are you getting up? It's rare that I have time to spend time with you at home. How about we practice again at noon?"
Liu Jin looked at his beloved wife and said passionately.
Xu Waner and Li Zhen have both woken up, but Li Zhen's hands are still very dishonest, which is adding fuel to the fire.
"No, I've done it several times."
"Ms. sir, please pay attention to moderation, and the future will be prosperous!"
When Xu Waner heard this, her face turned even redder. Of course she understood what Liu Jin meant by lunch training. Thinking of that, she was so embarrassed that she was so embarrassed.
"Then whose hands are dishonest?"
Liu Jin smiled and said, "It seems that some people are not full."
After saying that, Liu Jin turned over and was about to continue fighting for 300 rounds.
But at this moment.
"Lao Liu, Lao Liu~"
Zhu Houzhao's voice rang outside, and Liu Jin heard it from a long distance away, and he couldn't help but want to curse.
"Holy shit~"
Extremely unhappy, why does this Zhu Houzhao always appear at critical moments?
Despite his dissatisfaction, Liu Jin quickly got dressed.
Soon, Liu Jin came to the study. Zhu Houzhao was crossing his legs. When he saw Liu Jin coming, Zhu Houzhao stared at Liu Jin carefully with his little eyes and said, "It's really strange."
"I saw that when you just came back from the campaign in the Western Regions, you looked stern and full of energy. How long have you been back now? I feel like you are listless."
"It's really strange. Is it more tiring to be at home than to fight outside?"
Zhu Houzhao said while holding his chin.
"...Of course Your Highness doesn't understand this yet, but you will understand it in the future."
Liu Jin said somewhat speechlessly, "How can I not be listless? With artillery fire going on every day, anyone else would be listless."
"Forget it, let's go, let's see what you can see today."
"Haha, my zoo is finally opening."
Zhu Houzhao rolled his eyes, not understanding the meaning of Liu Jin's words, but soon he did not continue to think about this matter, but pulled Liu Jin and walked outside.
"zoo?"
When Liu Jin heard this, he was immediately confused. When did Zhu Houzhao build the zoo?
"Yes, I told you before that I want to build a leopard room to collect rare birds and animals from all over the world and build a place called a private room."
"But you said at the time that a leopard room didn't sound good and that it would be better to call it a zoo. So I built a zoo here in the capital and asked people to collect all kinds of rare birds and animals from all over the world."
"Haha, starting from today, these animals will arrive in the capital one after another. At that time, all the young and old in the capital can come and see all kinds of rare birds and animals."
Zhu Houzhao nodded solemnly and said.
He is a very energetic person and is very interested in everything. Animals are also one of his great hobbies.
"Is the zoo ready yet?"
Liu Jin said slightly stunned.
"Of course. To build this zoo, I spent more than one million taels of silver and nearly a thousand acres of land."
"Let's go, I'll show you a lot of things."
Zhu Houzhao said very excitedly.
"Thousands of acres of land?"
"More than one million taels of silver?"
"It's really a shame."
Liu Jin was speechless immediately. This Zhu Houzhao was really willing to spend money. His father, Emperor Hongzhi, probably would never be willing to spend any amount of money to build a zoo.
Classmate Zhu Houzhao's zoo is located in the southern suburbs of Beijing. You can arrive here by horse-drawn carriage.
Standing at the entrance of the zoo, Liu Jin looked at the huge, spacious, and majestic gate, and had to sigh that Zhu Houzhao was really willing to spend money on things he liked.
"How about it?"
"Isn't it impressive?"
"First of all, let's make it clear that this zoo belongs to me alone, and I won't be evenly matched with you this time."
Zhu Houzhao looked at the magnificent gate and said very proudly: "There are many things in this zoo that I personally designed. Let's go and show you."
"...Eating alone."
Liu Jin was speechless again, saying as if I really want to build this zoo with you.
Following Zhu Houzhao, he entered the zoo. There were many kinds of plants in the zoo, and they were full of all kinds of flowers. Even if Liu Jin didn't know the difference, he soon discovered that there were transplanted plants of all kinds.
A variety of precious flowers, plants and trees.
"Haha, you can see it."
"This animal is not just a zoo, it is also a botanical garden. I had people transplant all kinds of exotic flowers and plants here from all over the country, including the Ming Dynasty and abroad."
"There are thousands of exotic flowers and plants grown here alone. Did you see these flowers? All kinds of flowers, all kinds of colors, blooming all year round."
"And some plants are not suitable for planting here in the capital. I took reference from the heating design in my father's Qianqing Palace. There are heaters in many places in the entire zoo. When the weather is cold, just light a fire and the heat will
It’s rolling in, so that plants that can’t be grown here in the capital can grow.”
"Of course, it is also to allow some animals to be raised here in the capital. Some animals cannot withstand the cold, so I have specially designed warm rooms for these animals so that they will not freeze to death in the winter."
Seeing Liu Jin's somewhat surprised expression, Zhu Houzhao burst out laughing happily, and then very proudly began to introduce the zoo to Liu Jin in detail.