On February 10th, the third year of Chongzhen, construction of the world's first bank began in the capital of the Ming Dynasty. At the same time, the Mongolian Tatars set off back to the grasslands carrying the things they had robbed in the pass.
The Ming Dynasty's army was still huddled in the Qinwang Army camp outside the capital city. Sun Chengzong never dared to send troops out, even if they didn't collect them at night. He was afraid that someone with ulterior motives would contact Jianlu.
It wasn't until Emperor Chongzhen granted a general amnesty to all generals, and all the generals implicated in corruption cases had paid the atonement money, that they felt a little relieved. Because he was worried about the movements of Jianlu, Sun Chengzong began to send out soldiers one after another at night, but
The army still dared not send out.
Therefore, the Ming army did not know much about the actions of the Tatars. But in the current situation, even understanding was useless.
The reason why the generals in the army were able to pay the atonement silver in just a few days was that, firstly, the number of them was much smaller than that of the civil servants, and secondly, their atonement silver was symbolic and they did not pay much. After counting,
It didn't take long for the report to be delivered to Emperor Chongzhen. The collection of the atonement silver in the capital city is continuing, and there is no final result yet.[
That afternoon, on a street in the west direction of the capital, three people were walking hurriedly towards the Forbidden City.
"Brother, what's the matter with dragging us forward in such a hurry?" One of the strong men asked a man who looked like a businessman who was leading the way.
"Yes, Third Brother's meat has been sold out early, and now you are saying something. My grocery store is closed at this time, and the business in the afternoon is gone. Although it is said, eldest brother always wants to tell us what is going on?"
The short man also echoed.
When the merchant who was called the eldest brother heard the two people asking, he had to stop and turned around and said to the two people behind him: "Since we became friends and became sworn brothers, have I, the eldest brother, done anything to tease you?
Something?"
"No, no, the eldest brother only wants us to earn more so that we can expand our business and expand our business. We both know it in our hearts." The strong man reacted quickly and expressed his stance quickly.
The short man also nodded and looked at the merchant.
Although the two of them learned that their eldest brother was actually just a peripheral shopkeeper of a fourth-grade Beijing official, and he accidentally heard some information to show off, they made friends with them sincerely. The three of them were unwilling to accept the current situation and wanted to get better.
One floor. Among them, the merchants had the most thoughts.
"Okay, since you believe in Big Brother, go with Big Brother. Big Brother will take you to see the world." The merchant was very satisfied, so he turned around again and said to them as he walked.
The two of them quickly followed up, and then the strong man asked the merchant: "Brother, what's the big world?"
"Have you heard about cement? The house built with cement will be completed soon. I will take you to see it." The merchant finally said what he wanted to take the two sworn brothers to see.
"I seem to have heard of it, but I don't know what it is. Can you tell me, brother?" the short man replied to the merchant.
"Did you see Marquis Zhongxing at the restaurant?" the merchant asked.
"Yeah, didn't we meet together? I went back and scolded those women hard, making me embarrassed. But they also said that it was Uncle Zhongxing who had absorbed the magic, so he was just like ordinary people." The strong man remembered.
When I boasted about the eight-foot-tall height of Marquis Zhongxing in a restaurant, I blushed a little. Thinking of the explanations given by those women, I felt a little confused.
"Brother, does this cement still have anything to do with Zhongxing Hou?" The short man obviously knew about the strong man and did not express any opinions on what he said. He just raised his own questions to the merchant.
"Do you know why Uncle Zhongxing was named Zhongxing Hou? I mentioned the reason for killing the Tatars before, but in fact there is another reason." The merchant said as he turned to another avenue and took the side with less people.
keep going.
"What's the reason?" the short man and the strong man asked at the same time.
"Zhongxing Hou dedicated the cement formula to the emperor."
"Brother, after talking for a long time, I still didn't say what cement is." The short man remembered his question.
"Don't worry, you will see what cement is soon. Look at those people going in the same direction as us. They must also be there to see the excitement. You will know when you go there." The merchant replied.
He pointed at other people on the road and said.[
Both the strong man and the short man were very curious. It must be a good thing to see so many people. So they quickened their pace and hurried forward.
After walking for about half an hour, we finally arrived at the square outside the Meridian Gate.
There were already quite a few people rushing over like them, and they all stood looking at a huge building on the edge of the square from a distance, while they were still talking about it.
Soldiers from the Wucheng Military and Horse Division maintained order nearby to prevent idlers from affecting the construction of the bank, and all roads that should be given way had to be given way.
Since the construction of the bank began, the continuous fleet of convoys transporting materials attracted idle people from the capital. As time passed day by day, the number of idle people increased, which affected the construction.
Hundreds of households from the Wucheng Military and Horse Division wanted to drive away all the onlookers, but they were stopped by Zhongxing Hou who was inspecting the construction site. Only those who have no brains would think of driving away those free advertising personnel.
Marquis Zhongxing just asked the soldiers to maintain order and not affect the construction on the construction site.
Sensitive construction areas, new construction methods, new architectural styles, new building materials, and rapid construction speeds have caused these idlers to spread word of mouth. The more people spread the word, the more people spread the word, and the current scale of onlookers was reached. Watching the excitement is a habit.
The traditions passed down from our ancestors have been well passed down to future generations.
At this time, the rough work of the bank had been completed, and most of the small workers had withdrawn, leaving only Wu Shengda and his apprentices painting the walls.
The merchant came here for the second time. He took his two sworn brothers to find a suitable location, and then began to introduce what he heard to them.
"Did you see that such a big house was built in just seven days without a single piece of wood or stone?" There was a hint of admiration in the merchant's words.
The strong man and the short man were already a little dumbfounded. If you want to talk about houses that don't use wood, there are also those mud houses. But inside the houses, there are big wooden beams.
The house in front of us is so big, the beams must be very thick. But I have never heard of people moving large logs in the capital. The transportation in ancient times is poor. If large logs are moved, the people in the city will definitely be alarmed, because a large number of people will be needed.
It depends on the manpower and natural conditions. If you are transporting heavier and larger rocks, you may even have to sprinkle water on them to turn them into ice, and then use cows and people to drag them on the ice.
After a while, the short man turned back to look at the merchant and asked: "Brother, you can't see the wood outside, but inside, aren't the beams made of wood?"
"I heard that there is not a single piece of wood inside or outside," the merchant replied.
"Then what is used to support such a big house?" The strong man had come to his senses at this time and asked the merchant.
"I heard people say that it is made of cement mixed with sand and pebbles, and then iron rods are added to support it."
"How can such a house be built with sand and pebbles? How thick do the iron rods need to be?" The short man shook his head and said in disbelief.
"I heard people say that the iron rod is not thick, just as thick as a finger. And the key is not the iron rod, the key is the cement, you understand, cement." Seeing that the two sworn brothers couldn't get to the point, the merchant had to make three more points himself.
Ming. In fact, when he came here for the first time, his reaction was not much different from that of his two brothers.
"Yes, brother, I was just about to ask you what this cement is?" the short man answered quickly, showing that he was not so stupid.
"This cement is like glutinous rice juice, but it is even better than glutinous rice juice. It can firmly bind the sand and pebbles together. This is how such a big house is built." The merchant told what he heard.
The two brothers repeated the story.
"Is this cement very expensive?" the strong man asked. In his opinion, something better than glutinous rice juice should be more expensive than glutinous rice juice.[
"I heard that the price of cement will be cheaper than glutinous rice," the merchant replied.
"Brother, why do you always listen to what others say? Who are you listening to? Is it reliable?" When the short man said this, he glanced at his third brother.
When the merchant heard this, he blushed slightly, but he did not hide it from the two people who were already his brothers. He replied: "Someone is talking about it. It is said that he has worked there."
When the strong man and the short man heard this, they looked around to see if anyone was talking more about this house.
Seeing their actions, the merchant pulled them together and said in a low voice: "You two, listen to the elder brother. He asked you to come and see it to let you know how powerful this cement is. Moreover, there is a rich man here.