The Road Office was established and a crucial step was taken. The infrastructure project of building cement roads did have many benefits. No wonder later generations of officials would like it.
Zhong Jinwei thought while summarizing in detail the benefits of building cement roads to the Ming Dynasty.
First, cement is in short supply and can accommodate a lot of labor in the cement industry, mainly laborers previously recruited from refugee camps to work in cement factories.
Second, merchants' losses on the way to Zhangjiakou for trade, including time, material and money, will be greatly reduced, which is beneficial to Zhangjiakou's trade.
Third, after the cement road is completed, vehicle tolls will continue to come in every day because of the popular road section, which is equivalent to obtaining a part of the commercial tax in disguise.
Fourth, the shops that are being expanded in Zhangjiakou will attract a large number of businessmen to rent shops due to the expansion of mutual trade and convenient transportation, which will provide another source of rent.
Fifth, in the Ming Dynasty, the country was poor and the people were rich. The construction of cement roads stirred up the wealth of the people, circulated it in the market, and promoted the development of commerce.
Sixth, the cement road solved the problem of food for the people along the way, and even allowed them to earn a little money, which reduced the number of refugees in places that were oppressed by the invaders, and was conducive to the stability of the Ming Dynasty.
7. Establishing an official school where the cement road is located and educating young children free of charge played a foundational role in increasing the quality of Ming Dynasty personnel.
8. Arrange a way out for the Ming Guard troops, especially those who are too old and weak to fight. Just like this time, the eliminated soldiers from the original Beijing camp were reorganized into construction corps to participate in infrastructure construction.
9. With cement roads as the backbone, the Ming Central Committee’s control over local areas will be greatly enhanced in the future. The mobilization of the army will also be faster, especially the artillery units, because the roads will be smooth and smooth, and they will be faster and have more troops.
Time can cope with emergencies.
10. The indirect benefits caused by the above nine points, such as the promotion of banknotes, the establishment of funds, the prosperity of banks, the cohesion of the people towards the Ming Dynasty, Mongolia's obedience to the Ming Dynasty, etc.
When Emperor Chongzhen heard the ten benefits summarized by Zhong Jinwei, he smiled from ear to ear and ordered Wen Tiren, the chief minister of the cabinet who also narrowed his eyes with a smile, to do these things carefully.
Like Emperor Chongzhen, Jianlu also made gains during this period.
Huang Taiji was like a hungry man who had just eaten a full meal and burped with satisfaction, but regretted that there was no meat in his full meal.
He struck while the iron was hot and had just eaten the Mongolian tribes that were originally allied with Dajin, including the Horqin tribe, and formed the Eight Mongolian Banners a few years earlier than in the original history. With so many troops, they were chasing the Eight Banners of Dajin.
Huang Taiji's regret was that the food stolen from North Korea was wasted by the Denglai Ming army on the way.
He had been busy recruiting the Mongolian tribes, and it was only then that he had time to hold a high-level meeting to discuss the last war.
Still in the Chongzheng Hall, the people were basically the same, except that Amin and Mang Gurtai were missing.
However, the atmosphere in the palace is completely different now. Huang Taiji is becoming more and more powerful, and other Baylors are increasingly admiring and even awe of Huang Taiji.
When Huang Taiji was speaking, others no longer whispered as before, nor would they interrupt Huang Taiji casually.
"The Battle of Jinzhou once again exposed the inadequacy of our great power in attacking cities." Huang Taiji started first, looked at a bunch of relatives and those Han ministers, and then continued, "To be honest with you, I deeply feel that
The importance of firearms, especially cannons.”
Seeing that Huang Taiji stopped talking, Duduo couldn't help but said: "Great Khan, didn't our Dajin also seize a lot of firearms from Han dogs, including cannons?"
Huang Taiji shook his head slightly and sighed: "The quality of the Ming army's firearms is worrying and they cannot be used!"
Everyone present actually knew this. Because of this, even though the Ming army was equipped with firearms on a large scale, they were still beaten to pieces by Dajin.
"Some time ago, I ordered all the ministries to search for people who can cast and run among the Han slaves. Is there any harvest?"
After Huang Taiji finished speaking, he turned his attention to Big Belle Daishan.
Daishan had been busy with matters in Mongolia and had forgotten about it. Now seeing Huang Taiji looking at him, he could only reply: "Nothing has been found yet, and the slaves are intensifying their search."
Huang Taiji nodded and looked at the next one. To his disappointment, he found nothing, but the blacksmith found some.
Huang Taiji sighed softly and said: "If we want to be able to attack the city, we must cast cannons of the level of the Hongyi cannon. The ones captured are useless and are worthless. If we in Daikin can make them ourselves, that will be fine."
Yes. I must strictly demand that there will be no defective products like the Ming army. In this way, the Jin army will be invincible in the field, and it will definitely conquer the city, and there will be no place in the world that it cannot go to!"
Speaking of the bright prospects, not only Huang Taiji, but also other people in the hall showed their yearning.
But the wish is beautiful, but the reality is skinny, but I can't find anyone who can make cannons.
Historically, the quality of the firearms made by Jianlu was indeed better than that of the Ming army, which was due to the strict requirements of Huang Taiji.
A by-product of Huang Taiji's increased power was that he was the only one speaking during the meeting. The youngest Duduo interrupted just now only after he had finished speaking.
Seeing that no one else said anything, he had no choice but to order the ministries to continue searching to see if they could find anyone who could make cannons. He also asked the Han ministers in the palace to help search together.
After arranging this matter, he changed the topic: "Compared with the previous burning of food, I am more worried about the Ming army in Denglai. I now regret that I did not completely solve the thorns behind this after Mao Wenlong's death."
.”
He didn't know that in the original history, his strategy was not wrong. It only took a few simple moves to disintegrate Denglai's Ming army, without spending much effort on his part.
But no one knew that a descendant of the Han people would travel back in time and change everything.
At this time, Huang Taiji said regretful words, which did not damage his power at all. He continued: "According to the reports from the scouts I sent, Lu Xiangsheng, the governor of Denglai in the Ming Dynasty, although he is a civilian official, he is more like a military general. He is brave and brave, charging ahead.
.With this shortcoming, I have countermeasures."
When Huang Taiji said that Lu Xiang was very brave, his confidant Obai curled up his lips and said that if he had a chance, he would tear off the Han dog's head and show Huang Taiji how brave he really was.
"Great Khan, what's the countermeasure?" Daishan asked respectfully after hearing this.
"Seven inches of the Denglai Ming army were sent out to be beaten. How could I waste it in vain?" Huang Taiji gave Daishan a metaphor with a smile.
"Great Khan, why are you sending troops? I will cut off his head and offer it to the Great Khan!" Duduo also said.
Huang Taiji looked at Duduo, his hairless younger brother, shook his head and said: "It's undecided for the moment. The people I sent have entered Dongjiang. We will make arrangements after he sends news."
After the meeting, Huang Taiji sent a messenger to notify Mang Gurtai in North Korea, ordering him to transport food back as soon as possible and not to make any mistakes on the way.
He also specifically told the messenger that when sending a message to Mang Gurtai, he revealed that Mang Gurtai had not had a grain of food so far, so the Eight Banners of Mongolia should not think about it. In other words, the previous food losses were also attributed to Mang Gurtai.
superior.
Huang Taiji looked in the direction of North Korea, thinking that as long as Mang Gurtai was eliminated, the Eight Banners would be able to make their own decisions.