"Do you still remember those people who were brought to the capital from Jiangnan a while ago? They were the ones captured due to the Nanjing Rebellion." The merchant asked in a low voice.
The short man nodded and replied in a low voice: "Remember, there are many people, what happened to them?"
"That's right, it seems like nothing has happened." The strong man said a little doubtfully.
The merchant looked at his two sworn brothers, their expressions even more mysterious. He moved closer and explained in a low voice: "They will be exiled overseas by the imperial court..."
"Overseas?" The strong man couldn't help but exclaimed as he didn't expect to be exiled overseas.
When the short man saw it, he quickly hit the strong man's arm. The strong man woke up and quickly raised his head and stared at those who heard the sound and looked over.
When everything returned to normal, the heads of the three people came together again. The short man asked: "Brother, why are you exiled overseas? This has never happened before!"
"Is there a mistake?" The strong man also doubted.
The merchant glanced at them and knew that they didn't believe it. Because he didn't believe it when he first heard it.
"Not only will they be exiled overseas, but all prisoners in the Ming Dynasty will be exiled overseas once they are convicted. There will no longer be the death penalty, except for one kind of people." The merchant further gossiped.
This time the strong man remembered and did not dare to speak loudly, so he asked in a low voice: "What kind of person?"
"Traitor!" the merchant replied quietly but firmly.
When the short man heard this, he immediately agreed quietly but fiercely: "Yes, traitors must die!"
The strong man knew that the short man had destroyed his mother-in-law's family because of his family, and he hated the traitors who helped the emperor. He glanced at the short man, and then asked the merchant: "In addition to traitors, there are also murderers and arsonists who are heinous.
Human, this is just exile overseas?"
The merchant nodded, indicating that he had asked a good question, and then replied: "Do you think the punishment of exile overseas is very light? Some are as pleasant as a death sentence. Let me tell you, there are many kinds of exile overseas, the lightest is
It is a punishment of hard labor for a period of time, the most severe of which is hard labor until death."
The strong man was a little stunned when he heard this, and couldn't help but said: "Isn't this similar?"
"Of course it's different! It's a big overseas country. Different places of exile mean different hardships. That's all we know now, and it won't be long before the court will announce it," the merchant explained.
The strong man still wanted to ask, but there was movement in the distance. Everyone looked over there, and the three of them had no choice but to interrupt their conversation and watch the fun together.
At the gate of the capital city, many soldiers from the Five Cities Military and Horse Division appeared, lining up all the way, and a long passage was separated. These soldiers were very serious, and they all stood upright.
Then led by the cabinet, senior officials from the six ministries, the Metropolitan Procuratorate and other yamen came out of the city gate first. They went to the ribbon-cutting point at the beginning of the cement road and stood according to their official positions.
Before they were ready, the emperor's army appeared at the city gate, and the imperial guards came to clear the way. Behind the general Khan, he saw the imperial driver.
"Long live the emperor, long live, long live the emperor!" As soon as Emperor Chongzhen appeared, everyone knelt down and shouted loudly.
Zhong Jinwei didn't come, because he just didn't want to get involved in these red tapes. It was a rare opportunity to take advantage of this opportunity to play with his son at home. The little guy can already turn over and express his thoughts, which is very fun.
It was rare for Emperor Chongzhen to come out of the palace, and he was in a good mood. He first looked at the flat cement road that stretched into the distance, and then stood in front of the rostrum. The chamberlain presented a pair of scissors, and two palace maids brought colorful ribbons.
Cut by Emperor Chongzhen.
Emperor Chongzhen glanced at the ribbons in front of him and couldn't help but murmured in his heart: Master Zhong said that doing this would really make money roll in?
He did not cut it immediately, but looked up and looked around at the senior officials and the people who were watching, and then said loudly: "Today, the first cement road in Ming Dynasty was built and put into use. This means that Ming Dynasty's free kindergarten will soon
Start implementing it. I hope that in the near future, my people will be able to read and write, and they will no longer be blind!"
When Emperor Chongzhen's words were passed on by the Han generals, the onlookers truly confirmed that the legendary free kindergarten school was true.
Suddenly, everyone was not calm. Especially those people from poor family backgrounds were extremely excited.
You know, at that time, studying was only for the rich.
It is basically difficult for an ordinary family to study. If the conditions in the clan are better and there is a free private school in the clan, you might be able to study. But there are prerequisites. Everything must be listened to by the clan leader. If you want to learn
To achieve success, you must contribute to the family.
As for those poor families, there is no need to think about it. How can they go to school and support themselves? It is not easy.
But things are different now. In front of so many people, Emperor Chongzhen once opened the mouth of Chrysostom, it was a done deal and nothing could be changed.
I don’t know who took the lead first. Everyone knelt down and loudly expressed their support: "Long live the emperor, long live, long live the emperor!"
Emperor Chongzhen could tell that the call just now was more emotional and more sincere than the previous one. He couldn't help but feel very satisfied. It was such a sense of accomplishment to be such an emperor!
After the ceremony, Emperor Chongzhen continued: "The income from the cement road is to provide education and literacy for the billions of people in the Ming Dynasty. If anyone dares to covet the benefits of the cement road and wants to reach out, I will never be soft. No matter it is
Regardless of whether you are a relative of the emperor or a civil servant, I will punish them severely without mercy."
He said it in public just to spread it through the mouths of the people and let everyone know that the interests here were untouchable.
The presence of hundreds of civil and military officials also served as a warning to them not to have any wrong ideas.
The current Emperor Chongzhen, under the guidance of Zhong Jinwei, has understood that the foundation of a strong country is talent. And the source of talent is the enlightenment of the people.
In history, countries such as the United Kingdom eventually became strong and dominated the world because they first implemented universal education and achieved a very high national literacy rate.
After Emperor Chongzhen finished saying what he wanted to say, he cut off the ribbon with force.
"Long live the emperor, long live, long live the emperor!" The deafening voice sounded again, which contained admiration for Emperor Chongzhen, expectations for the cement road, and longing for better days in the future.
Then came the show. A specially selected truck drove to the starting point of the cement road and put a Da Ming Jiusi Bao banknote into the cash box. Then the commissioner handed him a release certificate and refused to move away. The truck drove onto the flat road.
The cement road goes into the distance.
Emperor Chongzhen watched all this and secretly sighed in his heart, another thing that has never happened before in the history of the dynasties has been completed in my hands.
Thinking of this, he naturally thought of Zhong Jinwei, the instigator. He secretly sighed in his heart that so many achievements came from Master Zhong. He is only a hereditary marquis now, but compared to those dukes, he has made much more contributions to the Ming Dynasty.