The houses are lined up in rows, the streets are neat and wide, and although the people are a little simple, they are still complete.
King Xiang couldn't help but praise: "Brother Wang manages the country well, I really admire him!"
"Governing a country depends on ministers and resources!"
King Qi smiled and said truthfully without hesitation:
"Qi State originally only had about 100,000 people, but it has developed rapidly in the past two years. Thanks to the discovery of gold mines, it can generate an additional income of 100,000 or 200,000 yuan a year, so it is possible to move people here on a large scale!"
As he spoke, he pointed to the pedestrians wearing coarse linen clothes and said: "The imperial court is too far away, so I basically came here with half of the Qin people."
"Although they are not as good as the Han people, they are much better than the savages. At least they can cultivate the land, weave cloth, and listen to the government."
"Nowadays, my country of Qi has an annual income of 500,000 yuan. Although it is not as good as Jiangnan, it still has a lot of surplus..."
Listening to his brother's self-praise, King Xiang couldn't help but show envy and sighed: "Brother's Qi State and Qin State are quite different."
"What's going on with Qin?" King Qi suddenly asked after hearing this.
"The Qin State has conquered the Lao State and is suppressing the rebellion!"
King Xiang said casually: "Compared with Qi, Qin is too complicated, with all kinds of people and tens of thousands of troops standing on standby, just to suppress the rebellion."
"That's true!" Qi Guo said with a smile: "Although our Qi State is small, it is still peaceful. Although I didn't lay the bricks and tiles myself, there is not much difference."
He naturally had no objection to Qin's attack on Laos.
After all, in the past two years, he also destroyed the Sulu Kingdom with the help of Luzon Navy, which was half a pound to half a pound.
As the carriage moved forward, King Xiang peered at the scene of Linzi City and admired it from time to time.
Compared with Hanoi City, which is mixed with Annan, Linzi completely adopts Ming-style architecture, which can be said to be exactly the same as Nanjing and very close.
Compared with those in Qin, the clothes of the common people were thinner. There were not many long robes, but the characteristic fine linen clothes could be seen everywhere.
Immediately, he glanced at his elder brother, King Qi.
His robe also seemed to be particularly thin.
Seeing his eyes, King Qi didn't know what he was thinking. He opened the corner of the curtain and said casually: "In Qi State, it is even hotter than Qin State, so the clothes are quite different from those in Ming Dynasty."
"Silk is breathable and not expensive for me, but for ordinary people and even officials, it is expensive and tight. They can only wear fine linen."
"Therefore, most people only had one single coat, and the collar and cuffs were reduced to prevent them from being scratched by vegetation. Fine linen was also comfortable to wear, so it became popular..."
As he spoke, he tugged on his lapel: "I only have two pieces on me now. If I hadn't taken care of you, I would usually only have one piece!"
Hearing this, King Xiang also laughed: "Second brother, I don't have much on me. I was taught a lesson in Qin. I thought I would come over to see you, so I put on more clothes. I can't stand the heat."
!”
"Hahaha!"
The two brothers looked at each other and smiled, and most of the estrangement disappeared.
On the carriage, the two of them changed into wooden clogs and walked on the ground.
The majestic Qi Palace comes into view.
"Linzi has not yet been built, but the palace has already been built."
King Qi sighed: "If the entire Linzi city cost one million, then the palace cost five hundred thousand."
"The same is true for your Xiang Palace!"
“If it is not magnificent, it cannot be majestic!”
King Xiang nodded in agreement.
At this time, his thoughts began to spread.
As the legitimate son of the emperor, the imperial court would not neglect the Xiang Kingdom, and paid millions of dollars for it, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs was equally serious about it, no less serious than the imperial court.
Spending two million to build a city and palace, especially in a place like Nanyang where there is no shortage of rare wood, is really a big deal.
…
"Crackling——"
Suiyuan, Jiuyuan City.
The prefecture, county, and even the governor, Sun Changzhou, the governor of Jinsui, all arrived outside the city and held a lively event:
Celebrate the completion of the railway track from Jiuyuan to Datong, which is more than 500 miles long.
It took three years.
As early as last year, the railway track from Datong to Beijing was opened to traffic, but the section from Datong to Suiyuan was particularly difficult.
Rails, sleepers, and even labor are all scarce in the Monan region. If the terrain hadn't been flat, there would have been delays.
Moreover, repairing the railway tracks also involves issues such as pasture, cattle and sheep, and water sources, which can be said to be a complicated situation.
But in order to open this railway track as soon as possible, Suiyuan people really worked hard.
In order to maintain the railway, Suiyuan directly recruited nearly 600 road guards to provide care along the railway line.
There is a road station every thirty miles, and there is a guard patrolling every ten miles, which can be said to be extremely serious.
You can't be serious, the grassland is short of iron, and for this little benefit, I don't know how many people are taking risks!
Herdsmen don't know what the majesty of the government is.
In addition to the road guards, Suiyuan also divided the responsibilities among the tribes along the way. Once the rails are lost, they will immediately ask the nearby tribes to compensate one by one, unless the thieves are found.
Sun Changzhou squinted his eyes and looked at the long railway track. The wind and sand in the grassland made his skin increasingly rough. He couldn't help but say:
"I heard that the imperial court has something called a steam engine. It can run on coal and doesn't need a horse to pull it!"
"Governor, we have the same machine here! We synchronized with Datong and shipped the machine together." Xiong Rulin, the governor of Suiyuan, responded with a smile:
"As long as you add coal on the road, you can keep running. It's much better than a horse."
"As far as I know, this machine can travel thirty miles an hour. It only takes forty hours to get from Suiyuan to Beijing, and it takes twenty-three hours to get from Datong to Beijing!"
"Oh? Datong also wants to come?"
Sun Changzhou was stunned for a moment, with a happy smile on his face.
The residence of the Governor of Jinsui is in Datong Prefecture, which is 700 miles away from Beijing. In the past, it would take three to five days to walk on the horse-drawn railway.
Now the time has been reduced to about half, which is very convenient.
Horses need to be changed on the horse-drawn railway track, and the horses do not rest, so the number of transfers per day is limited. At most, there will be no spare capacity after five or six times.
Even so, for safety reasons, he rarely walks at night to prevent accidents, and he only travels one hundred and fifty miles a day.
"I heard this is what I heard!" Xiong Rulin chuckled and said: "The completion of the railway track this time is of great significance, so the imperial court is very willing to invest in the steam engine. After all, the capital has become popular, and it is our turn."
"With the speed you mentioned, can you walk at night?"
It was especially hard for Sun Changzhou to believe that as one gets older, it is difficult to accept new things completely. It was still unbelievable.
"You can also run at night."
Xiong Rulin took the trouble to explain: "No matter that there will be a small car in front of the sports car to try to guide the way, a machine made of iron is much stronger than a horse, and it is not afraid of collision!"
"Huh!" Sun Changzhou couldn't help but agree as he thought about the endless car crashes.
After horse-drawn railways became popular, countless people and animals were hit, so much so that they would overturn every two or three months, which made people feel uneasy.
After all, horseshoes are so fragile that a slight collision can be dangerous.
Nowadays, steam engines are a bit slower, but since they are made of iron and can run at night, the time is actually shortened.
A group of civil and military officials looked at the railway tracks with smiles from the bottom of their hearts.
With this, it is much more convenient to travel to Beijing, and there is no need to sleep in the open air.
The closer you are to Beijing, the closer you are to power and the brighter your future.
Sun Changzhou shrank his neck, feeling the cold air on the grassland. The Mid-Autumn Festival had just passed, and the grassland had become cold. It was really outrageous.
He looked at Xiong Rulin, who was quite pleasing to his eye, and simply said directly:
"The imperial court originally planned to build a project from Jiuyuan to the west to Alxa, and even Urumqi and Ili, but the distance is short, but everything is scarce!"
"Therefore, the imperial court decided to build from Ganzhou to Tugaochang (Turpan) first, and then to Urumiqi, Yili..."
Xiong Rulin sighed in his heart. If it really led to Alxa, he didn't know how much effort would be saved in Suiyuan.
But he had a long-term vision and a political mind, and he immediately said: "Governor, is the provincial government of Anxi really going to be moved to Yili? Is this a little too far west?"
As the winter pasture of the Heshuote tribe, Urumqi is only a few hundred miles away from Gaochang and is located in the center of the Northern Xinjiang Basin, so its location is very important.
It was hard for him to figure out how to move to Yili.
In this regard, Sun Changzhou pondered for a moment and then said: "In the past, the stability of Anxi was naturally considered. Now that the Liao and Zhao countries have been sealed off, the greatest danger to Anxi is to the north and west."
"To maintain close contact with the vassal state and take care of the Kazakh Khanate and Rakshasa people, Ili is the most suitable place!"
"I understand!" Xiong Rulin nodded in agreement.
Despite this explanation, he believed that the Rakshasa people were not something to be afraid of. I am afraid that the court was worried about the instability of Zhao and Liao, so they could provide support at any time!
Sun Changzhou lost interest and returned to the city in a carriage. Naturally, all the civil and military officials returned with him.
What's there to see about the bare railroad tracks is less important than a hair on the Governor's leg.
But for many herders, so many railway tracks are enough to make their eyes green.
But facing the road guards on horseback armed with sabers, all of them could only stop and turn away.
Only a thousand finishing workers gathered around the railway, looking forward to it.
Meng En (Silver) is among them.
As a poor herdsman, his situation is quite difficult among the growing population in the grassland.
Naturally, the family's pastures, cattle and sheep are out of his reach. If he has any outstanding archery, riding skills, or wrestling, even if he participates in the Naadam Conference, he will not be far away.
If nothing else happens, he will either become a monk and become a lama, or he will go to a nobleman's house to herd cattle, lose his freedom, become a long-term laborer, and then marry a woman who is also a long-term laborer.
Unwilling to do so, he waited until the railway tracks were built, and for money and food, he joined the road construction army.
Food and accommodation are included, and monthly salary is 5 cents.
Although the price is low, it is not cheap on the grassland, and it is a way out for him.
After receiving salary for two years, it was suddenly coming to an end. How could he be willing to do so?
What’s more, the last month’s wages haven’t been paid yet!
While more than a thousand people were waiting, after accompanying the officials, a fat man came on horseback, followed by a dozen burly men.
The fat man didn't hesitate and said directly: "Follow me to the city to pay the money later."
As soon as the cheers started, they were suppressed.
Meng En also stopped cheering and looked at the steward of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
"Everyone is basically an old man who has been working for a year and a half, or even longer, so I won't go into details."
The fat man said in a deep voice: "After the imperial court has finished building this road, it will go to Shaanxi to build another road. At that time, in addition to those short-term workers, skilled workers will also be needed."
"As the saying goes, don't use raw materials if they are cooked. I am going to take the big guys to Shaanxi to build railways."
"When the time comes, it will be one yuan a month, including food and accommodation!"
The doubled salary makes people unable to help themselves.
Meng En was naturally excited.
After two years of working, he learned Chinese, so he naturally understood it clearly.
One yuan a month is twelve yuan a year...
Even though prices are high on the grassland, this is still a large amount of money, at least enough for him to buy seven or eight sheep.
Seeing everyone's interest, the fat man continued: "Follow me, you guys, and then you can go to Anxi to buy a cheap pasture and let your sheep graze freely!"
These words completely ignited the hearts of these single men.
After Meng En received his last month's salary, he bought some gifts and returned home.
As a herdsman like Tongli, his family is not big, with three Mongolian robes, one for his elder brother and his family, one for his parents, and one for his brothers and sisters.
"This is five pounds of salt and two pounds of tea, which is enough for us to eat for the first half of the year."
Faced with this gift, everyone in the family was very happy and happily ate a pot of mutton stew.
Immediately, Meng En talked about his departure: "I want to go somewhere else to start a family and leave here!"
The whole family agreed with his idea.
The Mongolian grassland is limited by poor resources, so it is normal to separate families. Even tribes will be separated if the population grows too much.
Looking at his ignorant brothers, Meng En said: "Abu, I heard that after going to the Lama Temple, you won't have to worry about eating and drinking, and your family will be able to accumulate merit!"
"My family is very poor, can we give it a try?"
"Really?" The old man looked happy. It is the best thing to be able to bear the pressure of raising children and accumulate merit for the family: "But I heard that you have to contribute money for sesame oil..."
"It's only one dollar, I'll pay it forward!" Meng En gritted his teeth and said, "This is a good thing, so I have to go."
As time went by, the Yellow Sect became more and more popular in Suiyuan, and lamas began to practice in Qianhu District.
This is the three-monastery policy that Suiyuan has implemented for a long time.
That is, Buddhist temple, official temple (yamen), and academic temple (social science), the three are integrated.
There must be government offices and schools next to Buddhist temples, and there must be Lama temples near government offices. They are closely connected and indispensable.
The Yamen rewarded part of the land as temple property. The temples relied on faith to protect the authority of the Yamen, and the schools popularized education and spread Confucianism.
For Lama temples, everyone is willing to send their children and grandchildren into the temple, but there are too many monks, so there is a one-dollar threshold to prevent not having enough money for incense.
No more, no less, no matter how hard you grit your teeth, you can afford it.
ps: The error correction function is very good, everyone is eager to help