In the 16th year of Shaowu's reign, it was the fourth month of summer.
For Beijing, the weather in April is still a bit windy in the morning. Although it is too late for an outing, it is still a good season for farming.
A bit of smog came from north to south, causing people throughout the capital to complain, saying it was the black smoke emitted by the Zunhua Iron Works.
The reason why all the blame is placed on the iron factory was due to the events last winter.
Because during the Chinese New Year, winter snowflakes were actually dyed black silk, which caused an uproar among the people.
My dear, I have only heard of snow falling in June, but never of black snow.
For a time, storytellers on the streets were busy changing their stories, causing an uproar among the people.
Many wealthy people ran out of Beijing overnight and sought refuge in the countryside.
They didn't know why they were running away, but it was not such a good omen.
For several days in a row, people in the entire capital were in panic. The gods and humans sensed that there must be a traitor in the court.
At this time, the Ming Dynasty Commune showed its power and rebuked such nonsense. It bluntly stated that the black smoke from the iron factory rose into the air and dyed the snowflakes black.
Only then did public opinion calm down.
Ordinary people didn't care, but the literati couldn't appreciate the snow scenery, and the sound was loud, which caused a lot of discussion inside and outside the court, and many more memorials were issued.
However, although the cabinet accepted all the baskets sent by the Secretary of General Affairs, they did not distribute them all, which caused the public opinion to calm down immediately after it was boiling.
During farming time, the most important thing for the entire royal family was to migrate to Yuquan Mountain.
Going to Yuquan Villa to escape the summer heat has become a routine for the entire court, and has even become a routine. The outer court has adapted to it and followed it like migratory birds.
The railway carriages that were novel in earlier years are now commonplace, with an endless stream of people boarding the carriages to see them off, making it particularly lively.
At this time, the emperor suddenly stopped.
"You guys go first!"
"Your Majesty?" the Queen asked curiously.
"It has been many years since I went out on a palace tour. Sitting in this carriage, the customs of the people have disappeared. How can I govern the country if I don't understand the people's sentiments?"
Zhu Yixi sighed.
The queen wanted to persuade her again, but was stopped by the prince's eyes.
Seeing that his mind had been made up, the harem group slowly got into the car.
The emperor stayed, as did the prince and King Qi.
To protect them, there were only five hundred guards and two thousand capital troops.
"How much profit can this station make in a year?"
Slowly walking towards Xia Che, the emperor suddenly asked.
"There are not many people traveling between Yuquan Mountain and the capital. They basically transport mountain spring water. The quantity is large and cheap. The entire track can make about 100,000 yuan a year."
Since rail carriages are basically invested by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, certain income management is also handled by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
At this time, Yang Le had the right to speak, probably because Zhang Qi was not here!
"One hundred thousand? It's still feasible, right?"
According to the current price of iron, one kilogram of iron is worth ten coppers, and one mile requires at least two hundred thousand kilograms, that is, two thousand silver yuan per mile.
Five miles is ten thousand yuan.
From Yuquan Mountain to Beijing City, it is sixty miles, which is equivalent to 120,000 silver coins.
The cost can be recovered in one year, and the rest of the time is purely profit.
Good guy, it’s so profitable!
The emperor nodded slightly. At this moment, he suddenly remembered that Zhang Qi had been in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for many years, and it was obviously out of date.
After all, the Ministry of Internal Affairs is responsible for the external management of the royal family, and the amount of internal funds is basically decided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. If people are left alone for a long time, things will easily happen.
Yang Le didn't know what the emperor was thinking, so he said respectfully: "Your Majesty, the most profitable thing is the railway from Beijing to Tianjin. Although it is only more than three hundred miles, a trip costs one yuan."
"I heard from people in the Ministry of Internal Affairs that there are three to five million people coming and going every year, and dozens of horses are exhausted!"
Hearing this, Zhu Yixi frowned, with a slight smile on her lips.
From Yuquan Mountain to Beijing, all goods are transported, while from Tianjin to Beijing, all people are transported.
In this way, relying on Beijing's role as a political center, it attracted literati and businessmen from all over the world, and they were naturally not stingy with the money.
Of course, poor people can also take a boat or walk, but the cost is almost the same, and it takes two more days.
Seeing Yang Le's eloquent appearance, the emperor smiled and didn't take it seriously.
Of course he understood that to the eunuchs, the Ministry of Internal Affairs was a huge piece of fat, and they could only dream of taking a bite of it.
If Zhang Qi goes down, won't the position become vacant?
"Where was it built?"
"At the end of last year, the railway was extended from Yuquan Mountain to Xuanfu, and it will be able to reach Datong this year."
"Moreover, Tongzhou is where Taicang is located and has been open to traffic for a long time."
Yang Le reported everything in detail, trying to gain an advantage in the position of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
"Today, the Ministry of Internal Affairs is already in charge of the horse track from Nanjing to Songjiang Prefecture..."
At this point, Yang Le suddenly raised his head, with some emotion in his words: "But I heard that the Ministry of Internal Affairs is planning to give some shares to the gentry among the people, so it can be regarded as a free hand."
"But Your Majesty, for a prosperous land like Jiangnan, Tianjin is not far behind. It can make back its capital in one year, and in the remaining time, it can bring at least one million yuan to the Ministry of Internal Affairs every year."
"These profits cannot be distributed to the so-called gentry."
The prince and King Qi's eyes widened when they heard this.
It was the first time they heard about the inside story of railway tracks, and it turned out that they were so profitable.
My goodness, the water in the Ministry of Internal Affairs is really deep.
However, if the Jiangnan railway track is really built, the benefits do not need to be exaggerated.
The sun shines through the gray clouds, illuminating this vast flat field.
There is enough rain to make the wheat seedlings lush and green, and you can see farmers working in twos and threes from a distance.
Horse hooves cluttered, wheels rattled, and occasionally gravel hit the carriage, making a thumping sound.
The emperor smiled slightly and sighed: "Since ancient times, money has moved people's hearts."
Looking at the prince and King Qi, the emperor explained: "Not only the gentry, but also the officials in the court were gnashing their teeth in envy."
"They have submitted letters many times, requesting the imperial court to prohibit the Ministry of Internal Affairs from repairing the railway tracks, and instead let the Ministry of Household Affairs pay for the management."
"Where did it come from?"
"It's nothing more than jealousy!" King Qi said directly.
The emperor shook his head slightly.
The prince said seriously: "If the railway track is connected to the entire Ming Dynasty, if we succeed, we can earn at least tens of millions of yuan a year."
"For the imperial court, this has more advantages than disadvantages."
"It is not easy to increase revenue from agricultural tax, because there are only a few acres of land in the world, and it is also subject to natural disasters. It is not as stable as commercial tax."
"At the same time, merchants are cunning and collecting money is difficult. Where can there be a railway where it is as easy as sitting down and collecting money?"
The emperor showed a satisfied smile, and then quickly calmed down: "The prince is right."
"King Qi, you are too greedy."
"Do you think that all the money in the world should be collected into the inner treasury and the imperial court should be ignored? You must understand that the inner and outer courts are both integrated. If one suffers, both will suffer, and if one is prosperous, both will be prosperous."
After touching his son's head, Zhu Yixi continued to teach him:
"Besides, you don't understand that the cost of each mile of railway is huge. If we want to build railways all over the world, it will cost 200,000 for every 100 miles, and 2 million for 1,000 miles."
"There are many hills in the mountainous area, and considering the running horses and maintenance work, it requires in-depth cooperation from the local area."
After saying that, Zhu Yixi turned her head again and looked at the prince: "What are the prince's ideas?"
When the prince heard this, he was slightly startled.
"Your Majesty, I thought about it and decided that the shares should be dispersed. Even when the court is asked to take charge, the gentry should also be included in the shares."
"Prince——" King Qi exclaimed.
The emperor waved his hand and asked him to continue.
Zhu Cunqu breathed a sigh of relief and felt the emperor's connivance. He boldly continued:
"Although since ancient times, the emperor has been rich all over the world, claiming that the whole world is not the king's land, but in fact, in the past there were nobles, powerful families, and powerful people, but now there are gentry, and the cities and the emperor share the world."
"So, if you want the court to last long, you need to continue to share the world with it."
"Then what do you mean, how to distribute it?" Zhu Yixi encouraged.
"My minister's wish is that we must first issue an edict to strictly prohibit private construction of railway tracks in the world, and violators will be severely punished.
Then, let the imperial court take charge of the railway track, but the Ministry of Revenue will inevitably have insufficient money and food. After dispersing the shares and local gentry, not only can the railway track be built without spending a penny."
"When the time comes, the imperial court will sit back and reap the benefits. The outer court will be rich, and the internal funds will naturally be easier to live with."
The emperor raised the curtain of the carriage.
The royal summer carriage was actually open on all sides, and the gauze was wrapped around it for ventilation and viewing. When the maid saw the opportunity, she rolled up the gauze and saw a large field not far from the carriage.
Crops and weeds grew wildly together, and farmers went to the fields in groups to weed weeds. Some of them couldn't escape, and they all knelt down on the roadside in fear and kowtowed.
The ragged clothes and numb faces of these common people reminded him of scenes from TV dramas.
Although he can say without hesitation that ending the war in the late Ming Dynasty was the emperor's greatest achievement, similarly, for the people at the bottom, the problem of food and clothing has not been solved at all.
After all, peace only makes people less likely to die so easily.
Although some words are cruel, they have to be said:
The law is an iron cage for the ruling class to protect its interests.
In the former Qin Dynasty, royal power and nobles shared the world.
During the Han, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, imperial power and clans shared the world, so the law served the clans.
After the Tang and Song Dynasties, the gentry class rose, and the law served the gentry and the royal power.
For example, in affirming local clan rights and clan administration of justice, the court hardly interfered.
Therefore, those who admire Legalism and despise Confucianism would be no less than minions of the bureaucrats and gentry if they allowed Legalism to govern the country in a true sense.
The prince spoke clearly, and there was no trace of ordinary people in his words.
There is nothing to facilitate people's travel, solve transportation problems, etc. There are only interests, which are the interests of the gentry.
Such considerations are certainly correct.
However, the reality is a bit too cold.
"Prince, doing things and talking should be discussed separately."
The emperor's tone was more serious: "You must learn from those literati. When doing things, you must talk about interests, but when you speak out, you must whitewash morality."
"The completion of the railway track will reunite fathers, sons, and brothers of the people. This is the original intention of the court. Do you understand?"
"My son, I understand." The prince nodded quickly, suddenly enlightened.
Seeing the serious atmosphere, King Qi immediately smiled and said: "Father, in my eyes, money is secondary. The key is to be able to transport troops thousands of miles."
"The people will definitely open the rails, making transportation difficult." The prince sighed.
"But it's better than going through the official channels!"
"What King Qi said makes sense." The emperor smiled and said: "Although the railway track is easy to open, it can only be a section, not all of it. Just walk to the nearest point."
At this time, the father and son started talking about folk stories again, and the atmosphere became much more harmonious.
But Zhu Yixi made a decision in her heart.
To prohibit private construction of railway tracks is to monopolize power.
Then, the emperor and the imperial court will preside over the distribution.
There is no way to maximize the benefits of the railways than to unite them with a large number of nobles, bureaucrats, and gentry to obtain massive funds for expansion.
In this way, political destruction and human death will definitely not exist, and at the same time, railways will be completely popularized.
Midway, the carriage stopped.
When the emperor got off the bus, the King of Qi and the Crown Prince naturally got off together.
The vehicle did not go in a straight line, but went around in a circle, wandering around nearby villages, but basically did not leave the official road for thirty miles.
Thatched houses, commoners and short shirts, men, women, old and young. Although their appearance is different, most of them are dark-skinned. They are completely different from the fair-skinned people in Beijing.
In any village, the most spacious thing is the ancestral hall.
The ancestral culture is deeply rooted.
The prince and King Qi were silent, feeling heavy after browsing one village after another.
As you can imagine, almost 90% of the people are struggling to have enough food and clothing. There is even a family with only one cotton-padded jacket and trousers, which is worn by everyone who goes out.
But I am relieved that no one has starved to death in recent years.
When asked why, the clan elder opened his mouth with few teeth and said with a smile: "Because of the sweet potato, we call it sweet potato."
"It can be planted on hillsides, in front of or behind the house. It doesn't take much trouble. You can harvest several hundred kilograms a year and dry it and eat it for a year and a half."
"Then why not grind it into powder?" The prince couldn't help but said: "I heard that sweet potato powder can be stored better and can be sold at a higher price."
"The donkey in the mill is for wheat. If the sweet potatoes are ground, don't let the donkey die of exhaustion!"
The old man waved his hands and said: "For poor people, it's good if they can fill their stomachs. The money you spend grinding is valuable!"
Speaking of this, the old man suddenly said bitterly: "In the past, women in the village could still weave cloth and sell it in the market. Now I heard that there is a kind of Tianjin cloth that is cheaper than the cloth we weave, and no one buys it..."
Returning to the official road again, the prince and King Qi were lost in their thoughts.
The suffering of the people is easy to talk about, but it is difficult to accept it when you see it suddenly.
The house is bare and the clothes are in rags. This is what books bring to reality.
Zhu Yixi is fine. He has seen too much. He brought his two sons here just to see this:
"This is true for both the capital and the capital. You can imagine the suffering on the border."