The unexpected contraction of Wang Xian's side made Ji Gang and Han Wang's side, who were full of revenge, come to nothing. It also made people who were worried that the tension would continue to escalate out of control relax a little.
However, the fierce struggle actually never eased. It just temporarily turned from overt struggle to covert struggle, and the focus of the struggle also shifted from Nanjing to Beijing...
In June, the sun in Beijing is blazing, and the sky is filled with loess. This second capital of the Ming Dynasty is now undergoing massive construction projects everywhere. Millions of civilians and prisoners are sweating like rain under the scorching sun, like groups of hardworking worker ants.
This new city of the Ming Dynasty, which is far larger than the capital, is being built.
In fact, Emperor Yongle has always attached great importance to the construction of this "Longxing Land" since he succeeded to the throne. In the first year of Yongle, he first followed Emperor Taizu's approach to Fengyang and established Beiping as Beijing and changed Beiping Mansion to Shun.
In Tianfu, an official should be at the same level as the capital. At the same time, wealthy households from the south of the Yangtze River, merchants from Shanxi and refugees from various places began to move here to enrich the imperial capital.
In the fourth year of Yongle, Zhu Di issued an edict to recruit 600,000 civilians to build the imperial palace and city walls in Beijing. In the seventh year, he built the Changling Mausoleum in Changping near Beijing. He made it clear to his subjects that he would build his final resting place in Beijing instead of Nanjing.
They revealed the emperor's thoughts - he had made up his mind to move the capital
In the eighth year of Yongle, Zhu Di ordered a meeting to dredge the river, re-dregate the Grand Canal, and open up the north-south water transportation. By this year, this huge project, which once again involved millions of people, was finally basically completed. From then on, the massive materials needed to build Beijing could be relatively economical.
Convenient transportation from all over the country to Tongzhou greatly speeded up the construction project in Beijing.
So far, the square outer city wall with a circumference of forty-five miles has been basically completed, and what is left is to build the magnificent city gate. The straight and wide stone streets that can accommodate eight cars parallel have been put into use long ago.
The construction is also in rough shape and is about to enter the stage of fine carpentry work. Only the construction project of the Forbidden City, which is the most important part of Beijing's construction, is almost back to the starting point.
Of course, this is not because the officials responsible for the construction are deliberately neglecting it. Even if they borrow a hundred courages, they do not dare to make the moody Yongle Emperor angry. In fact, the Forbidden City project enjoys absolute priority in all aspects of manpower and material resources.
There is only one reason for the current predicament, and that is that Emperor Yongle's demands were too high.
Compared with the slightly hasty construction of the Jinling Imperial Capital in the early days of the Republic of China, Zhu Di has always had only one requirement for the construction work of Beijing City, and that is to strive for excellence. There is no best, only better, for every brick and every brick fired for Beijing City.
The brick tiles have the name of the kiln and the year of production engraved on the side or back. If there are quality problems with the bricks and tiles during construction, they can be inspected based on the signatures on the bricks and tiles. As long as the verification is clear, the lighter case will be severely punished.
, severe cases beheaded
Not only are the requirements for materials very stringent, but all construction processes are subject to a strict layer-by-layer inspection system. The craftsmen who implement the next project are required to strictly inspect the previous process. If they think it is not correct,
If you are qualified, you can refuse to construct. If there is a problem that is not discovered, or if you know that there is a problem but still continue the construction, once the incident occurs, you will be involved with the person directly responsible and receive the same punishment.
The person responsible for supervising the work was a joint inspection team composed of the emperor's most trusted eunuchs, princes, and civil servants. These officials responsible for supervision would patrol the construction site with a sledgehammer all day long, and from time to time they would use the sledgehammer to hit things here and there.
Needless to say, with one hammer, the project was directly damaged, even if it was not damaged, they could also judge by the sound of the hammer which section of the city wall had cut corners and which section of the city wall was not built according to the requirements. Problems were found
Those responsible often have only one ending, and that is to be beheaded and their homes confiscated...
Moreover, these supervisory officials are extremely serious and responsible, and there is no possibility of being bribed, because they know how much His Majesty the Emperor cares about the construction of Beijing. In fact, one of the important reasons for Emperor Yongle's visit to Beijing this time is to personally
Supervise the construction of Beijing City. Since the emperor arrived in Beijing in mid-May, the emperor, who was already over 50 years old, immediately inspected the construction work of the capital city without taking a break. He was not just a casual observer, but strictly inspected it himself.
His inspection method was simple and crude, but extremely effective - the emperor would randomly select a location and order people to break open the repaired projects to check whether there were any jerry-rigged materials. For example, when inspecting the city wall, he would have people break open the mortar to check.
It was found that the mortar was slightly mixed with mud and the gaps were too large, so the craftsmen and foremen in charge of this area, more than ten people, were beheaded on the spot. The next day, many supervisory officials who were supervising the project here, including the Minister of Works, were executed.
Those directly responsible, such as the doctor of the camp and maintenance department, will be severely punished, with the lighter punishment being dismissed from their posts, and the more serious punishment being the imperial staff...
Therefore, everyone who is responsible for the construction of Beijing City is walking on thin ice with trepidation and trying their best to build this ideal city for the emperor. However, even this level of effort still cannot satisfy Emperor Yongle - especially the Forbidden City.
After inspecting the three main halls, which were almost completed, Zhu Di came back with a dark face. The next day, the emperor summoned a group of ministers and construction officials to the West Palace to discuss matters.
The so-called West Palace refers to the original royal Xiyuan of the Yuan Dynasty. When Zhu Di visited Beijing, he always lived in his own dormitory. However, the Yan Palace was built on the basis of the Imperial Palace of the Yuan Dynasty and was located in the core of the capital. In order to build a new
In the Forbidden City, the only option was to demolish Prince Yan's Mansion. But he couldn't live without a place to live during his northern patrol, so he ordered the Ministry of Works to build the West Palace in Xiyuan as a residence for the emperor before the Forbidden City was completed.
Although it is only a temporary residence, with Zhu Di's nature of celebrating great achievements, he naturally cannot be careless at all. The West Palace is also built in accordance with the regulations of the imperial palace. The main hall is also called Fengtian Hall, which is exactly the same as the main hall of the capital's imperial palace, Fengtian Hall.
At this time, in addition to the officials responsible for building the city of Beijing, there were also Duke Cheng Zhu Yong, Marquis Xue Lu of Yangwu, Xia Yuanji, the general secretary of the Ministry of Li, Hu, and Bing, Yang Rong, the cabinet scholar, and other important ministers.
Everyone looked at the emperor eagerly, waiting for him to tell his will, and they were ready to overcome all difficulties to complete the task. For such a master, what else could he do besides being cruel to himself?
But when Zhu Di revealed his plan, all the officials almost fainted, shouting the same sentence in their hearts - Your Majesty, I can't do this...
Because Zhu Di’s decision was to tear down the three main halls and rebuild them. Not only the three main halls, but also the Qianqing Palace, Kunning Palace, Wenhua Palace and other major buildings must be demolished and rebuilt. The reason is that the current buildings are too cramped and insignificant, without grandeur and grandeur.
Qi
You know, the construction project of the Forbidden City alone has cost 90,000 taels of silver so far, which is close to two years of treasury revenue. However, the emperor just said that he would tear it down and start over again. Not to mention that the 9 million taels were wasted, and a more magnificent building was built.
The plan will definitely cost more, or even several times the amount of silver! Where does this money come from? In the Ming Dynasty, where the national power is increasingly in embarrassment, it is simply an unsolvable problem.
Therefore, the great steward of the Ming Dynasty, Xia Yuanji, the Minister of Household Affairs, expressed his opposition on the spot. He said that the court's money had been completely spent on the Grand Canal, and the Wudang Mountain project and the Chief Envoy of Jiaozhi were still sucking blood.
Adding such a huge amount of expenditure will completely collapse the national finances.
Looking at the white-haired and exhausted butler, the emperor finally felt a little embarrassed and gave him an idea: "Then print more treasure money..."
"You still need to print money?" Hearing that the emperor still wanted to print money, Xia Yuanji not only did not feel comforted, but felt like the sky was falling. "The emperor really thinks that as long as he prints money, the country can continue to use it? And it will not be harmful to the country?"
"
"You think that I am too ignorant." Zhu Di said with some displeasure: "Don't I know that if we print too much money, the people will suffer a little bit, but I am not spending the money on myself, I am spending it for the long-term plan of the Ming Dynasty.
"As he spoke, he stood up and said with a slightly excited expression: "I didn't wait for the fireworks in the south of the Yangtze River to return to the bitter cold city of Beijing? Is it because I have feelings for this place? No, I want the emperor to guard the country and let me enlighten the people.
I have even sent my descendants to Beijing to never suffer the invasion of the Tartars. Shouldn’t the people make some sacrifices for our Ming Dynasty?"
"What the emperor said makes the ministers so impressed..." A minister whispered: "It's just the size of the Forbidden City, it won't affect the eternal stability of the Ming Dynasty..."
"Absurd" Zhu Di immediately cast a cold gaze: "I want to use the dragon energy of my Ming Dynasty royal family to suppress the dragon energy of the remnants of the Meng Yuan Dynasty. How the three palaces are built, and how the Forbidden City is built, is related to the destiny of my Ming Dynasty.
Do you think it will affect my Ming Dynasty's eternal prosperity?"
The minister hurriedly knelt down and apologized: "I was ignorant and spoke nonsense. Please forgive me..."
"Huh!" Zhu Di snorted heavily: "For your first offense, you will only receive forty imperial staffs and a fine of half a year's salary. If anyone dares to commit suicide in this country again in the future, he will be killed without mercy."
"I obey the order," the ministers responded hurriedly.
"Xia Aiqing, do you agree?" Zhu Di also knew that he could do whatever he wanted without the financial genius of Xia Yuanji. Now it was time to spend money, so he treated him very differently.
"Your Majesty..." Xia Yuanji looked at Zhu Di, fought fiercely in his heart for a long time, and finally gritted his teeth and said: "Please forgive me for not obeying my order..."
"You" Zhu Di's face turned dark instantly.
"Your Majesty, the imperial court no longer eats Yin's Mao grain, but Yin's Chen grain, Si grain and even lunch grain." Xia Yuanji wiped his sweat and said bravely: "This is all caused by the excessive issuance of treasure money. Over the years,
, I have racked my brains, but there is still no improvement in the banknote method. If we continue to print banknotes, I am afraid there will be big trouble..."
"Don't be alarmist." Zhu Di's eyes were already cold.