Emperor Zhu Youjian rode on horseback in the western suburbs of Tianjin with Wang Chengen and Wang Dehua, who were dressed as attendants.
Zhu Youjian came to Tianjin to cut the ribbon for the railway.
After Wang Dehua's Dongchang fanzi took control of the Forbidden City, the civil servants no longer dared to touch Zhu Youjian, and Zhu Youjian could enter and exit the palace at will. In view of the consequences of Gong Dingzi and others who blocked him, no official dared to stop Zhu Youjian. Zhu Youjian
Only then did the prosecutors really have the opportunity to understand the sentiments of the people and understand the actual situation of the people.
Zhu Youjian was like a bird that had been imprisoned for a long time and had regained its freedom. He was very excited. These days, he often changed into common people's clothes and paid private visits incognito throughout the capital.
During the private interviews on Weibo, Zhu Youjian discovered many problems. In just two months, Zhu Youjian had dealt with fifty-seven officials, big and small, during private interviews on Weibo.
Of course, the situation in Beijing and Beizhili was like that. There were not many novel things. All Zhu Youjian could discover was how shameless the local civil servants and gentry were, and how bizarre and dark the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty was.
What Zhu Youjian wanted to see more was Li Zhi's one town and six provinces, especially Tianjin and Liaodong.
The reason why Zhu Youjian wanted to come to Tianjin was because Wang Dehua's Dongchang report mentioned Tianjin's civilization and prosperity countless times. It is said that the people there abide by public ethics and the officials are honest and honest. Li Zhi relied on Tianjin to become the most powerful in the Ming Dynasty
The warlords were stronger than the imperial court, which made Zhu Youjian want to see what Tianjin was like with his own eyes.
Zhu Youjian wanted to see with his own eyes why Tianjin could make Li Zhi so strong.
As for Liaodong, Zhu Youjian also wanted to see it. That was because Tianjin represented his illustrious martial arts. As an emperor, Zhu Youjian was somewhat proud of being able to destroy the Manchu Qing Dynasty that had ravaged the Ming Dynasty for decades. He wanted to go
Take a look at what this lost land looks like, and see if this land-expanding and warfare function will allow you to leave your name in history as a hero.
Zhu Youjian's opportunity came soon.
Li Zhi also knew that the emperor had been paying frequent private visits recently, and knew that sooner or later the emperor would come to Tianjin to take a look. The railway network built in Liaodong happened to be connected, so Li Zhi invited Zhu Youjian to "cut the ribbon".
Zhu Youjian used this reason to enter Tianjin. However, he was determined to understand the people's sentiments in Tianjin, but he did not display the emperor's guard of honor on the road. Instead, he put on the uniform of a second-grade civil servant and brought more than fifty people disguised as servants.
, dressed as a governor.
As soon as he entered the boundary of Tianjin, Zhu Youjian was surprised by the official road made of cement. Unlike the bumpy official road on the northern Zhili boundary, Tianjin's cement official road was flat and wide. The official road was about six meters wide, slightly higher in the middle and slightly lower on both sides.
, can carry four carriages in parallel. There are many carriages transporting goods on the official road, and the most common ones are grain carriages transporting grain to the capital.
Even the roads in the inner city of Beijing are not as grand as this concrete avenue.
Zhu Youjian pondered for a long time on his horse and asked Wang Dehua: "Wang Dehua, when was this road built?"
"Back to your Majesty, this official road was built in the 17th year of Chongzhen. At that time, more and more horse-drawn carriages were transporting goods from Tianjin to the capital. The original road was overwhelmed, so the King of Tianjin funded the construction of such a cement road. After the road was completed,
, the variety of goods transported from Tianjin to the capital has increased significantly."
After a pause, Wang Dehua said: "However, only half of this road has actually been built. It was only built on the boundary of Tianjin. When it enters the boundary of Governor Shuntian, it is still a dirt road. The King of Tianjin intended to let Governor Shuntian build the other half. The saying at the time was
Tianjin paid half of the money and Shuntian paid half of the money. Later, the King of Tianjin said he was willing to pay 70% of the money. Liu Yuantao, the governor of Shuntian, was always unwilling and said that Tianjin would not repair it if he spent all the money."
When Zhu Youjian heard Wang Dehua's report, he frowned and cursed: "You bastard, why doesn't Shuntian repair such a road that benefits the country and the people? Send someone to check this Liu Yuantao to see if he is related to the Jiangbei Army.
He was implicated and deliberately made things difficult for the King of Tianjin."
"If it turns out he is a sycophant, take him down!"
Wang Dehua bent down and shouted: "I accept the order!"
Zhu Youjian took a breath and took a long time to regain his mood.
After walking forward for a while, Zhu Youjian saw a village in the distance. He pointed at his riding whip and said, "Let's go and have a look in the countryside of Tianjin."
More than twenty fans disguised as servants immediately rode out of the official road and rushed to the village. The fans first went to the village to check if there were any gangsters and made sure there was no danger. Only then did Zhu Youjian slow down.
Drive the horse away slowly.
The village looks very prosperous, and the farmhouses all have identical courtyards with two entrances. The courtyards are made of bricks and tiles, and the outside is painted with snow-white lime. There are small gatehouses at the entrances of the courtyards. At first glance, they look like dozens of
The houses of several small landowners were crowded together.
The road outside the village is a dirt road, but once you approach the village for one mile, it turns into a cement road.
At this time, the wheat has been harvested and it is not yet time to sow. It is the slack time for farming. People in the village were spending time in the yard, but they were startled by the sound of Fanzi's horse hooves. The villagers stood at the door of their yard one by one.
, looking at what happened in surprise.
Zhu Youjian entered the village and looked at the people around him. He found that although the people were all wearing simple cotton-padded clothes, the cotton-padded clothes were quite new and no one was wearing patches. Although these farmers were in the countryside, their bodies and heads were
They were all very clean, and they obviously bathed frequently, unlike the unkempt appearance of farmers in other places.
After jumping off his horse, Zhu Youjian said to the people around him: "I'm disturbing you all!"
When the villagers saw a high official coming, they understood what was going on. They all bent down and bowed to Zhu Youjian.
Zhu Youjian was stunned when he saw that these people did not kneel down to him.
Wang Chengen couldn't stand it anymore and shouted: "Why don't you kneel down when you see the dignified governor?"
The farmers looked at each other for a while, and finally an old man with white hair and beard said: "Sir Governor, the prince advocated in the newspaper that you should kneel less. The prince said that there is gold under a man's knees, and a man should be virtuous and uphold martial arts. He should stand upright and not bend his knees easily.
On weekdays, even if we see the prince's ceremonial guard, we will bow and salute. Unless we are expressing our gratitude for the prince's favor, we are not allowed to kneel down. "
Wang Chengen was stunned and speechless for a moment.
Zhu Youjian waved his hand towards Wang Chengen, indicating that he should stop talking about this topic.
Stroking his beard, Zhu Youjian asked the old man: "Old man, I think the houses in this village are all in good repair. How much is your annual income?"
When the village elder heard the foreign governor asking about his income, he laughed and felt a little proud.
"Sir, the income of our people in Tianjin is not low. I live with my son. My son and my daughter-in-law use machinery to cultivate the prince's 120 acres of public land. We can harvest more than 100 shi of grain every year. 50% of the grain is
I gave it to the prince as land rent, and the remaining sixty shi are my own, and the official warehouse sold to the prince is more than one hundred and twenty taels of silver."
"Of course, farm machinery and water trucks require maintenance fees. My son uses four oxen, and it costs money to take care of these oxen on weekdays. Together, these cost more than thirty taels of silver a year."
"Finally, my son and daughter-in-law can earn ninety taels of silver a year. My son has raised four children, and they are all fat and white."
"Sir, look at my house. It only cost my son half a year's income to build this two-story house."
After the old man said this, he burst out laughing in front of Zhu Youjian.
