When passing through Nanjing, Wang Yuan finally saw the Great Baoen Temple.
In the West, the popularity of the Great Baoen Temple once far surpassed that of the Great Wall and the Forbidden City. It was built by Zhu Di for his parents. It took 19 years and cost 2.5 million taels of silver to complete.
There are more than 30 palaces and pavilions, 38 sutra rooms, more than 100 monasteries, and more than 100 Langfang. The temple tower is entirely made of colored glaze and is nearly 80 meters high. There are 146 ever-burning lamps inside the tower.
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When Europeans from the Ming Dynasty came to Nanjing and saw the Benevolence Tower, they would instantly enter a state of confusion.
Unfortunately, this masterpiece was later destroyed by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
Wang Yuan did not stay in Nanjing, and Nanjing officials would not take the initiative to see him. They were in peace with each other.
Traveling all the way from Nanjing to Hangzhou, if you only look at the towns, they are indeed extremely prosperous, eclipsing the northern cities by a few streets. Even some ordinary people in the city are actually wearing silk clothes. The wealth of Jiangnan is well-deserved.
At the time of Zhu Yuanzhang, Nanjing had a population of at least 700,000 to 800,000.
Zhu Di moved the capital to Beijing and forced a large number of immigrants, leaving Nanjing with a population of only four to five million. After a century of development, Nanjing's population has surpassed that of Beijing. If you include the people living in the attached city, it is likely to be close to one million during the Zhengde period.
The population of Hangzhou is about the same as that of Nanjing. It is the maritime smuggling distribution center of South Zhili and Zhejiang!
During the Jiajing period, the area with the most serious smuggling phenomenon was Fujian.
But in the middle period of Zhengde, Zhejiang was a major maritime smuggling province. Because the Folangji people had not arrived at this time, the main target of sea trade was Japan, and the maritime ban in South Zhili was strict, Zhejiang became the most convenient place for smuggling.
Especially the Zhoushan Islands, there are a lot of pirates.
Smuggled goods throughout southern Zhili and northern Zhejiang are collected and distributed through Hangzhou, and then quietly transported to Ningbo, or directly transported to Zhoushan for export!
When Wang Yuan arrived in Hangzhou by boat, it was already dark, but there were bright lights outside the north gate of Hangzhou.
Even the vendors at the small stalls have not finished their work yet, holding up lanterns and shouting to sell.
On the river, there are densely packed merchant ships; inside the dock, there are endless traffickers and people. There is even no curfew in Hangzhou. You can come and go at will at night, and the city is even more prosperous than outside the city.
The official ship Wang Yuan was traveling on was stopped at Chaoguan in Hangzhou.
The full name of this Chaoguan is "Zhejiang Beiguan Hubu Branch", which is one of only five Hucao bureaus in the country. The Hucao Bureau has specially set up a branch here, and the head of the Hucao must be appointed once a year. It can be seen that Hangzhou
How rich is the business tax revenue.
An official came running up and said with a smile, "May I ask who the official is?"
Yuan Da took the document and went over to inspect it: "Wang Yuan, the right minister of the Ministry of War and the governor of Zhejiang, do you want to board the ship for inspection?"
"It's not necessary." The official said quickly.
After passing Chaoguan, everyone came ashore.
Because it was inconvenient for Wang Yuan to go directly to the city with his former firecrackers, he went to spend the night in the military camp of Qianwei in Hangzhou.
Hearing that the governor of Zhejiang was coming, and that he was bringing a thousand pacesetters with him, Feng Que, the commander of the Hangzhou vanguard, came quickly to see him. Well, he came from a brothel in the city and rode a fast horse back to the garrison station.
"President Wang, you have failed to accept your humble position. Please atone for your sins!" Feng Que knelt down on one knee.
Wang Yuan said: "It doesn't matter. I'm bringing more than a thousand people, and you can help settle them. The money and food needed will be given to you in the future. I'm not just here to eat and drink for free."
Feng Queqian smiled and said: "I'll make arrangements for you now."
Nothing happened all night.
Early the next morning, Li Long, the commander of the Zhejiang capital, also ran out of the city to pay his respects.
The kneeling statue of Qin Hui in front of Yue Fei's tomb has been changed into several versions.
The first generation of kneeling statues was made by Zhou Mu, the chief envoy of Zhejiang during the Chenghua Dynasty. By the Zhengde period, it had become shabby.
Three years ago, it was Li Long who ordered the second-generation kneeling statue of Qin Hui to be cast in copper.
Li Long was proud of his military prowess and admired heroes. When he saw Wang Yuan, he clasped his fists and worshiped: "President Wang suppressed the chaos in the capital and destroyed the country in the western regions. I admire him so much that I wish he could lead his horse to the ground and always follow him around!"
This gesture was very low-key. Li Long was one of the chief officials of the Three Divisions of Zhejiang. It could also be that the general was trying to flatter him when he met a popular civil servant.
Wang Yuan quickly supported him: "Commander Li, you are too polite. You are just serving the country."
Li Long said with a smile: "President Wang has been tired all the way. Why don't we serve as hosts today and taste some Hangzhou delicacies?"
Wang Yuan said: "I have more than a thousand people in my entourage. After they are settled, it will not be too late to have a drink with Commander Li."
"That's right. Let me lead Wang Zongzhi into the city." Li Long said with a smile.
Wang Yuan opened a palace in Hangzhou and needed the cooperation of the Hangzhou prefect, so he immediately followed Li Long into the city.
The name of the magistrate of Hangzhou was Liang Cai, a famous upright official. At the beginning of the Jiajing period, there was a saying: "Liang Cai and Yao Rong are the only two famous officials in the world for their integrity." Well, Emperor Jiajing was very fond of Liang.
Cai Cai's evaluation is: "It seems like being honest and cheating is a mistake."
How exactly, no one can tell.
However, Liang Caineng was promoted from the prefect of Hangzhou and later to the inspector of Zhejiang. He served as an official in prosperous Hangzhou for nearly ten years, but he did not cause the slightest trouble and turned a blind eye to the smuggling of the Hangzhou generation. I am afraid that he is not as clean as the legend says.
"President Wang!" Liang Cai bowed politely without giving him a good look.
If you are an upright official, you must have a lot of airs.
Naturally, Wang Yuan would not be too hot-faced and said with a serious face: "I have been ordered by Your Majesty to be the Governor-General of Zhejiang, and I have the right to open a government office. Please ask Magistrate Liang to find a place to serve as the governor-general's office."
Liang Cai said: "Hangzhou is prosperous and has a large population. There are no idle residences in the city. If the king wants to open a palace, it is better to open it outside the city."
Li Long was waiting nearby to see the joke, because Liang Cai was so rude that he let the dignified governor live outside the city.
Wang Yuan smiled and said: "No problem, please ask Magistrate Liang to make arrangements."
Liang Cai still didn't give a good look: "This matter should be brought to the attention of the county magistrates. The two magistrates of Qiantang and Renhe counties have all left their posts a few days ago, and the new magistrates have not yet arrived. I'm afraid, we have to wait for a while."
What Wang Yuan was waiting for was this sentence: "In that case, farewell!"
"I won't give it away," Liang Cai said.
Isn't the magistrate of Qiantang County Chang Lun? He has been with Wang Yuan all the way and is currently going through the handover procedures at the county government office.
Unfortunately, Gui E has not arrived yet and is on his way from Jiangxi to Zhejiang.
Li Long followed Wang Yuan out of the government office and asked casually: "President Wang, don't you summon the chief envoy and the inspector first?"
Wang Yuan said: "We'll talk about it after everything is settled."
Li Long asked again: "I heard that Mr. Wang intends to open a sea in Hangzhou?"
Wang Yuan said: "When opening the sea, we need to rely more on Commander Li. The Qiantang Navy should also build more ships."
"Building sea-going ships costs a lot of money. Has Mr. Wang brought enough money? I'm afraid it's hard for the local government to support it." Li Long inquired.
Wang Yuan deceived him and said, "I want to use Nanguan Gong Cao's money to build a ship."