In the coldest month of winter, construction is still going on in the capital.
As soon as Copernicus and others got off the train, they saw the construction site in full swing.
Several officials from the Ministry of Industry were followed by a strong man, who also carried a sledgehammer on his shoulder. They carried out quality inspections in sections, and used sledgehammers to slam the newly repaired city wall. Through the sound, they could hear where corners were cut and where the structure was not solid.
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Once quality problems arise, everyone from the supervisory officials to the contractors will be held accountable and severely punished.
In the Ming Dynasty, there were private construction companies. Take the construction of city walls as an example. The corvees recruited by the government could only do menial work. Carpenters, stonemasons, and bricklayers had to hold certificates to work, and they had to guarantee each other. The construction companies recruited craftsmen and divided the project into sections.
lump sum.
Hundreds of years later, flower work has already appeared in ancient times, such as the phenomenon of layered subcontracting.
During the Zhengtong period, the imperial court deepened Beijing's moat and turned all riverbanks into stone. Among them, a section of the Tonghui River outside Chongwenmen must be completed before the flood season. To rush for the construction period, it could only be subcontracted. The official bidding construction factory will
A 20-foot-long river section was subcontracted to Tongzhou Construction Factory. As a result, the subcontracting company cut corners and the river wall collapsed, causing many casualties.
After the incident, the bosses of the two construction plants were all sentenced to be executed by the Queen of Autumn, and the responsible officials were collectively sentenced to eighty-year fines.
"stop!"
An official from the Ministry of Works suddenly shouted. The responsible officials, contractors, and craftsmen for this section of the project were all pale with fear, and were tremblingly waiting for the next verdict.
The official leaned his head closer, looked closely with his eyes, and even held a magnifying glass to check. He pointed at a wall, frowned and said: "Knock again!"
The strongman quickly swung his sledgehammer and hit it hard with all his strength.
After hammering down several times, the official said sternly: "The mortar is slightly mixed with mud and the gaps are excessive. This section of the city wall will be demolished and rebuilt. The construction company contracted for this section will be responsible for all losses!"
"call!"
Everyone let out a sigh of relief. It was just that the reconstruction was okay, but they were afraid that if the problem was too big, they would be arrested and jailed.
This time when the Beijing City Wall is being built, cement can only be used for the inner wall, while traditional white ash paddles must be used for the outer wall.
For national key projects like the Beijing City Wall, the innermost layer of the city wall is entirely made of rammed earth, each layer is half a foot long and is rammed layer by layer.
In addition to the rammed earth layer, there is another cobblestone layer.
In addition to the cobblestone layer, there are also stone layers.
Beyond the stone layer is the blue brick layer that everyone sees.
In this city construction, the cobblestone layer and the strip stone layer were all bonded with cement. The brick joints of the outer blue brick layer were made of a mixture of lime, glutinous rice slurry, tung oil, etc., which could not be broken with knives, axes, and chisels. The blue brick layer
Between the stone layer and the stone layer, a layer of white ash paddle was poured, which is equivalent to the ancient concrete layer.
This kind of city wall can be held up by modern artillery. It would be ridiculous for the Eight-Power Allied Forces to conquer Beijing in one day.
If you want to dig a tunnel to bury explosives, you have to dig a very deep tunnel because the foundation of the city wall is made of several layers of triple soil.
Historically, when the Guandi Temple in Beijing was built during the Jiajing period, even the foundation of the Guandi Temple had three layers of Sanhe soil. At that time, the craftsmen were lucky and wanted to fool them by laying two layers of Sanhe soil, thinking that no one would be able to see it even if they were buried underground. The result was that
The inspection official was stunned and dug a deep hole next to the foundation to inspect. The contractor and all the craftsmen were arrested and severely punished.
"Can I take a look?" Copernicus asked.
The entourage sent by Chen Li to escort him immediately went to contact the officials. When they heard that the father of Wang Yuan's concubine was coming, the officials reluctantly agreed to watch, but they were not allowed to touch anything.
Copernicus watched them struggle to dismantle the blue brick exterior wall, and then remove the white ash paddle pouring layer inside. It couldn't be dismantled at all. Two craftsmen had to hold the steel drill and hit it hard with a sledgehammer to make the hole.
.To dismantle this substandard irrigation layer, it is estimated that twenty or thirty people will be working at the same time, and the demolition will last for half a month.
"Why demolish it?" Copernicus asked.
Avril relayed in Chinese: "Why should it be demolished?"
The inspection official replied: "The mortar is mixed with soil, and the mortar layer between the bricks is also thicker."
Hearing the answer, Copernicus was in disbelief. In his opinion, this section of the city wall had been built extremely solidly, and it was extremely difficult to dismantle it. In the eyes of Chinese officials, the quality was still substandard!
Copernicus murmured to himself: "No wonder China can produce exquisite porcelain and silk, and can also discover the mysteries of the movement of celestial bodies. They are so serious and strict in their work. This country is so great. In comparison, Europe is like the future."
Enlighten the world.”
After watching the construction of the city wall, Avril was taken to the inn to settle down.
Avril's daughter is just Wang Yuan's concubine and cannot be seen just when he wants. He must first inform the Wang family's concierge and then arrange a time to visit. After all, the Chief Minister of the Ming Dynasty has many things to do every day.
In the inn, Copernicus unexpectedly met a group of Europeans.
After questioning, it turned out that the other party was a Portuguese mission, and the Portuguese and Indian Governor-General Nuno da Cunha personally led the team.
"Does your Excellency the Governor want to meet the Emperor of China?" Copernicus asked.
Nuno da Cunha sighed and said: "We went to see the Chinese officials, but we could not contact the Chinese emperor at all. Because Portugal is not a vassal state of China, and there is no tribute document from the emperor, the officials of Honglu Temple are unwilling to receive us. Where are you, Mr. Priest?
Are you coming to Beijing to preach?"
Copernicus explained: "I was sponsored by the Archduke of Florence to come to China to exchange culture and art." Then he added, "If you want to meet the Chinese emperor, you can contact Mr. Camillo, the author of "Travel to the East". I
I heard that Mr. Camilo is serving as an astronomical official in Beijing."
Nuno da Cunha smiled bitterly: "I have already contacted him. Mr. Camilo is contacting the Chinese Prime Minister, but the Prime Minister is difficult to contact and only asked us to wait in Beijing first."
Nuno da Cunha, the Portuguese-Indian governor, was extremely unlucky.
Due to the expansion of the Tianzhu Cotton Association, Portugal lost its Indian colonies one after another, and now only Goa and Basin are left.
There was no way to fight a naval battle, not only because of the Ming Navy, but also because of the armed merchant ships of the Ming merchants. As long as someone was prestige enough to gather a fleet, the Ming armed merchant ships could lift up the Portuguese and Indian fleets without the Ming Navy personally taking action.
Portugal is now huddled in northwest India, and the "Malacca Agreement" has long been torn to pieces. But the Ming Dynasty maritime merchants were not satisfied, and even crossed the Arabian Sea to do business directly with the Ottoman Empire, completely ignoring Portugal's control of the Arabian Sea.
The Portuguese and Indian governors did not dare to attack because once they attacked the Ming merchant ships, it would give the Ming Navy a reason to send troops.
The maritime merchants of the Ming Dynasty were a bunch of jackals and tigers. They spontaneously formed the "Haitonghui" and expelled all non-Chinese merchant ships. Portuguese maritime merchants and Arab maritime merchants have disappeared in the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia, including Japan, Korea, Ryukyu and other Ming vassal states.
The fleet has not yet been attacked by armed merchant ships.
Because of the loss of the eastern route, Portugal was extremely poor.
Originally, it could still control the Arabian Sea and work as a second-tier dealer in Goa. But starting from last year, the Ming Dynasty maritime merchants traded directly with the Ottomans. It was difficult for Portugal to even be a second-tier dealer. The Portuguese and Indian governor could only come to Beijing in person and beg the Ming Emperor for some kind of help.
A way out.
In fact, maritime trade in the Ming Dynasty was also difficult. More and more people were engaged in maritime trade, and business competition has become fierce.
After years of infighting, a few finally stood up and said, let’s stop fighting among ourselves and join forces to expand westward. First, drive Arabia and Portugal out of the sea, then break through Portugal’s control and open up new markets all the way west.
, finally making the trade cake bigger and bigger.
Even so, "Haitonghui" franchise members occasionally attack non-franchisees.
As long as it encounters a lone merchant ship, not to mention the Japanese, Korean, and Ryukyu merchant ships, but also the merchant ships of the Chinese compatriots, the "Haitonghui" fleet will kill them.
Under the pressure of cruel market competition, small pirate gangs were born. Unable to bear the oppression of the "Haitonghui", they simply stopped engaging in legitimate trade and settled in remote islands as pirates.
These pirates, naturally, tried to attack Zhu Ying's nephew's fleet.
Although Zhu Ying was transferred back to the Navy Governor's Mansion for retirement, he still had influence in the Ming Navy. His nephew's fleet was attacked, and the Ming Navy quickly dispatched a direct and indiscriminate attack, regardless of which pirates it was.
He committed a crime and wiped out the Pirate Islands in the south of Java.
Nowadays, some remaining pirates are forced to retreat to Rhode Island.
Zhu Ying's nephew was still not satisfied, so he personally took an armed merchant ship and planned to go to Luodi Island to beat up the drowned dogs. The pirates were in danger, but they had no way to retreat. If they retreated, they would have to find Australia.