amaotonovel Chapter 1108: Moving the Capital to Shuntian
Chapter 1108: Moving the Capital to Shuntian
Chapter 1108: Moving the Capital to Shuntian
Zhu Su was listening to Liu Sanwu's advice and was a little surprised.
The old man's hard journey was not in vain. Even he and Song Lian had not thought of this suggestion.
It is similar to the "going to the mountains and the countryside" movement in later generations.
Although not all students are suitable for going to the countryside, allowing these great Confucian scholars who serve as teachers to go among the people can not only allow them to understand the people's sentiments and assist the court in eradicating bad practices among the people, but also expand the influence of the court's policy of "enlightening the people" so that the people all know that the court has such a policy that benefits the people.
It can be said to kill two birds with one stone.
"Hahahaha, Liu Qing, you have made a lot of progress along the way." Old Zhu also laughed heartily.
"Not bad, not bad. This proposal is very much to our liking."
"Since you have established a school in Shuntian, we will run it according to your wishes. We look forward to the emergence of many outstanding people who will contribute to the Ming Dynasty in the future."
"Since you are the one who brought up the idea of changing customs and habits, I will leave it to your school to handle."
"Yes, I will not fail in my mission!" Liu Sanwu replied excitedly. With these words from the Emperor Hongwu, the stain on his reputation was washed away.
As long as he can make sufficient contributions to the Ming Dynasty in the cause of enlightening the people...it is possible that his reputation will be further elevated to a higher level, or even go down in history.
Liu Sanwu was full of confidence.
The officials who came from the north quickly got involved in the work of building schools. Among the eight northern prefectures that Zhu Biao had designated as the first batch of places for building schools, Shuntian was one of the areas that the court paid the most attention to, because Shuntian was an important town in the north of the Ming Dynasty, and because the Yuan ruler voluntarily withdrew from Shuntian after being besieged by Xu Da, Shuntian also preserved the most population.
After several searches, Liu Sanwu and his team finally selected a place in the northwest of Shuntian Prefecture to build a school. This was originally the residence of a nobleman of the Yuan court, and after the Yuan people withdrew from the capital, it was left vacant.
At present, Yingtian Prefecture is still holding a special examination to select northern teachers. Liu Sanwu and others are short of manpower after all, so they did not recruit a large number of students. They plan to start with the problem of changing customs.
The Yuan court had been plagued by a hundred years of problems. Even in Shuntian, the former capital of the Yuan Dynasty, there were many city foxes and community rats, and gossips and frauds. Liu Sanwu and others decided to start with the city. In the past few days, they went around the city to preach, full of enthusiasm to perform well in front of the old emperor, Zhu.
Since the matter was handed over to Liu Sanwu, Old Zhu no longer cared about it. These days, he focused on studying whether Shuntian was suitable for being the capital.
It was past the autumnal equinox, and a few days after Liu Sanwu arrived, it began to snow. Zhu Su, Zhu Chong and others were worried about Zhu's health, and urged him to walk less and rest more in the palace. However, Zhu was stubborn and refused to listen. Instead, he said:
"Don't think I'm old... Lian Po was still able to eat a bucket of rice and ten pounds of meat at the age of eighty. My body is not much worse than that of the ancients!"
"But it's just a little snow, what's the big deal? I think it's quite refreshing when it snows."
Beside him, Xu Da also laughed and said, "Old brother, what you said is true. These youngsters all think that the north is bitterly cold. In fact, no matter how bitter it is, can it be as bitter as when we were little?"
"I think the North is much better than the South."
"I have been in Yingtian to pay my respects to you, my elder brother, these days. I am an old man with many old injuries. As soon as I entered Jiangnan, I felt pain all over my bones, and nothing I did would heal me."
"When I got to the north, all the aches and pains I had were gone without any medicine."
"Hey, Tiande, if you hadn't mentioned it, I wouldn't have remembered it... Indeed! When I was in Yingtian, I always felt sore in my hands and feet. It was so uncomfortable... After I got to the north, it felt much better!"
Old Zhu said in surprise, and he opened his arms and stretched them. He felt that his body was indeed much lighter, and he couldn't help but smile with joy.
These people had fought desperately in their early years, and they all had some old injuries. The south of the Yangtze River was full of moisture, especially for Old Zhu, who still lived in the Yingtian Imperial City built by filling the lake. Whenever it rained, he would suffer from rheumatism and was miserable.
The climate in the north is dry, so there is no risk of rheumatism.
Tang He, with gray hair and a vigorous spirit, nodded in empathy. In his early years, he was on the coast to guard against Japanese pirates, and he also served as the admiral of the Nanyang Navy. He also had the most severe rheumatism. "If you say that a few years ago, the bitter cold in the north was indeed true." Tang He said.
"But in recent years, the severe cold weather has not harmed the people of the Ming Dynasty." He smiled and lowered his head, gently pulling the collar of his clothes. "This sweater is a good thing!"
"It is cheap and good quality, and it can be woven with the inexhaustible wool of the grassland. With just a few coins, you can buy the wool balls and weave them into sweaters, so that poor people no longer have to suffer from having no clothes to keep warm in winter."
"This sweater has saved countless lives!"
Shuntian's industry was not as developed as that of Xi'an and Taiyuan. The reason was that most of the people in Shuntian had permanent property. Even if there were some refugees who had lost their land, they were allocated enough land for cultivation at the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty.
For the Ming Dynasty today, agriculture is still the most important industry that affects the country's destiny. Even if factories are built on a large scale in Shuntian, there will not be enough people to become workers.
However, as one of the big towns in the north, Shuntian has also developed some modern workshops, among which wool spinning factories and honeycomb coal stove factories are undoubtedly the two most prosperous industries.
The wool textile factory was built because it is close to the northern Xinjiang, making it convenient to purchase wool from the northern Xinjiang market. It is also the main market for sweaters, so many businessmen simply opened factories here.
As for the honeycomb coal stove... Xishan, next to Shuntian City, is a famous coal producing area, and today's Xishan coal field has become one of the most important income industries for the royal family. Burning coal for heating has also become one of the important ways for northern cities like Shuntian to keep warm in winter.
After all, honeycomb coal is durable, safe, has low consumption, and has no odor, so the simple-to-make honeycomb coal stove has naturally entered thousands of households.
"I remember last year, Shuntian Prefecture sent a memorial to Yingtian." Old Zhu looked at his sweater with emotion, "It said that last winter, Shuntian Prefecture was hit by a snowstorm and the roads were closed for more than 20 days. The roads were closed, and the people could not leave the city to collect firewood for burning."
"At that time, I was worried that people would freeze to death in the city, and I even thought about asking the cabinet to draft disaster relief plans. But later I saw in the memorial that no one in the city froze to death."
"What I rely on is these sweaters and coal stoves! With these things, Shuntian can no longer be called a bitterly cold place."
He put his hands behind his back, looked up at the sky, and watched the falling snow. "Even if it really becomes a bitterly cold place in the future, what does it matter?"
"If the people can bear it, then we, the descendants of the Zhu family, should bear it too! Only by empathizing with the people can we know how to pay attention to their sufferings."
"We intend to move the capital of the Ming Dynasty to Shuntian... The Enke incident has sounded the alarm for us!"
"The capital is in the south, and the ministers in the court have enjoyed the gentleness of the south, and have forgotten that the people in the north are still suffering in the cold and bitterness. They only want to speak up for the southerners... Biao'er was taught by me, so he is not biased, that's for sure."
"After all, the south is much richer than the north. If there is an emperor in the future who is not as wise as me and lives in the gentle countryside of the south, forgetting the northern half of the country and living in a corner like the weak Song Dynasty, wouldn't that ruin our reputation?"
"We should still move the capital to the north... Since the emperor is in the north, the court will not forget the people in the north."
"Besides, Shuntian Prefecture is a good place. If we establish our capital here, we can connect to the grasslands in the north and sail to the sea in the east. It is a good place for an emperor to establish a strong foundation by connecting all four directions."
Zhu wanted to move the capital to the north, and everyone knew it. Zhu Su knew even more. Zhu was thinking that if the Little Ice Age came in the future, the Ming emperor would be in the south and would not be able to empathize with the severe cold in the north, and might regard the north as a burden.
If the capital is located in the north, the court must invest resources to manage the north. If the Little Ice Age comes, the ability to resist disasters can be better with the help of the long-established trade routes and waterways.
The selection of Shuntian was actually expected. After all, Zhu Yuanzhang had originally set his sights on Xi'an and Shuntian. Since Xi'an had been rejected, it was only natural that Shuntian would be chosen.
"Since we are going to move the capital here, we should manage this city well." Xu Da said.
"Brother, do you need any support from my Xu family?"
His fiefdom was in the north of Karakorum, isolated in the heart of northern Xinjiang. If the Ming Dynasty established its capital in Shuntian, the Xu family would benefit the most.
You know, there are still many grassland tribes that are unruly and unwilling to submit to Han rule. The grassland areas that the Han people really control are still only Kharakhorum and many cities including the grassland trading markets.
Although many grassland tribes that have not yet submitted to the Han Dynasty fear the Han army and dare not actively attack Han merchants, some tribes even cooperate with the Han people and help the Chinese forces stabilize the grassland situation... But as long as it is outside the city walls, it is actually still the world of many grassland tribes. If the Chinese nation wants to truly rule the grassland, there is still a long way to go.
If the capital of the Ming Dynasty was located here, the imperial court would certainly deploy heavy troops to guard the national border, and the deterrent effect on the northern grassland tribes would also be strengthened.
Then, with the support of the Ming Dynasty, the Xu family of Duke Wei could naturally expand the grassland territory more vigorously. In times of crisis, they might even be able to get assistance from the Ming Dynasty's border troops.
If the Ming Dynasty wants to move its capital, the investment must be huge. The Xu family has made a lot of money from their business on the grassland, so they are naturally willing to help at this time.
"Hmm... this city really needs to be repaired." Old Zhu pondered. Shuntian City was built when the Northern Yuan Dynasty ruled the world. It is tall, but in the eyes of the Ming Dynasty, where gunpowder and firearms are becoming more and more popular, it is no longer considered to be very solid.
In Zhu's mind, he wanted to build the Shuntian Prefecture into a truly impregnable city that would last forever. First of all, the ancient square city walls were no longer usable, so he wanted to adopt a new bastion design... In addition, the former imperial city of the Yuan Dynasty also needed to be renovated, and the cost would surely be enormous.
Moreover, although Shuntian Prefecture is a big city in the north, it lacks various conveniences and does not have the prosperous atmosphere that a capital of a country should have... If Zhu Yuanzhang were to follow his past practice, he would have to relocate wealthy families from the south of the Yangtze River to fill Shuntian.
But the current Old Zhu, after being baptized by the time traveler Zhu Su, and having studied economics himself... has realized that relocating wealthy households to fill the city actually does more harm than good.
He thought for a moment, turned to look at Zhu Su, and asked, "Old Five, do you have any ideas about how we should build Shuntian?"
Zhu Su thought for a moment and said, "Father, if you need money, the current treasury of our Ming Dynasty should be enough to meet your needs."
"Besides, our Ming Dynasty's treasure notes are now in circulation all over the country. Even if we move the national treasury to Shuntian, there won't be much worry about the loss during the journey. Therefore, there is no need for my father-in-law to support us."
"The only thing that is worrying is that Shuntian is now used more as a military town, and it does not have the atmosphere that a capital of a country should have. In a nutshell, it is not convenient enough..."
"In my opinion, as long as Shuntian can be made into the hub of the world, it will naturally have the atmosphere of an imperial dynasty."
"The Northern Yuan Dynasty was largely dependent on the canal. When the Ming Dynasty was fighting in the north, we also dredged the canal, but in winter, the canal froze and the water level dropped, making it impossible to navigate. I think we should build a seaport so that we can transport supplies by sea to connect the north and the south."
"At the same time, merchant ships from Japan and the fleet from Fengmingzhou can also reach Shuntian from the seaport. Now that maritime trade is open, the economy of Shuntian City will naturally flourish."
Lao Zhu nodded, "Is there anything else that can be done?"
"There are a lot of timber and minerals in Liaodong, which can also be sent to Shuntian for trade. Silk and tea from the south should also be delivered in Shuntian... In this way, the goods from the north and the south will converge, and the taxes collected alone will be considerable. In addition, large-scale construction requires a lot of manpower. We can hire Koreans from the Three Kingdoms of Korea and Japanese from the Yingzhou Islands to work in Beijing, and use them with prisoners of war from the northern border to build Shuntian City."
"Once the new city is built, we will put these people on the farm and send them to reclaim the land in Liaodong... There is a lot of fertile land in the border areas of Liaodong. However, due to the bitter cold and frequent wars, the population is not prosperous."
"After the city is built, it will be a good time to cultivate the surrounding land. When the surrounding areas are prosperous, Shuntian will also prosper."
"In the future, when agriculture flourishes and merchants gather, it will naturally have the atmosphere of a capital city."
"Good!" Old Zhu praised. "In that case, let's send this matter to the capital, and let Biao'er and the ministers discuss the details."
"When the imperial court moves north, we can change 'Shuntianfu' to 'Beijing City', which will be the foundation for the eternal prosperity of our Ming Dynasty!"
(End of this chapter)