Last night, I stayed in the hall in the middle of the night.

Zhu Houzhao slept until noon, stretched his waist and got up, and the eunuch immediately came to serve.

When the emperor finished washing up and just got out of the door, he saw Zhang Yong and Jiang Bin in the aisle: "Your Majesty, please have lunch." ”

The lunch was prepared by a famous chef in Hangzhou, and Huang Chongde specially hired to entertain distinguished guests. Zhu Houzhao ate very happily, he had never seen some seafood, and he was considered to have opened meat in Hangzhou.

"Reward the cook with a silver or two." Zhu Houzhao put down his chopsticks and said.

"Yes." Zhang Yong's mind was lively, and he planned to bring the cook with him when he returned to Beijing.

Zhu Houzhao got up and walked out, saw a fat man at the door, and had a slight impression: "You are the ......"

The fat man hurriedly knelt down and bowed: "Huang Chongde, a grass folk merchant, received Your Majesty last night." ”

"Yes, yes, you built this hall." Zhu Houzhao recalled.

Huang Chongde said: "Back to Your Majesty, this hall is seen by Jianghuai businessmen raising funds. Originally, it was built for Wang Shilang to be the governor's palace, but Wang Shilang was as incorruptible as water, and he was unwilling to move in, so he simply changed it to the Jianghuai Hall. ”

"Have a heart," Zhu Houzhao asked casually, "What is the biggest difference between this Hangzhou City and Nanjing, Yangzhou, and Suzhou?" ”

Huang Chongde said with a smile: "Back to Your Majesty, there are no beggars in Hangzhou. ”

Zhu Houzhao was quite surprised: "There are no beggars? ”

Huang Chongde replied: "This is the virtue of the king's servant. Every day, soap men patrol the streets, and when they encounter beggars, they arrest them. If the hands and feet are complete, they will be sent to the wharf, steel mill, and mine for work; Widows, lonely or disabled people were sent to a nursing home (the official welfare home of the Ming Dynasty) to live. ”

"It's a bit interesting," Zhu Houzhao said to Zhang Yong and Jiang Bin with a smile, "Erlang has only been in Zhejiang for one year, and he has made Hangzhou City Road starvation-free, how many officials in the world can do it?" ”

Zhang Yong said with a smile: "Maxima often has, but Bole does not often have." If it weren't for His Majesty's hand-picking of Wang Shilang as the champion, how could Wang Shilang be able to display his talent and economy? Therefore, there is no hunger on this Hangzhou city road, and the people should be more grateful to His Majesty. ”

"This is reasonable," Zhu Houzhao Longyan Dayue, "Quickly call Wang Erlang!" ”

In fact, Wang Yuan's initial purpose in sheltering Hangzhou beggars was just to rectify public order. Gangsters are a great evil, as are beggars, who often commit the crime of abducting and mutilating children.

It can be said that it is a beggar gang, or it can be said that it is a beggar gang, but it was eliminated by Wang Yuan with fire guns anyway.

Although the almshouse is an official welfare institution, it still has to work to earn money. Young people with disabilities are taught life skills and most of the wages they earn are paid. The lonely and widowed old people eat very poorly, and they have to sweep the floor, burn fires, etc., how can the ancient feudal society support idlers?

Fortunately, after the opening of the sea, Hangzhou's commerce was extremely prosperous, absorbing a large number of unemployed vagrants. In addition to the acres of land by Liu Zhishu, Gui Cao and Chang Lun Qingzhang, many landless peasants became tenants of official land, and after the tax reform, the peasants were also willing to rent official land. Otherwise, where can the beggars in Hangzhou be contained? Displaced people from the countryside are enough of a headache.

Receiving the emperor's call, Wang Yuan took his wife and children and came to the hall from the Land Temple slowly.

Originally, Jiang Bin arranged to take the emperor to visit the West Lake. But Zhu Houzhao did as he pleased, and suddenly wanted to go to the shipyard to see the excitement, wanting to witness the big treasure ship that was about to be built.

Halfway through, Zhu Houzhao suddenly asked: "Erlang, Xie Yuqiao's hometown seems to be not far from Hangzhou, right?" ”

Wang Yuan replied: "Xie Ge is always from Yuyao County, Shaoxing Prefecture, and it is indeed not far from Hangzhou. ”

"I suddenly remembered him and called him to come to Hangzhou to see the driver." Zhu Houzhao said.

Wang Yuan smiled: "I'm afraid please don't move." ”

Xie Yuqiao is Xie Qian, one of the three ministers of the Hongzhi Dynasty, and also Zhu Houzhao's teacher. When Liu Jin was in power, Liu Jian and Xie Qian both resigned, leaving Li Dongyang alone in the cabinet to support.

Later, Zhu Houzhao listened to slander and pursued the rank of minister. Xie Qian was also among them, and all the seals were taken away, so he was completely dead to the emperor.

Wang Yuan, the governor of Zhejiang, had inquired about Xie Qian's situation, and then he was reluctant to contact this person.

If you want to fully clear the acres of land in Zhejiang, the Xie family must be a huge obstacle!

Only the Guoqing Temple of the Xie family temple, there are thousands of acres of temple fields, how many acres of land do you say the entire Xie family should have?

This is not the most terrifying, what is even more terrifying is that the children of the Xie family have countless officials. After becoming an official, he often has to divide his family, and when he divides it, he will continue to encroach on the land, and eventually he will definitely become a behemoth.

For example, in history, Xie Qian's son Xie Pi said that his temple field was occupied by the surname Dong. So he united with the government to "take back" the temple field, causing the Xie family's temple field to skyrocket to thousands of acres. But the Xie family is full of eunuchs, who doesn't dare to take away his temple field with long eyes? His Xie family colluded with the government to seize people's land and property, and it was almost the same! Xie Qian's great-nephew, under the pretext of repairing the ancestral tomb, directly took most of Yuyao Dongshan for himself.

This is a generation of virtuous minister Xie Qian, who won the highest honor of Wenchen after his death and was given the nickname "Wenzheng"!

Wang Yuan has not had any conflict with the Xie family for the time being, because the Xie family is only studying, being an official, and invading fields, and is not very interested in doing business, and has no dealings with maritime merchants and pirates. When Wang Yuan opened the sea, the Xie family did not support or oppose it, and directly regarded him as the governor who did not exist.

Zhu Houzhao also asked casually, not that he missed his teacher Xie Qian much, and Zhang Yong didn't bother to send someone to Yuyao to summon the will.

When everyone walked to the shipyard, it was naturally another sensation.

The director of the shipyard is called Peng Yan, who originally worked in the Zhejiang Metropolitan Division, and this person can manage the shipyard, purely because the shipyard is affiliated with the name of the Zhejiang Metropolitan Division. At the beginning, this guy had no real power, and it wasn't until he completely surrendered to Wang Yuan that he was not completely overshadowed by his subordinates.

"Grass people Peng Yan, meet Your Majesty!" Peng Yan came over with a group of officials.

Chen Baochang, a master who can build treasure ships, is getting more and more old, and he needs the support of his apprentices to kneel.

Zhu Houzhao couldn't wait to say, "Hurry up and take me into the dock to have a look." ”

Compared with when Wang Yuan left Hangzhou, the shipyard has more than tripled in size. The first bird boats had already been launched, and they were built by local boatmen before the master was hired.

At this moment, a small treasure ship of 4,000 materials was lying quietly in the dock. It is about 60 meters long and 18 meters wide, with a five-masted sail and a displacement of more than 2,000 tons.

Zhu Houzhao pointed to the workers and asked, "What are they doing?" ”

Chen Baochang replied: "Back to Your Majesty, the shipwright is smearing tung putty on the treasure ship, and it will not leak if you wipe this thing." ”

In ancient China, the wooden hull should leave seams between the plates, and then plaster tung putty between the gaps. In this way, it is not afraid of thermal expansion and contraction of wood, and has extremely high environmental adaptability.

This was not the case with Japanese ships in this era, and when they built their ships, they were tightly knit, and when there was a huge change in temperature, the hull would be damaged or cold shrinkage and leakage.

Seagoing vessels also have to be brushed with tung oil to prevent corrosion by seawater. And every year or two, it is necessary to brush tung oil again to maintain it, and the old ships that are old, and even the wooden heart will be soaked in tung oil.

Zhu Houzhao asked again: "When can this ship be launched?" ”

Chen Baochang replied: "At least in March." ”

Zhu Houzhao stood in the dock like that, silently watching the treasure ship. The magnificent hull brought him a huge shock, and he couldn't help but think of the great scene when Taizong Zhu Di ordered Zheng He to take a treasure ship to the Western Ocean, and all countries came to the court.

Suddenly, Zhu Houzhao turned around and asked Zhang Yong: "Are you willing to be a eunuch of the Three Treasures?" ”

Zhang Yong shuddered: "Your Majesty, the minister is old and weak, but he can't withstand the wind and waves at sea." However, Zhu Ying, the steward of the East Factory, is young and strong, wise and brave, and can be the Three Treasures Eunuch of His Majesty. ”

Zhu Ying was lucky, and last year he was fortunate to be the commander of the East Factory. But this position was snatched away by Zhang Yong, and Zhu Ying became the manager of the East Factory.

Now, Zhang Yong wants to recommend Zhu Ying Navigation, and he completely controls the East Factory. It's just that navigation is also a poor beauty, Zhu Ying was calculated by Zhang Yong, and he had to think about Zhang Yong's benefits.

Wang Yuan suddenly said: "Your Majesty ordered the eunuch to sail, do you want to seek fame or profit?" ”

Zhu Houzhao said with a smile: "Isn't it good to gain fame and fortune?" ”

Wang Yuan replied: "Fame and fortune are also available. But the name belongs to Your Majesty, and the benefits need to be divided into six departments and places. Only with the support of the six ministries can the navigation business be long-term, otherwise it will be abandoned for a long time. In addition, the world has changed, and now it is not only necessary to seek foreign countries to come to the DPRK, but also to colonize overseas. ”

"What is colonization?" Zhu Houzhao asked.

Wang Yuan said with a smile: "The Eastern Zhou Dynasty divided the world, sealed one wait, and then threw it to the barbarian land. A hundred years later, the barbarians were sinicized, all of them were Zhou people, and their land was also Zhou. This so-called, the whole world is not the king's land, and the shore of the land is not the king's minister. Now, of course, you can't just be a marquis, but you can send a governor to sail overseas, occupy a stronghold for sea trade and business, and migrate criminals and homeless people to reclamation. Isn't Daming short of copper? There is it overseas! There are also countless gold mines and silver mines, all of which can be entered into my Daming Mansion! ”

Zhu Houzhao said with a smile: "It is to occupy land, reclaim, do business, and rob mines." ”

"It can also be said that the same can be said," Wang Yuan said, "but the population of the Ming Dynasty has lived for a hundred years, and now there is not enough land. Sending displaced people and criminals overseas for cultivation is also to prevent the internal displaced people from rebelling. They went overseas, not to waste the imperial court's silver, but to bring profits, a hundred years later, the Ming Dynasty will have countless more overseas lands. Your Majesty knows that the world is a sphere, and the Ming Dynasty only occupies one side, doesn't Your Majesty want to expand the territory and be the Emperor of Zhengde who is admired by all generations? Thousands of years later, the Han people spread all over the country, all reciting His Majesty's holy virtues. ”

"The Emperor Zhengde admired for eternity?"

Zhu Houzhao's blood suddenly surged, his brain was a little uncomfortable, and he clenched his fists and said, "Erlang is here to do this?" ”

Wang Yuan said: "The minister is already doing it. Opening the sea is the first step, shipbuilding is the second step, and training sailors is the third step. When the minister completes the matter of minting money, he can lead his troops to sail overseas and open up a large overseas territory for His Majesty! But before that, it is not allowed to let the Chinese courtiers know, otherwise it will inevitably be a raging discussion. ”

"Okay, don't let the big turbans know," Zhu Houzhao said to Zhang Yong and Jiang Bin behind him, "Your mouths should be stricter." ”

Yan fart, it is estimated that everyone will know when he turns around. But Wang Yuan's original intention was to give Wenchen a preventive shot first, so as not to fry the pot when he suddenly said it.