Central South Railway!

With the construction of the Tianjin-Pudong Railway, the Guanwai Railway, the Longhai Railway, the Jinghan Railway, the Guangdong-Hanzhou Railway and the Xianggui Railway, the railway and the river water transport together constitute the land transportation network of the Ming Dynasty, and the economic benefits brought by the railway are even more surprising to the world, the towns along the railway have greatly benefited from the railway, and the towns along the line are further prosperous. Just like Changsha, five years ago, when the railway was built in Changsha, there were 6 pig purchasing banks, which purchased live pigs from neighboring counties and sold them mainly to Wuchang through the railway, and developed to 26 last year, with an annual turnover of 8 million silver yuan.

Moreover, the railway also served as the engine of the industrial revolution, promoting the industrial development of the Ming Dynasty. In ten years, less than 15,000 kilometers of railways were built, but the total economic volume of the Ming Dynasty quadrupled. The iron output has increased from 260,000 tons in the seven years of Xingqian to 1.6 million tons now, and the coal output has increased from 6.8 million tons to more than 34 million tons now. The number of steam engines in the factory exceeded 5,000 last year.

Although this industrial revolution with the steam engine as the core has only started for ten years, it has fundamentally changed the Ming Dynasty and benefited the Ming Dynasty. Of course, there are some problems, such as in the construction of railways, Daming now has both private railways and government-run railways, and private railways tend to concentrate on routes with high returns, and government-run railways are the opposite.

Just like the Central South Railway, although as early as ten years ago, Zhang Ying, the manager of the railway company, proposed to build the "Inland Province Trunk Line", that is, to build a railway from Heilongjiang in the north to Nantianmen in the south, which is equivalent to connecting the northernmost and southernmost points of the vast land north and south, and through the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty, its economic and military value is self-evident.

At that time, many people criticized Zhang Ying for his great success, because the plan was too advanced.

Zhang Ying spent ten years silently doing this, while supporting the private banking group to build the Jinghan Railway, the railway company invested a huge amount of money to build the Guangdong-Hanzhou Railway, and then introduced private capital to build the Xianggui Railway, and then built the railway through Zhennanguan and reached the Zhongnan Domain.

It was from that time that the call for the construction of the Zhongnan Railway came and went, but the active private capital unexpectedly chose to avoid it, because the return expectation of the Xianggui Railway was far less than the original estimate, and even the profits could not maintain operation. In other words, the Xianggui Railway is at a loss.

Now there are even people who advocate that the imperial court should buy the Xianggui Railway, as for the Zhongnan Railway...... That's a government thing.

Compared with the people, the imperial court is now very interested in the Central South Railway, which extends to the Quang Nam Domains (northern Vietnam), which allows them to see another opportunity.

An opportunity to turn a feudal domain into a state.

Zhu Mingzhong was naturally very clear about this kind of thinking of everyone in the court, and smiled slightly, he did not break this careful thought, but followed Fang Yizhi's words.

"The South-Central Railway is definitely going to be built, but not for this reason, but for ......"

Standing up and walking to the globe in front of the right in front of the desk, Zhu Mingzhong turned the globe, and then said.

"Since the construction of the Guangdong-Hanzhou Railway and the Xianggui Railway, the annual immigration to Nanyang has increased from less than 200,000 at the beginning to 500,000 now, and the people in the mountainous areas of Guangdong, Hunan, Guangxi and other places have taken the train to Guangzhou, from Guangzhou to Nanyang by sea boat, than in the past out of the deep mountains into the Xiangjiang River through Dongting, and then take the Yangtze River into the sea much closer, and the cost has also dropped a lot, and the Mekong River Basin, including Chenla, Siam is sparsely populated, like Chenla population is not even one million, as for Siam population is only more than three million, Those places are suitable areas for cultivation,"

In Zhu Mingzhong's subconscious, there is no Zhenla or Siam at all, as long as he is willing, he will abolish the king of Tu at any time, after all, they are all canonized by the Ming Dynasty, and the reason why they are not abolished now is because they are not needed for the time being.

If they immigrate along the route, it is not certain whether to abolish the throne, but at least they will be given the title of Ming Dynasty, and then they will be moved to the central capital, and then they will be changed to the local land.

"No matter where the railway is built, it is certain that the footsteps of the Ming Dynasty's expansion will reach there, and the immigrants will go deep into it, not only limited to the coast, but inland, and our immigrants will continue to arrive in those areas, and when the time is right, it will become the land of the Ming Dynasty."

Land?

Fang Yizhi was stunned for a moment, looked at His Majesty with some surprise, and then asked in surprise.

"Your Majesty, do you intend to set up a province in Central and South China?"

"It's not impossible!"

Zhu Mingzhong said with a smile.

"But what about the Quang Nam countries?"

There are dozens of feudal countries in Guangnan!

"I know, so when I feuded Guangnan, I already thought about the future!"

Recalling the feudalism in Zhongnan, Fang Yizhi found that the feudal people there were all county kings and generals, and according to the corresponding feudal system, in addition to limiting "one country and one city" according to the different national levels, it also stipulated that the new city could not be repaired without the permission of the imperial court, which was completely different from Zhou, Gui, Qin and other countries, after all, they are now all "big countries" with several cities.

And those county kings and generals, their feudal kingdom is just a small city of different sizes, and even the king's soldiers are only a few hundred or more than a thousand. Those small countries are just like the small countries in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period...... Suddenly, Fang Yizhi's eyes lit up, and then asked tentatively.

"Your Majesty, do you mean that the central and southern regions can not only set up provinces and counties like the mainland, but also set up Tusi like the southwest, and the Quang Nam Zhuxia can refer to the Tusi Institute, so that it "has its own land, the world governs its people, the world commands its soldiers, the hereditary office, the world governs its place, the world enters its stream, and the world is subject to its title"? ”

After the Ming Dynasty pacified Yunnan, from Hongwu to the orthodox years, various measures and even war methods were adopted, so that the territory of the southwest frontier was greatly expanded. At the peak of the Ming Dynasty's territory, it included almost the entire territory of Burma, and the traditional border administrative region system could no longer meet the needs of border control at this time.

Although the Tusi system of the Xingqian Dynasty is completely different from the old days, and there is no hierarchical administrative system of "inner border areas" and "outer border areas", in Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Pingnan and Laos, the Tusi system is still the basis of Ming rule.

As for the reversion...... The time is not yet ripe.

"Since those Tusi can be allowed to "have their land, manage their people, unify their soldiers, hereditary their positions, govern their places, enter their streams, and receive their seals", why, my Ming clansmen, can't they be there "the world has its land, the world governs its people, the world dominates its soldiers, the hereditary office, the world governs its place, the world enters its stream, and the world is subject to its seal"? Besides, it is better to have them there to educate the local people than to educate the toast! ”

Raising his eyebrows slightly, Zhu Mingzhong even thought of the Indian princely states in another time and space, those princes only nominally maintained their rule, and had no right to contact other princely states or foreign countries externally, and enjoyed great autonomy internally. He is the despotic ruler of the people of the state.

Isn't this also a feudal way?

"Your Majesty, this is indeed conducive to our establishment of rule in Central and Southern, in areas suitable for the establishment of counties, the establishment of counties, and places that are not suitable, directly feudal, handed over to the clan to be nationalized, and these princes are bound to be the pillars of the Ming Dynasty's rule in Central and South, and will not pose a threat to the Ming Dynasty......"

The latter is the most important, according to the feudal system of "one country and one city", the counties of Quang Nam often have only one city, at most it is a few small walled cities, and the population is more than 100,000 and tens of thousands. The country is small and narrow, and there is no chaos. And because of the large number of local natives, all countries often rely on the prestige of the Ming Dynasty to suppress the natives.

But what if in the future, someone in the DPRK wants to "change the land and return to the stream"? ”

Fang Yizhi's rhetorical question made Zhu Mingzhong stunned, from "cutting the domain" to "changing the land and returning to the stream", and then to the annexation of the Indian princely states, this process is almost inevitable, and everything is just a matter of time.

"One hundred, two hundred years......"

After pondering for a moment, Zhu Mingzhong shook his head and said.

"One or two hundred years from now, who can predict it? Moreover, after completing the naturalization of the native people, it is not very easy to raise an army of several hundred or thousands of people with a population of more than 100,000 people, and perhaps at that time, they themselves will voluntarily abandon the army or even give up political power, and of course, on the premise of ensuring their economic interests, they will not necessarily oppose the abandonment of self-government. ”

His Majesty's answer made Fang Yizhi nod his head and ask rhetorically.

"In that case, hasn't the imperial court been burdened with the burden of the clan again?"

The problem is back to the same place, the purpose of feudalism is both to expand and to get rid of burdens. But once the land is "changed and returned", all the problems come back.

"Hmmm......"

Walking forward silently, when he walked to the lake, Zhu Mingzhong pointed to the opposite side of the palace and the opposite block across the river from the palace and said.

"Does Fang Qing's family know who the landlord of the block opposite the palace garden is?"

His Majesty's rhetorical question made Fang Yizhi a little surprised.

"It's me, it's royal, if I'm not mistaken, in the middle of the capital, there are more than 40,000 royal properties, and there is a royal hunting ground after leaving the city, well, of course, all kinds of factories and enterprises, as well as coal mines, iron mines, ports, and commercial ports, there are a lot of investments, these investments can ensure that the royal family has enough income in the future, the royal family owns the royal property, and the prince should also own the royal property, "change the land and return to the stream", but to ensure that the royal property belongs, and even these industries should enjoy some privileges, As a price for them to hand over the royal state to the imperial court, such as the right to tax exemption on fixed assets within the royal state, well, these, I believe that when the time comes, they will work out a plan that satisfies both parties and can ensure the interests of both parties. ”

Unlike the emperors of the past, Zhu Mingzhong, as the emperor, prefers to buy imperial property and likes to invest in industry, and there are as many as four wholly-owned banks under the royal name, and there are countless other enterprises. As for the investment in real estate, it is also a staggering amount, after all, compared to industrial investment, the return on real estate investment is almost risk-free.

Seventeen years ago, Zhu Mingzhong couldn't say how many properties the royal family owned, and he couldn't say how many properties he owned now, but one thing is for sure, the income of the imperial mansion, which is the royal private treasury, is by no means inferior to that of the household department. And with the construction of the railway, the income of the imperial palace will only increase - the commercial port outside the city driven by the railway station has always been a hot spot for royal real estate investment.

His Majesty's words made Fang Yizhi silent for a while, and even smiled bitterly in his heart, in the ability to make money, no one in the world can compare to Your Majesty. He himself is even worse, he stepped down from the governor of the Northeast, and after he came to Zhongdu to take office, the biggest problem he faced was that there was no house in Beijing, although there was a cabinet and auxiliary residence according to the system of the imperial court, but he had already decided to settle in Zhongdu, he always needed a house, and finally bought and bought, and the purchase was actually His Majesty's house.

"Your Majesty is good at investing, it is beyond the reach of others, and the savings of more than ten years of ministers have gone into His Majesty's palace!"

"Haha!"

Fang Yizhi's words made Zhu Mingzhong laugh.

"When the middle school capital was timely, I reminded you to let you buy property in the middle capital, "The Northeast is not appeased, how dare you be home"...... Okay, your house, but I half sell and half give, after all, I also have to support my family, so I still have to make some money. ”

"Your Majesty's grace, can you not know?"

Fang Yizhi bowed again and thanked him.

"Okay, there is no grace that is not favorable, how can I not know your hard work in the Northeast in those years? Wenchen is different from military generals, according to the law of the imperial court, "non-military merits are not sealed", but where there is a minister's advice, the minister is a wanderer, never forgiven, if it is the emperor, abolish his position! Although it is biased, for the sake of the overall situation, at least for two hundred years, it can only be like this, but according to the merits of the Qing family, it should be crowned marquis......"

"Your Majesty, the minister does not dare to take credit."

Fang Yizhi bowed again, in the northeast, as the governor, he also led the troops, but he was a civilian official. So it can't be sealed.

After being silent for a moment, Zhu Mingzhong, who wanted to compensate Fang Yizhi, looked into the distance and said.

"There is a garden in the hunting garden outside the city, although the area is not large, but the scenery is not bad, and when the future is clear, we can live there for a long time, and be a neighbor with me, we can also drink tea, fish, hunting. What do you think? ”

"Thank you, Lord Ron!"

Fang Yizhi was full of gratitude, he knew that this was His Majesty's compensation for him.

Continuing to walk forward, Zhu Mingzhong continued.

"Fang Qingjia, when you were in the Northeast, I promised you the position of pavilion assistant, and now I have fulfilled my promise, but there is a promise, I still owe the world!"

His Majesty's sigh made Fang Yizhi quickly put away his mind and asked tentatively.

"Your Majesty refers to the Western Regions?"