Just as the officials of Honglu Temple were pacifying Ezo Island, a Japanese otaku ship, following the Datong naval fleet, carried the Tang envoy to Shanghai.

Lin Efeng served as the chief envoy, and his main task was to escort 20 international students to Nanjing.

The leader of these 20 Japanese students is called Yoshimasa Hotta. At the age of seventeen, he is the nephew of the elder Nakata Masatoshi - don't look at the fall of Sakai Tadashi, Abe Tadaaki became the elder, but the real influence is Hotta Masatoshi.

Hotta Masatoshi's adoptive mother was the nurse of the shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu, who served Tokugawa Iemitsu with his adoptive mother since he was a child, and later became a minister with Sakai Tadashi.

Hotta Masatoshi and Sakai Tadashi are mortal enemies, in another time and space, after the death of Tokugawa Ietsuna. Hotta Masatoshi supported the fourth, Sakai Tadashi supported the third, and the final result was the fourth, and Sakai Tadashi, as the elder, actually lost.

This guy is scheming, and he will never make a move if he is not completely sure.

This time, Abe Tadaaki led people to rescue the shogun, which was planned by Hotta Masatoshi behind the scenes. and asked Abe Tadaaki to sign a humiliating treaty with China on behalf of the shogunate, and let others carry the infamy, while Hotta Masatoshi himself secretly controlled the overall situation.

In addition to Hotta Masatoshi's nephew, there are also children of the Doi family and the Iyin family, all of whom have the background of the Minister of Orphanage.

The fleet reached the port of Shanghai, and after 20 years of construction, Shanghai County has become more prosperous than many state capitals.

This year, the imperial court promulgated a number of lists, and Shanghai County was among them.

In the past, the county magistrate of Shanghai was the seventh grade, but now it is directly upgraded to the fifth grade, and the official rank is equivalent to the official level of the same prefecture.

There is also Foshan Town on the list, the former mayor of Foshan, and only the last petty official of the ninth grade. Due to the rapid development of industry and commerce, it has directly jumped from the seventh grade, which is only one level lower than the ordinary county.

There are many similar situations in Foshan, such as Yanshen Town in Shandong. After the war and plague, Yanshen quickly recovered and became the center of glass manufacturing in the north, producing everything from optical lenses to daily glass.

The Datong court is just the opposite of the Ming court.

There are not many official positions in the Ming court, but there are many officials waiting to fill the vacancies. Datong China, founded by Zhao Han, has increased a large number of official positions (especially those below the fourth rank), and the number of idle officials waiting to fill the vacancies is very small.

"Tang Kingdom is really prosperous." Hotta Yoshizheng said as he looked at the Shanghai dock.

Lin Efeng said: "When I arrived in Nanjing, I knew that the world was prosperous. ”

Hotta Yoshimasa said: "I have quietly read "Jinling Scenery", and I still know how much Nanjing is known. ”

When Yoshimasa Hotta speaks of prosperity, he does not mean a large population, after all, there are nearly a million people in Edo.

Not only in Edo Castle, but also in the castle town, there are several districts. There are daimyo ghettos, samurai ghettos, and merchants, craftsmen, and other ghettos.

The lowest level of civilians all live on the land created by reclamation. It is very close to the port of Edo, and as soon as you go ashore, you can see many thatched houses, which is not a good first impression for outsiders.

Not long ago, the Japanese envoy to the Tang Dynasty arrived in Nanjing, and when they saw this great city with their own eyes, they naturally sighed.

They were placed to live at Zhongshan Temple, and Hotta Yoshimasa wanted to see the slums of Nanjing.

Lin Efeng naturally couldn't refuse, and set off with the international students the next day.

Nanjing's slums were concentrated in the northwestern urban area, and there were even paddy fields in the middle of the Ming Dynasty. There are many low hills, but the area along the river is relatively prosperous, and the further away from the river are all dilapidated houses.

Lin Efeng stood on the bridge and introduced: "I have been to Nanjing several times, and the goods in the city are transported from this river to the city gate in the west, and then take the Qinhuai River into the Yangtze River. It is also possible to go directly to the north, but the goods cannot be transported by boat, they need to be transported to the dock by mule and horse. So, the banks of the river here are very prosperous, but across the riverside street, the streets further back are the slums. ”

Hotta Yoshimasa asked, "Aren't there any beggars in the slums of Nanjing?" ”

"No," Lin explained, "the disabled, if they really have no relatives, will be sent to a nursing home by the government." If there are relatives who abandon the disabled, the government will severely punish them. Those with able-bodied hands and feet will be ridiculed for begging on the streets, and they will be arrested by the government and emigrated to the north. In the past, they emigrated to Hebei and Liaoning, but now they have moved to Heilongjiang, Tibet and overseas. ”

Hotta Yoshimasa asked, "There are so many ronins and beggars in Edo, why didn't the shogunate immigrate in large numbers?" ”

Lin Efeng smiled bitterly: "Organizing immigrants is not an exiled criminal, it costs a lot of silver taels. Moreover, there were immigrants from the Edo Ronin, who were loaded onto ships and driven overseas, many to China's coastal cities and overseas territories. Chinese officials are worried that too many ronins will cause chaos, and those who do not have jobs have been removed by the Chinese government. I heard that there are two or three hundred ronins in Heilongjiang alone, who have been scattered and placed in remote villages. ”

The so-called Heilongjiang here is actually Siberian ......

Many of the ronins who were thrown to Siberia were hired as bodyguards by merchants. After all, those who are poor in mountains and bad waters, not to mention guarding against the natives, but also against the beasts in the mountains and forests.

The imperial court also imposed strict restrictions on the number of ronins in each Siberian settlement to no more than one-third of the Han Chinese. No more than ten ronins can be hired per caravan. All ronins must be renamed Han and must wear Han costumes.

"Crackling ......"

The students walked through the streets and alleys along the river, and before they reached the slum, they heard the sound of firecrackers.

Hotta Yoshimasa looked over to see that it was a row of six-story buildings, and he turned around and asked Lin Efeng: "You said this is a slum?" ”

Lin Efeng was also a little dumbfounded: "The last time I came to Nanjing, it was still a low earthen wall." Some of the houses don't even have earthen walls, just shacks made of waste wood. ”

The crowd continued on their way and saw that many civilians were moving.

Their furniture was shabby, but everyone was dressed in new clothes, and men, women, and children were beaming.

Lin Efeng stepped forward quickly and asked an old man: "Old man, are you going to live in those new houses?" ”

The old man smiled and said, "Thanks to the blessing of the long live lord, I am going to live in the building." ”

"How much did you buy a house?" Lin Efeng asked.

The old man even smiled so much that his eyes narrowed into a slit: "Long live the grace of the lord, you don't need money to live in the building." ”

Lin Efeng turned around and came back to explain that the Japanese students were stupid to hear that the Chinese emperor actually built houses for the poor at the bottom for free...... Fart!

Inside and outside Nanjing, the population is increasing, and the area around Xuanwu Lake is almost finished.

So the government set its sights on the slums in the northwest city, but after all, it was at the feet of the Son of Heaven, and Shangyuan Zhixian did not dare to do it casually. After the Bingming court, Zhao Han personally came up with the idea and started the real estate development.

First of all, the Shangyuan County government came forward to determine the list of businessmen who were willing to invest.

These merchants took out silver taels and commissioned the builders to repair the houses, while the government was responsible for the demolition work.

The six-storey building is very high, especially the cement label has been continuously improved, and the concrete prefabricated panels are also used, so that the construction cost of the building has fallen rapidly. A large area of Nanjing's low-level civilians can be properly resettled by a few rows of buildings, and the vacated land is sold to merchants to build shops.

People in the slums can't get a penny of compensation, but they can pick up a new house for nothing.

No one was a nail household, and they were all very happy.

After all, in ancient times, the imperial court demolished, often regardless of whether the people lived or died, let alone the new house after the demolition.

These six-storey buildings have no sewer pipes.

It's not a technical problem, the official road is fired with coarse porcelain, and it can also be used in the wall. But to do that, you would have to dig the sewers, which would be too complicated.

The people's usual feces and urine are all packed in the toilet bowl and sold to the dung collectors every morning, and one penny or two is considered an entry. As for drinking water, there are a few wells nearby, and I use buckets to fetch water and carry it upstairs.

The officials of Shangyuan County sincerely admired Emperor Zhao, this method was too ingenious.

The common people got new houses, the merchants got shops, and the government changed the backward appearance of the slums. It's a joy for all, and it's good for everyone!

That's because no developer sells their homes for a profit.

All the merchants wanted was land and shops, and the money from the land was used to build houses for the demolition households.

Lin Efeng continued to walk north with the international students, and finally a normal picture appeared.

There are also shanty towns over there!

The people of these shantytowns are now in groups, running to the south to look at the new building, their eyes full of envy. They also want to be demolished, and they want to live in buildings for free.

Many people were invited to visit the house, and the demolition households inevitably showed off, and the visitors began to find fault with the house.

"Everything in this house is good, but the building is too high, and it is very inconvenient for the elderly to go up and down several floors every day."

"Hey, my dad has a good leg."

"It's also inconvenient to carry water."

"Don't be afraid, the poor are hardworking. To work hard for the owner is to make money, and to work hard for yourself is comfortable. ”

"The house is too high, and the cold wind can be very strong in winter."

"Poor people, carry the cold."

"Well, why don't you tear down my broken house?"

"Haha, your house is too far away from the river, and you can't pay for death when you build a shop?"

"It's still a blessing for you."

"Thanks to the blessing of Lord Banzai, there is no such good thing as meeting other emperors. Our neighbors in this area have all said that after moving in, each family will enshrine the tablet of the emperor. ”

“……”

Zhao Han is not dead yet, and it is inappropriate to enshrine his tablet, so enshrine Zhao Han's lost father.

In the previous dynasty, this practice was overstepping, and if you are caught, you will be killed. But the new dynasty does not have so many rules, as long as it is out of respect, commoners can also worship the tablet of the first emperor.

Yoshimasa Hotta toured the shanty town and found that although it was poor, it was very clean. A few of the houses are relatively new, and the owners have made money and renovated them – although they are still low-slung mud-walled houses, they can at least stand out from their neighbors.

Hotta Yoshimasa suddenly asked, "Where is the factory with a steam engine?" ”

Lin Efeng said: "It's all in the suburbs. If it is too close to the city wall, it is forbidden to open a steam factory. Moreover, foreigners are not allowed to enter and visit unless they have a document from Honglu Temple. ”

"Can we then go and apply for paperwork?" Hotta Yoshimasa asked.

Lin Efeng shook his head: "I have applied, but Honglu Temple has not approved it at all." ”

Yoshimasa Hotta asked again, "Can I learn how to make a steam engine at Jinling University?" ”

"Yes," Lin said, "but foreign students are not allowed to study relevant subjects. However, you can subscribe to the magazines of the Qintian Academy, buy books from students at a high price, and after buying the magazines and textbooks, you can quietly learn and comprehend them by yourself. ”

82 Chinese Net