"Woo-"

In late September, with the sound of the whistle sounding off the coast of Tianjin, Jin Xuan, who took the lead in returning to Daming by steamer, finally returned to Daming after more than half a month of travel.

"It's finally back......"

Looking at the port of Tianjin on the horizon in the distance, Kim Hyun has mixed feelings.

Today, the route from Daming to Qi has been developed early, and the islands along the way, as long as there is a water, there will be a military town belonging to the Ming Dynasty on the island.

The island is stockpiled with coal that was shipped to the local area from the Ming and Qi kingdoms.

Although wooden galleons were slow and inefficient, it was feasible to use them to transport coal.

As a result, each island stored a large amount of coal and water to serve as a supply point for ships on the route.

However, normally speaking, as long as the coal and water are replenished in Yingzhou, it can basically reach the Xijing City of Qi in one go in sixteen days.

As for the arrival of Nanzhili from the Beizhou capital of Yingzhou, it only takes seven days, and it takes two days to reach Beizhili.

Therefore, counting the supply time, the time required from the western capital of Qi to the port of Tianjin in the Ming Dynasty is only fifty days.

Of course, this is a one-way trip, and at the end of the one-way journey, the boat has to undergo a one-day inspection and some parts maintenance, but even with that time, the round trip takes only 51 days.

It has been shortened from 60 days to 51 days now, and this is the best passage that countless ships have found in the past.

Although it doesn't seem to be much improved, each round trip can be shortened by nine days, and six round trips can save a month.

As a result, the current steamer is capable of carrying out seven migration operations in a year.

"Woo-"

The sound of the whistle shattered Kim Hyun's knowledge of the journey, and by the time he came back to his senses, they had already entered the port of Tianjin.

In Jin Xuan's memory, Tianjin Port ten years ago was also prosperous, but it was still slightly inferior to the current Jingmen Port of Qi State.

Of course, the "loss" here refers to the construction of Tianjin Port and the tonnage of ships that can berth in the port.

However, after so many years, Qi is making progress, and Tianjin has not stood still.

The port facilities of Tianjin were upgraded in the fifteenth year of the Apocalypse, and the port area was expanded from 20,000 mu before the upgrade to 120,000 mu after the upgrade, which also made Tianjin Port the world's largest port in this era.

It has 126 sea routes to all parts of the world, about 20,000 sea vessels and 60,000 inland river vessels call at each year, and the port handles up to 60 million tons of cargo annually.

The port is equipped with advanced equipment, with cranes and various machinery converted from small steam engines, which can easily load and unload goods of no more than 1,000 catties, and also has a large warehouse that can store 10 million tons of materials, and can dock ships of more than 50,000 tons.

Although this scale is somewhat large for the Ming Dynasty, whose largest ship tonnage is only 17,000 tons (Ming system), this is not built for the present, but for the future.

"Woo-"

The whistle sounded, and the officials in the harbor belonging to the city shipping department began to guide the ships into the harbor and guide the ships to stop at a suitable position.

When the ladder began to lower and Kim Hyun stepped off the ship, he still couldn't believe he was back.

The concrete port with the Daming style is not only an ornament, but also a house.

"My lord, please get in the carriage, and after going to Tianjin Railway Station, we will only need three hours to arrive in the capital."

As soon as he got off the ship, the Qi guards brought by Kim Hyun began to tell him all about what they had learned.

In this regard, Jin Xuan also smiled: "When I left Daming, the Beijing-Tianjin Railway had already been built, so I naturally knew it." ”

"Let's go, don't keep Your Highness waiting too long."

While speaking, Jin Xuan got into the carriage prepared by the guards of the Qi State, and now Jin Xuan has not yet reported on his work in the Ming Officials' Department, so his actual identity is still an official of the Qi State.

According to the "Law of the Ming Dynasty", the officials of the ordinary Ministry of Rites of the vassal state can only bring no more than five guards to the Ming Dynasty.

If it is at the level of a six-part squire, he can bring a team of seventeen people, Changshi can bring a banner of ninety people, and the vassal king can bring a sentry, five hundred and forty-five people.

Of course, this is the highest limit, so normally, the officials of the vassal state will not touch this bottom line, and the normal officials will bring two entourages.

Therefore, even if Jin Xuan is still the chief of Qi at the moment, he only brought a team of seventeen people.

With everyone, they almost didn't stop in Tianjin, but rushed straight to Tianjin Railway Station.

Tianjin Railway Station, as the second railway of the Ming Dynasty and the terminus of the Beijing-Tianjin Railway, was large enough to accommodate 30 million people per year.

Compared with the railway station of Qi State, the railway station in Tianjin is naturally much larger, and because of the uncertainty of the future population of Qi State, even the largest Xijing East Railway Station, can accommodate only five million times a year.

"In a few decades, I hope that Qi can also have such a railway station."

When he got on the train, sat by the window, and watched the train gradually leave the Tianjin Railway Station, Kim Hyun couldn't help but inspire himself.

Qi Guo naturally has the ability to build such a railway station, but after it is built, whether there are so many passengers is a question.

If you want to have the flow of people at Tianjin Railway Station, the population of Qi must be at least 50 million.

Kim Hyun was imagining the future, and the "clang" sound of the train and the whistle sounded from time to time also made Kim Hyun stunned out of the window for a long time.

From Tianjin to Beijing, the scenery along the way is not so beautiful.

The parched land speaks of the drought that the land has suffered.

In this land, compared to when Kim Hyun left, it is now sparsely populated.

"How many people are still in Beizhili right now?"

Jin Xuan couldn't bear to ask about the chief who accompanied the Daming Rite Department, and the chief also replied when he heard this: "About 5.6 million people, compared to when Jin Changshi went to Qi State, there are 2 million fewer people. ”

The population of Beizhili has decreased by a quarter, which makes Kim Xuan understand why Beizhili is so "sparsely populated".

He no longer asked, but looked out the window at the drought on the train, feeling a little sad in his heart.

The people and officials of the Qi State are doing so well that they have forgotten that the people of the Ming Dynasty are still in dire straits at this moment.

"Long history, how are the people of Qi doing now?"

The head of the Ministry of Rites asked about Kim Hyun, and Kim Hyun looked at him when he heard the sound, only to see that his eyes were full of curiosity.

"Qi country, ......"

Jin Xuan said these three words as if sighing, and then talked about the current living conditions of the people of Qi State.

Although Qi has only more than 7 million acres of arable land and a population of just over 2 million, Qi has an abundance of meat, so there is not much demand for grain.

At present, Qi is advancing at a rate of more than one million mu of new cultivated land every year, and it will reach 2 million mu per year in two years.

This is naturally slower than the number of people growing.

However, the people of Qi can still eat meat every day, eat well every day, and eat enough.

In the foreseeable future of Jin Xuan, he only knows that when this wave of immigration passes, if the number of immigrants in Qi Country is less than 100,000 people per year, it will take ten years for Qi State to reach the well-off level of ten mu of arable land per capita.

"You will be well-off in ten years?!"

The head of the Ministry of Rites was a little surprised when he heard this, he was also an official who graduated from official school, so he naturally knew what the word "well-off" represented.

In "Social Construction" written by King Qi, countries with two acres of arable land per capita and below are absolutely poor countries, which means that it is difficult to eat.

A country with three acres of arable land per capita is a poor country, which means that it does not consume enough other nutrients.

Countries with five acres of arable land per capita are relatively poor countries, which means that although they can consume protein, they cannot meet other substances, such as clothing, shelter, and travel.

Ten acres per capita belongs to a well-off country, which can basically meet all the materials needed for daily life, except for some luxury goods.

Thirty acres of cultivated land per capita belongs to developed countries, and the disposable income is much higher than that of poor countries.

Of course, there is another set of criteria for this, and that is wealth income.

The population with an annual income of less than one silver is considered absolute poverty, two taels of silver is considered poverty, three taels of silver is considered relatively poor, five taels of silver is considered well-off, and fifteen taels of silver is considered developed.

Judging from the book "Social Construction" written by King Qi, the current Ming Dynasty belongs to a relatively poor country in terms of arable land and wealth income.

As for Qi and most of the vassal states, they were in absolute poverty.

However, Jin Xuan doesn't think so, because in his opinion, the price of Daming is too high, and although the income of the people of Qi is low, but because the price of Qi is extremely low, Qi is more like a relatively poor country, and Daming should be a poor country.

Daming has a lot of resources, but the population is larger, and it takes a long time to get rid of poverty and become rich.

Qi has many resources, a small population, and many machines, so Qi must be at the forefront of poverty alleviation and prosperity.

"Didn't Da Ming make a plan? For example, when will you get out of poverty and become moderately well-off? ”

Jin Xuan didn't know that Daming didn't have such a planned economy as the "Five-Year Plan", so he couldn't help but ask his soul.

In this regard, the director of the Ministry of Rites could only smile awkwardly: "King Qi once said that it will take at least twenty years for the Ming Dynasty to successfully enter the well-off. ”

It seemed that he felt too embarrassed, so the head of the Ministry of Rites diverted the topic and said, "By the way, there are already people waiting at the train station to greet Jin Changshi." ”

"Greet me?" Hearing this, Kim Hyun thought it was his friend Sung-deok.

As a result, his face suddenly became a little strange.

He was full of incomprehension about Chengde's actions, but he also knew that he was very helpless from his position.

"Woo-"

"It's almost time to get to the East Station."

When the whistle of the train sounded, Jin Xuan and the others realized that it had been so long since the two of them chatted about the changes in Qi and Daming.

From early morning to early afternoon, a full three hours passed in a flash.

Soon after they said they were about to get to the East Station, the speed of the train slowed down and the whistle began to sound more frequently.

Eventually, under their watchful eye, instead of dry rivers and cracked farmland, houses began to appear all around.

After about five minutes, the train pulled into Beijing East Railway Station, which is now the second largest railway station in Daming.

When the train came to a standstill, Kim Hyun and the others got off the train along with many merchants who were engaged in trade.

Under the arch guard of the guard, Kim Hyun couldn't help but look at the East Station.

The Han people do not stick to one form in architecture, but change according to the change of materials.

This point, especially among the craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty, is particularly flexible.

Wooden houses and fences were built by the people because they were easy and cheap to use local materials, and the palace architecture could not escape this factor.

The eaves of the Qin, Han, Sui and Tang dynasties picked out the walls and pressed the walls below the eaves mainly because the walls at that time were built with rammed earth structures, which could not be exposed to rain and could not bear loads independently, so the house was supported by a wooden frame.

In some palaces, the eaves have to be picked out to keep the walls out of the rain.

But in the Ming Dynasty, masonry technology had begun to be popularized, and it also began to enter the folk stage.

At this time, the brick wall has begun to bear the load independently, and it is also rainproof, so naturally there is no need to be limited by the frame and the roof, so the frame is buried in the wall, and the structure has changed from a wooden structure to a mixed brick and wood structure.

Then, craftsmen of this period began to try to make the gables (the sides of the house) start to be raised, thus forming the "horse face wall" in the southern part of the later period.

Of course, this is a step backwards for those who like the "pure wood" aesthetic, but for the common people of the Ming Dynasty, they preferred the gables under the mixed brick and wood structure.

The craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty had a strong ability to learn and improve, so when concrete appeared, craftsmen also began to dare to create buildings that they did not dare to build before.

The tall palace gate has a high ceiling hollow ......

In other words, the craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty began to enter the "stone" aesthetic track in the way of concrete.

The stone aesthetic track, which is naturally the most in various churches and palaces in the West, is also the unique aesthetics that Westerners have played with stones for 2,000 years, after all, there are not so many suitable stones in other places.

But it still went around, as long as there were materials, the craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty could still make aesthetic buildings that were not inferior to European stone buildings.

For example, at present, Beijing East Railway Station is 12 zhang high, and its main entrances and exits are square gates with oriental characteristics.

The 12-zhang high space makes Beijing East Railway Station more shocking than the Imperial Palace of the Forbidden City, making people feel very small in it.

When I walked out of the train station, the twelve tall square doors of nearly six zhang also made people feel small.

Sunlight shines through the square door, giving the train station a hint of dust.

"Teacher ......"

When Jin Xuan was still lamenting that the Ming craftsmen had played with the concrete, a familiar but somewhat unfamiliar voice sounded behind him.

He turned around and saw that standing in front of him was a young man of eighteen or nineteen years old, dressed in a cyan round-necked robe, with some wheat-colored skin.

Although ten years have passed, and his voice has changed due to the voice change period, Kim Hyun still recognized Zhu Ciran at first sight.

"Your Highness......"

Jin Xuan subconsciously saluted, but Zhu Ciran held him up and said with a smile:

"There are a lot of people here, how about the teacher go with me to a nearby restaurant for dinner first?"

"Good ......" Although Jin Xuan wanted to go to see His Royal Highness King Qi who had been absent for a long time as soon as possible, the reunion of the master and apprentice after a long absence still made him temporarily choose to go to dinner with Zhu Ciran.

Because he knew that His Royal Highness King Qi would not be angry because of his actions.

Therefore, under the guidance of Zhu Ciran, the two got into the carriage one after the other, and then drove into the eastern city of Daming.

Entering Dongcheng, the sheer number of people allowed Kim Hyun to enjoy the densely populated nature of the real capital.

Because concrete can be used for commercial buildings in Daming, the appearance of many commercial street houses is particularly novel and unique, with unique shapes and colorful shapes.

The city of Beijing was originally built on a swamp, so in the Ming Dynasty, its river network was relatively dense.

In the city, there are many artificial rivers built by the Ministry of Works, on which various boats are moored along the river.

Despite the dense population of the city, the capital is easily accessible, with two-horse and four-wheeled carriages that can ride six people, as well as bicycles, horseback riding, donkey riding, and two-wheeled carriages.

On the carriage, through the glass, Kim Hyun saw the neat and clean streets of the capital, the biggest feature of which was the planting of green trees and colorful flowers along the roads and sidewalks.

These flowers, together with the flower sellers who constantly pick and sell flowers on the road, can be said to be a veritable inland garden city in Beijing today.

Zhu Ciran found a restaurant by the river, which was quite quiet.

Sitting on the third floor, looking at the many Daming street scenes and pedestrians coming and going in the distance, the dense population and familiar faces, as well as many official words coming from his ears, all made Kim Hyun very happy.

"How is the development of Qi State?"

"Qi ......"

Like most people, Zhu Ciran was also curious about the current situation of Qi Kingdom.

In this regard, Kim Hyun naturally took the trouble to introduce Zhu Ciran.

From construction to transportation, from transportation to people's livelihood, from people's livelihood to officialdom.

As soon as the two met, the conversation about the situation in Qi Guo alone took up half an hour.

If it weren't for the food being served, Kim Hyun might have been able to speak a little longer.

After listening to his description of Qi Guo, Zhu Ciran couldn't help but pick up a glass of wine and take a sip with a bit of excitement:

"Qi Guo...... Very good indeed. ”

For Zhu Ciran, what he envied most about Qi was the nascent officialdom of Qi State.

Since there are no luxuries, everyone uses the same amount, so for officials, fifteen taels of money is enough to put an end to most of the ideas of corruption.

In addition, most of the officials of Qi State are mainly officials who go voluntarily.

Many officials had already prepared that Qi was a wilderness and a small city of rammed earth, but after they arrived, they found that the situation of Qi was not inferior to some prefectures and counties in the Ming Dynasty.

It can be said that everyone went to the Qi country with the idea of living a hard life in the future, but the performance of the Qi country exceeded their imagination.

Therefore, they in the country of Qi are particularly satisfied.

Once people are easily content, they naturally do not think about taking anything else that does not belong to them.

"Although the officials of Qi State are clean and honest at present, there will be many corrupt people in the future, so investigating corruption is the top priority of the national policy of Qi State."

Kim Hyun took a sip of wine, he doesn't like to drink on weekdays, and he always feels that drinking is wrong, but today he saw the students who had been absent for a long time, and his students were still mature, which made him very happy, and he couldn't help but drink three glasses in a row.

Zhu Ciran looked at him like this, and couldn't help but smile and stretched out his hand to stop him:

"Don't drink too much, don't forget to see your uncle later."

"Huh...... Not mine. Kim Hyun shook his head with a smile and stopped drinking.

Then he put away his smile and looked at Zhu Ciran seriously.

Zhu Ciran didn't show his timidity, so he let him watch.

After a long time, Jin Xuan nodded with satisfaction: "Right now, you can also be on your own, and it is not in vain that His Highness has cultivated for so many years." ”

"It's just one side......" Zhu Ciran sighed, which made Jin Xuan see that he had suffered a lot during this time.

"Teacher, you don't know ......"

Maybe it was in the face of a long-lost confidant, or maybe he knew that Jin Xuan was safe, so Zhu Ciran confided all the anger he had suffered during this time.

The performance can't be sent out, and the people below are also violating the implementation, and a few months have passed, and the policies that have come out of the East Palace have not been implemented.

Such a situation made Zhu Ciran, who has always been smooth, very frustrated.

In this regard, Jin Xuan did not interrupt or interject, but listened quietly to Zhu Ciran's talk.

He knew that what Zhu Ciran needed at the moment was just to vent, which was a sense of powerlessness that the edifice was about to collapse, and he could only watch it.

To his East Palace, the Yanshan Sect was like a speeding train, and his East Palace was just an ant blocking the tracks, trying to overturn the train.

If he resists, the final result will be nothing more than ants being crushed to death.

In such a situation, the only thing he can rely on is Uncle Qi Wang, who is in the Qi Palace.

Compared with his orders, Uncle Qi's orders were carried out unimpeded.

It can be said that although the Yanshan faction wants to divide power, they still dare not disobey Zhu Youzhen's order on the surface.

is also an order, one is unimpeded, and the other is frustrated everywhere, although Zhu Ciran has always known that he can go smoothly because of Uncle Qi Wang standing behind him, but when this scene really appears, he still can't help but feel melancholy.

"I know all of His Highness's arrangements, and I can think of general thoughts, but I still have to wait until I meet His Highness to understand."

After Zhu Ciran finished speaking, Jin Xuan first appeased Zhu Ciran, and then asked Zhu Ciran: "Didn't His Highness ask someone to send you a letter?" ”

"Sent ......" Zhu Ciran exhaled a sullen breath, and seemed to be a little more relaxed.

"Uncle Qi asked me to read a book in the East Palace, which can be regarded as the last time I can relax before I really take charge, but I am still worried that this matter will not end so easily......"

Zhu Ciran spoke with a little worry, and his frowning brows seemed to be about to kill the flies.

However, in the face of his worries, Kim Hyun put a quick meat dish into his bowl: "Don't worry......"

Hearing these two words, Zhu Ciran couldn't help but raise his head, and Jin Xuan, who was sitting opposite him, smiled:

"The next thing, there is King Qi and us ......"