"Is this where the children of the gods live?"

"It seems that they live closer to the gods than we live......"

"That's right, they have big black snakes that move."

"And the silver monster that can pump water."

"They used precious iron to build roads, oh my God......"

Brilliant and bright, looking at all nations.

In the first half of the eighth year of Hongxi, the envoys and kings of various countries who came from the East and the West successively saw the railways, trains, and the rich life of the people of the Ming Dynasty.

In this era when most people in the world cannot afford to eat or wear new clothes, few of the people of the Ming Dynasty wear coarse linen clothes.

In the impression of children born in the Yongle period, this kind of clothing seems to be "work clothes" that can only be worn when working in the fields, and in daily life, they basically use silk cloth ready-to-wear as regular clothes.

With the continuous construction of the railway, the people in the northwest can also taste the japonica rice in the south of the Yangtze River in a few days.

In the past, peasant households in the south of the Yangtze River could only make rice for 350 wen per stone, but now the general price is about 400 wen and 1 stone, while the price of rice in the northwest land used to be about 500 wen and 1 stone, but now it has dropped to 450 wen.

As long as the officials are clear and the efficiency of work is maintained at a high level, it will be difficult for the so-called famine problem to exist wherever the railway passes.

At least in the current climate, famine is a rare problem.

There is no need to worry about the safety of the people, and the Ming Dynasty's perennial military expenditure of 15 million guan allows it to maintain nearly 600,000 troops and 100,000 navies all year round.

This may not seem like much, but if the supply is not a problem, then the Ming army may be able to fight to the other side of the ocean.

Of course, more land is not always better, after all, the management of the wild land, no matter what era, requires investment from the beginning.

Such as Liaodong, Bohai, Daning, Hetao......

During the seventeenth year of Yongle, the Ming Dynasty invested no less than 50 million yuan in at least these four places to make this land develop and prosper.

Nowadays, if the annual income brought to Daming by these four places is discounted, it is actually only 3 million yuan, and normally speaking, it will take at least 17 years to return to the capital.

Seventeen years, for many emperors, has reached or exceeded their reign time, after all, in the era before Zhu Gaoxu, the average emperor's reign time was only six or seven years.

In this era with the emperor's will as the driving force, this time was enough for many emperors to give up, but Zhu Gaochu did not.

Although he is now forty-five years old, his body is still healthy, and what he has to do is to take down and control the three Xuan and Ten Comforts and the land of the northwest and the north of the desert.

The money was done in his generation, and he had to accumulate enough wealth for his children and grandchildren.

His aftermath must be enjoyed by his children and grandchildren for at least a hundred years, and this is his current goal......

"Bang bang bang!!"

The dull sound of salutes sounded, and on the Damingmen Parade Square, 60,000 cavalry and 40,000 infantry transferred from Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Beizhili were rehearsing for the parade ceremony.

The Daming Gate Parade Square is two miles wide from north to south, and six miles long from east to west.

In the north and south directions of it, a concrete parade platform of six miles long was built, which was three feet high at the top and bottom, enough for more than 100,000 people to watch the parade here.

Such a grand project made the envoys of various countries who passed through here stunned.

Of course, in addition to this project, their surprise was mainly the 100,000 soldiers and horses who were rehearsing at any time.

Even if the current national strength is second only to the Ming Dynasty, it is very difficult to transfer 100,000 soldiers and horses from all over the country, because it is easy to cause the central government to empty the local strength.

On the other hand, the Ming Dynasty sent 100,000 people not to fight, but to use them for rehearsals, and these 100,000 people were all brightly armored elite in a hundred battles, and the kings and envoys of all countries were full of fear and envy when they saw them.

"Compared to the last time, our trip went more smoothly this time, and the Daming railway has been built from their capital to the emerging Gansu."

"Their train speed was faster than the last time we were on our mission, and in just five days, we had completed the long journey from Liangzhou to Beijing."

"This distance is equivalent to going from Samarkand to Isfahan, or beyond."

"I can't imagine what kind of formidable enemy we would face if they had taken the railway from Hami to Tarrah."

"This kind of thought is not only in my mind, but even the messengers of Chagatai and Yueji are worried about this issue."

"Of course, what worries us more is the civilians here."

"Officials from the Ministry of Rites told me that the population of Daming has exceeded 100 million, and this is undoubtedly nightmare news for us."

"They told us that the Ming army had been reduced to only 700,000 and complained that it was not enough to protect their civilians."

"Seven hundred thousand, such a figure I have only read in books that like to exaggerate their strength, but in Daming, this is not an exaggeration, but a kind of modesty."

"They can draw hundreds of thousands of troops for a show, and these troops are dressed in heavy armor, most of them are cavalry, and there will be no less than fifty thousand."

"This Emperor Hongxi of the Ming Dynasty, in our eyes, Bogda Chechen Khan is showing his strength to the various countries that have come here."

"Obviously, they did this, at least in the places I saw, the kings and envoys of dozens of countries, after seeing the power of the Ming Dynasty, dispelled some unrealistic ideas, including our ......"

On the carriage, Geyesuddin, who was in charge of keeping a diary of Timur's travels, recorded everything he saw and heard along the way.

Sitting next to him, Ulugh Beg, the eldest son of the Sultan of Timur Shahru, looked out the window of the car at the army of 100,000 military exercises with a solemn expression.

At the age of thirty-one, he had been governor of Transoxiana and Turkestan for sixteen years, and his main targets were the Yuejiren in the north and the Chagatai in the east.

Since the last mission to the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty has left an impression on him as powerful and invincible, and he is constantly worried about the railways that are constantly being built to the northwest.

Although in his opinion, the land owned by the Ming Dynasty was far more fertile than that of the Western Regions and the Hezhong region, the Ming railway's railroad was telling him that the holy and invincible Ming Emperor was setting his sights on the northwest.

"Tell everyone in the mission that you must be respectful to the officials of the Ming Dynasty."

Ulugh Beg gave his first order when he came to the city, and it seemed wise and correct to everyone.

Anyone who has received the permission of the Ming Dynasty and comes to the country of the Ming Dynasty, as long as he has seen the strength of the Ming Dynasty, it is difficult to mention any thoughts of becoming an enemy of the Ming Dynasty.

Even though the Timurid Empire was thriving under Shahru's rule, they were still afraid of the great eastern power that had almost taken all of Persia from them by sending a single fleet more than a dozen years earlier.

It may be a shame to be a vassal to other countries, but it is undoubtedly a happy thing to be a vassal to the Ming Dynasty.

At least for the past decade or so, the Ming have not shown a desire for force and conquest to those countries that have submitted to them.

With the speed at which the Ming Dynasty built the Northwest Railway, he still has at least twenty years to develop the country.

Thinking like this, Ulugh Beg only felt that time was pressing, and their team also entered the world of flowers behind the Daming Gate after being checked.

There is no shortage of flowers and greenery in Beijing in May, and many shops have pots of flowers brought from the south of the Yangtze River in front of their doors.

These flowers are undoubtedly a waste in the eyes of people in many countries.

After all, playing with flowers is a very expensive hobby, and for areas where growing flowers is a waste of time and energy, only the aristocracy can usually afford to play with flowers.

However, in Daming, this noble hobby in other countries is only a part of the daily life of city dwellers.

Even on the streets of Beijing, there are a lot of people playing with flowers.

Men and women alike use seasonal flowers in their buns, sideburns or crowns as a decoration or ritual procedure.

Among them, there are many styles of hairpins, such as dogwood, hibiscus flowers, roses, plum blossoms, apricot blossoms, begonia pears, jasmine, peonies, chrysanthemums, etc.

Some wealthy families will also choose to use gold, silver, silk and other fake flowers to make hairpins for themselves.

Here, no one will say how the men's hairpin flower is, after all, for the people of the Ming Dynasty, this custom has been popular since a thousand years ago, and it has developed to the peak in the Song and Song dynasties.

Although many customs and habits were interrupted during the Mengyuan and Yuan dynasties, with the increasing time of the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, many customs and habits that had fallen behind were gradually recovered.

Twenty years ago, there were often people wearing Hu Feng clothes on the streets of Beiping without knowing it.

But in the current city of Beijing, people can easily identify what is the Han family and what is Hu Feng.

Even if someone walks around the street wearing Hu Feng's clothes, no one will abuse them and make merits, but will compare the advantages of the Han family and the Hu people's clothing with appreciation.

There is no doubt that the people of the Ming Dynasty under Hong Xi are confident, generous and tolerant people.

On the way to the Ming Dynasty, Ulugh Beg rarely saw the streets of the dirty Ming Dynasty.

In their impression, the streets of Daming are always clean and tidy, and although people work differently, they always dress modestly and their clothes are not cheap.

Some of the kids will chase after their group, not out of curiosity about them, but simply because they find the action fun.

It can be said that compared with the "Yongle Military Parade" more than ten years ago, this "Hongxi Military Parade" made all countries really feel the changes in the Ming Dynasty.

Before the parade began, the kings and envoys of various countries had already begun to look forward to the ceremony.

In the face of their expectations, the palace of the Ming Dynasty and the six departments and six mansions also seemed to be very busy.

At present, the palace needs to process more than 500 notes every day, and these notes are processed by them, and finally submitted to the side hall separated by a wall, and the result is decided by Zhu Gaoxu, who is the emperor.

Although there is no actual manager of the palace, everyone knows that Xu Shuo is the representative promoted by the emperor, so most of the recitals are reviewed by Xu Shuo, and then sent to the side hall according to the severity.

The appearance of Xu Shuo saved Zhu Gaoxu a lot of effort, and he could also go rowing and riding horses to kill time in his spare time.

His companion was thirty-four years old, and in comparison with human lifespan, it was at least seventy years old.

Now it is well taken care of, Zhu Gaoxu often goes to see it, and every time he will signal to put on a saddle for it, his eyes are full of doubts, as if asking why Zhu Gaoxu has rested for so many years.

Zhu Gaoxu didn't know if horses, like people, would have memory deterioration as they grew older.

Anyway, he could feel Chiyu's doubts, but every time he could only reach out and touch it gently.

As for the battlefield, it may be a place where it is difficult for Zhu Gaoxu to go back.

"Your Highness, the envoys of various countries have already arrived, is it the beginning of the military parade as originally scheduled for the beginning of July, or is it carried out in advance?"

Standing behind Zhu Gaoxu, he also came to ask, but Zhu Gaochu shook his head when he heard the words and said:

"Zhan Yan and the eldest and third haven't arrived yet, so we'll start when they arrive."

Because Zhu Zhanyan was busy in Longchuan and delayed for several months, he and Zhu Gaochi, Zhu Gaosui and others had not yet arrived in Beijing, and had just entered Texas.

If nothing else, they should be able to arrive in Beijing by dusk tomorrow, so he continued:

"Then it's better to advance the ceremony to June 20, after all, the Emperor Taishang has been urging it these days."

"Okay, as long as the six ministries and six mansions are okay, then let's advance." Hearing Yi's words, Zhu Gaoxu, who was stroking the red man, was also very helpless.

Although the old man was reluctant to have his children and grandchildren and wanted to have another family banquet, without Queen Xu's family banquet, it was far less important for Zhu Di than the northern expedition he was about to start.

If it was according to the past, he would normally choose to go north in April and start his expedition against the Mobei tribes in mid-May.

The reason why it is so slow this time is mainly because I am waiting for the completion of the 600-mile railway in Mobei.

However, the news of the completion of the Mobei Railway had already come three days ago, so Zhu Di couldn't wait a little longer.

If it weren't for Zhu Gaoxu dragging him down under the pretext of transporting supplies, maybe he would have taken the train north to Hailaer by now.

It's just that with the volume of the Songhua River and the train, the rations of 300,000 people and more than 700,000 horses this time can be delivered to the front line in half a month at most, after all, the materials have been in the warehouse for a long time, and all that is done now is to transport them to the front line.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu also withdrew the hand placed on Chiyu's body: "I'll go and get busy first, and I'll come to see you in a few days." ”

"Sigh the law ......"

Chiyu kicked the fence next to him dissatisfied, but Zhu Gaoxu could only show a doting smile to hide the loneliness in his heart.

He turned and stepped into the foot, and Yishaha followed him as he walked and said:

"According to the news of Xichang, many countries this time are interested in spying on the imperial court's firearms, as for the train, they don't have any ideas, after all, even if they want to, they can't afford to build a railway with so much iron in their country."

As the world's largest producer of steel, the Ming Dynasty still suspends the production of some iron products every year because of the shortage of iron for the rails, not to mention others.

One kilometer of railway requires 90 tons of rails, equivalent to 90,000 catties.

Nowadays, in addition to the Ming Dynasty, even the Timurid country, which has developed iron smelting in Central Asia, does not produce more than five million catties of pig iron every year, let alone other countries.

"By the way, what is the current steel output of the imperial court, and how many miners and ironworks workers are, have there been any statistics?"

Zhu Gaoxu inquired about the output of iron and steel, to which he also replied: "After the progress of Taixue's research on iron-smelting technology and the reform of blast furnaces, the imperial court now produces more than 3,500 tons of forged steel and more than 246,000 tons of iron every year. ”

"If you count the iron miners and ironworks alone, the number is about 189,000."

"What about all the mines and the industrial chain?" Zhu Gaoxu said a new word, but he had already heard this word before, so he replied without thinking:

"That's about 820,000 workers, maybe more, after all, the number of miners overseas can't be counted."

"Eight hundred and twenty-two thousand ......" Zhu Gaoxu bowed his head.

These 820,000 people represent 820,000 families, and in the case of 20 million households in the Ming Dynasty, the proportion of miners has exceeded 4%.

This does not seem like a lot, but if you add other industries, then this proportion may be further increased to 7%, and this is only the tenth year that the Ming Dynasty began to enter the first industrial revolution.

What can limit the Ming is only productivity.

Daming's industrial productivity is constantly improving, and the existing global population market is still enough for Daming to eat for many years.

As long as nothing goes wrong, Zhu Gaoxu can be sure that the industrial progress of the Ming Dynasty will be a hundred years ahead of the world, and even if countries obtain primary and secondary school textbooks from the Ming Dynasty, they do not have enough resources to train these talents.

But the Ming Dynasty is different, relying on new crops and fertilizer research to increase grain production, plus the North and East continents, as well as Kunlun and the untapped Nanzhou and other resource markets.

Coupled with the Tianzhu population market near the door, Daming can use the handmade goods that can be produced to harvest these places.

Not only industrial productivity, but also agricultural productivity is increasing as the population continues to increase.

With the current territory of the Ming Dynasty, it is easy to reclaim 2 billion mu of cultivated land, and this process needs to support farmers so that they can reclaim wasteland without distraction.

In fact, they don't need any support, with the current Ming tax rate, as long as the peasants are not affected by harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes, then they will spontaneously reclaim wasteland, after all, Zhu Gaoxu promulgated the law of reclamation of wasteland early.

All newly cultivated wasteland shall be exempt from tax for three years...... This is Zhu Gaoxu's policy.

Simple, but straightforward and effective.

The only thing he needs to maintain is a controlled infrastructure in poor areas to thrive the barren labor market.

Not to mention anything else, the construction of the Northwest Railway alone has benefited a large number of people in Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu and other places.

If they honestly work according to local prices, it will take them a few years to earn the money they have now.

Zhu Gaoxu's railway construction could have reduced the cost even more, but for the people, the benefits they could receive would have been significantly less.

What he wants to do is to benefit the people, so that after the people have savings, they can reclaim wasteland without distractions, or engage in business.

It's really not good, even if they earn money and then consume it, it can stimulate local consumption, and Zhu Gaoxu can always have a way to recover the money spent.

What he has to do now is to transfer the private wealth of Jiangnan to the northwest, and this wealth will be brought back to Jiangnan through commerce and various improper means.

After this wealth was brought back to Jiangnan, it would be collected by him in the treasury by various means, and finally used in the northwest.

To put it simply, this was the "triangular trade" within the Ming Dynasty, a means for the imperial court to adjust the imbalance of the local economy.

It's crude, but it's practical.

Take the last case as an example, although most of the people in the case were northerners, their wealth was also concentrated in Jiangnan, because both land and houses in Jiangnan have certain investment attributes.

After this wealth was recovered by Zhu Gaoxu, it was used in the northwest again, and this time the investment was more than 20 million yuan, and the total number of people in the northwest was only more than 6 million.

It can be said that as long as they are industrious and willing to endure hardships, then every common person in the northwest will be able to gain three to four fortunes from the construction of the northwest.

This wealth can be used to provide for the children's education, and can also be used to solve the family's food ration problem for a year, in short, no matter how they are used, they have received the attention of the imperial court.

It seems that he is thinking too much, in short, unconsciously, Zhu Gaoxu also returned to the Wuying Hall by Buyu.

After he came here, he unexpectedly saw Zhu Di who was anxiously waiting in the Wuying Palace.

"Dad, why are you here?"

This is the first time Zhu Di has returned to Wuying Hall since his abdication, and Zhu Gaoxu is not surprised by this, because even Yisha hurriedly saluted in surprise.

As for the palace scholars who have been with Zhu Di for a long time in the palace, they are very embarrassed, and they don't know if communicating with the emperor will cause the emperor's dissatisfaction.

"Second brother, this northern expedition is ......"

Sure enough, the only thing that can make Zhu Di anxiously appear here is the upcoming Northern Expedition.

"Don't say it yet, I'll tell you!"

Zhu Gaoxu interrupted Zhu Di, and told Zhu Di with tears and laughter that he had just explained to Yishuha.

"In short, the military parade will start on June 20 for three days, and after the parade is over, you will be able to take the cavalry of Beizhili, Shanxi, and Shaanxi to Mobei."

"Okay, good ......" Hearing that it was seven days in advance, Zhu Di's face was full of smiles, and he couldn't help patting him and said:

"Tomorrow, the second child and they arrive, you let them rest first, and go to Daming Palace for dinner early the day after tomorrow."

"You don't have to go, there have been a lot of envoys from various countries recently, and you are expected to be very busy, so I won't send you."

"The ...... of the ministers" Zhu Gaoxu also acted respectfully when he heard this, and took this opportunity to show his relationship with Zhu Di to the group of people in the palace.

Since Zhu Di abdicated and ascended the throne himself, folk rumors have always continued.

Although he doesn't care, he can take this opportunity to show the relationship between father and son, and he is happy to see it.

"Okay, I'll go to the Governor's Mansion of the Sixth Army to see how the route of the Northern Expedition is arranged, and you can manage the government."

Maybe it's because I've been scared of governance in the past 17 years, or maybe I'm thinking about things, but in short, Zhu Di doesn't want to be in the Forbidden City of Beijing, which is too similar to the Forbidden City of Nanjing.

After a few hasty explanations, he left the Forbidden City on foot.

Zhu Gaoxu watched him go away, the smile on his face gradually converged, and when he turned around and walked into the side hall, he deliberately stopped and glanced at the scholars of the palace.

Xu Shuo and Wang Hui saluted respectfully, but Yang Rong, Yang Pu, and Xue Xuan were a little flustered, obviously worried that Zhu Gaoxu would think about those public opinions.

However, they were too worried, Zhu Gaoxu personally handled so many Jiangnan literati, and the number of people who hated him was countless, and it didn't matter if there were a few more.

It is enough for future generations to know what kind of person he is......

(End of chapter)