Chongzhen Chat Group

This last decree was naturally intended to correct the content of the memorial issued by the Supervisor of Ceremonies that guided the luxury trend in Jiangnan. However, Emperor Chongzhen also added one more thing, which was student assistance. Those who donate to a children's school for one year and graduate will receive preferential treatment.

This decree is based on the ancestral system. It does not beat the rich to death with a stick. It only provides many conditions and guides them to do good. For officials who have privileges and can highlight their status, there is the least resistance. But if it had been the past, many people would probably have complained that the emperor was too lenient. But in the context of Nanxun Town, who dares to make irresponsible remarks on the imperial power?

Of course, these decrees are only outlines, and the specific provisions still need to be announced to the world through formal procedures.

After Emperor Chongzhen finished these things, a day passed.

Early the next morning, he specially promoted Chen Youming to the mayor of Nanxun Town. The reason why it was a special purpose was because Chen Youming was just an ordinary citizen, so it was a special purpose to give him a title and make him an official in the local area.

Emperor Chongzhen didn't want this incident to eventually affect the Hu Silk trade in Nanxun Town. He was familiar with Chen Youming, and Chen Youming was familiar with the Hu Silk trade. He had killed all the local powerful men and exiled them, and the emperor gave them to him. Chen Youming supported him, so he had reason to believe that Chen Youming could redirect the affairs of Nanxun Town to the right path as quickly as possible.

Therefore, Chen Youming's unexpected joy was to become the number one mayor of Daming Township. The first township head and the one with the largest background.

After finishing these tasks, Emperor Chongzhen revealed his identity. Naturally, it was impossible to continue the private visit incognito, so he went to Suzhou Mansion and prepared to return to Beijing.

As for the sea trade matter, with the help of this incident, Jin Yiwei searched out a lot of information about merchants. For those with large transaction amounts, they have been sent to Wang Chengen, the admiral of the East Factory, who will continue to pursue the investigation secretly.

Of course, Emperor Chongzhen could also see how big the prospect of sea trade would be from Husi's business. Regarding sea trade taxes, I also had some ideas. I invited Wen Tiren and Sun Chuanting to communicate in the chat group, and the results were almost achieved, and Sun Chuanting would implement them. The first formal official transaction with the Portuguese and Dutch will soon be concluded. Generally speaking, both parties are quite satisfied.

Emperor Chongzhen only rested for a few days in Suzhou before preparing to return to Beijing. Before leaving, Liu Mao from the Ministry of War hurriedly came to see him.

Emperor Chongzhen saw that he seemed to have gained a lot of weight, and he felt a little unhappy, so he asked coldly: "Liu Qing, I gave you the responsibility of the Daming Road and Bridge Company to build more roads for the Ming Dynasty. But I am here I haven’t seen any signs of construction starting in Jiangnan these days. Could it be that you forgot about business due to the entertainment, right?”

Liu Mao was shocked when he heard this, and quickly bowed and replied: "Your majesty has placed such great importance on you, so I will do my best to carry out my errands, and I will never forget your grace."

After expressing his feelings, he hurriedly explained: "When Wei Chen arrived in the south of the Yangtze River, he summoned wealthy households as usual to preach the politics of roads and bridges. However, the land in the south of the Yangtze River was different from that in the north, so Wei Chen's road construction process was delayed. No progress.”

"Oh, what's the explanation?" Emperor Chongzhen was a little surprised when he heard this, and asked with a little curiosity.

According to his personal experience, when it rains here in the south of the Yangtze River, the roads are muddy, making it inconvenient for people and vehicles to come and go. The benefits of cement roads should be best reflected in Jiangnan! Why is it that construction in the north did not delay the progress, but when it came to the south, it delayed the progress?

At the beginning, it was originally planned that Liu Mao would go directly south to build the first cement road in the Ming Dynasty. However, the rapid changes in the war in the north were a bit unexpected, so all the manpower and material resources of the cement factory were used in the north. In the end, the first cement road was built between Beijing and Tongzhou.

When Liu Mao heard Emperor Chongzhen's question, he quickly replied: "As far as your majesty is concerned, the wealthy businessmen in Jiangnan are indeed very interested in building cement roads, but they are a little worried that after the roads are built, the court's policy will change and their members will be I took it back; secondly, road construction in the south of the Yangtze River is much more expensive than in the north. Rich businessmen have to pay more, so the funds that need to be collected are a bit too much. Thirdly, local governments are often uncooperative, and there are various situations..."

Emperor Chongzhen became even more confused after hearing his explanation. He can understand the first reason, it's not a problem; what the hell are the second and third reasons? Why is it so much more expensive to build roads in the south than in the north? How could the local government not support such measures that benefit the local area?

Perhaps Liu Mao had already thought of this. After he finished speaking, he took out a memorial from his sleeve, handed it to Fang Zhenghua and presented it to the emperor: "Your Majesty, all the ministers have recorded the reason, and the facts are all there. , please take a look at it, Your Majesty!"

When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, his curiosity became even more intense, and he quickly started reading the memorial. After reading it, he suddenly realized that Liu Mao really didn't lie to him.

It turns out that Jiangnan is bustling with commerce and trade. If roads are to be built, especially those busy roads, and they need to be replaced by cement roads, the impact will be huge. The amount of trade delayed is definitely not a small amount. This is one of them!

Second, the people in the south are busier than those in the north. Not to mention the two-crop and three-crop farming, ordinary people are also busy in the morning and evening. Even women from ordinary families can do textiles and other activities. Earn money. If the people here in the south of the Yangtze River really have leisure time, it is mostly after the autumn harvest.

Therefore, generally speaking, the government will not conscript people into labor service during busy farming periods. The opposition of local officials is actually based on this point and is not motivated by selfish motives. Liu Mao said that the cost of building cement roads in the south is high because first, the indirect costs during road construction are high, and second, the labor costs are high.

It is for these reasons that after Liu Mao completed the cement road from the capital to Tongzhou last winter, he came to Jiangnan for a while, but the road was still not completed.

Seeing that Emperor Chongzhen had finished reading, Liu Mao bowed again and said: "Your Majesty, building cement roads requires a lot of manpower. It is really not convenient to recruit a large number of people during this period of time. If there are enough manpower, Weichen will not be able to repair it anymore." It’s a good road, and I’m willing to accept the punishment!”

At this time, when building cement roads, there was no construction machinery of later generations, so it was natural to rely on manpower to build the roads. Liu Mao's words focus on one of the biggest problems, which is actually the problem of manpower.

After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but frown slightly and began to think deeply.

Emperor Chongzhen would not be willing to build roads if they affected farming, even if it hindered people in the south of the Yangtze River from spinning and raising silkworms. But here in Jiangnan, it would be inappropriate to wait until after the autumn harvest every time. After all, this way, there will be less time to build roads throughout the year. Moreover, after the autumn harvest, the south of the Yangtze River will also get colder. By then, the ground will be frozen hard, which will also make road construction more difficult...

He was thinking about it, and suddenly he remembered the decision he had made before. Now that he connected it, wouldn't it just be solved?

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