I really don't want to be emperor at the end of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 470 A city built on Jinshan Mountain

Chapter 499

There are many countries in the world, but Cheng Shijie has only really dealt with three countries, namely the City-State Republic of Venice, the Spanish Empire and the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. So far, the Ming Dynasty does not recognize the independent status of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Netherlands is only a strategic partner of the Ming Dynasty. A client state of the Spanish Empire.

The status of the Netherlands in the national strategy of the Ming Dynasty is roughly the same as in a small book. It is nominally one of the vassal states of the Ming Dynasty. However, there have been deep grievances for many years. Even if Spain wants to beat a dog, it needs to inform the master of the Ming Empire. After obtaining permission, it can Just beat him up.

The Dutch Empire's status in the Spanish Empire is the same. If the Ming Dynasty wants to attack the Netherlands, it only needs to inform the Spanish Empire. It also does not need to bear any responsibility. When it beats the Netherlands, the Spanish Empire is responsible for delivering the bricks.

Obviously, Great Britain, France, and Portugal have not yet reached diplomatic envoy-level relations with the Ming Dynasty, but they are all fascinated by the Ming Empire's powerful maritime strength and materials such as silk, porcelain, spices, and tea. Eye.

It can be said that in addition to industrial products, Ming Dynasty's products also include daily life products. What even makes Cheng Shijie find it incredible is that Ming Dynasty exports more than [-] million pieces of garments overseas every year, which is almost equivalent to what everyone in Europe now owns. One and a half pieces.

In Cheng Shijie's view, if Ming Dynasty continues to maintain this development momentum, Ming Dynasty's Ming-style Hanfu is expected to replace suits and become the model of professional attire in the world. As for the foreigners who have arrived in Ming Dynasty, except for poor sailors, as long as they have some status, the first thing they do when they come to Ming Dynasty is to buy decent clothes.

Among them, the most popular ones are the round-necked robes of the Ming Dynasty. Those priests engaged in missionary work all wear cyan or black round-necked robes and have Ming Dynasty hairdos. If it were not for their appearance and accent, one would think that they were from the Ming Dynasty.

In fact, the gap between the rich and the poor in Europe is extremely wide. The prices of these ready-made clothes are not cheap. Almost any item in the Ming Dynasty is synonymous with luxury goods. Just like the tea that the people of the Ming Dynasty consume daily, in various countries in Europe, it is almost equal to the current top coffee. The price requires wealthy people above the middle class to have the qualifications and strength to enjoy it.

As for the porcelain produced in the Ming Dynasty, it is also entry-level and requires a middle class, which is estimated to have the ability and strength to enjoy it. Of course, other products of the Ming Dynasty are equally popular, especially wheels made of steel, precision bearings, and made of high-quality steel. Rivets, sugar, cement, steel, etc. are all good things that even money cannot buy.

Apart from anything else, how many invulnerable plate armors can be made from a shipload of high carbon steel? How many times the profit can be earned by shipping a ship of black tea and white sugar back?

There is also cement that can repair impregnable fortifications, woolen cloth with good air permeability and excellent warmth retention, exquisite ready-made clothes, beautiful shoes, as long as the trademark carries the Chinese name of a certain manufacturing factory in the Ming Dynasty, it is the fashion of Europe. .

Businessmen are all driven by profit. Far East trade has such broad prospects, how can they not go crazy? Cheng Shijie is so happy that he has twins. If he doesn't flatter him at this time, how long will he have to wait?

The foreigners who came to Jinzhou to give gifts to Cheng Shijie naturally received a very warm reception. Of course, they had no privileges. In Jinzhou and everywhere in Ming Dynasty, Ming Dynasty had absolute control power. What foreigners , who broke the laws of the Ming Dynasty and were also severely punished.

Those who should be exiled should be exiled, those who should be re-education through labor should be re-education through labor. As for diplomatic immunity, it does not exist. Whether they are Venetians or Spaniards, they will be dealt with equally if they break the law. When these diplomats landed, they specially told their attachés: "Fuck them all." Don’t cause trouble for me, the folk customs in Ming Dynasty are relatively conservative, you can’t talk nonsense, let alone act randomly!”

After these foreigners were accommodated for the banquet, they were sent to the Concierge House where they lived. Living in the Concierge House in the Ming Dynasty was not cheap. There was no such thing as free, and the price was extremely expensive. They could not live there. The Ming Dynasty did not recognize their status as diplomats. They were not even qualified to meet Ming officials.

Of course, Spain is relatively wealthy. It has rented a courtyard for a long time in the concierge courtyards in Beijing, Jinzhou, Guangzhou, Quanzhou, Shanghai, Tianjin and other places. The rent is basically three years, and a courtyard of the same size can be built. Just ask Black Black right?

But the problem is, this is also a way of comparison.

Venice is not as powerful as Spain, but it also owns courtyards in concierges in Beijing and Jinzhou. Catherine rides a bicycle to disco bars. She spends whatever she needs in the province. She has always wanted to save money. As long as Cheng Shijie was there, she would go to Cheng Shijie's place to eat and drink.

Officials from the Ming Dynasty Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were used to facing this Catherine who was always ready to recommend herself to Cheng Shijie.

Cheng Shijie looked at the gifts sent by the foreign devils seriously. The French sent [-] Shire horses. Ming Dynasty is no stranger to Shire horses. This is the ceiling among draft horses. At present, Ming Dynasty has adult Shire horses. There were over forty-five thousand horses and foals.

Cheng Shijie said calmly: "France is so fucking knocking on the door, sixty Shire horses, who are you looking down on?"

But looking at the sixteen French-Western beauties sent by the French who had to have good looks, good figures, and good faces, Cheng Shijie said with a straight face: "What is this? Using beauties to test me? Put me to the test." Who does the king think he is!"

If Cheng Shijie's eyes hadn't fallen on some indescribable parts of those sixteen beauties, they would have really believed Cheng Shijie's words.

Among the gifts sent by the Dutch, one thing attracted Cheng Shijie's attention. They were two mats, about two meters long and three six meters wide. Of course, there was nothing unusual about the mats, but two mats made of ivory. Very strange.

That’s right, the entire mat is made from thin slices of African ivory. It’s unknown whether it has any special effects, but it’s very precious anyway.

The Portuguese offered twenty tiger skins. The pattern of this tiger skin is completely different from that of the Siberian tiger. There were many fur traders present, but no one could recognize what kind of tiger skin it was. Of course I can’t recognize it, this is a jaguar!

Cheng Shijie received these great gifts with a smile on his face. However, when the Spaniards brought over some guys that looked like goats but had silly heads and swaying eyes, he fell out.

The Spaniard must have pissed his head, what is not good to give away, but an alpaca!

Cheng Shijie didn't like this thing, but Cheng Jiayue, the princess of Chang'an, liked this cute alpaca very much. In later generations, one of Cheng Jiayue's classmates had an alpaca at home. She dressed up all day long and wore clothes. , Cheng Jiayue was extremely envious at that time.

But the problem is that at that time, Cheng Shijie didn't have the money to support this thing, let alone the energy. Now, Cheng Jiayue took the alpaca, pointed at Sun Pu and said: "Spit her!"

The alpaca understood Cheng Jiayue's order and chased Sun Pu to spit.

Sun Pu was so frightened that he hid behind Cheng Jialong.

The alpaca also wanted to vomit Cheng Jialong.

Cheng Jialong yelled at the alpaca: "You idiot, if you dare to spit on me, I will slap you all!"

These alpacas seemed to be able to understand human speech, and sure enough they turned around and ran away.

Cheng Jiayue did not keep these alpacas around because Xiang Hui didn't like them. Xiang Hui said: "Jiayue, there are many children who have never seen alpacas. Why not send them to the zoo so that other children can have a chance to see them?" Alpaca!”

Although Cheng Jiayue was reluctant to give up, she still wanted to listen to Xiang Hui's words. Cheng Shijie was reluctant to beat his daughter, but only his son. However, if Xiang Hui's face was serious, Cheng Jiayue would be so frightened that her calves would tremble.

There is no way, this is bloodline suppression.

Xiang Huike had never beaten Cheng Jiayue before, and the killing look in her eyes made Cheng Jiayue extremely frightened.

Sun Pu had never had the opportunity to meet foreigners, so she asked cautiously: "Why do these Fanyi all have red hair and blue eyes, like evil ghosts?"

Cheng Jiayue looked contemptuous: "All Westerners are like this!"

Sun Pu was also a little helpless. She received a lot of resources from the Sun family and was proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting. But the problem was that her talents were not worth mentioning in front of Cheng Jiayue. She relied on her knowledge in astronomy, geography, physics and chemistry. Although she had little knowledge, the questions often made her dizzy and unable to answer the questions at all.

As for Cheng Jialong, he is even more powerful. Whether it is Confucianism, Western learning, or the miscellaneous studies advocated by Cheng Shijie, take your pick. Anyway, the final result of the debate will be a beating!

In order to be a good emperor in the future, an emperor who would not be fooled by ministers, Cheng Jialong studied crazily in two time and space. Not only did he complete all the high school courses, but he also studied philosophy, sociology, politics, and economics. Among all Cheng Jialong's private teachers, they all recommended Cheng Jialong to take the college entrance examination in advance and strive to get into the National Junior College of Science and Technology.

But the problem is that Cheng Jialong has no interest in going to Shaoke University. His greatest interest is to be an emperor, to be the emperor of the world. If he does not establish the Ming Dynasty's empire on which the sun never sets, Cheng Jialong's two lives will be in vain.

Zheng Sen looked at these foreign devils and said: "Our Ming Dynasty is rich in resources and has everything we need. Why does the regent do business with these foreign barbarians and let them take our money?"

"How much money can they make from selling ores and resources to the Ming Dynasty? Even if they make money, they still have to buy a lot of tea, porcelain, and silk from us. Do you know the price of these things?"

Cheng Jialong pointed to the tea leaves on the table and said: "Just one bucket of tea leaves equals their boatload of ore! This is equivalent to our money going from this person's pocket to that person's pocket, without missing a penny. We also got a lot of ore that we urgently need. If we don’t do this kind of business, what kind of business can we do?”

Shi Lang finally understood. The foreign devils worked hard to mine the mines and then worked hard to transport them to the Ming Dynasty to sell them. In fact, they couldn't make much money. One barrel of tea was enough for them to dig a shipload of mines! Moreover, the money earned from selling the ore was used to buy Daming's goods. The money just circulated in their hands, and then returned to Daming's pocket, along with tons of ore...

These foreign devils who came to Daming for the first time are now deeply shocked by this city. The moonlight is like water, lighting up the streets. Of course, there are street lights in Dajinzhou, not electric lights, but whale oil lamps. , oil lamps with glass shades, lighting up the whole city.

This city is a city that never sleeps. It is very different from those European cities that are dark every night. In fact, most European cities are still garbage dumps. Whenever it rains, sewage flows across the river, and you can see floating sewage anytime and anywhere. There were yellow and white things, as well as animal carcasses.

Every summer, the stench fills the sky and flies are everywhere, but the city is extremely clean. Even at twelve o'clock, the streets are still bustling with people coming and going.

There is no other way. There are five to six million workers from all walks of life living in Jinzhou. They need to work during the day and only have time to go out with their families at night. With money in their hands, they can eat some delicious food and buy some new clothes. , or meet up with three friends to have a few drinks.

If shops in Jinzhou close at night, they will definitely miss out on the huge night market economy. There are countless restaurants in this city that operate all night, or in other words, they close during the day, whether they are clothing stores, tailor shops, snack bars, or wine shops. , and various shops, which are almost always open until around twelve o'clock.

It was even more lively than the cities of later generations. There was a lack of entertainment in this era. There were no TVs, computers or mobile phones. There was nothing to do at home unless sleeping. Facts have proved that people do not need to sleep for more than ten hours. Just getting seven hours of sleep is enough.

In order to leave time for school-going children, all factories and shops in Daming are open after [-]:[-] in the morning, including government departments. It is precisely because of this that the nightlife will be richer.

Howls continued on the streets in the distance, and little fireballs shot into the sky, and then turned into bright fireworks, rendering the white clouds in the night sky colorful. It is estimated that the fireworks manufacturers will go crazy laughing these days.

The fireworks display advertised, praying for Princess Yongan and His Royal Highness Prince Qi. The gods used fireworks to pray for blessings. But this kind of nonsense is really believed. Whether you believe it or not, under the [-]% off promotion, the fireworks were overwhelming, and there was a line in the distance. The long fire dragon was swimming, and from time to time there were a few laughters. It was some young people who were carrying out lantern parades in accordance with the custom on this beautiful night.

Their laughter added a bit of warmth to this cold night, and a thin layer of ice had formed on the river below the mountain. The greenhouses with steel frames and glass structures look like docile giant beasts, lying on the field, with dim lights, and the neighing of horses can be heard from the horse farm at the foot of the mountain...

Lord Perez, the Spanish Emperor's Special Minister beside Francisco, exclaimed: "When will Madrid in our Spanish Empire be so prosperous!"

"Dear Repace, our King will never be able to build such a city!"

Francisco pointed to the bright lights in the distance and said: "Do you know how much money they need to burn in one night? It is almost the monthly income of thousands of middle-class families. This is an unimaginable number!"

In fact, Francisco was wrong.

The consumption of street lights is far less than the value created by the night economy. Take Jinzhou as an example. Street lights cost almost [-] taels of silver every year and more than [-] taels of silver every day. But in fact, the night economy can provide tax revenue of more than [-] taels.

If the government does not turn on street lights and develop the nighttime economy, it will lose millions of taels of tax revenue.

Repace exclaimed: “It’s such a dream-like city, so charming!”

Francisco smiled bitterly and said: "Dear Repez, you don't know that about ten years ago, the Ming Dynasty was not like this. Like countless empires, it fell into an unprecedented crisis, with many internal contradictions and powerful enemies outside. The empire was corrupt. Just like the ancient Roman Empire, life had entered a countdown. It was a pity that at this time, the great emperor Cheng appeared. He led his army and established the beautiful Golden State. It’s truly a city built on a golden mountain.”

PS: Unexpectedly, I actually wrote it today.

(End of this chapter)