Daming: Mixed in Dangzhi County, Beiping

A few days later.

The autumn harvest situation of Shaanxi, Shanxi and others has also reached the capital.

In the court hall, there was another commotion.

In these two places, the autumn harvest situation is not optimistic either.

However, Zhu Di still issued an order that all drought-prone areas would be exempted from taxes for one year.

Even if there are officials to report it, such a large-scale tax exemption will strain the court's finances.

However, Zhu Di still ignored it.

but.

The most exciting thing now is the completion of the construction of the cement straight road from the capital to Shaanxi Xingdusi.

The entire capital, from officials and dignitaries to street vendors, were all talking about it.

At the Dingguo Palace, Guo Ang couldn't help but asked Guo An with curiosity: "Sir, in the day after tomorrow, will your Majesty and His Highness the Crown Prince really take a carriage to Liangzhou in person?"

"Going to Liangzhou?"

Guo An's eyes widened for a moment, and he looked at Guo Ang in surprise, "Who did you listen to? Liangzhou is more than three thousand miles away from the capital. His Majesty traveled more than three thousand miles to Liangzhou to visit those Tatars. Are you going to attack the barbarians?"

"Your Majesty won't go?"

A trace of disappointment flashed in Guo Ang's eyes, "Now, it has spread throughout the capital, saying that the day when the cement straight road is completed, it will be the day when His Majesty and His Royal Highness will pass through the straight road and go to Liangzhou for inspection!"

"I haven't heard of it!"

Guo An shook his head very simply, "They pass it on, it's up to them to pass it on, you can't talk nonsense!"

"Yes, sir!"

Guo Ang nodded slightly.

Then, he remembered something and looked at Guo An with curiosity.

"Sir, I heard that the concrete road is straight and flat, from the capital to Liangzhou. It is smoother and grander than the road paved by the first emperor of Qin Dynasty with 300,000 young people... When the time comes, you have to go have a look?"

"Emperor Qin Shihuang?"

Guo An smiled softly, "Cement is already a technological product. How can the cement straight road be comparable to the Chi Road built by the First Emperor?"

"hiss……"

Guo Ang's eyes widened instantly, "So, doesn't His Highness the Crown Prince's achievements far surpass those of the First Emperor?"

"Stop talking nonsense!"

Guo An glared at Guo Ang, "His Royal Highness is still just a prince. He only surpassed the First Emperor in paving the straight road. In other aspects, he is not as good as the First Emperor!"

"You guys also want to go on that concrete straight track and run a lap?"

"The master is wise!"

Guo Ang had a sneer on his face, "The cement straight road is so majestic, how can a villain be qualified to ride on it and run on it?"

"Hmph! You look like you have never seen the world!"

Guo An snorted, "You can go if you want. It's just a straight concrete road. When you were in Beiping Mansion, didn't you take a horse-drawn carriage?"

"...If you saw a truly flat and straight asphalt road, wouldn't you be amazed?"

“A blacktop straightaway?”

Guo Ang's face was full of surprise, "Sir, what kind of straight road is an asphalt road? Why haven't you heard of it?"

"You are short-sighted, what have you heard?"

Guo An glanced at Guo Ang with contempt, then lay down, not wanting to speak.

I've heard everything...

Guo Ang muttered aggrievedly in his heart, cupped his hands towards Guo An, and prepared to walk out.

However, when I walked to the door, I thought of something and couldn't hold it back.

"Sir, on the day when the straight road is completely paved, there will be a lot of excitement outside the capital gate. Do you really not want to go and see the excitement?"

"It's so crowded, why don't you look at the back of your head?"

Guo An curled his lips and said, "I won't go!"

"Yes!"

Guo Ang then responded with relief and prepared to leave.

However, as soon as Guo Ang walked into the courtyard, he saw a servant walking in hastily.

"Reporting to the housekeeper, a palace eunuch is outside the palace and wants to see the master!"

"Eunuch in the palace?"

Guo Ang was stunned for a moment, then turned around and hurriedly walked out of the house.

really.

A eunuch was waiting quietly outside the door.

After a while.

Guo Ang took the eunuch to the main hall.

"Master, someone is coming to the palace!"

"Ok?"

Guo An opened his eyes and looked at the eunuch.

The eunuch saluted hurriedly, "I have seen Duke Dingguo!"

"Your Majesty, do you have something to give me?"

"Back to the Duke of Ding, His Majesty ordered that in three days, the cement straight road from the capital to Liangzhou will be completely completed. Your Majesty will bring hundreds of civil and military officials to ride on the cement straight road together!"

"How come your Majesty...it's not like he hasn't experienced it before?"

Guo An was speechless.

"Master?"

The eunuch was startled and looked at Guo An in disbelief. He wondered if he had heard wrongly?

"nothing!"

Guo An smiled softly and then said: "Get up and report back to His Majesty. I will go on time in three days!"

"Yes, sir!"

The eunuch responded quickly and was sent out of the house by Guo Ang!

Afterwards, Guo Ang came back with a happy face and was very excited.

"Master, what kind of carriage are you going to take in three days, and how many guards are you going to take? What kind of food are you going to prepare? Do you want to take the two young gentlemen with you..."

"Going on an errand, why are you so excited?"

Guo An said angrily, "Let Xu Yong take a few guards. As for the two boys and Han'er who wanted to go, they went together.

The carriage must be a carriage with rubber tires... For food, prepare water and snacks, and bring more cakes...

Who knows if Your Majesty will run farther if he rises..."

"The villain understands!"

Guo Ang responded and ran out excitedly.

On the recliner, a trace of doubt flashed in Guo An's eyes. Traveling by himself, why would Guo Ang, the housekeeper, be so happy?

……

Three days later.

Early in the morning, Guo An took the three children from his family, got on a carriage, and two boxes of food, and headed to Dinghuaimen, the capital, under the protection of Xu Yong and others.

Dinghuai Gate is located in the northwest corner of the capital.

After leaving Dinghuai Gate, not far away is the branch of the Qinhuai River. Then there is a very huge cement stone arch bridge, which can pass three carriages side by side.

But despite this, the bridge today was packed with people, and at a glance, they were all full of heads.

Under the Dinghuai Gate, there were luxurious and spacious carriages parked one after another, at least hundreds of them, each surrounded by several servants guarding them.

There were at least hundreds of thousands of people crowded in front of Dinghuai Gate.

After taking a look, Guo An sighed helplessly and asked Xu Yong to drive the carriage to a slightly wider place.

This place has been occupied by a group of arrogant and domineering warriors and a group of vicious men.

However, when these fierce gods saw Guo An's carriage, they immediately smiled.

"I have met Wei Guogong and Cao Guogong."

"The Marquis of Wuding, the Marquis of Changxing...are you all here too?"

"I've met Duke Dingguo!"

"Hahaha, Duke Dingguo is finally out!"

"Why are you all here so early?"

"In the past, the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty requisitioned 300,000 civilians and built a Chidao for two years, but His Highness the Prince did not recruit thousands of people. The straight concrete road paved should be wide and flat...

With such a road, how could we not come earlier? "

"Exactly, His Highness the Crown Prince has paved such a road, which will be recorded in the annals of history and his name will remain in history. We will..."

Looking at this group of honorable men who seemed to have been beaten to death, Guo An was speechless. This was the first cement straight road.

If, after more than ten years, the capital of the Ming Dynasty goes to all the provinces of the Ming Dynasty, or if all the provinces of the Ming Dynasty are connected by direct roads, wouldn't you be so excited that you have a brain hemorrhage?

"Huh? This cement straight road was successfully built after Duke Dingguo advised His Majesty. Now that it has been successfully built, why doesn't Duke Dingguo seem excited at all?"

"Brother Guo, couldn't he have walked on this straight road many times?"

"Hahaha, what Mr. Cao Guo said is absolutely true. Could it be that Mr. Ding..."

Guo An was speechless.

"His Majesty is here!"

At this time, with the sound of three loud whips, everyone in front of Dinghuai Gate fell silent and quickly looked towards Dinghuai Gate.

As a group of guards in bright clothes and armor came out, followed by two luxurious carriages.

On the first cart, Zhu Di and Queen Xu were sitting.

On the car behind was Zhu Gaochi.

"I will see you, Your Majesty, and see the Queen!"

"See His Highness the Crown Prince!"

"The untouchables meet Your Majesty, Queen..."

Outside the city, hundreds of thousands of powerful officials, as well as merchants and common people, quickly saluted Zhu Dixi.

"Everyone, please get up!"

Zhu Di smiled heartily.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Everyone stood up as instructed and stared at Zhu Di with burning eyes.

Zhu Di said loudly: "Today is the day when the crown prince is responsible for the construction, and the first cement straight road in the Ming Dynasty is completely completed.

From then on, all the people of Ming Dynasty, from the capital to Henan, Shaanxi, and all the way to Liangzhou, there are no dangerous and uneven roads, and there are no bandits and bullies. Even if it rains and snows, they can walk normally! "

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

"His Royal Highness the Prince is wise!"

"..."

Suddenly, all the people shouted praises and looked excited.

None of them thought about why they could walk normally even in heavy rain and snow.

Even many people in the distance could not hear Zhu Di's voice at all.

However, he still followed the people in front with excitement on his face and shouted loudly. Seeing this, Zhu Di's eyes became even more joyful.

"Today, the straight road is completed. I will take thousands of people of the Ming Dynasty to test the cement straight road!"

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

"His Majesty……"

Immediately, Zhu Di's car drove slowly, passed the bridge, passed the toll station, and entered the cement straight road!

Behind.

Guo An and other nobles and officials quickly asked their servants to drive carriages and follow closely.

After that, there was a group of gentry, merchants, and common people...

It is so dense and crowded that if you look down from a high altitude, you will think that ants are moving.

"Hey, how come there are several small cement houses at the end of the straight road?"

"Yeah, why are there still rejections?"

"Perhaps these have another effect!"

"hiss……"

"This straight road is actually so wide? Can four carriages run parallel to it?"

"Yes!"

"Why are there steps on both sides of the straight road? Ditches?"

"So flat?"

"Hahaha, I will be really lucky as a merchant in the future!"

"Yes, what Shopkeeper Shen said is right. His Majesty's views on merchants like us have really changed a lot!"

"In this case, we must not disappoint His Majesty!"

"It's extremely, it's extremely..."

And at the front.

Zhu Di's driving car.

Queen Xu looked at the straight and flat road in front of her with no end in sight, her eyes widened and her face full of surprise.

"Your Majesty, was it really the prince and thousands of craftsmen who built such an ingenious straight road?"

"Exactly!"

Zhu Di looked proud, "This straight road cost us millions of money!"

"Millions of taels of silver?"

Queen Xu couldn't help but open her mouth wide, her face full of distress.

"Your Majesty, spend so much money to build such a road..."

"Don't worry, sister!"

Zhu Di smiled softly and said: "This straight road is of great use to both the court and the people of the Ming Dynasty.

These millions of taels of silver are well spent, and according to Guo Qing's method, the money can be earned back within a few years.

From now on, all the money earned from this straight road will be our own money..."

"Using this straight road to make money?"

Queen Xu looked confused.

"Exactly... Sister, you can see the few small houses at the entrance of the straight road just now... Also, there will be a large inn every fifty miles on the straight road...

On weekdays, there will be soldiers patrolling the straight road..."

By the time Zhu Di finished his introduction, Queen Xu's face was filled with surprise.

"Dong Guogong actually has such a wonderful method. He can come up with such an unheard-of method on just a straight road!"

Zhu Di laughed directly, "Guo Qing is nothing like that Guo Taishi. His mind is all about ways to make money!"

"Ok!"

Queen Xu nodded slightly, and then said again: "Your Majesty, from my appearance, Duke Dingguo looks very much like that Guo Taishi!"

"Oh?"

Zhu Di looked curious.

Queen Xu said: "That Guo Taishi studied various craftsmanship and scholarship to serve the country and the people.

And Ding Guogong integrates various craftsmanship skills into things that benefit the people.

Moreover, the more I look at it, the more I feel that Duke Dingguo seems to have been making money and building and repairing the Ming Dynasty! "

"Building and repairing the Ming Dynasty?"

Zhu Di's eyes widened.

"Ok!"

Empress Xu continued: "Your Majesty, think about it, when he was in Beiping Mansion, Duke Dingguo was laying cement straight roads, building cement houses, and building various workshops...

When we arrived at the capital, the straight road that Duke Ding wanted to build was even longer..."

"What the girl said makes sense..."

Looking at the cement straight road in front of him that seemed to have no end, Zhu Di fell into deep thought.

……

This time, Zhu Di led hundreds of officials to inspect the cement straight road for half a day.

By the time Guo An returned to Duke Dingguo's mansion, it was already getting dark.

The two boxes of snacks and meals that I brought with me have been completely eaten.

but.

The entire capital was completely in a state of shock.

This was the first time for everyone to actually see the concrete straight track.

therefore.

This time, it shocked them even more.

It takes less than a day.

The grandeur and magic of the concrete straight road have been exaggerated dozens of times by the people of the capital.

The entire capital.

Everyone is curious about the concrete straight track.

even.

Some merchants who often travel to Shaanxi and Shanxi have already discussed setting up a caravan and walking on a straight concrete road to explore.

But, they haven't made any move yet.

A notice was plastered all over the capital.

At the same time, a new issue of Di Bao was also released.

"Operation Notice of the Cement Straight Road: The Cement Straight Road from Beijing to Liangzhou is 3,980 miles long, passes through fifteen prefectures, and has 72 inns built. It takes one year and eight months and costs 800 yuan and 800 yuan. Six hundred thousand taels of silver.

However, in order to facilitate the people of the world and enrich the Ming Dynasty, all this money was spent from your majesty's internal funds. Now that your majesty's internal funds are empty, it is no longer enough to support the expenses of the palace.

However, now that it has been built, the straight road needs to recover its cost. The straight road needs to be maintained and repaired every year. All merchants, teams, and horse and mule teams walking on the straight road must pay fees.

Pedestrians do not need to pay any fees, but for convoys, they charge ten cents for a car for ten miles, and six cents for a horse or mule for ten miles...

Enter the straight road, collect the road guide, get off the straight road, return the road guide, and pay!

On the straight road, every hundred miles, there are straight soldiers patrolling and checking at all times.

Zhidao Inn also requires road sign inspection before you can enter the inn to rest...

If a caravan is found to be opportunistic and sneak into the straight road, they will be fined a hundred taels of silver and not allowed to enter the straight road for another year! "

"This……"

All the merchants and gentry who saw these notices and newspapers were dumbfounded and a little unbelievable.

"There is actually a toll on the straight road?"

"In order to pave the straight road, Your Majesty actually spent so many taels of silver?"

"Your Majesty is really willing to give up more than 8.6 million taels of silver!"

"Humph, of course there will be a fee! Your Majesty also wants to make money with the straight road, so you really want me to wait..."

"Bah, so much money is spent to let those merchant convoys go straight and collect tolls, so what?"

"Really, His Majesty has spent all the money in his internal funds, so what happens if he collects some?"

"Don't forget, there are no tolls for pedestrians, only tolls for caravans, convoys, and horse teams!"

"Exactly!"

"Your Majesty is merciful!"

"...And, there are soldiers patrolling the straight road!"

"Soldiers patrolling?... In this way, there will be no more bandits and bullies blocking the road and robbing?"

"This... hahaha, okay, I will wait for the merchant to pay the toll willingly!"

"Yes, I am willing to wait for you!"

"..."

"Come on, aren't there some shopkeepers in the south of the city who want to go to Liangzhou to deliver goods to the Tatar city? I'll just go there with you!"

"That's right, let's experience those straight road inns!"

"go!"

"Leave the day after tomorrow!"

"It's extremely..."

And in all the major government offices.

All the officials looked at the Di newspaper in their hands and had different reactions.

There are those whose faces are red and dissatisfied.

"How could your Majesty do this?"

"As the king of our Ming Dynasty, how can your majesty compete with the people for profit and behave like a merchant?"

"Yes, he must have been bewitched by the traitor!"

"I'll wait for you to remonstrate!"

"Extremely yes, extremely yes..."

There are also those who agree with understanding.

"Humph, there is no charge for the straight road. Why did Your Majesty spend so much effort and money to build such a long straight road?"

"Exactly! Your Majesty already told the ministers about this during the construction!"

"Ugh……"

"If there is no charge, how will your Majesty get the money to build a direct road from the capital to Sichuan and Yunnan?"

"Hmph, I'll wait and see if any merchants will go to the straight road to pay the toll!"

"Watch and see..."

Among the officials, there was endless noise again.

Mostly, it's for their own interests.

After all, paving straight roads has advantages and disadvantages for them!

Moreover, they can charge money in court, but it would be uncomfortable for His Majesty to do it alone!

However, Zhu Di simply threw it aside and ignored the memorial from the courtiers.

...(End of chapter)