I'm sure of the prosperous age of Kangxi and Qianlong!

Chapter 551 The British East India Company arrives

Winter passes and spring comes.

The Ming Dynasty also passed its first ten years, and it is now the eleventh year of Jianwu.

After all, it has been more than twelve years since Zhu Yijiong came to this time and space. From the beginning, he was always worried about destruction and started to engage in military warfare against the Manchu Qing Dynasty. Until now, the world has been unified and its borders have been opened to the outside world.

The Manchu and Qing Tatars had long been destroyed, and even the "History of the Qing Dynasty" had been published and promoted in Nanjing.

Although the sales volume is not very good, after all, there are only four generations of emperors, one duke and one marquis, so there is too little content to talk about. Most of the chapters are about an era that ordinary people experienced personally, full of suffering and oppression. Especially compared with today's Ming Dynasty and the New Dynasty, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is heaven and earth, and the people are naturally not interested.

However, with the promotion and dissemination, many gentry began to pick up the manuscripts of "History of the Qing Dynasty", and then scolded the Tatars for being cruel and not treating the people of the world (gentry) as human beings. The "beauty" of slaves.

Of course, if they knew that without Zhu Yijiong, Yongzheng would have to allocate children into acres in the future, then it would probably... be very satisfying, because Yongzheng's allotment of children into acres was only implemented in a small number of prefectures and counties, and he also knew that there would be trouble if it was fully promoted.

Moreover, in the Yongzheng dynasty, the system of renting an acreage was okay in the early stage, but it was broken by the Qianlong period. It basically only helped the national finance to increase revenue, but the burden on the people became heavier.

Zhu Yijiong was able to do it because he was the founding emperor, with new systems and talents, and he held the army's knife in his hand, so he could do whatever he wanted.

No one can resist the emperor unless he declares the abolition of the monarchy.

Although this year's fiscal revenue has not yet been calculated, it only looks at local taxes and coastal trade. Especially the increase in the amount of trade (smuggling) between Japan and North Korea, as well as the reduction of national wars, can at least increase it to more than 10 million taels.

The annual fiscal revenue of more than 70 million has reached the peak of Qianlong's prosperous era. Apart from the finances swallowed up by Qianlong's corrupt officialdom, there was no big problem in supporting the recovery of the Western Regions and Mobei.

The finances are strong and there are no serious external wars.

Zhu Yijiong finally gave the ministers a long spring vacation. It was also because he wanted to take a break after a few years.

Nanjing city.

Over the past few years, the status of the capital has developed, and its wealth and population have already surpassed those of Beijing in the past.

During the Spring Festival, the streets and alleys in the city and the business doors are decorated with lights and colorful decorations. Even for poor families, it is rare for parents to spend money to buy some rice, noodles and meat to celebrate the New Year.

"This is Nanjing, the capital of the Chinese Emperor today. It is truly a rich and beautiful city." British envoy Ed Howe admired the bustle and prosperity of Nanjing.

On the side, Abraham, the deputy envoy of the envoy, also nodded: "Yes, this is a rich and powerful city. Look! There are beggars here... Oh, my God, there is not even a beggar here."

Nonsense, of course there are no beggars in sight.

Zhu Yijiong directly treated all beggars as immigrants and brought them to provinces that were short of people. In the first year, he lent them food, seeds and cattle to cultivate and rebuild their lives.

Anyone who is forced to beg, as long as he has hands and feet, will be grateful for the court's arrangements. Unless they are deliberately begging to defraud money and are discovered, then they will all go to the bitter cold land of Liaodong. They are worried that there are not enough criminals to immigrate to Heilongjiang.

As for the old and weak among beggars, there are actually very few. It was difficult for the truly old and weak to survive begging in ancient times, so it is not a big problem to deal with them.

Ed Howe walked along the road and looked at the flowers: "This city is very neat. Although the Chinese houses are weird, they look very beautiful. Moreover, there seems to be no poor people here. Everyone is celebrating the New Year. It is simply more beautiful than London in the United Kingdom." Be prosperous.”

Abraham sighed: "Yes! Even London in the United Kingdom still has many poor people living in poverty. Moreover, Nanjing in China has a much larger population and city size than London in the Kingdom."

It was obviously the first time for these two people to come to China, so they were full of curiosity about everything, and they were also incredulous about the amazing prosperity of Nanjing. At that time, Britain had already established the United Kingdom, but there was no Ireland. As for the era of the British Empire, we had to wait until the British completely occupied India and seized the throne of the Mughal Empire.

The total population of London was only 700,000 about thirty years ago. This was still the population surge caused by the Glorious Revolution. In the 16th century, it would not even have been 100,000.

Ed Howe said: "For being able to establish such a powerful empire and overthrow the Tatar rule, the Chinese emperor must be a heroic figure. I really look forward to meeting him."

The British envoy traveled all the way and finally arrived at Honglu Temple with strong curiosity and handed over the official diplomatic credentials of the East India Company.

This mission actually did not come from Southeast Asia, but came directly from the East India Company in India.

The officials on duty at Honglu Temple did not dare to neglect, and quickly arranged the reception and handed the news to the court.

After that, you have to wait slowly.

Not only because Nanjing is on holiday during the Chinese New Year, but also because they are coming from India. The emperors and ministers of the Ming Dynasty knew the purpose of these people's visit without guessing.

However, the personal freedom of these people will not be restricted. They can go shopping anytime they want, but they must report in advance and be accompanied by an interpreter from Honglu Temple.

As the chief envoy, Ai Dehao couldn't hold himself back the next day and took his deputy envoy with him to visit the splendor of Nanjing City.

With the accompanying interpreters arranged by Honglu Temple, these people are not afraid of being cheated.

Ai Dehao was very purposeful and did not go to those snack restaurants. He went straight to bookstores and other cultural places in Nanjing City.

It was not until night, when it was dark, that I returned to the Honglu Temple Guest House.

Ai Dehao lit a lantern alone, took out a quill and started writing in his diary: "Today, Chinese diplomats took us to the cultural streets of Nanjing. The roads there are smooth and clean. There is no unpleasant odor in the sewers. The smell in my nose, and the Chinese civilians around me are also very polite..."

"Many commoners here (actually scholars) are literate and wear silk. Although the colors are not luxurious and gorgeous, the books here are also very popular and generally very cheap, even commoners can afford them. …”

"I asked a Chinese diplomat, and he said that the best-selling books here today are "History of the Qing Dynasty" and "History of the Ming Dynasty", as well as a picture book called "Map of the World." "History of the Qing Dynasty" and "History of the Ming Dynasty" are the books after the country's demise. The history of the dynasty, the Qing Kingdom mentioned in the "History of the Qing Dynasty" is the country where the Chinese emperor perished. The Chinese emperor is said to be the descendant of the emperor in the "History of the Ming Dynasty". Not only did he overthrow the Tatars who once destroyed their own family rule, He also regained the family’s empire, and even allowed the history of the family and the empire to be seen by ordinary people. What kind of ambition is this..."

"However, the "World Map" picture book made me feel a little worried. It is indeed a map depicting the world. Although there are some differences in reality, China in it is really huge. Not only that, they will also Bogra in Bangladesh is also included in China’s territory..."

"By the way, there were rumors at sea that China has manufactured a brand-new spinning machine that can efficiently produce cotton cloth. This news seems to be true. There is a spinning workshop in Nanjing, China, that specializes in this kind of machine. I wanted to get closer to visit, but was stopped by Chinese diplomats. This seems to be a secret of the Chinese themselves, which is not good news..."

It is indeed not good news. Chinese merchants went to India to purchase cotton cloth, which made the British wary.

Now it’s just a further confirmation!

Although Zhu Yijiong adheres to the promotion concept for spinning machines, whether it is the latest steam spinning machine or the former manual spinning machine, it is strictly confidential.

All merchants who use new spinning machines must first apply to the imperial court. After obtaining the qualification certificate, they can go to the imperial government-run spinning machine factory to purchase machines. Even if a spinning workshop is established, it must be approved and supervised by the court.

If the structural principles of the spinning machine are leaked, or if all the machines are leaked, they will be confiscated and exiled.

Especially now that steam spinning machines have come out, although they have not yet been widely promoted, customs has begun to increase inspections.

In this regard, merchants have complained that it is too complicated, but it does not matter. The spinning efficiency of the new spinning machine can eliminate all its negative shortcomings.

(End of this chapter)