Reborn Ming Dynasty as Emperor

Chapter 533 The Epitome of the Prosperity in the Early Age of Apocalypse 20

Although Zhu Youxiao is not worried that his opium trade in Ming Dynasty will not be effectively protected by force, he does not want to use military force to promote hegemony now.

Once the war is launched, the conflicts will be more or less intensified, causing some European countries to have national sentiments, and thus the phenomenon of boycotting Ming’s goods, which will affect the economy and trade of the two countries, making it impossible for Ming to gain long-term benefits after gaining huge war returns in the short term. high returns.

At the same time, it is hard to guarantee that it will not further stimulate these Westerners to awaken their avant-garde thinking, and then even learn from the pain and catch up, which will become a hidden danger for the future of the Ming Dynasty.

If you want to fight, it should be when the national wealth of these European powers is almost sucked up by yourself, that is, when the opium trade reaches saturation.

Of course, no one can predict when the war will arise because of the opium trade, and Zhu Youxiao is not a god after all.

The benefits brought about by the opium trade are not only reflected in the increase in national income, but also directly in the improvement of the quality of life of Ming people from all walks of life. With my salary, I am preparing to buy a villa by the West Lake, in case I invite a couple of friends to watch the snow in the pavilion in the middle of the lake in the future.

For their kind of teaching and academic officials, they are no longer poor officials like the professors and lecturers in the prefectures and counties. They have no other benefits except for taking bribes from some school students. Today, the salaries of these professors under the new education system like Wei Miner and Zhang Dai have long been comparable to those of the first-rank officials in the dynasty.

What's more, no matter whether it's liberal arts or science and engineering, these so-called professors are the best in the field, and His Majesty now attaches great importance to academic research, so these people have part-time jobs or undertake projects in society. Therefore, there are also many other incomes.

Because it was the season of heavy snow, all primary and secondary schools had their winter vacation, so Wei Min'er called a rickshaw and went to his villa in West Lake.

At this time, the Ming Dynasty had begun to popularize rickshaws. This kind of vehicle combined with manpower and machinery is favored by the upper class in today’s society, especially the intellectuals who like to carry it. This way of travel makes them feel more fashionable than riding a bicycle. .

Zhang Dai also rushed to Wei Miner's West Lake villa in a rickshaw at this time.

He is now the editor-in-chief of Daming Daily, and he holds the official title of the right minister of the Nanjing Ministry of Rites. He can be regarded as the top three imperial literati under Zhu Youxiao's hands, and he is almost Zhu Youxiao's loyal fan and tongue-in-cheek in the academic world. It is most true and vivid to describe the apocalyptic prosperity under Zhu Youxiao's rule, which is more popular among literati than the memoirs written by the historians of the Imperial Academy.

Because he has been well-known in the academic circle for a long time and is the great steward of the official public opinion of the Ming Dynasty, the current Zhang Dai is naturally not the one in history who would be reduced to being driven by two concubines and irrigated with manure. Today, he is already richer than when he was young. , I love Jingshe's beautiful maid even more than before.

And now that the urbanization process of Daming is accelerating, the housing prices in the city have already risen sharply. The rich and wealthy buy more land to build houses, instead of turning it into acres for people to rent. Zhang Dai also prefers to buy gardens and villas. Of course, not only It's him, the entire upper class of society is used to buying houses from all over the world, and speculating on land from east to west.

"Old Dong, it's almost New Year's Eve. Have you got all the necessities for the New Year? How much money did you get this year?" Unlike Wei Min'er waving a rickshaw temporarily, Zhang Dai, who bears the title of servant, has a rickshaw driver at home. Of course, he also bought the rickshaw, and the rickshaw master was a servant of Dong Qichang's family, but the Dong family hated His Majesty, so the house was confiscated, and this servant of Dong Qichang had to rely on Zhang Dai to pull the rickshaw for Zhang Dai.

This Master Dong is full of energy, pulling Zhang Dai, who has grown to a weight of two hundred catties, like a swallow on the bluestone road, trotting all the way without panting, and can answer Zhang Dai's question: "If you come back to the master, everything is done." , The eldest son of my family found a job in Meisheng Company, and now he has been selected as a deacon in Liverpool, England, and just sent back more than 4 silver dollars this year, saying that it is for us to buy more properties, hehe."

"Yes, I dare say that your eldest son was right when he entered the training school of the China Shipping Merchants Bureau. I didn't expect to find such a job in Meisheng Company, but this Meisheng Company is really profitable. All the blood of foreigners I'm almost sucked by him." As the editor-in-chief of Daming Daily, Zhang Dai is used to chatting with people from all walks of life to collect materials, even his own driver.

And as a high-ranking official in the media field of Ming Dynasty, he naturally knows what kind of business the Meisheng Company is running. Seeing this now, he has to think about writing a few articles to report on the Meisheng Company and at the same time talk about the power of the country and the prosperity of the people. argument.

And Zhu Youxiao's policy questions for this year's palace examination are also about the topic of national prosperity and prosperity of the people, so it coincides with Zhang Dai's editorial article in Daming Daily, who are only obsessed with fame and fortune Since then, some people have believed that Zhang Dai is good at guessing His Majesty's thoughts and accurately predicting new subjects, and because of this, his editorials on the Daming Daily attracted countless fans and attracted countless people's attention.

And the sales volume of Daming Daily once again ushered in a small climax, Zhang Dai also did his tricks, and simply published a few books such as "Zhang Dai's Commentary on Palace Examinations Over the Years", which were also very popular, and he made a lot of money for a while.

Sun Chengzong is over [-] years old, and has retired and been an official at home for two years. Now he will sit under his pear arbor every morning to read the newspapers he subscribes to. Criticize a few sentences, but also angrily scold some radical words in private newspapers and magazines for being too extreme and should be severely reprimanded.

However, when he read in the newspapers that Ming was about to build the first railway, and had successfully manufactured the first thermal power generator and some electric lights, he couldn't help being a little curious and wanted to ask for advice. The little grandson who is studying in the school, but when he sees the pictures in the newspapers, he will still smile and say: "If there is a chance, I will go back to the capital and see it with my own eyes."

In fact, the electrification of Daming at this time has indeed made great progress. Apart from the fact that Zhu Youxiao's golden finger has given scientific researchers a lot of benefits, it is also related to Zhu Youxiao's willingness to spend money. It is very difficult to win the highest science and technology award of Ming Dynasty without some impressive inventions, and human potential is always unlimited. Because of this, it can be regarded as the foreshadowing of another industrial era for Ming Dynasty.

Of course, many aspects are still immature, and it will be difficult to directly step into the electrical era within two to three decades. What's more, with further technological updates, social and ideological levels will further change. By then, Zhu Youxiao, the emperor Whether or not the dictatorship can continue is also a question.

　After reading Dream of Red Mansions for the fifth time today, I was tricked by Cao Gong. I kept wondering whether he starved to death, which caused the code words to fail to enter. Now I can barely write a chapter. I have to go to work tomorrow and have to rest early. , I still owe a chapter, I can only make it up on the weekend, sorry
　　
　
(End of this chapter)