As the coffin of Empress Renxiao in Rouyi Hall was moved to Tianshou Mountain in Beiping for burial, Emperor Yongle once again proposed moving the capital to Beiping.
The Grand Canal connecting the north and the south has been cleared by more than half.
Through more than two years of personal expeditions against the Tatars, using offense as defense, the national defense of the northern border was strengthened.
When he personally led the expedition, Beiping was the Yongle Emperor's base camp. Officials from the Ministry of Works had already surveyed the land, drawn up blueprints of the new capital and the new imperial palace, and completed the initial site selection work.
My wife is buried in Tianshou Mountain in Peking, and I will be buried there in the future too.
… In short, the meat is already in the pot and is being stewed for you. Do you still dare to walk away without paying
The Yongle Emperor was so iron-fisted that his ministers had to agree even if they disagreed. Thus, the wish to move the capital, which had not been realized during the time of the powerful Emperor Gaozu, was realized under the Yongle Emperor.
In order to show his determination to move the capital, Emperor Yongle issued an order that the examination would be held in Beiping the following year, that is, in the 13th year of Yongle, and candidates from all over the country had to go north to take the examination.
Upon hearing this decision, the ministers were speechless.
The Minister of Rites said, "Beijing doesn't even have an Imperial Examination Hall. Where do candidates from all over the country take the exam? There is also the joint examination, which is held by the emperor himself, and the list is released after the palace examination. The examination hall is in the north, and the emperor is in the south. Do candidates have to take the exam in the examination hall for three days, and then rush south, all the way to the capital to take the palace examination?"
As a great ruler, these difficulties were not a big deal to Emperor Yongle. He said, "The former Yuan Dynasty left a ready-made government office in Beiping. I think the former Yuan Dynasty's Ministry of Rites is quite good. It has all the necessary buildings and structures. I will ask the Ministry of Works to renovate it urgently. The examination will definitely be held as scheduled. As for the palace examination later..."
Emperor Yongle pondered for a moment, "I will go on a campaign next year, and I will go to see how the new capital is being built. The imperial examination will be held in the spring, and I can just preside over the palace examination in Beiping."
After thinking for a while, he said, "Since Beiping has been designated as the new capital, it should be renamed Beijing."
Emperor Yongle lived in Beiping, no, in Beijing, for many years. He cultivated land, dredged rivers and built infrastructure. He revived the Yan area, which had been weakened by wars and the capital's relocation to the south.
Emperor Yongle had been working in Yan area for many years and had a high prestige. Many local people even only knew the King of Yan but not the emperor.
It was also the place where he and Empress Renxiao spent their youth and middle age together, loving each other and supporting each other. Empress Renxiao was also injured while guarding the city of Beijing, which ruined her originally healthy body.
Whether for military or political reasons, or because the Nanjing Imperial Palace was sinking year by year due to lake filling and land reclamation, the palace foundation was unstable, collapses occurred frequently, and it gradually became uninhabitable, Emperor Yongle's deep personal feelings for this piece of land in Beijing were also an important reason.
Moving the capital was like the second shoe that fell on the ceiling, and it was finally confirmed. Some people felt frustrated and did not want to leave the gentle and fertile land of Jiangnan and go to the north to suffer from the wind and sand.
But some people saw opportunities and business opportunities.
For example, the imperial examination two years later. The journey across China is long and many candidates who passed the imperial examination in the autumn will immediately rush to the capital to take part in the imperial examination the following spring after obtaining the qualification. If the candidates are close to the capital, it will only take ten days or half a month to arrive. However, if the candidates are from remote areas such as Yunnan, Sichuan, and Guangdong, they must set off immediately. Hence, there is a saying of "going to the capital to take the exam". The journey is tight and they have to hurry.
If a candidate failed the exam in previous years, in order to concentrate on preparing for the next Ming Dynasty Civil Service Qualification Examination, or to save some travel expenses, he would simply stay in the capital to study and review, and prepare to take the exam again three years later.
Now the location of the imperial examination has been changed to Beijing, the new capital. These candidates have arrived in Beijing early to prepare for the exam. Do they need to rent a house? Do they need to eat? Do they need to engage in entertainment activities
Since ancient times, school district housing has been the most sought-after.
Just as some people were regretting the move of the capital, others had already seized the opportunity and moved to Beijing first to buy land and houses, waiting for the housing prices to soar.
Therefore, moving the capital is not only a waste of money and time, it also means more opportunities and is a huge infrastructure project.
At the same time, forty large sea ships were built at the Ming Dynasty Shipyard. Eunuch Zheng He led more than 26,800 people on board, including officials, sailors, Yin-Yang masters, more than 100 doctors, translators proficient in various languages, more than 140 clerks responsible for record keeping, and dozens of eunuchs.
The largest sea vessels are like three-story mansions, with decks for horse racing, as well as orchards, vegetable gardens, etc. No matter where Chinese people go, they like to grow vegetables to be self-sufficient.
On the day when eunuch Zheng He sailed to the West, A Lei did not go to see him off.
In the study of Baochuan Factory, she was sorting out the drawings of various parts of the ship one by one. She had been working here for two years. In order to draw the drawings accurately, she taught herself arithmetic, and Hu Shanwei also collected various mathematics books for her. She contributed a lot to the ships sailing on the sea.
Two years passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, Are grew from a girl into a thirteen-year-old young lady. She also found her own interests and hobbies, such as arithmetic and drawing. When pieces of wood or bearings of iron were cut, polished and spliced together, it was like giving them new life, which made Are very excited.
Due to long periods of concentrated work, even staying up late to read, Are's eyes were a little damaged. When she read, the handwriting seemed blurry and her head kept bending lower and lower unconsciously. Hu Shanwei discovered that there was something wrong with Are's eyes and quickly ordered her not to read at night. He also got her a pair of Western glasses for her to wear when reading during the day.
The curved glass lenses and glasses frames are made of precious hawksbill turtles from the seabed. They are light and comfortable, with small holes at the ends and two ropes tied to them. The ropes can be hung on the ears or tied into knots behind the head to fix the glasses on the nose.
With the glasses, Are can see the handwriting clearly without lowering his head, and his cervical spine no longer hurts.
It took about two years for the eunuch Zheng He to come back from his voyage to the West, and Are suddenly became an unemployed worker.
As a woman, I cannot go sailing on the ocean ship that I built with my own efforts.
A Lei didn't want to make his sister and brother-in-law worry about her, so he had to suppress his inner desire. She was now androgynous, and could barely pretend to be a young eunuch following Zheng He. When Zheng He came back two years later, she would be fifteen years old, and no matter how she dressed as a man, she couldn't hide it. So she was unemployed this time, and she would never be able to find a job again, which was equivalent to lifelong unemployment.
Arei felt very disappointed and did not have the courage to see eunuch Zheng He off, fearing that she would burst into tears on the spot. So she went to the Baochuan Factory to pack her things and leave this place that had made her happy and sad.
All good things must come to an end.
Arei convinced herself to accept the reality and prepared several large boxes. She put on tortoise-shell glasses and sorted out the drawings one by one. She put the drawings that might be used in the future or used as references into the large boxes and put them in the warehouse of the Baochuan Factory for use.
Arei packed several boxes and emptied the wastebasket several times, but the things in the house were reduced to less than half.
When the wastebasket was piled up like a grave again, A Lei took the wastebasket out to dump it, and a voice rang out, "I'll help you dump it."
It was the Crown Prince Zhu Zhanji. He was still tall and thin. If there was any change in him from before, it was that he was taller and thinner.
Zhu Zhanji's body shape changed from a bamboo to a piece of dried noodle, but it was still tall and straight before being cooked.
Are was busy clearing out the study. He did not refuse Zhu Zhanji and sat down to continue organizing the drawings.
Zhu Zhanji bent down to move the wastebasket, and his waist was so tight that he was almost worried that it would break in the middle.
Zhu Zhanji came in to empty the wastebasket and helped sort the drawings.
A Lei hurriedly stopped me: "I'll do it myself. There are rules for which box these drawings should be placed in. Don't get them mixed up. Eunuch Zheng He said he would continue to sail to the West, so I'm sure these drawings can still be used."
Zhu Zhanji said: "I participated in the planning of the new palace and imperial city in Beijing, and supervised the construction of Changling Mausoleum in Tianshou Mountain. I can see that you alone may not be able to finish the work by the time the lights are turned on, not to mention your eyes... Stay away from the lights in the future."
Zhu Zhanji was a perfect crown prince, very intelligent and knew a little bit about everything.
Seeing that he was an expert, A Lei did not stop him and let him help. The two sat across from each other on a large drawing table - Muchun had slept on it before. The two did not talk, and the only sound in the study was the rustling of papers.
Zhu Zhanhe, the prince of Han, followed his father on board to escort the coffin of Empress Renxiao to the burial site. The round trip, plus the complicated ceremonies, would take him half a year to return. If he were here, the three of them would definitely be very lively together.
When Zhu Zhanhe was around, A Lei always complained that he was too noisy. Now that his younger brother Shuikeng has gone to Beijing and his younger brother Xiaoji has returned, A Lei thinks Zhu Zhanji is too boring.
Arei thought that if he could crush these two people together, split them in half, and then make two new people, it would be perfect.
Zhu Zhanji glanced at Are out of the corner of his eye. After not seeing her for more than two years, she had become calmer and no longer liked to go out and play like before. She buried herself in piles of papers and never went out all day. Her skin was so pale that it was almost sickly. She wore a round-necked robe and a black gauze futon on her head, dressing up as a little eunuch. On her nose lay a pair of round-framed tortoiseshell glasses. The natural pattern of the tortoiseshell looked very much like amber. This was her only decoration, and the glasses made her face look particularly delicate and pretty.
The lenses could not block her curious gaze. She was still the same A Lei, but not the same A Lei. She was like the Bagua plate in the hands of a Feng Shui master, ever-changing and full of variables. He couldn't figure her out. He wanted to get closer, but he didn't know how to do it.
At dusk, the setting sun shines through the window, casting two figures across the desk onto the ground, overlapping each other. Zhu Zhanji stares at the overlapping shadows on the ground in a trance.
"Okay, everything is sorted." A Lei stood up and rubbed his sore neck. "The boxes will be placed here. Someone will come to put them in the warehouse. Let's go."
Zhu Zhanji followed her out and asked, "Don't you want to take something as a souvenir?"
Arei smiled and pointed at his head, "Everything is stored in here. What you learn is yours. You don't need to take a single piece of paper with you."
Arei forced a smile, but her heart was as empty as the study behind her. She was unemployed, so what should she do in the future? Arei was very confused.
Zhu Zhanji asked, "What are your plans for the future?"
After saying this, Zhu Zhanji immediately regretted it. He shouldn't have said this. It was too hurtful. What's going on? I'm always fluent in answering questions in front of the emperor and never make him angry. Why do I keep saying these stupid things when I'm with A Lei
In order to hide his sadness, A Lei pushed his tortoise-shell glasses on his nose out of habit, "I'll go home and take a rest first, then..."
Arei smiled awkwardly, "I haven't thought about it yet."
Don't ask me all the time. A Lei didn't want to talk about his own affairs, so he asked Zhu Zhanji instead, "The Crown Prince should be very busy, not like me who has nothing to do. How come he has time to leave the palace today?"
Zhu Zhanji: Zheng He went to the West, and as a woman you couldn't go with him. I thought you would be sad, so I left the palace to comfort you - but the result was counterproductive. I always said stupid things and made you even sadder.
Zhu Zhanji felt that he was useless, and of course he did not dare to speak out his purpose, so he could only say: "Oh, I came to see the spectacular scene of Zheng He's voyage to the West, and by the way, I came to see you."
A Lei looked at Zhu Zhanji's clothes and said, "The emperor personally sent Zheng He and his eunuchs, you can just follow them, why do you have to go incognito and sneak in to see it?"
Zhu Zhanji finally told the truth this time, "The emperor's personal expedition, dredging of the Grand Canal, and the construction of the capital and the imperial city all cost money. In the past two years, the emperor has been fighting outside and spending money, while the crown prince has been in charge of the country and making money. Only then did the head of the household realize how expensive firewood, rice, oil, and salt are, and taxes cannot be increased."
"The prince finally managed to plug these bottomless holes. He felt that Zheng He's voyages were not like the previous ones, which had an immediate effect and benefited the people. Therefore, he did not support it in his heart. It was only under pressure from his father that he had to allocate money to support Zheng He's voyages."
"So, I can't go to see the eunuch Zheng He's fleet openly, lest the prince feel uncomfortable and think that I only favor the emperor and don't understand the prince's difficulties."
Zhu Zhanji's mind is as complicated as a hornet's nest. As the crown prince, he is sandwiched between the emperor and the prince. He needs to find a balance because he can't afford to offend both sides and he has to take care of their emotions.
After listening to Zhu Zhanji's roundabout explanation, A Lei felt that his life was more tiring than before, no wonder he didn't gain weight.
A Lei looked at Zhu Zhanji with some pity, "It must be tiring to be the eldest grandson of the emperor."
Zhu Zhanji said: "Who wouldn't be tired when living in an imperial family?"
Are blurted out, "Zhu Zhanhe, I see he's having a very easy time, laughing all day long."
Zhu Zhanji's eyes sparkled when A Lei mentioned Zhu Zhanhe, and a sour feeling welled up in his heart. He said, "Yes, he has the conditions to be free and easy and do whatever he wants, but I don't. I have to think before and after doing anything. I have to do this because I am the eldest grandson of the Eastern Palace. There is no way back except to move forward."
Arei choked and said, I just care about you, sympathize with you, and asked if you were tired, but you ended up talking to me like you had eaten something. I didn’t say that you were wrong to do that!
After saying this, Zhu Zhanji wanted to slap himself: Are you stupid? Why did you argue with A Lei? Are you happy when you win? Why do you act stupid when you see her
The author has something to say: A little sweet, I wish you all a happy weekend, and I will send 100 red envelopes tonight~ Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated me with nutrient solution~
Thanks to the little angel who irrigated [nutrient solution]:
鷋 47 bottles; xuling380 40 bottles; the cutest in the kindergarten 30 bottles; cz, liyi_yang 20 bottles; snoopy, the little aunt who loves to make dirty jokes, liuliameng, and bubbles 10 bottles; Meimei, Little Spoon 5 bottles; the little girl who eats lipstick 2 bottles; either endure or be cruel or go away, Qianqianmm, Honghuang Tree Demon, Momo, and Yijianxieyue 1 bottle;
Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!