On the eve of New Year's Eve, a series of phenomena heralded that the weather in Shaanxi was about to be smooth. Zhu Youjian was happy and cleaned up Wan'er and Hu Xinxue. The morning of Xinyuan was late.
However, it doesn't matter. In Yansui, Zhu Youjian has neither elders to visit, nor any old relatives or friends to visit or receive.
It wasn't until Chen Shi was about to end that Zhu Youjian, Wan'er and Hu Xinxue woke up slowly in their clothes.
"His Royal Highness, you still have dumplings in the morning, will you get tired of eating it?" Wan'er was concerned about Zhu Youjian's breakfast before she got dressed.
"Not yet, let's eat dumplings today!" Zhu Youjian put on his clothes and prepared to go outside to practice exercises, while Wan'er and Hu Xinxue went for a busy breakfast.
"His Royal Highness, Master Gao is here to worship." Zhu Youjian just opened the bedroom door, and his soldiers came to report to him.
"Master Gao? So early?" Zhu Youzhen thought to himself, doesn't he need to guard his age
"Yes, Master Gao also brought a young man named Li Hongji."
"Then why didn't you wake me up early? Master Gao has been here for a while, right?"
"Master Gao is not allowed to wake His Highness. Master Gao said, today is Singapore Dollars, and there is nothing wrong. Let His Highness sleep until he wakes up naturally!"
"Oh, where is Lord Gao now?"
"in living room."
"I see, go down!" Zhu Youjian went directly to the living room without taking care of the practice.
The door of the living room was hidden, and Gao Yingxiang was drinking tea with a young man.
"Master Gao, early!" Zhu Youjian pushed in.
"Chen Gao Yingxiang, see His Royal Highness!" Gao Yingxiang bowed to the ground and gave a big gift.
"Caomin Li Hongji, see His Royal Highness." Li Hongji followed Gao Yingxiang, also bowing.
"Haha, this is home, no big gifts." Zhu Youjian glanced at Li Hongji, "Sit down!"
How dare Gao Yingxiang sit down in front of King Xin? He is coy, neither standing nor sitting.
"Master Gao should know that I don't like these fake gifts, sit down!" After Zhu Youjian finished speaking, he first sat down on the main seat.
Gao Yingxiang couldn't help but had to sit half of his ass in the guest seat. Li Hongji didn't know what to do, Gao Yingxiang pulled him and sat down under Gao Yingxiang.
"Master Gao, people in Yansui, how is Xinyuan doing?"
Gao Yingxiang bowed to Zhu Youjian in salute: "Thanks to His Royal Highness who brought grain from Xi'an, the people of Yansui can finally make a new dollar. If it weren't for His Highness, the minister would not know how to deal with the people of this town. The people are still suffering..."
"Master Gao, don't worry. After this spring, Shaanxi will have a good weather, and the people's livelihood will never be so difficult." Today is Xinyuan, and Zhu Youjian does not want to make a fuss about these issues. Come to me early, but what's the matter?"
"His Royal Highness, the minister brought his nephew Hongji to pay respects to His Royal Highness in his early years."
"This is the tall man's nephew Li Hongji?" Zhu Youjian looked at it carefully, with a square face, wide nose, high forehead, and a faint spirit in his eyes.
"Caomin Li Hongji has seen His Royal Highness." Li Hongji got up from his seat and bowed to the ground again.
"Oh, get up!" Zhu Youjian felt that Li Hongji did not look like a second fool. "How long have you been a postman?"
"Back to Your Highness, Cao Min has been a postman for three years."
"Three years? That's not too short." Zhu Youzhen seemed to say to himself, "Then tell me, what are the conveniences of the inn?"
"Back to your Highness, the post can facilitate the border customs documents and military reports to be heard in time, and the instructions from the imperial court can also arrive at the border in time."
"Oh." Zhu Youjian thought for a while, but found nothing new. "From your point of view, are there any imperfections in the station?"
"This..." Li Hongji glanced at Gao Yingxiang, but Gao Yingxiang took a cup of tea and drank it.
"Don't be nervous, today is at home." Zhu Youjian also picked up his teacup and drank water.
"His Royal Highness..." Li Hongji hesitated for a while, and couldn't help it. "Although the post is good, the civil and military officials can't help but lick the oil."
"Tell me, how do you wipe the oil?"
"The post itself was designed by the imperial court to convey messages, but civil and military officials often stayed at the post because of private travels. According to the estimates of the grassroots, the imperial court allocated 30% of the postage fee per month to 60% per month. It was all spent on the personal expenses of these officials."
"..." Zhu Youjian nodded, and officials wiped the government's oil, which is also Daming's unspoken rule. "If you are allowed to act as a postman, can you ban these things?"
"No." Li Hongji shook his head slowly, "If the Caomin wants to ban this kind of wiping, these officials will unite and blast away the Caomin, and replace it with a post that allows them to continue wiping."
"Haha," Zhu Youjian laughed, what kind of a stunner Hongji here is, he is still quite adept in the world of human affection! "Who else is in your family?"
"His Royal Highness, Cao Min's parents are dead, and there is only his wife Han in the house." Li Hongji realized that Zhu Youzhen did not have the authority of a prince, and the tension and fear in his heart gradually subsided.
"Are you literate?"
"Cao Min went to private school for a few years in his childhood, so he can learn a little bit. In the past few years, he has registered various documents at the post, and his studies have not fallen behind."
"Okay, how much is your salary for a month at the station?" Zhu Youjian had already decided to dig people, and he was really worried about placing Li Hongji in a volcanic crater like Shaanxi.
"His Royal Highness, Caomin pays a couple of dollars a month and a half." Li Hongji learned from Gao Yingxiang that Zhu Youzhen appreciates him very much. Although he doesn't know the reason, Zhu Youzheng has a vague expectation when he asks these questions.
"Then I will give you one or two dollars a month to work for my faith in the Royal Mansion-now I can't give you any position, I can only be my assistant, are you willing?"
Li Hongji was overjoyed and bowed to the ground again: "Cao Min is willing to serve His Highness."
"Well, after the Singapore dollar, you go to Ningxia to complete the handover procedures, and then report. Now there is nothing important. You go to Xi'an and supervise the construction of the cement road from Xi'an to Tongzhou. You are still young, and they may not listen to you. , You only need to tell me what you see." Zhu Youjian intends to train Li Hongji as an administrative official. Experience is the most important thing.
"The Caomin obeys His Highness's orders."
"Hongji, what qualities do you think are the most important for being a person or doing things?"
"Return to Your Highness, loyal."
"Loyalty is certainly important-loyal to the master, loyal to Ming and loyal to the people, but the most important thing in being a person and doing things is integrity. You are not afraid of power and money. Do you understand?"
"Cao Min remember the teachings of His Highness!" Li Hongji clasped his fists and made a promise to Zhu Youjian.
"Haha, Master Gao, it's almost noon that day, just have a light meal here at noon?"
"His Royal Highness, there are still some guests in the minister's house. Today is Singapore Dollar, so I won't disturb your Highness."
"Alright, then I won't keep Master Gao--to be honest, Master Gao, I haven't eaten breakfast yet! Haha."
In the original peasants' habit, only after the Lantern Festival, would they go to work in the fields. But Zhu Youjian was in order to catch up with the construction schedule--who knows when he would return to the capital; the farmers were eager to be paid, and as a result, the Cement Avenue resumed construction on the tenth day of the first month.
The sixth day of February is Zhu Youjian's birthday. He originally planned to take Wan'er and Hu Xinxue for a drive in the wild, but they felt that it was cold outside and they were still comfortable at home.
"His Royal Highness." Just when Zhu Youjian and Wan'er were confused, Li Hongji came from Xi'an, "The cement road from Xi'an to Tongzhou should have been completed."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"His Royal Highness, this is the case. When the Caomin leaves, there will be two days before the concrete road is completed, but the Caomin has been running on the road for three days. Lord Sun asks His Highness, which section should be repaired first?"
"Oh." Zhu Youjian thought for a while, "Well, Hongji, you are responsible for the section from Yan'an to Yansui, and I will go to Xi'an myself." Zhu Youjian wants to repair the section from Xi'an to Fengxiang first.
From Xi'an to Fengxiang, which is Baoji, is separated by Weishui River. Zhu Youjian once thought about moving Fengxiang to the south of Weishui River so that the cement avenue would not have to cross the river, but he finally gave up this idea. In the future, the cement avenue will cross the Yellow River and the Yangtze River. There are also a large number of rivers in the south of the Yangtze River. The bridge problem must be solved.
The road construction army began to build roadbeds on the south bank of the Weihe River, and Zhu Youjian brought specialized craftsmen and a group of road repair workers to the south bank of the Weishui River opposite Fengxiang.
Fengxiang is located at the junction of the upper and middle reaches of the Weihe River. The width of the dams on both sides reaches 500 meters, but it is now in the dry season, and the width of the river is only 15 meters.
Zhu Youjian is overjoyed. According to the experience of later generations, when the bridge was built, the distance between the two piers was about 20 meters. Now the river is only 15 meters, so it happens that there is no need to go to the bottom of the water to build piers.
The workers worked overtime to dig the floating mud from the bottom of the river. At the same time, a large amount of rebar with thick wrists was transported to the construction site.
At the end of March, 28 oval piers measuring six meters in length and two meters in width were all completed, but there is still a long way to go to pave such a long Weihe Bridge on cement pavement.
According to the flood law of the Weihe River Basin, the rainy season usually comes in May, and there is even a historical record of coming at the end of April. Now there is only more than one month before the rainy season. Once entering the long rainy season, there is no way to build bridge decks in the sky of several meters or even tens of meters.
Zhu Youjian lives and eats at the construction site. Since coming here, he has never left. Every day, he anxiously watched the bridge piers grow taller and stretched towards the river bank.
A large number of workers and craftsmen gathered in Fengxiang. With 28 piers, plus the pavement at both ends, there are a total of 29 sections of the bridge deck.
Zhu Youjian divided the workers into six groups, three groups for the day shift, each responsible for one bridge section; the evening shift also had three groups, each responsible for one bridge section. For the lighting of the night shift, all nearby oil lamps were recruited.
Half a month later, the day team completed two bridge sections each, and the evening team completed one bridge section each, and has entered the next bridge section.
There are still 20 bridge sections, and Zhu Youzhen is anxious, not knowing how the building on the first floor of the next three days was built.
The craftsmen's skills gradually matured, and the construction speed is gradually accelerating.
After another half month, it was the end of April, and fifteen sections of bridge decks were completed, and the last five sections of bridge decks remained.
Zhu You withdrew from a night shift group and began the later polishing of the bridge deck. The remaining five groups, each responsible for a bridge section, all became day shifts.
On the third day of May, the bridge was fully closed. Sun Chuanting, who is collecting the spring harvest in Xi'an, also put aside his work and witnessed the birth of the first cement bridge in Daming.
"His Royal Highness, how did you make such a long bridge?" Sun Chuanting had forgotten the excitement of tax collection, and looked at Zhu Youjian, who was almost as tired as himself, and smiled at each other.
"Hey, it's almost finished. As long as it doesn't rain for three days, the Weihe Bridge will be fully completed." Zhu Youjian could not take care of his fatigue and difficulties. "Master Sun, how about the spring harvest in Shaanxi?"
"His Royal Highness, this is another great joy outside the Weihe Bridge." Sun Chuanting did not conceal his excitement. "The tax collection has not yet ended, and the amount of money and food received has reached 550,000 taels, plus the final mopping. It should reach 700,000 taels."
"Seven hundred thousand? How much was the tax in Shaanxi before?" Zhu Youzhen was unmoved. The seven hundred thousand taels, for later generations, would be 400 or 500 million yuan, which is the level of a township.
"His Royal Highness, Shaanxi was in trouble last year, and the tax was not collected at all. It was 700,000 taels the year before, and 800,000 taels the year before. This year's spring harvest will reach the level of the previous year."
"Oh, I'm really overjoyed." Zhu Youjian asked casually, "Have the income of the people in Shaanxi increased?"
"Your Royal Highness can rest assured that the taxation of the people has not increased. The increase is mainly the industrial and commercial tax, which has reached half of the total tax." Sun Chuanting continued: "The people's agricultural tax has not increased, but they squeeze time to participate in road repairs or go to factories. There is another income from work, and the family income of most people will increase."
"That's good, that's good." The stone in Zhu Youzhen's heart finally fell. As long as the people have food, who would risk decapitation to rebel? The civil upheaval in Shaanxi has been temporarily resolved.
"His Royal Highness, the taxes in Shaanxi, the highways in Shaanxi, and the Weihe River Bridge are all gifted by His Royal Highness. The people of Shaanxi will never forget Your Royal Highness."
"Master Sun, as long as you go down this road, Shaanxi will definitely become another Jiangnan, and the wind of Han and Tang will definitely reappear in the hands of Master Sun."
On the sixth day of May, the Weihe Bridge came to an end and the bridge was officially completed. Zhu Youjian withdrew the workers and craftsmen and joined the construction of the highway from Xi'an to Fengxiang.
At the beginning of June, the cement road from Xi’an to Yansui was fully completed. Zhu Youjian evacuated all the prisoners of war workers. Some prisoners of war built the road from Xi’an east to Tongguan, and some were transferred to Fengxiang, and began to repair from the north bank of the Weihe Bridge towards Pingliang and Guyuan. road.
Once these avenues are all completed, a "U"-shaped cement passage will appear in Shaanxi. Zhu Youjian once hoped to seal the upper end of the "U" to form a "kou" shape, but this upper end is located to the north of the Great Wall and is currently not within the control of Daming. As long as the Tatar Mongols are still there, this "kou" shape can never be closed.
Just as Zhu Youjian was immersed in his great cause of road construction, Liu Lin interrupted Zhu Youjian's dream: "His Royal Highness, the Jingshi secretly reported that the emperor is critically ill, and his Highness must return to Beijing quickly.