"I plan to leave the palace!"
Emperor Wende was in a bad mood and suddenly asked to leave the palace.
He didn't want to alarm the court officials.
Once the court officials learned that he was going to leave the palace, they would definitely give him all kinds of advice, such as the old sayings that the emperor's departure would be a waste of money and labor.
Emperor Wende didn't want to listen to the nagging of his courtiers, so he ordered Chang En to do it secretly and not to make it public.
Apart from the palace maids who served him and the guards who protected his safety, Emperor Wende only brought Minister Lu with him.
Minister Lu obviously did not approve of Emperor Wende secretly leaving the palace.
"How could Your Majesty sneak out of the palace? If anything were to happen, I would be held responsible for it."
Emperor Wende sat in the carriage and left the palace smoothly.
The carriage was traveling through the streets and alleys, and the sound of bargaining among the common people outside was heard, and the rich smell of fireworks hit me in the face.
Emperor Wende took a deep breath.
Ever since he ascended the throne, he has become increasingly distant from worldly matters.
At this moment, Emperor Wende was in high spirits. "Don't worry, my dear minister. I'm just strolling around and I promise I won't leave the capital."
Only then did Minister Lu feel relieved.
If Emperor Wende decided to go out of the capital for fun, he would definitely oppose it firmly. He would risk his official position to stop Emperor Wende.
How could a dignified emperor leave the capital at will? Moreover, he did so without telling the court officials.
If something goes wrong, the consequences will be unimaginable.
Minister Lu has small shoulders and cannot bear such consequences.
The carriage circled the bustling East and West Markets, during which Emperor Wende got off the carriage several times to shop, drink tea, and even had a bowl of mutton soup.
He was almost killed by General Chang En, Minister Lu and others.
What if the mutton offal soup is poisonous, and what if Your Majesty gets diarrhea after eating it?
Too many in case...
Fortunately, none of the contingencies happened.
An ordinary bowl of mutton offal soup, hot.
After drinking a bowl, sweat appeared on my forehead.
Emperor Wende said cheerfully, "It's really inappropriate to drink mutton soup in this season."
The weather is getting warmer, and soon even the butchers will have to stop using their knives.
There will be no more mutton available on the market for the next few months.
You have to wait until autumn and winter, which is the best season to eat mutton and drink mutton soup.
It is also the season for slaughtering lambs and buying and selling cashmere.
Cashmere is becoming more and more expensive!
As cashmere clothing became popular among the wealthy, the demand for cashmere clothing in Da Zhou continued to increase.
The herdsmen on the grassland could earn a large sum of money every year by selling cattle and sheep, and then buy salt, tea, iron pots, cloth, and even rice, flour and other necessities of life from the Great Zhou.
Now that the herdsmen had money, they also followed the example of the people of the Great Zhou and began to improve their lives.
The noodles are delicious, the rice is fragrant, and paired with wine and food, it is simply a delicacy.
There are also vermicelli noodles with spicy sauce. If you eat a few big bowls of it, even gods won’t change it.
Emperor Wende was very satisfied with the meal.
I wiped the sweat from my forehead and continued strolling around the market.
Chang En was helpless and could not help but ask Minister Lu for help.
Minister Lu coughed lightly and said in a low voice, "Eunuch Chang should have stopped His Majesty from the beginning."
"We can't stop him. Ever since the Queen Mother passed away, His Majesty has been in a bad mood and has even stopped going to the harem. If we don't let His Majesty vent his anger, I'm afraid something more serious will happen."
Minister Lu snorted and caught up with Emperor Wende, "Master, where are we going next?"
Emperor Wende had already made plans. "Let's go to the South City, to the city wall. I've always heard that the South City has changed a lot. I want to go and see it for myself."
"this……"
"Is it not possible?" Emperor Wende looked at Minister Lu with a smile.
Minister Lu shook his head repeatedly, "Master, please take a carriage. It's too far to walk."
"You're right. I haven't exercised as much as I used to."
The group boarded the carriage and headed for South City.
South City has indeed changed a lot.
Bai Zhong has been managing Nancheng and transforming the shantytowns.
Of course, because too many interests are involved and the property rights are confusing, the property rights of a house or a piece of land often involve one or two people.
These people are all property owners, and each of them has their own ideas. You can imagine how troublesome it is.
Especially since the real estate development in Xinmin County, many people realized that the shacks they lived in and the foundations underneath the shacks were very valuable, so some people started asking for prices, some wanted houses and money, and some even asked for jobs, marriages, children's education, corvee labor, etc.
Anyway, there is no request that they can't think of.
Bai Zhong was really confused.
The shantytowns in Beijing are not Xinmin County. Xinmin County has only one landlord, and that is Gu Jiu.
Therefore, there are no property rights disputes when building houses in Xinmin County.
The slum area in the capital city opened Bai Zhong's eyes.
To the extent that he had to slow down the process of slum renovation.
The original three-year reform plan was changed to a five-year plan, and later to a ten-year plan.
Given the chaos in the shantytown, it may take ten years to complete the transformation.
The carriage entered the South City.
There are newly built houses on both sides of the street, all of which are small two-story buildings, one after another, with black tiles and white walls, neatly arranged.
Emperor Wende sat in the carriage and nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes. When I passed through South City before, it wasn't like this."
Chang En said, "There's a street garden in front, planted with flowers and plants. When the common people have nothing to do, they go there to bask in the sun and chat."
"Really?" Emperor Wende was very interested.
Minister Lu said, "Your Majesty, I dare not deceive you. The renovation of the South City is only relatively good along this street. The rest of the market has hardly changed."
Emperor Wende frowned.
"My dear, do you mean that Madam Zhao is deceiving me?"
"I have no such intention. From what I understand, South City is in great chaos, with serious disputes over property rights and the common people demanding their own property. Without great determination, it would be impossible to completely transform South City. From my observation, I'm afraid Madam Zhao won't be able to hold out for much longer. These are stubborn problems, and without official intervention, it's difficult to make significant progress."
Emperor Wende nodded. "I see! I remember Madam Zhao once did a survey of South City. There are over a million people living in this area of South City. Is this true?"
Minister Lu bowed slightly. "This should be true. Conditions have improved in recent years, and the population has only increased. Adding the population of Xinmin County, the entire population of Nancheng has probably exceeded two million."
"There are so many people in the capital?" Emperor Wende was surprised and didn't dare to believe it.
Minister Lu said, "Your Majesty, in recent years, disasters have occurred frequently in various places, but the capital has not suffered serious disasters due to the construction of water conservancy projects, so it is still acceptable.
As a result, a large number of landless and bankrupt disaster victims flocked to the capital in search of work. These people came from the northwest, northeast, southwest, and even from Lingnan. In the capital, anyone with a bit of strength could survive, and women could find work. Therefore, these disaster victims settled in the capital, refusing to return home.
In addition, the common people in the countryside of the capital knew that it was easy to find work in the capital and the wages were high, so many of them would go to the capital to do odd jobs during the slack season.
Some even stay in Beijing year-round, working to earn money with their families. Once they've saved enough for a down payment, they don't return home to buy land or a house, but instead purchase properties in Xinmin County to rent out. According to my understanding, Xinmin County's sixth phase already has 5,000 two-story buildings.
The buyers of these small buildings were either ordinary people in the capital or from other places around the capital. A small number of disaster victims from other places also chose to rent out properties in Xinmin County. Because the emperor restricted the wealthy from competing with the common people for housing, the wealthy were actually the minority who bought houses in the sixth phase.
"I can say that because Madam Zhao built houses for me, and because of Xinmin County, a large number of people flock to the capital every year. The entire population of Nancheng has exceeded two million, and this is not an exaggeration. I even boldly estimate that the population of Nancheng will exceed three million in just a few years."
After listening to what Minister Lu said, Emperor Wende frowned.
"My dear, tell me, is this situation good or bad?"
Minister Lu said seriously, "There are pros and cons. The disadvantage of population growth is that it greatly increases the pressure on the capital's food supply and the pressure on the capital's granaries. The Ministry of Revenue's request to increase the number of granaries in the capital is fundamentally due to the population explosion.
However, the land in the capital was limited and the output was not high. Increasing the granary in the capital meant increasing the pressure on local officials. The court had to spend more money to transport grain to the capital.
Secondly, the pressure on the Five Cities Military Commission and the Embroidered Uniform Guard increased. More manpower was needed to maintain public order in the capital. With so many people concentrated in one place, the consequences of a dangerous situation or an epidemic would be disastrous. For example, during the worst of the disaster last year, Your Majesty, I was genuinely worried that food shortages would lead to unrest in the capital.
Finally, the capital's population surged, effectively sucking the blood of the rest of the country. The capital alone drained the populations of countless counties and prefectures. These counties and prefectures, depopulated, were still required to fulfill their designated taxes, grain collection, and corvée labor. This significantly increased the burden on the ordinary people left behind, driving even more people into bankruptcy. Ultimately, the capital prospered, while the rest of the country became impoverished.
Emperor Wende frowned even more.
"What are the benefits?"
“The benefits are right in front of us!”
Minister Lu pointed outside the carriage. "With the rapid increase in the population of the capital, more and more merchants are choosing to do business in the capital. The court's tax revenue has also increased year by year. This is the first major benefit. The second benefit is that the capital alone supports so many bankrupt disaster victims and impoverished people. If these people have money to eat, they will not become bandits and cause trouble to the local area. This greatly reduces the burden on the court and also relieves the pressure on local officials to provide disaster relief."
Only when the common people live and work in peace and contentment can they afford to marry and have children, and the population of the Great Zhou will increase accordingly. At the same time, more children born into commoner families will receive an education. In ten or twenty years, the imperial court will see a new situation, a sign of prosperity.
However, we cannot ignore the disadvantages of population growth for the sake of a few minor benefits. I suggest that local governments review taxation, farmland, grain production, and population statistics to reduce the exploitation of local people.
Emperor Wende suddenly laughed. "My dear minister, your idea is excellent, but this matter is of great importance and requires careful consideration. Why don't you accompany me to the city wall?"
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