Chapter 1584 Oriental Pearl Tower

On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, Master Zhao finally got down to work.

He is going to the Huangpu River to attend the opening ceremony of the "Oriental Pearl Tower".

Yes, it took the New District Management Committee six years to finally build this landmark.

This is the wonder that Mr. Zhao was obsessed with building when he took over Pudong.

In fact, the tower was completed years ago, but in order to wait for his return, the inauguration ceremony was delayed for a month.

When Mr. Zhao, accompanied by Jiang Xueying and Ma Xianglan, got off the car at the Oriental Pearl Plaza on the riverside, he saw a magnificent tower standing before him.

The style of this tower is very similar to that of later generations. Three reinforced concrete diagonal braces are installed on the cylindrical tower base. The three columns together support a huge sphere.

There are three five-story-high concrete columns on the sphere, supporting the upper sphere with half the diameter. At the top of the upper sphere is a long copper rod pointing straight to the sky.

Although its height of 150 meters is only one-third of the later "Oriental Pearl Tower", it has already broken the record of the world's tallest building.

Since 2560 BC, the title of the world's tallest building has belonged to the 146-meter-tall Pyramid of Khufu. However, due to severe weathering over the years, the height of the Pyramid of Khufu has been continuously reduced and is now less than 140 meters.

130 years ago, the Strasbourg Cathedral in France was completed, reaching a height of 142 meters, and finally took away the crown.

Mr. Zhao built the Oriental Pearl Tower to 150 meters just to grab the crown.

Although this is a bit of a rip-off - because the height of the sphere on the tower is less than 100 meters, the remaining 50 meters are all made up of copper poles. But isn't the church also based on the spire? This is the same as standing on tiptoe when taking a photo. It's all normal operation. If you want to save face, you lose.

Zhao Hao did not rush forward, but held Jiang Xueying's hand and looked at the world's tallest tower from the far end of the square.

A brass globe is installed in the center of the copper rod. The two spheres below are also covered with glass walls, sparkling and shining in the sun. The three spheres get bigger from top to bottom, like big and small pearls falling on a jade plate, giving people the beauty of technology and a shock to the soul.

"Wow..." Young Master Zhao was very satisfied with the visual effect of the Oriental Pearl Tower. It did not look much shorter than the ones in later generations. He thought that height really depends on comparison.

The 450-meter Oriental Pearl TV Tower in later generations, compared with the taller "syringes", "wine openers", "egg beaters" and so on nearby, does not have the shocking feeling of such a solitary peak.

"Yes, it's really tall." Jiang Xueying wore a silver-gray horse-faced skirt with scattered flowers today, a moon-white jacket with a pink and green jade flower collar, and a light-colored cloak. She followed Zhao Hao closely like a little bird, and seemed like a different person from the usually majestic and neat referee Jiang.

"I heard that it can be seen in Nantong Prefecture. Are you satisfied, sir?" Sister Ma resumed her role as a secretary. She heard that someone had successfully stolen her house during her absence. She would not dare to give herself a long vacation easily in the future.

"Satisfied, satisfied." Zhao Hao nodded happily and said, "It's better than I thought. It will definitely become the symbol of Pudong and even the whole Jiangnan!"

"That's for sure. Even though it hasn't been completed in these few years, people have come from thousands of miles away to visit it." Jiang Xueying said with a smile, but she secretly muttered in her heart that the name was not very good and Li Mingyue was very proud of it.

Why call it "Oriental Pearl"? It would be better to call it "Jiangnan Pearl"...

The whole family was admiring this magnificent spectacle as if they were watching a child. Over there, a row of ceremonial guards carrying official title plates were leading a green and two blue cloth official sedan chairs.

Upon seeing that the Susong Military Governor and the two prefects had arrived, Lu Yan, the director of the New District Management Committee, who had not dared to disturb the young master and his wife, and Yan Su, the magistrate of Shanghai, hurriedly led the local officials and gentry to greet them.

Niu Mowang and He Wenwei got off the sedan chair and greeted everyone. Jin Xuezeng, the old ancestor of Songjiang, ignored his younger brother and ran straight to Zhao Hao and his wife, bowing with a smile on his face and said:

"Master and Madam, Happy New Year. We were supposed to go to Jinmao Garden to pick up Master first, but who would have thought that you would come first."

"Be serious, your mistresses are still very young." Zhao Hao scolded him, "They are wearing red robes, but they act like monkeys all day long."

"Disciple is always the same in front of Master." Jin Xuezeng chuckled and walked towards the crowd with Zhao Hao.

Niu Mowang and He Wenwei also hurried over and took the lead in bowing to Master Zhao.

"You two adults are so kind to me." Zhao Hao quickly smiled and returned the greeting, "I didn't expect you to come during the New Year. You really give me face."

"What are you saying, sir? Transportation is so convenient nowadays, it's not easy to see you once, so you should hurry up and show your face more often," Niu Mowang said with a smile.

The office of the Susong Military Preparations Department was in Taicang, which was indeed not far from Shanghai.

"Yeah, this person should not forget his roots." Lao He's face was full of gratitude. He had a good heart, but his speaking skills were still as bad as ever.

He Wenwei was really grateful to Zhao Hao. He thought that as an old scholar from a military family, he was already very proud of himself for being able to rise from an assistant to a county magistrate.

Unexpectedly, after serving two terms as county magistrate in Kunshan, he was directly promoted to prefect last year, and the prefect of Suzhou, the best prefect in the world!

Old He really didn't know how to express his feelings. He could only tell people over and over again like chanting a sutra that when he was 46 years old, he met Zhao Zhuangyuan and his son. His life changed drastically since then. He didn't know how to repay the father and son for their support.

"Old He, don't say that." Young Master Zhao smiled and looked at the scarlet official robe on him and said, "You are fifty-four this year. You have been evaluated every year and you are outstanding. It is not too much to be a prefect. If you really want to thank you, thank Yuanfu. It is because of him that 'don't ask about family background, but select the virtuous and capable' that the Ministry of Personnel broke the old custom of seniority and promoted the real talents to the position."

As for the criteria for judging talents, it is naturally the "performance evaluation method".

Zhang Juzheng had been implementing the performance evaluation system for four years, and it was not as the officials had expected, that the system would be implemented after three rounds of implementation. Instead, it was implemented every month and every year, and instead of relaxing the system, it was tightened up.

In the third year of the Wanli reign, a total of 237 cases of "failure to complete annual targets" were found in various provinces, and 54 officials above the third rank were punished. The number of middle and lower-level officials such as prefects and county magistrates who were dismissed, demoted, or fined was even greater.

Seeing that Mr. Zhang was really determined to kill them, the officials of the Ming Dynasty finally changed their lazy official style that had lasted for more than a hundred years and began to work diligently and hard, just to pass the assessment by the end of the year.

Then, last year, the fourth year of the Wanli reign, the situation suddenly improved greatly. Almost no officials above the third rank were demoted. Only 19 local officials in Shandong and 12 in Henan were demoted or dismissed for collecting less than 90% of the taxes. Some of them collected 88% or even 89% of the taxes.

In the past, if a tax collection rate was 70%, it would be considered excellent, and 88% or 89% would be considered outstanding. But not only did Mr. Zhang raise the standard so high, he also refused to compromise.

A few guys were almost there, but they were still killed and collectively demoted.

According to statistics, since the first year of the Wanli period, Prime Minister Zhang has used the performance evaluation system to dismiss more than a thousand incompetent officials!

For the positions vacated by these people, Zhang Juzheng completely broke the traditional prejudice of seniority, and boldly appointed talents regardless of their background and qualifications.

During his reign, he didn't care what the officials' original education was. Whether you were a Jinshi or a juren, or a clerk, he didn't care at all. Everything depended on the performance evaluation system, "the performance was clear at a glance". If you did a good job, you would be promoted, and if you didn't do a good job, you would be demoted. Everything was clear, no one could be sarcastic, and no matter how dissatisfied you were, you could only hold it in!

It was in this context that Jin Xuezeng and He Wenwei were promoted directly from county magistrate to prefect because of their outstanding performance in the examinations.

However, there are still differences between the two. Jin Dayang is the real Niu Boyi. He is smart, capable, and dares to think and act. He is a capable official whom Zhang Juzheng admires very much.

To be honest, Lao He is old and lacks energy, and his ability is indeed average. The reason why he can excel year after year is mainly because he has someone above him when the bride is asleep and is very powerful below him as the godfather of Qin Shi Huang.

Zhao Shouzheng was promoted to the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites last year, and Zhao Jin was also transferred to the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. There is also Zhao Gongzi, a low-profile cabinet minister. Do you think his superiors are powerful?

When Zhao Shouzheng went to Chaozhou, he left a small number of clerks and a well-functioning "ass-watching" assessment system to He Wenwei. He Wenwei knew that he was not good enough and knew his mission, so he followed the rules and insisted on "ass-watching" without wavering, which made the clerks who thought they could breathe a sigh of relief after Zhao's gang left completely give up the idea of ​​cheating.

As a result, during the Wanli period, the Performance Evaluation Law was introduced. Wherever it was introduced, there was widespread grief, except for the Kunshan officialdom, which was very calm. Because "looking at assholes" was much more perverted than the Performance Evaluation Law, officials who were used to looking at assholes had no pressure at all when they encountered the Performance Evaluation Law.

In addition, Kunshan has maintained a rapid development momentum, so it is not surprising that Lao He, who has caught up with the good times, can stand out.

~~

As they chatted, they arrived in front of the Oriental Pearl Tower. Jin Xuezeng leaned on his hands and looked up, his neck almost bent at a right angle. He couldn't help but sigh:

"Wow, what a big string of candied haws!"

Everyone couldn't help but laugh or cry. Normally, when the old grandfather told a joke, everyone had to laugh along. But this was a masterpiece designed by Mr. Zhao himself, so who knew if the old grandfather liked what he said?

Laogongzu is Mr. Zhao's favorite student, so Mr. Zhao may not bear a grudge against him. But if they laugh, Mr. Zhao may not regard them as human beings.

"Master Jin, don't talk nonsense." Jin Xuezeng's immediate superior Niu Guanchao quickly smoothed things over, saying, "How can this be a candied haws? This is a Feng Shui Tower!"

"There should be high peaks between water outlets, so as to store wealth and promote culture." The old cow shook his head proudly and said, "Pudong is the estuary of the Yangtze River and Huangpu River. It can be said to be the world's first water outlet. Naturally, it should be called the world's tallest tower. Mr. Zhao built this Oriental Pearl Tower to store wealth and promote culture for Pudong and Jiangnan!"

"That's right!" All the officials and gentry agreed and said, "Young Master really pays attention to Feng Shui!"

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(End of this chapter)