Chapter 320 The Elixir of Immortality
In the capital, under the auspices of the Ministry of Industry and with the assistance of Shuntian Prefecture, the Infrastructure Bureau has begun the construction of the outer city wall of the capital.
The outer city wall is still in the style of a two-story, three-drip corridor pavilion with double eaves on the top of a hill. The outside is still covered with bricks, which makes the city wall still as beautiful as the old city wall, but the inside is made of cement and reinforced concrete, which is more solid.
The construction of the outer city wall of the capital was historically done in the 32nd year of Jiajing. It took ten years, and only the southern outer city wall was built.
In this era, the Ming Dynasty's financial resources and engineering construction technology have naturally far exceeded those of the middle and late Jiajing period in history. Therefore, the construction of the outer city wall is no longer just about building the southern outer city wall, but directly providing the entire outer city wall to the capital. The city built a wall.
The construction speed is also very fast. Stimulated by a more scientific management model and salary system, the migrant workers responsible for the construction are highly motivated and the quality of the completion is also very high. The rapid setting speed of cement and the technology of forging fine steel wires make the craftsmen of the Infrastructure Bureau It is possible to cast a solid internal structure of the city wall in a short time without having to waste time and energy on compacting the Sanhe soil.
Before the construction of the outer city wall, the Infrastructure Bureau had already built a cement road around the outer city. Now that the outer city wall has been basically completed, the Infrastructure Bureau has still built an eight-lane cement road around the outer city, and in the newly built The outside of Yongding Gate is connected to the cement road leading to the outside.
At this time, Yongding Gate became a landmark building for entering the capital. Shuntian Prefecture built a bus station here, using large horse-drawn carriages as buses, responsible for operating transportation lines from around the city and directly to Daming Gate. In addition, There is a long-distance carriage station responsible for operating transportation from Beijing to Tongzhou.
Today's Ming Dynasty is a peaceful and prosperous dynasty, with industrialization and commodity economy developing rapidly. As the political center and scientific research base of the Ming Dynasty, as well as the gathering place of large manufacturing companies and countless powerful people, the capital city is naturally extremely prosperous. No matter spring, summer, autumn, or winter, there are countless people. People enter and leave the city.
The floating population living in and outside the outer city all year round has reached millions, and some have settled in villages or communities, but most of them are still landless and houseless, although these people have good economic incomes. They can make a lot of money selling breakfast in the capital, but it is still difficult for them to take root in the capital where land is at a premium.
Because the land in Gyeonggi is mainly the farmland of the imperial village and the powerful, and a large part is official land, that is, the public land managed by Shuntian Prefecture. Moreover, Zhu Houzhao predicted as early as the early years of Zhengde that economic development would cause the land in the capital to rise. In order to prevent wealth from being occupied by the powerful, Huangzhuang and Shuntian Prefecture were directly asked to purchase civilian land at a high price and turn it into official land.
Nowadays, the land in the capital is mainly divided into official fields, imperial estates, and estates owned by powerful people. Naturally, it is difficult for ordinary people who come to Beijing to buy land to build houses and settle down. Most of them can only rent houses to live.
Zhu Houzhao asked the cabinet to preside over the court discussion on allowing people coming to Beijing to settle. Therefore, Shuntian Prefecture began to sell part of the official land in a planned way and let businessmen be responsible for contracting this part of the official land for the construction of commercial housing. At the beginning, the price of commercial housing was not high. Most people who have been in the capital for a long time and have accumulated a lot of property can afford it, and they have successfully become Beijing residents, settled in the capital, and enjoyed education and corresponding benefits.
But from ancient times to the present, people have been equally smart. When the supply of commercial housing exceeded demand, many wealthy and powerful chaebols began to smell the business opportunities, so they also began to speculate on houses. As a result, in the thirty years since Zhengde, the price of commercial housing has become very high. It is more than five times the price of the same house in other places.
Officials of Shuntian Prefecture also began to adapt to this social change, and began to make a series of policy changes to regulate the entire capital's economy, most importantly housing prices, to control the entire capital's economy at the most stable and easiest level. The state of mobilizing people's enthusiasm for production has improved.
Moreover, in this era, there is no impact of liberal economic doctrine, and the pressure for government intervention in the economy is not very great. Therefore, many administrative interventions of Shuntian Prefecture have not encountered many denigration voices, but there is still resistance. After all, many people in the capital Everyone is either rich or noble, and it is not easy to control them.
Fortunately, Zhu Houzhao, the largest powerful man in the capital, supported it, and Shuntian Mansion was able to control it.
However, it is inevitable that the government will over-control and interfere with the market economy. As a result, capital vitality is still lower than that of Jiangnan and Guangdong, and its development speed is not as fast as that of Jiangnan and Guangxi, but it is more stable than Jiangnan and Guangdong.
The emergence of securities trading in Guangdong and Guangxi has led to several economic crises in Guangdong and Guangxi. Each time, the central court came to the rescue, so that the two Guangxi and Guangxi did not suffer from turmoil due to the excessive development of the free economy.
In any case, Xu Jie, the Prime Minister of Shuntian Prefecture, was still very grateful to Emperor Zhu Houzhao for asking Shuntian Prefecture to fund the acquisition of a large amount of private land and land belonging to criminal dignitaries as official land, because now Shuntian Prefecture can obtain it just by selling land. A lot of fiscal revenue is enough to raise the municipal level of the capital to a level that can manage millions of people.
In the current capital, it is precisely because Shuntian Prefecture has sufficient fiscal revenue that almost every square in the capital has a civilian hospital, and they are all old doctors with superb medical skills, and there are even surgeons who graduated from Beijing Normal University.
Even outside the Yongding Gate of the capital city at this time, it looked very neat and clean due to the high level of municipal services provided by Shuntian Prefecture. Two rows of green trees highlighted the wide cement road, and all kinds of four-wheeled carriages of different sizes were spotless. , and only in this way can they be allowed to enter the city.
The police officers responsible for maintaining traffic order and public security patrol almost every ten steps, and there is a security booth every mile. No matter who comes into Beijing or leaves the city, except for official officials who report urgently, they are not allowed to rush around.
On the cement road ten miles outside Yongding Gate, there is not only a ten-mile long pavilion, but also a toll station. This was invented by Xu Jie. Zhu Houzhao did not stop it. Now he and the Sixth Cabinet Department no longer care about the city management of Shuntian Prefecture. , the management of Shuntian Mansion was basically handed over to Shuntian Mansion itself, and the roads of Shuntian Mansion were also maintained by Shuntian Mansion itself.
Xu Jie, the new prime minister of Shuntian Prefecture, set up a toll station for this reason. Although it is not high, with so many people leaving and entering Beijing, it can collect a lot every year. It can not only meet the needs of Shuntian Prefecture to maintain the highway, but also allow Shuntian Prefecture to There is more public revenue.
Of course, Shuntian Prefecture has also solved the employment problems of many people through the maintenance, toll collection and inspection of cement roads, especially the elderly and infirm and other vulnerable groups, so that they will not become beggars and can support themselves.
Because Zhu Houzhao issued an edict to allow the vassal kings to enter the capital to attend the clan meeting, many clan members entered the capital one after another during this period. Zhu Chengyi, the auxiliary general of the Xiangyuan Palace, also came to the capital at this time, and he galloped over on horseback. As soon as I saw the Yongdingmen Toll Station, I yelled: "Get out of my way, General!"
Gu Shi, the toll collector at Yongdingmen Toll Station, ignored him. There were countless dignitaries who came to Beijing every year, and he had seen many unruly people. Therefore, Gu Shi ignored Zhu Cheng's orders at this time. , Zhu Chengyi dismounted directly and came to the toll station, ordered the guards to lift Gu Shi out and press him to the ground, and then whipped him over:
"Bitch! This general is the general of the clan and the country's auxiliary. I am a noble man of Tianhuang. I just want you to get out of the way! Why are you blocking here? Do you want to die?!"
Zhu Chengyi said this and shouted: "Beat me to death!"
Gu Shi didn't even have a chance to talk back and beg for mercy, so he was beaten severely. After a while, his skin and flesh were torn apart, and he screamed on the ground. In the end, he was knocked unconscious.
Zhu Chengyi just smiled coldly, and when he had the urge to relieve himself, he simply ordered Rang to open the mouth of Gu Shi, and then sprinkled it in.
After Gu Shi was awakened, Zhu Chengqi burst out laughing: "This is dragon urine, it can heal your injuries!"
After saying that, Zhu Chengqi ordered the guards to evacuate the roadblock. At this time, Fenglin King Zhu Taihan also appeared. He happened to see this scene and asked: "What's going on? Why was this person beaten! You are from the clan. People?”
"Zhu Chengyi, the general of the auxiliary state of the Prince of Xiangyuan!" Zhu Chengyi first reported his clan title.
"Fenglin King Zhu Taihan", Zhu Taihan also replied.
Zhu Chengyi saw that Zhu Taihan was senior to him in the clan, so he saluted: "Uncle, there is no need to ask more. This blind thing didn't give way when I saw the general coming. I just want to teach him a lesson!"
Zhu Taihan said angrily: "As a descendant of the clan, you should have a sense of self. Why should you care about ordinary people, beat people so hard, and put the king's law at risk!"
"This world belongs to our Zhu family. We are just one hundred people. So what if we are beaten to death!"
After Zhu Chengxu said this, someone happened to come out: "Chengxu is right, we are the nobles of Tianhuang. Killing one or two common people is nothing!"
Zhu Taihan was about to give Zhu Chengyi a few words of advice, but saw that this man was also coming with a large group of guards, so he hurriedly asked about his origins.
"I am the king of Hui, Zhu Houjuan." After Huiwang Zhu Houjuan said this, he added: "We are all blood relatives of the clan. You two might as well get on the chariot and have a few words."
Zhu Taihan and Zhu Chengyi did not expect that the person in front of them was actually the King of Hui Zhu Houjuan. Although he was not a close relative of the emperor, he was closer than himself in terms of relationship, so Zhu Taihan and Zhu Chengyi got into Zhu Houjuan's chariot and drove away.
Only Gu Shi, who was covered in bruises and bruises, was still moving on the ground.
The vassal princes and clans usually did not have the opportunity to get together, but now that they were in Beijing on orders, they just had the opportunity to chat. After chatting a few words with each other, they all became more familiar with each other. All they talked about was nothing more than the emperor. The matter of summoning him to Beijing and the recent matters concerning Jiangnan taxation and the heavy taxation within the customs.
In fact, the vassal princes were also quite dissatisfied with these policies of the imperial court. Although the ancestral precepts of the Ming Dynasty stipulated that the vassal princes and clans could not engage in business and farming, naturally these vassal princes and clans would not really abide by their ancestors honestly. Most of them have their own agents doing business for them.
However, examples of failed rebellions such as King Anhua and King Ning are before us. These vassal kings did not dare to openly resist the court. The only thing they could do was to express their dissatisfaction with the court through some violent behaviors. After all, they were all It is difficult for the children of the clan to be restrained by the law.
"Your Majesty, Du Min, the Censor of the City, reported that outside the Yongding Gate of Shuntian Prefecture, some members of the clan beat Gu Shi, the official road toll collector of Shuntian Prefecture, and insulted him with urine! According to Shuntian Prefecture's investigation, three members of the clan did enter the capital that day. One of them, Zhu Chengtao, beat a policeman to death outside Yongding Gate because he refused to be inspected! ”
At this time, Jin Xianmin, the censor of Zuodu, reported the matter to Zhu Houzhao. After hearing this, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but help his forehead: "It seems that these feudal princes and clans are so used to being unruly in the local area that they have forgotten the rules. Do they think the imperial court The law can’t control them?”
Jin Xianmin could hear that Emperor Zhu Houzhao was obviously dissatisfied with the arrogant behavior of the clan, but he could not let King Hui get involved at this time after receiving benefits from King Hui: "Your Majesty, there have always been many arrogant and arrogant people in the clan. , but there are also virtuous people, such as Hui Wang has always been good at caring for the people. This time he happened to go to the capital with Zhu Chengyi and others and must have tried to persuade him. However, he may have lost face and failed to persuade him. I believe that for the descendants of the clan, the role of the clan government should be strengthened to control the clans of these vassals. ”
Zhu Houzhao glanced at Jin Xianmin. From Jin Xianmin's expression, he confirmed two pieces of information. One was that King Hui was wise, and the other was that the clan government should strengthen the management of the vassal king.
If Zhu Houzhao didn't have the eyes of Xichang, he really believed what Jin Xianmin said before, that is, King Hui is wise. Regardless of whether King Hui is wise or not, what Zhu Houzhao can be sure of now is that Jin Xianmin is not so clean at least on the surface. Therefore, Zhu Houzhao only He smiled and said: "You can go to the Dongchang Inspectorate yourself later, so I don't need to send someone to Dongchang to issue an order."
Jin Xianmin was stunned for a moment, and then he understood. He felt mixed emotions for a moment. He didn't know how to explain it, and he also knew that it would be useless to explain it, so he had to say yes.
Zhu Houzhao summoned Ma Yongcheng here and asked: "At that time in the south of the Yangtze River, Dongchang found out that Ji Xuan had contacts with King Hui, and confessed that he was a person of King Hui, and the assassination at Xuanwu Lake was also related to King Hui. I asked you Check King Hui, and what can you find?" "Reporting to Your Majesty, King Hui has been staying in his palace since he learned that Ji Xuan was arrested. There was no abnormal behavior. Only this time His Majesty summoned the vassal kings to Beijing, and King Hui came out of the palace to Beijing. There was no panic. The ministers just learned that King Hui, King Fenglin Zhu Taihan, and General Zhu Chengfu were in the chariot. We spent a long time together, but as for what they said, they couldn’t listen because they were in the car.”
Ma Yongcheng replied.
Zhu Houzhao nodded: "After Jin Xianmin confesses, submit Jin Xianmin's confession record immediately."
"Obey!"
Ma Yongcheng retreated, and at night he asked to see Zhu Houzhao again and reported: "Your Majesty, according to Jin Xianmin's confession, he got to know King Hui through Tao Zhongwen, the Liaodong Ku ambassador;
Tao Zhongwen was good at treating demons and diseases. Last year, Jin Xianmin's grandson got chickenpox and sought medical treatment everywhere but could not be cured. After being introduced to Tao Zhongwen, he prayed and his grandson recovered. Therefore, Jin Xianmin deeply respected Tao Zhongwen, and Tao Zhongwen Zhongwen introduced King Hui to Jin Xianmin, saying that King Hui was good at teaching and was especially good at making elixirs for longevity. An eighty-seven-year-old man in Huang County had already died of illness, but he was saved by his talisman water and medicine. He is now one hundred and eleven years old. Ten and one years old! After Jin Xianmin got it, he asked King Hui for the medicine through his long history. After taking it, he was so energetic that he couldn't live without the medicine every day. ”
Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but laugh after hearing what Ma Yongcheng said. He thought that chickenpox is a self-healing disease, and children with chickenpox have a high self-healing rate. This Tao Zhongwen was able to successfully pretend to win the trust of Jin Xianmin, the censor of Zuodu. The key is to control Hui. The king also got involved, and this King Hui was actually good at the art of immortality.
If I were not a time traveler, I might have believed this lie because of my nostalgia for life, and really thought that King Hui knew the art of immortality, so I would choose to forgive King Hui.
However, Zhu Houzhao is now also curious about what kind of elixir King Hui gave to the eighty-seven-year-old man and Jin Xianmin, and it can also cheer people up.
Zhu Houzhao smiled slightly and said: "Let Hui King Zhu Hojuan come to see me tomorrow."
Ma Yongcheng thought that His Majesty the Emperor Zhu Houzhao was also interested in the so-called elixir of immortality, so he retreated. He only sighed in his heart that even His Majesty, who is as wise as our Emperor, would be easily impressed by things like immortality. After all, who doesn’t want to live a long time? Point.
……
Ji Xuan was captured by people from Dongchang. It was impossible to say that King Hui was not afraid or worried, but he had no other way. In front of the emperor Zhu Houzhao who had absolute power, he could not even outsmart Zhuge Liang and Liu Bowen. use.
Because of this, when he received the order to go to Beijing for discussion, he still chose to go to Beijing, and took the opportunity of going to Beijing to continue to spread his immortality skills.
King Hui now can only hope that he can use the elixir of life to fool most of the dignitaries, and then the Ming Emperor.
He did not believe that Emperor Zhu Houzhao was unwilling to live longer.
When Ma Yongcheng came to find King Hui, King Hui guessed that Emperor Zhu Houzhao must be interested in his elixir of life.
then.
A stone hanging in King Hui's heart finally fell to the ground. He really wished that the emperor could take his elixir, so that he could achieve his goal without changing the emperor.
……
After Zhu Houzhao's decree was issued, at this time, the general of the auxiliary state, Zhu Chengyi, had been escorted out of the Tenth Prince's Mansion by the people from the Ministry of Punishment. Moreover, Zhu Chengyi was still shouting: "Let me go, I am a descendant of the clan, you can Why are you arresting me? It’s not a big deal if you beat a pariah and kill a Qiu Ba. Do you still want me to pay for it?”
King Hui happened to see this scene and saw Zhu Cheng's shackles in shackles. He was very glad that he was not punished because he knew some special Taoist skills, but he also began to hope that his elixir could be truly enjoyed by the emperor. That way he wouldn't have to wear shackles like Zhu Chengyi.
……
Zhu Houzhao met Zhu Chengyi first. He had already heard about the arrogance of the clan members, but he did not expect that some clan members were so arrogant that they dared to act wild under the emperor's feet.
Therefore, this time, Zhu Houzhao planned to treat Zhu Chengyi as a model. He wanted the world to understand that anyone who violated the law would be punished by the law, and even the children of the clan could not go unpunished.
So looking at Zhu Chengyi, Zhu Houzhao said: "According to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, since you have killed someone, you will naturally have to pay for your life! Zhu Chengyi, who gave you the courage to run wild in the capital? Do you know the policeman you killed?" Who are they? They were once The warriors who opened up the territory for the Ming Dynasty, even the toll collector you humiliated, Gu Shi, was a scholar who graduated from a junior high school, unlike you, an unlearned waste! You are not only useless but also lawless! ”
As Zhu Houzhao spoke, he ordered: "Wang Jun, Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, sentenced directly, no need to tolerate it!"
"I obey the decree!"
After Wang Jun said this, he immediately issued the Jun Order of the Ministry of Punishment: "Behead!"
After hearing this, Zhu Chengyi couldn't help being shocked and hurriedly knelt down towards Zhu Houzhao: "Your Majesty, I am a descendant of the royal family. How can you ask me to pay for my life for a few common people? If I don't obey, I won't obey!"
Zhu Houzhao ignored Zhu Cheng and walked away directly.
For the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Chengyi's death was indeed of great practical significance. It not only made the clan a lot more disciplined, but also made the people and officers and soldiers have a lot more favorable impressions of Zhu Houzhao. A good emperor whose decisions are made by others.
Even some low-level eunuchs in the inner court thought so, and therefore they were discussing in low voices. Hui Wang Zhu Houjuan also heard one or two comments, so he couldn't help but sneered and slandered: "A good emperor does not still hope that he will live forever. I am not old, I hope I can be a master forever!”
When Zhu Houzhao saw King Hui coming in, he asked directly: "Are you King Hui Zhu Houjuan?"
King Hui bowed his hands and saluted: "Your Majesty, I am none other than Zhu Houjuan."
Zhu Houzhao nodded and continued to ask: "I heard that you are good at making the elixir of life. Can you bring the medicine today?"
"Go back to your majesty and bring it with you. I got the best medicine by chance before and didn't dare to give it away. Now I brought it to the capital when I came to Beijing. I thought that only the most noble people can enjoy this best medicine. However, This medicine needs to be smoked with a pipe, so I brought a golden pipe with me." King Hui said as he came out with a pack of ointment in one hand and a pipe in the other.
Zhu Houzhao had almost guessed what King Hui was talking about, and he just nodded and asked, "What is the effect of this medicine?"
"Your Majesty, in the short term, it can be invigorating, like a fairy, and the whole body feels comfortable. If you take it for a long time, it can prolong your life." King Hui said as respectfully as possible.
"Have you taken it yourself?" Zhu Houzhao asked.
King Hui was stunned, and then explained: "This medicine is suitable for people with yang body. I have a yin body and cannot eat it, so I have never taken it."
"I think your constitution is Yang, so you can take it. Come and give King Hui a piece of tea. Place it opposite Guanyue Pond, and let King Hui drink the elixir in the breeze and jade dew."
Zhu Houzhao ordered.
King Hui couldn't help being shocked when he saw this. He became extremely panicked and said hurriedly: "Your Majesty, this medicine only has one flavor, and no matter how difficult it is to make, it can increase your life by five hundred years! If I use it, it will be difficult to use it again, Your Majesty! ”
"It doesn't matter, if you can really live for five hundred years, I am willing to give you my country!"
Zhu Houzhao said with a smile.
King Hui's eyes kept rolling, sweat dripped from his forehead, and he didn't know what to say.
Zhu Houzhao could not help but look cold at this time: "What, King Hui, do you want to resist the decree?"
"I don't dare!"
While King Hui was talking, the eunuch Gu Dayong came in and said, "Your Majesty, the cave has been placed opposite Guanyue Pond." After saying that, Gu Dayong turned around and saluted King Hui: "Please King Hui move it." Step.”
(End of chapter)