Chapter 102                                                             

I left Baidi among the colorful clouds in the morning and returned thousands of miles of Jiangling in one day.

Now Zhu Qizhen feels like this.

Going down the river, the vast Yangtze River sent Zhu Qizhen and the fleet onto the fast lane. Within half a day, we arrived in Wuchang, which was completely different from when we arrived.

Starting from Wuchang, Zhu Qizhen has entered the most prosperous area of ​​the Ming Dynasty.

It can be said that it is the economic zone of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. The prosperity of the Yangtze River line is like a picture scroll, slowly opening to Zhu Qizhen here, showing a beautiful appearance in the prosperous era. Zhu Qizhen also put away other thoughts in his heart for a moment, as if he was really here to travel.

One day in Wuchang, climbed the Yellow Crane Tower.

Stay in Huangzhou for a day, climbed the shore of the Red Cliff, and missed the ancients.

After entering Jiujiang, I went to see the Hukou battlefield that year and ordered officials and soldiers who died in the Ningwang Rebellion and the people.

Then I didn't stay in Anqing and Tongling for much time.

In just a few days, I passed the Great Victory Pass and Yanziji was in the distance.

Zhu Qizhen sighed in his heart: "The line of the Yangtze River is the fundamental important part of the Ming Dynasty, and it turns out to be true."

Zhu Qizhen along the way, from the northeast to the grassland, from the grassland to the Western Regions, from the Western Regions to the northwest, from the northwest to the Central Plains, and Zhu Qizhen also knew the economic conditions of Hebei and other places. However, the entire north is not as good as the south, even the Hebei region, including Beijing.

Even if Zhu Qizhen used unknown amount of force to promote the development of Hebei, it was not as good as this area.

There is something called foundation.

The Hebei region was repeatedly ravaged and repeatedly destroyed in the late Tang Dynasty, and in the Song, Jin and Yuan dynasties. Before the Anshi Rebellion, Hebei and Jianghuai were the richest places in the Tang Dynasty. However, after these wars, Hebei's infrastructure and other infrastructure were not left behind, as well as factors such as changes in the natural environment and cold weather.

This is the reason for the decline of the entire northern economy.

Zhu Qizhen’s tutoring over the years has only been able to tie up some infrastructure problems. But many things are uneven. Not to mention anything else, the distance between them and Jiangnan can explain everything.

Jiangnan is richest in the world, no one can deny this.

Jiangnan also became the largest production and consumption center in the Ming Dynasty. This has been a fact since the founding of the Ming Dynasty.

Although Beijing is developing rapidly now, due to the dividends of foreign wars, Beijing has made it on the consumption side, especially those generals who have been awarded titles for military merits and soldiers who have received rewards, and has also made Beijing a big consumer market, but it is nothing compared to Jiangnan.

When the gentry in Jiangnan was low-key and luxurious, these nouveau riche in Beijing did not know what the upper class was.

The Yangtze River has made these areas very closely connected with the south of the Yangtze River. For example, silk and grain flow into the south of the Yangtze River continuously and become part of the south of the Yangtze River economy. Similarly, this kind of exchange and follow-up has also become the power of economic development in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.

It can be seen from many places.

Zhu Qizhen understood very well that wherever he said, local local officials would more or less embellish the peace and show a very good side.

Zhu Qizhen would not be too embarrassed and expose it. After all, it is a common sense in the officialdom. But if he doesn't expose it, it doesn't mean he doesn't know what tricks they are playing. If it is done too much and disturbs the people too much, Zhu Qizhen will also deal with it well. But until now, there is no one who is too eye-opening to do it too exaggerated.

However, this does not mean that you don’t know what these places are like.

Many places in the north, even if they are decorated, cannot be compared with the south. It can be said that there is a clear gap between cities, local reputation, and even people's food and clothing. The biggest gap is one point. In many places in the northwest, you can eat two meals a day, and many times here, people also add a midnight snack.

Both of them are citizens of the Ming Dynasty, and there is such a big difference between places and places.

Even in some places in Jiujiang, where wars were encountered not long ago, there are no clues now.

The section from Wuchang to Nanjing is certainly a prosperous place in the Ming Dynasty, but the real prosperity begins only when it is close to Nanjing.

Zhu Qizhen did not do anything to seal the river from the Yangtze River downstream. The Yangtze River was the main inland waterway of the Ming Dynasty. If this was done, the impact would be too bad. There was another point that was unnecessary. Because the Yangtze River was very wide, it could accommodate Zhu Qizhen's fleet and other ships.

As long as these ships avoid one or two while Zhu Qizhen passes by.

But it won’t work near Nanjing.

Because there are too many boats.

Zhu Qizhen went downstream, with tens of thousands of people and hundreds of ships, and this did not increase. The increase was merchant ships.

Near Nanjing is the most prosperous waterway in the entire Ming Dynasty.

The Yangtze River Waterway is east of Jiangyin and becomes wider, even as vast as the sea. There is no need to worry about the width and narrowness of the waterway.

But here, it's not like this.

In order to pass the fleet of hundreds of ships in Zhu Qizhen, their ships could only stay on both sides of the straits. At first glance, it seemed that there was a bridge of different shapes on both sides of the Yangtze River.

The ship is connected to the bow and the stern, and the sails are connected to the sails.

One after another, one after another.

When we arrived at Yanziji, it was even more lively.

Yanziji is the first rock of the Yangtze River and a famous ferry in Nanjing. It was originally a prosperous commercial place, a first-class historical site, and one of the so-called forty-eight scenic spots in Jinling.

A considerable crowd had gathered at this moment, but the high-ranking officials and nobles in Nanjing in the Ming Dynasty were here.

The civil officials were mainly Wang Shu, the military generals were headed by Duke of Wei, and there were also many other officials at all levels. In addition, there were countless merchants and people, which were crowded with people.

This is especially true for the ships on both sides.

Each ship is like leaves are lined up on both sides of Yanziji.

Zhu Qizhen's imperial boat slowly drifted. Zhu Qizhen slowly walked down from the imperial boat in plain clothes.

Wang Shu was the leader and shouted loudly: "I will pay homage to Your Majesty, long live my emperor."

Then all the civil and military officials, and even the soldiers and the people shouted loudly, and the sound of long live echoed back and forth.

Zhu Qizhen looked at the reflection of the familiar and unfamiliar Grand Bo En Tower from afar and felt like he was returning to the Supreme Palace in Beijing for a moment, and said slowly: "You are calm."

After some etiquette, Zhu Qizhen entered Nanjing City surrounded by civil and military officials from all over the world.

In Nanjing City, countless people surrounded on both sides of the street, kneeling on the ground, looking at Zhu Qizhen's imperial frame with wide eyes.

This is also the difference between the people in Nanjing and the people in other places.

People from other places generally do not siege the Shengjia, after all, the army is very vigilant. Although the military discipline of the Ming army has improved a lot, its style is still relatively rough, and the people keep away from it.

As for the people in Nanjing, it is different.

The locals in Nanjing have always felt that they were at the feet of the emperor. They were quite regretful for the empire's movement northwards. They didn't seem to be afraid of these soldiers. They were the most welcome to Zhu Qizhen's southern tour. They even hoped that the emperor would move the capital back to Nanjing.

The feelings of Nanjing people towards the Ming Dynasty royal family are different from those in other places.

Many times people have luck.

For example, Wang Shu.

Wang Shu is a very capable person, and he definitely has the power to compete with the chief minister of the cabinet, but he missed it by chance.

Now most people in the cabinet are younger than Wang Shu. Wang Shu’s age is not enough to bear the heavy responsibility of the chief minister of the Ming Dynasty.

He is more than teenage than Zhu Qizhen.

Zhu Qizhen is in his early sixties, while Wang Shu is already in his seventies. Even though Wang Shu is in good spirits and a stubborn little old man, people still cannot believe that he can take on cabinet affairs.

So, Zhu Qizhen let him become a left-behind Nanjing.

Responsible for supervising several provinces in Anhui, Jiangsu and Zhejiang on behalf of the emperor.

Wang Shu has been in Nanjing for two years and can be said to be majestic. Wherever he passes, as long as he does the king's law, no matter what kind of backstage he has, he will be brought to justice.

Speaking of which, Nanjing left-behind is a position for the elderly of important officials. There are more or less affairs.

It's rare, just like Cao Nai.

During the last period of Cao Nai's tenure in Nanjing, he was really a hidden person, but Wang Shu seemed to have opened the Nanjing Branch of the Ming Censorate and made the famous Wang Qingtian famous.

However, in the officialdom, all officials have another statement about Wang Shu, not Wang Qingtian, but official Tu.

Officials and gentry in several southern provinces all secretly hated Wang Shu. Compared with Cao Nai, Wang Shu was very, very unwilling to be the gentry in the south.

Wang Shu himself knows this, but he doesn't care.

Wang Shu was from the north, or to be precise, from Shaanxi.

I have never been able to see some extravagant and debauchery of the gentry in the south. I can understand what kind of life the people in Shaanxi live and what kind of life the people in Jiangnan live.

Even so, the gentry in Jiangnan still complained about the taxes and other matters of the court. In Wang Shu's opinion, it was naturally unbearable.

Zhu Qizhen sent Wang Shu to Nanjing, which may not be without this reason.

The Duke of Wei has now changed another generation. The Duke of Wei is only in his twenties and has just come from martial arts. However, his status is noble, and there are not many troops here in Nanjing.

The troops in the southern part of the Ming Dynasty were all gathered in the Nanyang area. Not many were in the Nanyang area. Before the Battle of the Nanyang area, there were about 50,000 troops near Nanjing. However, after the Battle of the Nanyang area, they were gradually transferred, and now there are only about 20,000, including the Yangtze River Navy.

The general officer of the Yangtze River Navy was naturally in charge of the officials of the Navy. However, the Duke of Wei was only in charge of more than 10,000 Nanjing troops, but it was appropriate.

After all, Nanjing is in peace. There is no need for so many troops in the Ming Dynasty. When the Battle of Nanyang is over, the place will return to its original situation.

Now it's just a temporary state.
Chapter completed!