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"and many more!"

Pan Qimei interrupted and asked, "What kind of fruit is an apple?"

The cook said, "Sago, catalpa, and apple. If you don't have apples, you can use them instead of them."

Pan Qimei asked with interest: "Are the apples delicious?"

"It's delicious, but expensive," said the cook.

Pan Qimei asked again: "Is there any sale in Yangzhou City?"

The cook said: "There is no season at this time, and it will take another two or three months. When there are no apples, you can use other fruits instead, and you can also make Yangzhou red goose, which has the fragrance and sweetness of the fruits. However, it is best to use apples." Well, the taste of the roasted red goose has improved."

In the other cabin, two concubines, Liu Rushi and Tian Xiuying, also attracted female poets and painters from Yangzhou City.

This was the case along the way. It was not convenient for the concubines to disembark, so they sent someone to summon the local female celebrities.Those who were summoned were very excited, and even their husbands felt that their faces were radiant, and even bought outfits for their wives in advance, and dressed up to meet the nobles.

When emperors and concubines go on tour, they generally don't engage in surprise attacks. Basically, they have to send people to make arrangements along the way two or three months in advance.

After the black-clothed guard disembarked, Zhao Han leaned back on the chair and closed his eyes to rest, while Li Xiangjun began to pack his pen, ink, paper and inkstone.

"When the tour returns to Beijing, this year there will be another group of court ladies who will be released to the common people to marry," Zhao Han said to Li Xiangjun, "How old are you this year, should you get married?"

Li Xiangjun replied: "Reporting to Your Majesty, I am 23 this year. I have no relatives and no reason among the people. I only want to serve Your Majesty, and I have no intention of going out of the palace to marry someone."

Zhao Han didn't speak anymore, but Li Xiangjun's heart was beating wildly, thinking that the emperor wanted to take her into the harem, otherwise why would he suddenly bring up this matter?

Li Xiangjun has been by his side for several years, and Zhao Han is indeed very comfortable with it.

For some things, Zhao Han didn't need to say anything, as long as he showed his intention, Li Xiangjun would take the initiative to do it.

At this moment, Zhao Han was thinking, no wonder the previous emperors used eunuchs instead of female officials.

If it is a beautiful female official who has served the emperor for a long time, she must have feelings when she gets along day and night.One day I can't help it, I guess I will be taken into the harem, and the work will be done smoothly, will I let her do things after I canonize the concubine, or ask her for her opinion.So, isn't the harem meddling in politics?

If you continue to use female officials, there must be some emperor who will do so in future generations.It is not likely that Wu Zetian will appear, but it is normal for Cixi to appear.

After thinking about it carefully, I feel that it can be avoided, and a system should be established to prevent the relatives from becoming bigger.

Without the help of relatives, without the power of her natal family, no matter how well the concubine has means, it is impossible to become Cixi.

Chapter 611 [Waste to be done]

Compared with Yangzhou's richness and overcrowding, Shandong is really withered.

Zhao Han sailed all the way to the north, and found that the Shandong cities on both sides of the canal were not as prosperous as when he passed by when he escaped.This is the result of insisting on immigration every year, otherwise, the cities and villages in Shandong will be even more dilapidated.

Natural disasters, wars, famines, plagues, and the four major factors of population decline.

Especially the plague, one death is a street, and one death is half a city.However, there are still many common people who fled to the mountains to avoid the war, and have successively descended to the mountains in the past few years to organize households and divide the land. The population of Shandong is definitely more than the original statistics.

Now that the country is basically unified, it is time to conduct another census.

When passing Linqing, Zhao Han called Zhizhou over, and after some questioning, he learned that there were more than [-] permanent residents inside and outside Linqing City.This number is not bad, but compared to the early years of Chongzhen, it is not enough.

Linqing may seem inconspicuous, but with the addition of merchants and waterworkers, its population approached one million during busy times, making it the most populous city in Shandong in the Ming Dynasty.

The evaluation of the missionary Matteo Ricci is: "Linqing is a big city, and few other cities surpass it in commerce. Not only the goods of the province, but also a large number of goods from all over the country are traded here, so A lot of tourists pass by here often.”

In the Ming Dynasty, there were eight large-scale tax cards throughout the country, and Linqing was the largest one, even surpassing Yangzhou, Hangzhou, Huai'an and Jiujiang. .That is: the Eight Great Banknote Passes, led by Linqing.

In the future, Linqing will definitely not be as grand as Beijing is no longer the capital, and water transportation has been completely cancelled.

Hurry up and hurry up, and finally come to Tianjin.

This year, Hebei was officially established as a province, and the administrative division has also undergone major changes.

Shuntian Mansion was changed to Beiping Mansion, the government was located in Beijing, and the jurisdiction area was slightly reduced.

For example, Baoding County and Wen'an County were separated from Beiping Prefecture and placed under the jurisdiction of Hejian Prefecture.Moreover, in order to prevent confusion between Baoding Prefecture and Baoding County, Baoding County was changed to Desheng County, named after Desheng Lake in its southeast.

This kind of name change is more than one place.

Tongzhou next to Beijing is still called Tongzhou.Tongzhou on the Yangtze River has been changed to Nantong.

Beiping Mansion, like Jinling Mansion, is under the direct control of the central government, and the prefects are of higher rank.In order to reduce the rapid decline of the Hebei region after losing the status of the capital, it also has the purpose of strengthening grassland control.

The areas of Baoan Prefecture (Zhuolu, Huailai) and Yanqing Prefecture were all placed under the jurisdiction of Beiping Prefecture.

Xuanfu Town, one of the nine borders of the Ming Dynasty, will be changed to Xuanhuafu in the future, and the government will be located in Xuanhua.In the future, going north out of the Great Wall, Zhangbei County, Chicheng County, Shangyi County and other places will all be placed under the jurisdiction of Xuanhua Prefecture, so as to better control the grassland area.

In Chengde, Kuancheng, Qinglong, Xinglong, and Luanping in later generations, the main population at this time was Mongolian, followed by Han, and Jurchen again.All were placed under the jurisdiction of Hebei Province and set up as Chengde Mansion. For the time being, there are still few Han immigrants, but there are two regular divisions stationed there.

With this piece drawn in, the territory of Hebei Province immediately became much larger.

Shanhaiguan also belongs to Hebei!

Hejian Prefecture, with a few more counties, became the capital of Hebei Province.The government is still in Hejian, but the provincial capital has become Tianjin.

That is to say, in the land of Hebei Province, the political structure is relatively complicated.Beiping Prefecture was designated as a direct-administrative government, and Beijing has big bosses sitting in town; Tianjin became the capital of Hebei Province, and big bosses also sit in town.Hejian Prefecture is the capital of Hebei, and the magistrate does not need to be attached to the provincial capital of Guo, which is relatively comfortable.

In addition, Tianjin Wei was changed to Tianjin County.

"Minister Fang Shenghong, welcome Your Majesty!" Hebei Zuo Buzheng Fang Shenghong led local officials to greet him outside Tianjin.

Brothers Fang Shengchang and Fang Shenghong, after their own uprising, brought two counties and a half territory to seek refuge, and they voluntarily gave up the army and became civil servants.Today, Fang Shengchang has become a minister, and Fang Shenghong has also been transferred from Fujian's chief envoy to Hebei to take charge of the government.

This is the main reason for the formation of the Jiang You faction. There are too many heroes from Jiangxi.

Although the territory of the Fang family brothers was relatively poor, it was not much smaller than that of Zhao Han.After they surrendered, the territory under Zhao Han's rule grew by one-third in an instant, and strictly speaking, they were regarded as entrepreneurial partners.

Can you not give a high position?

At present, the population of Hebei is still small, and there is only one chief envoy. Fang Shenghong has great power and heavy responsibility.

"Your honor is free." Zhao Han nodded.

The two princesses, Zhao Zhenlan and Zhao Zhenfang, and their respective husbands have already arrived in Tianjin to wait for the royal driver.

Zheng Sen has resigned from the prefect of Xuzhou and has no other official positions for the time being. He is responsible for supervising the construction of the cemetery of the former emperor and queen mother.When Zhao Han ascended the throne, he gave honorary titles to his dead parents, who were also the emperor and queen of the new dynasty of Datong.

"How is the cemetery built?" Zhao Han asked.

Zheng Sen stepped forward and replied: "It has been built in accordance with His Majesty's will!"

Zhao Han said, "Let's advance to the city."

It's a pity to revisit the old place.

Zhao Han got off the boat on foot, and when he was about to cross the moat, he pointed there and said, "When I went south with my younger sister, I passed this bridge. There were hungry people outside the bridge. The smell of meat was full of boiled human flesh. I took He was holding a bamboo spear with half a pair of scissors tied to the tip, and was almost ransacked by hungry people. A ten-year-old boy had a fight to get over."

Fang Shenghong sighed: "It's very difficult and dangerous to think about it."

Zhao Zhenfang said: "I was terrified at the time, and I pulled the hem of Brother Huang's clothes to see that everyone felt like they were going to jump up and eat people."

Zhao Zhenlan was emotionally touched by the scene, thinking of her dead parents, thinking of the dangers of her younger siblings at that time, and thinking of herself being taken to the south by human traffickers.Before she knew it, her eye sockets were already moist, and she wiped her tears as she walked.

When they came to stay in another courtyard in the city, the concubines chose their own rooms, and Zhao Han left the chief envoy and the prefect of Tianjin to stay.

Zhao Han ate tea cross-legged, and asked, "How is the situation in Hebei?"

Fang Shenghong said: "The population is still too small, and there is nothing to do. With the immigrants from the south, and the people who fled into the mountains, the population of Hebei Province is estimated to be 100 million."

The 100 million people do not include Beiping Prefecture, which is directly under the central government.

Currently, Zhang Tieniu is stationed in Beijing, Fei Ruhe is stationed in Taiyuan, Huang Shun is stationed in Shanhaiguan, Li Dingguo is stationed in Chengde, Wan Sitong is stationed in Xuanhua, and the northern defense line is full of the main force of the Datong Army.

This situation also stimulated the economy in the north and along the canal, and most of the military supplies were transported north by merchants.Some medium-sized merchants even took the initiative to move to Hebei to settle down, because doing business in the south is too complicated, and they can still eat some leftovers from the army business in the north.

"The merchants in Zhangjiakou haven't moved?" Zhao Han asked.

Fang Shenghong said: "When Li Zicheng left, he arrested all the merchants in Zhangjiakou and handcuffed them all. Li Zicheng beat at least half of those traitors who knew the Tartars to death, and spit out countless gold and silver treasures. There are no big merchants in Zhangjiakou anymore. They are some small businessmen, and we will have to rely on them to do business with the grasslands in the future."

Although the Zhangjiakou area now belongs to Hebei, it had been occupied by Li Zicheng before.

Li Zicheng was really ruthless, and his salary was completely beaten to death. Almost no businessman could support him, and he would recruit all the money he hid.Li Zicheng killed six of the so-called eight imperial merchants of the Qing Dynasty.When the head of the family dies, there are still some real estate left, and the children and grandchildren immediately enter the division mode.

Fang Shenghong said: "Now, the biggest merchant in Zhangjiakou is called Cao Fengji. He has always used the name of an imperial merchant to buy wool from the grassland and sell it to the south. He didn't have a license to specialize in tea and salt, so he bought iron pots from the south and shipped them back to the grassland for sale. In Zhangjiakou again Cooperate with tea merchants and salt merchants to control the wool of the grassland. Your Majesty, this imperial merchant...isn't it fake?"

The reason why Fang Shenghong paid attention to Cao Fengji was that the name of Huangshang was quite scary, so he was really not sure.

"Fake, how can there be any imperial merchant?" Zhao Han laughed, "But, I did summon this person. If he dares to say that he is an imperial merchant, he will be arrested and locked up for a while, and he will be fined some money Yes. The wool business is good for controlling the grasslands, so he has served the country."

Fang Shenghong also said: "Most of the Datong army is stationed in the north, and the Zunhua Iron Works should be rebuilt. The minister suggested that a weapon station be set up in Zunhua, and let the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of War carry out this task. The people in Hebei also looted all the craftsmen from the Zunhua Iron Works. If you want to rebuild the Zunhua Iron Works, you have to immigrate artisans from the south, and many miners and charcoal burners have to immigrate here."

Zunhua Iron Works is the largest iron factory in the north and also the main weapon production base of Ming Dynasty.

Zhao Han said: "When the population recovers, it's time to organize people to repair the post roads in Yanshan. Chengde Mansion is extremely important and must be firmly controlled. Every batch of immigrants who come to Hebei should be allocated to Chengde Mansion. etc. After the Chengde Mansion is consolidated, the Datong Army will be able to cross Yanshan Mountain to the grassland."

The area of ​​Chengde belonged to Daming at the beginning of Ming Dynasty, but it was basically lost in the middle of Ming Dynasty.After the Tumubao Incident, the Mongols continued to go south to invade and occupy land, while the Ming Dynasty devoted itself to building the Great Wall. In the end, the two sides used the Great Wall as the dividing line.

During the Tianjin War, the Mongols in the Yanshan area fought with the Tartars and suffered heavy losses.

Horqin, Karaqin and other Mongolian leaders left the Manchus and fled halfway, and robbed them again on the way back. All the Mongols in the Yanshan area became beggars.

Therefore, when the Datong army went north out of the Great Wall, the Mongolian tribes in Yanshan surrendered one after another.

They belonged to the state of half-cultivation and half-grazing, and even more people were farming, and many of them were Han Chinese.Nowadays, regardless of whether they are Mongols or Han people, they all divide their fields and pastures according to their population, and all Mongolian nobles become commoners.

No one resisted, and they couldn't resist, because this is not a grassland at all.

Anyway, the establishment of Chengde Mansion went smoothly, and the Mongolian herdsmen also cooperated with the policy very well.It's just that the proportion of Han people is too small, at least tens of thousands of immigrants have to be relocated.

Fang Shenghong said: "Changlu Salt Field and its surrounding areas are currently the main immigration places, and a quarter of the immigrants are given priority. Changlu produces enough salt, so there is no need to rely on Huai salt. Hebei will use salt to control the grassland more easily. The minister believes that this policy cannot be changed.”

The royal families of the Ming and Qing dynasties all ate salt from the Changlu Saltworks. This is one of the three major saltworks in China, and it must be restored as soon as possible.

Alas, everything needs to be restored, and everywhere needs population.

Chapter 612 [Royal Genealogy]

Tianjin produces salt and also has a lot of saline-alkali land.

The mass grave is located in the eastern suburbs of Tianjin, surrounded by cultivated land, only that area is seriously salinized.

Farmers in ancient China have explored ways to improve salinization.As far as the surrounding area of ​​Tianjin is concerned, it is the leveling of the land, deep plowing, sunning, and digging ditches for drainage, which can not only allow the rain to wash away the saline-alkali components in the soil, but also effectively prevent the soil from re-alkali.

But the effect is very slow, and it takes several years, ten years, or even decades to become a good land.

All the bones in the mass grave had been buried, and it was unclear which one belonged to the late emperor and his wife.Pieces of saplings were transported to be planted, built up with foreign soil, with ditches left in the middle for drainage, and fresh water was usually transported by special personnel for irrigation.

To say it is a cemetery is actually quite choking.

With continuous watering and planting, it will take at least 20 years for this saline-alkali land to become a forest.

The tomb is empty, not even counting the clothes tomb, only the joint burial inscription and the tomb guard priest, showing the prominent status of the owner of the tomb.

There is even a stone tablet next to it. On the front is: "The mausoleum of the former emperor, the tomb should not be stolen." On the north side, there are densely carved words, which describe the severe drought in the first year of Chongzhen, the emperor's family fled famine, the former emperor's guest died in Tianjin, and his body was left in a mass grave. unrecognizable.

On the other side not far away, another large tomb was erected. The tombstone reads: Tomb of those who are in chaos. .

On the back of the tombstone, it is recorded that during the Chongzhen period, natural and man-made disasters continued, and many people lost their lives in disorder.This tomb and this stele are erected for the poor people who died in troubled times. May the world of China be peaceful and stable from now on.

Since the bones of the former emperor and empress could not be found, there is no need for strict defense.

If one day, the Datong court is about to end, it is not afraid that someone will dig out the dragon veins, let alone dig up the bones and whip the corpses in the sun.

Just arrange some mausoleum guards to sweep and worship daily, and tourists can also come in to worship.Even outside the mausoleum, there are roadside pavilions for tourists to rest their feet and enjoy the cool air.

There are no monks, no Taoists.

The officials of the Ministry of Rites who accompanied Yujia on the north tour went to the cemetery in advance to make arrangements.The gods of the first emperors and first empresses were brought from the Nanjing Taimiao, placed in the main building of the cemetery, and blessed by heaven, earth and local gods.

In the end, Zhao Han wore the emperor's uniform and brought the royal family and clan to the scene.

Solemn and mournful music sounded, and under the guidance of the ritual officer, Zhao Han carefully completed every step, and finally knelt and kowtowed in front of the grave.

"Father, mother, my daughter is not filial!"

Zhao Zhenlan cried the most, because she was already sensible when we parted.As for Zhao Zhenfang, who was still young, she had even forgotten what her parents looked like, and only vaguely remembered that her father liked to stroke his beard.

Zhao Handuan was kowtowing upright, and when he stood up, he was relaxed, as if he had settled a problem in his mind.

Back in the city of Tianjin, Zhao Han said to his elder sister and younger sister: "Stay a little longer, I have found a fellow clan in Liaodong, and I am coming to Tianjin with the genealogy."

For the next few days, Zhao Han was meeting local officials and elders.

Finally, a middle-aged man surnamed Zhao came from Liaodong on a ship.

After meeting, Zhao Zhenlan immediately recognized this person, and shouted a little excitedly: "Are you the fifth brother of the master's family?"

The middle-aged man's name was Zhao Fang, his eyes were red and he said, "Meet the Eldest Princess!"

In fact, the two don't have any deep feelings, they just belong to the same clan and village.