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Volume 4 Hu Han Cang Qiong Chapter 301 New Capital

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    Spring had already begun when Wang Pu came to Youzhou. In China, which attaches great importance to the New Year, generally speaking, most of the court would not do anything during the New Year. But now Shi Chonggui was too anxious, and there were some things that he couldn't afford to wait for!

    Now every move of Tiance's Tang Army is under the spotlight. Everyone knows that Zhang Mai is currently training soldiers and horses in Youzhou. What is gathered in Youzhou is not a bunch of new recruits, but the remaining ones after weeding out the old, weak, sick and disabled, and assigning them to various prefectures and counties.  There are hundreds of thousands of troops under his command - and most of them have been on the battlefield and are veterans.  ()

    The training of veterans is naturally different from that of new recruits, and with a group of elites as the core, a few months of reorganization is enough!  So what will happen after the reorganization is completed?  Even a fool can guess that Zhang Mai's next step is probably to attack Luoyang!

    Therefore, Shi Chonggui couldn't wait. Although he knew that diplomatic negotiations were unlikely to achieve any results, if there was still a glimmer of hope, he had to get there before Zhang Mai took action. Therefore, Wang Pu was "ordered in the face of danger" to go north.

    "It's a pity that Wang Pu, who was ordered to do so at the critical moment, did not think as hard as Zhuge Liang did when he went to Soochow. Now in Luoyang City, there are not many people who sincerely plan for the Shi Jin Dynasty.

    ——————————

    Youzhou, which was once empty, has gradually become lively after half a year, especially Nanshi. In the north is Mobei, in the west is Tianzhu Tianfang, in the south is Wuyue Zhenla, and in the east is Korea and Japan. Businessmen from all over the world can see it and faintly see it.  However, it already felt like an international city, which surprised Wang Pu.

    Forget about Korea and Wuyue, those merchants from Tianzhu and Tianfang naturally did not come after knowing that Youzhou opened the market. Instead, they traveled east along the Silk Road early in the morning, happened to know that Youzhou opened, and rushed to do business.  .

    It’s only been a few months.  Hundreds of shops have been opened in Nanshi, and more than thousands of people are doing business there?  Most of these shops were renovated from the original empty houses in the area, and some were set up as tents on open spaces. This was what was done when Liangzhou and Lanzhou first opened their markets, so Tiance officials in charge of urban planning were familiar with it.  .

    Most of the citizens of Youzhou were kidnapped by the Khitans.  Except for a few fish that slipped through the net, all these houses and lands were nationalized. Zhang Mai controlled the house and land policies very strictly. At first, he was only allowed to rent them out. When the New Year was approaching, the business became more and more prosperous, and anyone could do it.  It can be seen that there is a bright future for establishing a foothold here, so land prices and housing prices have been rising all the time, and there is no market for it - either there is no one to buy it, or there is no one to buy it!  Only then did Zhang Maicai release a small portion for sale.  As a result, these "real estates", no matter how old and dilapidated the houses were, were all jacked up to sky-high prices - the income from renting and selling these houses and land alone was enough to make Fan Zhi stunned.

    Logically speaking, these things should not be done by Zhang Mai. Even if it is just decision-making, it is suspected of killing the chicken with a knife. It is just that Zhang Mai needs money now, and the quality of mastering Dongshu is still a bit bookish, so Zhang Mai cannot do it.  Don't let me do it for you.

    When Wang Pu entered Youzhou.  It was the first round of real estate auction in the new year, so the whole Nan City was very lively and lively.  Wang Pu also stopped for a moment when he passed by and saw that a two-acre vacant land was being auctioned at the auction house. The houses previously released by the government were all scattered shops with one or two rooms. It is rare to see such a complete piece of land.  There is an open space, so the atmosphere at today's auction was particularly high.

    When he was in Western Qin, Wang Pu had seen this auction model "invented" by Zhang Mai.  Therefore, it was no stranger. In the end, this piece was bought by a Hangzhou silk merchant at a sky-high price close to 80% of the land price in Luoyang (of course not the current land price), which made Wang Pu speechless.

    ??After checking into the post house at noon, we took people out to eat out - this is the rule of the Tang Dynasty, unless there are special arrangements.  Otherwise, although the envoys will be provided with a post house and food included when they arrive, the food is very simple. Basically, it is just two dishes and one soup. Don’t even think about delicacies, just one meat dish and one vegetable dish. If the envoy is not satisfied, he can go to  You can go out to buy your own food. Unless there are special periods, envoys are even allowed to go out to eat in the company of accompanying officials.

    Wang Pu is naturally familiar with these rules. When he was in Qinxi, he felt uncomfortable and wanted to let foreign envoys go out. What if they were spied on?  What should I do if the messenger has an accident?  Wouldn't it be disrespectful to a great country to ask the envoys to buy their own food?

    However, in the past two years, after watching the changes in the world with his own eyes, his thoughts changed. He knew that Zhang Mai dared to let the envoy go out because he was not afraid of any "false reality" being seen by others. This was his confidence in the outside world and he was not afraid that the envoy would go out.  Unexpectedly, it is a guarantee of public security and safety precautions. This is internal confidence. As for eating, eating meat and vegetables is not a neglect. It is indeed the style of the ancients, but it is not as luxurious as the various luxuries after the Qin and Han Dynasties.  I heard that Zhang Mai’s own meals are just like this.

    Today, most of the population in Youzhou is immigrants, but if there is business and trade, there will be people flowing out, and there will be people flowing out, there will be people providing services, so all kinds of food, clothing, housing and transportation are provided, but there are too many businessmen coming too fast.??All kinds of service industries are still in short supply. Wang Pu relied on his status as an envoy and the official came forward to order a table of food and drinks in a restaurant. The owner of this restaurant is from Liangzhou, and he is well-run in the northwest. It can be regarded as "  "Time-honored Brand", but in the past two years when Tiance fought in the north and south, those middle-level soldiers with considerable spending power were fighting in Mobei. During the war, business expectations were also unstable, and the government promoted frugality, so businessmen did not dare to be extravagant, so this  Business has been really bleak in the past two years.

    Ever since he heard about the opening of the Yanjing market and Zheng Wei promoted it in the business district, the boss had the idea to leave the store to his eldest son. He took his younger son and two chefs and moved to Yanjing in accordance with the immigration policy.  Beijing, I went all the way to Yanjing to open a branch. Along the way, there was low-cost and safe shipping provided by the Tiance government. It didn’t cost anything. When I got here, I could rent a store first, although the store was less expensive than Liangzhou.  The place was much simpler, the utensils were far less refined than the old store, and the waiters were not as attentive as the old store. As a result, it was packed every day after opening, and within three months, the money lost in the past two years was made back.

    When the restaurant owner came to accompany him for a drink, he talked about his own experience and lamented: "I still make a small amount of money! I used to do clothing business next door, but then I really made a fortune! How much money is there on the ground in Youzhou?"  One hundred thousand horses, excluding the old, weak, sick, disabled, and soldiers and slaves, there are still hundreds of thousands of people. Among them, those who went on an expedition to Mobei, who don't have some rewards? After enduring so much hardship in Mobei, they have to buy something when they return to the Central Plains.  Let’s buy food and clothes. How much can be shipped to Youzhou in the past few months? The appetite of these military men alone is enough to eat as much as there is to transport to Youzhou! As for those merchants,  Not to mention, who has the foresight to come to Youzhou last year, who doesn’t make a lot of money? After making money, you either change hands and buy goods, and you have to reward yourself with the remaining money. So the business in Youzhou has been very good in the past six months.  Easy to do!”

    Wang Pu casually asked about the price of rice and vegetables again. The restaurant owner said: "Rice is not expensive. It is always shipped from the south. The vegetables are also good. The old and weak in the army have been sent outside the city to grow vegetables and herd cattle and sheep."  There are big businessmen outside the city who have hired retired military personnel and set up more than a thousand large greenhouses for growing vegetables. If not, my guest, you can have a bite of vegetables during this period. Well, I heard that just these are enough.  It feeds a lot of people, and a lot of businesses make a lot of money from it.”

    After the restaurant owner said goodbye.  Wang Pu thought in his mind: "Nowadays, the price of rice in Luoyang is getting higher and lower every day, but the price of land is getting lower and lower every day, which is exactly the opposite of Yanjing. It seems that the luck of the king has also transferred here.  "

    ——————————

    Wang Pu stayed in Youzhou for two days before he heard that Zhang Mai was not in the city, so he went to see Fan Zhi, hoping for his help.

    This is also because Fan Zhi and Wang Pu have an old friendship. Otherwise, according to Zhang Mai's current temper, he would not want to pay attention to the people in Luoyang and let them dry out for a while.  Fan Zhi is now in charge of Dongshu's internal affairs.  Taking care of everything, Wang Pu came to visit.  It was not easy for him to receive him.

    "You want to go out of the city to find the marshal?" Fan Zhi hesitated for a moment, then said: "The marshal has some impressions of you. If it were anyone else, I wouldn't dare to take the decision." Then he summoned a messenger to send Wang Pu out of the city -  He was the only one to go, and all the other entourages brought from Luoyang were not allowed to follow.

    As soon as you leave the north gate of Youzhou, you are faced with desolation again.  After Youzhou was emptied by the Khitans, hundreds of thousands of troops came from various places in the summer and autumn last year - a lot in terms of troops, but how much land could hundreds of thousands of people occupy on the land of Youji?  After the autumn harvest, Zhang Mai also personally called on the entire army to go to the fields to work in the fields.  But it is impossible to cultivate all the land in the north.  Especially after experiencing the prosperity of Nanshi, suddenly arriving in this uninhabited suburb, I couldn't help but feel even more empty and desolate.

    But if a modern person came here, he would probably think that the environment here is really good!

    Under the snowflakes, you can see many scattered wheat fields, all of which are farmed by sergeants. After the autumn harvest, hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses planted millions of acres of wheat. Without meticulous management, the acres of fields are naturally not as good as those in the Jiangnan and Jiangnan areas where intensive cultivation is done.  The fields of agriculture and animal husbandry are so neat and tidy, but looking at the layer of snow protecting the wheat fields, next year’s harvest can still be expected.

    There are clear rivers everywhere, and you can see the water flowing under the ice after freezing. The ice is like crystal. Unlike in later generations, many dirty rivers turned yellow, black, and ugly after freezing.

    There are evergreen pines and cypresses everywhere, and rabbits and deer occasionally pop out among the pines and cypresses. There are even bears far away from the city. This is a sign that the natural environment has not been seriously damaged. Of course, bears and deer dare to run out of the Yanshan Mountains and come here.  This plain area is also related to the depopulation of Youzhou area last year. This is the "contribution" of the Khitan people.

    There are lakes everywhere, and the lakes are also frozen like the rivers. Although spring has begun, the ice layer is thick. You can see some retired soldiers digging holes in the ice and fishing. The dogfish I ate in the restaurant  Head, the ingredients may come from here.?.

    In short, Youzhou in this era has sufficient water resources, fertile land, and sparse population. Generally speaking, places like this in the world can withstand the hardships of the Chinese for more than hundreds of years.

    ——————————

    Wang Pu rode north for half a day. Suddenly, he came to a huge construction site. As far as the naked eye could see, thousands of people were leveling the land, digging kilns and firing bricks. According to Wang Pu's knowledge, plus the previous  From the rumors, he probably guessed that this is the location of Yanjing New City. People often heard that Zhang Mai wanted to build a majestic new capital here. The scale of the planned city was already a bit scary. It is where Luoyang and Kaifeng are now.  If it is incomparable, could it be here?

    Zhang Mai was also among the crowd. He was not wearing helmet or armor, nor was he a wide robe with long sleeves. He was just wearing a tight-fitting cashmere suit under a brown cloak and a hood on his head. People who didn't know it thought he was a man at first glance.  The foreman, he and a man who looked like a craftsman were pointing out an engineering drawing.

    Seeing this, Wang Pu sighed in his heart: "When Dayu was governing the country, his hands and feet were callous, his clothes were brown, he rode in a chariot, and he walked around all the time. It was probably like this. Unexpectedly, the style of the ancient sage kings can be seen again today."

    Seeing Wang Pu coming forward, Zhang Mai said a few words to the craftsman, then turned around and walked into a temporary shed. There was a stove burning in the shed, and it was so warm that it was like a different world from the outside.  Zhang Mai took off his cloak.  He sat down and took a sip of hot tea handed over by Ma Xiaochun before asking: "Your name is Wang Pu?"

    Seeing that there was only Ma Xiaochun in the room, Wang Pu knelt down and said, "I am Wang Pu, a native of Qi County, Bingzhou. In the sixth year of Tiance, Luoyang Enke became the first scholar."

    Zhang Mai was surprised and said: "The first place in Jinshi is the number one scholar." Then he said: "But you don't call me a foreign minister, but a minister, and the reign name is Tiance. You don't have Shi Jin, this tone is not good.  Right."

    Wang Pu said: "I am a minister of Huaxia, and then I am a minister of Shi Jin. I was the first to win the Jinshi, and I was very happy. Looking back today, it was better not to win."

    "I was happy one day but regretful today, naturally because the Jinshi who was chosen that day was Shi Jin's Jinshi, and now the dynasty is about to change."  He is young, if he didn't refer to it that day.  Now, you can directly join the new dynasty and become a pure minister.

    These few words have been made clear enough. Zhang Mai chuckled and said: "I have some impressions of you. I can make Fan Zhi make an exception and allow you to come to see me. I think there must be something special about you. Get up and talk."  "

    After Wang Pu stood up, Zhang Mai asked: "What kind of knowledge do you study?" Wang Pu said: "I dare not claim to be proficient in the four books and five classics. But I can also recite them."

    Zhang Mai waved his hand and said: "You are the number one scholar, these Confucian classics must be fine. I'm asking about practical ability. Classics are pragmatic. If you don't treat the classics, you won't be able to look at the problem from a high level. But when you do things, you can't just be pragmatic, you also need to have skills.  That’s all.”

    Wang Pu pondered for a moment.  Then he said: "The 19 types of "Practical Learning" issued by the Marshal, all the ministers can speak."

    Zhang Mai had attached great importance to cultural construction as early as the Shule era. For more than ten years, he had been summarizing his writings whenever he had the opportunity on the battlefield. These writings were published and revised locally one by one. By three years ago, they had basically formed a preliminary scale, including  General arithmetic, astronomy, geography, physics, chemistry, medicine, administration, law, war, agriculture, architecture, etc.  A large series of books.

    Some of this series of books were dictated by Zhang Mai, and Li Bin, Fan Zhi, Wei Renpu and others helped to compile them, such as arithmetic, astronomy, geography, physics, chemistry, medicine, law, etc. Some of them were compiled jointly by professionals, such as  Agriculture, architecture, war, etc., are partly based on translations and re-creations of Greek and Roman classics bought from Europe and the West, all of which were drafted by Zhang Mai after reading them. Although these nineteen books are all basic knowledge  , but it also contains a million words, and is accompanied by a large number of pictures and texts.

    Zhang Mai stared at him and said, "Can you memorize it?"

    Wang Pu looked ashamed: "I can't tell you word for word, but if the marshal asks, Wang Pu will definitely be able to repeat it."

    Zhang Mai thought to himself that if you can memorize a book with millions of words, then you are a ghost. If you can't memorize it, what is there to be ashamed of?  Ma Xiaochun asked Ma Xiaochun to bring him a copy of "Architectural General Knowledge", flipped through it, and nodded, Wang Pu talked about the chapter incessantly, and he could draw out the pictures when he encountered them.  Where there are similarities between humanities and humanities, you can also draw parallels and express your own opinions.

    Zhang Mai listened for half an hour, then interrupted: "Enough, enough! I met a genius again. No wonder Fan Wensu thinks so highly of you." He thought for a while, and ordered Ma Xiaochun to take out another big picture and say: "  If you have read Architectural General Studies, come and help me see what this plan looks like."

    Wang Pu stepped forward to take a look, and with just one glance he understood that this was a planning map of the capital, and said in a trembling voice: "Thisis this the future Beijing?"??

    "Yes." Zhang Mai said: "I put forward the idea, and the experienced craftsmen looked for a good place. The master craftsmen held more than a dozen meetings to make sketches, and then showed them to Xue Fu, Fu Yanqing, Fan Zhi, Wei Renpu and others.  After that, I changed it into a revised version, and then sent it to Yang Yi and Zheng Wei for feedback, and finally revised it to this. Well, I also sent a copy to Feng Dao, and he also replied with some comments. Guo Luo was too far away, so  I didn’t send it to him.”

    Wang Pu did not expect that Zhang Mai would let him hear about such a big event. He couldn't help but feel excited, and thought: "It turns out that Feng Gong also heard about this. No wonder he behaved like that in the court!"

    In fact, he thought too much. Zhang Mai did not intend to keep this city building secret. At first, he even wanted to make it public to the world to brainstorm ideas. However, he later considered that the more people involved in such a major event may not be the better, so in the end it was just  Let Kanchoying choose the site, the master craftsman take charge of the map, and then let the generals such as Yang Yi and Xue Fu who are proficient in war, the civil servants such as Feng Daofan Zhi who are proficient in etiquette, and the elites of the world such as Zheng Weinaibu who are proficient in business participate, and even asked him  Wife Guo Fen, look at what their women need.  Then it came together into this big plan.

    However, Wang Pu is not the only one who thinks too much. Feng Dao was very excited when he received the drawings secretly sent to him by Zhang Mai. This is the construction of a metropolitan city. Regardless of whether Beijing will be the capital in the future, such a major event  Who can hear it if he is not a member of the Prime Minister?  What's more, Feng Dao was still a "foreign" prime minister at this time.  So Feng Dao was so excited that he burst into tears after getting the sketch.  He had spent countless nights thinking about this matter, and had gone to great lengths to keep it secret. Except for his most trusted disciple and his most reliable son, no one else knew about it.

    ——————————

    At this time, Wang Pu looked at this capital planning map again. Traditional Chinese capital buildings have certain regulations. As the saying goes, "The craftsmen run the country, with a square of nine miles, three gates on the side, nine longitudes and nine latitudes in the middle, and nine rails in the warp." On the left  Zuyoushe faces the future market."

    The basic regulatory concept of this new city is the same, but the specifications have been expanded dozens of times!  In addition to the restoration of ritual planning, it also takes into account all aspects of real-life citizens including transportation, drinking water, sewage, etc., with special emphasis on the planning of commercial markets. In addition, the city's construction is divided into phases, leaving enough space on the periphery.  Expand the space and expand outward layer by layer.

    Wang Pu saw that it was time for a meal.  He couldn't help sighing with emotion, and suddenly said: "It's just such a huge project. I'm afraid it will hurt the people"

    He spoke very cautiously, fearing to offend Zhang Mai.

    Zhang Mai smiled and said: "Didn't you see my installment? I heard that Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty built New Chang'an in nine months, but I'm not as impatient as him. The first phase will take three years, which is enough for the time being.  Used. After ten years, the entire construction of this picture will be completed, which will take about thirty-three years. You can definitely see that I have to exercise well. "

    Wang Pu said: "If it takes thirty-three years, no matter how big the project is, it will not necessarily consume more people's power. Marshal Shengren!"

    Zhang Mai said: "Don't tell me, tell me if there are any loopholes in this plan."

    Wang Pu said: "This atlas is a collection of the wisdom of all the great sages. It is almost perfect. I am young and have little knowledge. I felt very shocked for a while and did not dare to make any unreasonable comments."

    Zhang Mai smiled and said, "Well, if you think of anything wrong in the future, you can write to me."

    This is leaving a channel for himself to reach heaven to hear. Wang Pu was overjoyed and wanted to thank him but stopped. He was so excited that he almost scratched his head.

    Zhang Mai put down the plan and said, "Let's talk about Luoyang. You came from Luoyang, so you must have something to do."

    Wang Pu's heart tightened, he quickly collected his thoughts, his posture returned to rigor, and said: "Yes, I have two things to do. One is to come on behalf of Shi Chonggui, and the other is to come on behalf of Changle Laolao."

    Zhang Mai said: "Shi Chonggui, um, does he want to seek peace or surrender?"

    This was said in a domineering manner, but the key point was made in one breath.

    Wang Pu leaned over and said, "Seek peace."

    Zhang Mai laughed and said, "Do you think it's possible?"

    Wang Pu sighed softly and shook his head.

    Zhang Mai said: "Then there's no need to waste words. I won't be polite to Shi Chonggui anymore. Go back and tell me. I'm not an unreasonable person, but in this situation, everyone knows that seeking peace is impossible."  . But Shi Chonggui didn’t make any big mistakes, and I won’t do anything to him in the future. Shi Jingtang won the country improperly, and he got the throne from Shi Jingtang. The country will not be long, and I don’t plan to give him any peace.  By detaining him, he can become a free man in this country. As for other conditions, he can make them, and I agree if I can agree. I have only one purpose, try not to fight because I don't want more people to die in the Central Plains. Citizens  Life is very preciousYes, these lives should be used to expand territories, to write philosophical works, to use music and art, to invent and create, to enjoy life, and should not be wasted on this kind of life.  On a pointless internal war.  This is what I mean. You can figure it out yourself when you turn around and tell Shi Chonggui.  "

    Wang Pu was filled with admiration and said, "I understand."

    Zhang Mai asked again: "What did Feng Dao ask you to do?"

    Wang Pu said: "Mr. Changle's intention is the same as that of the marshal. Feng Gong also hopes that the world will stop fighting and killing, and return to peace and unity as soon as possible."

    Zhang Mai smiled and said: "That's good. You go back and tell Mr. Changle that I will leave Luoyang's affairs to him. I believe that with his wisdom, he will not disappoint my expectations. In another month or two, wait until the weather  When it gets warmer, I will lead the army south, mobilize millions of people, and besiege Luoyang"

    Wang Pu was startled: "Marshal, didn't you say no war?"

    "It seems that you are a bit young, Zhuangyuanlang." Zhang Mai said with a faint smile: "People are very mean. They will not give up until they reach the Yellow River, and they will not look back until they hit the south wall. If I just show mercy, this matter  The debate will never end, and only by massively recruiting troops can we defeat the enemy without a fight!"

    ————————————(To be continued)
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