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Chapter 1046 – 1042 [Nanjing Shanty Town Renovation]

Chapter 1046 1042 [Nanjing shanty town renovation]

Just as the officials of Honglu Temple appeased Ezo Island, a Japanese Anzhai ship, following the Datong Navy Fleet, carried the Tang envoy to Shanghai.

Lin Efeng served as the envoy, and his main task was to **** 20 international students to Nanjing.

The leader of the 20 Japanese students is Hotta Yoshimasa. He is only seventeen years old, and he is the nephew of Masatoshi Hotta, the old man. Even after the downfall of Tadaki Sakai, Tadaaki Abe became the boss, but it is Masatoshi Hotta who is really influential.

Masatoshi Hotta’s adoptive mother is the nanny of the shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu. He followed his adoptive mother to serve Tokugawa Iemitsu since he was a child.

Masatoshi Hotta and Tadaki Sakai are mortal enemies. In another time and space, after the death of Tokugawa Ietsuna. Masatoshi Hotta supported the fourth child, and Tadaki Sakai supported the third child. In the end, it was the fourth child. As the elder, Tadaki Sakai lost.

This guy is very scheming, and he will never make a move if he is not fully sure.

This time Tadaaki Abe led people to rescue the shogun, it was Masatoshi Hotta who planned behind the scenes. On behalf of the shogunate, Tadaaki Abe was asked to sign a humiliating treaty with China, and the infamy was recited by others, while Masatoshi Hotta himself secretly controlled the overall situation.

In addition to Masatoshi Hotta’s nephew, there are also children of the Doi family and the Ii family, all of whom have the background of Minister Tuogu.

The fleet arrived at Shanghai Port. After 20 years of construction, Shanghai County has become more prosperous than many state capitals.

This year, the imperial court issued a batch of lists, and Shanghai County is among them.

In the past, the county magistrate of Shanghai was the seventh rank, but now it is directly upgraded to the fifth rank, and the official rank is equivalent to that of the prefect.

There is also Foshan Town on the list. The previous mayor of Foshan Town was only a small official of the ninth rank and the last rank. Due to the rapid development of industry and commerce, it directly jumped to rank seven, only one level lower than ordinary county magistrates.

There are many situations similar to Foshan, such as Yanshen Town in Shandong. After experiencing wars and plagues, Yanshen Town recovered quickly and became a glass manufacturing center in the north, producing everything from optical lenses to daily-use glass.

The court of Datong is just the opposite of the court of Ming Dynasty.

The Ming court did not have many official positions, but there were many officials waiting to fill their vacancies. The Datong China established by Zhao Han has added a large number of official positions (especially the affairs officers below the fourth rank), and the number of idle officials waiting to be filled is very small.

“The Tang Dynasty is really prosperous.” Horita Yoshi was looking at the Shanghai pier and said.

Lin Efeng said: “When you arrive in Nanjing, you will know the prosperity of the world.”

Hotta Yoshimasa said: “I have read “Jinling Scenery” in secret, and I still know a lot about Nanjing.”

The prosperity mentioned by Yoshimasa Hotta does not refer to a large population. After all, there are nearly one million people in Edo.

Not to mention Edo Castle, the castle town is also divided into several areas. There are daimyo settlements, samurai settlements, merchants, craftsmen and other settlements.

The civilians at the bottom all live on land reclaimed from the sea. It is very close to the port of Edo, and you can see many thatched houses as soon as you go ashore, which gives a bad first impression to outsiders.

Not many days later, the Japanese envoy from Tang Dynasty arrived in Nanjing. When he saw this great city with his own eyes, he was naturally amazed.

They were arranged to live in Zhongshan Temple, and Hota Yoshi was going to see the slums in Nanjing.

Lin Efeng naturally couldn’t refuse, and set off with the foreign students the next day.

Nanjing’s slums are concentrated in the northwest urban area, and there were even paddy fields in the middle of the Ming Dynasty. There are many low hills there, only the area along the river is relatively prosperous, and the houses farther away from the river are all dilapidated houses.

Standing on the bridge, Lin Efeng introduced: “I have been to Nanjing several times. The goods in the city are transported from this river to the city gate on the west, and then enter the Yangtze River through the Qinhuai River. You can also go directly to the north, but the goods cannot be transported by boat. , needs to be transported to the wharf by mules and horses. Therefore, the banks of the river here are very prosperous, but the streets behind the river are slums.”

Hotita Yoshimasa asked: “Are there no beggars in the slums of Nanjing?”

“No,” Lin Efeng explained, “if a disabled person really has no relatives, he will be sent to a nursing home by the government. If he has relatives but abandons the disabled person, the government will punish him severely. People with able-bodied hands and feet , begging along the street will be ridiculed, and will be arrested by the government to immigrate to the north. In the past, they immigrated to Hebei and Liaoning, but now they move to Heilongjiang, Tibet and overseas.”

Hotta Yoshimasa asked: “There are so many ronin and beggars in Edo, why didn’t the shogunate emigrate in large numbers?”

Lin Efeng smiled wryly and said: “Organizing immigrants is not exile criminals, it costs a lot of money. Moreover, Edo ronin also have immigrants. They are shipped overseas and many of them go to China’s coastal cities and overseas territories. Chinese officials are worried about ronin. If there are too many, there will be chaos, and those who have no jobs will be removed by the Chinese government. I heard that there are two to three hundred vagrants in Heilongjiang alone, and they are scattered and placed in remote villages.”

The so-called Heilongjiang here is actually Siberia…

Many of the ronin who were thrown to Siberia were hired by businessmen as bodyguards. After all, people in poor mountains and bad waters should not only guard against the natives, but also guard against wild animals in the mountains and forests.

The imperial court still has strict restrictions. The number of ronin in each Siberian settlement must not exceed one-third of the Han people. Each caravan employs no more than ten ronin. All ronin must change their Chinese names and wear Han clothing.

“Crackling…”

The international students walked through the streets and alleys along the river, and before they came to the slums, they heard a burst of firecrackers.

Hotita Yoshi was looking over, but it was a row of six-storey small buildings, he turned back and asked Lin Efeng: “You said this is a slum?”

Lin Efeng was also a little dumbfounded: “The last time I came to Nanjing, there were still low earth walls here. Some houses don’t even have earth walls, just sheds built with waste wood.”

The crowd continued to move forward and saw many civilians moving.

Their furniture is very old, but everyone is wearing new clothes, men, women and children are all beaming.

Lin Efeng stepped forward quickly and asked an old man: “Old man, are you going to live in those new houses?”

The old man said with a smile: “Thanks to the blessing of Long Live God, I will live in a big house.”

“How much did you pay for the house?” Lin Efeng asked.

The old man smiled so much that his eyes narrowed: “Long live God, you don’t need money to live in a big house.”

Lin Efeng turned around and came back to explain that the Japanese students were dumbfounded. The Chinese emperor actually built houses for the poor at the bottom for free…what the hell!

The population inside and outside Nanjing is increasing, and the surrounding area of Xuanwu Lake is almost finished.

So the government focused on the slums in the northwest city, but after all, they were under the emperor’s feet, and the magistrate of Shangyuan dared not do anything casually. After the Bingming court, Zhao Han personally came up with the idea of real estate development.

First, the government of Shangyuan County came forward to determine the list of merchants willing to invest.

These merchants took out their silver and entrusted the builders to repair the houses, and the government was responsible for the demolition work.

The six-story building is very tall, especially the cement grades are constantly improving, and concrete prefabricated panels are also used, which makes the construction cost of the building drop rapidly. A large area of low-level civilians in Nanjing can be properly housed in a few rows of buildings, and the vacated land is sold to businessmen to build shops.

People in the slums can’t get a penny of compensation, but they can pick up a new house for free.

No one is a nail shop, and everyone is very happy.

After all, the ancient court demolished and relocated, often regardless of the life and death of ordinary people, let alone get new houses after demolition.

These six-story buildings have no sewer pipes.

It’s not a technical problem. The official roads are fired with coarse porcelain, and it can also be used in walls. But if you do that, you have to dig the sewer, which is too complicated.

The usual feces and urine of the common people are packed in the toilet and sold to the excrement collectors every morning, and a penny or two is considered an income. As for drinking water, several wells were kept nearby, and I used buckets to fetch water and carried it upstairs.

The officials in Shangyuan County all admire Emperor Zhao from the bottom of their hearts. This method is too ingenious.

The common people got new houses, merchants got shops, and the government changed the backward appearance of slums (political achievements). It can be said that everyone is happy, everyone benefits!

That’s because no developer makes a profit by selling houses.

Businessmen only want land and shops, and the money for buying land is used to build houses for demolished households.

Lin Efeng continued to walk north with the foreign students, and finally a normal picture appeared.

There are shantytowns over there!

The people in these shanty towns are running to the south to watch the new building in groups at this moment, their eyes are full of envy. They also want to be demolished, and they also want to live in buildings for free.

Many people were invited to visit the house, and the demolition households could not help showing off, while the visitors began to find faults in the house.

“Everything is good in this house, but the building is too high, and there are several floors up and down every day, which is very inconvenient for the elderly.”

“Hey, my dad’s running fast.”

“It’s not convenient to carry water.”

“Don’t be afraid, the poor are working hard. Working hard for the boss is making money, and working hard for yourself feels comfortable.”

“The house is too high, and the cold wind can be very strong in winter.”

“The poor, bear the cold.”

“Oh, why don’t you demolish my dilapidated house?”

“Haha, your house is too far away from the river, and you have to pay for building a shop?”

“You are still very lucky.”

“Thanks to Lord Long Live, it is not such a good thing to meet other emperors. The neighbors in our area have agreed that after moving in, every family will enshrine the tablet of the late emperor.”

“…”

Zhao Han is not dead yet, so it is not appropriate to enshrine his tablet, so let’s enshrine Zhao Han’s lost father.

Putting it in the previous court, this practice is beyond the system, and if you are caught, you will be beheaded. But the new dynasty didn’t have so many rules, as long as it was out of respect, commoners could also enshrine the tablet of the late emperor.

Hotita Yoshi was visiting the shanty town and found that although it was very poor, the environment was very clean. There are a few houses that are relatively new, because the owners have made money and renovated them—although they are still low earth-walled houses after the renovation, they can at least stand out from the neighbors in the neighborhood.

Hotita Yoshimasa suddenly asked: “Where is the factory with the steam engine?”

Lin Efeng said: “They are all in the suburbs. Steam factories are not allowed to be set up in places that are too close to the city wall. Moreover, foreigners are not allowed to visit unless there is a document from Honglu Temple.”

“Then can we apply for the paperwork?” Hotta Yoshimasa asked.

Lin Efeng shook his head: “I applied, but Honglu Temple didn’t approve at all.”

Hotita Yoshimasa asked again: “At Jinling University, can I learn how to make a steam engine?”

“Yes,” Lin Efeng said, “but foreign students are not allowed to study related subjects. But you can subscribe to the magazine of Qintianyuan, buy books from students at a high price, and after buying the magazines and textbooks, quietly Learn to understand.”

(end of this chapter)