Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 417 Summer Palace
Chengde prefect Shu Baiqing and prefectural magistrate Yang Shouqin greeted the imperial carriage outside Xifengkou.

"Lord Zhongzhen, you can escort the queen and the others to the Summer Palace first." Zhu Changluo got off the carriage and said, "Come on, follow me to Kuancheng and Pingquan, and then go to the Summer Palace."

After Qin Liangyu received the order, the team was divided into two waves.

The large force headed northwest, taking boats up the Yanluan River to Chengde City.

Zhu Changluo, accompanied by Li Ruoxing, Shu Baiqing, Yang Shouqin and others, went upstream along the Kuan River to the northeast, heading towards Kuancheng and Pingquan on both sides of the river.

After watching the fleet sail north, Zhu Changluo asked, "Where can we go on the Luan River?"

"Your Majesty, if we only talk about sailing, we can reach Xingzhou. But the boats are only available from April to November every year. After passing Zhangbaiwan and going upstream, we need boatmen to reach the outside of Xingzhou. Going upstream from Zhangbaiwan, the river level varies by nearly ten feet every two miles." Shu Baiqing first explained the situation, and then hurriedly said, "This is only possible after we took office, when we issued notices to dredge the river because of the construction of various cities. The Mongols have been entrenched here for a long time, and the river management work during the reign of Emperor Taizu has long been abandoned..."

"With the terrain like this, it's already difficult for ships to reach Xingzhou." Zhu Changluo naturally didn't blame him, "Let's go. Kuanhe is called Kuanhe. There may be mountain torrents in midsummer. You're right not to arrange boats."

"Your Majesty, thank you for your hard work." Shu Baiqing felt relieved and quickly continued to report his work.

The Luan River was once very important. The first person to use this waterway was Cao Cao. When he defeated Yuan Shao and went north to conquer the Wuhuan, he ordered the construction of the Pinglu Canal and the Quanzhou Canal to regulate the middle and lower reaches of the Luan River system.

When Li Shimin went on an expedition to Goryeo, he first used ships to transport many supplies to the area of ​​present-day Dagu, and then entered the Luan River estuary from the sea and transported them to the then Lulong.

The Mongols valued the Luan River more because Shangdu, now Kaiping City, was located upstream of the Luan River. At that time, there was a special water transport office for the Luan River. "After the Luan River was dredged, 500 ships, 10000 sailors and 2.4 boatmen were prepared for water transport to Shangdu and Kaiping." In order to ensure the supply of materials to Shangdu, the Luan River was once very prosperous.

In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, there were also operations on the Luan River water transport. However, after that, the Ming Dynasty could only hide behind the border wall. The upper and middle reaches of the Luan River outside the border wall were actually controlled by the Mongols. How could they manage water transport?
The Zhang Baiwan mentioned by Shu Baiqing refers to the Halahetao area.

After the Luan River flows from the upper reaches to this place, the river channel begins to widen and the drop begins to decrease, and the navigation conditions become much better.

Going further upstream, it is indeed as Shu Baiqing said, the water level drop is more than three meters per kilometer of the river, the river is narrow, and the banks are steep, making it very difficult to sail.

From Kaiping to Zhangbaiwan, the riverbed height drops by more than one mile, which cannot be changed by human power.

Zhu Changluo had to go to Kuancheng and Pingquan first. The Kuan River, where these two counties are located, was also not a gentle river. It was also called the Leopard River because it was prone to fierce floods in summer and the sound was like a tiger or leopard. Normally, the water flow was gentle, but once a mountain torrent came, the river water could surge by as much as one or two thousand times.

Therefore, for the sake of the emperor's safety, it is of course safer to take the land route.

After listening to them talk about the achievements of Chengde Prefecture in the past two years, Zhu Changluo turned his head to look at Yang Shouqin behind him with a smile on his face: "Kezhi has really been able to control his arrogance now. Listen to what Prefect Shu said, you, as the prefect, have been able to do solid work in the past two years."

"…Your Majesty, I am ashamed of your praise." Yang Shouqin lowered his head. "As the top scholar, I am far inferior to Shu Futai in practical matters. Since you have the trust of your Majesty and the court, and have entrusted me with the important task of Chengde Prefecture, I will always put practical matters first, and hope to achieve more results to repay your grace."

"You were only delayed for three years. After returning to Beijing, you are still as diligent as your name suggests. You two are the first officials of Chengde Prefecture. You can earnestly subdue the border residents and appease the relocated people. This is not to repay my kindness, but to contribute to the country and the people."

The two expressed their gratitude profusely.

Needless to say, Shu Baiqing's experience is very touching. Although he is still the prefect of Chengde, it is because Chengde Prefecture, as a newly developed actual territory and a pilot for local reform, has unlimited prospects.

Yang Shouqin also entered the fast lane.

Zhu Changluo joked that he was able to control his pride now because of a joke that happened after he won the top spot in the imperial examination in the fourth year of Taichang.

It is said that when he went to Beijing to take the imperial examination, he ran out of money and went to a former classmate who was the magistrate of Yangzhou to borrow money. However, the magistrate only wrote "check your name" on his visiting card and returned it to him. Yang Shouqin left quietly.

After many setbacks, he finally arrived in the capital and ranked first in both the joint examination and the palace examination. In addition, he had been the champion in one of the five classics in the provincial examination. Although he was not the champion in the whole examination, the court and the public were still amazed that another person had won the top three prizes in a row.

The magistrate's classmate naturally apologized, but Yang Shouqin returned the gift and wrote him a poem in return: I am traveling to Chang'an with my luggage, who will pity Uncle Fan at this time? A message to the wise governor of Jiangnan: To check the names, you must look at the top of the list.

The dissatisfaction with that experience is clearly evident on the paper.

But isn't this due to his personal character?
To be honest, if it was the seventh year of Taichang, he probably would not have won the title of No. 1. The fourth year of Taichang was the last year of the old examination system, and Yang Shouqin was already over 40 at that time. He was still a juren in his 40s, so it was not surprising that his classmate, the county magistrate, did not take his visiting card seriously.

Moreover, the county magistrate is at least the chief official of a county, and he probably has countless visiting cards on weekdays, and many people try every means to get in touch with him, and there are many cases of impersonation. If he is busy and asks his subordinates to check whether it is the real owner first, and the subordinates are too lazy to do it, this situation is not uncommon.

Afterwards, the other party came to apologize. If Yang Shouqin had been more mature, why would he have bothered? But he wrote a poem to ridicule the other party and even circulated it.

Even if he had not returned to his hometown to observe mourning for his mother for three years, it would have been difficult for Yang Shouqin to have a smooth journey after he first entered the officialdom.

Now that he is working together with Shu Baiqing, a veteran official, Zhu Changluo naturally gave him the opportunity to learn well.

After all, being able to become the top scholar in that subject meant that there was nothing wrong with his talent. In a newly established prefecture like Chengde Prefecture, where the people were mainly naturalized foreigners, Han people who had fled to the border, and Han people who had relocated, a person with a big enough reputation, who was less polluted by the officialdom, and who had a rather serious character was needed to neutralize Shu Baiqing, the old-fashioned man.

Zhu Changluo went to Kuancheng and Pingquan counties to see what the current situation was like there.

The valley of Kuanhe River, especially the Pingquan area, was formerly called Chahanhetao.

In the past two years, the two most exciting things in Chengde Prefecture are: one is large-scale construction, and the other is large-scale land reclamation.

Large-scale construction was going on in almost every county town, village and town, because the Doyan and other tribes that had previously occupied this area had different living habits from the Kalaqin and did not have that scale of construction workers.

Nowadays, of course, Ming Dynasty architecture is the main focus.

The same is true for cultivating fertile land. Why should we use such good river valleys and riverbeds to raise livestock? The output and stability are not as good as more sophisticated farming.

Shu Baiqing introduced the land sales in the past two years: "The larger rivers on both sides will become good farmland after the canals are built and improved in the future. Except for the Wulie River Valley where the Summer Palace is located, which was sold to the Zongminghao for grain storage, the rest were sold to Han people who settled in Chengde Prefecture. The big households received cash, and the small households signed contracts and collected more land taxes every year. The naturalized border residents who are still willing to graze will be settled in the enclosure..."

After all the twists and turns, since the emperor set up a summer palace here, the mountains and part of the original grassland in the north of Chengde Prefecture became a livestock breeding area like Mulan Paddock like in later generations.

However, unlike Mulan Hunting Ground which was used by the Qing royal family to hold the autumn hunting ceremony, the hunting grounds in Chengde Prefecture are now under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Guard Command, and are considered a cavalry base for the Yongwei Camp and the Tianshu Camp.

The Mongolian people and other naturalized border residents who have not left the area are now working for Zhu Changluo.

Their "taxes" were paid in the form of providing war horses, which were usually managed by the Tunmu Hall under the Privy Council, but they were also free to go to Chengde Prefecture to trade with the Han people for what they needed.

The circulation is free, implementing Zhu Changluo's idea of ​​"unity between Han and barbarians".

"Just keep doing it the way it is now." After walking around Pingquan, Zhu Changluo affirmed their work results. "It's not easy to reclaim wasteland. It will take several years to see results. Make good use of the five-year tax exemption period and cherish the people's strength. While they are all motivated, lay a good foundation for water conservancy, roads and bridges. I only see that many herdsmen are selling livestock and buying what they need without fear, and I know that you are well aware of what the court needs you to do."

Shu Baiqing and Yang Shouqin said they would continue to work hard.

Of course they have to work hard, and they may only need to serve this term to be promoted. Those who have experience in local reform are of course scarce talents at the moment.

Just like those officials in Liaoning Province, if they didn't know that this experience would be of great benefit to them in the future, how could so many people be willing to go to such a cold and bitter place?
"There is one more important thing to look at, and that is we should go to the capital." Zhu Changluo then asked Gong Nai, "Have all the people from the northern border tribes arrived?"

Gong Nai was as obedient as a chicken: "In reply to your Majesty, the decree has arrived and we will set off after the winter snow melts. The reply from the Summer Palace has arrived, and all the princes have arrived in Chengde Prefecture in person."

Zhu Changluo nodded and said, "Then let's set off for Chengde Prefecture. This time, they didn't even go to the Lianliao Grand Prix, but came here specifically for you, the chief of the Northern Frontier Division of the Lifanyuan."

"I will definitely work with you princes to take care of all diplomatic affairs."

Gong Nai sighed silently in his heart.

When Huguang was about to be divided into two provinces, he, the Huguang Inspector, was transferred to the Northern Frontier Division of the Lifanyuan. Although his rank was the third rank, he would have to deal with the barbarians in the Northern Frontier from then on.

How can a provincial official feel comfortable like this?
But a transfer order is a transfer order, and what’s more, the emperor is saying so now?

He also knew what the other thing the emperor was talking about was, which was the Northern Frontier Academy established in Chengde Prefecture.

His previous official position was inspector of education, so he is familiar with it.

But can the children of the barbarians and nobles in the northern border really learn something good in the Ming Dynasty?

At this moment, Lindan Batur had indeed arrived in Chengde Prefecture in person.

He is very familiar with this place.

The last time he came here, he brought the Khan's army and was ambitious in the Khara River area not far to the southwest.

Now, he came with his younger brother, Tu.

"Remember what I said! Just learn here obediently, no matter how they prepare to teach you!"

(End of this chapter)