Although the conditions in the capital are much better than those in Liaodong, Li Xianzhong is cautious every time he returns here, for fear of something unexpected happening.
Among these emperors, Wanli was the best to him. Although Wanli was greedy for money, Li Xianzhong could always control his fate.
Taichang, the "January Emperor", was promoted to power by the Donglin Party members and directly sent himself to prison. Naturally, Li Xianzhong had a very bad impression of him.
I originally thought that Zhu Youxiao, the carpenter emperor, would be easier to deal with than his lecherous father, but I didn't expect that Emperor Tianqi was pretending to be a pig and eating the tiger.
Maybe even the most difficult of the three emperors.
It's easy to fall into his trap if you're not careful.
This time, the opening of the horse market, the abolition of Ningyuan Road, and the imperial court's collection of business taxes caused Li Xianzhong's income to shrink a lot.
Especially the 200,000 acres of fertile land given to Wei Zhongxian really made Li Xianzhong feel pain.
If he hadn't slaughtered a lot of the Kong family in Qufu in the name of going on an expedition, he would have suffered a heavy loss this time!
It seems that it is better for the capital master himself to come less often.
The only good thing is that I can be with my family. Currently, my eldest son Li Shengzu is less than two years old, so I don’t have to worry about education for the time being.
The mortality rate of newborns in this era was very high, especially those infected with the smallpox virus.
Although the Ming Dynasty did not have the technology to plant cowpox, China has begun to inoculate "variolus" since the Tang Dynasty.
The so-called "variolation" is the active inoculation of the virus from smallpox patients into people.
Use a repeatedly cauterized silver needle to scratch a few times on the pimples caused by smallpox patients, and then use it to prick the skin of another normal person. In addition, there are also acne scab method, dry acne method, etc. The principles are basically the same.
This person will soon have a small bump at the site of the vaccination and will develop a fever. But once you survive the dangerous period, you will gain long-lasting immunity to smallpox.
Of course, vaccination against "variolus" is definitely risky, but according to hundreds of years of experience, the mortality rate of active vaccination against "variola" is very low, only about one-fiftieth.
This is much lower than the mortality rate of about 30% due to passive infection with smallpox.
People infected with smallpox under natural conditions are those with poor immunity and live in a poor environment, so the mortality rate of the virus is very high.
But on the one hand, artificial vaccination is because the patient himself is healthy and has no problem with his immunity.
In addition, the dose of virus inoculated is very small, so the mortality rate is not high.
By the Northern Song Dynasty, due to widespread vaccination against "variola", there were actually very few cases of adult smallpox infection in the Central Plains.
Because they have been vaccinated against "variola" in their early childhood.
Of course, "variolus" also has side effects. In addition to a certain probability of death, there is also a certain possibility of becoming pockmarked.
His eldest son will rule the world in the future, and it would be absolutely outrageous if he really has pockmarks.
Therefore, Li Xianzhong vaccinated his eldest son Li Shengzu with cowpox. In fact, the steps were the same as variolation.
Cowpox can be understood as the smallpox virus in cattle. This virus was transmitted to humans through contact in the early stages, so milking girls are the most beautiful because they will not be infected with smallpox.
Li Shengzu's body is still in good shape. After all, he has been breastfed since he was a child, and he does not have to starve or suffer from cold. His physique is obviously larger than that of children of the same age.
At present, there are several teachers in the Liao government. Li Xianzhong requires Haqiya, Hailanzhu and Bumubutai to learn Chinese culture.
However, they did not need to take the imperial examination. In addition to the enlightenment textbooks, Li Xianzhong usually asked them to study the parts of classics and history that interested them.
They were also asked to learn from some female workers of Han women.
It has to be said that Bumubutai, the youngest among these people, is the most talented. Not only does he like to read history, he can even write some poems.
As for his son, Li Xianzhong decided to start literacy education after he was three years old, and first let him have some childhood play time of his own.
After all, the probability of a child dying before the age of three is very high. If you educate him too early, it will be a waste of energy if he does not survive.
In addition, Li Xianzhong also asked Mao Yuanyi to arrange for Haqia to have some contact with those noble ladies. After all, dignified ladies of the country must learn to communicate.
Under Li Xianzhong's guidance, Haziya has achieved some success in her mahjong skills, and she can still make some extra money by playing cards on weekdays.
Usually, under the covert protection of their guards, they often visit the markets in the capital, and even go to wine shops to spend money.
Li Xianzhong still owed something to Haqiya and Hailanzhu.
After all, the total time I spent with them in a year didn't add up to many days.
Hai Lanzhu is a little better. After all, she is just his concubine. The little girl can sometimes go to Liaodong to find him.
Haziya is his head wife. To put it bluntly, she is a hostage stranded in the capital. She must not leave the capital easily.
In order to make up for his debt, Li Xianzhong bought them a hundred acres of land south of Shichahai in the capital to plant flowers.
Although Shichahai is not a prime location in the capital, Li Xianzhong still carried out a lot of demolition work for this one hundred acres of land.
Whether it was the houses of officials and wealthy merchants in the capital or the houses of ordinary people, they were all bought and demolished.
Just buying the land cost 58,000 taels of silver. This was for the sake of the Duke of Liao, otherwise many people would not move at all.
The purchase of land to grow flowers this time has caused a sensation in the capital.
It's not because of Li Xianzhong's expense. There are many luxury houses in better locations than here in the capital.
The main reason is that the Duke of Liao bought such a large piece of land to grow flowers. Isn't this a complete waste of money?
The most you can buy for a hundred acres of land in the suburbs of Beijing is 2,000 taels.
Soon after this magnificent garden covering an area of 100 acres was built.
In addition to the common roses, crabapples and peace flowers in the capital.
A large number of jasmine flowers are also planted, as well as roses and tulips imported from traders from the country of Rumi (Turkey).
Li Xianzhong, who had a divine perspective, had a special liking for tulips. He spent a lot of money to recruit gardeners from Rumi and the best gardeners from the Ming Dynasty to cultivate tulips.
Once the "Tulip Craze" takes off in the Netherlands, these little tulips will become the ultimate weapon against the Dutch.
At that time, the wealth that the Dutch worked so hard to plunder from all over the world will fall into Li Xianzhong's pocket because of this little tulip.
However, the current climate in the capital is still relatively cold, which is not conducive to the growth of these flowers.
So Li Xianzhong ordered people to use newly produced glass to build a large solar greenhouse.
In fact, glass was invented very early. The ancient Egyptians mastered the firing technology of colored glass in almost 3000 BC.
China had mastered the glass making technology as early as the Western Zhou Dynasty.
China had already mastered the technique of glassblowing in the Tang Dynasty, but it did not develop much since then.
There are two difficulties that restrict glass from becoming a common commodity. One is the discoloration of the glass, and the other is the manufacturing process of large glass.
In fact, transparent glass is very easy to make. In addition to silica sand, just add trona (sodium carbonate) and fire it together with limestone.
The difficulty lies in the temperature of the blast furnace, which must be at least 1,500 degrees to produce glass with good transparency.
With the help of Tang Ruowang and Song Yingxing, the blast furnace temperature in Pinglubao has easily exceeded 1800 degrees.
Highly transparent glass has been produced by Pinglubao before.
Although the Italians had mastered modern glass manufacturing technology in the 13th century, it was not until 1688 that a man named Nave invented the process of making large pieces of glass, and glass became a common item from then on.
Li Xianzhong shamelessly plagiarized the Naf process, allowing Pinglubao's glass workshop to produce large pieces of glass.
Under the sunlight, the large expanses of glass shine like sparkling waterfalls.
They reflect dazzling light, as bright as stars, making people afraid to look directly. The combination of sunlight and glass creates a unique and spectacular picture that leaves people awestruck.
These glass and flowers quickly attracted people's attention and became a new landmark of the capital.
Ordinary people of the Ming Dynasty have naturally never seen such large pieces of glass, and only think that these are made of crystal.
And this garden also has a new name "Crystal Garden".
It is rumored that Li Xianzhong, the Duke of Liao, spent millions of taels of silver to build such a "crystal garden" in order to express his apology for not being able to accompany the Duke's wife in the capital for a long time.
Many censors even impeached Li Xianzhong for building such a crystal garden for his extravagance and regardless of the lives of the people.
But Li Xianzhong was given enough money when he moved, and there was no forced sale.
Although these buildings are very novel, they do not violate the regulations and use any decorations that should not be used.
Emperor Tianqi naturally ignored it.
But not long after, Li Xianzhong presented a batch of perfume in frosted translucent glass bottles to Zhu Youxiao.
It is said that it is made from these flowers.
This unique glass bottle, with its gilt nozzle and the fragrance of the perfume, quickly became popular in the harem.
Soon after, Jingshi went out and opened the first perfume store.
There are two types: simple version and hardcover version.
The simple version is a copper nozzle and an ordinary glass bottle, priced at 20 taels of silver.
The hardcover version sold for 50 taels of silver.
Surprisingly, in addition to the dignitaries in the capital, eunuchs also became the main consumers of this perfume.
The eunuchs often had urinary incontinence after castration, so they had a foul smell on their bodies. Although they carried sachets with them, they could not hide the smell.
So in addition to the original jasmine and rose scents, Li Xianzhong specially prepared a comprehensive scent for the eunuchs in the palace.
Although the perfume does not last long, they are mainly sprayed when meeting important people.
Mainly those eunuchs in charge who have a good reputation. Naturally, ordinary young eunuchs cannot afford such luxuries.
Along with perfume, glass has also become popular.
Li Xianzhong's perfume store adopts a glass facade and glass display cabinet design.
The application of glass windows became popular.
Compared with perfume, glass is actually the most profitable. Some shops and the mansions of wealthy people also began to purchase glass windows, and soon glass became popular in the capital.
The price of large pieces of glass is not cheap. A piece of glass three feet (1 meter) long and wide costs 50 taels of silver.
In order to sell high prices for a long time, Li Xianzhong started hunger marketing. Those who wanted glass had to book in advance.
Relying on glass and perfume, Li Xianzhong earned 60,000 taels of silver in the first month.
If these things become popular in Jiangnan, the profits can be doubled several times.
Although the common people at the bottom could hardly survive, the gentry class of the Ming Dynasty still lived a life of extravagance and wealth.
Li Xianzhong's behavior of purchasing properties in the capital not only did not arouse Emperor Tianqi's dissatisfaction, but made him feel more relieved about Li Xianzhong.
It is better for Li Xianzhong to spend his money on buying land and building luxurious gardens than to save his money for evil purposes.
Zhu Youxiao hoped that the Duke of Liao would indulge in the gentle countryside of the capital every day.
In fact, Zhu Youxiao did not prevent Li Xianzhong from returning to Liaodong. He could have returned long ago.
The reason why he stayed in the capital was so that he could spend time with his wife and children. After all, it was rare for him to come back once, and his son almost didn't recognize him.
By the way, we can also expand our industry and make some money.
The most important thing is that now it is discovered that Zhu Youxiao is not simple. He did this to confuse the carpenter emperor and reassure him.
When he told them that he was about to return to Liaodong, the little girl Hai Lanzhu cried so hard that she couldn't stop crying.
She snuggled into Li Xianzhong's arms and said, "That Wei Liangqing is obsessed with me. It's not safe for me to stay in the capital. I want to follow the Duke back to Liaodong!"
Originally, he wanted to officially accept Hai Lanzhu next year, but now Abahai has temporarily returned to Azig. In the end, he couldn't stand Hai Lanzhu's persistence and took her with him.
Soon the two of them boarded a warship returning to Liaodong.
This little girl was originally a beauty, but now she is gradually growing and becoming more alluring.
Li Xianzhong decided to deal with her in advance. If Wei Liangqing persisted in his evil intentions, wouldn't he suffer a big loss?
In the end, the two hugged each other tightly. The moment their lips touched, Li Xianzhong knew that he had completely fallen.
After all, Hai Lanzhu was new to human affairs. How could he withstand the torment of a veteran like Li Xianzhong?
After a while, he started to beg for mercy!
But it's strange that the face of the holy lady guest Yinyue appeared in Li Xianzhong's mind at this time.
Especially Ke Yinyue's proud twin peaks were much larger than the Hai Lanzhu in front of her.
It is said that Zhu Youxiao often suffers from insomnia. Even at such an old age, he still needs to be accompanied by Ke Yinyue to fall asleep. I don't know what the relationship between the two is like?
What Li Xianzhong has to do now is to wait, waiting for the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River to be unable to bear the eunuch's taxation, and conflicts break out; waiting for the people of Shaanxi to rise up because of successive years of drought, and waiting for the Ming Dynasty to enter chaos again.
Soon Li Xianzhong came to Liaoyang.
Li Xianzhong's Liao government is still located in Kaiyuan, but currently Yan Mingtai, governor of Jiliao, and Zhang Wenbing, governor of Liaodong, are both in Liaoyang.
Zhang Wenbing said: "Currently, more than 200,000 refugees brought from Shandong have been resettled in the newly established Pinglu County (formerly Hetuala) and Kuandian Liubao."
"The governor's office in Liaodong lent them some grain and seeds, enough to last them until next year."
Li Xianzhong said: "His Majesty has agreed to reinstate the Nurgan Dusi. Our first task at present is to select officials and establish the main strongholds."
After Li Xianzhong finished speaking, Zhang Wenbing and Yan Mingtai looked at each other, both looking very helpless.
Yan Mingtai said: "His Majesty's decree was conveyed to Liaodong last month, but Nurgan Dusi is also very far away from Liaodong, and it is also very cold. Even survival there is a big problem, and no officials are willing to go there."
Nuergandusi was formerly the Marshal Zhengdong Mansion of Liaoyang Province in the Yuan Dynasty.
The Nurgan Dusi Administrative Office is located in the Telin area on the east bank of the confluence of the Heilongjiang River estuary in the lower reaches of the Heilongjiang River today. It is about 300 miles away from the Heilongjiang estuary and nearly 4,500 miles away from Liaoyang.
Li Xianzhong said: "Nu'er Gandusi will definitely not be able to reach the goal in one go. The original administrative center is too far away."
Then he asked someone to take out a map and said: "This is the mouth of the Ussuri River. The port conditions are very good. Although it is located far north, ships can freely enter and exit most of the year. ice-free port.”
Yan Mingtai said: "It's incredible that there is such a port so far north."
Li Xianzhong said: "The Liaodong Navy once docked nearby and determined that there was a place suitable for building a deep-water port."
"So I decided to build a large port here first to facilitate the transportation of supplies, and then made this port the new seat of Nurgan Dusi."
Once the port is built, it will only take more than ten days to get there from Port Arthur, which is very convenient for transporting people and materials.
The original Nurgan Dusi needed to be approached by land and water from the northeast, a distance of 4,500 miles, and it would take 2 to 3 months just to get there.
To be honest, more food was eaten along the way than was delivered, and once winter hit the rivers, the rivers would begin to freeze, making transportation even more difficult.
This was also the reason why Ming Dynasty finally gave up on Nurgan Dusi. The price was too high.
And those places have no output at all, so it’s really not worth it.
Nowadays, taking the sea route is completely different. Sea transportation is much more efficient, and supply is not a problem at all.
At this time, Zhang Wenbing said: "There is someone who once asked about Nurgan Dusi. He is an official who was dismissed from Ningyuan Road this time. Ningyuan Bingqian serves Yuan Chonghuan."
Damn, isn’t this the famous Governor Yuan in history?
Now that his mentor Sun Chengzong has no chance to come to Liaodong, Yuan Chonghuan naturally has no one to promote him.
In addition, he was stationed in Ningyuan, so he had no chance to kill the enemy and make meritorious deeds, and naturally he would not be promoted.
Vladivostok is so far away that no one wants to go.
If Li Xianzhong designated his confidants to go, it would be equivalent to cutting off an arm.
After much deliberation, it was easier for Yuan Chonghuan.
Soon Yuan Chonghuan was appointed as the commander of Nuergandu (the third grade). He led 500 Ming troops, 1,000 Korean laborers, and 3,000 refugees from Shandong to Vladivostok to rebuild Nuergandusi.
Li Xianzhong asked for an edict to appoint Beile Buyangu and Jin Taiji of the Ye He tribe as the commanders of Ye He's left and right guard capitals. Department) was included in the scope of Nuergandusi.
Azig, who had surrendered before, was arranged by Li Xianzhong to this vast area east of Changbai Mountain and north of the Tumen River.
Li Xianzhong requested an edict to appoint Azig as the commander of the Jianzhou Left Guard, and clearly divided the two Koreas occupied by Daishan into the scope of the Jianzhou Left Guard.
And Azig is also preparing to regain his Jianzhou left guard!
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(End of chapter)
