Chapter 435
New Capital
...
The new capital of the Song Dynasty, Beijing, adopted the layout of the "Four Nines City" system planned by the Ming Dynasty in history.
Undoubtedly, this was Zhang Chun's suggestion, and Zhao Yu issued an order to carry it out.
To satisfy her obsessive-compulsive disorder, Zhang Chun named the vast majority of Beijing's cities, including city gates, streets, and palaces.
Of course, the Beijing of the Song Dynasty could not possibly be the same Beijing that was established by the Ming Dynasty in history.
Although the layout of the city remained the same, Zhao Yu and Zhang Chun knew the future development trend. For example, the main roads of Beijing were widened to be wide enough for twenty carriages to travel side by side, allowing the roads to run through all directions.
Take Zhengyang Street inside Zhengyang Gate as an example. It is over 30 zhang wide and is entirely made of concrete. It is almost identical to the Zhengyang Street of later generations.
These wide roads and streets, crisscrossing like a chessboard, with main thoroughfares such as Dongdan North Street, Xidan South Street, and Wangfujing Street interwoven with countless alleys, and shops lining the streets stretching to the horizon, already possessing a magnificent atmosphere of "all corners of the world vying to gather, and all nations communicating."
The Imperial Street, also known as Chang'an Avenue, is the central axis of the city. It stretches for dozens of miles, starting from the Meridian Gate of the Forbidden City in the north, passing through Tiananmen and Zhengyangmen in the south, and reaching Yongdingmen in the south of the outer city. It was the only way for the emperor to worship his ancestors and to make imperial tours.
The road surface of the Imperial Street was specially treated so that it could not only carry horse-drawn carriages, rickshaws, and automobiles, but also run on the trams that the Song Dynasty had just developed.
Although the tram is not fast, it is stable and comfortable, environmentally friendly and pollution-free. It runs every ten minutes and each tram can carry dozens of people. Some officials who want to show off their incorruptibility like to take this new mode of transportation to and from court.
Of course, many officials still prefer to travel by horse-drawn carriage, sedan chair, or car for privacy and to avoid trouble.
I won't go into detail about horse-drawn carriages and sedan chairs. Although they have undergone many improvements under the Industrial Revolution, they have not completely deviated from their original forms.
Let's just talk about this car.
After more than a decade of rapid development, cars now resemble and perform like those from the Republican era.
This has made cars the most ideal mode of transportation for many officials.
Zhao Yu also encouraged officials to travel by car, and often rewarded those who had made meritorious contributions with cars.
Thus, one can see rickshaw pullers pulling rubber rickshaws, shuttling between horse-drawn carriages, cars, and trams.
In addition, a large number of wooden bicycles would be loaded with goods, transporting silk from Jiangnan, spices from Lingnan, and coal from the north to various shops or households throughout the city.
Entertainment venues can be seen everywhere along both sides of the Imperial Street.
There were more than fifty entertainment venues of various sizes, where traditional arts such as singing, variety shows, and historical storytelling were performed in turn.
Among the stalls around Wazi, in addition to traditional businesses such as selling medicine, fortune telling, and food, there are also new stalls selling "matches," "soap," and "cigarettes."
The taverns and teahouses were extremely prosperous. Large establishments had magnificent gates decorated with colorful silks and embroidered banners at their entrances, which complemented the modern glass windows.
It's worth mentioning that there are also quite a few hotels in the city run by foreigners.
Their shop's sign reads "Hu Ji," which refers to foreign women who work as waitresses and perform songs and dances.
It evokes a strong sense of "Hu prostitutes are as beautiful as flowers, and their smiles are like a spring breeze."
Many people are drawn into the store by these foreign women who are so different from Chinese women, and spend lavishly there.
Foot shops offer a wide variety of goods, including not only traditional foods but also canned goods and new-style pastries produced in factories. Foot shops selling shaved ice, ice cream, soft drinks, and other refreshing summer items are found everywhere.
The city is home to people from all walks of life: farmers, merchants, officials, scholars, monks, and doctors come and go in an endless stream. Among them are many new faces that should not have appeared in this era: factory workers in overalls. Their numbers in the city far exceed those of other industries, which is to say, the number of farmers scattered throughout the countryside is greater than theirs.
Besides Han Chinese, people of various ethnic groups such as Khitan, Jurchen, "Mongol", Xi, and Bohai can be seen everywhere on the streets.
There were also a large number of merchants from Arabia, Persia, and the West traveling back and forth.
Since Zhao Yu ascended the throne, he has vigorously developed maritime trade and made great geographical discoveries. He has also been open to people from all countries who want to come to the Song Dynasty, and even actively helped them to come. As a result, more and more foreigners have come to the Song Dynasty to do business or settle down in recent years.
To put it another way, the Song Dynasty at this time was like the United States in the 1990s, a paradise that people all over the world longed for. People from all countries who had the means wanted to come to the Song Dynasty to develop or settle down.
Emperor Zhao Yu maintained an open attitude towards this, and even introduced policies that allowed foreigners to acquire Song citizenship if they met certain conditions, such as being fluent in Mandarin, having a partner in the Song Dynasty, having paid taxes in the Song Dynasty for ten years, or having made significant contributions to the Song Dynasty.
However, Zhao Yu was very lenient towards the ethnic minorities surrounding the Song Dynasty, such as the Khitan, Jurchen, "Mongol", Xi, Bohai, and Tangut. As long as they grew their hair back, changed their left-fastening robe to right-fastening robe, and could speak Chinese at a level four (meaning they could have the simplest and most basic conversations in Chinese), he allowed them to change their nationality to Han.
In order to support the policy of assimilating the barbarians into Han Chinese and genuinely wanting to provide some benefits to the Han people, Zhao Yu would often find excuses to exempt Han people from taxes or even provide them with some benefits. For example, every year, Han elderly people over sixty years old would be rewarded with a shi of grain and a barrel of oil, and Han children would be given a small amount of writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones when they went to school, and so on.
In addition, other systems were implemented, such as registering people as Han citizens, allocating land, providing resettlement housing, distributing porridge, and providing medical care, etc.
As a result, large numbers of ethnic minorities surrounding the Song Dynasty in the north, including the Khitan, Jurchen, Mongols, Xi, Bohai, and Tangut, quickly and voluntarily became Han Chinese...
Beijing was divided into the outer city, the inner city, and the imperial city. The outer city was where ordinary people made their living and lived.
The inner city was the residence of the powerful and noble families. The left and right wings were filled with the mansions of princes and nobles, with vermilion gates and deep courtyards, stone lions guarding the gates, and complete with mounting stones and hitching posts. There were even underground parking lots. Officials of the third rank and above and prominent families mostly lived here. The streets and alleys were clean and orderly, and there were special guarded markets. Compared with the lively atmosphere of the outer city, it was more dignified and orderly. Those who came and went were all rich and noble, and there was a constant stream of cars and traditional carriages and ceremonial processions.
The Imperial City, located at the heart of Beijing, was the exclusive domain of the royal family. The Forbidden City stood within it, its vermilion walls and yellow tiles stretching for miles. The Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Palace of Heavenly Purity, and other magnificent buildings were the residence of Emperor Zhao Yu, his consorts, princes, and princesses. Eunuchs and palace maids performed their duties, and the imperial guards patrolled day and night. The palace paths between the halls were only open to members of the royal family and specially permitted close officials, exuding an aura of unassailable authority.
……
In the Imperial City, a new agricultural research institute more than ten times larger than the Genyue Wansui Mountain Agricultural Research Institute.
Looking at the rice variety that Yuan Qingcheng had cultivated, which was suitable for growing in the north, Zhao Yu asked, "What are the advantages of this rice?"
Yuan Qingcheng said, "This type of rice can tolerate the low temperatures of spring seedling cultivation and early frost in autumn in the north. Its cold resistance during germination and tillering is better than that of indica rice, and it is not prone to frost damage. Its growth period is 140 to 160 days, which coincides with the effective accumulated temperature in the north from April to October, ensuring maturity. It is tolerant of fertilizer and has strong lodging resistance, making it suitable for large-scale planting in the irrigated plains of the north. It has relatively few pests and diseases, and its yield is very stable, reaching 300 to 400 jin per mu."
After a pause, Yuan Qingcheng continued, "Furthermore, the large temperature difference between day and night in the north allows this type of rice to accumulate sufficient starch, resulting in plump grains, a soft and chewy texture, and a moderate protein content. It is suitable for cooking rice and porridge, making it a rare and excellent rice."
Zhao Yu thought for a moment and asked, "If I designate this rice as royal rice, wouldn't that benefit its development?"
Yuan Qingcheng shook her head, indicating that she did not know.
Zhao Yu thought about it more and more and felt that this was feasible.
For merchants, the title of "royal rice supplier" was the most dazzling banner for pursuing profits.
Zhao Yu estimated that if this type of rice, which can only grow in the north, were designated by him for use in imperial cuisine, its value would inevitably break free from the constraints of ordinary grain prices and skyrocket to a level that ordinary people could hardly afford.
Behind this premium lies the scarcity and sense of honor bestowed by the "royal use" designation. Of course, in fact, the taste of this rice is indeed stronger than that of the short-cycle two- or three-season rice in the south. And the profit-seeking nature will drive merchants to flock to it following the scent of profit.
To put it simply, since an acre of rice can yield several times the profit of ordinary crops, why would they be willing to stay on the low-profit lands of the Central Plains and the South?
That fertile land, nourished by the Songhua River and Heilongjiang River for thousands of years, has deep and rich soil with an organic matter content far exceeding that of the Central Plains and the South. It was a natural granary, but it had been in a semi-barren state due to the harsh climate and sparse population.
Now that we have the cold-resistant and frost-resistant rice varieties cultivated by Yuan Qingcheng, the low-temperature disadvantage of the black soil will be completely overcome, and its fertility advantage will become the key to increased production.
If all goes well, merchants will proactively use their capital to recruit refugees and hire tenants, taking the most advanced agricultural tools and rice seeds northward to cultivate vast rice paddies on the thawing black soil. They will emulate the experience of the Central Plains irrigation area, building canals to divert water and constructing dams to store water, introducing tributaries of the Songhua River into the fields, and transforming the former wilderness into well-ordered irrigated fields.
This could even trigger a chain reaction: merchants would compete to acquire high-quality black soil, leading to a year-on-year expansion of cultivated land; tenant farmers and migrants would gather here due to stable income, forming new villages and markets; and grain merchants would set up purchasing networks in advance, transporting part of the harvested rice to the capital to supply the royal family and nobles, and selling the rest to the wealthy Jiangnan region to earn a substantial price difference.
The high profits will incentivize more merchants to engage in land reclamation.
Ultimately, the black soil of Northeast China became an important base supporting China's food supply, just like in later generations, and also allowed northern rice to completely break free from geographical limitations and become an important commodity grain connecting the north and south.
Next, Zhao Yu looked at the crops that Yuan Qingcheng had cultivated, such as corn, sweet potatoes, and potatoes, which were suitable for growing in the north.
It must be said that, on the surface, Zhao Yu accomplished the unification of China, expanded its territory, and made the Song Dynasty prosperous and powerful. His achievements seem boundless. However, in terms of his contributions to humanity, Zhao Yu is far inferior to Yuan Qingcheng.
It is no exaggeration to say that the reason why the people of the Song Dynasty have been able to ensure food and clothing over the years, and why Zhao Yu even had the resources to expand his territory and do so many other things, is largely due to Yuan Qingcheng's development of so many high-yield, insect-resistant, drought-resistant, cold-resistant, and short-cycle crops, which solved the food problem.
Otherwise, the people under Zhao Yu's rule would not even have enough to eat. If Zhao Yu continued his aggressive military campaigns, he would likely end up like Zhao Ji.
After inspecting Yuan Qingcheng's agricultural base, Zhao Yu went to Ma Xiaojiao's research institute to see the new type of tractor she had developed.
The land in Northeast China, especially the Sanjiang Plain, a famous grain-producing area also known as the Great Northern Wilderness, is crisscrossed by rivers and dotted with lakes and ponds. Swamps and wetlands account for more than 60% of the land, and the soil has extremely high water content. Before cultivation, drainage is necessary; otherwise, farm tools will easily sink and seeds will have difficulty germinating. After the ground thaws in spring, the surface remains muddy for several months. Summer is short and characterized by concentrated heavy rainfall, which easily leads to waterlogging.
The swampy areas here have a deep layer of peat and loose soil, making direct cultivation impossible; the edges of the plains are mostly saline-alkali land, making it difficult for crops to survive; lacking infrastructure such as roads and bridges, the transportation of supplies relies entirely on manpower and animal power, and when crossing the swamp, people often get stuck and trapped.
Faced with this situation, Yuan Qingcheng and a group of officials from the Song Dynasty decided to transform the Great Northern Wilderness into the Great Northern Granary by combining "ditch digging and drainage with dike and dam construction." They dug main and branch canals and drainage ditches to divert the swamp water into rivers; built reservoirs and flood detention areas in low-lying areas to regulate water levels during the flood season; and used the "turning and drying" technique to reduce soil moisture content in areas with deep peat layers, and then mixed in sand to improve soil quality.
In addition, Yuan Qingcheng proposed methods such as "water diversion to wash away salt," "straw return to the field," and "planting salt-tolerant crops" to reduce the salt content in the soil; and to take advantage of the high humus content of swamp soil, increase the application of organic fertilizer, and implement reasonable crop rotation to improve soil fertility.
Furthermore, Yuan Qingcheng cultivated these cold-resistant, early-maturing crop varieties suitable for planting in Northeast China.
Zhao Yu also gave important instructions, namely to build railways and highways to open up channels for the transportation of goods; to establish farms and concentrate manpower and resources for large-scale reclamation; and to improve living conditions, namely, to replace dugouts with brick-concrete houses, and to build hospitals and schools to solve the worries of the reclaimers.
All of these require the introduction of specific large tractors and other modern agricultural machinery.
To this end, Ma Xiaojiao specially improved modern agricultural machinery such as tractors that had been invented a few years ago, and specially made a large-scale tractor that would not get stuck in the swamps of the Sanjiang Plain.
In short, with the strong support of the Song Dynasty's manpower, financial resources, and materials, and under the correct leadership of time travelers like Zhao Yu and his ministers, it is believed that in the near future, the Great Northern Wilderness will surely become the Great Northern Granary of the Song Dynasty, and the Northeast will eventually become an inseparable part of the Song Dynasty's territory due to the Song Dynasty's correct governance...
...(End of chapter)