Chapter 6: Palm the South of the Yangtze River (III)

The last few days of June passed quietly, and July was in full swing. Nanjing was a big stove in July, so hot that even the cicadas on the trees were powerless to call, and there were even fewer pedestrians on the streets of Nanjing.

Compared with the greenhouse effect in later generations, the current furnace Nanjing is no less than that.

Watermelons are rare fruits in this era, and ordinary people cannot eat this thing. First, the yield is too low, and second, the transportation and storage technology cannot keep up. Of course, the emperor is naturally different. Ice watermelons are supplied with open belly, and various summer ice drinks are richer than those in later generations.

A huge ice cellar was built in the imperial city. It turned out that the emperor rarely came once. The ice cubes were stored every year. At this time of year, the eunuchs in the palace secretly transported the ice cubes to the wealthy family, and took on an excellent way to make money. This year is different. When the emperor came, all the eunuchs in the imperial city were gathered together and sentenced according to the law that violated the Ming Dynasty's laws. If they were fine, they would pay severance fees. Older ones would go to the eunuch nursing home set up by the court to take care of their elderly care homes and do some work within their ability.

Later, Zhu Yinglong discovered such a problem. There were too many ice cubes in the ice cellar and he could not use it alone. So he issued an order to reward some of the soldiers who made meritorious service in the southern expedition, and sold the remaining part to the people. He even forcibly formulated the price of ice cubes so that ordinary people could accept it. Then it became a habitual calendar, which gave the merchants who hoarded ice cubes for profit. After all, the court had not made them lose too much.

The imperial city has been renamed Jinling Palace by him, and the eunuchs have almost been dismissed. There are not many people in Jinling Palace, and many palaces are empty. Zhu Yinglong's idleness to review memorials is also considering how to deal with these idle palaces. You can't just leave him empty. Even if you move yourself and all your concubines here, you can't live in many houses. And he doesn't know how many opportunities he will come to Nanjing in the future. Such a huge imperial city has consumed so much manpower and material resources to achieve cultivation. It's a minor repair every three years and a major repair every five years. It's a pity to be idle here. And because it used to be the Forbidden City, who dares to live in such a palace besides the emperor?

Nanjing Palace Museum? Zhu Yinglong's mind flashed. He remembered the Palace Museum in Beijing in later generations. At that time, Nanjing's Ming Dynasty Imperial City had been destroyed by war. Why didn't he set up a Palace Museum in Nanjing?

It is a bit bad to call it "Forbidden City". It seems that it was left by previous dynasties, so it is better to call it "The Royal Museum of the Ming Dynasty".

You can also rely on this "Royal Museum" to establish two universities in Nanjing based on the Nanjing Hanlin Academy and the Imperial College, one Nanjing University and the other Fudan University. In this way, the four top universities in the Ming Dynasty, two south and two north, will leave the most glorious names in the history of world education and become the world's top universities.

I heard that the imperial court imitated the Beijing model in Nanjing to establish Nanjing University and Fudan University. All the students in Jiangnan cried with joy. You should know that the threshold for the two universities in Beijing is not ordinary high. They recruit so many people every year. How many people want to go in, do academics, and want to take the Jinshi to be an official? Which one does not want to enter these two universities? Because these two universities have quotas every year, and you don’t need to pass the imperial examination to become a Jinshi and become a disciple of the emperor. If such universities are also established in Nanjing and there are such Jinshi places, it would be strange if the scholars in Jiangnan are not crazy, especially those scholars from poor backgrounds, who don’t even have money to go to Beijing to take the exam. There are many scholars every three years.

Because he borrowed usury to Beijing for college entrance examination, he was squeezed down when thousands of troops crossed the single-plank bridge. In the end, he was penniless and was collected by his creditors. He even committed suicide by his psychologically fragile people. Now, as long as he passes the entrance examinations of two universities, even if he fails to pass the Jinshi, he can still find a job in the government. Except for those who fail the final exam, he basically has a future. He is poor and can apply to the court for tuition and miscellaneous fees. Such treatment and benefits immediately made the scholars struggling on the poverty line excited and encouraged. No emperor has ever treated scholars so favorably. No one has ever cared about the news that the court was about to open multiple elective miscellaneous studies in two universities.

One move will attract the hearts of the scholars in Jiangnan, and another "Royal Museum" will make the scholars in Jiangnan crazy. The court selected some palaces in the original imperial city to set up "Royal Museums" and issued an edict to allow collectors in Jiangnan to volunteer to donate collections or copies. After the museum was built, a copy of the book collection will be set up with a "Nanjing Royal Library" to be open to scholars all over the world for free.

After the news came out, the two university presidents who were originally in Beijing could no longer sit still. Nanjing did this, wouldn’t it have attracted scholars from the north to Nanjing, and jointly submitted a memorial to Zhu Yinglong, demanding that a "Royal Museum" and "Royal Library" be established in Beijing. This is a good thing, and Zhu Yinglong naturally agreed happily.

This is the "North and South Courtyards" and "North and South Courtyards" incidents that have been known in history. It took several months and its impact on later generations is immeasurable.

When it was established in Beijing and Tsinghua University, Zhu Yinglong was born with great difficulty. At that time, the "multiple academic dispute between Neo-Confucianism" and "multiple Confucianism" broke out. Although it was well controlled and no vicious incidents occurred, this was a passive event. If it were not for the induction of profit, it would have been impossible. However, the "North and South Courts" and "North and South Courts" incidents have indeed revealed signs of Hua passive as an active initiative. Although it is not obvious, everyone seems to have seen the superficial interests, but interests are the original driving force that drives mankind. Of course, Zhu Yinglong himself has not realized this in the situation, nor has he risen to a theoretical height. He only has one intuition, that is, the situation seems to be getting better and better for him.

And knowing this is enough.

Next, there is another major event, which is that Songjiang Prefecture is renamed Shanghai Prefecture, and has set up a customs branch inspection department and Shanghai Customs Road. The court led the country to collect funds from all over the country, invest in the construction of port terminals, and formally develop Shanghai. The first detachment of the East China Sea Fleet was moved to Ningbo Port, and its headquarters base was located in Ningbo, Zhejiang. The coastal defense inspection offices in several provinces near the East China Sea were withdrawn. After integration, part of them was merged into the Customs Department, a maritime anti-smuggling team was established, and part of them was merged into the East China Sea Fleet, and a small fleet was established, called the "Second Detachment of the East China Sea Fleet". The headquarters was stationed in Shanghai Port, and Shanghai became one of the permanent bases of the East China Sea Fleet, responsible for the safety of fishermen and merchant ships in the near the East China Sea waters.
Chapter completed!