Chapter 228: Ten years of Ming Dynasty, fruitful achievements, Donglin first emerged
Ok Hee Palace.
Inside the main hall, on the Taoist platform.
"Buzz." As a wave of space waves arose, Jiajing's eyes slowly opened.
"Huh." After letting out a light breath, Jiajing slowly opened his eyes and sighed, "I'm in the middle stage of the Golden Elixir."
"Unfortunately, I haven't even seen the threshold to the late Jindan stage. In the past ten years, I have used six 'Enlightenment Bodhi Seeds', but it's like a cow entering a quagmire. There is no way out, and it is difficult to move forward..."
Although his cultivation speed would slow down relatively after he broke through the Golden Core stage, it took him ten years to break through from the early Golden Core stage to the middle Golden Core stage, which was only an improvement in a small realm.
In the end, Jiajing felt a little bit of a blow.
During these ten years, the Ming Dynasty has developed at a high speed, especially the capital and Nanjing, which have been the direct beneficiaries of the "Spiritual Industrial Era". Coupled with the continuous deepening and influence of "Innovation in Innovation", the capital can be summarized in one word from the inside out.
This word is: "new"!
That’s right, it’s new from the inside out. This newness includes the people’s thoughts and the transformation of the entire city’s architectural appearance.
Palaces and pavilions stand tall inside and outside the capital.
Although it is not like the steel forests that people remember in later generations, the ancient high-rise buildings are also scattered high and low and densely distributed. Looking down on the capital from a distance, it is completely a fairyland city.
It is difficult to use more appropriate words to describe it except majestic, magnificent and beautiful.
As for the city of Nanjing, it was even more extraordinary. In ten years, Jiajing approved two more seventh-grade spiritual veins.
Under the catalysis of the "Aura Industrial Age", the entire city of Nanjing completed a renovation and expansion.
Like the capital city, Nanjing City directly covers all prefectures and counties within the entire Yingtian Prefecture.
If Nanjing City was mentioned before the 60th year of Jiajing, it was just a secondary capital and a city for cultivating immortals. But now, if Nanjing City is mentioned, it means the entire Yingtian Prefecture.
In ten years, Nanjing City has completely developed into a veritable city for cultivating immortals. The number of immortal cultivators living in the city alone is as high as 300,000.
There are countless industries related to cultivating immortals.
Even in the end, the imperial court was too lazy to count them one by one, and could only classify them for regular management. The reason for this was of course related to the barbaric growth of the "immortal cultivation world".
In addition, outside the city of Nanjing, large and small mountains and rivers are home to many large and small sects of cultivating immortals.
The existence of these immortal cultivation forces, such as families and sects, was initially hidden, low-key, and inconspicuous. With the continuous development of the immortal cultivation city, the "immortal cultivation world" also began to integrate into it.
To use the words of people in the "immortal cultivation world", in today's Nanjing, if a brick is thrown, it is very likely to hit an immortal cultivator. As long as the "immortal cultivation world" does not cause chaos, the court will not bother to investigate.
However, for ten years, the imperial court had always exercised restraint and had not allowed the practice of cultivating immortals to spread beyond Nanjing and the capital.
The thirteen provinces outside the two capitals began to undergo continuous renovation under the development of the "Spiritual Industrial Era".
During the ten-year period, after the performance evaluation, six provincial-level officials were awarded the first rank and were granted immortal magic and immortal salaries by the imperial court.
Of course, this also means that the political achievements of the prefectures and counties under the jurisdiction of these six provincial governments are extremely outstanding.
You must know that in today's Ming Dynasty, the various provincial governments are in charge of ensuring that the people have enough food and clothing, and that they are well fed and warm is no longer a requirement for assessment, because for the court, these are basic requirements.
The standards for measuring political achievements have also been continuously optimized and adjusted over the past decade, and the assessment method has been refined into ten items.
1. People’s livelihood.
To put it simply, it is to assess the economic conditions of provinces, prefectures and counties and the living standards of the people.
Second, finances.
"Cai" naturally means wealth, and "Fu" refers to taxes, including agricultural taxes, commercial taxes and other forms of taxes.
3. Annual income.
Refers to the total income of each province, prefecture, and county in a year, including income from agriculture, handicrafts, commerce, and other sources.
Four. The number of grain and silk.
As the name suggests, it refers to materials such as food and cloth. The amount of grain and cloth is used to specifically measure the economic strength of a place.
5. Household registration and land area.
The population and acres of land in a province.
6. Merchant farming.
The so-called "Huozhi" is taken from "Records of the Grand Historian: Biographies of Huozhi", which means the accumulation and circulation of wealth. It mainly assesses the development of commerce and handicrafts in a place. After all, the Ming Dynasty was a place where all industries were thriving.
7. The fullness or emptiness of the treasury.
It refers to the reserve situation in a warehouse, which is a standard for measuring the local financial situation and a focus of assessment.
8. Stable prosperity and decline.
This mainly assesses whether the area under the official's jurisdiction is stable during his tenure, such as whether there are false and wrongful cases, corruption and bribery, etc.
Nine, produced by hundreds of craftsmen.
In today's Ming Dynasty, since the "Initiative of Reform" began, all walks of life have begun to prosper. In order to better implement the national policy of "Initiative of Reform", the court has added this item to the performance evaluation of officials in the past ten years.
The main purpose is to assess the development of various industries in the area under the jurisdiction of the official. If one still believes that everything is inferior except for reading, then it is equivalent to failing. On the contrary, if the industry is prosperous during the assessment, it can even be considered a plus point in the performance rating.
10. Financial use: This aspect is relatively broad and mainly focuses on the annual use of financial resources.
The above ten standards for evaluating the performance of officials were named as follows in the Gaoyuan Political Discussion in the 66th year of Jiajing:
"National Budget"!
The court could make reasonable policy adjustments and summarize the ratings through the imperial seal, so it could visually see whether the court's annual "total national tax revenue" was increasing or decreasing, and make adjustments accordingly.
In addition, the above ten articles also apply to a province, a prefecture, or even a county under the jurisdiction of a specific provincial administration commissioner's office.
If it is a province, it is called "province-level tax"! If it is a prefecture, it is called "prefecture-level tax"! Or "county-level tax" and so on.
It was precisely thanks to such meticulous division and management that the national strength of the Ming Dynasty skyrocketed again in the past ten years.
The most direct effect, apart from the "spiritual energy filling stations", the flattened mountains and swamps, and the establishment of cities, is the return of Jiajing's life.
Because of this, he was able to break through from the early Jindan stage to the middle Jindan stage in just ten years.
That’s right, it took ten years to break through to the middle stage of the Golden Core. This speed of cultivation is so fast that even in the world of immortal cultivation, the major sects in the Central Plains have never heard of it. Even in the academies, it is at the monstrous level.
Therefore, although he failed to break through to the late Jindan stage, Jiajing was not too disappointed.
On the contrary, during these ten years, with the help of the medicinal effects of the 'Enlightenment Bodhi Seed', he also practiced the body movements, attack methods, defense methods, and a kind of magical power that came with the 'Emperor Sutra'.
Even though he had only cultivated the basics, with his cultivation level of the middle Jindan stage, if he mobilized the power of a country, he could easily defeat even a late Jindan stage cultivator.
In addition, Jiajing also studied the four essential skills for cultivators: elixir, formation, talisman, and instrument.
All in all, his ten years of retreat were very fulfilling.
Of course, in addition to not being able to see the threshold of the middle stage, Jiajing also had a small regret, that is, the consciousness of his natal Ming Dynasty seemed to have never been hatched and was still in chaos.
But the instincts are still there, just like when the "Emperor's Seal Stone" was first discovered. If one concentrates on communicating with it, it will also respond in accordance with one's emotions.
However, Jiajing was not disappointed. He believed that things would change when he broke through the Spirit Transformation Stage and achieved an incarnation.
In addition to the rapid development of the Ming Dynasty and his own breakthroughs and enrichments in cultivation, what also made him quite satisfied was that the cultivation of Yan Song and others had also broken through as he had expected.
During the ten years, there were two highland political meetings. Before going into seclusion, he left a trace of his spiritual consciousness on the imperial seal.
Therefore, both times the plateau political discussions were advocated by the Emperor Xi, and the Cabinet and the Imperial Household Department supervised each other to complete the rating.
The first parliament was held in the 65th year of Jiajing.
After this experience, everyone's cultivation improved, and Lu Fang and Lu Bing both broke through to the middle stage of foundation building.
Qingfeng broke through from the eighth level of Qi training to the early stage of foundation building, and Chanshuang also broke through to the ninth level of Qi training.
Yan Song also successfully established his foundation from the ninth level of Qi training.
Naturally, Hai Rui received no less rewards than Yan Song. What's more, his natal object was "Great Ming Law". The continuous improvement of Great Ming Law was equivalent to polishing his natal object.
Therefore, the amount of cultivation gained through repaying the kindness is increasing, and the speed of cultivation is also getting faster and faster.
In Jiajing's view, if one day he breaks through to the level of a spirit, his destiny becomes conscious and becomes the will of heaven, then the Great Ming Law will be the true rule of heaven.
For someone like Hai Rui, whose destiny is to abide by the laws of the Ming Dynasty, his power will rise with the tide, and his supernatural power may be that his words can be followed by the law.
Therefore, in terms of potential, Hai Rui undoubtedly surpassed everyone present.
Then came Xu Jie. As he had no natal object, he could only rely on his political achievements to gain cultivation. In ten years, nearly 70% of the entire Yingzhou Prefecture was spiritual fields, making it the main source of immortal blessings for court officials.
Therefore, the rating is relatively high. From the original eighth level of Qi training, he has broken through to the ninth level of Qi training, and is only one step away from building the foundation.
As for Yan Shifan, like Xu Jie, they both broke through to the ninth level of Qi training. After that, Zhang Juzheng, Gao Gong, Huang Jin, Xu Fan, Chen Hong, Yan Shaoting and others who were originally in the third echelon also broke through from the seventh level to the eighth level of Qi training.
Finally, it was Hu Zongxian, Wang Chonggu and Yu Dayou, who, after the first highland political discussion in ten years, broke through to the eighth level of Qi training after being rewarded.
By the time of the second highland political consultation, at the beginning of the 70th year of Jiajing, which was three days ago, Lu Fang and Lu Bing had broken through to the late stage of foundation building.
The same went for Prince Yu and Prince Jing. Relying on the treasures bestowed upon them by Jiajing before he went into seclusion, as well as their own private property gained from the "immortal world" in Nanjing City, they successfully broke through to the late stage of foundation building.
The two national masters, Qingfeng and Chanshuang, broke through the initial stage of foundation building.
After that, Yan Song, Yan Shifan, Xu Jie and Hai Rui all broke through to the middle stage of foundation building.
Then came Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng, Zhao Zhenji, Huang Jin, Xu Fan, Chen Hong, Shi San, Yan Shaoting, Hu Zongxian, Wang Chonggu and Yu Dayou, all of whom were in the early stages of foundation building.
In addition, there are many immortal seedlings in the Daming Immortal Palace, as well as many people in the Immortal Martial Department and the Embroidered Uniform Guard who have broken through to the foundation.
Those who were stationed outside, such as Zhejiang Governor Tang Shunzhi, and famous generals like Qi Jiguang and Ma Fang, all had their own backers, so they were naturally not left behind and broke through to the ninth level of Qi training one after another.
It is estimated that in about half a year, or no later than a year, these people will be able to break through the foundation-building stage.
As for the development of the army, since Jiajing reprimanded the New Party members headed by Hu Zongxian, Wang Chonggu and Yu Dayou last time, the three major camps have not recruited soldiers for a full ten years.
Of course, apart from Hu Zongxian, Wang Chonggu and Yu Dayou of the New Party were backed by Prince Yu and Prince Jing. The two princes who had made arrangements in the military early on would naturally not sit and wait for death, and directly established the "Da Ming Military Government".
The purpose, of course, is to compete with the "Imperial Academy" and the "Daming Immortal Palace" and to cultivate specialized generals.
But in fact it was to reserve military forces. After Jiajing agreed to expand the army, these troops that had been trained and reserved in advance could be put into use directly. Even the "Ming Military Office" taught immortal techniques.
In ten years, the "Ming Military Headquarters" were opened in the two capitals, thirteen provinces, and some prosperous prefectures and counties.
The total military strength has exceeded one million.
And at that time, the more than three million soldiers of the three camps had indeed, as originally expected, all cultivated the immortal martial arts to the third level of the acquired realm.
As long as there are enough spiritual resources approved, these troops can start the next stage at any time and advance to the innate realm.
After receiving all the information sent back by the divine consciousness on the imperial seal, Jiajing nodded with satisfaction. In the past ten years, the development of the Ming Dynasty has been fruitful and fruitful!
"In the seventieth year of Jiajing," Jiajing looked at the entire Nanzhili and Beizhili regions of his Ming dynasty, and had a new plan in mind, "It's time to expand the Ming dynasty's 'immortal cultivation world'."
……
The seventieth year of Jiajing.
The third day of the first lunar month, in the capital.
The morning light was just beginning to break through the clouds, casting a peaceful orange glow. The chill of the winter night still lingered in the morning light.
After a night of heavy snow, the entire imperial city was covered in a layer of white silver, as quiet and pure as a fairyland. The streets covered with snow were lined with red lanterns and colorful silks.
On the streets, peddlers got up early and started running around, shouting one after another on both sides of the street. Everywhere was filled with the fragrance of food stalls, teahouses, and the noise of restaurants.
"Boom!" At this moment, a roar suddenly came from the sky, and the people on the street subconsciously looked up.
Above the sky, I saw a huge flying shuttle coming from the direction of Yanshan Mountain. The shuttle was about sixty meters long and twenty-five meters wide.
The surface of the shuttle is like ice, with gold and jade hidden in the gaps. The combination of the cold-attribute formation and the golden frame can not only absorb the enemy's offensive, but also counterattack quickly. It is like a magic weapon, indestructible.
The most peculiar thing is that at the front end of the shuttle, there is a ferocious and majestic tiger head, with two sharp front claws on each side of the shuttle. Looking from below towards the sky, it looks like a big white insect flying in the sky.
Seeing the huge flying shuttle overhead, every citizen in the capital couldn't help but reveal a look of pride on their face.
But he did not show any expression of shock or panic.
Just because of this scene, they have become accustomed to it in the past ten years, and they have even seen shuttles larger than this one.
"Beep, beep, beep." At this moment, a sound like boiling water suddenly came from the spacious street in the distance.
Hearing the sound, the people, carriages, horses, and peddlers on the street all moved to the sides of the street.
On the road that had been trampled into water by the people, there were actually two pitch-black railroad tracks embedded in the ground.
In the distance, a carriage that was about ten meters long, three meters wide, and four meters high, and looked like an iron box, was approaching.
Through the bright glazed windows of the carriage, people can see other people sitting in the carriage. On both sides of the carriage, the words "guide rail tram" and "within the second ring road" are written.
The Immortal Track is a carriage powered by spiritual energy. Within the capital, its maximum speed can reach six miles per quarter of an hour. If it leaves the capital, it can travel two thousand miles per hour.
In order to lay the "Xian Track" smoothly, starting in the 65th year of Jiajing, the Ministry of Works expanded the entire capital city. At the same time, the expanded capital city roads were renovated and planned in detail.
Not only that, in addition to the "one cabinet and two courts" under the Ministry of Works in the capital, a "Dao Pavilion" was also established. In the same year, the Ministry of Justice also promulgated the "Xianming Road Law" to regulate road use.
Afterwards, the "Daoge" was divided into twelve loop lines with the imperial city as the center, and tracks specially used for the "Xiangui" were laid in the city according to the twelve loop lines.
These tracks are like a spider web, with the imperial city as the center, extending in all directions, and then all the way to the entire Shuntian Prefecture, providing convenience for people's travel.
Of course, the most important thing is that "Xiangui" charges tickets based on mileage, and it is very cheap, so ordinary people can afford it.
Within 12 li: three coins;
12 to 24 li: 4 coins;
From 24 to 44 li: five cents.
From 44 to 64 li: six coins.
As for the distance above sixty-four miles, you only need to pay an additional penny to travel forty miles.
Not only that, a "super-speed fairy track" has been laid from the capital to the entire Yingtian Prefecture, which only speeds up the journey without increasing the fare.
For example, if the "Xian Track" is set to its maximum speed, the straight-line distance from the easternmost to the westernmost side of the capital is about 500 miles, which means it can be reached in two quarters of an hour.
It can be seen how fast the "Xian Track" is!
Of course, in five years, although the Xian Track only covered the capital city and improved the roads within the capital city, other prefectures and counties in the surrounding areas had already started construction, laying tracks, repairing and demolishing buildings.
This move has greatly increased the convenience of the people.
"Chirp!" At this moment, a loud cry was heard from the sky, and two huge white falcons with wings spread, covering the sky and the sun, flew over everyone's heads.
If you look closely, you can find that behind the two falcons, there is an extremely luxurious carriage.
This time, the people exclaimed in surprise and talked about it, saying that this must be the sedan chair of a senior official from one of the six ministries.
Xianming Law clearly stipulates that officials of the third rank, including those of the third rank, are strictly prohibited from using flying instruments or riding in sedan chairs over the capital, especially if they want to fly within the second ring road, they must be extremely cautious.
Basically, those who want to fly in the second ring can only be people from the royal palaces or the elders of the cabinet.
At this time, in the carriage.
Yan Shaoting sat face to face with his father Yan Shifan.
Ten years passed in a flash, and Yan Shifan was already seventy-eight years old. In another two years, he would be eighty years old.
As for Yan Shaoting, from the 43rd year of Jiajing when he first came into contact with the cultivation of immortals, to the 70th year of Jiajing now, the handsome young man who was not even twenty years old back then is now over 40 and in his forties.
But what is amazing is that although Yan Shifan is 78 years old, he still looks like a middle-aged man in his 30s. As for Yan Shaoting, his appearance remains that of a man in his twenties.
Needless to say, the reason behind this was that in the past ten years, the two of them had already broken through to the foundation-building stage.
"Father, are you still upset about the political discussion in Wenhua Hall today?" Yan Shaoting looked at Yan Shifan and said in a gentle voice.
Hearing his son Yan Shaoting's words, Yan Shifan's frown relaxed for a moment, and then his face became angry again, "How dare a small official in the Ministry of Personnel dare to challenge the emperor!"
"It's simply a way to die!"
Looking at his father Yan Shifan, who, even at the age of 80, still couldn't change his hot temper, Yan Shaoting couldn't help but shook his head slightly, but still said:
"Father is talking about Gu Xiancheng?"
(Note: Donglin Academy was revived in the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty (1604), but the time in the book is the 1591th year of Jiajing (). In order to serve the plot, the revival of Donglin Academy was advanced.
Donglin Academy is located in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province today. It was a famous center of academic and political activities at the time, especially closely related to the Donglin Party. Wuxi was under the jurisdiction of Changzhou Prefecture under Nanzhili during the Ming Dynasty, not Yingtian Prefecture.
"Humph!" Yan Shifan snorted coldly, "Who else could it be except this ant?"
"I have devoted all my energy to the Ming Dynasty and am discussing national policy in the court. What the hell is he?"
"How dare he brazenly talk about national policy in front of me today? He doesn't know who is responsible for the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty. He doesn't even know that he is being used as a gun by others!"
Again!
The person in charge of the two capitals and thirteen provinces!
Yan Shaoting felt helpless when he heard his father Yan Shifan's familiar words that he would complain whenever he was not satisfied in the court. His grandfather had heard these words so many times that his ears were callused.
He finally understood why his grandfather Yan Song, unusually, did not come to see him off when he returned to Nanjing today.
This is because he thought that his father Yan Shifan would definitely complain, so he hid himself and turned a deaf ear to it. However, although his grandfather could turn a deaf ear to it, he could not turn a blind eye to it.
"Father, Grandpa said that there might be someone behind these Jiangnan scholars who came out of Donglin Academy," Yan Shaoting organized his words and then said slowly to Yan Shifan:
"I'm afraid that this Donglin Academy lineage has the potential to become a faction."
"It's better not to let me know who is behind them!" Upon hearing this, Yan Shifan said viciously.
"..."
(End of this chapter)
