Although the central institutions of Beijing City have been demolished to pieces and completely paralyzed, the various institutions in the inner extension are very complete, so they will not affect the large-scale infrastructure construction in the north at all.
Because Zhu Cixiang also plans to adopt the contracting system this time to build official roads in various places, and the team of contractors in the capital is getting larger and larger. There are already tens of thousands of contractors under the Construction Supervision Bureau.
After some planning, Zhu Cixang planned to divide the official road into three levels: A, B, and C. The Grade A official road is fifteen meters wide, and the road surface must be compacted with lime. Stone arch bridges must be erected on rivers along the way, except for large rivers that cannot be crossed.
For the time being, Zhu Cixiang only plans to build two Class-A official roads, one from Beijing to Jinan, Shandong, and one from Beijing to Kaifeng, Henan. The two official roads combined have a total length of nearly 2,500 miles, and the estimated cost is as high as 2,000.
Fifty thousand taels.
Class B official roads are ten meters wide and can be compacted. They are mainly used to connect major cities in various provinces. Seven of them are planned to be built, one from Beijing to Shanhaiguan, one from Beijing to Taiyuan, one from Kaifeng to Chang'an, one from Kaifeng to Xiangyang, and one from Kaifeng to Xiangyang.
One is from Beijing to Datong, one is from Luoyang to Taiyuan, and the other is from Chang'an to Jiayuguan. The seven official roads total more than 7,000 miles.
The total cost is estimated to be more than 30 million taels.
The Grade C official road is about five meters wide and mainly connects prefectures and counties in various provinces. Except for some states and counties in remote areas, other states and counties must meet corresponding requirements.
The Grade C official road will reach a terrifying 50,000 miles, and the cost is expected to be as high as ten million taels of silver. This is to be renovated on the original official road, otherwise it may be an astronomical figure.
Zhu Cixi planned to complete the construction and renovation of the northern official road in five years, and allocated 3,000 to 40 million taels of silver each year. The total investment in infrastructure construction was ultimately expected to be as high as 20 million taels of silver.
Once the plan was announced, the entire capital was completely blown away. Tens of thousands of contractors went crazy, while other wealthy businessmen were jealous to death.
Empress Zhou was so frightened that even Chongzhen wanted to see Zhu Cixiang for the first time and asked Empress Zhou to send a message.
"Husband, after all, the Supreme Emperor is going to meet you and your son, so you should go and see them."
Seeing that her son was frowning and obviously not wanting to go, Empress Zhou could only wink at the red lady beside her and ask her to persuade her too.
"Oh, Queen Mother, it's not that the child doesn't want to go, but... okay!"
Seeing that Queen Zhou was getting angry, Zhu Cihong had no choice but to nod.
If the whole family had a meal together, he would naturally not refuse, but he was sure that Chongzhen would never stop and would make irresponsible remarks again. Rather than do this, it would be better not to meet him.
"Hong'er, your father has figured it out now, don't worry."
"I hope so."
With that said, the family headed to Xiyuan Island.
This time Chongzhen obviously wanted to relive the feeling of being the head of the family, and even Prince Fu was invited.
As a result, when the Red Lady and Prince Fu met, they both stared at each other. Prince Fu, with Chongzhen's support, seemed to be bolder and not afraid of the Red Lady at all.
After King Fu was sent to the capital, he was also imprisoned in Xiyuan and became a companion of Chongzhen.
It has to be said that Chongzhen did attach great importance to family ties and was very happy to have this cousin whom he had never met before. It was precisely because he learned about the tragic experiences of King Fu and other descendants of the Zhu family that Chongzhen fell into deep self-consciousness.
He felt guilty and also took great care of King Fu.
And if it were not for the protection of Chongzhen and Queen Zhou, Prince Fu would probably have to be beaten by the Red Lady every three days to satisfy his hatred.
"Okay, Ying'er, King Fu is your elder after all. Don't worry about the past anymore. We are all one family. Sit down!"
Naturally, Chongzhen heard about the two people's celebration, waved his hand, and then invited everyone to take their seats. He really seemed like a different person than before.
It’s not easy for the red lady to worry about it anymore.
The family sat around a large round table, just like ordinary people's homes, and there were no maids or eunuchs to wait on them, but the atmosphere was quite awkward.
"Hong'er, in the past, my father was too stubborn and too impatient, which led to chaos in the world and people's livelihood. Now that you can rebuild the country, my father is also very happy. I hope that in the future you can be a good emperor who loves his people like a son. Don't imitate me."
Father."
Chongzhen looked at Zhu Cixiang and said slowly, with deep self-blame and guilt in his tone, but also with relief. It was obvious that he had completely put it aside, otherwise the disease would not be cured.
"Thank you, Father, for your teaching. My child will definitely remember it."
Seeing what he said, Zhu Cixi also stood up and replied respectfully.
Seeing that the father and son finally reconciled, Queen Zhou was really happy, and the atmosphere finally became harmonious.
"Father, I have gone too far in many places in the past. I would like to give you a toast and wish you a long life."
When Zhu Cixiang saw that Chongzhen was indeed not obsessed with the past, he raised his glass of wine and said to him sincerely.
"well…"
Chongzhen also smiled happily, and the father and son had a drink together, making the atmosphere finally feel like a family dinner.
Seeing that Chongzhen really looked over, King Fu had no choice but to offer the red lady a toast honestly.
"Prince Fu, the past has been wiped out. But I want to reiterate one point here. Although I arrested the old Prince Fu, it was the intruder who committed the murder. As for the Fulu Banquet, it is pure nonsense."
After the red lady drank the wine in her glass, she waved her hand boldly and explained.
But he didn't have much favorable impression of the old Fu Wang Chongzhen, so he didn't care how he died.
"Hong'er, now that the world has settled down and it's time to recuperate and recuperate, I heard that you plan to move all the population in the northwest region to the Central Plains. Why is this?"
Sure enough, after three rounds of five-flavor wine, Chongzhen winked at King Fu, and King Fu had no choice but to ask with a smile.
"Let the imperial concubine explain this to Uncle Wang!"
Zhu Cihong put down his chopsticks and said.
But he secretly thought that Chongzhen was really smart and knew to let Prince Fu test him first.
Seeing that he was not angry, the tense nerves of Chongzhen and Queen Zhou relaxed a lot, and the clenched fist under King Fu's table also loosened.
When the red lady heard this, she explained to them.
Sure enough, the three people heard it in a vague way, and they did not understand the protection of the ecological environment of the upper reaches of the Yellow River at all, but they could understand the purpose of replenishing the population of the Central Plains region.
"I see."
Chongzhen nodded and didn't care much about this. He was mainly worried that Zhu Cixiang was young and energetic and was so happy about his achievements that he would imitate Qin Shihuang and Sui Yang and ruin the good situation.
"Hong'er, I heard that the imperial court plans to carry out large-scale construction projects. It plans to invest 20 million taels of silver in five years to renovate official roads in the north. This... this is really amazing!"
When King Fu saw Chongzhen winking at him again, he could only grit his teeth and said tentatively with a smile on his face.
This time, Zhu Cixiang frowned slightly, and was so frightened that King Fu broke into a cold sweat. Queen Zhou on the side quickly scolded King Fu: "Brother Fu, today is a family dinner, why are you talking about all this? Are you drinking too much?
Already?"
"Yes, yes, the emperor's sister-in-law taught me that my brother drank too much." King Fu said quickly and fearfully.
Zhu Cixiang saw the two of them pretending, and saw that Chongzhen was holding back the discomfort and seemed hesitant to speak. He sighed in his heart and was too lazy to argue with them, so he said to the red lady.
"Your Majesty, please explain it to Uncle Fu Wang again, so that he won't worry too much and won't be able to sleep at night."