After a bumpy journey, I finally came to Beiping City, slowly marching along the towering and thick city gate, making a dull sound of horses' hooves.

Xu Hao rode on the horse and looked up, and saw people coming and going, and the straight road reached the end.

Beiping City, with northern characteristics, is divided into two cities: the old and the new. The new city was built in the Yuan Dynasty, that is, the capital of the Yuan Dynasty, and the pattern imitated the Chang'an City of the Tang Dynasty, with an area equivalent to three-fifths of Chang'an, which was equivalent to the area of Tokyo in the Song Dynasty.

The chessboard-shaped urban pattern is conducive to planning, the central area is full of water, and the habit of nomads living by water and grass has brought it over, and the palace is guarded by canals all around, and the mansions of noble officials are almost all living by water, and it is probably very convenient to raise cattle and sheep.

The criss-crossing streets divide the whole city into more than 50 fangs, which are different from the Tang Dynasty but borrowed from the style of the Song Dynasty, and the walls of the monasteries are completely open, probably to facilitate the vision of the Mongol cavalry, and are also related to the character and living habits of the Mongols.

Since the Yuan Dynasty, the new city was the most prosperous, it can be called the international metropolis at that time, inhabited by the high-class people to enjoy any luxury, merchants from all over the world have come to trade, and there are all kinds of buildings in the city, from white mosques to splendid cathedrals in the Roman style.

The old city became a slum where Han people gathered, with low houses and no city walls to protect them, and the Han people were discriminated against and subjected to hard labor, and were humiliated and coerced anytime and anywhere if they did not have enough food.

Now it has completely fallen, and the new city has become an old city, including the entire Yuan Dynasty palace and aristocratic area, which has been burned by the angry Ming army. Most of the earthen walls have collapsed, and now there are some descendants of the Mongols, Semu people, and other former high-ranking people, living in tents to raise cattle and sheep, and living the life of their ancestors as nomads.

In contrast, the Han people, who are not vengeful by nature, do not discriminate against them, and all ethnic groups get along very well.

The old city, where the Han people lived in the past, once again glowed with great brilliance and stood brand new in the north. The Han people have been the best at building since ancient times, and they are the most industrious, and no difficult and huge project can not be completed by the Han people, so Beiping Province soon became the political and military center of the entire north.

Since Zhu Di arrived in the fiefdom, forge ahead, painstaking management, nearly 20 years, the military and civilians worked hard together, so that the Beiping city walls are made of large bricks, strong and durable, at this moment Beiping is completely a majestic fortress.

Xu Hao happily admired everything in the city, but saw that all industries were prosperous, all the houses were made of brick and tile, and each house had tall and solid courtyard walls; Unlike the south, where wooden houses are the majority, there are rows of houses between them, densely populated, and the courtyard walls are relatively low and thin.

And Beiping is obviously all for the sake of war, once the enemy breaks through the city gate, the defenders can use the people's houses to resist step by step.

The people in the city live and work in peace and contentment, the traffic is in order, and everyone is full of vitality and contentment. Zhu Di has guarded the north for so many years, and Beiping has never suffered even one attack, but Zhu Di has taken the initiative from time to time, going deep into the desert for thousands of miles, and winning many battles.

No wonder there is a different feeling, everyone has a confidence and confidence in their bones, this is the sense of glory of being a citizen of the Celestial Empire, right? Thinking with the honorable Xu Hao with a smile.

Half of the history of Beiping has been ruled by foreign people, and the lives of the Han people are in danger, and the time when the Ming Dynasty can make the Han people completely raise their eyebrows and not worry about their lives is indeed too rare and precious.

In the early winter, the people are still not afraid of the cold to go out, dress without the bells and whistles of Jiangnan, and advocate simplicity and practicality; The business of the wine shop and tea room was booming, and Xu Hao was in good spirits, with a bright smile on his face

can fully feel Zhu Di's hard work and feelings for Beiping, how many twenty years can there be in life? No wonder Zhu Di didn't want to live in Jinling, which had a suitable climate and was extremely prosperous, but had to move the capital to Beiping, where he undoubtedly poured all his efforts.

Yanwang's Mansion is located closest to the north city gate, the wall is high and wide, the corner tower battlements are readily available, and the arrow towers are all around, which is completely a small city. Xu Hao came in through the south gate, and immediately respected Zhu Di, thinking about the most exciting comment of later generations on the Ming Dynasty.

"The Son of Heaven is the gate of the country, and the king is dead."

There is no doubt that Zhu Di, the king of Yan, has been interpreting the true meaning of this sentence all his life! As a generation of heroes, no matter how many mistakes the Yongle Emperor has, just because he dares to set the capital of the country in Beiping, this courage and courage is already worthy of the nation.

A group of sergeants with helmets and armor patrolled around with guns, and the iron-blue armor was made of iron at a glance, unlike most of the sergeants in the capital who wore brightly colored paper armor. Then again, paper armor is as strong and durable, breathable and very lightweight, suitable for the humid and sultry climate of the south.

With respect, Xu Hao and his party were welcomed into the Yanwang Mansion, Zhu Di's preferences are different from Zhu Yuanzhang's frugality, he likes the atmosphere and luxury, and the palace is very beautiful and magnificent.

Staying in the Jingxin Fang where Xu Song lived in the past, the house is full of trophies obtained by Zhu Di, exquisite antique jade, exotic gold and silver vessels inlaid with various colored gemstones, soft and beautiful Persian carpets, tapestries and exquisite handicrafts regarded as heirlooms by Mongolians, as if entering a museum.

Xu Hao picked up a wine vessel similar to a tall glass, and immediately thought of the craftsmen from various countries plundered by the Mongols, and he didn't know if there were any descendants living here.

It's a pity that after so many years, even if there are descendants alive, they may have forgotten the ancestral craftsmanship, otherwise glass would have come out a long time ago.

Glass seems to be a kind of glass, it doesn't seem to be glass, but unfortunately since ancient times it has been dedicated to the royal family, and the user has strict rank requirements, even if it is noble, but it is to ask for a little bit to be used as a medicinal jade, and the four officials and above and the champion are qualified to wear jewelry made of glass.

In ancient times, glass was more precious than crystal, and it was the first of the five famous vessels and one of the seven treasures of Buddhism; Xu Hao has no thoughts about the glaze, and the things that can't be used on a large scale are useless no matter how precious they are.

Thinking about it, even if glass is invented, I am afraid that it is not very useful, sooner or later it will be reduced to the doors and windows for the decoration of the upper characters, and it is almost impossible to promote the glass greenhouse, the cost is too large, the process requirements are too high, and the glass itself is too fragile.

Don't count on the plastic greenhouse, if you have that level of chemistry, you can simply invent black powder?

Gunpowder must be tried, and the firearms at this time can be continuously improved for a long time. Xu Hao casually put the wine vessel back in place and walked out without any nostalgia.

For him, no gold or silver treasure is as precious as corn and potatoes. At this time, it was secretly decided that even against all odds, it would be necessary to send several expedition fleets to get the seeds back no matter what.

Xu Hao had countless ideas in his mind that he wanted to experiment and invent immediately, but when he thought of returning to Beijing soon, he sighed, just like Xu Song, why couldn't he stay in the north for a long time?

The eight palace maids stood under the corridor with their hands down, Xu Hao ignored them, walked into the courtyard by himself, and suddenly smelled a very familiar smell, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he followed the smell.

In a wide open space, the servants are busy accumulating sauerkraut, piles of Chinese cabbage are placed on wooden shelves to dry, the huge iron pot water is boiling, and the cabbage is put in, and after cooking, it is taken out and cooled, put into dozens of large vats, and a large bluestone is pressed on it.

Sauerkraut is one of the main winter vegetables of ancient and even modern northerners, especially in ancient times when food was scarce, sauerkraut was eaten every day throughout the winter, and a meal could not be separated.

When Xu Hao was in the capital, he had eaten sauerkraut transported from the north many times, and when he saw the familiar production process, he stood aside with great interest and watched, which made the four palace maids who came with him confused.

Xu Hao looked at the wood used for the fire, thought of the black coal, and said that it must be vigorously promoted; And sauerkraut with wood seems to taste more pure, I don't know why.

An older palace maid couldn't help but stepped forward and reminded, "Son, Your Highness is still waiting to see you." ”

"Oh." Xu Hao came back to his senses and said with a smile: "Lead the way in front of your head." ”

On the tenth day of October, Xu Wen accompanied the groom official Xu Ji to marry Wang Xuanqing smoothly and went home. The Fu family hit a nail, and the emperor refused to marry the daughter of the sixth son of the emperor, King Chu, to Fu Rang, and did not allow the daughter of the Wang family to marry into the Fu family, which made Fu Youde sit on pins and needles.

At this time, Fu Youde and Wang Bi sat at each other and looked at each other speechlessly, there were only these two generals in the huge room, the front yard was full of people, and the Wang family was busy entertaining relatives and friends from all sides.

After a long time, Fu Youde raised his head and drank the wine in his cup, and sighed: "The Holy Lord refuses to marry you and me, it can be seen that the suspicion is still there, does he really want to kill all the old ministers?" ”

Wang Bi said bitterly: "In the past, my daughter had to go back to her parents' house every winter, but this year, the Chu Wangfu suddenly came down with a word, my daughter was sick and couldn't enter Beijing, it seems that even the King of Chu was afraid, not only rejected your family's proposal, but also didn't even dare to go back to the capital, obviously trying to draw a line with you and me." Alas! ”

Fu Youde was depressed, slammed the wine glass in his hand out, and said angrily: "I think you and I have been born and died for the saint in my life?" Expand the territory of his Zhu family. I never thought that it would be difficult to save my life, and I knew that today, I might as well stay in my hometown and farm for the rest of my life.

Wang Bi didn't look at the fragments smashed on the wall, and sighed: "I heard that the old general Tang He entered Beijing yesterday, and the sick even spoke out, and kowtowed to the emperor with tears. It can be seen how suspicious the Holy One is of your and me? Even Tang He was ill like this, and he had to be forced to enter Beijing, if it was not surprising, Tang He would die next year, but he finally got a good end.

It is said that Zhang Long and Guo Ying are also sick and should not live long, and they are lucky. And what about you, me, and General Feng Sheng? And Marshal Xu of Wei Guogong? Nine times out of ten, it will not be good to die, I think you and I will be on the battlefield all my life, I am used to seeing life and death, death is not terrible, I just ask not to affect my wife, son and daughter at home. ”

Fu Youde suddenly became angry, picked up the wine jug and raised his head to drink the wine clean, and suddenly got up and opened his beard angrily: "He wants me to die, then I will die to show him!" The cunning rabbit is dead and the lackey cooks, I want to see who will block the Yan Wang Bingfeng for him in the future? Zhu Yuanzhang, sooner or later you will regret not being at the beginning, today I dare to assert that your precious grandson will not die well sooner or later, haha! It's a pity that you were already lying in the imperial tomb at that time, and there was nothing you could do! Lao Tzu is just one step ahead. ”

Wang Bi silently watched General Fu stumble away, and sighed lightly: "The general will inevitably die in battle, but poor me, Wang, did not die on the battlefield, but died miserably at home." ”