I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 159 Nangong
Kailuan Coal Mine is the collective name for Kaiping Coal Mine and Luanzhou Coal Mine.

This Kaiping is Kaiping Zhongtunwei. From the name, you can tell that it was a garrison of the Ming Dynasty.

February was already the spring plowing season, and Zhu Houxuan led the workers to Zhongtunwei in Kaiping.

As Zhu Houxuan walked along the way, he only felt that the fields were connected, the population was dense, and every place suitable for farming had signs of being cultivated.

The military households of Kaiping Wei stood in the fields and looked at this strange group of people with numb eyes. They were waving a black and red flag, and everyone in the team wore a strange style of long green cotton robes (green cotton coats). They were all strong and disciplined. If they hadn't brought any weapons or armor, the military households would almost think that it was an army attacking them.

Zhu Houxun was also observing the military households in the fields. The military households in the north were obviously more impoverished. Their clothes were ragged, their bodies were thin, and it was obvious that they were malnourished. These military households were actually a microcosm of the current military households in the Ming Dynasty.

In the early Ming Dynasty, the country relied on soldiers to fight wars everywhere, and military registration was considered a relatively good household registration. According to the Wei Suo system, soldiers cultivated the public fields allocated by the court. Each military household could receive more than 100 kilograms of food every month, which was enough to meet the family's living needs.

However, as time went by, more and more problems were exposed. Because the position of garrison officer could be inherited, their descendants would live in luxury and there would definitely be some who bully the weak.

Under the Weisuo system, military households were allocated military land, which was actually a huge fortune. The Weisuo officers would use their power to change the name of the land, and after a series of planning, gradually convert the military land into their own private property. As the military land began to decrease, the Weisuo system, which relied on military land, naturally began to collapse.

Then, as the annexation of military land intensified, ordinary military households had no land to cultivate. These military households could no longer make a living, so they gradually became slaves of the wealthy families. Although they had military status, they were actually not much different from "slaves."

During the Hongwu period, the military's military farms not only provided enough food for the garrisons, but also brought in more than two million shi of grain each year for the court. However, by the time of Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty, income from military farms was less than 5% of that during the reign of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, and the garrison system had begun to collapse.

Especially during the Battle of Tumu in the Ming Dynasty, the power of the military generals and nobles of the Ming Dynasty weakened sharply. Under the influence of civil officials, the whole society began to value civil officials over military officials, and soldiers gradually became the object of people's disdain.

It was under this kind of word-of-mouth propaganda that military households became the objects of people's disdain. No one respected these military households. Although they were nominally the country's army, their status was lower than that of businessmen.

In this context, these military households were reduced to coolies and slaves in name only for the various government offices and nobles in the imperial court.

Zhu Houxuan knew that he could not change the status of these military households now, but his arrival could improve their lives.

He went straight to the commander of Kaiping Guard and asked him to help explore the coal mine. When the commander of Kaiping Guard saw Zhu Houxuan's various seals, his eyes almost popped out, and he quickly transferred a group of military households to help with the exploration.

The military households were not very hardworking at first, but when Zhu Houxuan took out silver as a reward, their attitude became positive.

The labor is hard.

No one doesn't want comfort.

But meat eaters have a misunderstanding. They always think that workers are afraid of labor and that human nature is greedy for enjoyment.

In fact, workers are never afraid of working unless they are not paid enough.

In fact, they had lived in Kaiping for hundreds of years and knew the distribution of nearby shallow coal mines very clearly. Under their leadership, Zhu Houxuan quickly found the high-quality coking coal he wanted.

Moreover, the terrain in Tangshan City is flat, which is very suitable for building railways.

Zhu Houxuan stayed in Kaiping for a few days, made plans for the next steel plant, and then left Kaiping in a hurry because Zhu Houzhao had sent someone to urge him to go to Beijing.

By the time he and his guards arrived in the capital, it was already March, and other people from the Prince of Jing's Mansion had also arrived.

In order to welcome his arrival, Zhu Houzhao went out of the city to meet him.

"Hahaha, my little brother, I finally got you here." Zhu Houzhao hugged Zhu Houxun and pulled him onto his golden carriage.

"I brought a lot of people here this time, and we're ready to do something big!" Zhu Houxuan also said with a smile.

"We brothers are going to have a great fight! I have arranged the people you brought with you. Come, I will take you to see it!" Zhu Houzhao said excitedly.

When they arrived at the place, Zhu Houxuan was suddenly shocked to find that they had come to Hongqing Palace.

"Royal brother, how did we get to this place? Shouldn't we go to the palaces of the kings?" Zhu Houxuan asked in surprise.

"Why go to the Palace of Kings? That place is too small. I plan to give Nangong to the Ming Royal Group as its headquarters. I have arranged all the people you brought around it." Zhu Houzhao said excitedly.

"This is not... appropriate," Zhu Houxuan said with some difficulty as he looked at the palace in front of him.

"Why is it inappropriate? Only a palace like this is worthy of my brother!" Zhu Houzhao said somewhat arrogantly.

"But. But this is Nangong!" Zhu Houxun felt like crying but had no tears.

The Nan Palace is located in the southeast of the Forbidden City, in Duanku Hutong, Nanchizi Street. It is also known as Chongzhi Palace and commonly known as Xiaonancheng. It was the Nan Palace in Beijing during the Ming Dynasty, namely Hongqing Palace. Later, Li Zicheng entered Beijing and burned it down. It was not rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty.

Nangong is the largest imperial palace in the capital, and the largest palace complex outside the Forbidden City.

The reason why Zhu Houxuan was afraid to accept it was not because of this, but because Nangong was too famous in the history of the Ming Dynasty.

When Zhu Qizhen, the son of the Fortress, returned from studying abroad in Wala, he was imprisoned in the Nan Palace by Zhu Qiyu and honored as the emperor. He was also placed under house arrest by the Jinyiwei and strictly controlled. The palace gates were not only locked but also filled with lead, and food could only be passed in through a small hole.

Zhu Qizhen lived here for eight years, and then with the support of Shi Heng and others, he set out from here to seize back the throne. This is known in history as the "Dou Men Incident", also known as the "Nangong Restoration".

And now Zhu Houzhao actually gave this Nangong to the Daming Royal Group. Zhu Houxuan's heart was beating fast. What did this mean? Was he hinting at something?

Zhu Houxuan couldn't help but secretly observe Zhu Houzhao's expression.

"What's wrong with Nangong? Don't think too much. I just want to give Nangong to you." Zhu Houzhao saw through Zhu Houxuan's thoughts and explained.

(End of this chapter)