Chapter 1469: The Capital Bastion Fort Complex

"It is a good thing that His Majesty favors simplicity, but is there any need for such extreme simplicity? Besides, His Majesty represents the dignity of the court. If he keeps living in such a spartan military camp, what will outsiders think?" Chen Hong still did not quite agree with the Chancellor's opinion. "However, asking him to return to the Imperial Palace is also unnecessary. It is a good thing that His Majesty dislikes secluding himself deep within the palace, cut off from the outside world."

"The Imperial Palace is indeed not a good place to live." The Chancellor suddenly sighed.

Back when he was a scholar in Xuzhou, he had secretly envied the Great Ming's emperor and imagined the emperor's life inside the Forbidden City. But now his office was located right in the Imperial Palace, so his fondness and longing for it had plummeted.

It was large, true, but it really was not a good place to live. It was cold and drafty in winter, and living in the great halls was quite uncomfortable. So although he also felt that His Majesty living in a military camp was somewhat improper, he had not firmly insisted that His Majesty move into the palace.

"Therefore, as ministers, we should share our sovereign's burdens and let His Majesty have a good place to live." Just as he was still lamenting, Chen Hong suddenly followed the thread of the conversation. "If the Forbidden City is not very livable, why don't we find another good place?"

"What do you mean?" The Chancellor grew even more serious. "Are you saying…"

"Yes, let us simply submit a request to build a secondary palace for His Majesty." Chen Hong nodded. "We ministers can jointly sign the proposal."

"Build a secondary palace?" The Chancellor frowned slightly. "This is not something we ministers should easily propose."

"What's so difficult about proposing it? We are the best ones to propose this! If His Majesty orders the construction of a detached palace himself, although it would be perfectly justified, there will always be people in the realm making snide remarks. If we jointly submit the request…" Chen Hong smiled faintly. "Then His Majesty can simply comply with the request of all the officials of the realm, can't he? This would be far more convenient for His Majesty."

The Chancellor fell silent.

"His Majesty may not necessarily like this proposal." After a moment, he finally said in a low voice.

"Can you bear to let His Majesty always live in such a crude place, and for us to always hold audiences in this military camp? We can't even summon all the civil and military officials of the court at once, otherwise some would have to stand outside as punishment!"

Chen Hong's words were very persuasive, and the Chancellor truly began to waver slightly.

Although he already held the position of Chancellor, his reverence for His Majesty was still as sincere as it had been back in Xuzhou. Thus, he was also very happy to see His Majesty, while fulfilling his imperial duties, receive treatment befitting the throne. Being excessively austere was not good.

"The new dynasty has just been established, and we start massive construction projects… isn't this… isn't this somewhat inappropriate?" After hesitating for a moment, the Chancellor finally spoke slowly. "Besides, it would never pass His Majesty's scrutiny. He dislikes wasting labor and money."

"The former Ming's conscript labor was wasting labor and money; we are not!" The Finance Minister laughed heartily. "When we bring people over, we provide meals and pay wages. How is that wasting labor?"

The former Ming's corvée was extremely harsh, frequently conscripting commoners to serve as labor for various projects across the land. It not only severely disrupted production, but the conscripted commoners received no due compensation. It could be called a truly evil policy. Having learned from the previous dynasty's lessons, after the new dynasty was established, on one hand, it reduced the number of labor conscriptions and restricted local yamens from recklessly exploiting civilian manpower. On the other hand, it explicitly stipulated that unpaid conscript labor would no longer be levied, and that the government would be responsible for meals and wages.

Although this approach consumed more of the court's resources and wealth than before, it minimized public resentment to the lowest possible level. This policy, combined with several other measures, meant that even though the new dynasty was recently established and the various regions were in a state of utter devastation, the common people everywhere actually felt that life was considerably more comfortable than during the former Ming period.

Of course, these enormously expensive benevolent policies were built upon the court's far stronger financial capabilities compared to the previous dynasty. Because of the earlier operations in Xuzhou, the court had already controlled a large number of workshops, mines, and trading firms before its establishment. These industries continuously funneled wealth into the court's hands, allowing the court to correspondingly reduce its reliance on agricultural taxes, which naturally lessened the burden on the peasants considerably. Now, after several years of recuperation, the Jianghuai and capital regions had recovered their former vitality from the flames of war, faintly presenting a scene of new prosperity.

And these achievements, naturally, were inseparable from the efforts of the civil officials at court. The cabinet formed by the Chancellor, the Finance Minister, and others, along with the meticulously selected officials across the land, had seen their prestige rise steadily over these years. These two men were even admired by contemporaries as the Xiao He and Chen Ping of the present age.

It was precisely out of concern for the court's and his own reputation that, although the Chancellor did not oppose letting His Majesty move to a better place, he still hesitated and wavered.

"Constructing palaces is no small task. How can it not be considered wasting labor?" the Chancellor countered.

"Although building palaces is a major project, it requires more craftsmen than anything else. How many illiterate commoners who know nothing of construction can be used? At most a thousand or so. Although various places currently lack manpower, they are not lacking to this extent. On the contrary, it can resettle landless refugees, giving them work to do so they are not driven by hunger and cold." The Finance Minister immediately answered the Chancellor's question. "Chancellor, since we have to distribute food to these refugees anyway, having them build a detached palace for His Majesty is far more cost-effective than simply giving it away for nothing, isn't it?"

"That is true." The Chancellor quickly accepted this argument.

Although the realm was roughly stabilized, the refugees wandering and fleeing across the land had not yet all dispersed, with quite a few concentrated in the capital region. A considerable portion of the grain the court transported from Jiangnan each year was distributed to these refugees. Because the offensives and defenses in various places had a great demand for labor, the new dynasty was not keen on distributing unclaimed farmland, so most of the lingering refugees suddenly found themselves in the predicament of having nothing to do. From this perspective, giving them work to do, having them build a detached palace for the court, was far better than simply giving them grain for free.

"Have you spoken to the Works Minister about this?" His attitude immediately softened. "This matter would be difficult to handle without the Works Minister's say-so."

The Works Minister referred to the Duke of Wei, Xu Housheng, who served as a minister in the cabinet. He was responsible for the nation's industry, mining, and construction affairs. If a detached palace were to be built, site selection and construction could not proceed without his leadership. Only he could organize enough craftsmen and manpower to accomplish the task.

Moreover, he was His Majesty's brother-in-law, and his relationship with His Majesty was exceptionally close. If he also joined the ranks of the petitioning ministers, His Majesty would be more easily persuaded.

"The Works Minister is currently outside the city, supervising the construction of bastion forts. I naturally haven't had the chance to tell him this idea yet." Chen Hong smiled. "But, presumably, he shouldn't object to this proposal, right?"

The former Ming had managed the capital for many years. Originally, the capital could be described as having high walls and deep moats, its defenses against infantry and cavalry wielding swords, spears, bows, and arrows being as solid as gold. But times had changed. The power of firearms and cannons had grown ever greater, and the defensive measures around the former capital increasingly proved useless. In the final years of the former Ming, the Zhao army marched north several times, and the capital's defenses could be said to be utterly fragile, the city walls appearing exceptionally weak before the Zhao army's cannons.

Since the capital was designated as the new dynasty's seat, its defense became exceptionally important. The consensus throughout the court, from top to bottom, was that the capital's existing defensive facilities were completely unusable and had to be entirely razed and rebuilt. Therefore, starting a few years ago, the new dynasty began the construction of the capital's outer defensive facilities.

Unlike previous dynasties, this construction was personally led and overseen by the Works Minister, Xu Housheng, and he also had several architects from the West serving as advisors by his side.

At this time, the various Western nations had been warring with firearms and cannons for a hundred years, and not long ago had fought a chaotic multi-nation war lasting thirty years. Thus, they had the most experience in building fortresses to defend against firearms and cannons. Therefore, the new dynasty paid attention to absorbing their experience from the very beginning, hiring many architects from the West through missionaries to assist Xu Housheng in constructing defensive bastion forts in the outskirts of the capital.

These bastion forts were very thick and massive, shaped like six-pointed stars, and heavily equipped with firearms and cannons inside, capable of firing upon attacking enemies from all angles. In the craftsmen's design, over a dozen such bastion forts were to be built, scattered like stars around the capital in a ring, which could truly make the capital's defenses impregnable.

The Duke of Wei, Xu Housheng, had always been cautious and meticulous in his conduct, and the capital's defensive fortifications were a matter of paramount importance. Therefore, ever since he received this task, he had personally supervised the project on the front lines, frequently traveling back and forth to inspect the various bastion forts, fearing any slackness below. It was truly admirable that, with the year's end approaching, he still had not returned home to rest.

"He should not object." The Chancellor also immediately agreed with Chen Hong's assessment. "As long as he is involved, this becomes much easier to handle! Hasn't he been running around the outskirts of the capital every day recently? Then can't the matter of selecting a site for the detached palace be handled at the same time?"

"Incidentally, after the bastion forts are completed, the craftsmen and workers can be relocated directly to the detached palace site. That's convenient. This way, it's even less like wasting labor, right?" Chen Hong's thoughts were similar to the Chancellor's. Then, as if something had occurred to him, he laughed heartily again. "Those Western craftsmen aren't only good at building fortresses, are they? I think we can ask them how Western palaces are built, then take their essence and use it for the detached palace as well. Wouldn't this blend the strengths of East and West, of all nations, displaying the aura of a ****?"

"Incorporating Western architecture into the secondary palace as well? Interesting, interesting, let's do it!" The Chancellor also thought this was an excellent idea and laughed heartily as well.

However, as he laughed, he slowly recalled another very important question. "Hey, wait a moment. You've addressed the matter of wasting labor, but what about wasting money? Building a secondary palace will cost a great deal of money, won't it? Money is the troublesome part, isn't it?"

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