From a freeloader to a world leader

Chapter 332 The Emperor Enters the City

When Emperor Yuanfeng's dragon chariot entered Hengzhou City, the news that Shanzhong Xiucai was specially appointed by Emperor Yuanfeng as the royal music master and was conferred the title of Baron Zhongshan spread like wildfire throughout the entire Hengzhou City, and everyone knew about it.

As the founder of Datong Chamber of Commerce, the founder of Hengzhou new culture, and the spiritual idol of countless people, Sun Shan is honored to receive such an honor.

It is undoubtedly a recognition of Hengzhou and its achievements.

Therefore, except for those who were working, all the people in Hengzhou City automatically poured into the streets, crowding on both sides of Qingyun Road, jumping happily, waving and cheering to Emperor Yuanfeng's team.

Emperor Yuanfeng and Empress Qian Ruyu sat in the half-open dragon chariot, waving their left hands and interacting with the people from time to time.

He looked at both sides of the street, which were packed like a can of fish, with so many welcoming crowds that there was no end in sight.

Look, there are neat buildings on both sides of the street, flowers and green grass everywhere on the street walls, and asphalt roads paved with black asphalt.

Look at those faces that are enthusiastic, confident and proud.

The clothing looked obviously different from the more fashionable ones in other cities and sounded a bit strange, but I could actually understand some of the new Hengzhou dialect.

I felt like I had entered a completely fresh, familiar yet unfamiliar world.

Compared with the dozen or so cities I've seen along the way, this place is particularly vibrant and full of hope.

This is not just the feeling of Emperor Yuanfeng.

Old foxes like Li Shimin and Lu Jinxi, who have fought in every corner of the empire, feel it even more deeply.

They mostly observe the real side of the people, their physical complexion and temperament, as well as details such as the layout of the entire city.

The more I looked, the more frightened I became.

The streets are paved with asphalt that is as smooth as a mirror, there is a trash can every 200 to 300 steps, and public toilets every 400 to 500 steps. The public facilities are all brand new and trendy.

It can be seen that Hengzhou has invested huge amounts of money in urban construction.

Compared with other cities in the empire, even Chuzhou, which is a level above them, can be described in comparison.

Other cities are like an old woman in her sixties or seventies.

Hengzhou is like a girl of sixteen or seventeen years old, dressed up beautifully and about to get married.

"Ping An, how much money have you invested in urban construction?"

Li Shimin took advantage of the opportunity when not many people were paying attention and secretly interrogated Zhang Pingan, who had been in contact with him through Ding Zhilai.

"To reply to Prime Minister Li, from the second half of last year to last month, we in Hengzhou have invested nearly 700,000 to 800,000 taels of silver in the basic construction of the entire Hengzhou."

Hearing this, Li Shimin raised his eyebrows unconsciously.

My God, it took nearly one million taels of silver to build such a small city in just one year. No wonder she was dressed like a new bride.

Seeing that Li Shimin seemed a little unconvinced, Zhang Pingan could not help but add, "Prime Minister Li, all of our Hengzhou accounts can be checked. In addition, the Datong Chamber of Commerce has also assisted us and made basic investments. Their investment is no less than that of the government office."

Li Shimin finally cried out in shock after hearing this, and couldn't help but ask, "The Datong Chamber of Commerce has invested even more, why are they doing this? Why can't they get any returns from investing in city construction?"

"hey-hey----"

Zhang Pingan looked at the slowly advancing team, and was greeted by the crowds cheering and welcoming him. He smiled proudly and said, "We regard this as our home, just like Baron Zhongshan said------"

As he spoke, Zhang Pingan pointed to a huge slogan hanging on the roadside: "Come to Hengzhou, you are our Hengzhou people! We in Hengzhou are determined to create a brand new world. No matter old, weak or poor, as long as you come to our Hengzhou and are willing to work hard for the construction of our Hengzhou, you are our Hengzhou people!"

As he spoke, Zhang Pingan pointed to another slogan not far away: "If you want to get rich, build roads first. Baron Zhongshan said that only when transportation is developed and society is stable can we have long-term development and returns. Temporary gains and losses are nothing. When the people are prosperous, the society will naturally be prosperous, and the government will have tax revenue."

Then, Zhang Pingan pointed at the flowers and plants that each household had placed on the wall, half reluctantly and half consciously, because of the emperor's inspection, and smiled happily: "Prime Minister Li, look at the flowers and plants placed by the people. They are conscious of the decoration. Now the people have money and are willing to contribute a little bit of their ability to the new construction of our Hengzhou. For example, more than half of these houses on the roadside were renovated and built by themselves after they made money."

Hearing these words, Li Shimin, who had been an official for decades, felt his heart skip a beat.

I feel that what I have seen in the past few days, especially the scene in front of me, has caused my worldview to collapse!

Of course, Li Shimin was not the only one who felt this way. The senior officials who accompanied him this time, and even Ding Zhilai, who had participated in the Datong share auction years ago, felt that he could not recognize Hengzhou.

Because Hengzhou has changed a lot in the past six months.

Not to mention anything else, just the asphalt road surface under my feet, which I heard had just been developed, is paved with all the streets I just walked on.

This requires a lot of money, manpower and material resources.

Amid the hustle and bustle along the way, as they approached the Xiangjiang River, waves of blood-boiling drum beats, through the voices of thousands of people, reached the ears of Emperor Yuanfeng.

He subconsciously stood on tiptoe and vaguely saw from the high dragon chariot that several thin and long dragon boats were competing for advancement on the river.

"Queen, there is a dragon boat in front, it seems to be training!"

Emperor Yuanfeng took a look and turned to Qian Ruyu who was looking at him eagerly and said.

"I heard it too, Your Majesty. Does it look good?"

"Haha, of course it's beautiful. There seem to be seven or eight dragon boats racing."

"is it?"

Qian Ruyu could hear the drumbeats becoming clearer and clearer, and her heart was beating fast. She asked expectantly, "Your Majesty, can we go and see it now? I haven't seen it for 20 or 30 years. My father took me to see it twice when I was a child."

Emperor Yuanfeng felt sad when he heard this.

I am the same. When I was still a prince and before I was a teenager, I had seen it a few times. Since entering the palace, I have been locked up in the Forbidden City and have never traveled far away.

This time, if it weren’t for the support of the Royal Fund.

I am afraid that I will spend my whole life in the Forbidden City.

Thinking of this, he nodded firmly: "Okay, let's go take a look now, and then we can watch it to our heart's content during the Dragon Boat Festival."

These words made Queen Qian Ruyu smile happily.

Looking at Emperor Yuanfeng's satisfactory answer, his eyes were wrinkled.

Emperor Yuanfeng, who had not experienced such treatment for twenty years, suddenly found the feeling of having just gotten married.

After suppressing the excitement since entering Hengzhou City, he said to Yang Yuanqing who had been following him: "Yuanqing, please make some arrangements. Let's go see the dragon boat first. The queen said she hasn't seen it for decades."

Yang Yuanqing felt a little embarrassed after hearing this.

Because all routes and actions are arranged in advance.

If this itinerary changes, I'm afraid something bad will happen.

Mainly the security aspect.

He couldn't help but look at Sun Shan, who was riding on a big black horse and looked even more majestic.

After all, this operation was planned and directed by Sun Shan.

Moreover, all security forces are carried out by the Datong Security Group with the assistance of the Hengzhou Yamen.

Sun Shan was now very sharp-eyed. When he saw Yang Yuanqing looking at him, he nodded slightly.

Then, he leaned over and gave a few instructions to his second brother-in-law Su Yuan, who was specifically responsible for safety and routes.

After a while, a large group of thousands of people turned a small corner and headed towards the Xiangjiang River.

Emperor Yuanfeng sat on the dragon chariot, looking at this scene and the well-organized group of people, and fell into deep thought.

This Sun Shan------