Eggs are extremely precious rare things!

What is the reason?

This is because, throughout the Qing Dynasty, from Kangxi to Guangxu, those emperors believed that eggs were rare and expensive luxury goods, and ordinary people could never afford them. Not to mention Daoguang, Xianfeng and others, let’s talk about Qianlong. He summoned a Grand Secretary and saw that it was still early, so he invited him to have breakfast. The Grand Secretary replied: “The old minister’s family was so sloppy, but he just ate four eggs at home for breakfast. Your Majesty used it slowly.” Qianlong said in surprise: “One egg costs more than ten taels of silver, and four are more than forty taels. I have a wide range of seas and I dare not squander so much. How dare you indulge in lust so much? You dare to lie to me that my family is poor”?

The Grand Secretary knew that he had let it go, and hurriedly evaded the words and finally got through the test. When it was Guangxu, he thought that those who could afford eggs were either rich or noble, because the account details reported by the Royal Restaurant clearly stated: The purchase price of eggs was "thirty-four taels of silver for each".

So, what is the market price of eggs in the Qing Dynasty? It is recorded that the most expensive time was only three or four cents, but it was just something that ordinary people often eat. Why did the eggs soar when they entered the palace? The problem of course lies in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which is responsible for the procurement of the inner court.

Throughout history, emperors are often the easiest to be deceived when they are in deep palaces.

Civil officials deceived the emperor into peace and prosperity, military officials deceived the emperor into peace and prosperity, and even eunuchs and other internal officials were cheating on the royal family's money by plucking their hair.

Emperor, this profession is really not done by humans, and it is surrounded by "enemy".

I accidentally took someone to the gutter.

However, compared with the emperors of all dynasties, Zhu Guoqiang has a "magic weapon" - newspapers!

Since the 14th year of Chongzhen, he instructed Qian Qianyi to run the Ming Pao in Nanjing, over the years, there have been thousands of newspapers in the Ming Dynasty, and more than a hundred newspapers in Nanjing alone. It has been well known that newspapers influence public opinion. Whenever there are cases, newspapers of all sizes are staring at the case like flies all day long. This has greatly reduced the unjust, false and wrong cases in the Ming Dynasty, and collusion between officials and gentry is often exposed to newspapers and public opinion.

Not only do senior officials understand public opinion and current affairs through newspapers, but the same is true for the emperor. Moreover, in order to avoid being coaxed by a "fake newspaper" like Yuan Shikai, in addition to the newspapers that were normally ordered, there are several additional channels to obtain newspapers.

In short, with the help of the newspaper, at least the eggs that Emperor Qian Sheng ate always cost one or two cents each.

As in the past, when looking through the newspaper, Zhu Guoqiang looked at the front page advertisements. The newspapers of this era, unless there is a huge news, the front pages are advertisements, and today, it is no exception.

"It seems nothing..."

When he turned to the second version, Zhu Guoqiang was stunned.

"The steam ship "Qianliju" was successfully tested!"

Steam ship!

For a moment, Zhu Guoqiang almost stood up. He had been not as excited as he is now for several years. In fact, after the train was put into use, he was wondering when the steamship would be invented, but unexpectedly, no one had ever thought about building a steamship.

This is too condescending!

Seeing that the railway had been built for tens of thousands of miles, and there were still many slurry boats and sailboats running on the river. Zhu Guoqiang was anxious!

In fact, it’s not just a matter of being self-confidence. One of the most fundamental reasons is that there is no need!

The railways of the Ming Dynasty have always been built under the promotion of Emperor Zhu himself. They were promoted by the emperor, led by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and responsible by the Ministry of Works. In other words, they were promoted by the emperor's personal will.

As for the steamboat.

In the Ming Dynasty, there was extremely developed water transport in the Yangtze River Basin. In this vast land, whether it was natural rivers or artificial canals, it was like countless blood vessels, and freighted into the aorta of the Yangtze River. Cargoes from all over the country were loaded from various places, small or large in size. They skillfully shuttled through the small and small river channels and transported goods to the Yangtze River. Similarly, they transported the materials and goods transported by the Yangtze River through the sea to all parts of the country. It was these waterways that were connected together.

From sampans to sloops, from sloops to sloops, and from sloops to ocean-going sea boats, various ships play their own roles in rivers that are densely packed with pearl silk. Correspondingly, the market does not seem to have much demand for steamships.

It may be because of the perseverance, or the market has no demand. In short, the invention of the steamship in the Ming Dynasty was severely lagged behind. After all, in another world, there were steamships first and steam locomotives later. It was the Ming Dynasty's turn... the other way around.

But now, looking at this news, Zhu Guoqiang was so excited!

The steamship was finally built. Looking at the trial sailing patterns hand-painted in the newspaper, Zhu Guoqiang couldn't help but sigh at the historical coincidence - the first steamship of the Ming Dynasty also used paddle wheels.

"Steam ship...this name is appropriate!"

While chuckling, Zhu Guoqiang looked carefully at the contents of the newspaper. When he saw the name of the inventor, he was stunned.

"Zhang Ying, a 19th-level supervisor of the Imperial College, is it the Zhang Ying from Liuchi Lane?"

Is there still a six-foot alley in this world?

When leaving the palace, Zhu Guoqiang had no answer, but one thing that is certain is that from now on, there may not be Zhang Ying in the Ming Dynasty court. As for Liuqi Lane... there may not be no more.

So what about Zhang Tingyu?

Suddenly, Zhu Guoqiang smiled.

All this is not important. What is important is that talents emerge in the generations, and Zhang Ying may not be able to become a Grand Secretary of the Qing Dynasty, but the Ming Dynasty had an additional mechanical engineer and an inventor, which was also a great thing.

When Fang Yizhi noticed the smile on the emperor's face, he could not think of why the junior of the Zhang family could alarm the emperor and the old man who came over in person. The stupid boy of the Zhang family really made the Zhang family look so good. If he knew about this, he would probably be quite relieved!

In fact, Fang Yizhi also had this same mood. After all, the Zhang family is also his relative, and Zhang Bingwen is both his uncle and his brother's father-in-law. He is also a relative of the same generation as Zhang Ying.

This kind of relationship is not a secret in the Ming Dynasty, and this is also the reason why His Majesty would call him to accompany him.

"Master, we're at the shipyard ahead."

Seeing that the emperor seemed to be a little anxious, Fang Yizhi said.

"The master seems to value steamships very much?"

"It's more than just a valuation!"

Zhu Guoqiang said with a smile.

"A steam ship will be like a train, it will inevitably change the world pattern. Now it is just the beginning. If everything goes well, it will completely eliminate sailing ships in less than a hundred years! All sailing ships, including our fast sailing ships!"

"How is this possible!"

Fang Yizhi said in shock.

"Without sails? Can ships still be driven entirely by steam engines? Coal is not cheap!"

"That's why it takes a hundred years!"

100 years, is 100 years long?

For individuals, 100 years is a long time, but for countries, 100 years is just a period of time.

Of course, it doesn’t necessarily take so long. You can also apply a little help from the middle. At that time, you will definitely eliminate the sailboat in a shorter time, so that the world can enter a real steam era. In fact, it is not the steam era, but it really opens a new era.

While speaking, the carriage had already stopped outside the shipyard. When Zhu Guoqiang got off the carriage, he glanced at the shipyard and asked.
Chapter completed!