Chapter 913 Kind Condolences

Daqing was the last stop in the north. After that, I returned by the same road. After arriving in Beijing, I took another railway, the Beiguang Line, and went south to Shijiazhuang.

Shijiazhuang's presence in later generations is very low, and people who are not good at geography don't even know that it is a provincial capital. Because there is a capital next to it, what news can it have that deserves attention.

But in fact, Shijiazhuang's geographical location is actually not bad, and it is also the second batch of supported development cities.

In Shijiazhuang, Wu Changqing received a warm welcome.

Before Wu Changqing left, he had already issued an order, and the people did not need to kneel down.

But after getting off the train in Shijiazhuang, the people still ignored the officials' orders and spontaneously knelt and kowtowed.

The people here are suffering. Since Li Zicheng's rebellion began, there has been no peace here.

The intruders came to rob once, and then the officers and soldiers who suppressed the bandits came to rob again. After the battle was over, the court had no money, and taxes were increased again.

Coupled with the colder climate, less precipitation, and lower food production, the people here are living a miserable life.

Afterwards, a lot of people entered the customs, and their social status was directly inferior to others, which was even more unbearable.

In the years from Chongzhen to Dahua's recovery of Shijiazhuang, the population here has decreased by more than 70%, which is not far from one out of ten.

The locals living here know what kind of life they lived in the past.

And since it was ruled by Dahua, they have started to live a good life.

In the first two years after it was retaken, a large amount of food relief was provided here, so that everyone could have food, and no one died of starvation.

This alone makes the people here feel grateful to the imperial court and Wu Changqing.

Since then, Dahua has continued to provide assistance here.

First, there are a large number of potato seeds, as well as iron farm tools.

After that, the land was divided, so that each household had its own land.

Then there was industrial support, and some factories were set up here, so that the people could start some side jobs in their spare time and subsidize their families.

Although Wu Changqing relied on the system to do all this, he did contribute to this world anyway, and these people even attributed all the credit to Wu Changqing.

"What is this? Didn't I say not to do this?"

Wu Changqing didn't know that these people were spontaneous, and thought it was Shijiazhuang Mayor Wei Jingdao's flattery.

"Your Majesty clearly learned that the minister has strictly prohibited the common people from kneeling down. However, His Majesty's merits and virtues are immeasurable. These common people refused to agree to this, and insisted on using this method to thank you for your kindness."

Wei Jingdao said helplessly, but he wasn't worried, anyway, he didn't do it deliberately, and the emperor must be very happy to see it.

He guessed right, Wu Changqing had a straight face on the surface, but he was actually very happy in his heart.

Relying on power to force others to kneel is not an achievement. Being able to make others kneel spontaneously is the ultimate manifestation of personality charm.

Although this is taking advantage of the times, it is a symbol of his political achievements anyway.

"Everyone is flat."

Wu Changqing helped an old man himself, and the old man burst into tears with excitement.

This touching scene was naturally photographed by the accompanying reporters.

However, it will take some time for this photo to be published in the newspapers. Now there are only telegrams that can transmit text, and there is no fax that can transmit pictures.

Wu Changqing sympathized with the lives of the common people, and the common people expressed their satisfaction.

Ambassadors and others can be sure that this is not a rehearsed script.

Seeing that the common people love Wu Changqing so much, I have mixed feelings in my heart.

You must know that during this period, people in basically all countries were dissatisfied with the emperor and the ruling class. Because of low productivity, the ruling class is doomed to exploit ordinary people if they want to enjoy it.

Ordinary people are not living a good life, so how can they be grateful to the emperor.

In Dahua, Wu Changqing took the lead in doing this.

In Shijiazhuang, Wu Changqing focused on inspecting the people's livelihood.

As for industry, this is unnecessary.

Elsewhere, they have inspected many industries.

Even if they don't go to inspect, they can know what the industry in Shijiazhuang looks like.

Furthermore, Shijiazhuang's industry is not very good, and the data on paper can only be regarded as qualified.

The people's livelihood in Shijiazhuang is pretty good. The people can eat enough and wear warmth, and the place to live is much better than before. Most of the people in the city live in brick houses, and there are no thatched huts in the city.

This is due to the improvement of Dahua's productivity. Whether it is firing bricks or tiles, the cost has been greatly reduced, making bricks and tiles from a luxury item to an ordinary commodity.

In terms of travel, Shijiazhuang has not changed much. It is mainly on foot, with a small amount of bicycles and no horse-drawn carriages.

With Shijiazhuang's development level, it is neither suitable nor necessary to build rail carriages.

In terms of cargo transportation, it is completely dependent on trains, and horse-drawn carriages are still the mainstay between cities, and cars are very rare.

Wu Changqing randomly visited several farmers, had a cordial conversation with the people, and sent some daily necessities.

All these scenes were photographed and sent to Nanjing quickly.

When Wu Changqing left Shijiazhuang and arrived in Zhengzhou, Nanjing newspapers had already reported Wu Changqing's inspection of people's livelihood in Shijiazhuang, occupying the headlines.

newspaper article explains

The reason why the people voluntarily kneel down is listed a lot of data for comparison, comparing the difference between the life of the people in Shijiazhuang today and before.

Then, some excerpts of Wu Changqing's conversation with the common people were excerpted.

The content is naturally Wu Changqing's concern for the people, and the people's answers are naturally all kinds of gratitude, and the scene is full of joy.

Afterwards, Wu Changqing inspected the residences of the people, chatted with the people about the daily life, and the deeds of delivering daily necessities were also reported, accompanied by those photos.

The effect of this report is naturally an incomparable sensation.

In the eyes of the common people, the emperor is a very mysterious existence, a superior existence.

It is incredible that the emperor talks to ordinary people. So close to the people, the absolute eternal sage.

They have never heard of any emperor who went out of the palace before to inspect the living conditions of the people in the world and talk to the people.

Comparing the two, Wu Changqing immediately appeared much wiser and more powerful.

The report in the article further proves their point of view.

Under Wu Changqing's rule, the lives of the people in Shijiazhuang have undergone earth-shaking changes.

In fact, this is not the only case in Shijiazhuang, the people living in Nanjing City have also felt this change. Even, their changes are bigger than Shijiazhuang.

The people in Shijiazhuang just eat enough and wear warm clothes, but they have buses to commute to and from get off work, tap water for water, meat and fruit, and can buy several clothes a year...