The anti-Qing movement began with the looting of the Eight-Nation Alliance.

Chapter 278 Planning the Capital

After the New Year, a massive renovation project began throughout the capital. Shen Lian's family moved to the Summer Palace.

In order to "lighten" the burden on the imperial court, in addition to the palace, city walls, and main roads, Shen Lian took the initiative to undertake the work of demolishing shantytowns, clearing waterways, and resettling the people.

However, the imperial court granted tens of thousands of acres of wasteland outside the city to the royal family for free use.

This was a housing issue involving hundreds of thousands of people, and court officials submitted memorials praising the emperor for his noble character and compassion for the people.

Only Shen Lian knew just how big a deal this was!

Of course, people nowadays don't have a concept of real estate, so it's not their fault.

Currently, the capital city has a population of over one million, and it's already incredibly crowded. But Shen Lian knows this is just the beginning; once the economy develops, the capital city's population will definitely explode.

Although it won't reach the terrifying figure of over 20 million in later generations, Shen Lian estimates it will still reach five or six million.

In order to cope with the large influx of residents, he must first develop a plan for the city.

It would be useless to leave these matters to the imperial court; they simply couldn't possibly think that far ahead. We have to do it ourselves.

The old city must be preserved. He certainly wouldn't be like some "unyielding" brainless experts who would tear down the old city walls just to make it easier to get in and out.

These old city walls not only cannot be demolished, but must also be completely repaired and reinforced. Even the dilapidated city towers must be completely renovated.

The officials all agreed with Shen Lian's request. After all, the capital city was the face of the nation, and its imposing and majestic appearance was essential.

Shen Lian plans to first plan out a second ring road. The land the imperial court gave him is this ring of open land outside the moat.

Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, in order to protect the city walls and for security reasons, building houses and farming were prohibited within a thousand meters of the moat.

Although by this time policies had fallen into disuse and powerful figures were gradually encroaching on these lands, no one dared to venture within a few hundred meters.

Fortunately, these powerful and influential people were almost all wiped out, and all that was needed was to confiscate the land they had seized.

As for those illegally built shacks, Shen Lian will provide them with some low-rent housing.

This royal construction company was personally led by Shen Lian, who transferred a group of people knowledgeable in architecture from the Imperial Workshop.

Instead of mobilizing the city's residents to relocate, the construction company started building roads first. Shen Lian was still waiting for the cement plant invested by the royal family; of course, he couldn't possibly use such a prime piece of land to build a courtyard house.

After arriving in Beijing, he ordered the construction of a large cement plant in Shijingshan District, which is currently under construction with workers working overtime. Once the cement is produced there, precast concrete slabs can be made.

Precast concrete slabs are not difficult at all; you can make them with just a few pointers.

With current technology, it's difficult to build a multi-story building, but building a six-story brick-concrete structure is no problem at all.

He also plans to install running water, electricity, kitchens, and toilets in these houses. He simply doesn't believe the residents would be unwilling to relocate.

In fact, the Yiluan Hall had already been using electricity in 1888, thanks to a 20-horsepower steam DC generator that Li Hongzhang had purchased from Denmark.

In 1890, the Summer Palace was also connected to electricity. At the same time, the Siemens Electric Light Company, founded by German businessman Baur in Dasha Mao Hutong outside Donghuamen, began supplying electricity to the embassies and foreign firms in Dongjiaomin Lane.

Last year, the first public power plant in Beijing, the Qianmen Xichenggen Power Plant, also began construction.

However, Shen Lian has now ordered the power plant to be shut down and relocated several kilometers away. He doesn't want to see tall chimneys still in the city, and the generators at that power plant were designed to be too small to meet the future electricity needs of the capital.