Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 407
"Yo moo—"

On April 23, Jihai, when the mist emerged in the mountains, the sound of Yo Yo deer began to sound in the mountains behind Dading Palace.

"Yo Yo Luming, the apple of the wild food...hehe!"

At the gate of the Changchun Hall of Qiwang Palace in Dading Palace, Zhu Youjian squatted in front of the steps, holding a silver water cup in his right hand, and brushing his teeth vigorously with a toothbrush with tooth powder in his left hand.

Yang Yuanai squatted beside her, using the copper basin in her hand to catch the toothbrushing water spat out by Zhu Youjian, while Yang Rushi stood behind Zhu Youjian holding a box of tooth powder.

To be honest, his image is really not very good at the moment, with disheveled hair and a middle coat. Those who don't know may think it is some prisoner who has changed into clean prison clothes.

"Bah... that's it!"

After rinsing and brushing teeth, Zhu Youjian handed the toothbrush and water cup to Yang Yuanai, and Yang Yuanai handed the water basin to the maid next to her, and took Zhu Youjian's water cup and toothbrush.

"Your Highness, you can go back to the palace to take a bath and change clothes."

Yang Yuanai spoke to Zhu Youjian in Mandarin with a hint of Jiangnan accent, but Yang Rushi handed the tooth powder to the maid next to her when she heard the words.

"Well——" Zhu Youjian stood up and stretched, and then took Yang Yuanai, Yang Rushi, and four court ladies into a side hall of Changchun Palace.

This side hall is used for bathing and bathing. The inside of the hall is entirely paved with gold bricks. In the center of the hall there is a pool three feet wide and four feet deep. The water in the pool is steaming hot right now.

Zhu Youjian unbuttoned his jacket, revealing his upper body.

After all, practicing martial arts all the year round, coupled with a proper diet, the chest muscles and abdominal muscles are all exposed.

It's just that these pectoral and abdominal muscles are not very useful on the battlefield. If he needs to go to the battlefield, Zhu Youjian will still eat himself up a few months in advance and use fat to protect himself.

"The last expedition was three or four years ago..."

Patting the abdominal muscles of his abdomen, Zhu Youjian regretted his fat body.

He wanted to maintain a fat body all the time, but he would lose weight as long as he didn't fight, and he didn't know if it was because of Zhu Changluo's gene.

"Your Highness is getting more and more handsome."

As Yang Yuanai said, she also turned around and began to take off her jacket and skirt.

Zhu Youjian didn't care, walked directly to the pool, and then walked down the stone steps.

When his whole body was soaked in the hot pool, he snorted comfortably.

With his hands resting on the platform stone and his back leaning against the platform stone, he relaxed.

Getting up early in the morning to take a shower is a habit Zhu Youjian developed after he contracted an illness during the first North Sweeping War.

At that time, Wang Kentang and others only asked to soak until he recovered from his illness, but after soaking for several months, this habit has been maintained.

"Crash..."

There was a sound of water, and before Zhu Youjian could open his eyes, a pair of slender hands rested on his body and kneaded him.

"Is the strength okay? Your Highness..."

Under the mist, Yang Yuanai served Zhu Youjian wearing close-fitting clothes, and Zhu Youjian had already enjoyed the service of the other party for nine years, so he was naturally satisfied with his strength.

But before he could speak, there was another "crash" sound of launching into the water, which made Zhu Youjian frown and opened his eyes.

"Go, go, go! What are you doing here?!"

In the mist, Yang Rushi was walking towards Zhu Youjian, so frightened that Zhu Youjian waved her away quickly.

"You... what's wrong?"

Yang Rushi was stunned, wondering why His Highness was making such a fuss.

"Your Highness, it's time to learn how to serve and bathe."

Not only Yang Ru was puzzled, but Yang Yuanai, who was pinching Zhu Youjian, was also puzzled, and even the other court ladies around the pool were also puzzled.

"It's too young, let her study for a few more years before talking..."

Zhu Youjian complained incessantly, because in real terms, Yang Rushi was only thirteen, how could he bear a 13-year-old girl to help him take a bath...

"I'm not young anymore!" Yang Rushi frowned slightly when she heard Zhu Youjian's words, as if she was very dissatisfied.

After all, she was raised by Zhu Youjian and has a close relationship with Zhu Youjian, so she naturally dared to refute, which would not be the case for other court ladies.

"If you don't bathe His Highness, then I will have to bathe the princess in the future. I can't bear to bathe others."

Yang Rushi squatted in the water, popped his head up and spoke, obviously he had a lot of opinions on the selection of the concubine by King Qi.

After the concubine selection is over, Zhu Youjian will have one concubine, two concubines and two concubines.

At that time, there will suddenly be five more principals on top of their aunts and nephews, and as the oldest maidservants in the palace, they will naturally be unable to avoid serving the princess in the bath.

Of course, if they help Zhu Youjian bathe for a long time, then they don't have to serve the princess.

Yang Yuanai was also afraid that Yang Rushi would be jealous and bullied by the princess, so seeing her age, she brought her here to help Zhu Youjian take a bath.

But for Zhu Youjian, this kind of behavior always makes him feel a little disgusted.

"The two of you don't need to help anyone bathe, just read your books honestly, study poetry, poetry, calligraphy and painting carefully."

Zhu Youjian calmed down, and saw what Yang Rushi and Yang Yuanai were worried about at a glance, and quickly made a promise.

"Okay, servant girl takes orders...hehe..."

Hearing that he didn't have to serve others, Yang Ru stood up happily, but Zhu Youjian could only cover up his embarrassment by raising his head and supporting his forehead.

The sound of "swooshing" water gradually faded away, and finally came the sound of "swishling" dressing.

Only then did Zhu Youjian take his hand away, and Yang Yuanai continued to bathe and knead Zhu Youjian.

But after Yang Rushi's incident, Zhu Youjian didn't have the heart to enjoy some kind of gentle country, just a cup of tea, he changed his clothes and walked out of the side hall, and returned to the bedroom next to him.

Yang Rushi changed into new clothes, wearing a jacket and skirt, standing by the dressing table, holding a towel and waiting quietly for Zhu Youjian.

Aoqun is actually the clothing form of upper jacket and lower skirt, which is completely different from the skirts and shirts of Tang and Song Dynasties, and is not so explicit.

In the late Ming Dynasty, women often added a short waist skirt to their skirts to facilitate activities, and some maidservants also liked this kind of attire.

Yang Rushi had just entered the water, and her hair was still a little wet. Although she was young, her appearance was not bad, otherwise she would not be one of the "Eight Beauties of the Qinhuai River" in history.

Her face was like an oval, her eyes were handsome and her eyebrows were sculpted, she was looking forward and looking forward, but she carried a touch of desolation that couldn't be poured out.

Now she is wearing a white ten-panel skirt, the color is understated and extremely elegant.

The breeze blowing by the dressing table, like moonlight, gave people an indescribable feeling.

If Yang Ru had red eyes and wore white silk on his head at this time, he would really look like a widow.

"Don't dress like this from now on..."

Zhu Youjian sat down with his half-wet hair, and made a special confession.

"Why? Your Highness never cared what the slaves wore..."

Yang Rushi frowned slightly, with an aggrieved look on her face, but she still stepped forward to wipe Zhu Youjian's hair with a towel.

"Anyway, don't dress like this..."

Zhu Youjian is also not very good at saying that there are rumors in the capital that he likes mature women and widows, while Yang Rushi is dressed like a widow even though he is young.

Seeing this scene without knowing it, Zhu Youjian couldn't get rid of the stigma of "loving widows" on his head, let alone...

Before Zhu Youjian could think about it, he saw Yang Yuanai walking into the hall wearing a gown.

The 23-year-old Yang Yuanai is already an old leftover woman in this era, and she has been in the mansion for a long time, and she is one of the few court ladies who have served Zhu Youjian for the longest time.

Many rumors that Zhu Youjian likes mature women came from her.

However, the atmosphere of the late Ming Dynasty was open, and Yang Yuanai was only three years older than Zhu Youjian, so this age difference is not a big deal.

The two women wiped Zhu Youjian's hair, but Zhu Youjian could only endure it.

I don't know if it's because he is free today and is extremely sensitive. He always feels that he can smell two faint body fragrances at the tip of his nose.

I was busy with things on weekdays, so I wouldn't mind if I smelled it, but a few days ago when I came to Dading Palace to escape the summer heat, the number of memorials decreased a lot, and naturally I started to feel a little full and lustful.

"Still not busy enough..."

Sucking his nose, Zhu Youjian sighed in his heart.

"Your Highness, are you suffering from the wind and cold? The servant will prepare you a cup of ginger tea later..."

"No... um..."

Yang Yuanai bowed her head slightly and glanced at Zhu Youjian who was sniffling, but Zhu Youjian only felt that two truths weighed on her heart instantly.

The idea of ​​refusing was instantly lost, and for a moment, she felt that what Yang Yuanai said made sense, so she nodded subconsciously.

"The servant is going to prepare for you..."

The hair was almost wiped, Yang Yuanai handed the towel to Yang Rushi next to her, turned around and left the bedroom with small steps.

The reason that originally occupied Zhu Youjian's mind disappeared instantly, and Yang Rushi turned around and hung up the towel, and then combed Zhu Youjian's hair.

"Your Highness, do you have gray hair?!"

Yang Rushi raised his voice, and then put a strand of hair in front of Zhu Youjian's eyes.

That strand of hair was clearly seen by Zhu Youjian, and there was indeed a white hair among the black hair.

"It's probably because I've been restless recently, just get more rest, don't worry about it."

Others became doctors after being ill for a long time, but Zhu Youjian became a doctor after being treated for a long time. He knew at a glance that his hair turned gray due to too much mental stress.

"Your Highness still needs to go to bed early. Don't read the book after finishing the memorabilia in the evening. The servant girl will go to Wang Tai's medicine to calm the nerves tea, and I will give you every night..."

Yang Rushi was like a little housekeeper, chattering and talking about some caring words, while Zhu Youjian listened quietly with a smile on his lips.

However, this tranquility was broken when Yang Yuanai entered the hall with a cup of ginger tea. She put the ginger tea on the desk in the bedroom on the other side, and skillfully opened the screen. He entered the hall with a hundred books of memorials, and put the memorials on the table.

"Are these the only ones today?"

Zhu Youjian looked at Wang Chengen and asked, while Yang Yuanai came over to tie his hair.

"Today there are only these, a total of 150 seven copies, and there are 120 two copies at Long Live."

"Long Live said, let His Highness prepare to go hunting in the mountains after noon."

Wang Chengen conveyed Zhu Youxiao's words to Zhu Youjian respectfully, and Zhu Youjian nodded tiredly after hearing the words.

"The servant is going to prepare breakfast..."

Seeing Zhu Youjian nodding, Wang Chengen returned the salute and left the hall.

After a few breaths, Yang Rushi tied Zhu Youjian's hair, then put on the golden crown and inserted the golden hairpin.

Zhu Youjian stood up and raised his hands flat, while Yang Rushi and Yang Yuanai took out the prepared clothes and put them on for Zhu Youjian one by one.

Today Yang Yuanai chose a suit of dragging clothes, and the hunting armor was already prepared on the wooden frame of the bedroom, and she would put it on before going out at noon.

"Your Highness, everything is ready, and this servant will pass the meal to you."

After finishing everything, Yang Yuanai took a step back, and Zhu Youjian got up and turned around. Yang Yuanai and Yang Rushi kept staring at Zhu Youjian, and Zhu Youjian's attention was all on his clothes.

The scarlet Yesa is not bad to wear, and the size is also hand-stitched one by one according to Zhu Youjian's tailor's ruler, so it fits very snugly.

"It's okay, you all go, I will deal with the memorial."

There was nothing uncomfortable, Zhu Youjian waved his hand to signal the two to go out, and he walked towards the desk behind the screen.

The 150 seven memorials only delayed him for an hour and a half at most.

After sitting down, he started to deal with the memorabilia with ease, and in the middle Wang Chengen brought a bowl of rice noodles and three fried poached eggs for breakfast.

Zhu Youjian processed all the memorials while eating, perhaps because he had a good rest last night, he only spent an hour and two quarters of an hour to process all the memorials, two quarters of an hour faster than expected.

"Your Highness, Long Live is already waiting for you..."

"Got it, put on your armor,"

Wang Chengen stood at the door of the bedroom and bowed to Zhu Youjian when Zhu Youjian put down the last memorial, and Zhu Youjian also responded to him.

Seeing what Zhu Youjian said, Wang Chengen led the four court ladies into the hall, and Zhu Youjian also stood up and raised his hands horizontally, allowing the court ladies to put on his armor.

Seeing that every part of the armor was locked and tied, Zhu Youjian also sighed and said:

"I haven't worn this armor for almost four years. I haven't worn it for a long time, but it feels much lighter."

"His Royal Highness has grown a lot taller. This armor servant has specially added armor pieces, which are heavier than before. It should be because His Highness has become stronger again." Wang Chengen explained with a smile while checking Zhu You's armor.

Without cotton armor and chain mail, Zhu Youjian didn't feel much sense of security with just the armor on his body, perhaps because of the successful development of the percussion gun.

Touching the fish scales on his body, Zhu Youjian was a little bit reluctant:

"I was wearing it to sweep the White Lotus Sect rebels in Shandong and Henan, and I was wearing it to fight Jianlu, and I was wearing it to fight two battles against the North."

"I don't know how many times I can wear it in the future..."

"As long as your Highness wants to wear it, you can do it anytime..." Wang Chengen couldn't understand the meaning of Zhu Youjian's words, but Zhu Youjian smiled and didn't explain.

Once the breech-loading pistol is equipped and lands on the stage of history, no armor can stop it. The contradictions are interdependent. If any armor can defend against muskets, then there is no need for armor to exist.

Of course, that is for the enemy, and for the Ming army, it is inevitable for armor to withdraw from the stage of history, but it cannot withdraw all at once, but must withdraw slowly.

The terrain that the Ming army had to face was very complex, and an army facing complex terrain still needed to wear certain armor.

The fourth version of the steam engine has appeared, and the Ming army can also be equipped with light breastplates on a large scale.

In the face of street fighting, despite the powerful firepower of the Ming army, wearing a breastplate and not wearing it are two different concepts.

What Zhu Youjian learned from Qi Jiguang's military books is to protect the lives of soldiers first.

For Daming and Zhu Youjian, a breastplate is the price of a meal in the inner court, but for soldiers, it is a second life to prevent them from fighting hand-to-hand in this era.

Broken arms and legs are fine, as long as people survive, the imperial court will arrange jobs for them, don't worry about that.

But if the person died, it would be useless for Zhu Youjian to save more.

The soldiers on the battlefield are all children of the common people. They also have parents, wives and daughters, which is essentially the same as Zhu Youjian.

It is very unfair to use the life of a rural child to ensure the strength of the country. If he does not even have the most basic benevolence, it will be a waste of his previous life's memory and experience.

"How many soldiers have been killed this year? How many have been disabled?"

Zhu Youjian asked Wang Chengen, and Wang Chengen was stunned for a moment when he heard it, and then thought about it, but still couldn't think of specifics, so he could only say roughly:

"On Xiaoxiyang's side, about 2000 people were killed and about 1000 people were disabled. On the Yingzhou side, more than [-] people were killed and more than [-] people were disabled."

"There are also soldiers from the Southern Army's Governor's Mansion who suppressed the guerrilla rebels in Jiugang, Nanzhou, and Jiaozhi. About [-] people were killed and [-] people were disabled..."

Wang Chengen's words are full of vague words such as "should, probably", and obviously he doesn't pay much attention to these.

Perhaps in their view, the dead soldiers are just a series of numbers, and the reason they care is because the imperial court needs to pay pension silver and pension land for this number.

Zhu Youjian made an association based on Wang Chengen's expression, and the facts proved that he was right...

"Counting it all together, since the first month of this year, in just four months, Guochao has killed about 1 people and disabled nearly 5000 people."

"The Ministry of Household Affairs should be having a headache about pension silver and pension land. After all, it would cost close to 200 million taels of pension silver, 15 mu of pension land, and the discounted price per mu would cost at least another 200 million taels... "

Wang Chengen was a little bit embarrassed, it seemed that he personally felt that the number of casualties of the Ming army this year was a bit too much.

This kind of number of casualties was very normal three years before the apocalypse, but it has been many years since Daming, and the number of deaths and injuries in one year was [-].

"5000 people..."

Zhu Youjian murmured, sighed in his heart, and couldn't help but say:

"I don't know whose children they are, whose father, whose husband..."

"If you die overseas in battle, you can only be cremated and go home. This is because Gu and Daming are sorry for them..."

Zhu Youjian's words made Wang Chengen pause for a moment, but luckily the armor was finished.

The maid next to him handed the helmet to Zhu Youjian, and Zhu Youjian took it and clamped it around his waist, with his right hand resting on the saber around his waist, looking heroic.

"Let's go..."

After sighing, Zhu Youjian walked out of Changchun Palace, but he kept making some arrangements.

For example, if the orphans of the fallen soldiers were sent to Beizhili, the official school would be exempted from all expenses, including books, daily meals, paper and pens, etc., all of which would be paid by the imperial court.

There is also the issuance of plaques, using the words "The Family of Heroes" written by Zhu Youxiao to open up plaques, and use this plaque to certify the families of the soldiers' survivors.

In addition, market towns around the world should also set up "meritorious monuments" to engrave the names of local meritorious soldiers, and Huangdian, the market town, is responsible for worshiping them every year.

Zhu Youjian only proposed these few items, and did not propose a tax exemption policy.

Because he has seen from Jin Yiwei's investigation that some powerful gentry with a lot of land will send some incompetent children of their families to the battlefield to die after they know that there is a tax exemption policy for death in battle.

It is also a death in battle. Ordinary people's families are exempted from taxes, and the imperial court will only lose taxes that do not exceed a hundred acres of land. However, if the gentry are exempt from taxes, it is tantamount to no income for the imperial court.

If it is said to limit the number of acres, it is tantamount to increasing the workload of grassroots officials.

At present, the total number of officials in Ming Dynasty is less than 53. It is impossible to fine-tune taxation with such a small number of people.

Daming's current taxation is basically rough. If it can be monopolized, it will be monopolized, and if it cannot be monopolized, it will be rough taxed.

This kind of rough management on the contrary allows the old system of Daming to be carried out. Once more cumbersome rules are created, it will only give loopholes to the powerful gentry.

After finishing everything, Zhu Youjian and the others also came to the gate of Dading Palace, and hundreds of cavalry guards at the gate were waiting for Zhu Youjian's arrival.

In front of them, Zhu Youjiao in armor was riding on the back of a red sweat-blood horse, and beside him was a black sweat-blood mixed stallion.

"Brother, hurry up, it's almost noon, and the prey has to go to drink water."

Zhu Youxiao waited for Zhu Youjian for a long time, and waved quickly when he saw him, while Zhu Youjian set his eyes on Zhu Youxiao's armor.

As far as armor is concerned, Zhu Youjian's armor pays more attention to actual combat, there are not too many gorgeous things, and it is not particularly conspicuous on the battlefield unless you observe carefully.

On the other hand, Zhu Youxiao also wears a double-breasted hood, but there are two golden dragons on his body armor.

In addition, his gauntlets are also made of pure gold. As for the helmet on his head, although it is still the wine cup helmet of the Ming army, it has golden phoenix wings and a gorgeous helmet tassel.

Not only that, but he also wore a red cloak on his back very flamboyantly, standing in the sun can be said to be "golden".

With his appearance, Zhu Youjian felt that if he met such an enemy general on the battlefield, he might draw his bow and shoot without thinking, and he would definitely shoot accurately.

"Brother, with this armor, I'm afraid I won't be able to hunt prey today."

Zhu Youjian came to the side of the horse, got on the horse without help, and joked with Zhu Youxiao at the same time.

Zhu Youxiao was very satisfied with his style, and ignored Zhu Youjian's jokes, but looked at Zhu Youjian's bow that was one size bigger than himself and asked:

"How much strength can my younger brother draw a bow now?"

"Nine strengths for riding a bow, twelve strengths for a walking bow!" Wang Chengen said with a smile, and when he said this, not only Zhu Youxiao showed a surprised expression, but also the Xiaoqi guards who had been with Zhu Youjian all year round were also very surprised .

Riding bow has nine strengths, and step bow has twelve strengths, which correspond to 110 six pounds and 150 five pounds respectively in later generations.

Such a weighted arrow needs to be weighted. Under normal circumstances, a single chain mail or a single cotton armor can't stop Zhu Youjian's arrow.

Coupled with Zhu Youjian's archery skills, it can be said that within fifty steps, whoever suddenly shoots will die.

"The future is the age of firearms, and bows and arrows have withdrawn from warfare..."

Zhu Youjian touched his bow and arrow, feeling a little bitter in his heart.

After all, with his physique, in the era of pure cold weapons, he might be able to lead troops into the enemy's army and kill all directions. It is relatively easy to leave dozens of people in the history books.

It's just that now is the age of firearms, and percussion guns will be put into mass production.

When the percussion gun appears on the battlefield, no matter whether it is Chu Bawang or Guan Erye, when the muzzle of the black hole prepares them, no matter how invincible they are, they will have to lie down.

"Let's go, drive!"

Seeing what Zhu Youjian said, Zhu Youxiao immediately shook the reins of the horse and rushed towards the hunting ground not far from Dading Palace.

Seeing this, Zhu Youjian walked lightly on the belly of the horse, shook the reins, and led hundreds of Xiao cavalry guards to closely guard Zhu Youxiao.

The mud splashed everywhere, hundreds of horses came out, and hundreds of people gradually moved away in just a few breaths until they disappeared...

(End of this chapter)