Daming Yinghua

Chapter 419 Who cares about being the prince’s father-in-law?

Going north from Xifengkou to near Qingcheng, twelve-year-old Xin Wang Zhu Youjian had already understood the military importance of Daning Town under Zheng Haizhu's on-the-spot explanation.

It is connected to the upper reaches of Liaohe River in the north and has abundant water resources for agriculture and animal husbandry.

To the east, it forms an uninterrupted line of defense with Dalinghe, Guangning, and Liaoyang, and they are cited by each other.

To the west is Xuanfu, an important town on the nine sides of the Ming Dynasty.

Looking south to the Yanshan Great Wall.

For the Han Dynasty, which had long been troubled by the nomadic tribes in the north, the Daning Grassland was the military base and resource supply center for the northern invaders of all generations.

Both the Liao and Jin Dynasties regarded Daning as one of their capitals. In the Yuan Dynasty, Daning was placed under the jurisdiction of Liaoyang Province and still served as the military and political hub of their own regime in the north, fully revealing the importance of Daning.

It is precisely for this reason that Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the Ming Empire, from the perspective of a founding emperor with the most bloody courage and aggressive spirit, abandoned the limited understanding of the Great Wall and fixed the border. He would rather take the risk of hiring foreign cavalry such as the Duoyan Guards than let the Daning Town was under the rule of the Han regime.

Hundreds of years later this autumn, Zhu Youjian, who entered the vast world outside the Great Wall, combined with the military map Master Zheng spread out in front of him, imagined that the great ancestor Taizu had deployed an army of 50,000 Ming troops on the land under his feet, in the grassland wind. , for the first time, I felt the passion of blood.

"Because of the fight for the throne," Zheng Haizhu was not prepared to think about his words, but answered the students' questions straightforwardly, "Yongle Ye was the King of Yan at that time. He sent his troops south to attack Emperor Jianwen. He was afraid that King Ning, who was stationed in Daning, would copy his They launched an attack from the rear and instigated the rebellion of the three Duoyan guards under King Ning. They not only launched a mutiny and imprisoned King Ning, but also selected the best of these Mongolians and incorporated them into the Yan army, and marched all the way into Nanjing after the country changed hands. Lord Yongle returned the grassland of Daning Town to the Mongols, and the area outside the Great Wall was no longer under the rule of the Ming Dynasty. "

This King Xin, who may not be able to be called "Emperor Chongzhen" in this life, is still suspicious, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

"Master Zheng, how can Master Yongle not want such a place that must be fought over by military strategists?"

But when he opened his mouth to discuss with Zheng Haizhu, the young prince's tone contained vague complaints about his ancestor Zhu Di.

After Zhu Youjian listened, he stared blankly for a moment with his mouth open, and suddenly showed suspicion: "That's not right."

Zhu Youjian frowned, but his eyes were focused, showing his seriousness in listening and the operation of synchronous thinking.

After his teacher finished speaking, Zhu Youjian sighed softly: "After all, you still have to have money and food. Those Mongolians are right, we don't pay people, why should they obey us?"

As long as you don't look at the problem stupidly and question it reasonably, you may become a wise king guarding one side over time.

Zheng Haizhu then opened the car curtain, looked at the vast grassland outside and said: "To be honest with you, Your Majesty, this is the reason why Daning Dusi was lost. I was skeptical when I first heard about it. Since the year before last, due to reconstruction matters, we have been investigating the whole story." The deeper I get, the more I believe that Daning and the surrounding guards were not completely abandoned during the Yongle period. Until the Jingtai period, the court prohibited Mongols from entering the Daning Guards to occupy the Magpie Nest. This shows that at least that was the case. At that time, the emperor and the court still regarded Daning as the territory of the Ming Dynasty. But by the time of Emperor Jiajing, the Mongolian tribes such as Horqin and Karaqin in the east invaded south and west, and the Ming Dynasty could not afford the people and money to manage the affairs outside the customs. These areas, Daning Town, have gradually become deserted and lost."

"What's wrong?" Zheng Haizhu asked gently.

Zheng Haizhu showed an appreciative smile.

Zhu Youjian rolled his eyes and said: "Those Mongolians are willing to work for our Ming Dynasty, it must be because the food and salary rewards are sufficient. Otherwise, why don't they go west to join their own people? In this case, they help Lord Yongle fight After winning the battle, you should be more and more eager to work for us and get rewards, instead of returning to the grasslands around Daning and becoming a bereaved dog? "

Zheng Haizhu nodded and said: "So, after your highness arrives in Daning this time, you will see how Huang Yushi and the others do."

After walking for another two days, the official convoy finally arrived at the city gate of Daning.

Huang Zunsu and Ma Xianglin had already greeted him two miles outside the city. Huang Zunsu is the same as Wang Huazhen who guards Guangning City in the east. He also holds the actual position of governor of the border town. He has the title of censor of Youqiandu. He is currently an official of the fourth rank. Although it is the same as Zheng Haizhu's chest. , but there is still a gap between the officials who are deployed outside and the top leaders of the ministries directly under the central government.

However, Huang Zunsu has no grudge against him due to years of friendship.

After paying homage to Zhu Youjian, he rarely wiped off his old-fashioned dignity that he always showed to others. He turned to Zheng Haizhu and smiled with his old friend: "Zheng Siqing takes office as a new official. The first place he patrols is... Choosing Daning, Huang and General Ma were very frightened."

Zheng Haizhu also laughed: "There is nothing to be afraid of. I have just seen it in a few small guards. The harvest is not bad, especially the sweet potatoes."

Huang Zunsu understood.

When he was assigned to Daning Town the year before last, Zheng Haizhu assured him that he would definitely use the opportunity of the imperial prelude to ask the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Works not to pay arrears for the recruitment and reconstruction of Daning.

But at the same time, Zheng Haizhu immediately took action. After asking Xu Guangqi for advice, he paid for some good farmers from Songjiang and sent them to Daning to teach Ma Xianglin's soldiers how to grow sweet potatoes.

This thing is much easier to serve than rice and wheat. It is the nemesis of famine. Plant it outside the Great Wall first.

When I came here this time, I saw that in the guard military fort on the outskirts of Daning Town, there were already lively villages and houses, and people dressed as civilians were walking through them, many of them carrying baskets of sweet potatoes.

Of course Zheng Haizhu is happy.

Back in Shanhaiguan, when Jun Song showed her seniority in front of her, his first sentence was to remind her to solve the problem of feeding so many people.

Huang Zunsu, who has experience in local politics, and Ma Xianglin, who has experience in raising troops, also regard this as a top priority.

Especially Ma Xianglin, because he was an old friend, he didn't need to make false greetings. At this moment, he directly took over the conversation between the two of them and said: "But just eating sweet potatoes is not enough. Azhu, if there is something wrong in the fields around the Luanhe River, There is not enough food, and the staple food in the Daning area has to be transported in by merchants. "

"That's right, with good trade routes, people will never die of hunger," Zheng Haizhu pointed to Zhang Yanke standing beside him, "Zhejiang merchants like Third Young Master, and Shanxi merchants like Chang Young Master, put silver, cotton, silk, tea, When they arrive in Daning, grain merchants will naturally gather to exchange grain for goods and money. If the price of grain is stable, the salary and silver in the hands of the sergeants should be enough to support their families. However, becoming the second best. If you go to Zhangjiakou, it also means that you will become the target of Tatars who are like sharks sniffing blood and coming to plunder.”

When Zheng Haizhu said this, he looked at Zhu Youjian who was looking around with a fresh look on his face.

Zhu Youjian realized that Zheng Haizhu was telling him, and hurriedly responded: "Master is right, if the Holy Admiral changes the seal of Gu to this place, Gu will definitely keep an eye on Dongyi."

Huang Zunsu and Ma Xianglin were originally surprised that King Xin also came together, and now they were even more surprised when they heard Zhu Youjian's words.

After a brief surprise, it was a pleasant surprise.

Daning is not as good as those vassal states in the south where rice is abundant, and the emperor and the court cannot count them. If Zhu Youjian, whose status is second only to the prince, comes to Daning, it will inevitably mean that there will be a flow of money and property from the Ministry of Revenue and even the emperor's inner treasury.

This fifth prince was taught by Zheng Haizhu. It seems that he respects his master so much that he won't be as mediocre as King Fu, right?

However, when Ma Xianglin returned to his house after the wedding banquet, his face turned dark when his wife Zhang Fengyi relayed what Mrs. Zheng had spared time to talk to her during the day.

"Feng Yi, not to mention the nine-year age difference between the two children, just look at the vassal kings of his old Zhu family, which one doesn't have a lot of concubines? My precious daughter, Ma Xianglin, what good man can't marry? If you can't choose a good one, I have raised her all my life, why should I let her serve the clan?"

Ma Xianglin is like many destined father-in-laws in this world. When it comes to his future son-in-law, his face is uglier than if he had been defeated in battle.