Daming heir

Zhang Hui accepted the order and retreated out of the Wenhua Hall.

But he didn't go far before he found Zhu Yunxi in front of the East Palace Gate.

At this time, Zhu Yunxi was taking his silly son and good daughter with him.

There were a large group of maids, palace maids, and eunuchs in the inner court, all of whom stayed far away, not daring to disturb the family ties of the Tian family.

The 23rd prince Zhu Huan, who had grown much taller, was running around in the wide square like a wild horse.

Zhu Yunxi was staring at his silly son with a worried face.

Daughter Zhu Fuling put the toys aside and looked at her brother who was becoming more and more "mature", wondering why he didn't like playing with these toys.

Zhu Fuling stretched out her chubby fingers and pointed at her brother: "Stupid! Stupid!"

Zhu Wensheng sat on the ground with his legs spread apart and his hands on his legs. His face was a little solemn and he frowned. He looked at his silly sister who kept shouting and felt that it was extremely noisy.

"Aba Aba!"

Zhu Wensheng pushed his butt hard, pushed his body upward, and shouted at Zhu Fuling, signaling his sister to stop making such a noise.

Girls should be quiet and virtuous.

Zhu Fuling pouted, feeling that her brother was really hopeless.

snort!
The little girl muttered, turned around and played with the doll in front of her.

Daughters are normal.

But the son makes people feel like a fool.

Zhu Yunxi couldn't help but wonder whether he was really stupid.

"Aba Aba!"

"Abba!"

Just when Zhu Yunxi was worried about whether his son was stupid, Zhu Wensheng had already turned around, raised his head, and shouted twice at his bad father.

Zhu Yunxi lowered his head and blinked at his son.

Zhu Wensheng raised his finger to his bad father, then turned to his sister in front of him: "Abba, Abba (please take care of your sister)!"

Probably without noticing, a stream of crystal clear saliva slipped out from the corner of Zhu Wensheng's mouth.

Zhu Yunxi sighed softly: "What a silly son."

Zhu Wensheng's eyebrows furrowed even more tightly.

This bad father seems so stupid that he doesn't even know to take care of his sister.

Zhu Wensheng lowered his head, his small face full of sadness, and he couldn't help but sigh in a low voice.

There are too many problems in this family, but I am not old enough to be the master of the family yet.

A family of three, each with their own worries.

But in the eyes of others, this scene is very warm.

When Zhang Hui came over, he was afraid of disturbing the warmth. He walked behind Zhu Yunxi with a tight step, bowed and lowered his head and whispered: "Your Highness, the Crown Prince asked you to go to the Wenhua Palace to discuss the matter of the chieftains in the southwest."

Zhu Yunxi turned around and looked at Zhang Hui, who was returning to Beijing in less than half a month, with curiosity on his face: "Have all the affairs in Southwest been investigated?"

"Go back to your highness and find out."

Zhu Yunxi turned around, waved to the correctional mothers in the distance, pointed at the two kids on the ground, then turned around and walked towards the Wenhua Hall.

He quickly went through the recent events in his mind, and then asked softly: "What is the real reason?"

Zhang Hui said truthfully: "The reason is that the natives hope to accept the imperial court's new policy like the people in other places. Then, under the instruction of the military generals in the southwest, the natives felt that the chieftain officials wanted to continue to squeeze them, so they Unwilling to accept the imperial court’s new policy.”

He had already said this to the prince when he was in the Wenhua Palace.

Zhang Hui did not choose to hide the truth for Chen Jun and the generals in the southwest. Even if he didn't tell it now, the court would still know the real reason for this matter in the end.

It would be better for him to say it directly now, which would help Chen Jun and the others gain the confidence to serve the country wholeheartedly.

Zhu Yunxi smiled.

This result was indeed beyond my expectation.

"They all have the desire to make progress, and it's not easy for them to be self-motivated, right?"

Zhu Yunxi said silently, but a flash of light flashed in his eyes.

Zhang Hui pondered for a moment, and felt that Taisun's words had probably revealed in his mind that Chen Jun and others had killed first and then reported, and were behind the conflict between the southwest natives and the chieftain officials.

Thinking that the orphans from military households in Chen's military camp were growing well under the care of the other party, Zhang Hui couldn't help but feel relieved at this time.

However, Zhu Yunxi quickly said: "But it can be considered that they did not use their ambition in the wrong place."

After finishing speaking, Zhu Yunxi stopped talking and went straight to Wenhua Hall.

Zhang Hui, who was lagging behind, felt nervous.

Taisun's words were somewhat of a warning.

If Chen Jun and the others, in order to make progress, use the idea of ​​pushing the southwestern chieftains to cause chaos elsewhere in the country, it may not be a question of self-motivation, but a consideration of whether they have rebellious intentions.

Zhang Hui was thinking about these things in his mind, and suddenly felt that what the prince said to him before was correct.

I am really not suitable for doing other things, so it is better to stay in Jinyiwei honestly. When I have nothing to do, I can go around the hospital more, so as to continue to contribute to the medical level of Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yunxi entered the Wenhua Hall all the way.

"Father."

In front of Zhu Biao, Zhu Yunxi has always been very respectful.

Zhu Biao put down the papers in his hands and raised his head to look at his son, who was obviously taller than him. A trace of trance flashed across his face.

Then he smiled: "Here you are, you were playing with Sheng'er and Poria."

Zhu Yunxi nodded: "Fu Ling can call her mother, but Sheng'er can only call her a few times."

Zhu Biao smiled: "The child is still young, he will grow up, and he will always be able to master. As a first-time father, you still have a long way to go."

At the end of the sentence, Zhu Biao's voice became much softer.

He inadvertently remembered the past.

Since the 15th year of Hongwu, he has become a father in the East Palace.

Zhu Yunxi frowned slightly, not sure if he was thinking of his biological brother who died young, or if he was thinking of his growing up years in the East Palace.

However, he quickly changed his words: "I heard that the incident in Southwest China has come to an end, but my son never thought that the truth would be so bizarre. But now, the situation is on the side of the imperial court, and my father's strategy for Southwest China is still unclear. It can be implemented as scheduled.”

Zhu Biao nodded and said: "The commander of Dayong Wei, Chen Jun, let him serve as the deputy general of the army this time."

Zhu Yunxi immediately glanced at the prince's father.He did not first talk about the affairs of the southwest, nor did he say anything about the rebellion among the chieftains in the southwest. Instead, he proposed that Chen Jun, commanded by Dayongwei, serve as the deputy general of the army.

Zhang Hui obviously told his father all these things, and under this premise, his father also asked Chen Jun to serve as the deputy general of the army.

Here's where it gets interesting.

Zhu Yunxi's thoughts swirled, and then he said: "Since my father has decided to plan for the Southwest Chieftain, I am afraid that this war will have to wait until spring next year to start.

After all, it is winter now. Although the climate in the south is not like that in the north, under the wind and snow, and the mountains in the southwest, if the soldiers go south into the mountains at this time, they will be able to find the chieftain forces hiding in the mountains. War will also be difficult. "

The Central Plains has had only one problem in managing the southwest since ancient times.

That is the terrain in the southwest, which is too dangerous.

No matter which dynasty or generation, as long as they have the idea of ​​​​strategizing the southwest, it shows that the national power at that time is the strongest.

Throughout the world, only the Central Plains had the strongest military power.

But even so, once these armies march into the mountains of the southwest, they will always be defeated by the chieftains who are more familiar with the mountains and forests.

Not everyone is Zhuge Wuhou.

Not everyone can perform such a spectacular move like Wu Hou.

Otherwise, it would not be possible that until the present Ming Dynasty, the central court's highest policy towards the southwest was still to use both local and local policies, and then slowly implemented the reform of local and local policies.

If the chieftain soldiers and horses from the southwest were pulled out of the mountains, not to mention placed in an environment like the grassland outside the pass, or placed on the battlefield in the Dongting Lake area of ​​Huguang Road.

The imperial court did not need to dispatch too many soldiers and horses at all.

In fact, just by mobilizing troops within the Huguang Daodu Command, the entire southwestern chieftain's troops could be wiped out.

As the founding crown prince of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Biao naturally understood these very well.

He affirmed: "This winter, we will first mobilize soldiers from the southwest in the army in Yingtian and organize them into an army. The imperial court will allocate money, food and weapons to Huguang Road. After the spring, we will conduct a survey of the chieftains from the southwest to completely change the situation of returning natives to the countryside."

Zhu Yunxi agreed and said: "In the previous period, Zhang Ergong, the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, also found his son and said that the supervisor had come up with some good things. He originally wanted to send them to the Southern Expedition Army so that General Chang could go ahead. It is for trial use. Now it can be used in the southwest in advance, and it will also be convenient for people from the Ministry of Industry to verify whether there are any improvements in the new firearms. "

There was a trace of curiosity on Zhu Biao's face.

The Ministry of Industry has always come up with several new and good things from time to time in the past two years. Although there are no such things as steam engines and trains now, they are still good things that are practical and beneficial to the country and the people.

Now listening to what Zhu Yunxi said, Zhu Biao was immediately curious. The Ministry of Industry had come up with something again. It seemed that it was a firearm specially used in the terrain of southwest and southern Xinjiang.

Zhu Yunxi was smiling.

correct.

What the Ministry of Industry has now come up with is two more lightweight artillery pieces.

Different from the new artillery that the Ministry of Industry came up with in pursuit of high power before the Northern Expedition, the current artillery is lighter and more convenient.

When the project was approved for the new artillery acquired by the North, the requirements given by the imperial court were very simple.

Powerful, large caliber.

The weight and transportation convenience of the artillery are completely ignored.

Anyway, those artillery pieces were either placed on the city walls, or used for bombardment by large corps in the plains and hills, or they were relatively reduced versions used on new warships.

The result pleased everyone.

The new artillery is powerful enough.

Many people even think that even if it is Yingtian City's city wall, under the bombardment of new artillery, perhaps no more than ten shots can blast the city wall open.

After the Northern Expedition, the Ministry of Industry only revised some of the data of the new artillery, and then devoted all its efforts to the lightweight artillery that was developed later.

Zhu Biao asked expectantly: "What kind of new firearm is it?"

Zhu Yunxi explained: "The power is much smaller than that of the past, but it is better than the light weight. Even the heaviest of the two recently developed artillery pieces only requires a group of war horses to drag it. .

If there were no horses, a ten-man team could carry the cannon, its gunpowder, and shells to the required location. "

"How powerful is it?" Zhu Biao's eyes began to shine.

Zhu Yunxi thought for a while and finally found a reference: "The gate tower outside the Wenhua Palace can be destroyed with only three cannonballs."

Zhu Biao looked at the gate tower at the front of the Wenhua Palace and couldn't help but nodded: "This is powerful enough, and it is enough to be used in the southwest mountains."

More than enough.

In the past, if the imperial court sent a large army into the mountains to search for and suppress the rebellious chieftains, the most they could do was use some firecrackers.

Three cannons can blow down the palace gate tower. If it were used to the southwest, one cannon would kill at least a dozen people.

Zhu Yunxi changed his words and said: "It's just that if you want to go deep into the southwest mountains, this cannon seems a bit heavy and will slow down the soldiers. On the contrary, it is another cannon, which is completely different from all the current artillery. Most of all It’s convenient and not too powerful.”

Zhu Biao had already stood up and sat on a chair nearby. He took a sip of water from his tea cup and said, "Tell me something quickly."

Zhu Yunxi smiled.

The gun he was talking about was actually a mortar.

It was not the mature mortar that would be seen in later generations, but it was not considered a native cannon either.

The barrel is easy to say, as long as it is made a little thicker, it can still prevent the barrel from exploding.What limits the faster development of mortars is that it is impossible to make too obvious a leap in the research and development of artillery shells.

He explained: "It is a cannon barrel that can be lifted and carried by two soldiers. When used, it is connected to the bracket. The cannonball is also the latest, but it is not ideal yet, so the power is artificially controlled. .Probably, it can cause damage within three steps."

Mortar shells with a killing range of four to five meters are already the largest range that the Ministry of Industry can control.

Mainly due to the limitations of the stability of the excitation device and the shell itself.

Zhu Yunxi saw that his father was a little confused, so he continued to explain: "Although this cannon is not very powerful, it is the most lightweight. There are many mountains in the southwest, with the greatest ups and downs.

If ordinary artillery is used, no matter how high the muzzle is, it is impossible to attack the camp on the top of the mountain from the foot of the mountain.

But this new cannon is different. It can be inserted almost directly into the ground. The shells first rush into the sky and then slide down to the target area. This solves the problem of ordinary artillery that cannot have the muzzle too high.

Although the power is small, in the mountains of the southwest, even the troops of the chieftain forces can only shrink into a small area, so the small power is not a problem. "

Zhu Yunxi thought of the appearance of those chieftain villages in the southwest.

Once the imperial army approaches the border, those chieftains can only huddle in the stronghold. As long as the cannonballs fall and land in the right place, there will definitely be a crowd.

Zhu Biao listened to this, but there was no picture in his mind.

He couldn't help but look at Zhu Yunxi.

"Let's go take a look now?"

………………

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