Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 111
"Come here, let's help!"

"Three people over there!"

"it is good……"

The foggy color of the cold river, although it has entered the cold winter, is still lively in front of Dinghuaimen Pier in Nanjing.

The water of the rolling Yangtze River is turbulent. Although it is early morning, the boats on the river are like weaving and there are thousands of sails.

On the dock, busy boatmen rushed back and forth, loading and unloading goods in an orderly manner.

Around them, a soldier wearing armor was watching, and at the same time, he was guarding the adults sitting in the teahouse on the pier.

In the private room on the second floor of the teahouse, Xu Huizu, wearing regular clothes, stood in front of the window and looked at the dock. He watched with his own eyes the Qianfu Army guards and hundreds of boatmen carrying boxes of supplies onto the ship.

In order to safely escort Xu Huizu, Song Sheng and others to Yunnan, Zhu Yuanzhang not only mobilized the rearguard troops of the Qianfu Army, but also equipped twenty river boats.

These river boats cost about [-] yuan each and are equipped with water wheels. They can be equipped with hard sails on the Yangtze River to travel upstream.

According to the plan, they would set off a little later, then go upstream for half a month, and finally arrive in Yibin County, Xuzhou Prefecture, Sichuan Province, then turn overland and enter Yunnan, arriving at Kunming Prefecture in Yunnan Province before the winter solstice at the latest.

"Brother, don't worry, I'm still at home."

Seeing that Xu Huizu remained motionless for a long time, Xu Zengshou, who came to see him off, stood up and walked to the window with him.

Just facing his words, Xu Huizu shook his head: "I'm not worried about things in the house, I'm..."

He hesitated, but finally sighed and said, "I'm worried about Gao Xu."

"Gao Xu..." Xu Zengshou was stunned for a moment, but he quickly reacted and smiled: "Gao Xu will be fine. His Majesty is still very kind to his children and grandchildren."

"Well..." Xu Huizu said in response, but only he knew clearly that he was not worried about Zhu Gaoxu's trouble, but worried about whether Zhu Gaoxu would have trouble with Ming Dynasty.

Since returning from Zhu Gaoxu's place yesterday, he hasn't slept all night.

When he was lying on the bed, he tossed and turned and couldn't sleep, because he felt that his nephew was indeed a little too spiritual sometimes.

Coastal islands, southwest mountains...

All this information can be obtained from books. Xu Huizu didn't think it was important. What he cared about was that every time Zhu Gaoxu faced his inquiry, he only needed one word or even less time to come up with a comprehensive solution.

This kind of thinking was definitely not something he could possess in the past. Even some important officials in the court did not have such fast thinking.

Whenever he saw that Zhu Gaoxu could come up with a complete set of solutions in a short time, Xu Huizu suspected that Zhu Gaoxu had the ability to predict the future, and then thought about his ideas in advance, only to wait for himself to ask questions before he came up with the whole solution.

Although this sounds ridiculous, Xu Huizu still couldn't help but think about this, especially the Yunnan rebellion.

Xu Huizu was not surprised that there were many rebellions among the chieftains in Yunnan, but Zhu Gaoxu's inspection of Shandian mines allowed the court to find so many mines.

Coincidentally, not long after these mines were discovered, the rebellion broke out in Yunnan. The timing was really perfect.

Of course, Yunnan is prone to rebellion, so it would be far-fetched to involve Zhu Gaoxu. After all, the land conflict between the court and the chieftains is already deep, and the gold, silver and copper mines are just the trigger.

But even so, Xu Huizu still felt uneasy, always feeling that things were not that simple this time.

"Tuk Tuk..."

In the midst of his thoughts, the door of the elegant room was knocked open. Song Sheng and several young generals stood outside the door and bowed to the inside:
"Wei Guogong, it's time to set off."

"Okay, I'll go down right away." Xu Huizu turned around and nodded, returning the greeting to Song Sheng and others.

Seeing this, Song Sheng and others left. Xu Zengshou looked at their leaving figures and couldn't help but sigh to Xu Huizu: "Song Qianshi's family are all brave and good at fighting."

"Okay, I'm going." Xu Huizu did not agree with Xu Zengshou, but said hello and led the people out of the private room, and Xu Zengshou followed.

Not long after, they were already at the dock when they reappeared. Xu Huizu and several guards boarded the Chinese army's boat, while Song Sheng and his sons boarded other boats.

The twenty river boats setting off this time also contained three ships' worth of gunpowder, which was a weapon of victory in countering rebellion. Therefore, the ships had to disperse out of the port while maintaining distance.

Standing on the pier, Xu Zengshou watched Xu Huizu's boat sail out, until it became smaller and smaller on the river, and finally disappeared before he turned around and went home.

While he was returning home, news of Xu Huizu and Song Sheng's voyage also spread back to the Forbidden City. Zhu Yuanzhang didn't say anything superfluous and remained as calm as yesterday.

Looking at Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Yunwen, Zhu Gaochi and others didn't know what to say.

The five grandfathers and grandsons dealt with the memorial in silence, and time passed bit by bit. At dusk, the drums sounded, and the five grandfathers and grandsons separated as usual.

Compared with them, Zhu Gaoxu was not uncomfortable in the courtyard.

Although he was banned, there was never a shortage of food and drink, and entertainment books were often brought by Lin Wuliu, Wang Jian and others. As for news from the outside, he could get it every day, and there was no sign of being banned.

After a period of fermentation, the matter of Su Song's second house using banknotes to offset taxes finally spread in Jiangnan.

This news was like a passing spring breeze, which weakened the resistance of the people throughout Jiangnan to Baochao, and Zhu Yuanzhang also stopped the habit of issuing Baochao to the army and officials.

Since May, the imperial court has not issued even one more treasure banknote. On the contrary, it has recycled more than 200 million banknotes by recycling old banknotes and using banknotes to offset taxes.

Although this amount is insignificant compared to the circulation volume of the Ming Dynasty, at least the circulation of treasure banknotes in the Jiangnan area has decreased.

Seeing that the price of treasure banknotes had stabilized, Zhu Yuanzhang did not rush for success. Instead, on the fifth day of winter, he announced that the summer taxes of the four prefectures of Susongchang Town in the coming year could be deducted with banknotes.

However, the response of Jiangnan as a whole to this policy was not great.

Since the tenth year of Hongwu, the people in the south of the Yangtze River, who were well fed and clothed, began to pursue the taste of food. Therefore, they abandoned the unpalatable Champa rice that was harvested twice a year and switched to Japonica rice like Wuchang rice in later generations.

Although japonica rice ripens once a year, its yield is not low and its taste is good. Therefore, since the [-]th year of Hongwu, all good fields have been used to grow japonica rice, and only a small number of fields have been planted with wheat and can rice.

Because of this, the summer tax in Jiangnan is not high. Even if the four prefectures of Susongchang Town are added together, the summer tax is only 38 dan. Counting other miscellaneous taxes, it will not exceed 30 dan after discount, which is less than the autumn tax. one tenth.

Being small in size, the turmoil it can cause is naturally smaller. Therefore, in the face of this policy, there are not many private transactions for recycling treasure banknotes.

In this regard, Zhu Yuanzhang himself had no choice. After all, all the court could do was to use banknotes to offset taxes. Even large-scale recycling of treasure banknotes was unrealistic, because actively recycling treasure banknotes was a loss-making business, and using banknotes to offset taxes was equivalent to collecting less money. One time tax.

Today's Ming Dynasty cannot issue treasure banknotes, which itself is a loss of financial resources. Even if the copper mine on the Jiuhua Mountain side is on the right track, that little output cannot affect the overall situation at all.

The only thing that can really affect the situation is the gold, silver and copper mines in Yunnan.

Because of this, Zhu Yuanzhang has recently been asking about the status of Yunnan's counterinsurgency campaign.

Before Xu Huizu, Qu Neng, Gu Cheng and others arrived in Yunnan, Xipinghou Muchun and the governor He Fu did not simply stick to it. Instead, He Fu held on to Yuanjiang Prefecture and Kunming Prefecture, while Muchun led his army to attack Yuezhou Tumu in Qujing. Aziz.

Although Mu Chun's actions violated the military orders sent by Xu Huizu, in fact, Mu Chun had already led his troops on the expedition before Xu Huizu's letter was sent to Yunnan.

Mu Chun did not disgrace his father Mu Ying. He led four hundred cavalry to Yiliang overnight. After arriving, he took over the military power of Yiliang Qianhu Station and led Yiliang Guard's four hundred infantry to Qujing.

After arriving at Qujing City, Muchun divided his troops to guard the main road from Yuezhou to Qujing City, and secretly ambush elite soldiers.

On the ninth day of winter, Muchun ambushed Tumu Aziz at Xiaoma Mountain, more than [-] miles south of Qujing, beheading [-] people and capturing more than a thousand people. Tumu Aziz was defeated and returned to Yuezhou City.

Due to insufficient troops, Muchun did not underestimate the enemy and rush forward. Instead, he waited in Qujing for the troops to gather from the direction of Kunming.

The good news worth mentioning is that Wang Xuan's brother Wang Kui served as a Baihu official in this battle, and he defeated the rebel front army with Muchun. Therefore, when judging his merits after the war, Wang Kui was temporarily appointed by Muchun as Yiliang. Qianhu is the deputy of Qianhu.

As a result, the Wang family has some influence in Yunnan. After all, Wang Xuan's father Wang Zhao has served as the commander of the Golden Tooth Guard, and now Wang Kui has been appointed as Deputy Qianhu. If Wang Xuan becomes more powerful, then the Wang family may be able to dominate Yunnan. Become a small hereditary family.

The day Zhu Gaoxu got the news was the fifteenth day of the winter lunar month. After getting the news, he asked Lin Wuliu to send someone to inform Wang Xuan of the good news. Wang Xuan was overjoyed when he found out, and braved the cold wind to come to the city, across from Zhu Gaoxu. Damen chatted for a full hour before leaving.

When he left, he only regretted not having met Zhu Gaoxu. This was the only time Zhu Gaoxu complained about his long-term grounding.

It's just that complaints will eventually dissipate. What Zhu Gaoxu is more worried about is Fu Youde's side of things.

"Eighteen..."

On the eighteenth day of the winter lunar month, as Zhu Gaoxu sighed, snow fell all over the sky over the entire city of Nanjing. The entire city was covered in snow, and there were fewer pedestrians on the road.

Standing in the courtyard, Zhu Gaoxu looked up at the snowy sky and sighed. Lin Wuliu next to him thought Zhu Gaoxu was saying that the snow came too late, so he echoed:

"The snow came a bit late this year. In previous years it fell in early October, but this year it was delayed by more than half a month."

"Hmm..." Zhu Gaoxu responded, not showing much interest in this topic.

The reason why he sighed was because he was nervous about Fu Youde and Feng Sheng.

He remembered that Fu Youde died at the end of the winter month, and it was already the winter month, less than half a month away from the end of the month.

If Fu Youde can survive, he will have changed history. Even if Fu Youde still cannot escape death, Zhu Gaoxu will be worthy of his teachings.

If Fu Youde fails to survive...

Zhu Gaoxu was silent, not daring to think deeply.

He is like a contradiction now. He wants to save Fu Youde to repay his kindness, and at the same time win the trust of Fu's children, but he also wants to protect himself.

If Lao Zhu didn't want to kill Fu Youde, he could give Lao Zhu an excuse to save Fu Youde, but once Lao Zhu had murderous intentions, would he still dare to stand up?

"Your Highness, the future is here to see you!"

A voice sounded from the courtyard door. Zhu Gaoxu and Lin Wuliu looked sideways and saw Wang Jian, who was wearing armor and carrying a food box, walking into the courtyard. When he saw Zhu Gaoxu, he bowed his hands happily. "Here? Come inside and chat."

Seeing Wang Jian coming, Zhu Gaoxu put away his other thoughts and called Wang Jian to go inside.

Wang Jian responded and called Lin Wuliu to join him, and the three of them entered the main hall of the main house one after another.

Due to the presence of a fire wall, which is similar to a heater, the temperature inside the house is much higher than outside. If Zhu Gaoxu is willing to spend money, he can continue to add coal to continue to increase the temperature inside the house.

Zhu Gaoxu took his seat first and called Lin Wuliu and Wang Jian to take their seats.

After sitting down, Wang Jian opened the food box, which contained a two-pound pot of "lamb wine."

This wine has a long history and was still very popular in the early Ming Dynasty.

Gao Lian's "Eight Notes of Zunsheng" records the method of making lamb wine. Generally, one meter and one stone are taken, and the pulp is soaked according to the usual method.

Then take seven kilograms of fat mutton and 14 taels of distiller's yeast. Cut the mutton into square shapes, boil it until it is cooked, and cook it together with one kilogram of almonds. Remove the mutton and leave the soup. Mix it with rice and distiller's yeast, and add one or two ounces of wood incense. Winemaking.

After ten days, the wine will be like white fat, with extremely sweet and smooth taste and rich fat aroma.

"Your Highness, this lamb wine is not easy to make. Please drink more." Wang Jian poured wine for Zhu Gaoxu, while Lin Wuliu took out two bowls of snacks from the food box.

"What is the function of this lamb wine?" Although Zhu Gaoxu knew about the lamb wine, he still didn't know what the function of the lamb wine was.

Hearing what he said, before Wang Jian could speak, Lin Wuliu explained with a smile: "This wine greatly replenishes vitality, strengthens the spleen and stomach, and tonifies the waist and kidneys. It is specially used to treat loss of appetite and soreness of the waist and knees. Therefore, once someone After selling them, they were immediately bought at high prices, and the supply exceeded demand."

"That's it..." Zhu Gaoxu nodded, feeling that this lamb wine was very similar to the 'drop-down wine' he heard about when traveling in Yunnan in later generations, but with many more steps.

"By the way, Your Highness..." After Wang Jian poured the wine and sat down, he seemed to think of something and said to Zhu Gaoxu:

"When I came from Yulin Zuoweifang last time, I heard several thousand households in Jinwu Guard discussing things in the north. It seemed that Japanese pirates had invaded Liaodong again, and the Jurchen native chief Xiyang Ha had invaded the border again. "

Wang Jian's words did not attract much attention from Zhu Gaoxu. After all, such things were very common during the Hongwu period. Zhu Gaoxu believed that the generals could control the situation.

"Let's not talk about these things. These are things that my grandfather and the others need to consider. We just need to drink."

Zhu Gaoxu smiled heartily, picked up the wine glass containing lamb wine and clinked it with Wang Jian and Lin Wuliu.

Sitting in that red-walled room, singing a sip of warm lamb wine, the taste was simply not too pleasant.

After drinking one cup, Zhu Gaoxu only felt warm in his lower abdomen. After drinking three more cups, he felt an indescribable feeling, and he also believed in the efficacy of this wine.

"Come on, go on!"

After learning about the efficacy of this wine, Zhu Gaoxu and Wang Jian exchanged cups and talked happily with each other about what happened in the past few days at the wine table.

Compared with their happiness, Zhu Gaochi and others in Wuying Palace suffered.

"Grandpa, the Japanese invaders invaded Liaodong again. This time they invaded Jiifu Fort. Although they were repelled by the officers and soldiers of Jiifu Fort, the market outside Guifu Fort was still burned down, and 260 seven people and some goods were lost... "

In the Wuying Hall, Zhu Yunwen presented the memorial with both hands, and Zhu Yuanzhang was sitting in his seat. In the hall, there were still the three direct eldest heads of the three palaces, Zhu Gaochi, Zhu Jixi, and Zhu Shangbing.

Everyone was paying attention to Zhu Yuanzhang's actions, and this time, he even frowned slightly.

After receiving the memorial, he read it briefly and rubbed his eyebrows with his hands: "Xiyang invaded the border. Zhou Xing sent troops and horses to the north to prepare the border, but he didn't want the southern Liaoning area to suffer from the Japanese pirates."

Seeing what Zhu Yuanzhang said, Zhu Yunwen also took the opportunity to say: "Although Zhou Xing is capable, he is old after all and can't stand running back and forth. Now he still has to choose someone to prepare for the border with him."

"Hmm..." Zhu Yuanzhang responded, but he couldn't think of a few people who had this ability and had a background not inferior to Zhou Xing's.

In terms of ability alone, there are many military generals of the same level as Zhou Xing, such as Chen Xuan of Sichuan Xingdu Division, Li Bin of Peiping, etc., but they are all too young and too inexperienced.

Others Song Sheng, Yang Wen, Wu Gao, Guo Ying, Geng Bingwen and others are either involved in affairs or too old to move lightly.

For a while, Zhu Yuanzhang himself could not find the right person.

Seeing the opportunity, Zhu Yunwen also took the opportunity to say: "If there are no available candidates, it is better to temporarily send Gao Xu to southern Liaoning. After all, he has some insights into the fight against Japan."

Zhu Yunwen's words were like a big bell, instantly attracting the attention of everyone in the hall.

The eldest son or prince was not allowed to leave Nanjing easily. This almost became an unwritten rule in the clan after the death of Zhu Biao.

Now Zhu Yunwen actually wants to let Zhu Gaoxu go north, and it is Liaodong where the situation is tense.

Although it is bitterly cold in Liaodong, if Zhu Gaoxu can really go to Liaodong, he will definitely face a good thing... military power.

Zhu Jixi and the other three are not stupid. They all know how important military power is to a person.

Although Zhu Di nominally controlled the military power in Daning, Liaodong, and Beiping, in fact the only people who obeyed his command were the three guards of Prince Yan's Mansion.

If Zhu Gaoxu goes to Liaodong, even if he only controls one guard, this will be a big deal.

"There is Yang Wen in Pingbo, so there is no need for him..."

Zhu Yuanzhang rejected Zhu Yunwen's suggestion. No matter how much he liked Zhu Gaoxu, he knew that he could not continue to allow the Yan Mansion's power to expand.

Unless absolutely necessary, he did not want Zhu Gaoxu to leave Nanjing. The tiger must be imprisoned in order to be driven properly.

It was a pity that his thoughts could not be understood by Zhu Yunwen. He just felt that his grandfather cared a little too much about Zhu Gaoxu. He took a deep breath and said:
"Sun'er thinks that Gao Xu can be sent to the Jilin Shipyard to guard against Wuliangha in the northwest and Xiyangha in the northeast. At the same time, he can also deter the Jurchen tribes in Haixi and East China Sea."

"..." Listening to Zhu Yunwen's words, Zhu Yuanzhang knew that his grandson might have made up his mind, but this decision was very stupid...

"Grandpa" Zhu Gaochi suddenly stood up and attracted everyone's attention.

Under the pressure, Zhu Gaochi bowed and said: "It's bitterly cold in the Jilin Shipyard, and Gao Xu is still young. It may be too early to let him go to such a place..."

"Having said that, there is no doubt about Gao Xu's ability. It is only right that he guard the Jilin Shipyard and let Zhou Xing and Yang Wen go to encircle and suppress the Japanese pirates."

Zhu Yunwen interrupted. Seeing that neither Zhu Yuanzhang nor Zhu Gaochi wanted Zhu Gaoji to leave the town, the rebellious psychology in Zhu Yunwen's heart also appeared.

If others persuaded him, he would not take it seriously, but Zhu Gaochi persuaded his grandfather not to let Zhu Gaoxu leave the town, which made Zhu Yunwen uncomfortable.

Zhu Yunwen knows better than anyone who is most beneficial to Zhu Gaoxu staying in Nanjing.

One is the imperial court, and the other is Zhu Gaochi.

The imperial court kept Zhu Gaoxu in Nanjing, so that he could expand his financial resources by relying on his ability to inspect Shandian mines, and he could also hold the Yan Mansion hostage. This was very painful for Zhu Di of the Yan Mansion.

However, from Zhu Gaochi's personal perspective, if Zhu Gaoxu leaves the town, he will have greater say in Yan Mansion.

Once he controls the troops, it will be difficult for Zhu Gaochi to defeat him in the Yan Mansion.

Therefore, in Zhu Yunwen's view, Zhu Gaochi was worried that Zhu Gaoxu would fight for power with him, but this was exactly what Zhu Yunwen wanted to see.

As long as there is internal fighting in the Yan Palace, he can concentrate on dealing with the Jin Palace, Qin Palace, and Zhou Palace.

Zhu Yunwen guessed according to his idea, but Zhu Gaochi didn't think that much. He knew where the Jilin Shipyard was. Such a bitter and cold place was not suitable for Zhu Gaoxu to go out of town.

If Zhu Gaoxu is really allowed to leave the Jilin Shipyard, I'm afraid whether the two brothers will see each other again in the future is another matter.

The two of them had many thoughts, but in Zhu Yuanzhang's opinion, they were all extremely stupid actions.

Zhu Yunwen should not want to let the fierce tiger Zhu Gaoxu out of the cage, and Zhu Gaochi should not stand up and speak.

Before Zhu Gaochi said nothing, Zhu Yuanzhang was still completely sure of persuading Zhu Yunwen, but after he stood up, his confidence was less than [-]%.

If I insist on keeping Zhu Gaoxu now, then my great-grandson will not think that he is thinking about the court, and I am afraid that he will think that he is partial to Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaoxu.

This matter is a bit difficult to handle...

Zhu Yuanzhang was silent for a few breaths. This feeling of being caught between his children and grandchildren made him physically and mentally exhausted. It was for this reason that Zhu Yuanzhang liked his grandson Zhu Gaoxu.

Zhu Gaoxu can understand right and wrong, and is very obedient even if he doesn't understand. He is often willing to do things that he doesn't like for his own sake, which reduces the things he has to worry about.

"It's just a pity that this boy is not..."

Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly had such an idea in his mind, but he quickly realized that this idea was wrong. While dispelling the idea, he also frowned and interrupted the confrontation between Zhu Yunwen and Zhu Gaochi:
"We'll wait until spring to discuss Gao Xu's departure from town. It's winter and snowy right now. Even if we want him to go north, there aren't many safe ways to send him there."

"Besides, we have so many generals in the Ming Dynasty, how come we can't find one to take charge of Liaodong?"

"When it comes to the point where I really can't find it, I will make the decision myself."

He used my self-identity, obviously very disgusted with the confrontation between the two grandsons.

Zhu Yunwen, who knew it well, bowed in return without being aggressive.

Zhu Gaochi didn't have much courage to fall out with Zhu Yunwen and Zhu Yuanzhang. Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang's rescue, he naturally followed Zhu Yunwen in returning the salute and then sat back down.

But in Zhu Yunqi's view, his move represented a victory for him to successfully retain Zhu Gaoxu.

On the way back to his position, Zhu Yunwen had a lot of thoughts, especially when he saw his grandfather's appearance when he sat down, he was even more determined to send Zhu Gaoxu to the Jilin Shipyard.

Even if Zhu Gaoxu has not shown any behavior that threatens him, he has this ability, and this is his crime...

(End of this chapter)