Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 301 A loving father and a filial son

"This time on the voyage to the West, we need to first destroy Annam, pass through Champa, Khmer, Siam, Manchuria, Sumatra, and Majapahit, and establish the Old Port Xuanwei Department there."

"After the end, the fleet will leave 3,000 people in the Nanyang Fleet, then go north to Boni and Sulu, set up the Luzon Xuanwei Department in Luzon, stay in the South China Sea Fleet, then go north to Quanzhou, and return to Jiangnan..."

On October 20th of the first year of Yongle, when Zhu Gaoxu stood in front of the sand table and pointed dogmatically, he also circled the route of this voyage to the West.

There were more than twenty people who followed him to surround the sand table, including Zhu Di, Muchun, He Fu, Qu Neng, Zheng He, Yang Zhan and others.

The sand table that allowed them to gather around and watch was two feet long and wide, covering the provinces south of the Yangtze River and the Indochina Peninsula, as well as the entire Southeast Asia, and Nanzhou (Australia) further south.

This sand table was made by Zhu Gaoxu instructing the craftsmen of the East Palace based on the map he drew. Although it is not as detailed as later generations, it can still be said to be the most detailed three-dimensional sand table in this era and even for hundreds of years to come.

After all, as someone whose major is related to geology and geography, hand-drawn maps are readily available among other things.

I can’t remember the small islands, but as long as I can draw the big islands by hand, it will be fine. As for the plateaus, plains and hills of the mainland, I only need to get a rough idea.

Even so, this sand table still opened everyone's eyes.

After reading this sand table, they understood why Zhu Gaoxu said that the policy towards Annan must be tough.

Considering the long and narrow terrain of Annan and the flat terrain after breaking through Lang Son, once an unfavorable battle occurs, many remnant bandits can indeed quickly sneak into the mountains to the west.

This kind of geographical suppression is just like the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau that threatens the Sichuan Basin at all times. Even if it cannot defeat you, a few sneak attacks from time to time are enough to disgust you.

"The areas of Luzon, Nanyang, Zhongnan and other places are no smaller than our Ming Dynasty, and there is also Nanzhou..."

Zhu Di glanced at the sand table, and it could be said that he had regarded this thing as his forbidden possession at just one glance.

"Your Highness, why are the islands different colors?"

Zheng He asked Zhu Gaoxu and pointed with his finger at the sand table painted green, dark green and red and white with dye.

He can understand that the sea is blue, but what about these?

“Green is the plains, dark green is the tropical jungle, and red and white is the arid region.”

Zhu Gaoxu took Nanzhou as an example: "Nanzhou is vast, but only about 20% is forest and jungle. The remaining 80% is relatively arid and cannot support the growth of forests."

"Except for the northern coast, the eastern coast, parts of the southern coast, and the southwest coastal areas that are suitable for land reclamation and living, most of the remaining areas are not suitable for land reclamation and living."

"But judging from my reading of ancient books, this continent should have a lot of various mines, but they are too scattered."

Before Zhu Gaoxu finished speaking, Zhu Di asked: "Are there any gold, silver, and copper mines?"

"Yes, there are more than Japan, but they are more scattered and too far away from us." Zhu Gaoxu pointed at Guangzhou and rowed towards the southern part of Nanzhou:

"It is at least 20,000 miles from the coast of Guangzhou to the livable southern tip of Nanzhou, and after passing through Majapahit, it is at least 10,000 miles by sea without a market town that can supply food and fresh water."

Zhu Gaoxu's words made Zhu Di's heart completely cold.

Zheng He is not as greedy for money as he is. Zheng He is more curious about the situation in Nanzhou: "Is there such a big piece of land without people and countries on it?"

"There are people, mainly Kunlun slaves. The entire continent is divided into several tribes, speaking different dialects. Each of them occupies a hunting area with delineated boundaries. They make a living by hunting sea and land mammals and collecting shellfish and plants. Their weapons are stone tools. Lord, but not in the millions.”

After Zhu Gaoxu finished speaking, Muchun also took the initiative to ask about some things he was interested in: "In this Indochina Peninsula, are the three announcements and six consolations of the imperial court the place where the flag is planted?"

Through his words, everyone turned their attention to the Indochina Peninsula, and the entire Indochina Peninsula, including Yungui and other places, had flags of dark red, light red, and various colors.

"Dark red is the place where the dynasty can send officials, and light red is where the chieftains and native officials are autonomous."

After Zhu Gaoxu said this, everyone knew how powerful the Ming Dynasty was in the Indochina Peninsula. It could be said that it occupied one-third of the Indochina Peninsula.

If Annan is captured again, then the entire Indochina Peninsula will only consist of Siam, Khmer, Champa, Manchuria and other small and complex countries in the south.

Except for Manlajia, these small countries did not pay tribute, and the others submitted to the Ming Dynasty's tribute system. Therefore, their flags were also red-edged, and only Manlajia was purely variegated.

"From this point of view, in the entire Central and South China, only Annam, Khmer and Siam, and Myanmar's Xuanweisi have relatively wide plains."

"This area is probably no smaller than the 800-mile plain in Chengdu."

Muchun made a rough comparison, but Zhu Gaoxu shook his head: "It is much larger, but because of the various factions and the inability of countries to centralize management except Annan, there are not many developed areas, and most areas are full of miasma. The jungle is hot and humid, and there are many snakes, insects, rats, and ants.”

"To cure this miasma, we actually need to cut down the forests that can develop the plains and burn the jungles so that the miasma has no place to survive."

"Hundreds of years ago, the Huguang area in Fujian and Guangdong was not considered a place full of miasma. However, as the population moved southward, burning forests and reclaiming wasteland, Huguang became a land of plenty. Few people in Fujian and Guangdong heard about the reason for the miasma. things.”

Zhu Gaoxu explained the situation in Indochina. At the same time, in order to prevent everyone from being afraid of the miasma, he also explained how to eliminate the miasma.

Hearing this, Mu Chun understood deeply: "This miasma does only appear in the sweltering jungle. I was infected with it once. Fortunately, I was cured."

Thinking of the soldiers who suffered from miasma and could not receive timely treatment and could only die of illness in the barracks, Muchun felt that a layer of haze was cast in his heart.

During the Ming army's campaign against Daoqianmeng in the southwest, Luchuan suffered nearly 100,000 casualties, and the Ming army also suffered nearly 15,000 casualties.

Among them, only 6,000 died on the battlefield, and the remaining 9,000 or so died of illness due to acclimatization, miasma, and diseases.

These are soldiers transferred from Sichuan, Yunnan, Guangxi and other places. If soldiers were transferred directly from the north to fight in the southwest or even central south, I am afraid that more people would die from illness.

"Yes, we must be wary of this miasma. Therefore, in the future, the troops and horses fighting against Central South China should be based on Yunnan and Guangxi as much as possible."

"Even if we select troops from two places, we should try to focus on men from southern Yunnan, southwestern Yunnan and southwestern Guangxi. They are more resistant to miasma than people from other places."

New words kept popping up in Zhu Gaoxu's mouth, but fortunately they were all relatively vernacular and not difficult to understand.

"In Annan, there are only a few roads by land, but you can break through at will by sea."

Qu Neng glanced at Annan's situation. This was also the first time he spoke.

Zhu Gaoxu himself still admires this fierce general in history who almost challenged Zhu Di in a formation, but was picked by Zhu Gaoxu in a side attack.

The Southwest General Corps composed of Muchun, He Fu, Gu Cheng, Qu Neng and their nephews and brothers, did not consider any firearms and Zhu Di and himself did not end up.

It is really difficult for Zhu Gaoxu to find a general who can defeat them, let alone Indochina.

Even Zhang Fu and Meng Ying could beat Li Li, a clown, not to mention Mu Chun, who performed brilliantly in the later stages of Hongwu.

"The Duke of Guizhou and several others are here to attack Annan, so the court is very relieved."

Zhu Gaoxu boasted about the generals in the southwest, and then said: "But Yunnan is not stable. I heard that a few chieftains in Yunnan rebelled while you were leaving Yunnan?"

"Yes!" Muchun did not hide it and said directly: "Many chieftains in southern and southwest Yunnan are powerful and only fear us."

"Now that we are leaving, they think that the imperial court cannot deal with them. However, Yunnan is still guarded by generals such as Wang Zhao, Wang Kui, Mu Sheng, Qu Yu, and Qu Tao. I think they will be able to pacify them in a few days."

Mu Chun said this, and Zhu Di also stroked his beard: "I can rest assured that you don't need to report this kind of trivial matter. Your father is the eldest brother of our brothers, and you are my family."

Muchun was actually only three years younger than Zhu Di, but in terms of seniority, he was indeed Zhu Di's nephew, and he had no objection to this.

Based on the conversations over the past few days, Muchun had surrendered to Zhu Gaoxu, who had helped him before, and Zhu Di, whom he had once been familiar with. After all, he had also exchanged letters with Zhu Yunwen.

Generally speaking, Zhu Yunwen's temperament is not weak, but he does not have his own opinion on many things, especially military affairs, so he is easily led by others.

For Muchun, who was used to Zhu Yuanzhang, an emperor with strong opinions and ideas, he and Zhu Yunwen did not get along very well, and Zhu Yunwen never regarded him as a family member, which inevitably made him a little disappointed.

The reason why he was loyal to his duties was not only because of his father's death, but also because of Zhu Yuanzhang's words to the ministers.

"This child is my family, there is no need for trial."

With just this sentence, how could Muchun not concentrate on guarding the border?

Now this sentence was said by Zhu Di in another form. Whether it was for show or not, it still made Muchun feel happy.

"In the southwest, all the chieftains are willing to send troops. Among them, the Mu family in Lijiang is willing to send three thousand troops. However, their military discipline is quite strict, so I did not let them participate."

Muchun mentioned Mu's family, which reminded Zhu Gaoxu of Mu's natural plateau soldier.

After the Mu family in Lijiang surrendered to the Ming Dynasty in the 15th year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang gave him the Han surname "Mu" and made him the local magistrate of Lijiang.

Since he took away some land in the south from the Mu family, in order to compensate them, Zhu Yuanzhang granted them hereditary native officials and prefects, permanently solidified Shimen, suppressed Fan and Tartars, controlled the power of Lijiang and the northern corner of Qinghai-Tibet, and allowed them to live in the local area. Mining gold and silver.

With the permission of Zhu Yuanzhang and the emperors of the Ming Dynasty, Mu's chieftain also began to mine silver mines locally. At the same time, he used force to compete for gold and salt mines with the Tubo people in Qamdo, Santang and other places to the north, and used the gold and silver to build buildings. Water conservancy, development of agriculture, animal husbandry, handicrafts, and commerce in Lijiang.

Afterwards, Zhu Yuanzhang also started Confucianism for the Naxi people, which deepened the sinicization of the Mu family. By the Chenghua period, they were famous for their knowledge of poetry and books and their observance of etiquette. Together with Menghua and Yuanjiang, they were known as one of the three major Tufus in Yunnan.

However, unlike the ambitious chieftains of Menghua and Yuanjiang, the Mu family lived their small lives with the idea of ​​a small clan not making trouble. Whenever the Ming Dynasty encountered war, they also actively donated money and war horses to the court, and sent soldiers many times to help the court in battles. , becoming the first chieftain in the province.

After Nurhaci raised an army, the Mu family also hurriedly donated 10,000 taels of salary and silver. Shangshu was willing to send troops. However, the Fan people in Litang and other places were in rebellion at that time, so Wanli did not agree to them sending troops.

After the defeat of Saarhu, the Mu family also donated money to the court many times. However, when the Nanming Dynasty declined in Xishan, the Mu family also surrendered to the Qing Dynasty with the idea that the small clan would not cause trouble.

Zhu Gaoxu didn't think anything of their surrender to the Qing Dynasty. After all, considering the situation of the Naxi people, if they really resisted the Qing tenaciously, they would probably be exterminated.

As for their way of doing things as the three chief chieftains in Yunnan and having Ming Dynasty for more than 200 years, it goes without saying much about Mu's tutoring.

Such a small clan can just become the agent to control Qinghai and Tibet in the future.

"I have heard about the Mu family. It is said that they are not like other native officials who resist Sinicization. Instead, they actively accept Confucianism. The people know poetry and books and are good at observing etiquette and justice."

Zhu Gaoxu opened his mouth to talk about Mu's situation, and also introduced it to Zhu Di in disguise.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Di understood what Zhu Gaoxu meant, so he turned his attention to Muchun.

Mu Chun nodded when he saw this and said: "The Mu family is indeed obedient. Mu Chu, the local magistrate, never resists the court's orders and understands the righteousness."

"That's a good thing, but they are not good at fighting in the jungle, so don't go there." Zhu Di stroked his beard and said to Wang Yan next to him:

"I rewarded the local magistrate Muchu of Lijiang with fifty pieces of brocade, one hundred pieces of silk, and five hundred pieces of money as a reward for his loyalty." "Yes..."

Wang Yan agreed, and Zhu Di also set his sights on the vast Nanyang region.

"On this voyage to the Western Ocean, will we only make one turn around the South China Sea?"

He asked Zhu Gaoxu, and Zhu Gaoxu also pointed to the small red flags planted on the sea and said: "Such a circle is more than 20,000 miles away, and the navy still needs to participate in the battle to annihilate Annan. The fleet still needs to go to Jiugang, Lu The Song Dynasty established the Xuanwei Department and the Nanyang and Nanhai Guards, and the coming and going may take a whole year."

"One year?" Zhu Di calculated it, and it was almost the time when he came back from fighting Wu Liangha.

"You just have to make arrangements for things in the south. What I'm concerned about is how much I can bring back from this trip to Nanyang, and how much I should take with me."

After Zhu Di finished speaking, Zhu Gaoxu thought for a moment and then said: "Porcelain, tea, raw silk, brown sugar, cloth, and satin are all trade items between countries."

“As for the specialties of Southeast Asian countries, they are mainly spices such as sappan wood, pepper, sandalwood, as well as pearls and corals.”

"It's difficult to trade with them for gold, silver and other goods, but you can get a lot of spices."

"In addition, in the early years, Semu merchants brought a large amount of copper coins to the Western trade. We can also take this opportunity to buy back the copper coins."

"Of course, the more important thing is to set up a customs in the old port, set up the Xuanwei Department in Luzon, appoint local overseas Chinese as officials, and train soldiers and horses to explore the gold and silver mines in the north."

"The revenue from this voyage to the West should be no less than 2 million guan, but in the long run, if the gold and silver mines in Luzon can be found and mined, the annual import to the imperial court will be no less than 500,000 guan."

After Zhu Gaoxu said this, Zhu Di also became satisfied.

Luzon, Japan, Southwest...

If the government-run mining department and the municipal shipping department in these three places can get on the right track, then Ming Dynasty can still reap more than 4 million yuan in profits from these places every year without doing anything.

As long as this money is long-term and stable, plus the tea and salt classes, it will be enough to pay the salaries of civil servants and solve the problem of building Beijing.

The gains from the voyage to the West were enough to solve the dredging problems of the Yellow River, Canal, and Wusong River.

As a result, even if half of the remaining 50 million shi of grain, including grain and land tax for the army, were allocated to pay military salaries, half would still be available for their own use.

"The second dick really does look like mine..."

Zhu Di was so proud that he completely forgot that the last time he scolded Zhu Gaoxu, he didn't look like him at all, but looked like a picker.

"How are things going in Guangxi?"

Zhu Di was happy and asked about the situation in Guangxi. Wang Yan on the side also responded: "Back to your majesty, Governor Fu has trained 30,000 soldiers and horses in Qinzhou. The firearms from Liaodong have also been transferred south. Now they have arrived in Fuzhou. I think they should be able to do it by the end of the year. Arrive in Qinzhou."

"Hmm..." Zhu Di nodded, then seemed to remember something, and suddenly looked at Mu Chun: "Mu Chun, I remember that you are also good at using firearms, right?"

"Your Majesty, I am good at using firearms, but I have never seen Liaodong's firearms." Mu Chun bowed and replied. He was also curious about what the Liaodong firearms that were boasted to be invincible in the world looked like.

"Second brother, look..."

Zhu Di looked at Zhu Gaoxu, maybe thinking that he was good at making money, and even his attitude softened a lot.

"Tomorrow, my son will take you all to the large training ground to visit the firearms training."

Zhu Gaoxu understood what Zhu Di meant, and took the opportunity to speak: "The Ordnance Bureau in Liaodong has been working, and there are still three thousand matchlock guns, fifty field guns, and ten siege guns in stock."

"I can send this batch of firearms south to Kunming and let the army train first. In April, we can transport 10,000 ordinary matchlocks, 2,000 large matchlocks, 100 field guns, and 20 siege guns. Heading to Yunnan.”

"Okay!" Zhu Di scratched his beard and looked at Mu Chun, Qu Neng and others with a smile on his face: "Mu Chun, you have made money this time. Even I don't have these things."

"Yes, I would like to thank Your Majesty and Your Highness for your kindness!" Although Muchun and others still didn't know what these matchlock guns, siege guns, and field guns were, they could tell that these were good things.

"Okay, please step aside. Tomorrow, the prince will take you to the cathedral to see firearms."

Zhu Di issued an order to expel guests. Seeing this, the officials reluctantly glanced at the sand table and then left Wuying Hall.

When Zhu Gaoxu saw this, he was ready to have the sand table taken away, but he didn't want Zhu Di to ask, "What are you doing?"

"Of course I will carry him back to the East Palace. Didn't you say that the affairs in the south will be in charge of my subordinates?" Zhu Gaoxu had a bad feeling in his heart.

"You are responsible for the affairs in the south, but you leave this sandbox to me." Zhu Di revealed his true nature and continued openly:

"Also, when will you ask someone to build a sand table for the north side? I see that you have done a good job with the sand table for the south side. The north side can definitely do it as well."

"Anyway, you have many craftsmen in the East Palace, so it will definitely be quick to make something like this."

At this moment, Zhu Di looked like a robber. After talking about the sand table, Zhu Gaoxu thought he had finished speaking, but he didn't want Zhu Di to continue:

"Also, I won't argue about the Northern Expedition for now. It will be held in April of the third year of Yongle."

"However, these firearms must be allocated to the army in advance. In April next year, I will transfer the two left and right guards of Zhaozhou and the two left and right guards of Yulin under your command to go north to Liaodong for training."

"When the time comes, Beizhili will send out two guards and horses, and you will send out one guard and horse from Bohai."

"I did the math and found that the total number is more than 36,000, which is more than expected, but not much more."

"When the time comes, don't recruit civilians. You can go out to draft horses from Bohai, and I'll mobilize 60,000 troops from North Zhili to transport grain, so as not to delay the people outside the pass in reclaiming wasteland."

Zhu Di spoke eloquently, but Zhu Gaoxu felt something was wrong the more he listened.

Originally it was decided that there would be 20,000 people and 50,000 people, but it later increased to 30,000 people and 60,000 people.

Now, there are actually 36,000 people and 60,000 troops stationed in Bohai, and Bohai has to draft horses.

"Dad, your account is wrong..."

Zhu Gaoxu looked at Zhu Di and frowned, but Zhu Di walked to the side of the chair and sat down on a chair, crossed his legs and picked up the tea cup:

"Although this Tatar Wala is fighting among itself, what if Wu Liangha wants to rush to help?"

"Didn't you say before that after expelling Wu Liangha, you would set up three guards in Modong and put them under the control of Daning City?"

"I thought about it and think you are right!"

"Thirty-six thousand people. After the battle, I will station your two guards on the left and right from Zhaozhou and one guard and horses from Bohai in Modong. Then you will transfer two guards and horses from Bohai to join your eight Jurchen guards." That’s it?”

"Modong is a great place..."

"If Wu Liangha was gone, the thousands of miles of lush water and grass would be the imperial court's grazing land. I thought about it and decided that it would be better to leave this grazing land to you. I wouldn't worry if someone else took care of it..."

Zhu Di talked eloquently, as if Zhu Gaoxu had taken a huge advantage, but the problem was that Zhu Gaoxu was not a fool.

Things in the south are enough for him to keep busy, and now Zhu Di wants to leave Mo Dong to him after beating him.

Yes, Zhu Gaoxu originally planned to manage this place by himself, but after Zhu Di said this, Zhu Gaoxu suddenly discovered a bad sign.

The old man's intention seems to be to fight but not to govern, and all government affairs will have to be piled on himself.

This is not the most important thing. The main thing is that now he is either Wala or Tatar in his words. What does he want to do?

Zhu Gaoxu walked up and sat next to Zhu Di, licking his dry lips: "Tell me honestly, are you going to fight the Tatars after fighting Wu Liangha?"

He dared to say this because he calculated the time. If Zhu Di sent troops in May and came back in October, it would be the time after the tax inventory.

Zhu Gaoxu, the finance minister of the Ming Dynasty, knew that when Zheng He happened to come back, there would definitely be an extra two million yuan in the court's account.

If these two million yuan were thrown north, Zhu Di could lead tens of thousands of people to squat in Beijing for several years.

When the time comes, he will definitely ride south, and he will never be able to settle down once he gets the money.

"What are you talking about?" Zhu Di seemed to be hit on the point, and immediately put down his legs.

"The people's burden is heavy. It's not easy to march to the north once. How can I possibly march to the north twice in a row?"

"You'd better do this..." Zhu Gaoxu glanced directly at Zhu Di, then stood up and looked at Wang Yan: "Let the craftsmen from the East Palace make two imitation sand tables, and transport one to the East Palace and the other to the Sixth Army Governor's Mansion. "

After the words fell, he turned around and bowed to Zhu Di: "My son, please retire."

After a moment, Zhu Gaoxu turned around and left, while Zhu Di looked at his back with a sad expression on his face.

Wang Yan came up and wanted to pour tea for Zhu Di, but Zhu Di looked at him: "Gouer, tell the truth, have you told the second child what I think?"

"Ah?" Wang Yan was stunned for a moment, and said at a loss of whether to laugh or cry: "Your Majesty, I will never leave your side..."

"Then how did he know that I wanted to rest for a few months before heading north to conquer the Tatars." Zhu Di looked at Wang Yan suspiciously and revealed his own thoughts.

"This servant doesn't know about this either." Wang Yan helplessly poured tea for Zhu Di and then stepped aside.

Zhu Di glanced around, looked at the palace, and said uneasily: "This place is good, but I always feel that my father will walk out from somewhere at any time. I still have to build Beijing early and go to live in Beijing."

"But it should be fine. If my father comes, I will say that Gao Xu accidentally forced Yunwen to death. I was still in Peking at the time and didn't know, otherwise I will definitely teach him a lesson..."

His muttering to himself made Wang Yan, who was standing in the corner, feel chills on his back. He couldn't help but glance around, and in a blink of an eye, he saw Zhu Gaoxu with half his head stretched out at a window.

"you……"

Before Wang Yan could say anything, he saw Zhu Gaoxu make a shushing gesture and could only close his mouth.

Obviously, Zhu Gaoxu ran back before he had gone far, and he heard Zhu Di's words word for word.

But Zhu Di, who had his back to the window, didn't know it yet, and was still drinking tea with his legs crossed, sighing from time to time: "My dick is still too tender..."

(End of this chapter)