Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 302: The Three Sons Want to Compete

"Sister-in-law and siblings, don't worry, I will meet with Your Highness in a moment..."

"His Royal Highness Chitose——"

In the front bedroom, when Zhu Gaoxu walked into the palace, he happened to see Guo Yan and Zhang sitting together and chatting, and there was also a girl in palace clothes sitting nearby who looked to be only fifteen or sixteen years old.

"Your Highness..."

Seeing Zhu Gaoxu's sudden appearance, the three of them were startled and stood up to salute.

"Sister-in-law and siblings are here?"

Zhu Gaoxu smiled and bowed in return, then stepped forward to take a seat and gestured: "I just came in and heard that you guys have something to tell me. I don't know what it is?"

He looked at a few people curiously, with a smile on his face. After all, he had just returned from Wuying Palace, and after watching the old man's performance, he couldn't help but want to laugh.

"Is such that……"

When Guo Yan saw Zhu Gaoxu's inquiry, he also took Mrs. Zhang and the girl also named His Highness Zhu Gaoxu to sit down.

"Sister-in-law said that the Chief Envoy of Yunnan said that all the money and food were supplied to the subordinates, so the construction of the Han Palace was also slowed down, so I wanted to come and talk to you."

"You just went to Wuying Palace, so you missed it, but now that you are back, I told you this in person."

"This is what happened." Zhu Gaoxu was not angry after hearing this. After all, hundreds of thousands of Jianwen ministers had migrated to Yunnan, and it was normal for Yunnan's chief envoy to be unable to provide extra money and food.

What's more, in order to pacify Annan, the Yunnan Chief Envoy and the Yunnan Dusi began to reserve military rations to prevent the army from being interrupted when it marched south, so it is understandable.

"How much is the expenditure here at the East Palace?"

Zhu Gaoxu asked Guo Yan, and Guo Yan also said frankly: "My mother allocated 150,000 yuan and 200,000 shi, but I can't use that much."

Guo Yan knew Zhu Gaoxu very well. When he was in Jilin, he often allocated money and food from the palace to subsidize the people of Jilin. Now this sentence probably means the same way.

"Let's do this." Hearing that the Eastern Palace's expenses were allocated so much every year, Zhu Gaoxu also said cheerfully:

"I allocated 50,000 yuan from the East Palace to the Chief Envoy of Yunnan and asked them to speed up the construction of the Han Dynasty Palace. I also took the opportunity to expand the construction so that it would not be too small for the heirs to live in in the future."

"How could this happen?" Mrs. Zhang was startled and stood up quickly to salute, but Zhu Gaoxu stopped him with a smile:

"The Crown Princess and I didn't eat much in the East Palace. The palace staff were also transferred to the inner court. The cost was not too high. The transfer of 50,000 yuan was considered a practical matter. The right was regarded as a wedding gift for my sister-in-law and brother. ”

"This... this..." Madam Zhang looked at Guo Yan, who also smiled and said, "Now that His Highness has spoken, it would be bad for my sister-in-law to refuse her again."

"Then let me first thank Your Highness on behalf of our family." Mrs. Zhang knew very well how annoying Zhu Gaochi's presence was. Although Zhu Gaochi said that Zhu Gaoxu was good to him, Mrs. Zhang never believed it, but now she believed it. .

She is very accurate in judging people. People like Zhu Gaoxu are confident and generous, and few people can be favored by him.

With his character and strength, Zhu Gaoxu doesn't have to worry too much.

As long as the one in my family doesn't cause any trouble when he goes to Yunnan, then my family will probably live well.

"Are these siblings?"

The voice of Zhu Gaoxu brought Zhang back to reality. She looked towards Zhu Gaoxu and saw that Zhu Gaoxu was communicating with the Xu family of Prince Zhao's mansion.

Xu is only sixteen years old. She is Ning Yuanbo He Fu's niece. She just got married half a month ago.

However, since Zhu Di was definitely going to attend the wedding and was busy with government affairs, Zhu Gaoxu was not able to go, but he asked Guo Yan to go there on his behalf and gave him a gift list worth two thousand guan.

"Replying to Your Highness, the Chief Secretary of Huguang sent word that the construction schedule of Prince Zhao's Mansion has been advanced. It will be possible to set off for the feudal clan in the twelfth month of next year, and it will be fully completed in April of the next year."

"My mother just came and said that she wanted His Highness King Zhao to become a vassal in September next year. After hearing this, His Highness King Zhao came to me and asked me to come to the palace to find the Crown Princess to see if I could get him to stay longer. day."

Princess Zhao was young, so Zhu Gaoxu didn't criticize her for this matter. He just comforted her and said, "You can ask the third child to come over tomorrow and I will tell him personally."

"Yes..." Princess Zhao could only agree upon hearing this. Seeing this, Mrs. Zhang knew that the conversation was almost over, so she stood up and saluted with a smile:

"Now that the matter is over, the two of us will go back home first."

"Sister-in-law, walk slowly." Zhu Gaoxu nodded, and Guo Yan also stood up with a smile: "Let me see my sister-in-law and my younger siblings off."

Accompanied by Guo Yan, the two quickly left the former bedroom of the East Palace with the maids from the Han Palace and the Zhao Palace.

Zhu Gaoxu glanced at the female officer in the palace: "Let the cook prepare some food. One meat, one vegetable and three bowls of rice are enough. Don't prepare too much."

"My slave, please teach me..." the female officer responded, and then ordered people to go to the kitchen to cook.

A quarter of an hour later, when Guo Yan came back, the palace maid also walked into the palace with her carrying food.

"Didn't His Highness have a meal at Wuying Palace?"

Guo Yan was surprised, Zhu Gaoxu shook his head and said: "The old man doesn't care about food, he is anxious to drive me away."

"Besides, I'm not used to Wuyingdian's food. It doesn't suit my taste. It has to be made comfortable by our own chef."

Zhu Gaoxu likes spicy food, so he taught Bohai the chef himself. After all, he is also good at cooking. Although he is not as good as the imperial chef who specializes in cooking, he can train two people to make some simple meals.

For example, a plate of pork belly with garlic sprouts fried with pepper and dogwood, a plate of leek and eggs, three bowls of rice and a cup of bubble tea are Zhu Gaoxu's lunch.

"Your Highness is a little too frugal."

Guo Yan watched Zhu Gaoxu wolfing down the food and couldn't help but smile: "My mother told me before when she came here that I would not prepare more food for you."

"Haha... You reply to her and say that her son is not greedy for food and is not greedy for too much." Zhu Gaoxu smiled and took a sip of tea, while joking:

"If my grandfather-in-law saw you eating my food, he might also say that I was harsh on you."

Zhu Gaoxu and Guo Yan's three meals a day basically consisted of four dishes and one soup. Not to mention compared with nobles, even some military attachés and wealthy households ate better than them.

It's not a show, but they are used to eating delicacies from the mountains and seas in the palace and the prince's mansion. The food is basically the same, so for them, eating is just to satisfy their hunger.

The difference is that Guo Yan is not used to eating pepper and dogwood, so although the couple eat together, they usually have two dishes and one soup each.

If he is not full, Zhu Gaoxu will order some noodles, while Guo Yan will eat some pastries and desserts.

Even so, after their life was seen by Empress Xu, even if she saw Empress Xu who was as frugal as Empress Ma, she couldn't help but say that the couple's life was a bit poor.

It's just a human being, you just need to know how you are doing.

"Have you gone home to visit your relatives these days?"

After Zhu Gaoxu finished his lunch, he wiped his mouth, rinsed his mouth with tea and asked Guo Yan.

"I went, but my grandfather-in-law lives on campus now and rarely goes home."

Guo Yan answered with a smile, but Zhu Gaoxu paused after hearing this: "Are you living on campus?"

"Well, because the textbooks are not allowed to be taken out, I live on campus." Guo Yan said and couldn't help laughing.

Obviously, Guo Ying became interested in Zhu Gaoxu's various military teaching materials on the Army, Artillery, and Navy at the National Defense University.

In fact, not only him, but also Zhang Yu and other backward people were very interested, and at the same time they also felt desperate.

Although the emergence of matchlocks and cannons cannot overthrow traditional combat methods, it does add a lot of knowledge that needs to be learned to master.

Not to mention that the textbooks compiled by Zhu Gaoxu are filled with a large number of fictional battle examples.

For example, the Battle of Songjin in the late Ming Dynasty, the Manchu Qing's entry into the Pass, the Battle of Baishan in the Thirty Years' War at the same time, the Battle of Blenheim in the War for the Spanish Throne, etc...

From the Ming and Qing wars to the Napoleonic wars, these battle stories were used by Zhu Gaoxu as subjects for teachers and students to study.

They could be the Ming army in the Battle of Songjin, or the French army in the Napoleonic Wars.

This kind of topic can only be exposed to them in their senior year, but as teachers, Guo Ying, Zhang Yu, Chen Heng and others were able to get exposed to it in advance, so they were confused by the battles in these topics.

After teaching every day, they, a group of veterans from the Hongwu period, got together to study how to solve the problem.

They need to fight battle after battle under restricted circumstances. It can be said that Zhu Gaoxu has created a new set of board strategy games besides Go and chess.

Each battle has a sandbox for them to use, with a total of thirty-two topics, including thirty-two large, medium and small battles.

In the final assessment planned by Zhu Gaoxu for his senior year, he must pass three small assessment battles to be considered a theoretical graduate.

After graduating from theory, you still need to go to the military to practice at the grassroots level in your fifth year.

Compared with Lao Zhu's method of simply testing martial arts, Zhu Gaoxu's method is more effective. At least he can ensure that most of the military attache's children can understand the army from the small flag officer.

Of course, the prerequisite for the internship is that they can last until their fifth year...

"I heard from my uncle that during this period, many students dropped out of school because of their level grades?"

Guo Yan looked at the snickering Zhu Gaoxu and asked curiously. Zhu Gaoxu nodded after hearing this: "There are almost five thousand people."

The reality did not go beyond Zhu Gaoxu's expectation. Nearly 5,000 of the pampered military attachés' children had dropped out of school in less than two months.

Today, the number of students has dropped sharply to more than 10,000 and 42, and more than a dozen or even dozens of students apply to drop out every day.

This was only two months after entering school. By the time of the final exam, Zhu Gaoxu estimated that there might not even be 7,000 people.

He did not feel that he was cruel, because after these military attachés suspended their duties, the court would choose to grant them the Wusan rank.

The Wu San class of the Ming Dynasty also had grades, but they were only from the first to the sixth grade.

In order to reduce the resentment of the military attaches, Zhu Gaoxu also made concessions and added the Wusan rank of Zhechong Colonel of the seventh rank and Xiejun Colonel of the seventh rank.

In addition, the Wusan rank awarded this time is based on the rank of the military attache's children. As long as the inherited Sanxian rank still exists, the descendants of the military attache can also enter school based on this, which can be said to be the final guarantee.

Under this system, if the hereditary guard commander is in the family, he will be awarded the title of General Zhaoyong of the third rank.

According to the salary regulations for officials during the Hongwu period, the annual salary of General Zhaoyong of the third rank was 420 shi of rice, which was equivalent to the output of 200 acres of cultivated land in the south of the Yangtze River.

Their casual rank will be lowered by one level from generation to generation, which means that the third-level guard commander with the highest hereditary official position can be inherited by up to ten generations.

Of course, the number of officials of the hereditary guard commanders is only a few hundred, and their salaries will become lower and lower as they are demoted. As long as later generations of kings do not grant hereditary military positions and casual ranks, the Ming Dynasty's finances will not be too burdened.

After all, the number of military attaches affected by the lingering influence of the Hongwu and Yongle years was only more than 20,000, and most of them were hereditary officials of one hundred households and officials of one thousand households.

Let alone the kings of later generations, Zhu Gaoxu alone might be able to survive two or three generations of them.

Some military attaches were happy about his policy, while others were uncomfortable.

The happy military attachés all know the abilities of their descendants. For those descendants who have no abilities, if they give up their military positions and get a casual rank, they will still have their salary, and they will be much safer.

If there is a capable person among the descendants, they can also obtain admission qualifications by virtue of their status as a casual class, rejoin the army and obtain a military position.

Even the lowest-level hereditary official of the sixth grade can be passed down for four generations. This time span is not short.

As a result, a large number of military attaches were speechless.

If the descendants are capable, then they can directly graduate from the National Defense University and then inherit the military service. If the descendants are incompetent, then don't go to the battlefield to cause harm to others, and just live with their salaries and salary honestly.

Because of this, the Sixth Army Military Attaché’s inheritance and restructuring this time did not cause too much trouble.

Of course, the reason why it did not cause too much trouble is that there are people who support this restructuring.

"If these five thousand students don't take up their positions, then there should be more than five hundred powerful military positions vacant, right?"

Guo Yan marveled, and at the same time said: "No wonder many wives of Yan Mansion military attachés are trying their best to come to the East Palace these days. I originally thought they were chatting with me about family matters, but now it seems that they are sent by their husbands to find out news."

After Guo Yan finished speaking, he glanced at Zhu Gaoxu carefully: "Do you want to tell this news?"

"Let's talk. Anyway, the imperial court needs military attaches. Most of the military attaches in the Yan Mansion are young and strong. Rather than handing over the troops and horses to those military attachés' children who don't know how to fight, it is better to give them the troops and horses. At least they can still lead the troops to fight."

Zhu Gaoxu picked up the tea cup and took a sip. The reason why he inherited and restructured the military attache system was to put a large number of military attachés from the Yan Mansion and Bohai Sea into positions.

Zhu Gaoxu could understand Lao Zhu's desire to be kind to his brother in Huaixi, but the phenomenon of military attachés transferring from military to civil service was too serious, and the hereditary system of military attachés had begun to affect the Ming Dynasty's armaments.

Historically, Zhu Di also had a share of responsibility for the same problem.

Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di consecrated too many hereditary military attachés, which resulted in fewer and fewer generals being able to fight in the Ming Dynasty. Civil servants like Wang Ji began to emerge. On the contrary, the only remaining veterans of the Fifth Army Commandery were Zhang Fu and Yongle veterans. Chen Mao, Jiang Gui, and Zhu Yong began to show their appearance.

Those who could fight during the Zhengtong period were these four, plus generals such as Shi Heng, Shi Biao, Sun Boring, Mao Zhong, Yang Hong, and Fang Ying.

At first glance, there are quite a few, but Zhang Fu and others are old, and the young and strong faction only has four people, Shi Heng, Shi Biao, Fang Ying, and Guo Deng.

This is the young general who was trained by Empress Dowager Zhang and Zhu Qizhen during the Zhengtong period to organize three Northern Expeditions and Siping Luchuan.

When Shi Heng and Shi Biao were killed, Fang Ying was the only one who could support the situation. As a result, Fang Ying died of illness in the same year because he had suppressed the chieftains in the southwest all year round and suppressed the Three Propaganda and Six Welfare.

In the end, only Guo Deng was left to support the game, and he was sent to Gansu by Zhu Qizhen.

If it weren't for the perseverance of the veteran Sun Bor, who lived to the age of eighty and survived until the seventh year of Chenghua, and the emergence of Liu Yu, Zhu Yong, and Zhao Fu after the Tumubao Incident, Zhu Jianshen probably wouldn't have even wanted to clean up the mess. For human use.

Because of this, Zhu Gaoxu would seize this opportunity and start changing the system of military attache succession.

The progress seems to be good now, and we just need to wait five or six years to see the effect.

Zhu Gaoxu was thinking this, but he heard footsteps coming from outside the hall.

Not long after, Yi Shiha appeared in the front bedroom.

"Your Highness, Yu Shangshu is asking for an audience at Chunhe Hall. There is something going on down there!"

Yi Shiha's tone was a little excited. After hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu also put down his tea cup and told Guo Yan: "You should rest first. I will go and do some work before I come back."

"You can go and deal with the government affairs with peace of mind." Guo Yan's eyes were smiling like crescent moons. Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu responded with a chuckle, and then walked out of the front bedroom with Yi Shiha.

On the way to Chunhe Hall, Yishiha also talked to Zhu Gaoxu about the so-called news.

"Yu Shangshu is here. Recently, many officials have gone to Yu Shangshu to inquire about the government-run Western Trade Zone. Yu Shangshu did not feel confident, so he came to Chunhe Hall to ask for an audience with His Highness."

"This news may not have spread completely yet, but the fact that there is such a movement shows that they can no longer hold it in any longer."

Yi Shiha said, and Zhu Gaoxu nodded in approval. The master and servant walked quickly into the Chunhe Hall one after the other, and saw Yu Xin sitting and waiting.

"Your Highness Chitose..."

Yu Xin was about to bow five times and kowtow three times, but Zhu Gaoxu supported him: "Yu Shangshu, I have told you many times, you can just sit and rest when you come to my place, and you don't need to pay attention to any red tape."

Zhu Gaoxu was very close to Yu Xin, Huang Fu, and Xia Yuanji. With the three of them supporting the scene, there would be no big problems in the Ministry of Household Affairs, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Ministry of Works. They could also help him solve some small problems.

The reason why Zheng He's voyage to Japan went so smoothly was that the three of them were indispensable for taking care of it below.

"I am terrified..."

A smile appeared on Yu Xin's face, but he still insisted on bowing.

Fortunately, he straightened up after the bow. Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu also sat on a chair beside him, signaling Yu Xin to sit down side by side with him to talk earlier.

But even so, Yu Xin still stood and talked to Zhu Gaoxu about the following things.

"In the past two days, officials from Jiangdong, Zhejiang and other places have written to me one after another, and many officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs in Beijing have also come to test my words. It seems that the private Western trade zone created by His Highness has indeed given a glimmer of hope to the coastal business gangs, otherwise they would I won’t act in such a hurry.”

"Indeed." Zhu Gaoxu nodded. He calculated the time. It had only been fifty days since Hu Lun sent people to spread the news, but the news had already spread throughout Jiangdong, Zhejiang and other places, and the business gangs and officials in these places also Responded quickly.

Being able to respond so quickly in such a short period of time proves that some business gangs along the coast are still unwilling to cause trouble with the court.

Since someone is interested in cooperating with the imperial court, Zhu Gaoxu's goal of dividing coastal business gangs and temple officials has been achieved.

"Your Highness, I have read through ancient books. Among them, the commodities produced in Tianzhu and Nanyang are mainly spices. If the imperial court operates Nanyang and maritime merchants operate Xiaoxiang, then it will be difficult for the private spice trade to protect the official trade. Be protected.”

Yu Xin's words revealed why the Ming Dynasty had no motivation to continue exploring the ocean after Zheng He's voyages to the West.

The reason why Europeans were motivated to explore the ocean was for gold and silver, Ming Dynasty commodities, and Oriental spices.

To this end, they found America by mistake. When they found America, they discovered gold and silver, and explored a waterway to India.

But the problem is that Ming can find these things they want around their own country.

Not to mention official trade, even smugglers can obtain these things.

For smugglers, if they want gold and silver, they can go to Japan, and if they want spices, they can go to Southeast Asia.

If you can do business with a fishing boat in front of your home, who would want to go far away?

Zheng He had discovered everything there was to discover during his voyages to the West. The reason why he did not go to Europe was entirely because he had no motivation. After all, trade between Europe and the Ming Dynasty could be carried out through the Ottomans, and Europe did not have the necessary commodities that the Ming Dynasty needed, so it naturally lacked motivation.

Just like Zhu Gaoxu now, he has never thought of taking action against the countries in India, Central Asia, and Europe, because the Nanyang and Japan in front of him, as well as Luchuan, Annan, and Modong on the land are enough for him to keep busy.

Similarly, because there are many commodities in the Xiaoxiyang Trade Zone that conflict with Nanyang, the government and private companies will also become competitors in the spice market. This is what the private coastal merchant gangs are worried about, so they will ask Yu Xin, and Yu Xin will go Read the ancient books and ask this question to Zhu Gaoxu.

But this problem is not a problem for Zhu Gaoxu, because he wants the coastal merchant gang to go to Xiaoxiyang to do business, not just for business.

He wanted to build the coastal area of ​​Xiaoxiyang into a large-scale late Ming version of Nanyang.

"What do you think if mines are discovered in some places in Xiaoxiyang and the imperial court sells these drawings to them in exchange for a mining tax of five to one?"

Zhu Gaoxu spoke slowly, which made Yu Xin's worried heart become even more anxious.

"Your Highness, you mean that there are gold, silver and copper mines in Xiaoxiyang, and there are a lot of them?"

Yu Xin asked, and Zhu Gaoxu also nodded and said:

"Silver mines are hard to find, but gold mines are indeed easy to find, and the local manpower is abundant."

Zhu Gaoxu did not mention Kunlun Continent explicitly, because as long as he dared to mention Kunlun Continent, many officials who had seen the two "General Maps of the World's Four Barbarian Guests and Services" of Wuying Hall and Chunhe Hall would inform the coastal merchant gangs.

Although Zhu Gaoxu didn't think they could find the gold mine based on the general direction, it was always good to be prepared.

Similarly, he did not point out Nanzhou (Australia), which is rich in gold and copper mines. After all, compared to the distant Kunlun Island, Nanzhou is more likely to be occupied by the Ming Dynasty in the future.

"If that's the case, and with the partial profit transfer from the spice market, maybe they will support the imperial court, but how can we make them believe this?"

Yu Xin asked a question, but Zhu Gaoxu was not worried after hearing it: "The gold mine matter will be slowly announced after Zheng He's voyages to the West."

"What the imperial court needs to do now is to draft a "Xiaoxiyang Trade Manual", giving prices for various commodities, so that some maritime merchants who have never been to Xiaoxiyang know what they can do if they join the private trade run by the imperial court. How much profit was made from the Western trade.”

"This matter will be left to Yu Shangshu. We must ensure that they make a profit and the court will not lose money."

Zhu Gaoxu looked directly at Yu Xin, and Yu Xin also understood Zhu Gaoxu's idea. To put it bluntly, he was using this "Xiaoxiyang Trade Manual" to win over those who had never been swayed by Xiaoxiyang trade.

After all, the imperial court is now trying to win over the originally huge coastal smuggling gangs and attract them to change from smuggling to legal and compliant private business gangs.

As long as the coastal business gangs are divided thoroughly enough, large-scale private business gangs can be recruited to fight against the smuggling gangs.

It is very difficult for a government-run monopoly to defeat smuggling, but if a large number of private business gangs are involved to combat smuggling, it will become much easier.

It's just how to win them over so that they won't collude with the smugglers in the future. This is something Yu Xin hasn't figured out yet.

However, he believed that since His Highness dared to speak, he must be fully prepared.

"I accept the teaching order..."

Yu Xin bowed in return and then slowly exited Wuying Hall.

Watching him leave, Zhu Gaoxu also withdrew his gaze and turned his gaze to Yi Shiha.

"The third child should come to Chunhe Hall tomorrow. If he doesn't come, bring someone to invite him."

As Zhu Gaoxu spoke, there was a bit of mockery in his eyes: "He has been making people worry a lot lately. As an elder brother, I have to teach him well..."

"Yes" Seeing Zhu Gaojiu say that, Yishiha couldn't help but mourn for Zhu Gaosui tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)