Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 309 Family Harmony

"Dad!!"

"You don't know what my life is like here, they all bully me!"

He was almost 20 years old, but Zhu Gaosui kept crying like a child, which made Zhu Di feel very distressed.

"Okay..." Zhu Di just wanted to agree, but he subconsciously looked at Zhu Gaoxu.

Seeing his actions, the crying Zhu Gaosui quickly looked at Zhu Gaoxu, and then continued to cry: "Second brother, I really know I was wrong, please let me out!"

"How long has it been and you can't stand it anymore?" Zhu Gaojiu laughed at Zhu Gaosui like a normal person and taught him personally:

"Aren't you going to rebel? Have you seen the firearms and artillery in this large training ground? You will continue to train here. When you can hold a soldier and horse in your hands, you will be able to rebel."

"I don't dare! I don't have that idea!"

Zhu Gaosui denied it flatly. He admitted that he did have such thoughts at the beginning, but later he realized that he could not win over the soldiers in the big teaching field.

They seemed to have identified only one person, and that was their second brother Zhu Gaoxu.

This situation directly shattered Zhu Gaosui's ideas, and he was also tortured to the point of being dehumanized in future training.

Now he is like a frightened bird. If Zhu Gaoxu is willing to let him go, he is willing to live in Prince Zhao's Mansion in Changsha even if it has not been repaired yet, as long as he can stay away from the capital.

"Dad, what do you think?"

Zhu Gaojiu looked at Zhu Di with a smile, already prepared in his heart that Zhu Di would let Zhu Gaosui go.

To his surprise, after listening to Zhu Gaosui's words, Zhu Di did not answer Zhu Gaosui's question, but asked Zhu Gaosui: "What did you learn in this great teaching place?"

"Military formations, firearms, etc. Anyway, my son doesn't want to stay here anymore." Zhu Gaosui wiped the tears and snot from his face. He thought that after he said this, his father would let him leave, but he didn't expect that his father would actually smile. brilliant:

"You finally learned some skills and know what you can and cannot do."

Zhu Gaosui was stunned by Zhu Di's words, but he still followed suit and agreed: "Yes, my son has learned a lot and can go out now."

"No, you continue to stay here." Zhu Di's words shattered Zhu Gaosui's thoughts.

"Please spare me!" Zhu Gaosui knelt down directly, looking like he was about to cry again, but Zhu Di got off his horse and helped him up, saying earnestly:

"If you want to become a vassal in Changsha in the future, you will have to deal with Dongman barbarians. It is also good to learn some military skills."

"If Dongman rebels in the future, I can just send you to suppress them."

"Ah?" Zhu Gaosui was dumbfounded. He didn't expect that his father was more ruthless than his second brother and actually wanted him to go to the battlefield.

These days, he often heard from officials from hundreds of households talking about his second brother's southern and northern wars outside the customs, and he was very resistant to the battlefield in his heart.

He just wants to eat, drink and have fun, going to the battlefield is not something he can do.

"Dad, I don't have that ability..."

Zhu Gaosui almost cried, but Zhu Di grinned and said: "I know, that's why I let you stay in this big teaching place and learn some skills."

"Huh? I...I..."

Zhu Gaosui was speechless, but Zhu Gaoxu next to him saw what Zhu Di was thinking, and could only hold his forehead and sigh:

"Dad, you'd better not embarrass the third child. Let him fight against the Dongman. Wouldn't you let him lead the troops to death..."

"Yes, yes, yes!!" Zhu Gaosui quickly agreed. He had never seen Zhu Gaojiu so pleasing to the eye.

"What's wrong?" Zhu Di patted Zhu Gaosui on the shoulder: "Third brother, if your second brother can do it, you can do it too."

"I really can't do it!" Zhu Gaosui's voice was filled with tears. After hearing this, Zhu Di could only say in disappointment: "Forget it, it seems that you are still the same as before."

Hearing this, Zhu Gaosui nodded wildly, and Zhu Di could only shake his head, get on his horse, and tell Zhu Gaoxu: "Let someone put him back in the palace. If he does it again in the future, let him come to this big teaching center to continue his studies."

"Your Majesty," Zhu Gaoxu nodded, and then said to Zhu Gaosui, "Go and talk to your Baihu officials, and tell me that your training is over."

"Okay! Okay! I'm going now!"

Zhu Gaosui nodded frequently, turned around and ran towards the playground.

After he walked away, Zhu Gaoxu looked at Zhu Di standing aside with a wry smile: "Why did you scare him?"

"You scared him much more than me." The disappointment on Zhu Di's face disappeared, leaving only a smile: "You are right, the third child is indeed obedient."

"It's just that after this time, I don't know if he will continue to commit crimes."

"Even if you commit a crime, you should restrain yourself." Zhu Gaoxu agreed, sighing at Zhu Di's thoughts.

Zhu Di is the same as Lao Zhu. They both know what their sons did right and what they did wrong, but they just can't bear to deal with them.

Zhu Gaosui is still young and can still make corrections, but some of Zhu Gaojiu's uncles have grown up, and the bastard things they have done are enough to make Zhu Gaojiu disgusted.

"Let's go to the front and see your troops."

Zhu Di shook the reins of his horse, and Zhu Gaoxu followed suit after hearing the words. At the same time, he corrected himself and said, "These are your Majesty's soldiers and horses."

"Whatever you say." Zhu Di was too lazy to argue with Zhu Gaoxu, because he found that he really couldn't argue with this second-in-command.

"Line up!"

"Beep--"

When they saw Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu coming on horseback, and Zhu Gaosui trotting excitedly, Li Shi and Li Qi, who were responsible for commanding nearly 10,000 people, blew their wooden whistles.

"Li Shi, my second brother said that my training is over!"

Zhu Gaosui came excitedly. He was no longer as arrogant as before, only excited and happy.

"In that case, let's go change clothes."

Li Shi didn't say much when he heard the words, and responded calmly, as if Zhu Gaosui was a dispensable person.

Such a reaction made Zhu Gaosui feel empty for some reason.

Just when he thought that he could go back to the palace and continue to be his own King Zhao, he still ran toward the building of the teaching ground with oil on his feet.

Not long after he left, Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu also came to Li Shi and Li Qi.

"Long live your Majesty, a thousand lives your Highness..."

The two took the lead in bowing and singing, and then the wooden whistle sounded, and nearly ten thousand soldiers sang the salute one after another.

"it is good!"

Zhu Di got off his horse, walked up to a young soldier in the front row, who was eighteen or nineteen years old, and patted him on the shoulder: "What is your name, and which Jurchen branch are you from?"

"Your Majesty, my Chinese name is Wu Meng, my previous name was Mo Rigen, and I am from the Beishan Envoy Lu Department."

The young soldier spoke in Mandarin, which he was not very proficient in. As soon as Zhu Di heard this, he knew that he was a soldier who had just been transferred to the capital. Seeing this, he also curiously asked: "Do you really want the people from the Deer Department to train and raise deer?" Deer, use a deer for a ride?”

"Your Majesty, we train and raise deer, but the deer are only used to pull carts in winter." Wu Meng answered, and Zhu Di nodded and squeezed his arm.

"Okay, strong enough."

He was very satisfied with the source of soldiers like Wu Meng, but Zhu Gaoxu got off his horse and stepped forward to ask: "How are the lives of the Beishan tribes now? Have they all moved out?"

"Go back to Your Highness..." Wu Meng seemed a little excited when he saw Zhu Gaoxu, and he stood much straighter.

"Many tribes in Beishan went south to accept the appeasement. The Duke of Liao (Meng Zhang) placed us in Shuiyi between Zhaozhou City, Andong City and Heishui City, and relied on Shuiyi to build houses for us."

"If a tribe is willing to open up wasteland for farming, he will bring us craftsmen and cement so that we can build water conservancy and cultivate some sloping land."

"If you don't want to open up wasteland for farming and still want to continue hunting as before, then continue hunting, but the family will have a male to serve as a soldier, but our food and salary will be sent back to the family, so that the family will not be hungry even if they can't hunt. The belly and military pay are left for us to spend on ourselves."

"When I went south, I heard that many tribes in Beishan and Donghai sent people to be recruited. From Zhaozhou to Heishui City, there were more than a hundred forts with eighty or ninety thousand people."

The military pay for soldiers and horses outside the Pass and Shandong is twenty shi meters plus eight guan coins. Twenty shi meters are transported home, enough to feed a family of five, and eight guan coins are enough for soldiers like Wu Meng and others to live in ordinary cities. Live a comfortable life.

It has to be said that Meng Zhang has been in contact with the Jurchens for a long time and is very clear about their needs.

"Is eight guan of salary enough in the capital?" Zhu Gaoxu straightened Wu Meng's collar, and Wu Meng also replied nervously: "Both food and accommodation are in the large church, there is nothing to spend money on."

"Many brothers in the large church took their money to buy cotton and white cloth and asked the inn to transport it back to their hometowns."

"How much does cotton cost per pound, and where is white cloth?" Zhu Gaoxu asked Wu Meng, and Wu Meng answered without hesitation: "Cotton costs sixty cents per pound, and white cloth costs two hundred cents per piece."

"Well, the white cloth is okay, but the cotton is too expensive." Zhu Gaoxu nodded and couldn't help but sigh that the cotton was a bit expensive, but he could understand it.

The cotton yield in Jiangnan and other places is only about 150 kilograms per mu. Even in the northern regions of Beiping and Shandong, the cotton yield is only more than 200 kilograms per mu.

During the Hongwu period, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered Shandong to grow cotton and soybeans to supply Liaodong.

After Zhu Gaoxu took control of Shandong, he planned to increase the planting area of ​​soybeans and cotton. However, to this day, the price of cotton remains high.

Fortunately, with the land reclamation in Liaodong, cotton has been planted on a lot of land suitable for growing cotton.

Without Liaodong, a large consumer of cotton, the price of cotton in the customs may gradually drop with the promotion in the future.

"Have fire pits, fire walls and sewers been installed in all the market towns built?"

Zhu Gaoxu continued to ask Wu Meng, and Wu Meng also relaxed a lot and answered honestly: "They have all been built. Not only these, but also concrete roads have been built. You can't even step on mud when walking in the market town."

"That's good." Zhu Gaoxu nodded, then turned around and walked behind Zhu Di.

His conversation with Wu Meng was heard by Zhu Di. Zhu Di watched him make Wu Meng stand up straight with just a few words, and couldn't help but think that this kid really had a way of winning people's hearts.

However, Zhu Di also heard a lot of news from the conversation between the two, especially the news that a large number of Jurchens were recruited.

"How many people are there in Bohai now?" Zhu Di looked at Zhu Gaoxu, who answered honestly: "There are more than 446,000 people, of which more than 240,000 are Jurchens, but many of them will be here." Next year we will move inland into Liaodong and Shandong, and by this time next year it is estimated that there will only be about 150,000 people."

The Jurchens moved inward and the Han people moved out. This was a means of assimilation. The Ming Dynasty was not like the Manchu and Qing Dynasties in which the small clans dominated the large clans, but the large clans supported the small clans. Therefore, there was no need to worry about assimilation in the north.

Even if the population of the entire Northeast, Monan, Mobei and Western Regions were counted together, they would only amount to over two million.

Throwing them into the northern land with a population of more than 16 million people was very sparse, so Zhu Gaoxu basically did not worry about any assimilation issues when the Ming Dynasty expanded to the northeast.

Compared to the north, the south is a little more difficult to handle.

Whether it is Luchuan, Siam, Khmer, or Annam, the populations of these countries range from millions to over a million. However, the Ming Dynasty has not assimilated enough in the southwest. Once it goes deep into the interior, there is a risk of assimilation.

In places like Annan, which has a long coastline and can be used for immigration by sea, Zhu Gaoxu can be sure that he will continue to immigrate and assimilate the local area based on time. It is much more difficult for places like Southwest and Sanxuan and Liuwei.

"Forty-four thousand people, cultivating more than five million acres of land?"

Zhu Gaoxu's report reminded Zhu Di of the arable land area of ​​the Bohai Sea, and he couldn't help but sigh at the speed of development and affluence of the Bohai Sea.

In his opinion, only Bohai, with its abundant draft horses and cattle, could manage more than ten acres of land by one person.

Zhu Gaoxu also explained this: "The winter period outside the customs is long, and the grain yield per mu is only eight or nine dou per mu. Zheng He brought back many cold-resistant crops from Japan during his voyage to the East. Liaodong will also try to cultivate them. Let’s see if we can breed crops that are more cold-resistant.”

"It's up to you to decide. I'm more curious about the changes in this year's "Yellow Book" and "Fish Scale Atlas" of the Ministry of Household Affairs."

Zhu Di mentioned a document from the Ministry of Household Affairs. Due to Shandong's policies such as clearing the title of the headmaster and the tenancy of the tenant, and binding the admission qualifications to the household registration, Shandong's cultivated land and population have been improved.

In addition, people are constantly migrating into Liaodong, and the Liaodong area is also changing all the time regardless of land reclamation.

In addition to Shandong and Liaodong, Yunnan and Sichuan have experienced relatively large changes in population and cultivated land.

Since the end of the Jingnan Campaign, more than 400,000 people have poured into Yunnan and Sichuan. Many of them have settled down and opened up wasteland in the first half of the year, and now they have basically achieved results.

As the emperor, Zhu Di could only understand these situations through the records of the Ministry of Revenue, but the Ministry of Revenue had not yet finished counting them.

"You should know the situation in Shandong and Liaodong, right?"

Zhu Di asked Zhu Gaoxu. After all, Zhu Gaoxu had deployed a large number of grassroots officials in Liaodong and Shandong, and he would definitely be able to collect data faster than the Ministry of Household Affairs.

"Of course..." Zhu Gaoxu walked aside, and Zhu Di followed him, staying away from the military formation.

"As of the first day of the twelfth lunar month, Liaodong and Bohai have a population of 1,977,600 and more than 1,340 acres of arable land."

"As of the first day of the twelfth lunar month, Shandong had a population of more than 4,827,000 and more than 59,940,000 acres of cultivated land."

Zhu Gaoxu briefly reported, and Zhu Di thought of the amount in Hongwu 30 years, and then stroked his beard: "The population of Shandong and Liaodong in Hongwu 30 years was only 5.25 million. Now four years later, the total number is six More than 1.8 million."

"Even if we subtract the more than 300,000 people in Daning, it is still 1.25 million more than the original population."

"The cultivated land including the army's farmland was only 60 million acres at the beginning, but now it is more than 70 million acres, and Shandong Province alone has increased by more than 3 million acres."

"This group of squires and subordinates, I really want to snatch all the people and land from their hands."

Zhu Di was a little anxious. After all, judging from the situation in Shandong, the population of Ming Dynasty was definitely more than the 60,000 and 500,000 people in the 30th year of Hongwu.

However, he also said somewhat conservatively: "Is it possible that the people below you have overreported? The increase is a bit too much."

"The increase is normal." Zhu Gaoxu gave the answer first, and then explained in detail:

"In the 14th year of Hongwu's reign, there were 5.2 million people in Shandong. Now twenty years later, it is normal for the population to increase by 1.2 million. The same is true for the cultivated land, which is even more than what is currently measured."

"In my opinion, the cultivated land of the imperial court may not be restored to that of the Xifeng period of the Northern Song Dynasty, or may even exceed it, and the population may not be less than 70 million."

"Just how to measure the acres and conduct a population census, we still have to see how Shandong's pilot policy progresses."

What Zhu Gaoxu said is reasonable and well-founded. After all, the Ming Dynasty in the 14th year of Hongwu had more than 360 million acres of cultivated land and a population of more than 59.8 million.

Twenty years have passed, and the population has only increased by more than one million, and the cultivated land has increased by more than 30 million acres.

If the Ming Dynasty really only had 60 million people, then cultivating 400 million acres of cultivated land would be efficient. After all, the limit of human cultivation is only five acres. Counting the cultivated land in the world, it is not surprising that the per capita cultivated land is six acres.

However, the population of the Ming Dynasty only increased by one million in twenty years, which is simply a bit humiliating.

Even in the late Qianlong period when people's livelihood was in decline, the number increased from 310 million to 360 million in 18 years. This was despite the fact that it was already difficult to develop cultivated land.

Looking back at the current situation, the population has only grown by one million in twenty years, but the tax rate is not half as good as that of the Qianlong period.

To say 70 million people is an understatement by Zhu Gaoxu. As for cultivated land, during the Xifeng period of the Northern Song Dynasty, there were more than 460 million acres of cultivated land, but there were more than 40 million men. Counting women, there were probably no less than 80 million. .

The production efficiency during the Northern Song Dynasty was not very different from that in the early Ming Dynasty. Six acres of cultivated land per capita was considered the standard for farming efficiency in ancient times.

If the Ming Dynasty had 460 million acres of cultivated land, its population would be at least close to 80 million. This is the population Zhu Gaoxu estimated in his mind.

The use of admission qualifications to count the population was the main reason why Zhu Gaoxu was able to count so many people from Shandong and Liaodong, and the distribution of people into acres was considered secondary.

But this method cannot be expanded, because Ming Dynasty does not have so many teaching resources, and it cannot support hundreds of thousands of teachers unless productivity is improved.

"According to what you said, the population surveyed this year will probably be no less than 66 million, and the cultivated land will be no less than 430 million."

Zhu Di was thoughtful, and at the same time felt that it was the most correct thing for him to make Zhu Gaoxu the prince.

After only one and a half years in power, Zhu Gaoxu increased the Ming Dynasty's population by 10% and increased its cultivated land by 50 million acres.

If Lao Zhu Quanxia knows better, maybe he can hit him a little more gently when he goes down in the future.

Thinking of this, Zhu Di looked at Zhu Gaoxu with a hungry look that made Zhu Gaoxu feel a little hairy.

"What are you..."

"Second dick!"

Before Zhu Gaoxu finished speaking, he saw Zhu Di put a hand on his shoulder: "The world still has to be governed by us."

"You work hard, and when I'm over fifty and can't do it anymore in a few years, I'll hand over this position to you."

"..." Zhu Gaoxu didn't know how to answer him when he heard Zhu Di say that he couldn't do anything if he was over fifty.

If you are over fifty and can't do government affairs, if you are sixty-five and mount your horse to kill the enemy, you are really yours.

"You'd better be telling the truth." As soon as Zhu Gaoxu spoke, Zhu Di's expression froze.

He was just being polite, how could this guy take it seriously?

Just thinking about it carefully, Zhu Di seemed to think it was nothing. After all, his three previous brothers only lived in their thirties and forties. Now that he is in his mid-forties, he is not young anymore. He doesn't know how long he can live.

After I have been working for more than ten years, I will be in my fifties by then, and I won't be able to do it anymore, and my passing position will be normal.

Zhu Di thought like this, and nodded straightforwardly: "Of course, when have I ever lied to you?"

"Yes..." Zhu Gaoxu thought of his predecessor, Crock Pot Chicken, but nodded, and then he and Zhu Di inspected various parts of the teaching ground.

After half an hour, Zhu Di reluctantly walked out of the teaching field and saw Zhu Gaosui who had been waiting next to the big chariot for a long time.

Seeing that he did not get on the carriage, Zhu Di was a little surprised. He said to Zhu Gaoxu from a distance: "Your method worked. He is much more behaved now."

"My son has said before that more practice will be good for him." Zhu Gaosui chuckled. Based on his training requirements for Bohai, if Zhu Gaosui's temper did not change at all, then he would actually feel that Zhu Gaosui was hopeless.

He was originally a spoiled child. Not only him, but also his predecessor Zhu Gaoxu behaved like this in history.

There is nothing to say about Zhu Di's personal abilities, but he is a bit biased in raising children and he is too pampered.

"Dad, second brother..."

Seeing Zhu Di and the others coming out, Zhu Gaosui immediately stepped forward to greet them, but now Zhu Di didn't know whether he was pretending or if he was really trained.

"It's good to know some rules. Let's get in the car."

Zhu Di was very satisfied with Zhu Gaosui's approach and nodded to indicate for him to get on the carriage.

However, as soon as these words came out, Zhu Gaosui quickly shook his head like a rattle, feeling like crying but without tears.

If the most terrifying thing he experienced in the cathedral was, it was not physical training, but mental torture. Especially when he accidentally heard some Bohai soldiers saying unpleasant things about Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaosui, he almost Every day I worry that someone in the church will harm me.

Even in his sleep, he could dream that Li Shi came to him with a group of people and asked him if he really thought he was emperor.

Regardless of whether the answer is yes or no, after asking, Li Shi will lead someone to kill him with a knife, and he will be woken up from his sleep.

Although he knew that there was no need for Li Shi to kill him, this dream still left a psychological shadow on him.

Now that he finally came out, his father still let him sit in a large chariot that only an emperor could sit on. Didn't this cost him half his life?

"Dad, please sit with your second brother. I like riding horses now."

There was a hint of crying in Zhu Gaosui's voice, and Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu looked at each other. Finally, Zhu Di and Zhu Gaojiu walked onto the carriage, occasionally turning back three times with each step.

It wasn't until he got into the car that Zhu Di said cautiously: "The third child was very frightened by you. Is he going to get the root of his disease?"

"This one……"

Hearing this, Zhu Gaojiu himself glanced at Zhu Gaosui who turned over on his horse outside the car window with some uneasiness, and hesitated: "Probably... no?"

　"Records of Emperor Taizong of the Ming Dynasty": "In the twelfth lunar month, Xinchou went to see the grand teaching venue with the prince. The prince said briefly, "King Zhao has been reflecting on himself for a long time, so he can be forgiven. "Hearing the words of the prince, he nodded. King Zhao then pardoned him and said with tears in his eyes: "If I don't have a brother, I will probably die. "

　　"Bohai Chronicles": "At the end of the twelfth lunar month, the emperor and Shang went to the cathedral. The emperor heard that King Zhao was introspecting himself, so he pardoned him."

　　

　

(End of this chapter)