Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 354 Deep love between husband and wife

"Sifan has seen the power of the Celestial Dynasty, and Xifan also considers himself a vassal of His Majesty the Ming Emperor. I would like to ask Your Highness, if you can reduce the number of troops stationed in Xifan and the horse tax as appropriate?"

At the end of the twelfth lunar month of the sixth year of Yongle, when Xifan monk Harima, who was on an envoy to the Ming Dynasty, stood in the Chunhe Hall and carefully tested Zhu Gaoxu's attitude, Zhu Gaoxu was holding a memorial in one hand and a red pen in the other to process the memorial.

Facing Harima's words, Zhu Gaoxu said without raising his head: "Xifan is a territory of this dynasty, and Ma Fu was established by Taizu Emperor Gao and many eminent monks in Xifan. Today's Ma Fu has been reduced a lot. You guys If it feels that it still needs to be reduced, then the court will have no choice but to accept gold and silver instead.”

"As for the garrison, Gu has already said that before the post roads and various city guards are built, the 10,000 troops and horses that entered Xifan cannot be transferred back."

"As for whether the number of Xifan soldiers and horses will be reduced after the post roads and city guards are built, this is of course certain."

Zhu Gaoxu gave his answer, and Harimah did not dare to continue asking, so he could only bow: "Thank you for your kindness, His Highness the Prince..."

"Step back." He motioned for Harima to leave without raising his head. Seeing this, Harima could only leave under the guidance of the eunuch on duty at Chunhe Palace.

Not long after he left, Yishiha bowed down and asked Zhu Gaoxu: "Your Highness, didn't you say that stationing tens of thousands of soldiers and horses in Xifan is a waste of money and food?"

"In that case, why not take this opportunity to cut down some troops and give Harima and the others some favors."

After Yi Shiha finished speaking, Zhu Gaoxu also wrote a circle, finished a memorial and put it on the table, and said lightly: "Things that are too easy to obtain are often not cherished. Let them beg for a few years first, and then hand over the Sakya North and South." Let’s talk about it in the temple.”

"Just arrived in Champa State and are preparing to divide our troops to go to Luzon to transport craftsmen, cement, food and other supplies."

"On this voyage to the West, there were 127 privately owned merchant gangs armed with 3,000 materials, including 107 merchant gangs from Korea, 12 from Korea, three from Japan, Siam, Champa, One each for Manlajia, Chenla, and Majapayi."

Zhu Gaoxu didn't find it strange that Yi Shiha expressed the thoughts of various countries.

The 3,000-material armed horse ship built by the imperial court carried six Hongwu iron cannons. The cost price was 1,200 guan, but the price sold to the merchant gangs was 5,000 guan.

Take iron smelting technology as an example. Although European artillery was advanced in the late Ming Dynasty, its metallurgical technology was not. Therefore, after the Ming Dynasty used metallurgical technology to imitate European artillery, the artillery produced was often better than that of the Europeans. This was also recognized at the time. The Philippines was recognized by the Spaniards and the Portuguese.

The content of the memorial is not extensive. It mainly reports that the surgical operation has no effect, but it has achieved results in physical therapy.

Just like the book Zhu Gaoxu picked up in his hand, it was a statistical book compiled by the Sixth Ministry and the Sixth Army Governor's Office, which contained various national data and manual output values.

[The total number of government and private enterprises is 26,725,400 and more than three kilograms of iron, and lead...]

What's more, if they can really cast it, with the productivity of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Gaoxu really can't think of what these countries can use to fight the Ming Dynasty.

[At that time, there were 72,598,337 people in the world, with a tax of 35 million dan and a military settlement of 19,850,000 dan. 】

It seemed that the court was selling out its artillery technology in order to make money, but in fact Zhu Gaoxu was not just trying to make money.

Zhu Gaoxu mentioned the number of private business gangs that followed the fleet to the Western Ocean. Yishiha nodded after hearing this and introduced:

[Silk cotton, cotton velvet 760,000...]

Zhu Gaoxu briefly read the contents of the brochure and concluded that the imperial court's income from grain was close to 55 million gu, and that from various silks, cloth, cotton, tea, salt, mineral taxes, and commercial taxes was about 6 million gu.

"But among them, the only ones who really want to trade with the fleet to the Western Ocean are the merchant gangs of this and North Korea. The other countries are probably all trying to arm the Hongwu iron cannons on the horse ships."

Whether it is iron smelting technology or the relevant knowledge of artillery modulus, this does not mean that it can be imitated. There are technical thresholds.

"After this military parade and the four guards stationed in Nanyang, these small countries will not dare to touch the imperial beard."

Not long after, an eunuch walked into the Chunhe Hall with a smiling face, and announced the good news to Zhu Gaoxu from a distance:

"Your Highness, there is news from Annan Hospital that there is progress in physical therapy!"

Zhu Gaoxu was still thinking about how to return Guizhou to his native land, but footsteps came from the door of the palace.

The merchant gangs must have enough power to conduct trade on the sea, and it doesn't matter even if Hongwu iron cannon technology is exposed to these countries.

"Now let's see how many vassal states and officialdoms Zheng He can recruit in the East and West (Indian Ocean) during this voyage to the West."

"Well..." Zhu Gaoxu responded casually, thought for a moment and then said:

However, for countries whose metallurgical technology is not up to standard, even if they obtain the Ming Dynasty's Hongwu iron cannon, it will take a lot of time to imitate it. As for cannons with knowledge of the artillery module, not to mention that they cannot obtain the actual object for reference. Even if the actual object is obtained for reference, it will be difficult to cast it.

"By the way, have the number of merchant gangs who followed the voyages to the West been counted?"

It is precisely because of such a large balance this year that Zhu Gaoxu dared to prepare for the return of Guizhou's four major chieftains and hundreds of small and medium-sized chieftains.

This does not include Zheng He's harvest from this voyage. If included, this year will undoubtedly be a bumper year.

Although the pirates in Southeast Asia were eliminated by Zheng He, there are still many pirates in the Indian Ocean, Arabia and other places.

As for the threshold of the artillery module, it also depends on the person and the country. For the Ming Dynasty, which has advanced metallurgical technology, as long as they get a physical artillery, they can imitate it immediately.

Doctors at Annan Hospital compared Queen Xu's physical therapy process with other physical therapy processes and used them on thirty patients respectively.

[There are 5,756,427 treasure banknotes, 27,627 taels of gold, 1,780,850 taels of silver, and 520 copper ingots. One hundred and seventy-six thousand, four hundred and twenty-seven pounds]

【Two hundred and forty thousand pieces of cloth...】

The appearance difference between Hongwu iron cannon and Ming army naval gun does not seem to be very big, but the inner difference is very big.

As soon as the eunuch said this, Yishiha ran forward without waiting for Zhu Gaoxu's instructions and took the memorial from Annan Hospital from the eunuch.

If the Portuguese had not accidentally hired Foshan craftsmen in the process of helping the Ming Dynasty to cast cannons and obtained the corresponding technology from them, the Portuguese might have had to wait until the Manchus entered the customs to obtain it during the war.

Under the same condition, the condition of the five patients who used the physical therapy process developed by Annan was obviously much better than the patients who used Queen Xu's physical therapy process.

Although the folded items were slow to materialize, they could always be sold, which made the Ming Dynasty's treasury a little richer.

He jogged all the way back and handed the memorial to Zhu Gaoxu, who couldn't wait to open it.

Yi Shiha stood aside and spoke, and the balance he mentioned was the result of Zheng He's voyage to the West.

"According to the reports from the Six Departments and Six Prefectures, there should be a balance of around 14 million Guan this year."

They were not sure at first, but it was not until two months later, when the conditions of the five patients were slightly under control, that they dared to report the matter and write down the physical therapy process and submit it.

"Where is Zheng He?" He raised his head and asked Yi Shiha, and the other party returned the greeting:

"Quickly, send this memorial to my father and ask him to make changes according to the physical therapy procedures in the memorial."

Although there was no surgical result, Zhu Gaoxu was excited about the progress in physical therapy.

In this era without modern medical equipment, it was indeed difficult for him to entrust Queen Xu's life to his doctors.

Traditional Chinese medicine physiotherapy is the only thing Zhu Gaoxu can put his hope in.

Thinking of this, the invisible burden on Zhu Gaoxu's shoulders seemed to lighten a lot.

It was rare for him to feel happy from the bottom of his heart. When Yishiha, who was ordered to escort the memorial back, saw this scene, even he couldn't help but feel relaxed.

This is true for the master and the servant, not to mention Zhu Di and the others.

Zhu Di, who was managing politics in Wuying Hall, heard the news and immediately grabbed the memorial and read it.

After more than a year of self-taught medical skills, Zhu Di can understand a lot of things.

Facing the physical therapy process in the memorial, he also saw the merits in it, so he directly announced the replacement of the physical therapy process.

In the next few days, he kept paying attention to his sister's body and left all government affairs to Zhu Gaoxu.

Zhu Gaoxu also knew that it was not easy for Zhu Di, so he accepted them all and experienced the taste of an emperor in advance.

"Crackling..."

The sound of firecrackers marks the departure of another good year of spring.

The sixth year of Yongle passed faster than Zhu Gaoxu thought. Until the Zhengdan meeting, he did not realize that another year had passed.

"Congratulations..."

"Your Highness is a thousand years old, a thousand years old, a thousand years old..."

Since Zhu Di was accompanying Empress Xu in the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Gaoxu presided over the Zhengdan Dynasty in the seventh year of Yongle.

Amidst the singing of the ministers, Zhu Gaoxu sat in the position of supervising the country under the dragon chair.

For him, governance in the early Ming Dynasty was easier than he imagined. Of course, this was because he had a basic base and the country was on an upward trend.

Because the country was on the rise, things like cliques and bickering like those in the middle and late Ming Dynasty rarely happened in temples. After all, the Hongwu period had only passed a few years, and everyone still remembers how Zhu Yuanzhang dealt with them. of.

Even if they win the North-South List case, with the Jingnan purge that Zhu Di came to power, more than 400,000 people were directly purged. Now those 400,000 people are still cultivating land in Yunnan.

The fate of this group of people made everyone realize that they can discuss with the emperor, but they must not be forceful.

Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu, the father and son, are willing to accept the soft and the tough. If anyone dares to be tough, they have to test whether that person's neck is tough.

In order to fight for their own heads, everyone reported their work as always, and retired respectfully after the report.

After the court meeting was over, Zhu Gaoxu changed his clothes and went to Qianqing Palace, while the officials who dispersed the court were looking thoughtfully at Bu Yu who was heading to Qianqing Palace not far away.

"In this year's Bingxu imperial examination, there are more new questions in the East Palace."

Walking to Xie Jin's side, Yang Shiqi looked at Bu Yu who was gradually disappearing not far away with him, and there was something in his words.

The imperial examination for the sixth year of Yongle's reign ended in April, and this time the top candidate is Lin Huan, who was born in Putian, Fujian.

Due to the restructuring of Jashenkodonggong in the fourth year of Yongle, Jiangxi did not get the top spot as it did in history.

Counting the time, Jiangxi Ji'an Prefecture has not won the title of No. 1 Scholar for many years, which makes Xie Jin and his group of Jiangzuo officials look shameless.

"I've read the test papers, and the main ones that have been added are "Arithmetic" questions. As for policy theory, they are more focused on military affairs."

Xie Jin's eyes were calm and he said calmly: "In the next Wuzi Branch, Jiangzuo will definitely get a top scholar, and he must occupy 30% of the Jinshi seats in Nanjuan, otherwise there will be no place for us in this temple."

The failure of two imperial examinations made Xie Jin very embarrassed. As the most famous official in Jiangzuo, he had been privately ridiculed by officials in western Zhejiang and Jiangdong in recent years. No matter how they ridiculed him, Xie Jin was already sure of winning the top prize in Wuzi Branch and most of the Jinshi seats.

He began to prepare for it the year before last. This year's provincial examination is the opportunity for students in Jiangxi to look up.

"The number of Jinshi seats in Liaodong and Shandong has also increased a lot, accounting for 30% of the Jinshi in the Northern Volume this year."

Yang Shiqi further stimulated Xie Jin: "I have seen the list, and 30% of the Jinshi scholars came from the official school of the East Palace."

"If we continue at this rate, I'm afraid all the Jinshis produced by Beijuan and Zhongjuan in the future will be from official schools."

It is already an unwritten and hidden rule in the officialdom that those born in the official school are the disciples of the East Palace.

This group of people was here to threaten them, but Zhu Gaoxu was much more ruthless than they thought.

"In the investigation of subordinate officials in Shandong, more than 900 of these so-called disciples of the East Palace were arrested for corruption. This is much worse than us."

Xie Jin mocked these so-called official seedlings that Zhu Gaoxu had quickly cultivated, and Yang Shiqi also nodded:

"This group of people is really not good, but over there at Taixue..."

When "Tai Xue" heard these two words, Xie Jin couldn't help but frown.

Taixue's defense is tight, and even now he has not been able to obtain any useful information.

However, what can be proved is that compared to the batch of subordinate officials arrested in Shandong, the quality of Taixue is definitely much higher.

"Out of hundreds of thousands of graduates, less than a thousand were selected, which can be said to be one in a hundred."

Yang Shiqi had something to say, and when Xie Jin heard this, he could only order: "Let the rural and social studies in Jiangzuo promote the textbooks of the official studies, and use the same books to see who is more capable!"

After that, he turned and left. Yang Shiqi glanced at the direction Zhu Gaoxu left, and after a while, he followed Xie Jin and left.

When they were leaving, Hu Lun, who had left the court, was wearing court clothes and followed Zhu Gaoxu's infantry. Zhu Gaoxu raised his hand to signal the infantry to stop, and Yi Shiha asked the soldiers and eunuchs to leave three feet away.

After they left, Hu Lun stepped forward and bowed:

"Your Highness, the investigation is almost over. The place where the teaching materials were leaked was Pingdu Prefecture in Laizhou Prefecture, Shandong Province. The teaching materials have now been widely disseminated in Jiangnan, and many people are trying to take them to other provinces and overseas."

"Can it be restrained?" Zhu Gaoxu asked with a frown. He did not want his hard work to be stolen by other countries.

"This..." Hu Lun looked troubled, obviously unable to stop him.

Zhu Gaoxu felt a little melancholy, but he didn't blame Hu Lun.

Although there are more than 7,200 people in the West Factory, half of them are widely active overseas, and there are only less than 3,500 people in charge of the country.

It would be too difficult to rely on these 3,500 people to stop the spread of teaching materials.

"Nowadays, the price of private textbooks has reached one tael per copy, and there are many profit-minded people everywhere."

"Although Jin Yiwei also assisted us in intercepting, I feel that Jin Yiwei's internal problems are already very serious..."

Hu Lun was born in Jinyiwei, so he was naturally aware of the changes in Jinyiwei.

In forty years, not to mention a government office, even a country has been corrupted enough.

"I will talk to my father about the Jin Yiwei matter. You try your best to stop the leakage of teaching materials overseas. I will ask the Criminal Division to send you a driving notice later. Anyone involved in this case, regardless of their official position, will be arrested by me."

"Yes!"

Zhu Gaoxu gave Xichang law enforcement power, which made Hu Lun happy but also worried.

In the past, Xichang was only responsible for intelligence collection, and arresting prisoners was usually handled by the Jin Yiwei and the Criminal Department.

Now that Xichang has law enforcement power, he can't help but worry that Xichang will fall like Jin Yiwei.

He was still worried, but Zhu Gaoxu had already taken the Buyu to Qianqing Palace.

A quarter of an hour later, when his carriage stopped in front of the Qianqing Palace, after a simple search, he walked into the palace gate and walked along the palace road to the palace.

After more than ten steps, Guo Yan saw him inside and quickly stood up to greet him.

Seeing her, Zhu Gaoxu also asked in a low voice: "How are you these days, mother?"

"After changing to physical therapy, I feel much better, and the exudation is not as serious as before." Guo Yan's eyes were full of joy, and Zhu Gaoxu also breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this.

He patted Guo Yan's hand and walked into the Qianqing Palace to comfort him.

As soon as he walked in, he saw that the dining table was full of food, and Zhu Di was picking up dishes for Queen Xu.

"Gao Xu, come and sit down quickly. Your father passed the meal to you without waiting for you. You are so impatient!"

Queen Xu called Zhu Gaoxu gently in the first moment, but scolded Zhu Di for his impatience the next second.

Zhu Di is not afraid of boiling water. Anyway, for him, Xu Meizi is the most important.

He took the trouble to serve Empress Xu with vegetables and tea. However, although Empress Xu was in good health, her appetite was not as good as before. She only added half a bowl of rice to an ordinary small bowl, and she couldn't eat half of it.

"My mother's complexion is much better than before." Zhu Gaoxu praised Queen Xu's complexion, and Zhu Di nodded: "With me taking care of you, your mother's complexion will certainly be good."

"Go!" Queen Xu pushed Zhu Di, but she couldn't because he was too strong, but she still defended Guo Yan.

"When it comes to taking care of me, it's Yan'er who works tirelessly to take care of me. You only talk to me every time."

"I am talking to make you happy." Zhu Di leaned forward and was patted on the shoulder by Queen Xu, signaling him not to go too far.

But Zhu Di didn't hold back and still clung to Queen Xu.

While he was clinging to her, Queen Xu thought of something and said, "I'm fine now. Don't delay things in the north because of me."

"Although I don't like that you have to lead troops to the north after becoming emperor, but if you think you can do a good job, then don't worry about me, go north to finish the battle earlier, and come back earlier."

She knew that Zhu Di had been unable to let go of the Northern Expedition, because Zhu Di always felt that he could solve the problems in the north, so he was worried about leaving it to others.

This time he summoned Meng Zhang and others to go south, and the discussion lasted for more than a year without reaching a result.

On the surface it looked like Zhu Di was dragging their feet, but in fact it was Zhu Di who looked down upon their tactics.

"I won't go, I'll stay with you in the capital."

Although Zhu Di really wanted to go, he still pretended that he couldn't leave Queen Xu.

"There is Gao Sui in the capital, and Gao Sui will be here in a few days. They will take care of me even if you are not here, so relax."

Queen Xu didn't want Zhu Di to give up something because of her, so she was still persuading him. At the same time, she also looked at Zhu Gaoxu, as if she wanted Zhu Gaoxu to persuade him too.

Zhu Gaoxu was not very happy, but he also did not want to make his mother sad, so he hesitated for a few breaths before saying:

"If dad wants to go, just go. There are me and the third child in Nanjing, and Yan'er can take care of mother."

"I won't go, I won't go..." Zhu Di wanted to go, but he just showed that he didn't want to go.

"If you really don't go, when the Northern Expedition fails, I'm afraid your fault will be recorded in the history books..."

Zhu Gaoxu knew how to control Zhu Di very well. Sure enough, as soon as Zhu Di heard that the history books wanted to record his mistakes, he immediately showed a tangled look on his face.

"Go ahead..."

Queen Xu patted his hand. Zhu Di glanced at Queen Xu's smiling face, then at Zhu Gaoxu, and finally focused on Guo Yan's face.

Obviously, in his opinion, Zhu Gaoxu could not be counted on, but his daughter-in-law could take better care of his sister.

"Don't worry, dad. If you go north, I will move to Kunning Palace."

Guo Yan gave the answer with a smile, and Zhu Di breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this.

He looked at Queen Xu and cautiously asked, "Then... I'll go north for a few months and then come back to be with you?"

At this moment, he no longer had the high-spirited kingly posture during the military parade, but looked more like a husband who couldn't live without his wife.

"Go to the north and make the fight more beautiful, so that the people in the north can live in peace for a longer time."

Queen Xu smiled softly and at the same time helped Zhu Di clean his beard with her hands.

Seeing this, Zhu Di couldn't help but hold Queen Xu's other hand tightly. After a long silence, he said, "Then I will go north again in March."

"While I'm going north, you have to listen to the imperial physician and the doctors. If you feel uncomfortable, go to Yan'er. If you need anything, go to Lao Er."

"Okay..." Queen Xu smiled and nodded, and at the same time couldn't help but joked: "I will leave in March. What should I do if I forget to explain so early?"

"That won't happen. I will definitely remind you every day before I leave. Even if I don't remind you, Gao Xu will have to remind you."

After saying that, Zhu Di also turned back to look at Zhu Gaoxu: "If you don't take good care of your mother after I go north, I will settle the score with you when I come back."

"My son will definitely take good care of my mother." Zhu Gaoxu was speechless, feeling that he had become the old man's menopausal trash can.

At this time, he couldn't help but think of the boss. If the boss was here, the old man would probably catch him and scold him.

Now that the boss is away, he is scolded all day long.

But... Zhu Gaoxu touched his mustache and couldn't help but reveal an elusive smile on his face.

This feeling is more like a home to him.

(End of this chapter)