Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 358: Changing books into history

"I'll send you the military department to Wang Ji, please see your highness. Your highness is a thousand years old, a thousand years old, a thousand years old..."

In early May, when the sound of singing and singing sounded in the Chunhe Hall, a tall and strong civil servant wearing the uniform of a seventh-rank official was bowing to Zhu Gaoxu.

He is nearly six feet long, and his official robes are bulging on his body. He does not look like a civil servant at all, but looks like a military general.

"I heard that you ranked first in riding and archery during the imperial examination?"

Looking at the resolute-looking Wang Ji, Zhu Gaoxu, who was sitting in the main seat, became interested. He stood up and walked forward, looking at Wang Ji with interest.

As the first person after the Hongwu Dynasty to take charge of the army as a civilian and obtain a military title, Wang Ji's experience can definitely be described as becoming a general or a prime minister.

In terms of military affairs, in the face of the repeated invasions of Ganliang by Adai Khan and Duoer Zhibo of the Tatar tribe, he dared to lead an army of less than 3,000 light cavalry to attack Adai Khan of the Tatar tribe for the first time, causing Atai to be defeated. The Khan's troops were almost completely wiped out, and more than 50 people including the Privy Council, Tongzhi, Qianyuan, Wanhu, Youcheng, and Daruhuachi were captured.

Afterwards, he went south to Luchuan and led the Ming army across the Irrawaddy River. He erected a stone tablet on the Irrawaddy River saying "When the stone is dead and the river is dry, Ernai has to cross". He also summoned the chieftains and kings of eastern India, Myanmar, Siam and other places to make alliances, and let all tribes It was so shocking that he left a saying: "Since ancient times, no Han people have crossed the Jinsha River. Now that Wang Shi has come here, it is really the power of heaven."

The reason why Zhu Gaoxu knew Wang Ji so well was because he visited a local temple to worship him when he was traveling in western Yunnan in his previous life.

After the Battle of Luchuan, Wang Ji was considered by the ethnic minorities in western Yunnan to be the reincarnation of Zhuge Liang. He was extremely worshiped among the Lisu and Jingpo people, and was gradually deified and regarded as the largest protector of the western Yunnan and Myanmar areas.

This time the Tatars were not prepared enough, so they would definitely not be able to escape Zhu Di's pursuit.

The Lisu people believe that after Wang Ji died, his ghost went to heaven and became the White Horse General. Therefore, on the eighth day of the second lunar month every year, they hold a ceremony of "going down the mountain of swords on the sea of ​​fire" and vowing to "dare to climb the mountain of swords and brave the sea of ​​fire." He paid tribute to Wang Ji with his heroic spirit and expressed his determination to resist foreign aggression and defend his country.

Zhu Gaoxu had the idea of ​​taking the college entrance examination. Although Wang Ji was two years older than him, he was considered Wang Ji's "predecessor" whether he was leading troops in war or handling government affairs.

Zhu Di's familiarity with the grassland is no worse than theirs.

But as it happened, Zhu Gaoxu considered himself the hero.

It's just that he has never been to Shanxi in person, and judging from the memorials, he really can't see anything of value.

"Give him a seat. I want to learn more about Shanxi."

"Back to Your Highness, I have indeed requested that Yanchi be exempted from the tax arrears in Yanchi." Wang Ji admitted directly and added:

“The local people in Yanchi live in poverty, and they also have to bear heavy corvee labor. They are already suffering.”

From the Zhizheng period to the present, the Mongols have long been overshadowed by the Han people of the Ming Dynasty. Unless a figure like Wang Baobao appears to lead them to a great victory, they will always be timid when fighting the Ming army. Even without a fight, you will be frightened.

Now Wang Ji dared to report to him truthfully, which made Zhu Gaoxu very happy.

"During the Jingnan period, my parents died one after another, and I was able to take part in the imperial examination after observing filial piety for six years." Wang Ji thought Zhu Gaoxu was asking him about what happened during the Jingnan period, so he answered truthfully.

It can be said that, except for Zhu Qizhen, who personally awarded Wang Ji a title, other mediocre kings would really not dare to use this kind of skill to overwhelm their masters, unless they meet heroes like Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di. A striking figure.

In the end, Wang Ji had no choice but to humiliate himself by riding a horse, eating meat, and showing hospitality to prostitutes.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu's face showed a hint of embarrassment.

As a military officer, Wang Ji was able to read many files on the mobilization of troops and horses since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. Because of this, he also knew very well the military styles and methods of the generals in the early Ming Dynasty and even today's Zhu Di, Zhu Gaoxu and others.

"Can shoot a hundred-jin bow and hit the target within fifty steps." Wang Ji was a little uneasy. Regarding Zhu Gaoxu's skill, he couldn't help but worry that his highness was as good as Long Yang.

Zhu Gaoxu affirmed Wang Ji's point of view and asked at the same time: "I heard that you went to the salt pond in Shanxi a few days ago and expressed your hope that the imperial court would waive the 200,000 stone tax and grain arrears in the local area?"

Zhu Di couldn't find anyone to go home to, but they abandoned the herd and ran away. When they came back, the herd had already been taken away by Zhu Di.

After all, judging from what happened later, Wang Ji's prestige was indeed higher than that of Zhu Qiyu and Yu Qian.

In the area east of Daluo in Myanmar, wherever Wang Ji once stationed troops, there are three temples built to worship the three gods Wang Ji.

However, one of the more embarrassing points is that Wang Ji was recalled and had not returned to Yunnan for a long time. After the news about the new emperor's neglect of Nanjing came back, he was rumored to be the new emperor and Wang Ji was recalled. The treacherous minister became the king on the eighth day of February. Ji Jiefeng poisoned Wang Ji to death at the banquet.

If this rumor is inferred based on history, then in their eyes, the traitor who poisoned Wang Ji to death was probably Yu Qian...

What Wang Ji cares about is how many casualties the Ming army can inflict on the Tatar tribe in this battle, and whether the Oara tribe will take advantage of the Ming Dynasty's land gains after the Tatar tribe suffered heavy losses.

In Wang Ji's view, unless the Mongols abandoned their women, children, and herds, it would be difficult for them to escape Zhu Di's pursuit.

Mao Zhong almost had his whole family executed, and Chen Mao, the old general of Jingnan, died in depression. Wang Ji had been on the bench for three years and was suddenly ordered to be dismissed and go home. He also had to come to the court regularly to show that he had no betrayal.

Some Bai people in the Dali area also regard Wang Ji as their local master and the god of economic revitalization, and they are titled "Emperor of the Three Worshipers Who Founded the Country, Chicken Foot, and Blessed the People." Every year on the tenth day of the seventh lunar month, a Christmas temple fair is held for Wang Ji, the master of the Three Worships. Local people went to Sanchong Temple to celebrate Wang Ji's birthday.

Zhu Gaoxu stretched out his hand and pinched Wang Ji's tendons hidden under his robe, and asked while nodding with satisfaction.

During the incident of seizing the gate, except for Fan Guang, the other generals in the ten regiments trained by Yu Qian personally came to Wang Ji's side when they saw Wang Ji wearing armor and going into battle.

Wang Ji was nearly thirty years old. Although he had never been on the battlefield, the Baoding Prefecture where he lived was also a place with many military households. He had heard stories about fighting the Mongols from military households since he was a child, and he also understood the Mongolian fighting habits.

"How much weight can the bow be fired and how far can it shoot?"

"You have a good point."

"Okay!" After hearing Wang Ji's words, Zhu Gaoxu nodded with a smile: "This martial arts, even among the generals, is very impressive."

Zhu Di could carry half a month's rations and tens of thousands of cavalry across the desert, but the Mongols could not.

"Your Majesty has led his troops north to Baicheng (Wulianghatu City) and will soon arrive at Hecheng Guard to start this northern expedition. What do you think?"

Without the herd, a white disaster would be enough to destroy a tribe.

"Since you have such martial arts skills and are from Baoding, why didn't you choose to join the army early?"

Zhu Gaoxu naturally knew that the people of Shanxi were burdened with heavy burdens, otherwise he would not have repeatedly lowered Shanxi's quota.

But Zhu Qiyu and Yu Qian would do this, and Zhu Gaoxu could understand it.

Naturally, he would not think that Yu Qian was a treacherous minister, but after Zhu Qiyu came to power, Yu Qian and the people who relied on him did do some things that were unacceptable.

"I believe that your Majesty's troops will surely return with great success this time. However, since then, it has been difficult for the court to find another opportunity to fight the Tatar tribe..."

"Although the imperial court has repeatedly reduced the tax quota in Shanxi, the situation in Shanxi is still not optimistic. Some people are even half-clothed..."

He turned around and gave instructions to Yishiha, and Wang Ji quickly returned the gift to express his gratitude.

After he sat down, Zhu Gaoxu also returned to his seat and asked him: "From what you have seen and heard, what other hardships do the people of Shanxi have apart from corvee labor and land tax?"

"Of course it's an exorbitant tax." Wang Ji bowed and said without thinking:

"When I passed through Shandong, I saw that the people in Shandong had enough food and clothing, and there were many smiling faces on their faces. The same was true in Henan and Beiping."

"Just when we enter Shanxi, the suffering of the people in Shanxi is enough to make good people shed tears."

"The imperial court opened mines in Shanxi to dig coal, which was a good thing for the local people. However, the local yamen launched corvee labor and asked the people to dig coal in the mountains. Some yamen even stipulated that each household must dig thousands of kilograms of coal every year."

"People's residences are not close to the coal fields. In order to dig coal, some 11 or 12-year-old boys have to get up before dawn and walk more than ten miles to the coal fields to dig coal."

"In a day like this, I can only dig a hundred kilograms of coal, and I will be deliberately made difficult by the coal yard, and the weight will be deliberately underestimated."

"The coal field alone is enough to delay the people for half a month every year, not to mention the rest."

"Although the imperial court stipulated that the corvee should not exceed twenty days per year, the officials in Shanxi Province extended the period because the construction period was not met. The actual corvee may be as long as two months."

"Your Highness..." Wang Ji bowed, his voice a little sad: "The people of Shanxi have been working hard for a long time!"

"..." After listening to everything Wang Ji said, Zhu Gaoxu couldn't calm down for a long time.

He thought that his repeated exemptions from the Shanxi quota had reduced the burden on the people of Shanxi, but in fact he underestimated the exploitation of the people by officials.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but look at Yi Shiha: "I sent hundreds of officials to Shanxi, but no one told me these things."

"If it weren't for Wang Ji now, I don't know how long it would have been hidden."

"Your Highness..." Yi Shiha didn't know what to say.

Seeing him and not knowing what to say, Zhu Gaoxu looked at Wang Ji and said, "I want to promote you to oversee official affairs in Shanxi, specialize in correcting official corruption, punishing rape and violence, redressing lawsuits and jails, and redressing injustices, so as to promote Shanxi's style and clarify the administration of officials. "

"I thank Your Highness for your grace..." How could Wang Ji refuse when he heard that he was suddenly promoted from the seventh rank to the fifth rank, and could still move around Shanxi?

He bowed and accepted the job, which seemed offending to others. When Zhu Gaoxu saw this, he comforted him and said:

"If you can make Shanxi officials abide by the law, you can choose the senior officials from Shanxi's Chief Envoy Department and the Inspection Department!"

The only high-ranking officials Zhu Gaoxu mentioned were the chief envoy and the inspector-general.

In other words, he was planning to let Wang Ji take good control of Shanxi, which could be regarded as supporting him.

"My lord, I will definitely live up to His Highness's intentions!"

Wang Ji bowed and saluted, and Zhu Gaoxu waved his hand when he saw this: "I will allow you to take three days' leave, and I will send you twelve East Palace guards. The expenses will be paid by the East Palace."

"You have a good rest these three days. When you go to Shanxi, you won't have time to rest."

"I retire..." Wang Ji knew this, so he bowed and left the Chunhe Hall.

After he left, Zhu Gaoxu looked at Yishiha and said dissatisfied: "Those people I sent to Shanxi and the people from Xichang, why didn't they report these things?" "After all, he felt that this kind of thing was related to the suffering of the people. Isn’t it important, or are they taking advantage of local officials and don’t want to report it?”

"You and Hu Lun will investigate this matter for me and give me an answer in a month."

"Yes..." Yi Shiha knew that no explanation would be useful now. His Highness only looked at the evidence, so he did not quibble, but accepted the responsibility.

"Second brother!"

Not long after Wang Ji left, a familiar voice sounded in Chunhe Hall.

Zhu Gaojiu looked around, but it was Zhu Gaosui who rushed into the hall recklessly and walked over looking for him.

"If you don't go to Qianqing Palace to accompany your mother, what are you doing here?"

Zhu Gaojiu sorted out the memorials in his hands and asked Zhu Gaojiu, who was tired of seeing each other during this period.

"Mom's place is too boring, so I came to your place to reminisce about old times."

Seeing that Zhu Gaojiu was unhappy, Zhu Gaojiu immediately calmed down a bit, took the chair from Yi Shiha and sat down.

However, after sitting for a while, he turned his attention to the "General Map of the World's Four Barbarian Guests."

He took a closer look and was very curious about Jiugang, Luzon, Annan and other places. He even pointed to Taiwan, which was filled in with colors but did not have any health offices or yamen, and said:

"Why did Xiaoliuqiu change its name to Taiwan, and there is no guard station on it? Why not send a guard station?"

He was very curious. When Zhu Gaoxu heard this, he could only sigh and said: "There is a lot of malaria up there. I am not going to get involved until Zheng He returns from his third voyage to the West."

"In addition, it is difficult to cross the strait from Fujian to the local area. The only safe route suitable for the imperial court is to go south from the mouth of the Yangtze River."

"For now, it is enough for the imperial court to control Penghu."

As Zhu Gaoxu spoke, he saw Zhu Gaosui looking at the Old Port on the map and saying, "Have Zheng He and the others not left the Old Port yet? It's been a few months..."

"If he doesn't manage the old port well, how can he go to the West?" Looking at Zhu Gaosui, who was only a little clever, Zhu Gaoxu sighed and stood up. Pointing his command pole at the old port, he slid all the way along the coastline to Cape Kunlun (Cape of Good Hope).

Zhu Gaoxu gave Zheng He a very heavy task. He hoped to build all the officialdoms during the second voyage to the West, such as Sumatra, Dakula, Bangala (Bangladesh), Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Guli, and Khrumos. , Lhasa, Adan, Tianfang, Mugudushu, Manbasa, Layerguo and so on.

Some of these were countries and some were city-states, all the way from the coast of Malacca to the northeastern coast of later South Africa.

After arriving at Kunlun Cape, Zheng He would set up a Kunlun Xuanwei Division there, reclaim farmland, and build towns before returning.

Before Zheng He's third voyage to the West, the Xuanwei Division would purchase grain that could be stored for a long time from the Layer Kingdom and wait for Zheng He's arrival, and serve as a supply point for Zheng He on his way to Central and South America.

As long as he could communicate with the Inca Empire and the Aztecs and establish a certain degree of friendship, Zheng He would be able to leave a team of soldiers and horses and find various crops and plants needed by the court with the help of the locals.

The establishment of this friendship will also make it easier for the Ming Dynasty to travel to the western America via the Great Ming Dynasty (Pacific Ocean) in the future, eliminating the trouble of supply.

As long as the prices of various trade commodities are negotiated, the fleet does not need to carry heavy food. It can completely carry the goods from the Great Ocean to the west coast of Central America, and then exchange the goods on the ship with the locals for food.

If Zhu Gaoxu remembers correctly, the number of bison in North America is hundreds or even tens of millions.

If they had not been indiscriminately hunted and killed by white people, these bison would have been enough for the local people to eat normally for hundreds of thousands of years.

Zhu Gaoxu became extremely angry when he thought of those guys in Europe.

The current situation of the Ming Dynasty was that it was impossible to colonize the Americas, and Zhu Gaoxu did not intend to colonize the Americas.

Compared with America, he cares more about Indochina and Southeast Asia.

As for the Americas, the Ming Dynasty could exchange commodities for gold, silver and other resources, and could safely support the Aztecs and Mayans in the Americas.

The conflict between the Americas and the Ming Dynasty is destined not to be huge. In comparison, the conflict between the Americas and Europe is curious.

Zhu Gaoxu was very curious. If the Ming Dynasty brought horses, armor, crossbows and other things to the Aztec Empire and the Inca Empire, what would the Europeans encounter when they landed on this new continent?

Thinking of this, he looked at the direction of America with great interest. When Zhu Gaosui saw him looking at the direction of America on the map, he couldn't help but ask: "Is there anyone in Beizhou and Dongzhou?"

"Of course there is." Upon hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu immediately walked to the bookshelf and found a book from the bookshelf.

The book looked very simple. After Zhu Gaoxu opened it, a passage appeared on it.

[The Northern Wilderness is 36,000 miles away from China. It needs to cross a large river and cross an ice sea...]

"This book should be from the pre-Qin period. According to the interpretation of the Book of Songs, the China in it is the capital where the emperor lives. That is, from Luoyi, where the emperor of Zhou lived, to Beizhou, one needs to travel 36,000 miles. "

"The length of one mile in the pre-Qin period is different from our current one mile. When converted, it is about 25,000 miles, but it is still far enough away."

"The ice sea mentioned in the book should be here..."

Zhu Gaoxu pointed to the Bering Strait knowingly: "This is the ice sea. It is said that when the world is cold, it will freeze, allowing people to walk across the sea."

"Another book tells how people from Beizhou and Nanzhou got there."

As Zhu Gaoxu spoke, he put down the book again and found another quaint-looking book.

He turned it over and pointed out the sentence to Zhu Gaosui. It probably meant that during the Sui Ren clan, due to the severe cold, some tribes in northern China crossed the ice sea. After arriving in Beizhou, because it was still cold, they kept moving towards Migrating south until they came to a warm place, they began to settle.

In the book, a total of three groups of tribes from the Central Plains entered Beizhou successively, and settled in Nanzhou, Beizhou, central Nanzhou, and Beizhou one after another.

"Is this book also from the pre-Qin period?"

Zhu Gaojiu looked at this ancient book, and Zhu Gaojiu nodded without blushing: "It should be from the pre-Qin Dynasty. I found it when I was rummaging through the ancient and modern classics library."

"Many earlier editions were found, but those books were infested due to improper storage."

"I plan to wait for my father to come back from the Northern Expedition, preside over the compilation of an encyclopedia, print all these books in the new encyclopedia, and set up a library in the two capitals and fourteen provinces, so that people everywhere can reading."

"In addition, I am also planning to collect some historical materials from the Suiren clan to the present day and compile it into a "Summary of Chinese History."

Zhu Gaojiu was talking about his thoughts, but Zhu Gaosui was not interested. His focus was on Zhu Di's Northern Expedition.

"The eldest brother wrote to me a few days ago, asking the second brother to persuade my father sometimes not to let him go to the north, and to ask him to cultivate himself while he spends more time with his mother. After all, he is also forty-eight years old."

Zhu Gaojiu said what his boss asked him to pass on, but Zhu Gaojiu was not happy after hearing it.

What does "forty-eight" mean? I'm afraid you don't know that this old man almost tortured our three brothers to death...

When he thought that the youngest Lao San only lived seven years longer than Zhu Di, Zhu Gaoxu really didn't feel like there was anything to be advised.

In this life, Zhu Gaoxu was worried that Zhu Di could get rid of the three brothers.

"Dad's body is stronger than Boss and yours. It's better for you to worry about him than to worry about you..."

Zhu Gaojiu glanced at Zhu Gaosui. Zhu Gaosui thought he was angry, so he quickly shut up and started looking at the map.

Looking at his appearance, Zhu Gaoxu knew that he probably had something to ask of him, so he calmly said:

"You don't go to the Three Treasures Hall for anything. When you came here before, you always asked me to reward you with something. I'm afraid today is not just to reminisce about old times, right?"

"Hehe..." Zhu Gaosui pretended to smile shyly, and then whispered:

"Second brother, look at what you said. I came here just because I missed you."

"In front of you, I am more honest than in front of dad. How dare I come to ask for anything."

"It's just that you think I'm pitiful and you just subsidize my younger brother."

If Zhu Gaochi inherited Zhu Di's body, and Zhu Gaoxu inherited Zhu Di's abilities, then Zhu Gaosui probably inherited Zhu Di's shamelessness.

Seeing Zhu Gaojiu's shameless look, Zhu Gaojiu sat back directly and said, "I'll give you three breaths, or get out if you don't tell me."

"Talk about it!" Hearing that Zhu Gaojiu was about to drive him away, Zhu Gaosui quickly came up to help Zhu Gaojiu squeeze his shoulders, and said while squeezing:

"I saw the palace people taking a horse for a walk a few days ago. They said that horse is your Chi Huan."

"I definitely don't have any ideas about your horse. I just want two foals born from it and Big Food Horse..."

Zhu Gaosui stated his intention. You must know that even a foal born from a sweat horse and a big food horse is worth thousands of gold. It has to be said that he really dares to ask for it.

"This is not a big problem. Chi Huan was just bred a few days ago. Anyway, you have to take care of your mother in the capital. When you leave, I will have someone give you two of his foals."

After Zhu Gaoxu said this, Zhu Gaosui immediately bowed: "Thank you, second brother!"

"get out……"

"Hey! I'm going to get out now..."

(End of this chapter)