Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 401 Another discussion on the Northern Expedition
"Crackling..."

Under the night, the raging fire burned most of the wooden bones, and the howling wind blew the fire erratically.

On the ground illuminated by the fire, countless wounded soldiers were covered in flames, turning into charred bodies little by little.

Inside and outside the city, the women and children, almost hidden in the night, wept bitterly. Seeing their homes being burned down, they cried helplessly to the sky, but they didn't think about who started this war first.

Perhaps they should be thankful that the navy is the most thoroughly restructured military, and their discipline is simply a benchmark in this era, otherwise there would not be a single living person in the army tonight.

"From today on, you will be the king of the dead!"

Under the firelight, Zheng He, who was standing in the palace, put a gold crown on a young man who was lying limply on the ground, his crotch wet.

The young man felt it on his head and immediately calmed down.

He looked beyond Zheng He and saw the former king who died on the throne. At this time, the Ming army's guide also translated Zheng He's words to him.

Hearing this, the young man immediately changed from the previous embarrassed look to a flattering expression: "Yes...yes...yes..."

Zheng He ignored this man and walked out of the stone palace, which was no more than a hundred feet square, and stood at the entrance of the palace.

When Zheng He shouted around, soon a Qianhu official came trotting from the corner.

"Slave, please see Your Highness..."

Wang Yan's voice suddenly sounded, and his appearance made Zhu Gaoxu stunned, and then he stood up in surprise: "My father..."

Zheng He sheathed the sword in his hand, and the official in charge of counting quickly smiled when he heard this: "Your Majesty, although the common people with bones and bones are poor, their nobles are really rich."

You must know that the Ming army encountered almost no tough battles in this battle, but it took only two hours to completely capture Mugudushu.

"Wan Chun!"

The officials were surprised, but Zheng He had a guide to remind him, so he was not surprised to find these coins.

"Compared to here, I care more about Kunlun Cape." Zheng He mentioned Kunlun Cape, and Chen Xuan also touched his short beard:

"About 90,000 guan." The official's answer made Zheng He nod with satisfaction. This amount alone was enough to make up for the expenses of today's battle, and he could also gain something.

"Send a fortune ship with three thousand materials and two horse boats to let them go to Ceylon along the monsoon wind from here. If they can arrive, let them go all the way to Dagu La, and let Da Gu La take the land route to deliver the message to the capital. Please His Highness gave names to the new navy guards and sent the navy guards to replace the Xiaoxiyang guards. "

Compared with him, Zhu Di had been guarding Jiyan Hall since the death of Queen Xu, and could not tolerate anyone trying to persuade him.

"This place is dry and lacks water. Are you sure you want to set up an officialdom here?"

"If there is no river in that place and vegetables cannot be cultivated, it will be difficult for us to go to Dongzhou."

Almost at the same time that Zheng He and Chen Xuan were anxious, in Nanjing, tens of thousands of miles away from them, Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but touch his hot earlobe.

Chen Xuan's words also revealed Zheng He's thoughts, but Zheng He quickly suppressed this anxiety, with only the firelight in his eyes: "Take a step and see what happens..."

"How much is the discount?" Zheng He only cares about the value.

He is in his mid-twenties, has thick eyebrows and big eyes, and seems to be a man who values ​​love and justice.

"In the entire palace treasury, more than 50,000 stones of wheat and more than 20 boxes of gold, silver and copper coins were counted, among which there were actually Hongwu Tongbao from Kaiyuan, Zhenguan, Qingyuan and our dynasty."

Zheng He gave orders to the officials beside him, and the officials also wrote down all his words.

Sitting in the Chunhe Hall, after nearly two months of rest, Zhu Gaoxu finally sorted himself out.

"Leave 50,000 coins and hand them over to the court, and the rest will be equally divided among the soldiers participating in this battle."

They are also officers of the fleet. According to this amount of capture, even if the generals take the bulk, they can always get it.

Thinking of this, the officials couldn't help but hope that the next countries such as Manbasa and Malindi would be as arrogant and arrogant as Mu Gudushu.

Fortunately, Zhu Gaoxu was still in charge of the government, so he would not make a mess.

All in all, it would only stay a few months longer than the main fleet.

I can make a lot of money in two hours, and the money comes too quickly.

Chen Xuan's voice sounded from behind him. Apparently, he had just learned about Zheng He's explanation to the officials.

"The advance team can also obtain fruits and vegetables on a small scale to go to Dongzhou. But with tens of thousands of people in the fleet sailing to the West, it is not easy to supply vegetables to Dongzhou."

Those corpses are being transported and burned by the Ming army to prevent an outbreak of plague here.

"how?"

Looking at him, Zheng He ordered: "From now on, you will be the official of Qianhu in Mugudushu. You will stay with your brothers in Mugudushu for one year. Someone will come to replace you after one year."

"Yes!" Hearing what Zheng He said, the officials responded excitedly.

"General, take your orders!" Wanchun was not dissatisfied, because one year was not a long time for them. After all, it had been almost three years since their voyage to the West, and if they stayed here, they would not have to go south.

In front of him were soldiers of the Ming army who were carrying things, and naval officers who were counting supplies.

"The general is here!"

Touching his hot earlobes, just as Zhu Gaoxu was thinking about who was thinking of him, a figure walked into the Chunhe Hall.

Hearing this, Zheng He also nodded and said: "Let's just stay here. Anyway, it's not far from Manbasa and Malindi. And when the East Ocean route is opened, this officialdom can be abolished. It only takes five or six years."

"Although His Highness said that vegetables can be grown in Cape Kunlun, I still feel guilty."

"Why do I feel a little hot at the base of my ears?"

Seeing this, Zheng He walked out of the palace and glanced at the bundles of wood and bones burning in the firelight.

"Your Majesty, please go to Xijiaomen with the King of Han and King Zhao to discuss matters."

Wang Yan answered Zhu Gaoxu first, and Zhu Gaoxu also walked out of his position after hearing the words: "I'll go now."

Discussing political affairs at West Point Gate was a promise made by Zhu Di in the edict after Queen Xu's death. However, in the past two months, Zhu Di spent most of his time in Jijian Hall and Queen Xu's Zi Palace, and the government affairs of the court remained as usual. It will be processed at Chunhe Hall.

Now that he seems to be energetic, the workload at hand can be reduced a lot.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu breathed a sigh of relief and quickened his pace.

A quarter of an hour later, he arrived not far from Xihua Gate, climbed onto the horse path of the palace city, and walked into the west corner gate tower.

Already standing here are six ministers including Xia Yuanji, Guo Zi, and Huang Fu, as well as seven grand scholars including Xie Jin and Yang Shiqi.

Seeing Zhu Gaoxu's arrival, everyone saluted, but Zhu Di did not appear.

Zhu Gaoxu bowed in return, then walked into the building and waited quietly for Zhu Di to appear.

Two quarters of an hour later, Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaosui hurried over. Among them, Zhu Gaochi was so tired from jogging that he was sweating profusely and panting.

Although Zhu Di strictly required Zhu Gaochi to be vegetarian, he could not stop Zhu Gaochi from eating vegetarian food in various ways.

Although he is now thinner than when he returned to Nanjing from Yunnan, he still has a big belly.

Compared with him, Zhu Gaojiu's physical fitness was much better. He walked to stand behind Zhu Gaojiu without blushing and gave up his position to Zhu Gaochi.

Seeing his move, Zhu Gaoxu nodded with satisfaction.

Now that his mother is gone, if the third child still acts as recklessly as before, then he will have no choice but to deal with him like he dealt with King Qi.

Just as Zhu Gaoxu was thinking this, footsteps sounded from behind the temporary golden screen in the west corner gatehouse, and Zhu Di's figure appeared in front of everyone.

"Your Majesty, sir..."

Everyone bowed respectfully, and at the same time they all glanced at Zhu Di vaguely, and were all surprised in unison.

Compared with two months ago, Zhu Di at this moment revealed an indescribable temperament, and there seemed to be a cloud of sinister prey between his eyebrows.

"Get flat..."

Zhu Di sat on the golden platform and glanced around the crowd. His eyes stayed on Zhu Gaoxu and the three of them for a long time, and then he slowly said:

"I have called you here because I have something to say to you."

Zhu Di no longer calls himself "I", but like Zhu Yuanzhang, he changed his name to "I".

At this moment, he felt a bit like Zhu Yuanzhang, and this change made everyone feel nervous and worried at the same time.

"The Queen passed away. I have been reminiscing about the past in Jiyan Palace for the past two months, but today I have figured it out, so I will not continue to escape."

"Starting from tomorrow, the court meeting will be held here, and the Ministry of Industry will start rebuilding the Great Baoen Temple and the nine-story glazed pagoda tomorrow."

"The construction this time is in accordance with the regulations of the palace. The cost is three million yuan in food and silver. We don't pursue time, but we must build it beautifully."

"Also, I heard that the war in southern Guizhou has finally come to an end. How did Chunhe Hall arrange it?"

Zhu Di turned his attention to Zhu Gaoxu. Zhu Gaoxu was still frowning at the fact that Zhu Di had spent three million yuan to build the Great Baoen Temple. He suddenly heard his question and subconsciously bowed in return, and then reacted and replied:

"All the military attaches of the third rank and above have been summoned to the capital to report on their duties, and are preparing to hold a banquet in the Huagai Hall to celebrate their achievements upon arrival."

"The military attachés below the third rank will lead their troops back to their original positions and be promoted to official positions based on their military merit."

"The imperial court has allocated two million guan as a reward to the soldiers who participated in this battle. The 6,437 soldiers who died in the battle will be given a pension of 100 guan each according to the imperial court's pension standards. If there are parents in the family, The wife, if she does not want to remarry, can receive a pension of five guans per year by virtue of her status as a martyr.”

"If the wife remarries, the pension will be received by her parents and will not end until the child reaches sixteen years old."

"In addition, there are more than 13,000 and 53 soldiers in the army who have been disabled and retired, and all of them have received a 100-gun retirement pay."

Zhu Gaoxu explained his handling of the "Pinggui Battle", but when he heard about the pensions and retirement pay for ordinary soldiers, Xie Jin and others couldn't help but take a breath.

It can be said that just to provide compensation for the nearly 20,000 soldiers who were killed and disabled in battle, the court would need to spend nearly 2 million guan, and it would also have to spend nearly 40,000 guan every year in the future.

Even many officials have never enjoyed this kind of treatment, so why wouldn't they be jealous. "Including the money allocated before the war, how much food did Pinggui spend?"

Zhu Di is quite satisfied with Zhu Gaoxu's pension policy, but he is more concerned about the situation of the national treasury.

"Nearly five million yuan was spent and nearly two million yuan was seized." After Zhu Gaoxu finished answering, he did not forget to remind:
"Of course, compared to the money and grain seized, what is more important is that the imperial court counted nearly 3.4 million people and nearly 20 million acres of cultivated land from Guizhou."

"Today, most of the indigenous people in Guizhou have been relocated to Sichuan, Huguang, Guangdong, Guangxi and other places."

"Including the people who moved to Guizhou from Huguang and Jiangxi, there are still more than 2.3 million people in Guizhou and more than 2.64 million acres of cultivated land."

"After careful calculation, the ministers and the six ministries decided to grant Guizhou a three-year exemption and distribute five million dan of grain every year to help the people of Guizhou restore peace as soon as possible."

"Roughly in the eleventh year of Yongle, twelve of the sixteen prefectures in Guizhou could turn in land tax, and the quota was about 1.7 million shi. The following year, all sixteen prefectures turned in land tax, and the quota was about two million."

Zhu Gaoxu also stated all the policies favoring Guizhou. Although investing 15 million shi in three years is a bit "wasteful", compared with Guizhou's annual quota of 2 million shi in the future, this money is clearly visible to the naked eye. An investment that returns.

Zhu Di naturally had no objections to this. After all, for Ming Dynasty, it was not a big problem to invest five million stones in the southwest every year, as long as it did not hinder his plan.

"The affairs of Guizhou are still handled by the crown prince."

"How is the implementation of the new policy in the three departments in the north?" Zhu Di asked the ministers on the surface, but in fact he was communicating with Zhu Gaoxu.

This also shows that although Queen Xu has passed away, Zhu Di still has no intention of changing the prince, and Zhu Gaoxu is still the best heir in his heart.

"After a year and a half of measurement and inventory, the population of the three divisions in the north has increased by more than four million compared with the 14th year of Hongwu, and now has more than 12.6 million."

"Compared with the "Fish Scale Atlas" of the 14th year of Hongwu, the cultivated land is nearly 5 million acres more, totaling more than 77.9 million acres."

"Compared to the population, the increase in cultivated land is not much, but nearly one million of the population migrated from the south of the Yangtze River, and the actual increase is about three million."

"This is not surprising. After all, during the Hongwu Dynasty, the imperial court focused on checking the Fish Scale Atlas. The population moved easily, and there were not enough officials at the beginning to make complete statistics."

"Now that household registration is tied to schooling qualifications, many hidden people will come forward for their children to go to school, so the statistics can be collected so quickly."

Binding school qualifications to household registration is the best way to count the population in Zhu Gaoxu's opinion. Although it costs a lot to support local government schools, before the invention of trains and punching machines, only this method could clearly investigate the true population of the Ming Dynasty.

"Approximately how much money and food are invested in the official schools of the three places, and how much is the total amount of the New Deal places?"

Zhu Di asked Zhu Gaoxu, but this time Zhu Gaoxu did not say it himself, but looked sideways at Guo Zi, the Minister of Household Affairs.

Upon seeing this, Guo Zi immediately stepped forward and bowed: "More than 600,000 yuan was invested in the early construction of the official schools in the three provinces, and the current investment in maintaining the official schools in the three places is 3.6 million yuan."

"More than 8 million yuan is needed to maintain official schools in Liaodong, Bohai, Daning, Sichuan, Shandong, Shanxi, Guizhou, North Zhili, Henan, and parts of South Zhili."

Guo Zi's words made everyone take a breath of cold air. After all, the tax revenue of Ming Dynasty last year was only more than 30 million yuan.

Nowadays, more than 8 million yuan has been invested in education alone, accounting for almost a quarter of the imperial court's total fiscal revenue. It can be said that it has reached its limit.

Thinking of this, Xie Jin and others were about to go to the meeting, but Guo Zi said in advance:

"After the implementation of the New Deal in the three places, there were also changes in the army and the farming. Among them, the farming army was basically abolished and turned into civilian households, and the combat soldiers were organized into a guard to guard the border outside."

"In this way, the Ministry of Revenue and the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion have saved about 3 million gu in military expenses, and also reduced the army's seed and grain income by 6 million gu."

When Guo Zi said this, it basically increased the expenditure by nearly one million yuan.

Counting those eight million strings, it becomes nine million strings.

Faced with this amount, no one can remain indifferent. Even Zhu Di couldn't help but look at Zhu Gaoxu:
"Prince, do you think this year's annual income is debt or income?"

"If the fleet returns to the Western Sea, it will be income. If it does not return, it will be debt." Zhu Gaoxu bowed respectfully in return.

"Guo Zi..." Zhu Di looked at Guo Zi, who heard the words and said without thinking:
"Based on last year's annual income, the court's land tax, commercial taxes, and miscellaneous taxes should be reduced to 32 million guan."

"If there is no major war in the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion this year, it should be maintained at more than 15 million yuan."

"The official salary expenditure is about 12 million guan, and the education expenditure is 8 million guan."

"Including the expenditures for repairing the Wusong River, the Canal, the Yellow River, the Huangpu River and other rivers...the imperial court will probably owe six million yuan this year."

As Guo Zi spoke, he did not dare to look at Zhu Di. Zhu Di was also furious when he heard this, and frowned and looked at Zhu Gaoxu.

What is the level of the debt of six million taels? You must know that in the late Ming Dynasty, although the debt was tens of millions on the surface, the debt could actually be maintained at around 9 million taels every year.

In other words, there is still more than three million yuan left, and Zhu Gaoxu can compete with the accumulated debts of the Chongzhen Dynasty.

The difference is that Chongzhen did not have a good grandfather, but Zhu Gaoxu did.

"The reserves left by Emperor Gao are enough to run the court at full capacity for three years, so Your Majesty does not need to worry."

"In addition, tax revenue has increased in Old Port and Luzon this year, and spices worth nearly five million guan have been stocked in the Western warehouse."

"If these things are sold evenly in various places, even if the imperial court cannot guarantee a balanced revenue and expenditure this year, it can still ensure that it will not use too much money and grain from the Changping warehouse and reserve warehouses in various places."

"In addition, after Zheng He returns home next year, he will probably bring an income of no less than five million guan to the court, which will be enough for the court's income next year."

"In the eleventh year of Yongle, Guizhou will also start paying fixed taxes. Your Majesty, don't worry."

After Zhu Gaoxu finished speaking, he just started to bow to the six ministers and the seven palace scholars:
"Now that all provinces have achieved results in measuring their fields, the quotas should be changed."

"Next year, Sichuan will increase by 500,000 shi, Shanxi will increase by 500,000 shi, Jiaozhi will increase by 1 million shi, Beizhili will increase by 600,000 shi, Henan will increase by 400,000 shi, and the rest will remain unchanged."

Zhu Gaoxu mainly increased taxes in several places where the New Deal was implemented, and most of them were in the north, so no one came out to stop it.

Xie Jin and the others calculated that after this quota increase, next year the court's quota will reach 38 million shi.

After the discount, at most it can make up for the accumulated debt of more than one million yuan.

From this point of view, the implementation of the New Deal will either reduce the quality or have to be postponed...

Thinking of this, Xie Jin, Yang Shiqi and others relaxed one after another.

As for Zhu Di, after hearing what Zhu Gaoxu said, his face looked much better, especially when he heard that he would be able to earn money next year, he stood up, put his hands on his hips and said:
"The matter of Duke Shen suddenly losing his temperature during his righteous tour, I think about it and forget it."

"A mere five thousand cavalry is not enough to deter the three Wala tribes in Moxi."

"Calculating the time, the imperial court has not launched a war against Mobei for two years since the seventh year of Yongle."

"I thought about it, it's not a problem for the Queen's Zi Palace to have several banquet halls parked all the time, so I plan to lead the Zhaozhou Second Guards, Jilin Second Guards and Yulin Third Guards in Beijing next month to escort the Queen's Zi Palace to Beijing and bring the Queen to Beijing. Zi Gong is buried in Changling in Tianshou Mountain, Beijing."

"After the burial, I will patrol Beijing for a few months. Once New Year's Day is over next year, the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of War can start dispatching civilians in Liaodong and Beiping, and transporting food and grass to suppress the captives."

"In May of next year, I plan to personally recruit 70,000 troops and 210,000 civilians to launch a western expedition from Haila'er to the west to clean up the three tribes of Oala, so as to maintain peace in the north."

As soon as Zhu Di said these words, Zhu Gaoxu felt a figure rushing past him.

When he took a closer look, Zhu Gaochi was already kneeling on the ground, looking up at Zhu Di with his hands folded: "Your Majesty, it is bitterly cold in Mobei, and your mother has just left for a big trip. It is not suitable for you to go on an expedition..."

Zhu Gaochi's suggestion to play devil's advocate was something that Zhu Di, Zhu Gaoxu and others did not expect. It was precisely because they did not expect it that Zhu Di said angrily:
"I will only be half a hundred next year. I know better than you, a kid like you who has never been there, whether Mobei is bitter or cold."

"Second brother, tell me, is it feasible to march to the north next year?"

Zhu Di was so angry that he called Zhu Gaoxu the second child, but this time Zhu Gaoxu did not intend to cooperate with him, but bowed and said:
"Next year's Northern Expedition may be difficult. The imperial court needs to wait for Zheng He's voyage fleet to return before it can evaluate whether there is enough money and food to support the Northern Expedition."

"Okay!" Zhu Di laughed angrily, glanced around and said, "Who else thinks that the northern expedition should not be carried out next year."

"I ask your Majesty to think twice..."

When Zhu Di asked, Xia Yuanji, Huang Fu, Song Li, Xie Jin, Yang Shiqi and others knelt down one after another, leaving only Guo Zi and Zhu Gaosui standing.

Xia Yuanji and others need to follow suit because Zhu Gaoxu expressed his stance.

As for Xie Jin, Yang Shiqi, Hu Lun and others, they knew that once the emperor went to the north, he would definitely take the seven of them north. By then, they would have to endure another year of hardship, and there was no telling whether they would come back alive.

"Your Majesty, the northern border has been peaceful for seven years. We should not be so eager to use weapons. It is better to wait until Zheng He returns and then discuss whether to march north."

Xie Jin bowed loudly, rarely standing on a united front with Zhu Gaoxu.

However, looking at their appearance, Zhu Di was so angry that he itched his teeth: "Good...good...good..."

"With all the civil and military forces in the dynasty, you two are the only ones taking the lead in speaking out against us!"

He pointed at Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaoxu. Zhu Gaochi shrank his head when he saw this, knelt and stepped back, exposing Zhu Gaoxu in front of him.

Zhu Gaoxu looked at the boss's behavior and while cursing secretly in his heart, he had to bow and said:

"My son does not disagree with the Northern Expedition, but he does not agree with next year's Northern Expedition."

"If it is postponed to the eleventh year of Yongle, the imperial court will have more money and food, and supply shortages will not easily occur on the Northern Expedition."

"Besides, Zheng He will bring high-quality flints upon his return, which will greatly enhance our army's combat power. That's why we hope that your Majesty will postpone it for one year."

Zhu Gaoxu was very familiar with Zhu Di. When he heard about the new firearms, Zhu Di immediately calmed down.

But even so, he still couldn't save face, so he snorted and walked away.

"Congratulations to Your Majesty..."

Zhu Gaoxu took the lead in singing the salute, and the ministers followed him one after another. When Zhu Di heard the singing, he almost lost his temper and turned around to give Zhu Gaoxu a kick.

Fortunately, he had the courage to leave, and Zhu Gaoxu was spared the fate of being beaten when he was almost thirty years old.

Although the old man couldn't beat him, he was really afraid that he would injure the old man when he resisted unintentionally.

Of course, the old man can let it go, but the boss cannot.

Zhu Gaoxu looked back at Zhu Gaochi with a smile on his face: "Boss, you were really good at hiding just now..."

(End of this chapter)