Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 458 Industrial Expansion
"Singing..."

"Long live Long live Long live!!"

The day after Zhu Gaoxu arrived in Beijing, he had no time to rest, so Zhu Di took him and started the first court meeting between father and son in Beijing.

During the ceremony in which the ministers were kneeling and singing while pushing the golden mountain and toppling the jade pillar, Zhu Gaoxu was still wearing a round collar robe. In addition to the familiar six ministers, the ministers in the palace were Zhu Neng, Yang Zhan, Chen Gong, and Wang whom Zhu Gaoxu had not seen for many years. Cong, Wang Zhong, Li Shi, Richard and others.

"How is the implementation of the New Deal going?"

Zhu Di sat on the golden platform and asked about the current implementation of the New Deal.

Hearing this, Guo Zi, the Minister of Household Affairs, stood up and bowed: "Your Majesty, Huguang, Guangdong, Fujian, and Yunnan are all implementing the New Deal, and the "Yellow Book" and "Fish Scale Atlas" of some state capitals have been updated."

"According to estimates from the Ministry of Revenue, around this time next year, the 14th Chief Envoys of the two capitals will be able to complete the implementation of the New Deal."

"In addition, the current population of the country is about 88 million, and the cultivated land is about 680 million."

Guo Zi spoke out his estimate respectfully, and Zhu Di, who was sitting on the high platform, nodded with satisfaction after hearing the words.

From the population of 60 million in the 14th year of Hongwu to the current population of 88 million, the population has increased by nearly half in thirty-five years. Although most of them are hidden households, the one who was measured during the census was Zhu Di. .

This credit, no matter how you calculate it, must be attributed to Zhu Di.

Zhu Di was very satisfied with this achievement, so he also talked about what he wanted to do at this court meeting.

"I have been in office for sixteen years. Now I am old and sick. I have long wanted to retire. This matter comes from my heart. It is not decided by my subordinates. You should do your best to assist your heirs and create a peaceful and prosperous age..."

"Your Majesty, you can't!"

"Father, think twice..."

Suddenly, Zhu Di suddenly began to abdicate on the pretext of old age and illness. Although the ministers and Zhu Gaoxu had been prepared, they were still shocked by his actions.

Zhu Gaoxu originally thought that Zhu Di would wait until the end of the year to discuss abdication, but he did not expect that he would suddenly abdicate.

The Daming Palace has not yet been built, and now he wants to abdicate. The residence of the two father and son has also become a problem.

"His Majesty……"

The ministers stood up and admonished Zhu Di. After all, Zhu Di did not look old at all. He was fifty-six years old, not to mention old and sick, and he didn't even have many white hairs.

No one dared to directly agree to the sudden announcement of abdicating the throne at such an age.

"Although my father is fifty-six years old, when he walks and eats as well as in the prime of life, how can he talk about illness? Please don't talk about this again!"

Whether it was for show or sincerity, Zhu Gaoxu was not prepared to agree to Zhu Di's abdication in one breath, otherwise others would think that he was forcing Zhu Di to abdicate without knowing it.

"This... oh... okay!"

Zhu Di had a helpless expression, feeling a little regretful, but also a little happy.

It's a pity that Zhu Gaoxu didn't agree directly. I'm happy that whether Zhu Gaoxu was acting or sincere, he expressed his feelings after all.

"Prince, where are the kings of Zhao and Han?"

Just after finishing the topic of abdication, Zhu Di brought the topic to Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaosui.

Since last year, Zhu Di has wanted to see these two sons before abdicating the throne, but he has not seen them for more than half a year. This is mainly because Zhu Gaosui is suffering from cold and cannot travel far away, and Zhu Gaochi, on the other hand, has returned to Yunnan. Caused turmoil, for safety reasons, he was not allowed to set off immediately.

Now that Luolu from Wumeng Mountain and Daxue Mountain has been persuaded by Qu Neng to go down the mountain, Zhu Gaochi's way out of Yunnan is much safer, so Zhu Gaochi also headed north early under the escort of five hundred people.

As for Zhu Gaosui, he also rested for a month, met with Zhu Gaochi in Wuchang, and took a boat to the north together.

"The eldest brother and the third brother have arrived in Jiujiang and will arrive in Beijing in about a month."

"well……"

Zhu Gaoxu answered Zhu Di's question, and Zhu Di also said hello a few times, and then asked: "Where do they live?"

"We live in Shiwangfang, which is only two or three miles away from the imperial city." Zhu Gaoxu explained that Shiwangfang was a place he designed for the vassal kings to stay when they came to Beijing.

Although the name is Shiwangfang, there are thirty-six mansions in it. Each mansion covers an area of ​​eighteen acres and a half, with more than ten palaces and hundreds of houses.

In addition to the palace, there is also an ancestral hall, which stores the plaques of various princes.

In other words, regardless of the number of feudal lords in the future, it is enough to enter Juwangfang, randomly select an empty mansion, and hang a plaque.

At present, in the Ming Dynasty, Hongwu canonized twenty vassal kings, and Yongle canonized two vassal kings.

If Zhu Gaoxu ascends the throne, the number of vassal kings will probably exceed thirty. After all, he is only thirty-six, but he already has seven male heirs.

However, Zhu Gaoxu personally did not worry or care about the growth of vassal kings and clans.

According to the rules he had set before, no matter how many clans there were under the vassal king's side, the imperial court would only give fifteen thousand guan, and the county prince would only give 3,000 guan.

No one is taken care of below the rank of Prince, and the title cannot be inherited by the whole family, but can only be conferred on one generation. As for other members of the royal family, they will be removed from the jade record once they are five degrees out of mourning.

According to the situation at the end of the Ming Dynasty, there were only 32 princes, more than 600 dukes, and more than 200,000 members of the royal family who survived to the end of the Ming Dynasty.

If Zhu Gaoxu's plan is implemented, even if the princes are doubled, the number of county princes will be more than 300 at most. As for the clan, we can refer to the situation of excluding clan clans outside the five clothes during the Jiajing period, and there will be less than 30,000 left.

In other words, under the same population growth situation, the number of people in the fifth server of the Ming Dynasty has remained at about 30,000 since the Jiajing period.

Under Zhu Gaoxu's method, the number of clan members recorded on the clan jade disc would not exceed 30,000, and the court only had to deal with princes, princes, princesses, and princesses.

Even if the number increased to the late Ming Dynasty, the annual salary paid by Chaotian would only be more than 2 million yuan.

As for the salaries of other clans, they all depend on the payment of these vassal kings and have nothing to do with the imperial court.

Moreover, as for the issue of royal family, it is not a salary issue, but a local issue.

A large number of vassal kings gathered in densely populated areas, which not only restricted local development, but also participated in the drama of land annexation. Although local officials always impeached them, the emperor did not severely punish this group of people, and the problem could not be solved.

In response to this problem, the "Zong Rules" given by Zhu Gaoxu are laws for the clan. Judging from the past few years of promulgation, even a bastard like King Qi would not dare to violate it lightly after being punished, let alone Nothing else.

In addition, unlike Zhu Di's canonization in history, Zhu Gaoxu's change of vassal king undoubtedly moved the vassal king to a sparsely populated place, which greatly reduced the harm to the internal affairs of the Ming Dynasty.

As for places like Shaanxi, Sichuan, Huguang, Guangdong and Guangxi, and Yunnan, Zhu Gaoxu would applaud if the princes could give birth to hundreds of thousands of people.

This method was also used by Lao Zhu.

According to Lao Zhu's method of canonizing the king of Sai, as long as there is no strongman like Zhu Di among the kings of Sai, the more people the king of Sai will multiply in the frontier fortress, the greater the economic help to the frontier fortress will be.

The same principle applies to Zhu Gaoxu's change of title, except that this change is not necessarily the final change.

For these vassal kings, as long as they make mistakes, they can use this as an excuse to move them to remote places.

For example, if King Zhu Su of Qi violated the "Zong Rules" again, Zhu Gaoxu would just change his title to the western or southern Yunnan area of ​​Yunnan.

After the thought fell, Zhu Gaoxu also put his thoughts into reality. At this time, Fengtian Palace was being impeached by the censors of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

Zhu Gaoxu took a quick look and found that basically some of the Sixth Section and the Imperial Censor headed by Wang Hui were besieging the Jiangdong, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang factions.

Fortunately, Zhu Gaoxu did not punish western Zhejiang to death, otherwise the current three factions would have been eliminated by the New Deal faction long ago.

After watching the drama of their mutual impeachment, Zhu Gaoxu felt that the current court meetings were too frequent and ineffective.

"When I become emperor, this meeting must be changed. I have been waffling for a long time, but not a single thing has been done."

Zhu Gaoxu glanced at the people in the temple, and then took the initiative to interrupt after a quarrel: "If there is something to do, we will retreat."

Obviously, he was too lazy to watch these guys bickering. When the New Dealers saw that His Highness was speaking, they all knew that His Highness was dissatisfied with their behavior, so they all shut up.

"Retreat from the DPRK"

Looking at the appearance of the New Dealers, Zhu Di spoke comfortably, then got up and left with Zhu Gaoxu.

As for the sound of people kneeling and singing salutes behind them, who were pushing down the golden mountains and toppling the jade pillars, they were ignored by the father and son.

Zhu Di signaled Zhu Gaoxu to follow him to the Qianqing Palace. The father and son each took a carriage and rushed to the Qianqing Palace. On the way, Zhu Di took the initiative and said:

"Your Imperial College has been moved here, and I took the time to check it out. The thermal efficiency of the steam engine has indeed improved very quickly. According to Wang Fu, it has already reached 7%."

"But what I want to say is not just this. The main thing is that you put my grandson in Nanjing."

Zhu Di glanced at Zhu Gaoxu and stroked his beard with dissatisfaction: "If you let him be in the military academy, no matter how well he studies, he will only be the talent of a thousand households."

"It's better to let him follow me. I can take him out of the fortress from time to time. At least he can lead tens of thousands of troops."

"Take some exercise in the military academy first to sharpen your temper." Zhu Gaoxu touched his mustache, not trusting the old man's words at all.

In history, it is not that Zhu Di never led Zhu Zhanji. Although Zhu Zhanji himself was also an excellent cavalry commander, and in the Battle of Kuanhe, he defeated tens of thousands of soldiers and horses of Ulliangha with 3,000 elite soldiers, but Zhu Zhan The basic people's governance is closer to Zhu Gaochi and too far away from Zhu Di.

Zhu Gaoxu is still going to let Zhu Zhanhe know about the situation at the grassroots level of the army first, and then let him know about the situation of grassroots officials, and then call him back to study for a few years.

According to Zhu Gaoxu's estimation, if he studied theory for four years in a five-year military academy, spent the last year in Beibian, Daning, and then went to the south to serve as a grassroots official for two years, he would basically be able to return to Beijing to manage politics.

Including the distance, it will basically take nine or ten years. By then, he will be almost twenty-six or seven years old, which is just the right time.

"There's nothing wrong with tempering..." After hearing Zhu Gaoxu's words, Zhu Di nodded and said:

"I heard that Zhan Ji is in command of the 500 escort troops that Boss came to the capital this time. Have you heard about them?"

Zhu Di was worried that Zhu Gaoxu would think too much, but Zhu Gaoxu said calmly: "Learning is always a good thing. Yunnan's situation is special. If Zhanji is capable, it will be a good thing for the court."

"That's good if you think so." Zhu Di nodded with satisfaction and ordered:

"He is also eighteen. He will be a senior in two years. Then you can let him study with Mu Chun and the others."

"It's natural." Zhu Gaoxu was not worried about his eldest nephew. After all, he had more than 5,000 guards at his disposal, and he also had to face a three-party attack by Muchun, Wang Xuan, and Fu Rang.

If the eldest nephew could deal with these three people, history would not allow him to indulge in pleasure. Not to mention that the eldest nephew in history was brought out by Zhu Di himself, but the current eldest nephew...

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but become interested and touched his mustache.

While he was thinking, Bu Yu also passed through the gate of Qianqing Palace. After arriving at Qianqing Palace, the father and son got off Bu Yu and walked into it one after the other.

After Zhu Di sat down, he spoke openly and honestly to Zhu Gaoxu:

"You should be prepared to take office at the end of the year. Anyway, the implementation of the New Deal has come to an end. It doesn't matter half a year or a year in advance."

"Besides, by the end of the year, Daming Palace will almost be able to occupy several main halls."

Zhu Gaoxu didn't expect Zhu Di to be so open-minded. He couldn't help but look at the Qianqing Palace and asked tentatively: "You have only lived in the Forbidden City in Beijing for more than a year. Why are you so anxious to abdicate now?"

"The cultivation here is exactly the same as in Nanjing. When I see it, I always think of your mother."

Zhu Di lowered his voice, obviously not getting over the memory left by Queen Xu.

Zhu Gaoxu was stunned for a moment when he heard this. He really had never thought about this, nor did he expect that Zhu Di would miss him so much.

"If you want to leave, you have to wait until the other palaces in Daming Palace are almost completed. Otherwise, where will the concubines live?"

Although Zhu Gaoxu really wanted to sit on the throne, if he wanted to drive Zhu Di away in embarrassment, he would rather wait a few more years.

"Let the craftsmen hurry up."

Zhu Di, who rarely pushed for work, rarely pushed for a deadline on the Daming Palace issue. Apparently he really wanted to move away from the Qianqing Palace.

Zhu Gaoxu didn't know what to say to comfort him, so he could only change the topic and talk about the changes in the world.

"Wang Daban, take the "General Map of the People's Clothes of the Four Barbarians in the World"."

"Yes……"

Wang Yan, who stood aside without speaking, agreed, and then asked someone to fetch the "General Map of the Uniforms of the Four Barbarians in the World" which was two feet long and one foot six high.

Upon seeing this, Zhu Di stood up and asked Wang Yan and the others to hang the map in the middle of the main hall of Qianqing Palace, while he walked to Zhu Gaoxu's side.

On the map, the territory of the Ming Dynasty is undoubtedly the largest in the world, starting from Dongzhou in the east, Kunlun in the west, Jiugang in the south, and Beishan in the north...

Looking at this map, Zhu Di couldn't help but feel proud. After all, Zhu Gaoxu and his vassal states were included in the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

There is nothing wrong with this in today’s worldview.

On the map, it can be said that the Ming Dynasty's sphere of influence included almost all of Asia, half of Africa and half of the Americas.

"The remnants of the former Yuan Dynasty still have a wide range of activities, but they are not a threat to the imperial court."

"It's just that guarding against thieves all day long costs a lot of money, and Shaharul of the Timurid Kingdom is friendly to the court. Therefore, maintaining the Timurid Kingdom is equivalent to maintaining the court's influence in the Transoxiana region."

Zhu Gaoxu pointed at the area in the river with his long baton.

It has to be said that with Timur's presence, whether it is the split Golden Horde in the north, the Indian region in the southeast, or the Black Sheep, Aries and other dynasties in the west, they all need the support of the Ming Dynasty.

Zheng He and Chen Xuan exerted great power in Central Asia, and with the threat of Timur, these countries were willing to surrender to the Ming Dynasty and pay tribute.

If the Timur Empire perishes, conflicts will break out among the Mongols, and the Turkic Mongols and the Eastern European Mongols will return to Mobei in a fight. This is what Zhu Gaoxu does not want to see.

In history, Tuohuan often absorbed tribes that migrated eastward, and Zhu Gaoxu had to be on guard against this.

Even with the train, logistical supplies could be brought directly to Hailar, but the Ming army could not underestimate the enemy at will.

The offensive against the north should still be based on experienced generals.

Fortunately, Meng Zhang, Wang Yi, Zhang Fu, and Zhu Neng are all in their prime, so there will be no problem in staying strong for another twenty years.

In more than twenty years, as long as the train to Mobei is open to traffic, attacking the desert will no longer be a problem.

But before that, Zhu Gaoxu had to keep an eye on the Tatar talents in Yanran Dusi.

"The Oara and Tatars in the north, according to the information from Xichang, if they join forces, they can pull out nearly 80,000 troops, including more than 50,000 heavily armored soldiers."

Zhu Gaoxu pointed to the Tatars and Walas in Mobei and explained. Zhu Di stroked his beard after hearing this:

"The alliance in Wala is very fragile. I don't think Taiping and Batu Polo want to risk their lives with the imperial court. Only Mahamu, an old dog, is very ambitious."

"I'm going to crown the three of them as kings, let them check and balance each other, and support Taiping and Batu Polo at the same time."

Zhu Di still adopted the same checks and balances method used in history, and Zhu Gaoxu also agreed with this method: "If it can be done, then of course it will be good."

"But Mahamu has a son who is having fun. This boy is much calmer than Mahamu. I'm afraid he will accumulate strength and wait for the opportunity."

"In your next Northern Expedition, it's best to let Alitai consume them and then completely eliminate Mahamu."

Zhu Gaoxu was still a little wary of Tuohuan. After all, it was this guy who united Oara in history, controlled the Tatars and Uliangha, and even reached out to the Jurchen tribes.

Although Zhu Gaoxu has confidence in Zhu Zhanhe, it is not in line with his style to keep such a character.

It would undoubtedly be a blessing for the Ming Dynasty if they could defeat Mahamu as soon as possible.

"If possible, I would like to march north now..."

Zhu Di suddenly spoke, and Zhu Gaoxu showed embarrassment after hearing this: "Let's wait a little longer."

Although the treasury has money, he can't help spending it. When Zhu Di heard this, he could only suppress his thoughts and said indifferently: "If you have nothing to do, just retreat first."

"It's not that nothing is wrong. I have something to discuss with you, father." Zhu Gaoxu bowed and said:
"The thermal efficiency of the steam engine is enough to be used in mines, so Erchen is planning to build a steam engine factory and then apply the steam engine to mines."

"I believe you also know that Beijing is often hit by wind and sand, and occasionally there are big sandstorms..."

Zhu Gaoxu told Zhu Di about the afforestation, and also told Zhu Di about the plan to bring coal into people's homes.

In Zhu Gaoxu's vision, Daming's coal production must reach 40 million tons in ten years, which is twice the current production.

Based on the current population growth rate, the population of Ming Dynasty is estimated to exceed 100 million in ten years.

By then, the average coal consumption per capita in the Ming Dynasty will be 400 kilograms, basically reaching the conservative amount of coal consumed by the population.

If we increase the output on this basis, it will basically be industrial coal.

As long as coal is cheap and easy to obtain, people will not cut down trees on a large scale.

This project must be integrated with the northwest and northeast railways.

Once the northwest and northeast are connected by railway, the people along the border will be able to obtain cheap coal from Shanxi, and naturally there will be no need to cut down trees.

Otherwise, just digging coal will not solve this problem without sufficient transportation capacity.

Regarding this issue, Zhu Di did not think that deeply and just said:
"It's a good idea, but I've never heard of anyone turning a desert into a green space."

"It didn't happen before, doesn't mean it won't happen in the future." Zhu Gaoxu said confidently.

"You can handle this matter yourself. I don't know much about this. Just go ahead and do it."

Seeing that Zhu Gaoxu was so confident, Zhu Di stopped asking any more questions and gave him full authority.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu also bowed and left the Qianqing Palace, and soon took a carriage to the Chunhe Palace in Beijing.

Guo Yan, Zhu Zhanqi and others had been waiting for him early. When they saw him coming back, they immediately stepped forward to greet him.

In response to the enthusiasm of his family, Zhu Gaoxu exchanged a few pleasantries, asked them to rest first, and asked Yishiha to summon Wang Fu.

Not long after, Wang Fu arrived at Qianqing Palace, and Zhu Gaoxu also asked someone to give him a seat.

"I summoned you here to ask you whether we can start working on this steam engine factory from now on?"

"Of course you can!" After hearing Zhu Gaoxu's words, Wang Fu, who was sitting in his seat, bowed and said:

"Except for the first few steam engines, which require fine craftsmanship by craftsmen, subsequent steam engines can be made by debugging the previous steam engines and connecting them to various machines."

"We have already experimented with this when we were at Nanjing Imperial College. We can produce at least ten steam engines every month."

"If one million yuan is invested to expand production capacity, workers can be recruited from middle school students, and a steam engine factory with 300 machines can be built in about two years. The annual output should not be less than 500 textile, pumping, and locomotive machines. Waiting for the machine.”

"Even if the thermal efficiency of the steam engine is improved in the future, it will only be enough to update the steam engine workshop, which will not waste too much time."

Wang Fu told Zhu Gaoxu his idea, and Zhu Gaoxu nodded.

He does not think it is an exaggeration to produce 500 machines per year.

At least between 1712 and 1800, Britain produced more than 2500 steam engines and various machines without a large demand, and its investment was one-tenth less than that of the Ming Dynasty.

Under the operation of high investment and high-quality workers, the annual output of 500 machines is not worth mentioning for the Ming Dynasty market, but for the UK, it only takes five years to saturate the market.

Such a market size is destined that once Ming Dynasty takes a step forward in industry, all countries in the world will become the dumping ground for Ming Dynasty's products.

It will be the same in future generations, and it will be the same in this life.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu said decisively: "I will allocate two million to you. As long as all kinds of machines are useful, they will be built regardless of efficiency."

"You send people to inspect the mines in Shanxi and Northeast China to see what their demand is. On this basis, if you increase it by three times, it will be the quantity needed by the court."

"In addition, steam locomotives will continue to be researched. Before the railway is laid, the thermal efficiency can be improved as much as possible, and the steam locomotive factories and workshops will be built two years in advance."

After the words fell, Zhu Gaoxu narrowed his eyes and said boldly:
"The imperial court cannot waste the waterways it has worked so hard to open. Wherever the sun shines, Ming products must be circulated."

　Flu infusion was delayed a lot of time.

　　It is estimated that the book will be completed in about a week. After the book is completed, there will be about twenty chapters of extras and epilogues. The update will be around 5:30 in the afternoon.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)