Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 478 Three Years of Hong Xi
"Snapped!"

"Your Majesty's perfect shot!"

In the smoke of gunfire, Hong Xi's third year arrived as scheduled. Zhu Gaoxu, standing at the shooting range of Taixue Ordnance Institute, put away the rifle in his hand, ignored the compliments of the people next to him, and waited for the response of the soldiers reporting targets in the distance.

"Nine rings!"

The soldiers in the distance sang, Zhu Gaoxu nodded after hearing this, and handed the rifle in his hand to the academicians beside him.

"Although this rifled flintlock gun is good, it is not suitable for equipping troops now."

Standing next to Zhu Gaoxu, Yang Zhan also nodded and said:
"The country has 680,000 troops, two-thirds of which are equipped with flintlock muskets, and one-third are equipped with matchlocks. Although these rifled guns are more accurate, they are really not suitable for replacement now."

Regarding Yang Zhan's words, Zhu Gaoxu nodded in approval, and at the same time turned his attention to Dr. Zhao Chun from the Ordnance Academy: "Is there no progress in gunpowder?"

"Your Majesty, there is no progress yet." Zhao Chun said with shame. He had taken over the Ordnance Institute for nearly sixteen years, but his research on gunpowder had always stayed at the stage of granular black powder.

They tried adding many substances to the gunpowder, but none of them achieved the result of increasing the power.

[When I entered Shandong, I heard that there was a drought and there was no food harvest. Although the people in Yongle had a lot of savings, there were still hungry people who gathered grass to eat. I felt deeply sorry for them. When I entered the people's house, I saw the quail's clothes and the ruined stove. I couldn't bear it. 】

He went to inspect the Metallurgical Institute and the Construction Institute. The strength of the cement had increased compared with before, but it still did not meet the standards for pouring viaducts.

"Build a railway from Wuchang on the south bank of the Yangtze River to Yueyang, Changsha, Hengzhou, Chenzhou, Shaozhou and Guangzhou."

"..."

"Pickets have already begun in Nanyang and Dongyang. When these are over, pickets will be carried out on the troops in Xiaoxiyang."

In simple words, the two sides settled on the navy's picketing system.

"The Navy has established a thousand-household picketing station within the Navy to specialize in picketing."

In the event of a more urgent matter, the locomotive will pull a single passenger compartment, and the speed can be maintained at about 120 miles per hour.

"Subsequently, a railway will be built from Kaifeng through Nanyang and Xiangyang to Hanyang."

If there is a local rebellion, Beijing will only need two and a half days to organize troops to reach Nanjing and Xi'an, up to three and a half days to reach Guangzhou, and five days to reach Hami.

"In addition, it is easy to build railways in Jiaozhi, but as soon as I entered Yunnan, I lost my confidence."

After surveying the Southwest Railway, it was found that the Ming Dynasty did not have the technical level to cross the Qinling Mountains, or to build it from Xuzhou to Longchuan.

Perhaps he was frightened by Zhu Gaoxu's decisiveness in dealing with the Confucius family. However, the old barbarians in the temple did not trouble him anymore and just kept their heads down to deal with government affairs every day.

Walking in Taixue, Zhu Gaoxu revealed to Yang Zhan the future railway plan of the Ming Dynasty.

"However, I have one thing to say. Regarding these railways, I am still worried that some places are too difficult for us to open to traffic."

"The Southwest Railway cannot be repaired, so now we have to find another way."

In his opinion, regardless of corruption, this group of people can only be kept for now, and it will not be too late to take action when problems arise in the national treasury.

"Keep up the good work."

This section of railway is only 800 miles long, consumes more than 3.4 million taels of silver, and takes three years to complete. It is not too difficult. After all, it passes through the Chengdu Plain.

Perhaps because he was getting older, Zhu Gaoxu, who felt that he lacked energy, also began to gradually delegate the memorials at the government level to the Sixth Department and the Supervisor of Ceremonies, and he only needed to review and revise them.

"I am quite confident about the section from Kaifeng to Chenzhou, but we need to climb mountains from Chenzhou to Guangzhou. Whether we can do it is a big question."

"In addition, a railway will be built from Haiyang Port in Jiaozhi to Jiaozhi, Xuanguang, Lin'an in Yunnan, and Kunming."

Zhu Gaoxu was also happy to see this, so he rarely caused trouble to them.

"I plan to start building the Central Plains Railway from Xi'an through Luoyang and Kaifeng to Jining after the Northwest Railway reaches Xi'an."

Time passed, and soon it entered summer, and some not-so-good news was also placed on Zhu Gaoxu's desk.

In comparison, the railways that Zhu Gaoxu had in mind have not yet been surveyed on the spot.

It was precisely because there was no on-site investigation that he was worried.

Yang Zhan listened to Zhu Gaoxu's complaints as a listener. Not long after they walked out of the Imperial Academy and returned to the Forbidden City by car, Yang Zhan bowed and said:

Under normal conditions of transporting troops and supplies, as long as there is a railway, the Ming army can travel about 750 miles a day, including the time to stop at the station to replenish coal and fresh water.

Xia Yuanji and Huang Fu were not bad people, but they always had a bit of a Confucian temperament. Zhu Gaoxu was fine working with them, but felt uncomfortable getting along with them.

After changes, the latest version of the steam train can now carry nearly 300 tons of cargo, or 500 people at a speed of 70 miles per hour. If the cargo box is unloaded and the locomotive is used to drive, the speed can reach 70 miles per hour. One hundred and forty miles.

As a result, the daily workload was reduced from eight hours to about seven hours, so he could often visit the Daming Palace and Taixue.

Although he was the naval commander, he did not need to go overseas. In other words, Zhu Gaoxu was increasingly feeling lonely and wanted to keep him by his side, at least with a few friends who could talk to him.

Therefore, the original Southwest Railway has now become the Sichuan Railway.

They went through the Steam Engine Research Institute. After more than four years, the thermal efficiency of the current steam engine has reached 12%, and the speed of the steam locomotive has also been greatly improved.

Half an hour later, Zhu Gaoxu returned to the Forbidden City, while Yang Zhan returned to the Sixth Army Governor's Mansion.

When he was responding to last year's report from Xichang and Yang Bin about the navy's assistance in combat operations, Zhu Gaoxu nodded:
"You can take care of it yourself. I can rest assured that you can do it."

After leaving a few words, Zhu Gaoxu took Yang Zhan and Yi Shiha to continue exploring other research institutes in Taixue.

A railway will be built in Sichuan from Jiangyou County in the north to Xuzhou via Chengdu and Meizhou. In this way, materials from northern Sichuan can be transported to the Yangtze River, and materials from other provinces can also be transported to northern Sichuan via the Yangtze River.

This time is not only the time for military mobilization, but also the time for the exchange of goods from various places.

Facing Zhao Chun's words, Zhu Gaoxu remained silent for a long time, obviously very disappointed.

In June, when the heat was approaching, Zhu Gaoxu received a report about the drought in Shandong.

If this memorial was from Xichang and Jinyiwei, Zhu Gaoxu would not have said anything. But this memorial came from his good brother Zhu Gaochi who returned to Kunming, which made him a little embarrassed.

"During the drought in Shandong, the people picked up grass and ate it. Why did no one report this matter?"

Although natural disasters were less frequent in the early Ming Dynasty than in the late Ming Dynasty, as a person who had seen many natural disasters in his previous life, Zhu Gaoxu had also witnessed the severe drought that had not been seen in sixty years when he was on a business trip to Yunnan in his early years.

Although he does not think that the drought in Shandong this time is as serious as the one he saw, if someone hides it and does not report it, it is deception.

As soon as Zhu Gaoxu opened his mouth, Yi Shiha sent someone to summon Hu Lun and another Semu man.

"Your Majesty, Muyang Bohu Lun (commander Liu Mian), is here to see you, long live your Majesty..."

"Long live the memorial?" Zhu Gaoxu threw the memorial on the ground. Hu Lun felt nervous and couldn't help but step forward to pick it up and read it.

Seeing this, he couldn't help but blush: "Your Majesty, this fact is my fault."

Liu Mian had just taken office, and he was promoted from the West Factory. Naturally, he was not to blame for this incident, so he was the only one who took the responsibility.

"It's useless to talk nonsense. Investigate the case immediately and see what the situation is."

"I accept your order!"

Zhu Gaoxu's tone was slightly serious. After hearing this, Hu Lun immediately bowed and left the palace, leaving only Liu Mian standing there.

Regarding this matter, it is normal for Zhu Gaoxu to have a bad temper.

He just cleaned up the Confucius Mansion last year. If a drought breaks out in Shandong this year and causes people to be displaced, then the group of old barbarians in the temple will definitely seize on this point and use the theory of heaven and man to impeach him.

Zhu Gaoxu was too lazy to argue with these old barbarians, so he had to investigate the matter immediately and give the result.

After taking a few breaths, Zhu Gaoxu turned his attention to Liu Mian.

"Liu Mian, how many people are there in Jin Yiwei right now?"

"Your Majesty, there are thirty-four thousand, seven hundred and twenty-four people." Liu Mian bowed in response, and Zhu Gaoxu leaned on his chair and asked again:

"How many of these people do you think can still do practical things?"

"Less than four thousand." Liu Mian's answer made Yi Shiha look at him.

Just facing his answer, Zhu Gaoxu nodded in agreement:

"Many of the policies formulated by Emperor Taizu Gao in the past were very insightful, but the hereditary system of military attaches was slightly inappropriate."

"The Jinyiwei is subordinate to Shangzhi, but he is responsible for the internal intelligence of the country."

"Now I want you to eliminate the Jin Yiwei. The eliminated Jin Yiwei will all be given the same rank, but the hereditary rank will be reduced."

Zhu Gaoxu had long wanted to eliminate the Jinyi Guards. Although the number was four times that of Xichang, the intelligence collection was not as complete as Xichang.

If Jin Yiwei is allowed to continue to behave badly, West Factory will be infected sooner or later.

Taking advantage of this opportunity to streamline Jinyiwei, this would allow Xichang to free up its hands and target foreign countries.

"May I ask, Your Majesty, how many people will be retained?"

Liu Mian asked in a low voice, and Zhu Gaoxu thought for a moment and gave the answer: "You can recruit more after streamlining, but the number cannot exceed 20,000."

"I accept the order!" Liu Mian bowed in agreement. Seeing that Zhu Gaoxu did not continue to give any further instructions, he cautiously left Wuying Palace.

Just when Zhu Gaoxu was ordering Liu Mian, thousands of miles away from here, Dongzhou Nanguo was also in full swing transporting cartloads of gold, silver and copper ingots to the coast.

Ximen Port (Lima), as a newly emerging coastal city, is not inferior to some large counties in the south of the Ming Dynasty.

It was obviously just a seaport, but due to the year-round transportation of gold, silver and copper ingots, the development of this place undoubtedly received great attention from the Ming Dynasty.

The Dongzhou Xuanwei Envoy stationed a thousand soldiers and horses here, and there were also 1,600 craftsmen who often traveled on business.

Under the rising sun, carriages entered this city that was built with a lot of cement. The women on the streets all looked like locals, full of wildness.

In comparison, most of the men on the street are taller and longer, and they have a sense of arrogance that needs no description.

Thirty-two carriages entered the city one after another, and then drove towards a heavily guarded street.

The inspecting soldiers opened the sealed carriage, which contained boxes of various sizes.

Some of the boxes were not big, but very heavy. When they were opened, crude gold bars were clearly displayed inside. The soldier showed greedy eyes, but quickly suppressed his thoughts and got out of the car to signal the carriage to pass.

After being inspected, the carriages finally entered the innermost part of the alley.

Here, a heavily guarded and cement-thickened warehouse was opened.

Boxes of gold, silver and copper ingots were moved in, and Wang Ren, who was the ambassador to Dongzhou, also rarely appeared here.

As the years passed, he became much stronger and older.

Looking at the warehouse full of gold and silver, although the area inside is only one-third of the area, if you want to fill it up, you will need at least tens of millions of gold, silver and copper ingots.

"Xuan comfort envoy, this is the document sent from the mining area..."

"This quarter, a total of 24,327 taels of gold, 926,524 taels of silver, and copper ingots were produced..."

The officials truthfully accounted for the output of this quarter, with a total value of approximately 1.8 million guan.

After the report, the official lowered his voice: "Some more fruits have been delivered to the residence of the ambassador."

"Okay, I understand." Wang Ren's eyes lit up, and then he pretended to be calm and said:
"The gold, silver and copper ingots in the warehouse are enough to set sail. In a few days when the new ambassador arrives, I will return to the court with these gold and silver and hand them over to the treasury."

Wang Ren said solemnly, and then ordered the warehouse to be closed, walked out of the alley, and returned to his mansion on horseback.

Wang Ren's house was very busy. Nearly a hundred native maids and more than ten officials were busy moving things, and these were the wealth Wang Ren had accumulated over the years.

His term of office has expired, and the new commanders and officers and soldiers sent by the imperial court are expected to come to replace them soon.

Before that, he had to pack his things properly.

"Master, I have already calculated it. The total is 154,324 taels of gold, and the rest is more than 300,000 taels of silver."

A steward came over with a booklet and excitedly talked about the wealth Wang Ren had accumulated in the past few years.

Wang Ren nodded when he heard this, but said carefully: "Can these gold and silver be placed in a watertight cabin?"

"Yes!" The manager nodded. Wang Ren nodded and said, "In that case, you can take care of it."

"My slave, you obey!" The commander bowed in agreement, and then began to dispatch troops and horses to escort the gold and silver, and hid the gold and silver in the watertight cabin where Wang Ren went to sea on the ship.

Not only Wang Ren, but also almost most of the military officers in Ximen City are trying to find ways to hide the gold, silver and copper ingots they have accumulated over the years.

The imperial fleet was very fast, but within half a month, the two armies began to replace their troops and military attachés from north to south.

Zhang Chun, who had ended the Southwest War, took over the Beizhou Xuanwei Division, and the person who took over the Dongzhou Xuanwei Division was Jiang Gui, who had been sitting on the bench in Luzon for more than ten years.

Forty-year-old Jiang Gui arrived at Ximen Port on a treasure ship, and the army he brought obviously exceeded the size of the original Dongzhou Guard.

"According to His Majesty's decree, the new left and right guards of Dongzhou were appointed. Jiang Gui took over as Dongzhou's Xuanwei Envoy. Wang Ren, the former Dongzhou Xuanwei Envoy, was promoted to the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy Commander's Office."

In late June, when Jiang Gui arrived at Ximen Port with a total of 5,600 people, Wang Ren had already packed everything.

Wearing the robe of a military attache, he stepped forward to receive the order, and at the same time he bowed and said: "I, the King Ren, receive the order..."

Wang Ren knelt down to receive the edict, carefully taking it with both hands, excited that he could be promoted and make a fortune.

He did not expect that after guarding Dongzhou for so many years, he would be directly promoted to the Navy Governor's Mansion and become one of the few first- and second-grade military attachés in Beijing.

"The Royal Governor Qian Shi, please cooperate with me to take over the mining areas in various places in the past few days."

Jiang Gui's words brought Wang Ren back to reality. Wang Ren laughed repeatedly when he heard the words: "This is nature, this is nature!"

"I have also heard a little bit about what happened to Jiang Xuanwei in Luzon. Now that you have come to Dongzhou, I can rest assured to leave this place to you."

"These are the documents and accounts of the Dongzhou Xuanwei Department in the past few years. Please read them."

Wang Ren turned sideways, and several soldiers carried more than a dozen boxes and placed them in front of Jiang Gui.

Jiang Gui nodded and was not prepared to investigate on the spot.

To put it harshly, it is normal for military attachés to enrich their own pockets. As long as they do not touch the soldiers' pay, generally speaking, no one will think of reporting it.

Even when Jiang Gui was in Luzon, he secretly hid a lot of captured land and gold.

He had never expected that he would be appointed as the Dongzhou Provincial Envoy with such an important task, but since the opportunity was presented to him, he naturally would not refuse it.

In the next few days, he dispatched soldiers and horses to take over more than 600 large and small mines set up by the Ming Dynasty in the South. He also investigated the output of the Dongzhou Xuanweisi gold and silver mine.

Judging from the account books alone, Wang Ren did it without any problems, and Jiang Gui did not want to pursue it.

Half a month later, as Wang Ren left Ximen City loaded with gold and silver, Jiang Gui felt relieved and began to familiarize himself with the situation in Dongzhou.

His old subordinates in Luzon were transferred to Jiaozhi, and the troops he led were the original Shangzhi Longxiang Guards.

Before he is familiar with the soldiers and horses, it is not easy for him to start with these gold, silver and copper mines, but it will be difficult to say in the future.

"Although it is a small area, this phenomenon cannot be ignored. The local county magistrate's rating this year is C, and he has also been ordered to quickly open a warehouse to provide disaster relief, or to provide work for relief."

In July, when Jiang Gui successfully took over the Dongzhou Xuanwei Division, Hu Lun also investigated the Shandong case.

To put it simply, the facts are exactly as Zhu Gaochi described. Most people in Shandong have savings, but there are also many people who cannot save their savings, so they are living in a very embarrassing situation during this drought.

For them, Zhu Gaoxu did not plan to relocate them, but to resettle them on the spot for disaster relief.

Many policies of the Ming Dynasty have been implemented, and the results are now pretty good. Last year's population also steadily increased by two million, far exceeding Zhu Gaoxu's expectations.

Judging from last year's situation, as long as there are no local disasters this year, the population of Ming Dynasty should soon exceed 96 million.

Calculating this, in two years' time, the population of the Ming Dynasty will exceed 100 million, which is actually the peak of the Han family's unification.

Therefore, after instructing Yishiha and the Six Ministries to control the drought in Shandong, he continued to work on the memorials and kept a close eye on the administration.

According to his system, as long as there are no problems with official administration, there will basically be no major problems.

The facts are just as he imagined. After the summer, with the arrival of autumn rains, the drought in Shandong was alleviated, and local disaster relief also ensured that the victims would not be displaced.

Time flies, and soon the twelfth lunar month comes.

The Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Household Affairs each brought news, and the news was delivered to Wuying Palace by Guo Zi and Huang Fu.

"Give me a seat..."

As Zhu Gaoxu spoke, two ministers entered the hall and waited for Zhu Gaoxu to speak.

"Tell me, I hope it's good news."

Zhu Gaoxu touched his mustache. Although he was already in his forties, he looked like he was only in his early thirties.

"Your Majesty, the bank savings have reached more than 16 million yuan. Many officials have also let down their guard and begun to deposit their salaries into it."

"In addition to this, the imperial court's three railway treasury bonds have issued more than 2,364,000 guan, and those purchased for more than one year have paid nearly 80,000 guan in interest."

"It's all a good thing." Zhu Gaoxu nodded after hearing this: "This is just the beginning. In the future, the bank's savings will be more and more, but whether it needs to be used, or how much to use, you have to be careful."

"As for the interest on national debt, although it is not low, it is nothing compared to the imperial court's overseas gold and silver income."

"The more national debt is deposited, the more money and food the court can mobilize for emergencies."

"This money can be used to build railways with confidence, but the issuance must be limited, and the interest cannot exceed what the court can bear."

"Is there anything else?" Zhu Gaoxu asked briefly, but Guo Zi stopped speaking.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu set his sights on Huang Fu, and Huang Fu brought good news to Zhu Gaoxu.

"After investigation, the northwest railway bypassing Wuyuan and Ningxia can be built, but the cost will be higher. Because of the lack of manpower, the cost will be around 26.7 million, and the construction period will be 15 years."

"As for the Zhongyuan, Kaihan and Huguang railways, the construction costs are six million, six million and fifteen million respectively, and the construction periods are four, four and twenty years respectively."

"The total construction cost of the three railways is 27 million, and the Chenzhou to Guangzhou section will take at least ten years."

"All of these can be built, only the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway..."

Huang Fu's tone was solemn: "The 800-mile road from Haiyang to Lihuamayi can be built, but the remaining 500-mile road is as difficult as climbing into the sky..."

"okay, I get it."

Perhaps he had already guessed the result, but Zhu Gaoxu was more happy than sad about the situation of the four railways.

"It is a pity that the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway cannot be repaired to Kunming, but the Chenzhou-Guangzhou section of the Hu-Guang Railway can be overcome, which has greatly exceeded my expectations."

"You don't have to blame yourself for this. Next, the Ministry of Industry will continue to survey the railways in other areas. All those that can be built will be registered. When the two Beijing and Northeast and Northwest railways are completed, the Beijing-Tianjin, Central Plains and other railways will be completed. The road is built from south to north.”

"I accept the decree." Huang Fu breathed a sigh of relief, as did Guo Zi.

Huang Fu was worried that Zhu Gaoxu would be dissatisfied, and Guo Zi was worried that Zhu Gaoxu would be so happy about his success that he would build all these railways in one go.

Although the Ming Dynasty's treasury is full and can definitely afford the construction of these railways, this will undoubtedly make the court very passive once it encounters some sudden disaster like the drought in Shandong.

The savings in the bank alone are really a drop in the bucket for a country as big as Ming Dynasty, let alone that they cannot all be mobilized.

"In this case, I will leave..."

The two stood up and bowed before leaving. Zhu Gaoxu also looked at their backs and saw what they were thinking.

"It seems that everyone in the world thinks I am so happy..."

"Your Majesty, don't worry. They will know your Majesty's painstaking efforts in the future."

Yi Shiha comforted Zhu Gaoxu, and Zhu Gaoxu also chuckled, seemingly not taking these opinions seriously.

He believed that the "legacy" left by Hong Xi was enough to let future generations know what kind of emperor he was.

Feeling sorry for himself is not him. He does not want to be an emperor with both ends.

(End of this chapter)