The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 639 Zhang Yan's Secret

On the fifth day of the eighth month of the second year of Guangde, Nanjing, Dagongfang, Qiao’s residence.

Da Gong Fang is located at the confluence of the Qinhuai River and the Yangtze River. It is the most densely populated and commercially prosperous area in Nanjing.

Da Gong Fang is close to the Forbidden City, and the residences of Qi's ministers are also concentrated in this area.

~~~~
In the empty main hall, Qiao Yiqi lay quietly on the sickbed, his face as cold as frost and his breath weak.

Liu Zhaosun half-knelt in front of the bed, sobbing softly.

Half an hour ago, the Emperor was still performing rituals in Chaotian Palace. He was dressed in his robes, walking in the air, chanting mantras, holding instruments, and praying for Qiao Yiqi.

Until Wu Xiao hurriedly arrived and whispered a few words to him, the emperor hurriedly put down his sword and led the bell, and rode back to the Great Merit Square without even changing out of his Taoist robe.

When he ran into Yu Chang head-on, Doctor Yu shook his head slightly and retreated with a look of shame.

Liu Zhaosun waved everyone away and stood alone by the bed.

Looking at the haggard and unconscious Qiao Yiqi, many past events came to mind.

If Qiao Yiqi had not lent him money on the battlefield of Sarhu, if Qiao Dazui had left Liaodong after the battle of Sarhu, if...

What will be the fate now?

Thinking about the eight thousand taels of silver that I owed Qiao Dazui, which I still haven't paid back, I wonder how much I have to pay back in principal and interest in more than twenty years.

Over the past twenty years, Liu Zhaosun has led everyone to accomplish many things that would take a dynasty fifty or a hundred years to accomplish.

One of the costs of rocket speed is mental exhaustion.

Those core members of the team overdrew their lives early due to the heavy and difficult state affairs.

Qiao Yiqi is just one of them.

If he hadn't acted so hastily, if the empire's war chariot had slowed down a bit, would Qiao Yiqi have lived a few more years, lived to see the Eastern Expedition to Japan, lived to see all nations come to pay tribute...

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty."

A faint call interrupted my wandering thoughts.

"General Qiao, are you feeling well?"

Liu Zhaosun didn't know what to say. He had seen off many of his trusted ministers. Qiao Yiqi was not the first, but he was the one who made him most sad.

Thinking that he would never see the outspoken Mr. Qiao talking freely again;

Thinking about the memory of the beginning of the journey, it is gradually collapsing;
He thought about the day when he would not be able to tell whether he was a time traveler or a native;
A huge feeling of sadness enveloped Liu Zhaosun's whole body.

The process of death is the process of the world gradually forgetting you.

Isn’t the death of others a process of being forgotten?

Qiao Yiqi raised his arm tremblingly, and Liu Zhaosun quickly grasped the withered hand.

"Who is that, King..."

His voice was weak, and Liu Zhaosun's eyes were red and swollen. He leaned closer and listened to him quietly.

"You want to attack Japan?"

Liu Zhaosun nodded vigorously.

"Yes, after we pacify the southwest, we will attack Japan. I will kill Tokugawa Iemitsu with my own hands and avenge Yuan Chonghuan."

Qiao Yiqi forced a smile on his face, and his fingers trembled slightly.

"There's something I've been thinking about..."

His voice was low and intermittent, like a taut string that could stop at any time.

“At first, it was me…”

Fine beads of sweat oozed out of Qiao Yiqi's forehead, and Liu Zhaosun helped him wipe them.

When I put my hand to my forehead, it was already cold.

"Wang... Wang Chengen, do you remember? When Lin Yu and the others were changing guard, it was me..."

Liu Zhaosun gently wiped the sweat off his face, and suddenly noticed that Qiao Yiqi's face had turned rosy.

"Zhu Youjian got the information and bribed the palace maids...

I’m sorry…”

Liu Zhaosun was slightly shocked, and the handkerchief stopped in the air:

"Don't mention the past."

Qiao Yiqi suddenly reached out and grabbed the emperor's arm. His whole body was shaking rhythmically and his consciousness gradually became blurred.

"Marquis Ping Liao, you must listen to Yuan Ducha's words. Don't be rash and don't go to Hetuala. Huang Taiji is not easy to deal with..."

The excited eyes of the dying person suddenly stopped, and the last burst of brilliance also ended.

Qiao Yiqi closed his eyes.

~~~~
At the beginning of the afternoon on the fifth day of the eighth month in the second year of Guangde, Qiao Yiqi, the Grand Tutor of the Great Qi Dynasty and the Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince, the Minister of Rites, and the Grand Secretary of the Zhongji Palace, died of illness in his residence.

The emperor ordered the court to be suspended for three days.

The next day, the imperial eunuch Dongfang Zhu was sent to arrange the funeral for Qiao Yiqi, and he was also awarded 8,000 taels for the funeral expenses.

Emperor Guangde and the two Empress Dowagers also gave silver.

The empire gave the highest treatment to Qiao Yiqi's death.

Emperor Guangde bestowed upon Qiao Yiqi the posthumous title of Wen Zhong, awarded him the title of Shang Zhuguo, appointed his nephew as Shang Bao Si Cheng, and sent officials to prepare for his funeral.

A fourth-rank official from the Ministry of Rites, a senior official from the Straw-Cotton Guard, and a eunuch from the Imperial Household Department were specially ordered to escort the body back to Jiangfu, Song's former residence, for burial.

On August 14, escorted by eunuch Chen Zheng from the Imperial Household Department, Qiao Yiqi's coffin and his nephews took a horse-drawn carriage to Shenglongguan Wharf and then returned to Songjiang by boat.

According to historical records, on August 14, Qiao Yiqi's coffin and his funeral procession boarded more than 80 ships, with more than 3,000 guards, boatmen and others. The fleet stretched for 15 miles and headed towards Songjiang Prefecture (now Shanghai) in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

~~~~~
After Qiao Yiqi was buried in his hometown, the imperial chariot continued to rumble forward.

In the autumn of the second year of Guangde, provinces in the north and south achieved an unprecedented bumper harvest of autumn crops.

Especially in the Taihu Lake Basin, the rice yield per mu reached an astonishing 666 kilograms (the average yield per mu in the Taihu Lake Basin in the Ming Dynasty was kilograms).

Thanks to the popularization of Song Yingxing's "The Exploitation of the Works of Nature", farmers' associations and workshops encouraged farming in an all-round way, the fertility of the soil in the south of the Yangtze River was further improved, and the output continued to rise.

Take land fertilization as an example.

With the strong promotion of farmers' associations in various prefectures and counties, traditional fertilizers such as human and animal manure, green manure, soaked waste, river mud and dust are well utilized. At the same time, high-quality fertilizers such as distiller's grains, sugar residue, bean dregs, and oil residue are also used by farmers.

At the same time, the mines and arsenals in the north continuously provided various low-cost inorganic fertilizers to farmers in the south through sea transportation.

Sulfur, arsenic, black alum, brine, snail shell ash, clam ash...

Unimpeded sea transport significantly reduced transportation costs. The implementation of the New Deal eliminated the rentier class, such as dental dealers and dental brokers, significantly reducing terminal prices.

Due to various factors, the prices of fertilizers that ordinary farmers cannot afford have dropped to 20% or even 10%.

Millions of kilograms of fertilizer are supplied to Jiangnan every day.

The students of the school have developed a method of dipping the roots of seedlings with ashes, which has greatly improved the survival rate of the seedlings.

Of course, the most famous are Xu Guangqi and his disciples, who invented the high-efficiency "fecal pill" (commonly known as Jinkela), a mixture of inorganic and organic fertilizers.

It is said that one dou of Jinkela is equivalent to twenty shi of manure, and is suitable for the saline-alkali land of Jianghuai.

In the second year of Guangde, Xu Guangqi promoted the use of fecal pills in the saline-alkali land of Fengyang, and the result was that Jinkela flourished.

Originally, the average grain yield per mu in Fengyang was only 150 kilograms. After using it, the yield soared to 350 kilograms.

~~~

On the eighth day of October, after Zhao Ruojiao had arranged the defense of Songjiang, he returned to Dengzhou along the Chidao Road to prepare to arrange winter training for the soldiers of the Third Battalion stationed in Shandong.

In addition to Li Wenbiao, the chief instructor of the Eighth Corps, there was also an official named Yan who was transferred from Yangzhou to Liaodong.

Since it was on the way, Yan Dianli and Zhao Lujiao asked them to travel together.

From the moment we left Suzhou, the carriages started to jam, and the roads along the way were densely packed with convoys transporting grain.

From Suzhou to Fengyang, all the way north, there were dozens of military stations along the way, and the people from the Chamber of Commerce and Farmers' Association who were transporting grain in front of them were fed and drunk.

Every time Zhao Lujiao and his men arrived from behind, there were only some leftovers at the military station, and sometimes they couldn't even get enough food and drink.

Yan Dianli was already filled with anger.

~~~~
The sky is clear and the air is fresh, with the autumn wind blowing. It is the late autumn season in Jianghuai.

After waiting in line for half an hour, Zhao Luejiao and his group of carriages finally drove slowly into the Haoliang Military Station (formerly the Haoliang Posthouse) just before Yan Yingyuan was about to faint from hunger.

这座凤阳府最大的兵站，有正厅5间、后厅5间、送礼房5间、库房3间、厨房3间、马房20间，还包括前鼓楼三间、马神庙一座、照壁牌楼一座。

"We're almost at the Jing'an Fort military station. I hope there's still food for us. We've been eating fried noodles every day these past few days and it's like we're eating a bird!"

Zhao Lujiao was the first to jump off the carriage.

The instructor followed with the guards and shouted:
"Old Zhao, drink two bowls later!"

Yan Yingyuan held the handlebars of the bicycle, his chest sticking to his back with hunger. He was a native of Jiangnan, and suddenly came to Fengyang, where the wind and sand were everywhere, and he was a little uncomfortable with the climate.

He was exhausted from the long journey, and his strength was not as good as Zhao Lushijiao, who came from a military background. He was very tired from the journey.

Despite this, he managed to persevere.

Yan Yingyuan has been a veteran criminal lawyer in Yangzhou Prefecture for more than ten years. This time he went to Shenyang to continue his old job and be in charge of interrogation.

Two soldiers walked out of the military station and stepped forward to check the three people's post tokens.

After learning of Zhao Lujiao's identity, the soldiers immediately saluted the commander of the Eighth Corps, untied the horse, and took it to the stable to feed it.

Zhao Lujiao and his two companions, accompanied by guards, walked into the main hall, where a few civil affairs officials in black uniforms were sitting sparsely, speaking in Henan dialect.

These civil affairs officials from Henan came to the south to transport grain, and it was this group of people who caused the congestion on the highway.

This year, all provinces in the north and south have had a bumper harvest, with only Henan suffering from floods. Recently, all provinces have been transporting grain to the Central Plains.

~~~~~
Yan Yingyuan sat down angrily and shouted:

"Bring some wine! Bring some wine! The road to Fengyang is so difficult to travel, it must have worn out the horses."

When the food and wine were served, Zhao Lujiao and Li Wenbiao had not yet picked up their chopsticks, but Yan Yingyuan devoured them all in one swift motion, finishing two meat patties and three dishes.

"Ten more Yangzhou buns!"

Li Wenbiao was about to ask the soldiers to serve more food when he suddenly heard someone singing outside:

"Gong in the left hand and drum in the right hand

Singing with gongs and drums in hand

I can't sing other songs.

I can only sing Fengyang song

Fengyang Song
"Der'erdangdang floats"

Zhao Rujiao had been in the northern border for a long time and had never heard this Huaiyang tune before. He put down his chopsticks and listened to it with fascination. He asked the person beside him:
"Fellow villagers, what are you singing?"

The stationmaster explained:
"Reporting to General Zhao, the local flower drum singers are singing Jin Ke La to celebrate this year's bumper harvest. They will go to the capital to perform for the emperor this winter!"

"What the hell? Jin Ke La?"

Everyone looked at each other.

The stationmaster is an old soldier from Liaodong and speaks fluent Liaodong dialect.

"Well, it's the dung pill developed by Lord Xu, also called Jin Ke La. It's awesome! It works great! It's also cheap, and farmers and thieves love it! It's awesome!"

There was a loud sound of gongs and drums outside, and the legend of Jin Kela was still being sung.

"Speaking of Fengyang, Fengyang is a good place.

Since the arrival of Jinkela, there has not been a single year of famine in the past ten years.

The fertilizer is mixed with Jinkela, so it will not be lost or evaporated!
The fertilizer is mixed with Jinkela, which can absorb the fertilizer two feet below!

Fertilizer mixed with Jinkela, one bag can replace two bags! Yield of 880 per mu!

It's floating with a clang!
"Dingdang, it's floating!"

~~~~
Early September of the second year of Guangde.

The retired emperor issued an edict to Japan.

The imperial edict was forwarded to the shogunate by the Ryukyu Kingdom.

In the first year of Wuding, shortly after the Eighth Corps retreated from Kyushu, Ryukyu was occupied by Satsuma Domain and gradually became a puppet regime of Satsuma Domain.

In the third year of Taichu, Wu Aheng led the navy to defeat the Satsuma fleet and re-established the sovereignty of the Great Qi over Ryukyu.

Since the first year of Guangde, Ryukyu has become one of the bases for the eastern expedition to Japan (along with Zhoushan, Dengzhou, and Busan).

Various coastal defense guns and ships are arriving here from afar. This small country, which had a weak presence before, is now armed to the teeth by the Qi army. There are more than a thousand troops stationed on the island, and the navy and the second battalion of the eighth corps are stationed here all year round.

In his imperial edict to Tokugawa Iemitsu, the retired emperor ordered the shogun to immediately implement the terms of the Treaty of Niuguan and repay the various indemnities owed to Da Qi, totaling 1200000000 billion taels of silver equivalent to ore.

The tribute of Japanese beauties (99 in total)

Arrest and execute the Japanese rebels who participated in the Kyushu rebellion eighteen years ago;
Hand over Zheng Sen, Zuo Liangyu, Song Yingsheng, Wang Heng and other rebels of the Great Qi;
Tokugawa Iemitsu came to Nanjing in person to apologize.

Otherwise, "the Celestial Empire would be enraged and would send out a small army to water the horses in Fusang, leaving no one alive."

(End of this chapter)