First Prince of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 243
Zhu Yuanzhang was tired, so Empress Ma would not be relaxed either. According to the rules, all women who had received imperial edicts would also enter the Kunning Palace to congratulate the empress. The rules were not so complicated.

It stands to reason that civil and military officials still have to go to the Chengqian Hall to congratulate the crown prince, and the next day they will enter the palace to congratulate the relatives in Beijing. After that, it is time for officials to walk around with each other.

But Zhu Biao's absence made it a lot easier for them. At most, they were asking their wife to visit the East Palace to congratulate the prince and concubine on behalf of the whole family and show their loyalty.

People in the system are like this during the Chinese New Year. Different from ordinary people, they have a heavy political meaning, but fortunately, they can rest for a few days in the future. Zhu Biao's side is much more relaxed. They are basically teenagers, eating and drinking together every day.

Zhu Biao got closer to most of them, and in a blink of an eye, it was the fifteenth day of the first lunar month in the fourth year of Hongwu. On this night, Zhu Biao was standing by the window of a restaurant holding a bowl of Lantern Festival, looking at the bright lights below, Men, women and children are watching the lanterns, which is very lively, and there is also a performance of dragon dancing and walking on stilts.

It's a pity that this place is a small place, and only this short street is more lively. The capital should be even more shocking at this time. The prefect of Fengyang said: "Fengyang is not as good as the capital, but it also has its own traditions. Swinging There are no such things as picking up lanterns, lighting up torches, etc. in Beijing.”

Zhu Biao nodded with a smile. This is what he heard from his father when he was a child. Zhu Yuanzhang couldn’t afford to play on swings and pick up lanterns, and he didn’t have the opportunity to go to the city. , Prepare some old brooms and brush handles for the Lantern Festival torches.

But Zhu Biao was not in the mood to play anymore, and directly ordered: "It will be spring soon, call all the officials and start preparing for spring plowing."

The magistrate of Fengyang bowed to promise, Zhu Biao ate up all the Yuanxiao in the bowl and turned back to the house. Early the next morning, Zhu Biao redistributed his subjects who had gained weight several times to various parts of Fengyang Mansion, organizing the people to unify Make work assignments.

After a period of time, Fengyang Mansion started to work again in full swing, and the people were also very anxious. After all, they were very flustered because they had no food in their hands.

The three brothers of the Zhu family, who had celebrated the Chinese New Year in Beijing, also came back. As Zhu Biao expected, the second eldest, Zhu Xi, made a marriage contract with the daughter of Wei Guogong Deng Yu, and the third child, Zhu Yan, made a marriage contract with the daughter of Yongping Marquis Xie Cheng. , the fourth child is the daughter of Xu Da, the king of Zhongshan, who has been appointed long ago, and the Ministry of Rites has already begun preparations.

After Zhu Biao congratulated them, he threw them down again. After mid-February, the spring plowing officially started. The rice was Champa rice, also known as early rice.

Champa rice is a high-yielding, early-maturing, and drought-tolerant rice variety produced in the Indochina Peninsula. It was introduced to China during the Northern Song Dynasty and quickly spread in the Jiangnan region.

In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, it was first introduced into the Fujian region of China.According to ancient Chinese books, Champa rice has many characteristics.One is "drought tolerance", the other is strong adaptability, "born in any place", and the third is short growth period, only more than [-] days from planting to harvest.

Because of its excellent characteristics, it was promoted on a large scale in the Song Dynasty, and it is also the best choice now, especially the short growth period. Resettlers must become self-sufficient as quickly as possible.

Needless to say about the rest, Zhu Biao also personally supervised, and the unity of the government and the people naturally went smoothly. After all the arable land was planted, they unified and started to open up wasteland.

Zhu Biao also received news from the imperial court at this time that Zhu Yuanzhang ordered Tang and General Ren Zhengxi to lead the left deputy general, Jiang Xiahou Zhou Dexing, the right deputy general, Deqing Hou Liao Yongzhong, etc. to lead the Jingwei and Jingxiang navy divisions by Qutang Gorge went straight to Chongqing and attacked Badi.

Fu Youde, the former general and Marquis of Yingchuan, led the deputy general Gu Shi and others to lead infantry and cavalry from Henan and Shaanxi to Chengdu, Sichuan from Qin and Long to attack Shu.

The emperor's order has been issued, and the army has begun to gather and sharpen their knives to rush to Bashu. Zhu Biao is not worried about this. Mingxia has already leaked from all sides. In the past two years, there have been ministers who have secretly joined Daming. Countless.

With this, Tang He will return to the political center of Ming Dynasty. This is Zhu Yuanzhang's preferential treatment for his old brothers. Zhu Biao's heart is also moved at this time, and the farming work is over. He can't waste time here anymore.

He plans to take a trip to the coast according to the plan, and then officially start governing when he returns to Beijing. Otherwise, if the order is changed, he will have no time to come out again. Once the government affairs of the court take over, it can be easily loosened. Zhu Yuanzhang also intends to let Zhu Biao see more places Case.

After waiting for another three days, the three younger brothers, Guo Chong, Zhang Fan, Xu Yungong and others were called back, and the finishing work of the relocation was handed over to the leader of Zhu Yu, Guo Chong and Zhang Fan. I believe they can handle it well, let alone Feng Prefect Yang watched from the sidelines.

Then Zhu Biao sent a report to the imperial court, reporting the current situation of Fengyang Mansion, and then led Xu Yungong, Chang Mao, Fu Zhong and others towards Huai'an Mansion, and took away [-] elite guards at the same time.

Zhu Biao has never been to the seaside in his life, but he knows how important the sea is. Now that the Ming Dynasty was not in the Yongle period, there were no conditions for foreign trips in the early days of the founding of the country, but he should make some preparations in advance.

Fengyang is not far from Huai'an Mansion, and arrived there in a few days. The new magistrate of Huai'an is Li Shanchang's younger brother Li Cunyi, who went out of the city for fifty miles to meet the prince. .

It is estimated that he was able to become the magistrate of Huai'an because his brother retired. Zhu Yuanzhang intended to appease him, and he heard that his eldest son was engaged to Hu Weiyong's daughter, and the background was very hard.

Zhu Biao did not enter the city after being courteous all the way, politely rejected the banquet prepared by Huai'an officials, and rushed directly to the navy camp. Jinghai Hou Wuzhen had been waiting for a long time, this is the successor to Tang He's chief officer of the Japanese suppression .

The navy camp was not built by the sea, but it is not far away, and you can still smell the unique smell of the sea. There are many soldiers practicing in the camp. Zhu Biao looked around with his hands behind his back, and asked the Marquis of Jinghai beside him. : "How are the pirates doing recently?"

Wu Zhen bowed and replied: "It's still the same, from Shandong in the north, to Fujian in the south, and looting in various coastal areas. Tang Shuai led me to wipe out several large Japanese pirate organizations, and the remaining small Japanese pirates did not fight with us." I wait for a hard touch, and I will run away when I touch it, which is very annoying."

Zhu Biao also frowned helplessly. This is very uncomfortable. After all, the Japanese pirates are not a whole. wide.

What's more, they generally would not be stationed on the islands around the Ming Dynasty. After the looting, they either fled to the Korean waters or returned to Japan directly.

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(End of this chapter)