Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 304
"Let's find Guano Island?"

On the [-]rd day of the twelfth lunar month, when Huanglong finished his first ocean expedition and returned to the Old Port, he thought he would be greeted and celebrated by many people.

As a result, he never thought that at the same time as the salute was fired, he got the document that Zhu Youjian sent from Guangzhou to Jiugang.

The content of this document still asked him to find Guano Island, Huang Long was speechless for a while...

He once suspected that His Royal Highness was joking with him, but after looking at the seal on the document in his hand, he turned his head to look at a commander next to him and said:
"Let the guards mark the guano islands in all the waterways, and then send the natives to dig the guano and transport them to Beigang and Guangzhou."

"Yes..." The general next to him also showed a somewhat helpless expression. Who would have thought that their navy would have to do this.

"I heard that Yan Siqi and the others were also ordered by His Royal Highness to search for Guano Island..."

Li Dan spoke suddenly, and Huang Long shook his head when he heard it:

"I think His Highness has His Highness's considerations. In addition, the military newspaper also proposed that Annan will be recovered next year. The navy needs to send six guards and horses to cooperate with the five armies.

Huang Long was asking Li Dan, and Li Dan nodded slightly and said:
"The five guards should be able to supervise and suppress the rebellion and guerrilla forces of the natives."

The old port is not absolutely safe. There are still a large number of natives in the mountainous area launching attacks on the Han people, so troops must be kept to suppress it.

Adjusting six guards and horses seems to be almost the limit of the navy...

Thinking of this, Huang Long, Li Dan and others only felt that Zhu Youjian knew the situation of the navy very well, but they had no other thoughts.

But if someone else said this number, it would make them a little worried.

"After defeating Annan this time, the Confederate Governor's Mansion should enter the Old Port and other places, and our pressure will be much less by then."

After closing the document, Huang Long told Li Dan:
"Let the people below actively recruit natives to dig bird droppings. Don't be sloppy with what His Highness arranged, and deal with it well."

"Yes..." Li Dan bowed in response, and Huang Long also turned around and walked towards the old port city.

Almost when he was walking towards the old port city, Yan Siqi of Shikoku Island also issued a similar military order.

And their military orders all pointed to Zhu Youjian in the capital, but Zhu Youjian was at ease at the moment.

"Shuofang has a white calamity and wants to allocate [-] taels of silver..."

"Mei Zhihuan, the chief minister of Hexi, asked the court to issue an additional [-] cattle..."

"The Governor's Mansion of the Eastern Army rode out of Yidong River Chengtang to harass the Jian captives and Mihe City, beheaded the false captives of the [-]th rank, and the northern captives of the [-]th rank. Please reward me with three hundred and seventy taels of silver..."

"and many more!"

When Zhu Youjian was lying on a rocking chair in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, holding the memorandum in his hand, and after reading it, handed it to Zhu Youxiao who was next to Longan, Zhu Youxiao suddenly stopped and said:

"Why do you need me to deal with such a small amount of money as three hundred and seventy taels?"

Zhu Youxiao's self-proclaimed "Zhen" is not difficult to see that he is a little irritable.

As a result, Zhu Youjian picked up a memorial and said:
"The emperor, with all his affairs in mind, naturally has to take care of the affairs of the world. Three hundred and seventy taels of silver are enough for a family of five to settle down in the capital, buy horses and wear silk, and live a prosperous life."

After finishing speaking, he turned sideways, took the memorial and continued to read:

"The anniversary of Empress Xiaoke's death is approaching, the British Duke Zhang Weixian please send Dingxi Marquis Jiang Weigong to sacrifice to Yongling, and please allocate five hundred taels of silver..."

After reading, he put the memorial on Zhu Youxiao's dragon case, and Zhu Youxiao didn't seem to be interested in such noble things, so he approved it immediately.

Ever since Xungui was expelled from the Mansion of the Commander-in-Chief of the Five Armies, there was only one thing left for them to do, and that was to help the emperor pay homage to the imperial mausoleum...

Worshiping the imperial mausoleum happened more than [-] times a year, big and small, respectively, worshiping the emperor and the empress, and it was considered one of the few things that nobles could do.

As for whether they will make money in it?Zhu Youxiao didn't care about this.

One is that you can't make much money by fishing, and the other is that nobles who only know how to fish for silver will be deposed after decades at most.

At present, Zhang Zhiji, Zhang Shize, and other nobles such as the Duke, Marquis, and Earl of the British government have begun to send their children to Yanshan for school.

In fact, they are also afraid, afraid that they will lose their military merits and be really deposed.

It's just that Zhu Youjian didn't explain clearly how much military merit is required to inherit the title so that the title will not fall.

But speaking of titles...

"What do you think of the titles of Xiong Tingbi, Sun Yingyuan and Man Gui?"

The North Sweeping Campaign has been over for less than half a year, and Zhu Youxiao has naturally begun to draw up the rewards for the soldiers, and among them, as Zhu Youjian thought before, the most difficult thing to draw up is the merits of Xiong Tingbi and the other three.

Zhu Youxiao wanted to ask Zhu Youjian's opinion, but he didn't want Zhu Youjian to be direct:
"Uncle Xiong Tingbi Kaiyuan, Uncle Manguitai Ningbo, Uncle Sun Yingyuan Guangning..."

"Huh?" Zhu Youxiao froze for a moment, then looked at his brother strangely.

He seemed to be thinking, isn't his younger brother worried about civil and military conflicts, and the civil servants asked the three of them to be transferred back to the capital after hearing that they had been conferred uncles?

Just looking at Zhu Youjian's absent-minded appearance, Zhu Youxiao thought for a while and still didn't ask, just shook his head, and continued to bow his head to deal with the memorial.

In fact, Zhu Youjian didn't think too much about it. The soldiers came to cover up the water and the soil. If the civil officials opened their mouths and played party games and tricks, they couldn't play with themselves. Zhu Youjian was not afraid at all.

He has a lot of black information on the civil servants in his hands. If it hadn't been released in one breath, it would cause shocks in the officialdom. If the officials couldn't make up, he would have released it long ago.

Now he is releasing black material little by little, basically once a year to clean up local officials and replace them with Yanshan students.

"By the way, brother, Enke in Yanshan has also ended. This time, more than [-] Jinshi were admitted, and the rest of the students followed the admitted Jinshi to the south to take up their posts."

"Brother, are you sure you want to use the candidates you passed the exam?" Zhu Youxiao asked back with a frown.

As Zhu Youjian expected, many of the tens of millions of scholars in Ming Dynasty had already noticed Enke as the fastest shortcut.

Many people choose to temporarily give up the seven-year imperial examination of Tianqi, and focus on the one-year Enke examination questions.

Facts have also proved that in order to become an official, among the tens of millions of talented people, there will inevitably be a group of outstanding ones.

For example, among the [-] Enke Scholars this time, [-] of them are civilian scholars who are not from Yanshan.

Compared with the imperial examination, which depends on the abstract theory of the examiner's thinking, Enke's examinations are all the answers written in the textbooks.

The only problem is policy theory, because Enke's policy theory is issued by Zhu Youjian himself, and this year's policy theory mainly has three problems.

The first question is how to govern Annan, the second question is how to govern a prefecture, and the third question is how to govern a county.

The three questions ranged from difficult to simple, and most people only answered the third question. The first two questions were either impractical or high-spirited.

For this kind of person, Zhu Youjian often brushed him down directly and asked him to start as a clerk.

However, after Enke this year, many scholars may change their minds and simply give up the imperial examination next year and take the Enke next year.

After all, anyone with a discerning eye can see that the imperial examination is much more difficult than Enke.

Moreover, Enke is different from the imperial examination. As long as Enke is admitted, three qualifications will be issued: Jinshi, Gongshi, and Juren.

Scholars are generally sent down to the county to serve as official officials, tribute scholars are a substitute for official officials, and recruits start from scribes.

From this point of view, the gold content of Enke seems to be much lower than that of the imperial examination.

Just don't forget, Enke is once a year now, and the imperial examination is once every three years, how many three years are there in life?

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian put the last memorial on Zhu Youxiao's desk: "That's all for today..."

"That's all..." Zhu Youxiao looked at the more than one hundred memorials on his desk, and the corners of his eyes twitched.

"Brother take it easy, I'll go to the Ancient and Modern Classics Museum to see how the transcription of "Yongle Dadian" is going."

Zhu Youjian looked at Zhu Youxiao whose eyes were twitching, chuckled with an expression of watching a play, then turned and left the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

It was after he left that Zhu Youxiao asked Liu Ruoyu, "Did I order to transcribe the "Yongle Dadian"?"

"Your Highness ordered this before. At that time, Long live you were doing carpentry, and you nodded your head yourself..." Liu Ruoyu replied honestly.

"Really?" Zhu Youxiao seemed to have forgotten, but when he looked down at the pile of memorials, he was in a bad mood.

Zhu Youjian went to watch "Yongle Dadian", Zhu Youxiao was dealing with memorials, and external disaster relief was continuing. It seemed that everything was proceeding in an orderly manner.

But when they were living leisurely, the Jianlu in Xingjing City became a mess.

"What happened to Khan Ama!?"

People say that the Northeast is bitterly cold, especially in winter, and it is difficult for older and weaker people to survive...

As if to verify this sentence, Nurhachi's health has been declining since the beginning of winter. Until three days ago, Nurhachi was completely ill on the bed, and he couldn't even use a wheelchair.

After the news was heard by Mang Gurtai stationed in Yimihe City, he immediately led his followers and rushed back to Xingjing City overnight.

But when he arrived at the Xingjing City Palace, two coughs sounded at the same time, and the guards hurriedly stopped him.

The one who coughed lightly was Fan Wencheng, but the other was Liu Aita, the brother-in-law of Daikin.

Seeing that they dared to stop their master, the generals around Mang Gurtai were furious.

"Liu Aita! Fan Wencheng! Are you trying to learn from Zhao Gao!?"

These two are foreign ministers, but they can't stand these words, and Mang Gurtai is the prince, so they don't dare to stop them for a while.

"Hmph!" Mang Gurtai saw the two of them took a step back, raised their heads and snorted coldly, and were about to take another step, another person came out again.

When he walked out of the hall, he revealed Hu Erhan, one of the five ministers. At this moment, he was holding a cane, with a sick face, walking hard and scolding:

"What nonsense is the dog slave! Khan is still fine, where did Zhao Gao come from?" Hu Erhan appeared to be reprimanding Mang Gurtai's lieutenant general, but in fact he was pointing fingers at Sang Huai.

Facing Hu Erhan, Mang Gurtai frowned slightly, intending to refute him, but for the sake of the overall situation, he stopped in his tracks.

The main reason was that he didn't know what was going on with Nurhachi in the hall, so he rushed in rashly. If Nurhachi was really fine, he would suffer instead.

"Since Da Khan is well, let me wait until I see Da Khan so that I can feel at ease."

When everyone was at a stalemate, Mang Gurtai was a step behind, Daishan who also came from Yimihe City shouted loudly, and Hu Erhan and Fan Wencheng looked at each other.

After a while, when Dangshan came to the front of the hall, Hu Erhan said:

"Dream Khan suffered from the wind and cold, but now there is no serious problem, but he has been sleeping all the time, unable to speak. Everyone, please be safe from a distance, and don't disturb Da Khan."

As Hu Erhan spoke, Mang Gurtai and Dai Shan exchanged glances, and then they were led into the hall by Hu Erhan.

Entering the hall, the two saw Nurhachi lying motionless on the bed through a screen. Although the distance was a bit far, they could still see and hear Nurhachi's heavy breathing and see the rising and falling chest.

Obviously, Nurhachi is still alive, but his condition is not as good as Hu Erhan said.

Daishan wanted to take another step forward to see clearly, but at this moment Hu Erhan coughed and said:

"Ahem! The two Baylors and Dahan are in need of recuperation. Now that you've read it, let's go out..."

"Humph!"

Dai Shan and Mang Gurtai didn't observe carefully after entering and were called out by Hu Erhan, so when they walked out of the palace, their faces were a bit unsightly.

Although Daishan was defeated by the Ming army in Yidonghe City, causing many casualties, but after all, he was not bad at planning, so he immediately said to Mang Gurtai after he came out:

"Although Han Ama's condition is stable, in order to avoid accidents, it is best to lock Xingjing City tightly and prevent the news from spreading..."

When Daishan said this, he obviously saw that Nurhachi's condition was not good, and he didn't want Huang Taiji to know the news of Nurhachi's illness.

He knew very well that Nurhachi had always wanted to pass the position to Huang Taiji. If Huang Taiji hadn't been seriously injured and passed out during the Liao Liao campaign, perhaps he wouldn't be able to take the position of supervisor.

What's more, judging from the number of soldiers Huang Taiji dispatched to Horqin this time, this guy developed very rapidly in Shangjing, and his military strength even overwhelmed him and Mang Gurtai for a time.

Under such a change, if Huang Taiji knew the news of Nurhachi's serious illness, they might not be able to take the position of Da Khan...

Mang Gurtai was not stupid, so after hearing Daishan's words, the two of them agreed together and immediately ordered the blockade of Xingjing City.

But with the means of the two of them, how can they beat Huang Taiji?

When they were plotting, Fan Wencheng, who was transferred back to Xingjing City ahead of time, squinted his eyes, and a day later, in the meditation room of the Imperial Palace in Shangjing, Fan Wencheng's brother Fan Wencai also ran in from outside the meditation room nervously:

"Baile, Da Khan is seriously ill. This is the news from my brother and minister Hu Erhan."

When Fan Wencai walked into the meditation room, Huang Taiji got up immediately, took the handwriting in the dim meditation room, and read it with a frown.

When he saw Fan Wencheng say that Dai Shan and Mang Gurtai blocked Xingjing City, he couldn't help cursing:
"The Northern Expedition of the Ming Army is imminent, and the fortune of the Great Jin Kingdom is here to fight. These two are still thinking about fighting for power!"

"Now my Dajin only has a square inch of land, and I don't even have a place to maneuver. If the Dajin is gone, what's the use of this position!"

Huang Taiji couldn't help scolding, while Fan Wencai said:

"There is a catastrophe in the pass this year. Even if Zhu Youjian wants to make a northern expedition, he still needs to take into account the issue of money and food. I'm afraid he won't be able to go north so soon."

"Even if there is no military action this year, what about next year? What about the year after?" Huang Taiji could see clearly that if Da Jin couldn't find a way out, it would be a certainty that he would be blocked by Zhu Youjian and die in the place where the slaves worked.

In this case, Nurhachi must not have an accident, even if he is suffering from pain, but only with him can Dajin be safe and able to resist the Ming army.

Thinking of this, Huangtai Jimi immediately said:

"Tune two white flags, follow me south an hour later, go to the capital and hand it over to Jierhalang to be stationed, and at the same time send a message to Amin, telling him about Mangurtai and Daishan's actions."

"Yes!" Fan Wencai responded with a bow, and couldn't help admiring Huang Taiji in his heart.

Amin, who currently holds tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, is the biggest variable. As long as Amin does not fall to Daishan and Manggurtai, Huang Taiji's troops will be enough to suppress them.

Amin is a soft-hearted person, if Huang Taiji asks someone to threaten him, Amin will definitely hate Huang Taiji.

But right now, Huang Taiji just sent people a message, which gave A Min an important message.

If Amin knew what Daishan and Manggurtai had done, he could only stand still, instead of leading troops to the capital like Huang Taiji.

The reason is simple, he is not a prince, he is just Nurhachi's nephew.

Without Nurhachi's order, he could only stay in Pu'erhe City honestly.

Soon, the mobilization of [-] people from the two white flags was completed, and Huang Taiji also rode out of Shangjing.

I just don't know if the winter is too dry and cold, but Huang Taiji suddenly started to have a nosebleed when he walked out of Shangjing.

He didn't take it seriously either. After wiping it casually, he blocked it with paper.

Afterwards, he led his troops to the south, and in just three days, he traveled more than [-] li. It was not until late at night on the third day that he arrived at the city of Xingjing.

"Beep--"

The ear-piercing wooden whistle sounded, and at the same time as six thousand white-flag horse infantrymen arrived, the entire north gate of Xingjing city lit up with flames, the archers drew their bows and set arrows, and the artillerymen also aimed their inferior artillery at the two white flags below the city.

This is the first time since Nurhachi pacified the Jurchen, the Jianzhou Jurchen turned swords against their own people.

"Presumptuous! Huangtai Jibel came here under the edict of the Great Khan, who told you to close the city gate?!"

Fan Wencai was not a traditional literati, he rode his horse forward as a pawn, and scolded the Jin army on the city gate, but the Jin army on the gate tower began to hesitate when they heard Huang Taiji holding Nurhachi's edict.

This stalemate lasted for a quarter of an hour, and Dai Shan and Mang Gurtai arrived late one after the other.

They leaned on the parapet, looked down at Huang Taiji and the six thousand taels of white flag soldiers and horses outside the city, and frowned.

"In just a few years, he has increased the two white flags to [-] people?"

"Counting the Mongols and the Han camp, his military strength may not be inferior to that of you and me..."

A comic scene happened. Mangurtai and Daishan, who were political opponents a few days ago, began to stand aside, because Huang Taiji threatened and pressured them too much.

"You two, I am here under the imperial edict of Khan Ama. Dare I ask if it is Khan Ama's intention to block the Xingjing City?"

Huang Taiji didn't panic when he saw the rightful lord coming. Instead, he rode forward and asked Dai Shan and Mang Gurtai at the top of the city.

If Nurhachi died, they would definitely answer "yes" directly.

It's just that Nurhachi is still alive right now, and they dare not kill their father, so the situation is somewhat passive.

"Old Ba, when did Khan Ama issue an edict? Why don't we know?"

Daishan didn't believe that Huang Taiji had any so-called edict, but just after he finished speaking, Huang Taiji slowly raised a hand, and what he was holding was an edict.

The appearance of the edict caused the Jin army at the top of the city to look at each other in blank dismay. They put down their bows and arrows for a while, and Dai Shan and Mang Gurtai also held their breath.

The two of them looked at each other, and Dai Shancai said:

"Khan Ama Ke said what's the matter?"

Daishan still didn't believe it, but Huang Taiji stepped forward and said:
"Second brother, if you don't believe me, you can put down the hanging basket and read the edict yourself."

"..." Huang Taiji's behavior made Daishan nervous. He was about to say "yes", but he didn't want to hear hurried footsteps behind him.

A Jiala forehead with a blue flag stepped forward and whispered to the two of them:
"Master, there is news from the palace that the sweat has woken up..."

"Awake?!" Dai Shan and Mang Gurtai's pupils shrank, and countless pictures flashed in their minds.

After a while, Dai Shan said unwillingly: "Open the city gate!"

"Yes……"

Under Daishan's order, the gates of the city were opened, and Huang Taiji also led [-] horse infantry from two white banners into Xingjing City.

In this way, apart from the two yellow flags in Xingjing City, he has the most troops with two white flags.

As soon as he entered the city, he saw Fan Wencheng coming on horseback, and Dai Shan and Mang Gurtai also got off the tower.

"The Great Khan summoned the three Baylors, please..."

As soon as Fan Wencheng opened his mouth, both Daishan and Manggurtai felt a little guilty for no reason, while Huang Taiji immediately rode his horse towards the palace.

Dai Shan and Mang Gurtai could only bite the bullet and follow, but when they came to the palace, they suddenly heard a roar:
"Get out! Call Huang Taiji!"

The roar made people's hearts tremble, and Hu Erhan walked out quickly with a cane. After seeing the three of Daishan, he hurriedly said:
"The Khan only saw Huangtai Jibel. In addition, the Khan said, let the two Baylors go to the three Niulu and give the two yellow flags."

"This... Khan..." Mang Gurtai was a little dissatisfied, and wanted to ask Nurhachi what he thought, but in the end he was still a little scared and didn't shout out in the end.

On the contrary, Huang Taiji walked into the palace very calmly, and the palace door was closed in the next second.

But when Huang Taiji walked into the hall, he only saw Nurhachi lying on the bed with a pale face, and Li Yongfang kneeling beside him.

Huang Taiji took off his coat and threw it on the ground casually, and he also threw the imperial edict on the table, and rolled it to reveal the blank content.

Obviously, he not only defrauded Daishan once, but several times.

From the imperial edict to Jiala Ezhen of the Xianglan Banner, to Fan Wencheng, and finally to Hu Erhan...

The idiots like Daishan thought they had stayed in Xingjing City for three years and controlled Xingjing City, but they didn't know that Huang Taiji had been arranging chess pieces.

Now the chess pieces have been arranged, and Huang Taiji also looked at Nurhachi who was lying on the bed, who seemed to be a little bit overwhelmed.

He walked to the side of the bed and knelt down, held Nurhachi's hand tightly, and said with a heavy expression:
"Khan Ama, Dajin is still in trouble, you can't leave yet..."

"Only by giving the Ming army a fiasco can Da Jin survive!"

After Huang Taiji finished speaking, Nurhachi, who had been in a coma for three days, also trembled and opened his eyes with difficulty...

(End of this chapter)