Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 362
"Li Dingguo, order!"

"hurry up……"

"What's the rush, whoever talks more will talk more!"

In front of the Qianqing Palace, when Zhu Ciran urged Li Dingguo loudly, his younger brothers and sisters, Zhu Cixuan, Zhu Cijiong, Zhu Shu'e, Zhu Shumoo, etc. who followed behind him encouraged Li Dingguo without too much trouble.

Impatient Li Dingguo stood in front of a string of flaming firecrackers, lit a stick of incense in his hand, and hesitated to "try it" in front of the firecrackers.

His movements seemed to be about to run away in the next second.

Not far away, Wang An, Wei Zhongxian, Wang Tiqian, Liu Ruoyu and other four eunuchs brought many maids and eunuchs, and everyone watched this scene with smiles.

"Brother brings this kid with him, does he think that this kid can become a capable minister in the future?"

Standing in front of the white marble guardrail, Zhu Youxiao looked at this warm scene and asked with a smile on his face, while Zhu Youjian standing next to him looked at Li Dingguo, who was "wanting to try", with a calm expression. Opening:
"I don't know, but Dingguo's research on border affairs is good. I plan to send him to study in Yanshan Academy in the year after next."

"Not with you?" Zhu Youxiao turned his head in surprise. Obviously, in his opinion, Li Dingguo could learn more from Zhu Youjian's side.

It's just that Zhu Youjian is very clear that some things can't be learned by belts, and some people are born with higher talents in certain things.

Li Dingguo was delayed in history, but after studying in Sichuan with peace of mind, he did not show strong governance ability in Yunnan and Guizhou.

Maybe it's because the study time is too short, or maybe there is really no talent for governance.

In short, Li Dingguo's political ability is indeed very average in the eyes of Zhu Youjian, but his military talent is good.

If he can reach the military ability of a 20-year-old Liangjue famous king at the age of 31, then there will be another Dinghai Shenzhen in Ming Dynasty's border affairs.

Therefore, facing his brother's inquiry, Zhu Youjian shook his head and said:
"The tiger will only become a domestic cat in the family. Only by letting it out can the tiger roar in the mountains and forests."

"He will go as other Yanshan students go."

"Twenty years from now, if Ming has him in border affairs, at least 20 years of peace will be guaranteed."

Zhu Youjian gave Li Dingguo a high evaluation, and Zhu Youxiao frowned slightly when he heard this.

Obviously, he heard that his younger brother was training Zhu Ciran's helper, or preparing for him to become a feudal clan.

Twenty years later, it is obvious that Qi Jin, Qin Bangping and others are no longer around, and Hong Chengchou, Sun Chuanting and others are also over 20 years old, so the 29-year-old Li Dingguo will undoubtedly become the Great Wall of Ming Dynasty by then.

It's just that the Great Wall can only protect the country, how to manage the family needs to be screened...

"Does my brother have any favorite courtiers?"

Zhu Youxiao asked Zhu Youjian again, because he knew that what Daming needed was not a famous general, but a famous minister.

"There are some, but it hasn't been decided yet..."

Zhu Youjian was silent, he naturally knew what Daming lacked, and he had been looking for this kind of person for a long time.

Generally speaking, Daming's political group is already very mature.

Inside are Gu Bingqian, Bi Ziyan, Li Changgeng, Dong Yingju, Sun Chengzong, Zhu Xieyuan, and outside are Sun Chuanting, Lu Xiangsheng, Hong Chengchou, Shen Tingyang, Yang Wenyue, and Wu Aheng.

It can be said that the latter is the former's substitute. Once there is a problem with the former, the latter will immediately replace it.

In addition, most of the latter are people with both civil and military skills, and they will not be weak and bully externally. In terms of strategic vision, they can even be said to be world-class.

The only embarrassing point is that the former are basically all veterans in their 60s and [-]s, and the youngest Li Changgeng is also in his fifties.

As for the latter, they are not too young. Sun Chuanting and Hong Chengchou are both 36 years old, Wu Aheng, Yang Wenyue, and Shen Tingyang are also 34 to 29 years old. The youngest is Lu Xiangsheng, but he is also [-] years old.

Whether the former can survive for ten years is still a question. Although the latter can guarantee peace for 20 years, it will also become a problem after 30 years.

At present, the people Zhu Youjian pays attention to include Wang Jiazhen who is acting as Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of War temporarily, Fan Jingwen who is Wenxuan doctor, and Yan Yingyuan who he pays attention to, as well as Ni Yuanlu, Huang Daozhou, Qu Shixu and others who are compiling in the Imperial Academy.

Of course, these people are also older, basically in their thirties, so Zhu Youjian mainly cares about Du Yinxi, Zhang Huangyan, and...

Sun Kewang...

"..." Thinking of Sun Kewang, Zhu Youjian frowned slightly and remained silent.

It has to be said that in terms of political governance ability alone, if Sun Kewang is not impetuous, he will undoubtedly be a first-class existence in the late Ming Dynasty.

In Yunnan at the end of the Ming Dynasty, before the Great Western Army entered Yunnan, like other places in the country, military disasters, famines and famines came together continuously.

After the Shadingzhou Rebellion broke out, the people of Yunnan went into exile, starved everywhere, and the social economy completely collapsed.

At the beginning of Sun Kewang's governance of Yunnan, he faced "people digging grass and trees for food", "hunger and disease, and ninety-nine deaths", "natural disasters are prevalent, ten deaths are five or six, the sick look at each other with pillows, the coffins are exhausted, and the dead are all seated. Wrapped, buried in the wilderness is a good fortune" mess.

However, after Sun Kewang took over, the production quickly resumed that year, which not only fed the Daxi Army and Mu Tianbo's army, but also brought a bumper harvest in Yunnan and Guizhou.

Not only that, when he relied on 400 million people to feed tens of thousands of troops, he still had the energy to open warehouses to help the people.

Before and after this, it took only one year for Sun Kewang to restore Yunnan's economy from total bankruptcy to the point of "Wufu and Minfeng".

Afterwards, on the basis of two consecutive years of good harvests, Sun Kewang lifted the "farmers' ban" in the sixth year of Shunzhi, and set off lanterns during the Lantern Festival. The scene even surpassed the heyday of the Ming Dynasty.

At the same time, it was also in this year that Sun Kewang began to carry out the reform of the village system, adjusted some of the too idealistic regulations in the camp system, and adjusted the industrial and commercial policies and the administration of officials, thus ushering in another bumper year.

The soldiers and civilians in Yunnan "sweat like rain, the people are rich, the soldiers are strong and strong", the tillers have their fields, and the warriors have their food, making Yunnan one of the places with the best economic conditions in the country at that time, comparable to Jiangnan.

Even Sun Kewang's successful governance in Yunnan had a huge influence and attraction on the regions and people under the rule of the Qing court.

In the tenth year of Shunzhi, Ding Daren, a staff member of the governor of Pianyuan in the Qing army, heard in Hunan that "the people in central Yunnan are happy to work, and the people in Yunnan are quiet, if you don't know there is a warring party."

Even Jiangnan, which is far away from Yunnan and rich in the world, has a saying that "Southern Yunnan is a paradise in the world. Its people are separated from mountains and seas, and they still live in the crown belt today."

Until Sun Kewang was jealous of Li Dingguo and surrendered to the Qing army, Yunnan was still in a prosperous state with "grain and grass piled up in mountains" and "more than money and food".

If it were not for Sun Kewang's surrender, the Qing army's entry into Yunnan interrupted the rapid economic development of Yunnan and massacred the people, causing severe damage to Yunnan's agricultural production. Yunnan might have been a relatively wealthy province in the early Qing Dynasty.

Such a person, if he is not impetuous, can be used to replace Hong Chengchou and become a highly capable cabinet chief assistant in Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Youjian asked Jin Yiwei to go to Mizhi County to inquire about Sun Kewang's whereabouts. However, perhaps because the relocation of the people led to the relocation of Sun Kewang's family, Jin Yiwei did not find Sun Kewang.

But he is still confident, because at Sun Kewang's age, his values ​​have basically been cultivated, and now all the scribes in the world have a way to rise. Even if he doesn't become an official, he will join the army.

No matter what, unless he is unlucky enough to go to the battlefield and be hacked to death, Zhu Youjian will always see him...

"Crackling-"

"It's ringing!"

The sound of firecrackers being lit awakened Zhu Youjian, he concentrated his attention, looked at Li Dingguo who ran away in a hurry, and Zhu Ciran and others applauding beside him, he couldn't help sighing in his heart.

He also didn't know if his elder nephew could be useful.

If he, like Zhu Di, cultivated a prodigal Zhu Zhanji, he would probably die of anger on the other side of the ocean.

"Stop playing, come in and eat."

Zhang Yan's voice sounded, and Zhu Ciran and others who were playing around immediately ran into Qianqing Palace, and Li Dingguo also ran to Zhu Youjian's side.

Zhu Youjian put his hand on his shoulder, and then walked into Qianqing Palace with Zhu Youxiao.

Around the big round table in the palace, many concubines were already standing in front of their seats. Not surprisingly, Zhu Youjian was still sitting at the first place on the left, Zhu Ciran was arranged at the first left of him, and Li Dingguo was next to Zhu Ciran , followed by Zhu Cixuan and Zhu Cijiong.

Zhu Youxiao took the main seat, Zhang Yan was on the first right, followed by Zhu Shu'e and Zhu Shumoo.

Behind them are Princess Ningde Zhu Huiyan, Princess Suiping Zhu Huijing, and Princess Le'an Zhu Huiti.

Chongzhen used to be very close to the three younger sisters, but since Zhu Youjian came, he gradually alienated them.

It's not intentional alienation, but he is really busy and really doesn't have time to play around with them.

What's more, with his two lifetimes as a human being, adding up the previous and the last, he is basically close to 50 years old, and he really can't play with them.

As he grew older, he didn't even have a conversation with his royal brother Zhu Youxiao.

Whenever Zhu Youxiao approached him and wanted to show some attitude as an elder brother, he would always be unconsciously ignored by Zhu Youjian.

Maybe he's too old psychologically to talk anymore.

When he was at the table, because it was a family banquet, Zhu Youjian didn't behave so well. He lowered his head and picked up the vegetables to eat, but Zhu Youxiao smiled when he saw this, and said to everyone:
"Move your chopsticks..."

"Yes..." Everyone responded, and then began to move their chopsticks.

In fact, Zhu Youxiao would hold a family banquet several times a month, and every time it was lively.

It's just that every time Zhu Youjian appears, the atmosphere is always a bit cold.

The concubines are afraid of him, but Princess Ningde and the three don't know how to communicate with their younger brother and elder brother.

This family banquet was a bit depressing, there was no laughter and laughter in the past, it seemed that there was only the sound of eating.

Zhu Youjian's mind was full of things that needed to be dealt with, and he didn't care about the atmosphere at the dinner table, but Zhu Youxiao took the initiative to adjust the atmosphere and said:

"Recently, the Duke of England and other princes have been asking my younger brother when he will choose a concubine to get married. On the cabinet side, Gu Bingqian, Han Yu, and Sun Chengzong have also asked about it."

"Siam, Nanzhang, Ganbozhi, Sulu, Boni and other countries outside the country also have intentions. North Korea has selected 72 beautiful women in the country, and plans to select [-] of them to send over, and years of preparation."

"I didn't mean to force my younger brother to choose a concubine, it's just that my younger brother is almost at the age that should be crowned, so it's not a good thing to procrastinate."

This year's forced marriage did not happen between Zhang Yan and Zhu Youjian, but between Zhu Youxiao and Zhu Youjian.

After all, the princes of the Ming Dynasty basically chose their concubines to get married at the age of 16. People like Zhu Youjian are considered "older leftover men" among the princes.

Zhu Youxiao's inquiry was a question without a trace of politics, but when Zhu Youjian heard it, he raised his head and said flatly:

"As for choosing a concubine, it's up to brother to make up his mind."

"Do you have any requirements? Family, or appearance?" Zhu Youxiao was a little surprised at the speed at which Zhu Youjian agreed, but Zhu Youjian said after hearing the words:

"Whatever you want..."

His answer made Zhu Youxiao silent for a few seconds. He could see that Zhu Youjian really didn't care about choosing a concubine.

Except for the first and second generations who needed to marry because of the strength of the noble group, the emperors and vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty basically chose commoner women as their concubines.

Of course, this is not entirely a commoner. To be precise, it should be some small officials, or women from the family of the generals in the guard.

Zhu Youjian doesn't need to compromise anything, and he doesn't think he has the right to "free love".

Leaving aside whether he has time, the so-called love between a man and a woman is just a drop in the ocean compared to what he has to do.

Unless Zhu Youxiao and the cabinet guys choose a woman for Zhu Youjian who is too ugly to look at directly, Zhu Youjian is not interested in who his princess is at all.

"Yang Yuan'ai and Yang Rushi in your mansion have taken care of you for so many years, don't you have any thoughts about them?"

Zhu Youxiao spoke curiously, and his words attracted everyone at the family banquet to listen attentively.

Generally speaking, no matter if it is the royal family, ministers of civil and military affairs, or noble relatives, as long as the family is a little wealthy, most of the men in the family will have sex in their teens, and the targets of their hands are all maids and maidservants.

Although Zhang Yan and the others knew that Zhu Youjian was very busy, they were still curious whether Zhu Youjian had done anything to the two beautiful maidservants at home, especially Yang Yuanai.

This pair of aunts and nephews are better than many beautiful girls, and placed next to normal men, no matter their age, they would have been eaten long ago.

But to their disappointment, facing this answer, Zhu Youjian shook his head and said:
"I have feelings for them, most of which are family members, so what can I think?"

"That's not right. I think they think differently about you, Uncle Wu." Zhang Yan said with a smile, but Zhu Youjian shook his head when he heard the words.

"let it go……"

"Hmm..." Hearing Zhu Youjian's words, Zhang Yan knew there was something going on, so she persuaded Zhu Youxiao:
"Why don't we wait for the fifth uncle to win the championship before drafting?"

"Alright..." Zhu Youxiao thought for a while, then nodded slightly, while Zhu Youjian was indifferent the whole time.

It seemed that Zhu Youjian was a little tired, and Zhu Youxiao didn't force him to stay to watch the dance music, but had tea with him after the family banquet, and then let Zhu Youjian go.

Zhu Youjian took Li Dingguo away, and the kid followed Zhu Youjian, clinging to him tightly. Others looked at him, fearing that Zhu Youjian's stride was too big and he would kick him over.

When the two walked out of the gate of Qianqing Palace, the elephants in Prince Qi's mansion had already been waiting for a long time.

Without any distracting thoughts, Zhu Youjian got into the car, and there were already hundreds of memorials piled up on the case in the car.

These are all memorials that he needs to deal with, so after sitting down, Zhu Youjian said to Li Dingguo:

"Don't move, don't disturb..."

"Enen!" Li Dingguo nodded quickly, and then sat next to him on the first left, with both hands on the table and one hand propping his chin, looking at Zhu Youjian quietly.

Zhu Youjian has already opened the urgent memorial, and the content of the memorial is also the one he saw before today's court meeting.

When he saw this memorial during the day, he had already thought of how to reply, but it was delayed because of his brother's invitation to a family banquet.

Therefore, after the memorial was opened, he picked up the ink pen and replied:

"The matter of military service should not be contaminated by outsiders. Even the soldiers and horses need the children of the Han family to join the army."

"The Fanmin of Yingzhou can be used as government servants, auxiliary soldiers, and craftsmen, but they must not be involved in military affairs..."

Zhu Youjian controls the military power more strictly than anyone else, because he is very aware of the hidden threat to Ming Dynasty's rule after the Japanese in Yingzhou are contaminated with military power.

Zhu Youjian did not allow this kind of threat to exist.

As for what Yan Siqi said about the life of Japanese farmers in the memorial, Zhu Youjian also knew very well that if he wanted the Japanese to submit to Ming Dynasty honestly, he had to assimilate them.

How to assimilate?This is very simple, nothing more than basic necessities of life.

Zhu Youjian replied to Yan Siqi a lot, including that the imperial court will increase the opening of the imperial store in Yingzhou, and will sell white cloth, briquette and other things at a low price.

Not only that, he is kind-hearted by nature, and with a swipe of a pen, he promised that the imperial court would build a hundred cement plants in Yingzhou, and besides Han people were needed to manage the cement plant, the recruiters could only recruit farmers during the slack season. increase income of African farmers.

This also means that the cement field in Yingzhou, excluding those serving prisoners, the cement field dedicated to farmers' work, will only be open during the eight months from May to August, and from winter to February every year.

For the remaining four months, when it comes to busy farming, the factory will be closed entirely.

From this point of view, it seems to be a waste of resources, but who made Zhu Youjian "kind-hearted"...

As for the wages of these factories, Zhu Youjian has also increased from ten cash per day to fifteen cash per day. I think tens of millions of farmers in Japan will be grateful to him after learning about it.

Not only that, but also in factories such as mines, iron smelting plants, and chemical fertilizer plants, Zhu Youjian also allowed farmers in Yingzhou to work during slack, and the wages were also [-] cents.

In the end, after the full recovery of Yingzhou, Yumajian will build more than [-] workshops, which can accommodate more than [-] people.

The income from these workshops, together with the one mu of land allocated to them by the imperial court, and the harvest from the land rented by the government, after this series of income is converted into grain, each farmer will increase from three hundred catties per capita during the shogunate rule. Coarse grains have been increased to [-] catties per capita during the reign of the Ming Dynasty.

This ratio has basically reached the level of the 80s.

Being able to reach this level does not mean that Daming has advanced technology, but that Daming has a lot of cultivated land resources.

Although the yield per mu of Daming is only 80 catties at present, and that of later generations is more than 340 catties per mu in the [-]s, the arable land resources of the two are different.

After recovering Yingzhou, the area of ​​arable land in Ming Dynasty will reach 6000 million mu, but only 7000 million people need to support them, with an average of [-] mu of arable land per capita.

In contrast, in the 80s of later generations, 16 billion mu of arable land had to feed one billion people, and the average per capita was only [-]% of an mu.

With a large amount of arable land resources per capita, even if the productivity is insufficient, the common people can still be fed and clothed.

Of course, this premise is that the group of corrupt officials will not secretly exploit the people behind Zhu Youjian's back, and the people will not encounter the current drought in the Little Ice River.

The severe drought in the Little Ice River basically destroyed nearly three-tenths of the arable land in Daming, and reduced the average ration of the people of Daming from more than [-] catties to only [-] catties.

This does not seem to be a big problem, but it is just the beginning.

In the future, more and more arable land will be affected by natural disasters, and there will be about ten years. Among the original two capitals and thirteen provinces, there will be two capitals and eleven provinces that will suffer severe drought.

Of the more than 6000 million mu of arable land in Daming, nearly [-] million mu will be directly wiped out by the drought, and the remaining [-] million mu will be reduced in grain production.

The only things we can rely on are Jiugang, Jiaozhi, and Yingzhou, as well as some hundreds of millions of acres of land near major rivers in the two capitals and thirteen provinces.

At that time, the per capita ration will drop to only [-] catties per person.

If there were no such places as Yingzhou, Jiugang, and Jiaozhi, and if there were no places like Liaodong and Hexi that had passed through the immigrant border, the rations of the people of Ming Dynasty would be the same as in history, only less than [-] catties, and starvation would be everywhere...

Therefore, in order to fight drought and protect the people, Ming Dynasty had to stabilize Jiaozhi and Yingzhou, places with cultural characteristics, and also strengthen the control of the feudal clans over South Asia.

To achieve this, it is necessary to eliminate the opponent's people, enrich the opponent's spirit and body, and finally corrupt and assimilate them.

In this era, the only advantage is that the Ming army will wipe out all the local aristocratic classes, and their disappearance represents the extinction of culture.

Common people, especially those like Yingzhou, are not even worthy of owning their own surnames, talking about and inheriting culture.

Zhu Youjian not only wants to feed them, but also to let them have books to read.

Learn Chinese characters, speak Chinese...

This is a change he will make next, but this change requires many talents who can teach and educate people.

He is preparing for this, and it will take a lot of time.

In short, after his series of arrangements, if there are still farmers in Yingzhou who miss life under the shogunate, they are not idiots, but fools.

"Your Highness, here we are..."

A voice sounded from outside the elephant, and Zhu Youjian also came back to his senses.

He looked at the last point to be dealt with in the memorial. After the silence, he wrote the names of Yang Wenyue, Wu Aheng, Cao Bianjiao and Cao Dingjiao.

"Yang Wenyue and Wu Aheng have rested for a long time, let them jointly command, just to exercise Cao Bianjiao and Cao Dingjiao."

After slightly nodding, Zhu Youjian put the memorial together, then got off the carriage with the memorial, and handed it to Jin Yiwei next to him, saying:
"Hand over the memorial to the Ministry of Officials and the Governor's Office of the Five Armies, and tell Gu Bingqian that after Jin Xuan is released, he can be sent to Yingzhou to be his prefect of the South Island."

"Yes..." Jin Yiwei responded, then took the memorial, turned and left.

Seeing this, Zhu Youjian also turned around and walked towards Prince Qi's mansion, while Li Dingguo, who just jumped out of the car behind him, followed him into Prince Qi's mansion...

　Tomorrow's update is estimated to be around five or six in the afternoon, but for the Chapter 2 update, I should be able to update it before twelve o'clock in the morning.

　　Now the fever is gone, but the whole body is sore and painful, especially the waist, as if being sucked by "grandmother tree"...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)