Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 100: The Female Students of the Yan Mansion

"You mean, I won't be able to step out of the yard starting today?"

In the front guard square of the government army, when Zhu Gaoxu stood at the door of his small courtyard and asked who was coming, Wang Jian who brought the people came lowered his head in shame.

Not only that, but also Lin Wuliu and Jia Xiaoqi and the others behind him.

A few days ago they were eating meat and drinking wine with His Highness here, but now they want to confine His Highness in this small courtyard. This is really...

"Haha, look how scared you are."

Zhu Gaoxu raised his hand and patted Wang Jian on the shoulder, and said with a hearty smile: "Don't cry and look sad, isn't it just a grounding..."

"Your Highness..." Zhu Gaoxu's open-mindedness made Wang Jian and others stunned and looked at him in disbelief.

In response, Zhu Gaoxu turned around and motioned for them to follow him, saying as he walked: "If you come to guard me, at least you can tell me what is happening outside. It wouldn't be possible for others, so I should be happy."

Zhu Gaoxu led Wang Jian and others into the courtyard, indicating to them to wait in the courtyard, while he walked into the main house.

After a dozen breaths, Zhu Gaoxu walked out of the main room and threw a bunch of money towards Wang Jian:

"Go! Add money to the restaurant at the door and ask him to prepare two tables of good food. Although we can't drink today, we can't eat too badly."

"From now on, you can ask the brothers in the office to have a few meals with me every day when they change shifts."

"Your Highness..." Wang Jian hurriedly caught the money. Looking at the open-minded Zhu Gaoxu in front of him, he didn't know what to say for a moment.

After a moment, he stepped forward with a wry smile and handed the money to Zhu Gaoxu: "If Your Highness can look away, we will feel relieved."

"But your Highness doesn't need to worry about the money. Commander Sheng asked me to receive twenty guan of money to take care of His Highness's daily life."

"That's good!" Zhu Gaoxu took the money with a smile, sat down on the stone bench, and explained to Wang Jian and Lin Wuliu at the same time:

"You come to guard me, so you don't have to blame yourself so much. You should just come to my place to eat and drink..." Zhu Gaoxu paused for a moment and touched his chin:
"Drinking is not an option. Let's drink some thirsty water or five-color drinks instead."

After saying that, he raised his head and glanced at the people standing in the courtyard, smiled and cursed: "What? Do you want me to carry the chair for you myself?"

"No, no, no, no... we will lift it ourselves!" Lin Wuliu was startled by Zhu Gaoxu's words. He quickly turned around and asked his brothers to lift the chairs themselves, and arranged for his brothers to be on duty.

In view of the fact that there are ten small flag officers and small flag officers, Lin Wuliu arranged everyone and himself into three teams, each standing guard for two quarters of an hour, and then rotated.

After he made arrangements, the four brothers guarded the front and back doors with weapons. Lin Wuliu personally ran errands to the restaurant in the front guard square of the Fujun to summon some food. The remaining five brothers sat in the yard with Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaoxu. Wang Jian chatted together.

They said they were chatting together, but in fact it was just Wang Jian and Zhu Gaoxu chatting. They only expressed their opinions from time to time, and most of the time they were just listeners.

"I went out last time and heard that the price of treasure notes has increased by [-]%. I wonder if this is just in Nanjing or in other places?"

Zhu Gaoxu asked Wang Jian, and Wang Jian replied without hesitation: "Most places in Jiangnan have gone up. The closer to Su Song's second mansion, the higher the price."

"I heard from other people in the office that merchants from Susong's Second Prefecture have offered a consistent price of 460 yuan. The reason is said to be related to the exploration of more than ten gold and silver mines in Yunnan, and I heard that Nanjing A copper mine was also discovered in Jiuhua Mountain to the east of the city."

"More than ten places?" Zhu Gaoxu was stunned, but he didn't expect that the miners in the Ming Dynasty were searching for ore so fast.

He remembered that Lao Zhu only said that he had found a few gold, silver and copper mines, but he didn't expect that in just a few days, more than a dozen had been discovered.

The output of these gold, silver and copper mines is not low. Judging from the output in the Ming and Qing Dynasties in Zhu Gaoxu's memory, they can provide at least millions of gold ingots every year.

"If the Jiuhuashan copper mine is found, it wouldn't be surprising that the price would rise, but the price..."

Although Zhu Gaoxu was not surprised that the price of treasure notes could rise, he still felt that the price increase was too strange and too high.

The method of collecting treasure banknotes to deduct taxes, and then using gold, silver, copper and other metals as anchors is not something that can be figured out in a flash, but it takes more than ten years of subtle practice to be enough.

Why is it that this method is only half-implemented and the effect is so good?

Such a speed would be jaw-dropping even in later generations.

Intuition told Zhu Gaoxu that there might be some conspiracy here, and it was related to the palace.

I just don’t know whether the person who caused this situation is Lao Zhu or Zhu Yunzhen...

Zhu Gaoxu pondered for a moment, and then he couldn't help laughing at himself: "What's the use of thinking about it now? Isn't it better to just be a rice bug in the yard? Someone will pay for it anyway."

After saying that, Zhu Gaoxu glanced at the bag on Wang Jian's waist.

Seeing Zhu Gaoxu looking at the money bag, Wang Jian untied it without thinking and put it on the stone table: "There are nineteen coins here. I just took one coin for Wuliu. You saw it."

Wang Jian didn't hide it, and directly pushed the money to Zhu Gaoxu: "Your Highness, in addition to being responsible for your place, I also have to continue to be responsible for the shifts at Yingguogong's Mansion and Song Guogong's Mansion. I can't be with you all the time, so I'll pay you this money." Leave it to yourself."

Wang Jian's frankness made Zhu Gaoxu dumbfounded. He had never seen a guard hand over food money to prisoners, but he did not shirk it. Instead, he took it and replied: "What you said does have some meaning. I just heard it." It always feels weird."

"Hehe..." Wang Jian himself also laughed: "Anyway, the palace has also told me that I don't need to be too harsh on you, so let's do it this way."

"I didn't expect the palace to be interested in me." Zhu Gaoxu chuckled, but there was no complaint on his face.

He knew very well that Lao Zhu would not ground him because of what he said yesterday. What he did today was probably to cover up his intention to not kill Feng Sheng and Fu Youde.

However, no one can be sure how long this thought can last.

As Lao Zhu's health deteriorates, these two will eventually die.

Zhu Gaoxu knew all this, but he did not think in this direction, perhaps to avoid how to solve this problem.

"Food is coming!"

Before Zhu Gaoxu could think deeply, Lin Wuliu's voice shouted from outside the hospital.

As the courtyard door was opened, Lin Wuliu also walked into the courtyard with two extremely nervous restaurant waiters.

The two restaurant waiters had never seen such a battle before, and their legs immediately trembled. They glanced at the soldiers wearing armor and small flags in the courtyard, but they did not dare to look directly at them.

Putting down their things, the two of them left the yard as if their buttocks were on fire.

After they left, Zhu Gaoxu also smiled and joked: "Look at how scared you are."

"Hehe..." Lin Wuliu laughed innocently, and then asked the other five people in the courtyard to set up the table and wash the dishes.

Not long after, a table of food was set, and another table of food was placed next to it for the four brothers who would be changing shifts later.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine."

After sitting at the dining table, Zhu Gaoxu calmed down the emotions of several people, and then began to greet them with chopsticks.

It seemed that after Zhu Gaoxu spoke, they were no longer as heavy as before. Soon they were eating a table of food with Zhu Gaoxu with the same laughter as before.

In the middle of the day, people kept going out to change shifts, bringing in the four brothers outside to eat. Zhu Gaoxu also comforted them one by one, telling them not to blame themselves, and praised the benefits of their coming to guard.

In such an atmosphere, although everyone had no wine, they quickly opened their hearts and started chatting after a while.

If it hadn't been for the sound of dusk drums and Wu Zhangyi and others coming to change shifts, I'm afraid they would have been able to stay up all night and talk until dawn.

Wang Jian, Lin Wuliu and others felt relieved and went home calmly.

However, Zhu Gaoxu was more unlucky. He had just comforted Wang Jian and Lin Wuliu, but now he had to enlighten Wu Zhangyi and others.

He complained endlessly, but he didn't know that there was anyone who complained more than him.

"Okay, send this letter back to Peking to my father."

In Prince Yan's Mansion, Zhu Gaochi, who had just returned to the Prince's Mansion, did not rest, but wrote a letter non-stop and sent it to Peking.

As for the content of the letter, it was naturally related to the fact that Zhu Gaoxu had been punished for "roaring" at Wuying Palace in the past two days.

Zhu Gaochi was walking around the mansion. Even if the servants in the mansion asked him if he wanted to eat, he waved his hand to show that he had no appetite.

Standing at the door of the study, he watched the sun set with his own eyes and listened to the end of the drumbeat in his ears, but he felt helpless in his heart.

"Your Highness, don't worry too much. Your Highness will be fine."

Looking at Zhu Gaochi's lonely back, the palace guards couldn't help but comfort him, but Zhu Gaochi shook his head:

"Gao Xu... maybe he has grown up. It is becoming increasingly difficult for me to help him..."

Looking at the setting sun, Zhu Gaochi sighed and said nothing more. Instead, he turned back to the study and closed the doors and windows tightly.

Seeing this, the guard had no choice but to put a box of snacks at the door so that Zhu Gaochi wouldn't get up hungry in the middle of the night.

But when Zhu Gaochi couldn't eat, Zhu Yunwen in the East Palace had a rare appetite, and asked the East Palace chef to arrange more than ten delicious dishes in succession.

At that dinner table, he was not the only one eating, but also his mentor and friend Huang Zicheng.

"Your Highness, although it is good for Yan's second son, Zi Xu, to be punished, you should not make it too obvious. In addition, you must speak kindly to him every day, so that His Majesty can know that you have a brother in mind."

Huang Zicheng looked at Zhu Yunwen who had a huge appetite and couldn't help but remind him. When Zhu Yunwen heard this, he also wiped his mouth with silk cloth and showed a smile on his face.

"Lonely knows what the gentleman said, but my appetite is not just because of him."

Zhu Yunwen threw the silk in his hand into the tray in the hand of the eunuch next to him, and then looked at Huang Zicheng with piercing eyes: "Sir, you should know about the Jiuhuashan copper mine."

"Back to Your Highness, I only found out at noon. I heard from people at the Ministry of Industry that the Jiuhuashan copper mine has traces of mining during the Tang and Song Dynasties. However, copper mines can still be mined using gunpowder. The annual output of copper ingots may not be less than 40. catty."

Huang Zicheng responded to the information he knew, but Zhu Yunwen smiled when he heard it.

At present, all provinces in the Ming Dynasty have money-making furnaces, but the annual amount of money minted is only about 19 qian xiaoping coins.

Due to the scarcity of copper, these copper coins can only be cast from scrap money and old copper. Due to the complex quality of copper and varying purity, the "Hongwu Tongbao" has different qualities.If Jiuhua Mountain can successfully produce 40 kilograms of copper ingots per year, the Ming Dynasty's annual coin mint can be conservatively increased by [-] kilograms.

This mine alone can increase the amount of money minted by Ming Dynasty by nearly [-]%. If the Yunnan copper mines that have been explored are included, Zhu Yunwen cannot imagine how much the amount of money minted by Ming Dynasty can increase.

"Your Highness, although many mines have been discovered recently, mining also requires investment..." Huang Zicheng was afraid that Zhu Yunwen would not look at the cost, so he reminded:

"The Ministry of Industry has already provided the amount. These mines need to invest at least several hundred thousand taels per year to operate smoothly."

"What I mean is that this kind of management is too laborious. It is better to hand over the gold, silver, copper and other mines to the local famous gentry and wealthy households, let them mine the mines, and pay [-]% every year as mining tax."

Huang Zicheng mentioned the idea of ​​a subordinate, but Zhu Yunwen frowned after hearing this: "I'm afraid Grandpa won't agree."

Zhu Yunwen knew very well that his grandfather had heard Zhu Gaoxu's remarks about money, and naturally he would not be willing to distribute the gold, silver, and copper mines to the local gentry and wealthy households. I am afraid that the gold, silver, and copper mines discovered this time will It all has to be controlled by the imperial court.

"This is a serious matter. It is said that someone in the court is preparing to jointly submit a letter to Your Majesty."

Huang Zicheng did not give up his idea because of Zhu Yunwen's words, but revealed a piece of news to Zhu Yuanzhang through Zhu Yunwen.

The people below are all staring at the gold, silver and copper mines discovered this time. It is so large that it is impossible for the court to swallow them all.

"They... haha" Zhu Yunwen couldn't help but sneer, and at the same time glanced at Huang Zicheng: "Grandpa and Gu's uncles are not old yet. If they want to move, they have to weigh whether they are enough."

"This..." Huang Zicheng was speechless by Zhu Yunwen's words. They were really worried about Zhu Yuanzhang and the Beidi vassal king.

He was still worried, but Zhu Yunwen had already eaten and stood up.

He slowly walked to his position as the master of the East Palace, turned his back to Huang Zicheng and stretched out his hand to support his chair.

"Stay safe. When I can sit on that chair, we will discuss this matter again..."

Zhu Yunwen turned his head slightly and glanced at Huang Zicheng.

"Yes..." Huang Zicheng stood up and bowed in return, seeming to have listened to Zhu Yunwen's words.

"If you still have important matters, sir, you can go back and take care of things first. You and I might as well catch up on old times tomorrow."

"There is indeed something going on at Taichang Temple. I will resign..."

Zhu Yunwen issued an order to expel the guests, and Huang Zicheng responded sensibly and left.

He also knew that what he just said angered Zhu Yunwen, so the best thing to do now was for both parties to calm down.

After a while, Huang Zicheng left the East Palace, and Zhu Yunwen turned around after he left with a gloomy look.

At this time, the eunuch in charge of the East Palace who was not far away from him also came forward and bowed: "My great-grandson, those people in Jiangyou have stretched their hands too far, and they actually want to get involved in the mines in Yunnan."

The eunuch's words did not arouse Zhu Yunwen's anger. On the contrary, he gradually calmed down his emotions while the eunuch spoke, and he was able to calm down freely in just a few breaths.

"Most of the immigrants in Yunnan are people from the right side of the Yangtze River. They have advantages, so it's normal for them to come to Longwang and Shu."

Zhu Yunwen adjusted his clothes absentmindedly, but when he looked up again, he sneered:
"It's just that they want to eat it, but they still have to see if the people in Huaixi and eastern Zhejiang agree!"

Huaixi and Zhejiang are the elders and post-Jin factions who accompanied Zhu Yuanzhang to start his own business. Different from the two, the Jiangxi rightists are mostly Jiangxi officials who made their fortune through imperial examinations.

In the early Ming Dynasty, Jiangxi's literary style flourished, and the number of people admitted to the imperial examinations often exceeded those in other provinces.

Although they did not have the merit of founding the country or the merit of following the dragon, they still established a foothold in the temple through the imperial examination and further squeezed the eastern Zhejiang faction.

Huang Zicheng was an official from the Jiangyou School. Others with the same background as him were Wu Bozong, Xie Jin, Hu Guang, Wu Pu, Lian Zining and others.

However, Zhu Yunwen did not take them to heart because they were newly rising forces and could not compete with eastern Zhejiang and Huaixi.

What Zhu Yunwen was really worried about was always the feudal kings, especially the three in the north...

"Shut up!"

As Zhu Yunwen's thoughts drifted away, two days later, Peiping City, thousands of miles away, also welcomed a group of cavalry.

This cavalry has a mixed ethnic group, including Mongolians, Jurchens, Tibetans, and Hans. It can be said that it truly illustrates what a multi-ethnic cavalry looks like.

Although there are many ethnic groups, their scale is not large, with only more than [-] riders.

They only wore mandarin duck battle coats, breastplates and arm guards, looking like they were returning lightly dressed.

At the front of the team, a tall man with an exaggerated beard was happily rushing forward, his mood was so happy that his horse hooves were crisp.

"Your Highness, during this northern patrol, the barbarians in the north were quite frightened by us."

Next to the bearded man, a majestic young man stepped forward with a smile, and his title also revealed the identity of the bearded man.

"When they see me, it's like a mouse seeing a cat. Why don't they run away?"

"I just don't know why Sister Xu asked me to come back, so anxious."

Zhu Di, who is much thinner than a few months ago, responded cheerfully, one mouth at a time, very down-to-earth.

However, his words also revealed that his return trip this time was not the end of his northern tour, but because someone urged him to come back.

When he mentioned the title "Xu Meizi", Zhu Di smiled particularly brightly, and the young man next to him also laughed with him, seeming to respect "Xu Meizi" very much.

"Your Highness! You are back!"

"Your Highness is not injured, is he?"

On the street, some people who knew Zhu Di in the past asked Zhu Di with concern. Zhu Di also raised his hands and waved around, responding to the people around him:

"Hey, I'm back!"

Most of the people in Peking City were military families, and they might be the family members of one of Zhu Di's subordinates, so he responded enthusiastically to them.

This enthusiasm lasted for a long time, and it was not until they came to the only bluestone road in Beiping City that the people gradually disappeared.

When he came here, Zhu Di could not hold back his emotions. He urged his horse to trot forward and came to a mansion with a tall lintel.

At that moment, the three characters 'Prince Yan's Mansion' were particularly conspicuous, and even more conspicuous was the black-robed monk standing at the door.

"Daoyan, I'm back!"

Zhu Di skillfully turned over and dismounted, and just greeted Yao Guangxiao before rushing home.

When Yao Guangxiao saw this, he followed him and explained to Zhu Di the reason why the government asked him to come back.

"Your Highness, you have missed so many things on this tour. This poor monk will explain them to you one by one."

While Yao Guangxiao and Zhu Di rushed to the Cunxin Hall of Prince Yan's Mansion, he explained to him various things that had happened in the past month or so.

The first is the first letter sent back by Zhu Gaoxu a month ago, which mentions Zhu Gaoxu's "On the Cutting of Fans".

When he heard these three words, even though Zhu Di was anxious to see the person he wanted to see, he couldn't help but paused with a stunned expression.

Facing Zhu Di's dark bearded face, Yao Guangxiao talked about all the things that happened next.

First came Zhu Gaoxu's "On Cutting Down the Domain", and then Zhu Gaoxu's "The Law of Money", followed by Zhu Gaoxu's visit to Shandian Mine and pointing out more than a dozen gold, silver and copper mines for the imperial court, and Zhu Gaoxu's entry into Wuying Hall to manage politics. And three days ago, Zhu Gaoxu did not hesitate to confront the emperor in order to protect Fu Youde and Feng Sheng in the Wuying Palace...

Yao Guangxiao told everything about this incident, and the content of each incident made Zhu Di grin from ear to ear in surprise.

It took him half a word before he looked at Yao Guangxiao suspiciously: "Old monk, are you lying to me? Can my second son have that ability?"

"The poor monk..." Yao Guangxiao also looked helpless: "The poor monk doesn't believe it either, but that's the way it is."

The north wind kept whistling in the square of Cunxin Hall, making the hem of Zhu Di's war coat and Yao Guangxiao's monk's robe rustle.

The wind with an earthy smell made the two of them doubt their lives. Zhu Di even touched his belly with one hand and his beard with the other.

Just when Yao Guangxiao thought he was going to say something, Zhu Di suddenly said: "Why don't you hire a Taoist priest to drive away evil spirits?"

"..."

Yao Guangxiao, who was wearing a monk's robe, was silenced by Zhu Di's words, but Zhu Di suddenly laughed and said, "I was joking!"

He thought he was very humorous, but when he looked up, he saw Yao Guangxiao's speechless expression with nothing to say.

"Hehe..." Zhu Di stroked his beard, grinned and said, "Don't worry, it should be fine."

"I know my father's character. If the second child really made him unhappy, he would have been locked up in Fengyang's wall by now."

While talking and laughing, Zhu Di pulled Yao Guangxiao towards the Cunxin Hall on the steps, and almost pulled Yao Guangxiao down several times.

Unfortunately for him, he was an old man and managed to accompany Zhu Di to the entrance of Cunxin Palace. He saw a woman in palace dress wearing a red shirt, Luan, Phoenix and Xiapei had been waiting at the door for a long time, holding a newly opened letter in her hand. Urgent letter.

This woman in imperial attire is taller than the average woman, with thin eyebrows, long eyes, a tall nose, and an oval face. She has a bookish air about her that makes people say, "What a good girl."

"Sister Xu, I'm back!"

When Zhu Di saw the female students, he immediately threw away Yao Guangxiao's hand and ran towards the female students with large strides.

But before he could reach him, the female students raised the urgent letter in their hands, with a hint of temper about to be released in their brows.

"Gao Xu has been grounded by His Majesty..."

(End of this chapter)