Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 113 The End of the Hero
"it is good!"

On the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, with a shout of applause from the Wuying Palace, Yunnan's military report was also delivered to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Looking at the military report in his hand, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but nod, obviously very satisfied with the content of the military report.

He picked up the military newspaper and said proudly to his fourth grandson in the hall: "Twenty thousand people surrounding five thousand people is not worthy of praise, but in a head-on confrontation, seven thousand people defeated five thousand people. In the end, we only paid less than 60 casualties in exchange for a great victory." .”

"Beheaded more than [-] people, captured more than [-] people, and took advantage of the situation to capture Yuezhou City and put down the rebellion of this barbarian. Yun Gong fought well in this battle!"

The four grandsons in the palace have read the battle report, but Zhu Yuanzhang did not speak, and they never dared to express their opinions.

Now that Zhu Yuanzhang has spoken out, they can each express their opinions.

Unsurprisingly, the first person to speak was Zhu Yunwen. Faced with the evaluation that Zhu Yuanzhang had already given, he continued to add icing on the cake:

"It seems that Duke Wei will be able to put down the rebellion of Ning Yuandao Bailan and Guangnan Nong Zhenyou soon."

"No..." After listening to Zhu Yunwen's words, Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head, disagreeing with his opinion, and even gave his own evaluation:
"The place where Dao Bailan and Nong Zhenyou are located is different from this native Azizi. Ningyuan and Guangnan are high in mountains and densely forested, and are full of miasma. Even if Yungong wants to find a few flat places for a decisive battle, it will be difficult."

"Besides, once Ah Zi dies, these two thieves will probably withdraw their troops and rely on the mountains, dense forests and miasma to hold back Yungong and the others."

Zhu Yuanzhang was not dazzled by this small victory. He knew very well that the Yunnan chieftain's troops were not strong, but the reason why they had been causing headaches for the Ming army until now was mainly due to their geographical location.

Facing the two places of Guangnan and Ningyuan, even if Zhu Yuanzhang personally leads the troops, it is unlikely to pacify them in a short time, and he must be prepared for a fierce battle.

Thinking of this, he said to the eunuch accompanying him, the Superintendent of Ceremonies: "Draw up a decree for me and tell Duke Wei not to underestimate the enemy and advance rashly. He only needs to station troops in Vimalakia, Jiaohua Third Division, Dawoguan and other places, and drag the two thieves to the spring plowing time. Can."

"Yes..." The accompanying eunuch agreed and turned around to take care of things.

Watching him leave, Zhu Yuanzhang sat down with satisfaction.

He knew very well that most of the chieftains in Yunnan were limited to the scarcity of cultivated land and little food stockpiles. Even if they had food stockpiles, they could not sustain an army of tens of thousands for half a year.

As long as they can't hold on, some of the native soldiers will definitely be released to farm at home during the spring plowing time. By then, their troops will be empty and the Ming army will take advantage of the situation and advance.

"What is Gao Xu doing these days?"

Seemingly relaxing, Zhu Yuanzhang took the initiative to mention Zhu Gaoxu. After listening to his words, Zhu Yunwen and Zhu Gaochi also looked at the eunuch who was the Superintendent of Ceremonies.

Faced with the question, the Chief of Ceremonies bowed to the eunuch and said in return, "I heard from people below that His Highness has been humming music in the house these past few days, and he has also learned pipa, guzheng, guqin and other musical instruments."

"Humming a tune and playing the piano?" Upon hearing the answer, Zhu Yuanzhang looked stunned.

Not only him, but Zhu Yunwen and the other four were also shocked.

No matter how much they thought about it, they could never imagine Zhu Gaoxu playing the guqin and pipa while humming a song.

No matter how much they expected, Zhu Gaoxu was holding a pipa and playing in his study.

He not only leaned on the chair, but also crossed his legs and lazily played the brand new pipa in his hand.

This pipa is very ordinary. It can be bought on the Qinhuai River for a hundred yuan.

However, compared to those musicians of this era, Zhu Gaoxu's pipa playing is very exciting.

Outside the house, Lin Wuliu and others in the ear room were all lying on the couch, listening to Zhu Gaoxu playing in the main room next door, and shaking their legs from time to time.

"I wonder why Your Highness's pipa is like a spirit. The music he plays is different from what we heard when we went to the Qinhuai River?"

"No matter what you do, it's good to have free listening."

"Anyway, His Highness seems very happy when I listen to this music."

"How can I be happy? That Pipa is about to become a spirit..."

Lin Wuliu and others in the penthouse shook their heads and patted their thighs from time to time.

Although they couldn't keep up with the beat, they couldn't stand listening to such a touching song for the first time.

Not only them, but the children and adults in the military households next door also became quiet, listening to the music of the "adult" in the next yard, which they found very interesting.

They didn't know the name of the music played by Zhu Gaoxu, but if a future generation came to stay here, they would probably be unable to help but lie on the wall and shout: "Who played the rock music!"

Pipa rock, this is a unique skill that Zhu Gaoxu learned in his previous life. He originally learned it after watching someone play the pipa several times on the Internet. Except for showing off his skills at the freshman party, the days after that gradually fell into waste.

Unexpectedly, in the Ming Dynasty, he returned to his old career and played the pipa, and he also brought back many songs from his previous life.

"This "Runaway Train" makes my hands hurt..."

After a long time, Zhu Gaoxu opened his eyes and waved his hands at the same time.

Since the winter moon passed, he consciously saved Fu Youde, and he sang happily back and forth every day.

Later, since what he needed to write had been written, he simply returned to his old business and asked Wang Jian and Lin Wuliu to get the guqin, guzheng, pipa and other musical instruments that were slightly involved in his previous life, and composed the music with his body's memory. After coming out, every day I wake up and play some pop music with my pipa to kill time.

Otherwise, the days when the door cannot be left would be really torturous.

"Your Highness, it's time to eat!"

When the sound of the pipa stopped, Lin Wuliu stood up from the couch, carried the food box and walked towards Zhu Gaoxu's study while shouting.

When he opened the study door, he saw the burly Zhu Gaoxu with his legs crossed and shaking his hands, holding a pipa in his hand.

Although he had watched it for several days, Lin Wuliu still couldn't get used to it.

Zhu Gaoxu is growing at this age, but in just three months, his height has increased. When Lin Wuliu was measuring his clothes a few days ago, he discovered that Zhu Gaoxu was already five feet eight (185cm).

A burly man with a height of [-] feet [-] and a waist circumference of [-] feet [-] is holding a pipa in his arms. This picture looks awkward.

Fortunately, Zhu Gaoxu's armor had been taken away. If he put on his armor again and played the pipa, people who didn't know better would have thought it was King Dongfangzhiguo who had escaped from the temple.

Of course, apart from the unconventional figure, just listening to this song is still good.

"Your Highness, brothers have eaten, please eat quickly."

Lin Wuliu took the food boxes to the desk and started to unpack them. Fortunately, Zhu Gaoxu didn't practice calligraphy these days, so he just put the dishes on them.

Normally, this kind of food should not be placed on the desk. Even a rough guy like Lin Wuliu knew this, but Zhu Gaoxu told him so, so he naturally followed it.

After just a few breaths, when Zhu Gaoxu put down the pipa and turned back, four meals of two meat dishes, one vegetarian dish and one soup were already placed on the desk.

"Staying in this yard every day, except taking care of Chi Huan and playing some music, is really boring..."

Zhu Gaoxu sat down and talked while eating. Lin Wuliu smiled bitterly after hearing this.

In their opinion, Zhu Gaoxu's life was not very comfortable. Even the people on their shift felt that these few months were the most comfortable days since they were soldiers.

There is no need to drill or stand sentry, and you can take shifts, and the shifts are quick.

Except when he was standing sentry, he would either lie in the wing and rest, or drink and play cards in the courtyard.

There was a wall of fire in the wing room, which was warm, and there were wine and meat for three meals a day. Although I couldn't drink too much, the days were the same as the Chinese New Year every day, and they were comfortable and tight.

Such a comfortable day seemed uncomfortable in Zhu Gaoxu's eyes. Lin Wuliu didn't know what to say, so he could only fool him with a smile.

Of course, Zhu Gaoxu was just complaining. He knew that the life he was living was a life that could only be enjoyed by wealthy households in the Ming Dynasty, but he was still a little bit unhappy about not being able to go out for several months.

If there hadn't been any bad news from Fu Youde and Feng Sheng, he probably wouldn't have been so happy these days.

"This rice is very sweet. Is it new rice?"

During the conversation, Zhu Gaoxu tasted the texture of the rice in the bowl. Although it was not as good as the tribute rice in the palace, the texture was no worse than some rice on the market in later generations.

"It's new rice." Lin Wuliu said with a smile: "This is the japonica rice that has just been collected and processed from the brothers' homes in the institute. I saw that the rice vat in the courtyard was empty, so I specially brought a hundred kilograms from the institute."

"Have you left any money?" After hearing Lin Wuliu say that the brothers in the institute had brought the rice, Zhu Gaoxu's first reaction was whether he had given him any money.

Lin Wuliu and Zhu Gaoxu had been together for so many days, so he naturally knew his character, so he nodded with a smile: "Keep them all, and give them according to the market price."

Seeing what Lin Wuliu said, Zhu Gaoxu also nodded. While eating the rice, he also asked: "How is the yield per mu this year?"

"There are highs and lows. Basically, we can harvest around 340 kilograms per mu." Lin Wuliu's words made Zhu Gaoxu nod. He was not surprised that Jiangnan's grain yield per mu was so high.

He has been in Daming for more than a year and has a basic understanding of Daming’s existing crops and the yields per mu in various regions.

Taking rice as an example, the rice production capacity per mu in Jiangnan and Huguang is [-] kilograms, and around [-] kilograms per mu in Henan, Shandong, Peking, and Shanxi. Shaanxi and Gansu are even worse, only [-] kilograms per mu.

In addition, the yield per mu of wheat also decreases from northwest to southeast, ranging from 130 kilograms to 160 kilograms per mu.

The yields of barley, millet, and soybeans are the same. Only the yield of sorghum, called sorghum, is slightly higher. Even in the north, it can reach 160 kilograms, and in the south, it can reach up to [-] kilograms.

Among the existing food crops, soybeans have the highest economic value. About twenty kilograms of soybean oil can be squeezed out from one acre of soybeans, which can be sold for eight to nine hundred cents.

Judging from the current situation in the Ming Dynasty, unless there is a famine, there is no situation where there is no food or meat.

Zhu Gaoxu remembered that although there were many records of cannibalism in the historical materials of the Ming Dynasty, this did not mean that the Ming Dynasty was worse than the previous dynasties, but that the Ming Dynasty literati recorded local affairs in more detail.In the Han Dynasty, the same thing could be concluded in one sentence, such as "There is a great hunger in such and such county", but in the Tang and Song Dynasties, the length would begin to increase, and in the Ming Dynasty, the records would be more complete.

But no matter what, cannibalism is a real occurrence. In addition to the collapse of the grassroots disaster relief system, there are also problems with heavy local taxes and different food outputs.

The same tax is levied on the same acre of land. Although it is 350 jins per acre, the people in Jiangnan produce [-] jins of grain per acre. After including miscellaneous taxes, they can pay at most [-] jins of grain. The farmers still have [-] jins. Food is edible.

But in the north, even in places like Shanxi that have not suffered major military disasters, the grain yield per mu is only 250 kilograms. If the same proportion of medicine is used to hand over more than [-] kilograms of grain, the farmers are left with only [-] kilograms.

For the same taxes and miscellaneous taxes, one acre of land in the north is only a few pounds less than in the south, but the food produced in the north is far less than that in the south.

This led to the continuous signs of the northern population fleeing south during the Ming Dynasty, because in terms of policy, they were only relatively comfortable during the Hongwu and Yongle years, and the later years they had to bear more.

If the imperial court wanted to attract people to the north, the most practical thing to do would be to reduce taxes.

If policies such as fiscal transfers in later generations were used in the Ming Dynasty and the taxes from the south of the Yangtze River were invested in the construction of the north, the north would definitely be able to recover within a few decades.

I can’t say that it will return to the scene of the Tang and Song Dynasties, but at least it will be much better than now.

However, if such a policy is really to be implemented, the three factions of Huaixi, Zhejiang, and Jiangyou in Jiangnan will definitely not agree. After all, their roots are in Jiangnan, and they cannot help the court draw blood from Jiangnan to the north.

It is not feasible to reduce taxes in the northern provinces on the surface. Only by raising taxes on the south through other means, and the tax increase must be targeted.

For example, the six Jiangdong prefectures that currently occupy two levels of taxation in the world already pay the highest taxes in the world. Taxes must be reduced for them, while other taxes should be increased for other places.

Zhu Gaoxu remembered that Zhu Di moved the capital to Beijing and sent a large number of officials in Beijing to Beiping, so that the province of Beiping became active.

But even so, Zhu Di had to compromise with Jiangnan, leaving Nanjing with a weakened version of the six-part team.

If Zhu Gaoxu did not want to compromise, he would have to recruit enough scholars and retain the armed forces belonging to the court in the local area to intimidate the gentry and wealthy households.

To achieve this, it is necessary to transform the garrison system into a recruitment system, and then deploy troops to garrison in different places, and rotate them every few years, making it more expensive for local gentry and wealthy households to win over them.

But if he really wants to do this, Zhu Gaoxu will have to face huge financial pressure.

Even if he exploits the gold, silver and copper mines in Yunnan and even mines the silver and copper mines in Japan, he cannot completely solve the financial pressure.

If you want to solve the financial pressure, you must increase taxes, and if you want people to support increasing taxes, you must make people's incomes higher.

Facing an agricultural society, the Ming Dynasty had to start with agriculture if it wanted to increase people's income.

In this regard, Zhu Yuanzhang had already set an example for Zhu Gaoxu by sending a large number of scholars and craftsmen to participate in local agricultural and water conservancy construction.

Correct water conservancy construction can increase a place's grain production by [-]%. This has been accomplished by Zhu Yuanzhang, so the only way left for Zhu Gaoxu is new crops.

"America must be visited..."

While eating the food, Zhu Gaoxu made up his mind without hesitation.

There were many things in America that he and the Ming Dynasty needed, the most lacking of which were sweet potatoes and peanuts. Apart from these two, potatoes and corn were dispensable.

The yield of sweet potatoes is astonishing even in this era, and the oil extraction rate of peanuts is ridiculously high, nearly twice that of soybeans and sesames at the same time.

When he was in the work unit, Zhu Gaoxu read some archives from the Republic of China period, which included records of the yield per mu of grain crops in their county.

In the later generations of the 21st century, the yield of corn can reach more than [-] kilograms per acre, and the yield of potatoes has reached the level of three to four thousand kilograms. This is also the reason for the high yield of American crops in the eyes of many people.

However, this data is the yield after scientific breeding in modern times, and is not the original data of these crops.

In fact, before modern breeding techniques improved, American crops were not as productive as many thought.

Even during the Republic of China, the yield of corn was only more than 180 kilograms per mu, and the yield of potatoes was only [-] kilograms.

This figure is far less than that of rice, which has been widely cultivated and has a yield of more than [-] kilograms per mu.

In comparison, even during the Republic of China, sweet potatoes sown without chemical fertilizers could still maintain between [-] and [-] kilograms.

Even though the water content of sweet potatoes is very high, it is used as snake oil for emergencies, and the leaves of sweet potatoes are edible, which increases its yield per mu in disguise.

Sweet potatoes and peanuts, the former can save lives during famine years and can be used for feed in peacetime, while the latter is a real cash crop.

Using soybeans and sesame oil to satisfy the more than 4000 million people of the Ming Dynasty would require at least more than 2000 million acres of land, but if peanuts are used, [-] million acres of land can be freed up to cultivate food.

Not only that, the oil produced from peanuts can also be sold to various tributary countries of the Ming Dynasty. After all, in this era of food scarcity, oil is a high-priced commodity no matter where it is placed.

As long as Zhu Gaoxu had the opportunity, he would definitely let Zheng He sail to the West, and this time his goal would not only stop at the Cape of Good Hope, but also go farther west to the Americas.

In the Ming Dynasty, the most convenient route for sailing ships to go to America was to follow the Japan Warm Current and the North Pacific Warm Current. However, this route lacked supply points. It would take at least ten years to arrange this route.

In comparison, the cost of passage through the Indian Ocean route, which has supply points all the way to Africa, is lower, and the route can be obtained from Arab merchants.

He kept thinking about the world map of his previous life in his mind, perfecting Zheng He's route to the West, and hoping that Zheng He could reach America in one go.

But after thinking about it, he realized that it was too difficult. If nothing else, the dangerous waters west of the Cape of Good Hope would require a lot of effort to find a safe channel.

"All good things come in hard times. The most important thing is to go sailing in the West a few more times. I still have time."

Zhu Gaoxu sighed, he was still confident in his body.

The predecessor historically lived to be 46 years old, and died abnormally.

If calculated according to the death ages of his cheap dad and Lao Zhu, as long as he doesn't take pills and doesn't seek death, he can normally live to be in his sixties after the Battle of Jingnan.

The only thing that made him a little worried was that the eldest brother only lived for 48 years and the third child only lived for [-] years.

"You still have to take good care of yourself..." Zhu Gaoxu sighed after finishing the meal.

While he was sighing, the Duke Ying's Mansion, two miles away from him, was busy going up and down.

It seems that winter has begun, and the coldness has begun to increase. Therefore, Fu Youde contracted wind and cold after the onset of winter, and his health deteriorated.

It has only been a month since he got sick, but the once strong and healthy Fu Youde has become much thinner now. The skin on his face is sunken, and only a thin layer of skin is left on his hands.

"how?"

In the bedroom, as the imperial doctor withdrew his hand from diagnosing the pulse, Fu Zhongfu asked the two brothers to go up and inquire quickly. The imperial doctor pondered for a while, and then said after thinking:

"Old Duke, this is a physical weakness caused by old age. If it were ten years ago, this cold would only need a decoction to solve it, but now it still depends on the old Duke himself."

While speaking, the imperial doctor glanced at the sleeping Fu Youde, and then sighed:
"Also, to be honest with you two, the old Duke's illness is not only physical, but mainly due to mental illness."

"This heart disease cannot be cured. No matter how much decoction is taken to cure the cold, it will be difficult for the old Duke's body to recover."

After the imperial doctor said this, he stood up and packed his medicine box, while Fu Zhong and Fu Rang were stunned by his words.

After a moment, when the two of them came to their senses, they both looked at Fu Youde lying on the bed with complicated expressions.

Logically speaking, if he can live to be 70 years old, he is already one of the best among military generals. As his son and grandson, Fuzhong and the others should be happy.

But Fu Zhong and both of them knew that if it hadn't been for these things in the past few years, their father would have lived longer.

They all know what their father's heart disease is, but they also know that this heart disease is not something they can solve.

Now Fu Youde has long been determined to die. Perhaps in his opinion, everything happened because of him. If he died, the children of the Fu family would not be implicated. Those who spoke for him and were grounded for several months Zhu Gaoxu can also be released.

Both Fu Zhong and Fu Rang could understand his thoughts, but as sons of men, seeing their father in this state, they really couldn't help but treat him.

"This is the recipe for the decoction..."

The imperial doctor wrote the prescription and handed it to Fu Zhong, but his eyes stayed on Fu Youde on the bed.

He shook his head: "I have to tell Your Majesty about this matter after I return to the outer court. I hope you will forgive me..."

"Sir, there is no need to apologize. The two of us have been prepared for this." Fu Zhong stopped the imperial doctor who wanted to bow, and looked at Fu Rang beside him: "Lao Wu, please send the imperial doctor Zhang out of the house."

"Huh?" Fu Rang, who didn't react, looked at Fu Zhong in confusion, but saw the appearance of Fu Zhong and Zhang Yuyi. Then he realized and motioned for Zhang Yuyi to follow him.

Not long after, Fu Rang sent Dr. Zhang to the door of Duke Ying's mansion.

Since he couldn't leave the house, Fu Rang could only send him here, and then watched him get on the carriage and leave.

Following the direction in which the carriage left, Fu Rang seemed to see the Forbidden City in the distance and the emperor sitting on the golden platform.

that...

He was once his respectable emperor, and he would chat with him about his daily life from time to time.

It's just that this situation suddenly changed one day a few years ago. He was banned for two years and finally reunited with his family. In less than half a year, he might have to say goodbye to his father forever.

Fu Rang didn't know whether he should hate that person. He knew that that person was also forced to do nothing, but what about their family, should they die...

(End of this chapter)