Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 138 Wants to march north
"More than 6000 stones, how much do you think will be left after they are transported to Jilin City?"

In the East Palace, when Zhu Yuanzhang signaled the military attache to leave, Zhu Yunwen asked loudly to everyone in front of him.

In just half a year, the East Palace, where only Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng could enter the palace, now has more than ten officials of the sixth rank and above, standing in two classes.

Looking at the situation in front of him, Zhu Yunwen was very happy, and this was all the result of him overthrowing his good third uncle.

Nowadays, he no longer takes Zhu Gaoxu seriously, so when he learned that Yang Bin, a businessman under Zhu Gaoxu's name, had bought [-] shi of grain to be shipped north, he did not show any worry. Instead, he wanted to laugh at Zhu Gaoxu. .

"No matter how favored you were back then, you are still running around for tens of thousands of grains, and you are alone..."

Zhu Yunwen glanced at the ministers in the palace. At present, he was already the crown prince who could mobilize millions of stones and grains with just a stroke of his pen, and his position was stronger than anyone else's.

"Thirty-six thousand stones will be transported by sea first, then transferred to the Liao River, and then taken by land from Sanwanwei. I'm afraid less than [-]% of them can reach Jilin City."

A director of the Ministry of War spoke, which made Zhu Yunwen smile even more.

However, his smile had not yet subsided, but Qi Tai, who was wearing a Zhengsanpin replenishing suit, stood up with a worried face: "The King of Bohai has only been in Jilin for a few months, and he has been able to force merchants to buy so much grain for him. If he continues to let it go, there will be trouble. .”

"Haha..." After hearing Qitai's words, many officials couldn't help but show mocking expressions.

"Master Qi is a bit unfounded. As far as I know, Jilin City was plundered by Xiyang Ha at the beginning of the year, and thousands of officials died in the battle..."

"Now, even if these tens of thousands of stones of grain are shipped north to Jilin, how can we solve the situation where Jilin has no people?"

The person who stood up to ridicule Qi Tai was wearing the official uniform of the second rank. Even though Qi Tai was promoted at the beginning of the year and was now the Zuo Shilang of the third rank of the Ministry of War, this person was still two ranks higher than Qi Tai.

"What the censor of Baozuo Capital said is very true..." Qi Tai did not think that the other party was humiliating him, but agreed:
"The shortage of people is the current pain point for King Bohai. If I don't predict, Jilin City will be self-sufficient in less than three years. Then King Bohai will definitely ask your majesty and grandson to immigrate to the border and replenish the guard base."

Qi Tai's words silenced everyone. After all, facing a pragmatic person like him, laughing at him would be demeaning himself.

"Mr. Qi said..."

Although Zhu Yunwen doesn't like Qi Tai, after all, Qi Tai is an old man who has accompanied him all the way, so he doesn't like others to laugh at him.

Besides, putting aside his other suggestions for the time being, this suggestion is still very fruitful. Zhu Yunwen also feels that Zhu Gaoxu will not stay in Jilin Guard so honestly. His grandfather is still in office at the moment. As long as he cries, then maybe his grandfather Military households will really be relocated to fill Jilin Guards.

"Guhui will keep a close eye on this matter. Let's talk about government affairs now..."

Although Zhu Yunwen agreed, he did not talk in depth. Instead, he changed the topic and talked about government affairs.

Seeing this, Qitai did not emphasize too much, but followed the trend and joined the next government affairs.

Compared with Chunhe Hall, which is full of talented people, Zhu Gaoxu's place is a little shabby.

"Your Highness, I have put all the things here. Yi Zhangshou said that these will be used tomorrow, which will cause you to suffer..."

In the Chengyun Hall, Zhu Gaoxu was sitting behind the desk, holding a pen in his hand. There was a half-written book in front of him, and in front of him was an official with an apologetic face.

But although he looked apologetic, his hands were unceremonious. Five thick books were placed in front of Zhu Gaoxu, along with accounting paper and rulers for drawing.

"Use them all?"

Zhu Gaoxu put down his pen with a headache and opened several books to check. The official also took the opportunity to explain:
"The layout of the Songhua River ferry, the conflicting diversion of the city's sewers, and the palace's fire wall and fire tunnels, you have to do all these things..."

When the official said this, Zhu Gaoxu felt helpless and could only bite the bullet and signal to the official that he could go out.

He didn't have many people at hand, and he really wanted to divide one person into ten people to use, even if he himself had to take on the work of several people.

There is no other way. The only people who can handle things in Jilin City are a dozen officials and Zhu Gaoxu, Yi Shiha, Zhang Chun, and Fu Rang.

22 of them had to go to the academy to teach, so the affairs of the nearly 8000 people in Jilin City fell on Zhu Gaoxu and the others. Only by drawing officials from the academy from time to time to help can the current thorny issues be solved.

"I hope Yang Bin can bring fifty officials back..."

Rubbing his eyebrows, Zhu Gaoxu stopped the book he was writing in his hand and began to draw fire roads and sewers.

Busy from noon to dusk, he finally solved various affairs. After having a simple dinner, he continued to work while the sun had not set.

When the sun was about to set, an oil lamp was also carried in.

Zhu Gaoxu looked up and saw Yi Shiha who had disappeared for a day. At this moment, his face was full of exhaustion.

"Thank you for your hard work..." Looking at Yi Shiha, Zhu Gaoxu still had a smile on his face, although he was also very tired.

Facing his smile, Yi Shiha had to sigh at how energetic his highness was.

Since joining the Bohai Palace, Yishiha has rarely seen Zhu Gaoxu's dark face. No matter how difficult the problem is, even when everyone finds it difficult and anxious, he can always face it positively with a smile.

This attitude has influenced many people, so no matter how tired he is, Yi Shiha still manages to smile:
"This servant is His Highness's domestic servant. How can it be said that it is hard to work for His Highness?"

"You are not my slave..." Zhu Gaoxu shook his head, took the oil lamp and put it away. He smiled at Yishi and said, "I don't need a slave by my side. You are my colleague and a hero of Jilin City."

What he said made him feel warm in his heart. Indeed, Zhu Gaoxu had never regarded him as a slave and left many things to him.

Around Zhu Gaoxu, he rarely felt the kind of rules and indifference in the palace. In this Jilin City, he was not the Yishiha whose name no one else even knew, but the Yi Zhangyin of the Bohai Palace.

It can be said that he enjoyed the respect and respect that he could not enjoy in the court in Jilin City. This is what he wants to pursue.

"Sit down first." Zhu Gaoxu looked at Yi Shiha standing and asked him to sit down.

Hearing this, Yishiha also sat on a chair nearby and reported many things today to Zhu Gaoxu.

"Today, more than 300 acres of cultivated land have been reclaimed. After concentrating manpower and animal power, the speed of reclaiming wasteland has indeed been much faster."

"All the sewers in the city have been dug. Now we are just waiting for the masons to lead people to build the sewers and then pave the roads with cement and gravel."

"I have visited your two acres of rice fields. They are growing well and are well taken care of."

"The downstream ferry has also been laid to Amuzhai, and it is estimated that it will be laid to the mouth of the Sacha River in another month."

"in addition……"

He told Zhu Gaoxu everything like a treasure trove, and Zhu Gaoxu also sat aside and listened quietly. From time to time, he picked up a booklet and recorded the progress of various projects that Yi Shiha said.

During this period, Shiha also wanted to do it himself, but Zhu Gaoxu smiled and comforted him to just say so.

After a quarter of an hour passed, Yishiha finished speaking and Zhu Gaoxu also finished remembering.

"Calculating this, we now have more than 900 acres of new land, and adding the old land, it will be more than 7000 acres."

Zhu Gaoxu closed the book and turned around with a smile: "It's July [-]th now. Counting the days, excluding harvesting [-] acres of old land, it will take half a day. We still have about fifty days before winter." time."

"According to the current progress in these fifty days, we can open more than 5000 acres of new land. Before winter, we will open nearly [-] acres of new land this year. This rate is faster than I previously estimated..."

Jilin City's reclamation speed was faster than Zhu Gaoxu imagined. Of course, this was due to the livestock they bought from the Six Cities.

"Now there are 370 two cattle and more than 800 draft horses in the city. It is difficult to slow down the reclamation speed." Yishi laughed:

"Before winter, we will plow the ground deeply and collect hay from the surrounding mountains and burn it for fertilizer. It is estimated that we can produce [-] to [-] shi of grain in the coming year."

"Including the food from the old land, it is estimated that we can feed more than 6000 people. After another year of hard work, we will be self-sufficient."

Yi Shiha said this, but Zhu Gaoxu slowly put away his smile, because he knew that the rapid development of land this year was because the palace provided rations and promised to share the land equally.

Next year, there is a question mark as to whether we can still achieve this speed.

"We promised before that the land would be divided equally this year after the people finished their work. Now we can share it equally. Counting the new babies in the city, there are more than 900 people in total, and each person can get more than four acres of land."

"These four acres of land can produce less than three stones of food, which can feed a person for four to five months at most."

"Besides, when the land is equally divided, the people in the city will have their own land. They will be busy taking care of their own land. I'm afraid there won't be time to help the guard to reclaim the wasteland. Even if it is reclaimed, I'm afraid there will be some sneaky people. ."

Zhu Gaoxu did not underestimate human nature, because in his previous life, he had heard from his fathers about the situation during the land reclamation. People who cheated and cheated had always existed, everywhere.

Therefore, he told Yi Shiha:
"After the fight in Xiyang is over, you and Zhang Chun will call together the heads of each household and let's talk openly and honestly."

"The land can be divided equally, but what to plant and how to plant it all have to be arranged by the place."

"In addition, the land tax will not be paid next year, and the food will be left for the common people to eat in the winter, but the palace will no longer care about winter rations."

"The rations provided by the palace next year will stop after the autumn harvest. Before then, the rations will still be six bushels per month, and the fields will be divided equally after winter."

"The year after next, the prince's government began to provide rations from the land reclamation, six bushels per person per month, until the winter came, and the fields were divided evenly."

Zhu Gaoxu changed the rules for land reclamation. From this year to next, regardless of whether it is land reclamation or not, everyone will basically be given six buckets of grain every month.

From a practical point of view, these grains cannot be eaten, because there are already a thousand children in the city. These children eat four buckets of grain a month, which is relatively large. Normally, they eat three and a half buckets.

Therefore, many families have stored some food at home, and Zhu Gaoxu knows these things.

He didn't care because the palace treasury was quite sufficient and there was no need to save so much. It was also a good thing for the people to save some food.

However, starting from the end of the autumn harvest next year, he will have to stop providing food in the winter, because the people can get more and more food from the autumn harvest every year, until they can no longer plant any more.

At the current rate, Zhu Gaoxu predicts that Jilin City's cultivated land will increase to at least 29 acres before winter in the 30th year of Hongwu next year. Jilin City will be able to harvest no less than [-] shi of grain in the [-]th year of Hongwu.

This batch of food is enough to feed the ordinary people in Jilin City, and the soldiers have military pay. This batch of military pay can be supported by the royal palace's annual salary.

In the 31st year of Hongwu's reign, Zhu Gaoxu would receive his salary and Jilin Guard's military pay in April.

Not surprisingly, Lao Zhu will die in May of the same year. In July of the same year, Zhu Yunwen will start to eliminate the Zhou king. At that time, Zhu Yunwen will start to take precautions against the other vassals, and the time when he can get his salary can only be before May. , Zhu Yunwen may not necessarily receive his own salary after he ascends the throne in five months.

Even if the salary for the 31st year of Hongwu is paid out, it is very likely that the salary for the first year of Jianwen will not be given.

In December, Zhu Yunwen sent Zhang Bing, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, as the chief envoy to Peiping, and Xie Gui and Zhang Xin, the capital commanders of Peking.Later, he ordered the governor Song Zhong to garrison troops in Kaiping, and transferred the troops under the jurisdiction of King Yan in the northern plain to monitor Zhu Di. Zhu Di could only pretend to be crazy and act stupid to find a way out.

If the 31st year of Hongwu was Zhu Yunwen's revenge on the Zhou vassal, then the first year of Jianwen was the complete break with the vassal king.

In April of the first year of Jianwen, Zhu Yunwen beheaded the three princes of Qi, Xiang and Dai and deposed them as common people.

King Bai of Xiang was afraid and could not explain himself, so he burned his palace to death.

King Qi was under house arrest in Nanjing, and King Dai was under house arrest in the fiefdom of Datong.

In the sixth month, Zhu Yunwen defeated King Min again, deposed him as a commoner, and moved to Zhangzhou.

In less than a year, the five kings of Zhou, Qi, Hunan, Dai, and Min were eliminated. Four of Lao Zhu's nineteen sons were deposed, and one of them set himself on fire and died.

Killing more than a quarter of the feudal lords in one go made everyone feel in danger.

Finally, one month after King Min was deposed, Zhu Di mobilized troops to appease Jingnan with [-] royal guards, captured and killed Zhang Bing and Xie Gui, and ordered the Yan guards to command Zhang Yu and Zhu Neng to lead their troops to capture the nine gates of Peiping at night, and then occupied the city. Peiping...

The grain in the 31st year of Hongwu was very likely to be the last grain that Zhu Gaoxu could get. Therefore, after the autumn harvest in the 30th year of Hongwu and the people could be self-sufficient, he would try his best to start saving grain.

In this situation, the biggest obstacle Zhu Gaoxu faced was the climate in the Northeast.

Starting from October, heavy snow will begin to fall north of Sanwanwei, and it will not be open to traffic until the end of March next year.

This means that there was a six-month winter period during which he was unable to obtain supplies from outside, so he could only store food before October of the 30th year of Hongwu.

Including the time for transporting food, he must complete the food transport before August.

After careful calculation, Zhu Gaoxu only has two years...

The Battle of Jingnan lasted for four years, and if he wanted to participate, he would most likely face an encirclement and suppression campaign by Bu Wan and Liu Zhen from Daning and Yang Wen, Wu Gao and Ping An from Liaodong.

Daning and Liaodong combined have at least [-] soldiers. Historically, because they had to defend the Uliangha, Jurchen and Tatar headquarters, Liu Zhen, Bu Wan, Yang Wen and Wu Gao, the commanders of the two directions, only led their own troops. More than ten thousand troops surrounded the Yanshan Mountains and attacked Yongping City to prevent Zhu Di from escaping north to the grassland.

But now Zhu Gaoxu is in Jilin City. Even if eastern Liaodong still needs to defend North Korea and Jianzhou Guard Jurchen, there are no less than [-] troops that can be mobilized to fight against him.

If Zhu Yunwen concentrated his efforts against him and mobilized the Daning soldiers and horses under Liu Zhen and Bu Wan, Zhu Gaoxu would most likely have to face [-] to [-] Daning and Liaodong elites alone.

Facing such a large number of enemy troops, it is impossible for Zhu Gaoxu not to be under great pressure, not to mention that he only has more than 1000 people in his hands now.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu took a deep breath. His ideal place to join the feudal clan was Kaiping, but because of Lao Zhu's precautions, he was transferred to Jilin City.

With Jilin City, he wants to fight the [-] to [-] mobile armies of Liaodong and Daning. Even if Nurhachi and the Eight Banners are reborn, they may not be able to defeat them.

Liu Zhen, Bu Wan, Chen Heng, Yang Wen, Wu Gao, and Ping'an all had military merits and beheaded tens of thousands or even tens of thousands of people. Even if Nurhaci came, they would not be able to say that they could win with the same strength.

If Zhu Gaoxu only has more than 1000 people, then even if he is Han Xin and Xiang Yu is alive, he will not be able to defeat these two armies anyway.

He must expand the army as much as possible in less than two years left, and raising the army requires money and food.

Saving money and food... these are the tasks that Zhu Gaoxu must complete within two years.

"The fur ginseng and various medicinal materials in the treasury are worth more than 12 yuan, right?"

Zhu Gaoxu looked at Yishiha. Since there was only one oil lamp, the hall was a little dark, but this could not stop Zhu Gaoxu's burning gaze.

After meeting his eyes, Yi Shiha nodded: "The profit can reach at least 12 yuan. The vehicle Yang Bin uses to transport grain this time is probably just enough to transport this batch of goods to the south."

Yishiha's words made Zhu Gaoxu nodded in agreement, and then he considered the situation in the north.

"If I defeat Xiyang Ha, how many men do you think I can recruit from various ministries to join the army?"

Borrowing Jurchens to increase the number of troops and then encircle and suppress the tribes in the north who were dissatisfied with the Ming Dynasty was a layout that Zhu Gaoxu had set long ago, and Yishiha naturally knew it.

In this regard, Yishiha thought for a moment and then said: "If His Highness wants to do so at the moment, Shanchu Castle can send at least a hundred people, and Futigin City can send at least 300 people at our disposal."

"However, although the military power is with us, the relatives of these people are in Shanchu Fort and Futigin City. Once we are weak, they may move their troops back."

"On the other hand, after Xiyang Ha is wiped out, I estimate that these two forts alone will be able to produce 600 people, and the remaining 46 forts will be able to produce about 500 people."

Yishiha first talked about the tribes that could send troops at the moment. Not surprisingly, only two of the 48 fortresses who were closest to them were willing to send troops.

As for other forts, they did not dare to place bets. After all, starting from the fifth day of July, Xiyang Ha burned six forts that were flying Bohai flags. For this reason, many small forts removed the Bohai flags. Zhu Gaoxu was not happy at first. The prestige easily built through trade also suffered a setback.

If we don't fight Xiyang, he will become a joke in this place outside the pass.

Although Zhu Gaoxu didn't care about the opinions of others, this battle involved his interests.

Defeating Xiyang Ha and the tribes who stood on the same anti-Ming front with him was the fastest way for Zhu Gaoxu to establish a reputation outside the customs and obtain a large number of manpower and men.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu stood up slowly: "Go and rest. There are still many things to deal with tomorrow."

"Yes..." Seeing that Zhu Gaoxu was just asking without revealing any thoughts, Yi Shiha knew that His Highness might be planning something big that he could not think of.

He did not ask any more questions, but returned to his room to sleep as Zhu Gaoxu said.

The two of them rested, but the people in the south did not rest.

As his sons Zhu Yunwen, Zhu Yunxi, and Zhu Gaochi grew up, Lao Zhu also began to select concubines for his adult descendants among the world's distinguished officials.

Since this selection was quite involved, many princes, princes, and princes were involved, so it attracted many noble and civil servants to sign up.

In the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Yuanzhang was flipping through a list of names of the daughters of distinguished officials, and sitting next to him was Guo Ying, who had not been seen for a long time.

"These noble daughters are suitable for princes and princes, but they are not suitable for Yunwen and his brothers."

Zhu Yuanzhang shook off the list in his hand, but Guo Ying suggested: "I heard that the daughter of Guanglu Shaoqing Ma Quan is knowledgeable and sensible, and she also knows how to run a household."

"How does it look?"

Unlike the Qing Dynasty, which focused on bloodlines and gave priority to Manchu and Mongolian bloodlines, as well as Han women, Zhu Yuanzhang himself did not taboo bloodlines for concubines other than the queen. He only tabooed the harem's involvement in politics.

Therefore, in order to prevent the harem from interfering in politics and to prevent powerful ministers and concubines from colluding to disrupt the court, Zhu Yuanzhang set some basic requirements for his children and grandchildren to select concubines after Zhu Biao's death.

Each concubine selection begins with eunuchs from the inner court being dispatched. This year, there are more than 16 eunuchs dispatched by Zhu Yuanzhang himself. They go to various parts of the country to select women between the ages of thirteen and sixteen.

After these women are selected, they will be taken back to the capital by the eunuchs, and then they will be selected from those who are tall, fat or thin. Those who do not meet the requirements will be eliminated.

In the second round, the eunuchs from the outer court will be very careful in their selection. Skin, facial features, and hair will all be carefully examined. Whether the figure is plump is also a must-see.

In addition to their appearance, the girls will also be asked to report their place of origin, name, age, etc. in order to observe the girl's voice.

Those with drake voices, stammers, and big tongues are all on the line for elimination.

Finally, the girls' hands and feet are carefully measured with a ruler, and they are asked to walk for a while to see how these people behave.

Those with thick bones, big feet, and unbecoming manners were eliminated again. Only those who finally met the standards could enter the next round of selection.

In this round, the judges of the show are the ranking maids in the inner court.

All the show girls need to take off their clothes in a secret room and be checked to see if there is any peculiar smell, whether the figure is well-proportioned, whether the skin is delicate, and whether there are any defects on the body.

After undergoing strict personal inspection, these people could see the concubines in the inner court who were selected by Lao Zhu as judges.

This process has now reached its final stage, and out of the 170 show girls selected this time, only [-] are left.

Lao Zhu had to choose his daughter-in-law and granddaughter-in-law among these 170 people, which made it difficult for him to choose.

"The military attache's daughter is strong and fertile, but she is too tall and can easily overwhelm those around her."

"Is the Ma Quan daughter you mentioned on this list? How tall is she?"

Lao Zhu asked Guo Ying, but Guo Ying said calmly: "She should be there. I have seen that woman. She is about five feet tall. She just fits."

"Let me look back..." Lao Zhu did not simply agree, but chose to investigate again.

Thinking about it, he looked at the directory in his hand and became interested in one of the names on it: "This daughter of Zhang Qi is pretty good. Her figure and personality are very suitable for Gao Chi."

"It's really good." Guo Ying glanced at the list and nodded in agreement.

After he finished speaking, Lao Zhu circled red, and Zhu Gaochi's crown prince was decided.

But after finishing the circle, Lao Zhu suddenly turned his head and sighed to Guo Ying: "These women are all good, but Gao Xu is tall. I'm afraid he won't like these weak ones."

"Your Majesty can choose some women with a bit of heroic spirit..." Guo Ying hadn't noticed anything yet and recommended with good intentions: "Wu Liang and Wu..."

Before he finished the introduction, Lao Zhu suddenly interrupted:

"I heard that you have two granddaughters who are very heroic. They can shoot arrows when mounted and can embroider when dismounted. But I don't know why they are not on the list."

"I think the two of them are a perfect match for Gao Xu, what do you think?"

"..." After listening to Lao Zhu's words, Guo Ying wanted to be angry, but in the end he sighed: "Your Majesty, they are only twelve..."

"Gao Xu is only sixteen, so he's almost there. That's the deal. You pick one that suits Gao Xu. I don't want more."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded with self-satisfaction, took the ink pen and filled in the names of his two granddaughters in front of Guo Ying, and then handed the list and ink pen to him with a smile, his old face bright:

"Here, you choose one..."

(End of this chapter)