Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 283 Brothers and Brothers Respect

"The ships in front give way, the official ship is coming!"

"Beep--"

On the second day of July, when Zhu Di led Zhu Gaoxu and other ministers and military attachés, they stood on the Jiangdongmen Pier in Nanjing. The bustling Jiangdong Pier made people sigh that time is a good thing.

The dock, which was deserted due to the war a month and a half ago, is now lined with thousands of sails, and thousands of merchants coming to do business make the place prosperous.

On the vast Yangtze River, hundreds of small boats go back and forth between the harbors in an orderly manner. The shouts of the boatmen and the sound of the paddles hitting the hull are intertwined, making it extremely noisy.

The tall wooden warehouses on both sides of the pier look heavy and powerful, like a solid fortress guarding the city's water gate.

The vendors outside the pier were desperately selling their goods, and the sound was so loud that even the officials waiting to greet them could hear it.

Zhu Di did not order the clearing, perhaps because he did not want to disturb the people's livelihood in the capital that had finally recovered.

Therefore, bustling crowds came and went around the pier, and many boatmen looked here cautiously.

"Beep--"

A crisp whistle sounded in the distance, rippling in the early morning air, making everyone feel extra refreshed.

Standing on the deck, Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaosui looked ahead, and the elusive imperial city reappeared in front of them.

"It's really difficult..."

Zhu Gaochi, who was already wearing the prince's python robe and standing on the deck, felt so bitter when he looked at the hundreds of officials on the pier and the leading figures, one yellow and one red.

He couldn't figure out whether the second child wanted to die by himself or live by himself. He wanted to die by himself, but he didn't make any moves.

Wanting to let himself live, he chose to give himself the title of King Yan.

"too difficult……"

Zhu Gaochi felt aggrieved. He would rather stay in a remote place than in the capital.

Compared to him, Zhu Gaosui seemed very excited.

"I'm finally back in the capital. Peiping is not prosperous either. I don't know why dad is nostalgic over there and makes Peking a business trip in Beijing."

Zhu Gaosui spoke openly. If it were normal, Zhu Gaochi would have tried to persuade him. But today, Zhu Gaochi was a clay Bodhisattva who couldn't save himself when crossing the river. How could he think of educating him?

The official ship came slowly and parked in the harbor after a while.

After the innermost ship among the thirteen official ships docked, Yan Mansion and Bohai Jingqi immediately stepped forward to surround it. When the ship's ladder was lowered, everyone turned around and avoided it.

Mrs. Xu appeared with Guo Yan and Mrs. Zhang, while Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaosui got off the boat with sadness and joy.

The large chariot, the golden chariot, and the elephant chariot appeared separately, and the five people each got into the chariot representing their status.

After they got on the carriage, the chariot also drove in front of the ministers. Zhu Di got on the big carriage impatiently, and Zhu Gaoxu got on the golden carriage.

In the elephant carriage behind, Zhu Gaojiu's eyes showed envy as he watched Zhu Gaoxu get on the golden carriage.

Not long after, the chariots and horses of the ministers followed the four royal chariots back to the palace. Before Zhu Gaoxu, who had climbed into the golden chariot, sat down, he saw Guo Yan kneeling down and bowing.

"Before I went south, I heard about what I did. Thank you for your magnanimity."

"Get up, I'm still waiting for Wu Dinghou to go to the university to help me teach the military attachés' children." Zhu Gaoxu raised his hand to signal Guo Yan to get up. After hearing this, Guo Yan slowly stood up and sat next to Zhu Gaoxu.

As the prince, Zhu Gaoxu has no shortage of women around him. In handling state affairs for more than a month, there are times when he needs to vent.

There are many female officials in the palace, and it goes without saying how they look. From Han to Xifan, to Semu and Korean... As long as Zhu Gaoxu thinks about it, these female officials will climb into his bed.

Therefore, Zhu Gaoxu did not have much physical desire for Guo Yan's arrival.

Regarding Guo Yan's arrival, he hoped that Guo Yan would be a good bridge between him and Hongwu's old ministers.

Li Jinglong, Wu Gao, Guo Ying, Wu Jie, Xu Kai and others can all communicate and connect through Guo Ying alone. Even if Guo Ying dies, there will still be Guo Yong.

In short, Zhu Gaoxu must make good use of this power. This is why he can forgive Guo Ying.

Otherwise, given his character, he would not care about the relationship between Guo Yan and Guo Ying. Even if Guo Yan is popular among the people in Bohai, it is not impossible to abolish the concubine. After all, Guo Yan has nothing to do yet.

After all, he is the person next to him. Guo Yan can clearly feel the changes in Zhu Gaoxu this year, so he becomes a little cautious when speaking.

"After entering the East Palace, you can rest for a few days and then go back to the Marquis Mansion to visit the bride."

Zhu Gaoxu lowered his head and confessed to Guo Yan, then glanced around: "Is Yishiha here?"

"Here we come, we should be able to catch up with Che Yu in the official ship behind." Guo Yan nodded in response.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu stopped talking and started talking to Guo Yan about his family life this year.

Of course, most people still ask about the recovery situation in Shenyang and the migration situation of the people in the three prefectures of Shandong.

According to Guo Yan's answer, the reconstruction of Shenyang has been basically completed. The city is larger than before and can accommodate more than 200,000 people.

This is not only the case in Shenyang, but also in other cities.

In addition, cities have also been built in Dingliao, Changhai, Zhuanghe, Dongning and other places in Dingliao Prefecture in the east. More than 300,000 people have moved there, and more than 100,000 acres of cultivated land have been opened up.

Before going south, Guo Yan knew that Zhu Gaoxu would ask about the situation in the Bohai Sea and Liaodong, so she wrote down these in advance and explained them to Zhu Gaoxu.

In one year of war, the population of Liaodong has surged from more than 400,000 before the war to more than 1.2 million now, and it is still increasing with the arrival of immigrants from Shandong.

The local cultivated land has increased from more than 2 million acres at the beginning to more than 4.26 million acres today. There are 2,987 Kaitang Weirs, 392 rivers, and 3 Pi Canal embankments in Liaoning. One thousand one hundred and forty-eight places, more than seven hundred and sixty miles of canals...

These water conservancy constructions have resulted in nearly two million acres of cultivated land in Liaoning being irrigated, and no longer encounter seawater backflow.

It is foreseeable that at least the yield per mu of these two million acres of cultivated land will be increased. As for the remaining two million acres of newly reclaimed cultivated land, it will take time to improve water conservancy and agriculture.

"With 4.26 million acres of cultivated land, as long as it can produce six buckets of solid grain, it can satisfy the food rations of more than 1.2 million people in Liao for three and a half months."

After Guo Yan said this last sentence, he could clearly feel that Zhu Gaoxu's interest increased.

"Yi Shiha and Sun Cheng did a good job."

Facing the results of the first year of Quan Liao development, Zhu Gaoxu was very satisfied.

He was in a hurry to meet in person, but Xu was in the big carriage in front of him after all. He had to go to Qianqing Palace for a family banquet before returning to the East Palace.

Thinking of this, he suppressed the intensity in his heart and waited until the carriage entered the palace and sent them to the gate of Qianqing Palace.

After helping Guo Yan get out of the car, Zhu Gaoxu soon saw Zhu Gaochi and Zhang who had already gotten off the car, as well as Zhu Gaosui who was alone. He also helped Xu get out of the car, fearing that Xu might bump into him.

"Is the second child so tall? He's almost as tall as the Vajra Bodhisattva in the temple."

This was the first time that Mrs. Zhang saw Zhu Gaoxu, so she was surprised by his appearance.

"How about I say that killing me is the same as killing me?"

Although Zhu Gaochi was panicking, he still pretended to be calm and joked with Mrs. Zhang.

"Gao Xu, come here."

Xu's voice sounded, and Zhu Gaoxu also came forward with Guo Yan and bowed to Xu.

As the eldest daughter of Xu Da, Xu was carefully raised by Xu Da and his wife since she was a child. Not only did she read poetry and books, but she was also able to participate in the military and wear armor to defend the city.

Because of her outstanding talent and learning, she is also known as "the female student" in Huaixi, which shows her ability.

In terms of appearance alone, Xu is not particularly outstanding, but she is also delicate and dignified with a white complexion, willow eyebrows and long eyes.

"You've grown so tall."

Seeing Zhu Gaoxu approaching, Mrs. Xu stepped forward and touched Zhu Gaoxu's shoulder, feeling a little regretful that she had missed so many years of Zhu Gaoxu's growth.

"Were you injured when you went south to fight?"

Xu's face was full of worry, and Zhu Gaoxu could only force out a smile when he saw this: "Mom, you are worried. After all, I am the commander-in-chief of the three armies, commanding tens of thousands of soldiers and horses. How can I personally go into battle to kill the enemy, and how can I get injured?"

"That's not necessarily true..." Mrs. Xu shook her head slightly and glanced at Zhu Di who was smiling awkwardly next to her.

Obviously, Zhu Di did this kind of thing a lot, otherwise he wouldn't be embarrassed and laughed with.

"I chatted a lot with Yan'er on the way, and we are already familiar with each other. However, I haven't seen you for several years, and I miss you very much."

"Today we have a family dinner, you and I can talk about those things that can't be said in the letter."

Mrs. Xu really wanted to know what happened to Zhu Gaoxu, because she could feel the difference between Zhu Gaoxu and when he left Peking.

But compared to Xu, Zhu Gaoxu didn't want to talk about the past.

"Hurry up, mother, there are still many things going on in the East Palace."

Zhu Gaoxu responded with a smile, and then followed Xu to the Qianqing Palace.

She is very familiar with this place, but it is not surprising. After all, she has been valued by Queen Ma since she was very young and has been raised by her side. Otherwise, Xu Da's cabbage would not have been taken over by Zhu Di.

The Xu family even knew more about the inner court than the Lu family.

"How did you arrange it for Lu and the child?"

As soon as he entered the Qianqing Palace and sat down, Mrs. Xu asked about Zhu Di.

After Zhu Di heard this, he quickly said: "I have removed her title of Queen Mother, now I call her Princess Yiwen again, and arranged for her and Wen Kuina's son to live next to the eldest brother's mausoleum."

"Where are Yunxi and the other three?" Mrs. Xu asked with a frown. When Zhu Di heard this, his expression was not very good and he said: "They are no longer common people and Fengyang is imprisoned."

"It's better to save one life." Mrs. Xu sighed: "Anyway, since you and Gao Xu are in power, they can't make trouble."

At this moment, no one said that what Xu said was wrong. After all, if Zhu Di really wiped out Zhu Biao's lineage, then history books would probably have to write about it in the future.

Anyway, the situation is now stable, and Zhu Gaoxu is younger than Zhu Yunxi, so there is no need for them to worry.

In this case, it would be better to spare their lives and confine Fengyang honestly.

"That's right." Mrs. Xu looked at Zhu Gaochi, then glanced at Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu. "I didn't want to say anything else. It's just that you father and son are fighting for position. Don't involve Gao Chi too. He can't help but scare you."

"..." After hearing this, Zhu Di looked at Zhu Gaoxu silently, his eyes seeming to say that he would not take the blame.

But when Zhu Gaojiu saw it, he spoke one step ahead: "I have told my father about the eldest brother. It is better to change the eldest brother to the King of Han and confer him to Kunming. He will have an annual salary of 30,000 dan, 2,000 guan, 3,000 pieces of silk and satin, and another prince's palace." Twelve thousand guards."

"Huh?" Zhu Di's eyes widened when he heard his lines finished by Zhu Gaoxu, thinking that a guy like you, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, is so thoughtful.

"Kunming is good...Kunming is good..." When he heard that he was canonized to Kunming, Zhu Gaochi was not sad because of the remoteness, but felt happy.

The more remote the fiefdom is, the safer it is for him. Moreover, Kunming has been reclaimed by Mu Ying and Muchun father and son, and now it can be regarded as an important town in the southwest, not a miserable place.

And judging from what the second child said, his salary was quite high, and he also had 12,000 royal guards. This deal was not a loss, and it was better than Li Jiancheng losing his head.

"Mom, I have nothing to say to you. Second brother, I will give you a toast first."

Zhu Gaochi stood up and raised his glass to Zhu Gaoxu. Upon seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu also raised his glass and clinked a glass with him.

Seeing the two brothers clinking glasses, Mrs. Xu breathed a sigh of relief.

She naturally knew that Zhu Gaochi was safe, but she was worried not only about Zhu Gaochi, but also about Zhu Gaosui.

"Have you thought about the third son's fiefdom?"

Mrs. Xu knew that Zhu Gaosui was a restless person, especially one who did not know his own abilities. She just wanted him to leave as soon as possible so that he would not cause any trouble if he stayed in the capital.

"I won't go, why don't you let me go when I arrive in the capital?"

Sure enough, as soon as Xu finished speaking, Zhu Gaosui immediately protested.

But his protest was completely useless to Zhu Gaojiu. After knowing Zhu Gaosui's trouble-making character, Zhu Gaojiu thought of giving him a place to move.

"The Dongman people in the southwest of Huguang have been causing trouble. When my grandfather was in power, he wanted to set up a vassal king in Changsha. Now that the King of Xiang has committed suicide and passed away, how about canonizing the third son as King Zhao and vassaling Changsha?"

As soon as Zhu Gaoxu opened his mouth, Zhu Gaosui immediately became dissatisfied, stood up and shouted: "Why did you put me in a place where a bird doesn't shit?"

"Sit down!" Zhu Gaojiu glared at him, and the air around him suddenly solidified. Only then did Zhu Gaojiu remember the memory suppressed by Zhu Gaojiu, and sat back down unwillingly.

Seeing the two brothers quarreling, Zhu Di said with a smile: "Changsha is not bad, it is richer than Kunming."

The obvious meaning of his words was to approve Zhu Gaosui's proposal. After all, as a father, he knew Zhu Gaosui's character very well.

He can forgive Zhu Gaojiu, but once Zhu Gaojiu steps on Zhu Gaojiu's red line, he may not be able to save Zhu Gaojiu.

In this way, Zhu Gaosui's protest was ruthlessly suppressed by Zhu Gaoxu, and no one in the family supported him.

Zhu Di even decided on Zhu Gaosui's treatment after ridiculing him.

The annual salary is 25,000 dan, money is 1,500 guan, 2,500 pieces of silk and satin cloth, and 1,000 pieces of salt and tea gins. The Ministry of Household Affairs will allocate money and grain for the construction of Prince Zhao's Mansion, and the cost is controlled within 100,000 guan.

After all this was done, the food was served, but because of Zhu Gaosui's incident, the family was not able to finish the meal happily.

After it was over, Zhu Gaoxu left the scene with Guo Yan. Zhu Gaochi also took Zhang to live in the former Prince Yan's Mansion, while Zhu Gaosui was arranged to live in the former Prince Xiang's Mansion.

Although the time for joining the feudal clan has not yet been set, they all know that they will not be able to stay in the capital for long, because the current situation in the capital is complicated enough.

"We are a good family, fighting like this..."

Seeing the deserted scene after leaving, Mrs. Xu sighed, while Zhu Di remained silent after hearing this and continued to eat the food on the table.

In fact, he also knew that it was right to let Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaosui establish vassal status as soon as possible, but he also felt a little reluctant to let go of his two sons.

Just leaving them behind, he really didn't know what would happen to these two sons.

Thinking of this, even he hoped that Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaosui would leave quickly, so he raised his head and looked at Wang Yan: "Gouer, let the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Works build the Han Palace and Zhao Palace as soon as possible."

"Servant, take your orders..." Wang Yan agreed and left. Xu did not continue to discuss the affairs of the feudal vassal, but talked to Zhu Di about the trivial matters of the past few months.

Compared to them, Zhu Gaoxu seemed a little busy.

After taking Guo Yan back to the Chunhe Palace, he let Guo Yan rest while he himself summoned Yi Shiha and Zheng He.

This was the first time the two met, and after Zhu Gaoxu's introduction, they became familiar with each other.

After taking his seat, Zhu Gaoxu did not hide anything, but went straight to the topic.

"The 60,000 civilian horses in the six prefectures and two states will start migrating north in two days. If you want to raise the horses well, you must feed them well."

"The military fields in Shandong have been converted into civilian fields, but the court also has requirements for what to plant on the local acres."

"70% of the local equalization of land is chosen by the Jurchen people and ordinary people who are allocated the land, and the remaining 30% must be designated as bean fields."

"I have calculated that 30% of the fields are four million acres, and four million acres of bean fields can produce 1.5 million kilograms of dried beans."

"In this case, the imperial court decided to purchase dried beans for horse feed in Deng, Lai, and Qingzhou every year and transport them to Liaodong and Bohai specifically for horse farms."

As soon as Zhu Gaoxu opened his mouth, it was four million acres of soybean material.

After hearing this, Yi Shiha immediately said: "According to the price of beans in Shandong, four million acres of soybean fields will produce about 4.5 million shi of beans. If we follow Bohai's five-for-one tax, it means handing over 900,000 shi." I have 3.6 million shi in hand, and I can recycle it at a price, and the price is about 1.1 million shi."

"These 4.5 million stone are made into horse feed dried beans, which is 1.5 million stone. But does the horse farm outside the pass need so much bean feed?"

Yi Shiha questioned whether the racecourse outside the customs requires so much bean feed. After all, according to a normal military horse, it is only three kilograms of dried beans for horse feed every day, and it has to be digested occasionally, which is up to seven shi a year.

One and a half million stone horses are fed with dried beans, which can feed more than 200,000 military horses. The civilian horses simply cannot eat that much.

The way people raise horses is that at most one pound of beans and ten pounds of grass per day is enough, and at most two stones, five buckets of beans and thirty bunches of grass a year.

Calculating this, Zhu Gaoxu's 1.5 million stone horse feed dried beans is enough to feed 600,000 people's horses.

"Counting these 60,000 civilian horses, how many civilian and military horses do we have outside the pass?"

Zhu Gaoxu did not answer the question, but asked a new question to Yi Shiha.

"After Halagu's death, people from Uliangha went south to join us every month. We kept their sheep, but the cattle and horses were collected by slaves and placed in Jilin, Changchun, and Zhaozhou according to your instructions. , Hanzhou and other pastures.”

"Currently, there are fifteen horse farms in these four pastures, with more than 7,800 military horses and more than 37,600 civilian horses. Counting the civilian horses of the six prefectures and two states, the number is close to 100,000."

"In addition, they also have a herd of more than 44,000 cattle."

"These horses and cattle herds can grow by about 30% every year. If you follow your highness's method of raising beans with sufficient food rations, in five years at most, the number of civilian horses and cattle will not be less than 350,000, and the number of cattle will be no less than 150,000. , no less than 30,000 troops and horses."

"Of course, the growth rate that slave is talking about is to put them all into pastures and horse farms."

"If we still need to select draft horses and cattle to participate in land reclamation and farming, it will definitely not reach this many."

Compared with Zhu Di's method of raising horses by handing them over to the people and handing the risks to the people, Zhu Gaoxu's special agency can undoubtedly nourish horses faster and produce better horses. However, the disadvantage is also obvious, that is, it is more expensive. many.

"What if we include the civilian horses and cattle that have been sent out?"

Zhu Gaoxu spoke again, but Yishiha hesitated after hearing: "That will be faster, but this will delay the speed of land reclamation."

Yi Shiha thought that Zhu Gaoxu wanted to take back the farm cattle and civilian horses that had been sent out, but Zhu Gaoxu meant that the civilian cattle and civilian horses were also included.

"Including the rations for civilian cattle and horses, and letting them give birth to calves and foals and then sending them to the pasture, will the speed increase and how much will the cost increase?"

Zhu Gaoxu expressed his thoughts, but after hearing this, Yishiha could only take out the small abacus he carried with him from his sleeve and start tapping it.

After a while, Yi lost his temper and said: "If this is the case, then the number of civilian horses in five years' time will probably be no less than 600,000, the number of cattle will be no less than 500,000, and the number of military horses should still be around 30,000."

People in the Northeast have the most cattle for farming, followed by horses. Therefore, if the private sector is included, the growth in the number of horses and cattle will be staggering.

"But in this case, the subsequent bean ingredients may not be enough..."

Yi Shiha raised a question, but in Zhu Gaoxu's view, this is not a problem. Horses and cattle are productivity. If there are nearly a million draft horses and cattle in the Northeast, then the productivity they bring is enough to meet the needs of more than 10 million acres of cultivated land. Reclamation, including manpower, is more than 20 million acres.

If there are really 20 million acres of arable land in the Northeast, even if the yield per acre is six buckets of grain, it will be able to feed the more than 2 million people in five years and transport hundreds of thousands of grains of grain to Peiping.

What's more, if the number of cattle and horses can reach one million, their subsequent growth rate will be even faster, which is self-evidently important to the economic recovery of the north.

If Zhu Gaoxu remembers correctly, in history, in the first year of Yongle, the army and civilians had less than 40,000 horses. Zhu Di asked the people to bear the risks themselves, and it took only nineteen years to reach one million horses.

The current approach adopted in Northeast China is that the government bears the main risk and horse households bear the secondary risk.

Judging from the previous horse-raising efficiency at Jilin Racecourse, this efficiency is much higher than Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di's method, which is expensive.

But money, if you invest it, you can earn it back in the future.

Now, it will take him ten years to challenge what historically took Zhu Di nineteen years to accomplish.

"Whether it is one million guan or two million guan, as long as the people in the north can live and work in peace and contentment, and every household has its own draft horse and cattle, then the court's efforts will be worthwhile."

Faced with Yi Shiha's worries, Zhu Gaoxu spoke without any burden and told Zheng He:

"Today's words, you tell the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Officials, and set up Taipu temples in Jilin, Hanzhou, Changchun, and Zhaozhou to raise herds."

"Master!" Zheng He agreed, and Zhu Gaoxu also looked at Yi Shiha: "Let Sun Cheng handle this matter, and let him train people well. The capital also needs him. If he can train talents as soon as possible, he can Come back to the capital as soon as possible to help me."

"I will teach you." Yi Shiha agreed, and then he saw Zhu Gaoxu waving his hand to signal them to leave.

Not long after, there were only a few eunuchs serving Zhu Gaoxu in the entire Chunhe Hall, and Zhu Gaoxu took it upon himself to open the map of the world that he had drawn.

This picture is almost a replica of the world map of later generations. Although it has flaws, it is much better than Zhu Di's abstract map.

Zhu Gaoxu's eyes traveled from Japan to North Korea, to the Bohai Sea, Modong, Mobei, and the Western Regions...

From east to west, from north to south, all the way from the Southern Ocean to southern Africa, and finally back to the easternmost American continent.

The full name of this picture is also called "General Picture of the Four Barbarians in the World"...

　"Records of Emperor Taizong of the Ming Dynasty": "In the seventh month of Guimao: the emperor brought the kings of Han and Zhao to the capital, and held a family banquet in the Palace of Qianqing. However, King Zhao's words and deeds were frivolous, and the king of Han was weak, so he reprimanded King Zhao. The prince comforted him and went to the palace. I heard that 'the one who makes peace with my family is the prince'."

　　

　

(End of this chapter)