Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 308 The father does not recognize the son

"One two one"

"One! Two!"

"Beep--"

"The flag is fluttering, the horse is fluttering, good man, good man, good man serves the country today!"

At the foot of Guanyin Mountain in Nanjing, when morning exercises and harsh whistles sounded, thousands of students wearing mandarin duck jackets on the playground of the National Defense University, which covers an area of ​​more than 200 acres, were shouting slogans and singing "Arranged by Zhu Gaoxu" "Congjun Song" written lyrics" is high-spirited.

On the school platform, more than 300 military attachés wearing sashes stood in a square formation, and those reviewing them were Zhu Di, the Yongle Emperor of the Ming Dynasty who appeared at the National Defense University early in the morning, and Zhu Gaoxu, the crown prince of the East Palace who was brought here by him.

Among this group of military attachés appeared the figures of Chen Heng, Duke of Jing, Zhang Yu, Duke of England, Guo Ying, Marquis of Wuding, and Mengshan, Marquis of Baoding.

Zhu Di led Zhu Gaoxu to review them. Zhu Di did not stop until he saw the face of Wei Guogong Xu Huizu, but Xu Huizu did not look at Zhu Di at all.

Looking at his appearance, Zhu Di was a little angry, wondering why Xu Huizu, as a member of his own family, didn't understand him.

But after thinking of his own sister Xu, he still put down his temper and glanced at the three hundred military attachés behind the five honorable ministers.

Compared with Chen Heng and his group of 40 or 50-year-old honorable ministers, the more than 300 military attachés in the rear were of different ages, and more than 100 of them were very young, and their appearance was slightly different from that of the Han people.

The reason for this is that they are all mid- to high-level military attachés selected by Zhu Gaoxu from the Shenji Battalion.

These more than a hundred military attaches are almost the backbone of the entire Shenji Battalion. After they handed over their jobs, they participated in the teaching of the National Defense University.

Even so, no one dares to look down on them, because no army in this era is more experienced than them in terms of firearms warfare.

"Wei Guogong, report on the situation of the university!"

Zhu Di spoke businesslikely, and Xu Huizu also took a step forward and bowed: "The National Defense University is now Yongle Phase I, with 346 teachers, four colleges, 200 classes, and a total of 6,790 students. Seven people!"

After Xu Huizu finished his report, he took a step back and returned to the team. Zhu Di felt his tooth hurt after hearing it.

Although it was already the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month in the first year of Yongle, and it was only two days away from New Year's Eve, the children of military attachés enrolled in the National Defense University had only been attending school for four months.

In four months, more than 14,000 of the military attache's children fled and more than 7,000 of them fled, which made him, the emperor, extremely embarrassed.

If there weren't nearly 6,800 people left, he might have lost his face.

Thinking of this, he looked back at Zhu Gaoxu who was following him: "So many people have left just four months after the school started. When the second semester of school comes next year, there won't be only two or three thousand people left, right?"

"I didn't expect that I would run away so much, but even if I run away, I won't be able to graduate if I keep this group of weak-willed people."

Zhu Gaoxu was very helpless. He originally expected that there would be 7,000 people by the end of the year. Now it seems that although it will not be the two or three thousand people as Zhu Di said, it is estimated that there will not be more than 5,000 people.

Of these five thousand people, less than 20% will graduate in five years, and the rest will either repeat a grade or drop out.

But if they can graduate, it will be more than enough to serve as a member of a hundred households, and a thousand people can take care of a hundred thousand people.

"If you do this, the more than 16,000 military attache children who have not heard anything yet may not even come to school next year, and they will directly choose to be awarded the casual rank."

Zhu Di looked at Zhu Gaoxu worriedly, but Zhu Gaoxu said calmly: "My son has thought about this a long time ago, so he has already issued an instruction to the Governor's Mansion of the Sixth Army."

"Starting from the first month of next year, local health stations can recommend ten military households to study at the National Defense University."

"In addition, the difficulty of the world martial arts examination will also be changed. There will no longer be the martial arts champion and the martial arts champion, but only the martial arts examiner."

"People who take military examinations do not enjoy any privileges and are only eligible to enter the National Defense University."

"In this way, I estimate that the people and the guards together can select tens of thousands of people."

The National Defense University has never targeted the children of military attachés, but the more than two million children of the guards under the entire Sixth Army Commandery System, as well as Confucian students from all over the world who are interested in joining the army.

There are 556 inner and outer guards in the Ming Dynasty. Each guard recommends ten people, which is more than 5,560 people. Including the civil military examination candidates, it is only a conservative estimate that 10,000 people enroll in the school every year.

Compared with the children of military attachés who were already resistant to admission, these tens of thousands of interested students were the talents Zhu Gaoxu needed.

"If you can really get something out of this, maybe it can be used in the imperial examination."

After Zhu Di heard Zhu Gaoxu's whimsical idea, he immediately expressed his approval to him.

He did not lower his voice, because this matter will be exposed next year. As long as the group of people in the temple pay a little attention, and if the court has this intention in the future, it will not be difficult for them to guess.

The matching between the military examinations and the National Defense University seems a bit reversed. After all, ordinary people do not have the capital to participate in the military examinations.

However, the Ming Dynasty's military resources are not large at present, so it is impossible to invest too much in the civilian population and can only maintain the current conditions.

When basic military resources are available in the future, the National Defense University will definitely take root in each province.

Once this system is properly utilized, many talented generals will inevitably emerge every year.

Thinking of this, Zhu Di looked at Xu Huizu and the others: "In the past four months, have there been any military attachés who have performed conspicuously?"

"Wang Tong, the son of Cheng Shanbo, is pretty good..." Xu Huizu replied. This familiar name also made Zhu Di happy: "It's him. Wang Zhen told me about him a few days ago and plans to let him ascend to the title after he graduates."

"If I can get your praise, it seems that this kid is not far behind, hahaha..."

Zhu Di smiled heartily, but Zhu Gaoxu, standing behind him, was very ashamed.

Wang Tong, isn't that the general who died in the battle of Jiaozhi at Liusheng and then abandoned his ground in fear? Although he lived long enough to reach the Jingtai period, during which he also participated in the defense of Beijing and made military exploits, such a person should not be considered Among the founding generals of the Ming Dynasty, their ability may not be as good as that of a Huaixi commander under Xu Da.

Such people can be singled out for praise, which makes Zhu Gaoxu dare not imagine how useless these military attachés are.

Sighing deep in his heart, Zhu Gaoxu could only be glad that most of his men were from the young and strong faction.

"Okay, since there are outstanding seedlings, we should cultivate them well, but in the end, we have to rely on our strength to speak for itself."

Zhu Di gave instructions and then turned around and got off the school platform.

Zhu Gaoxu followed, and the father and son began to wander around the National Defense University accompanied by Meng Shan, Chen Heng, Zhang Yu and others.

The buildings of the National Defense University are all modern buildings of later generations, made of wrought iron and concrete. Each of the three colleges has ten teaching buildings, each covering an area of ​​two acres, four floors high, and 48 classrooms.

After getting on the big train and looking up at the teaching buildings, Zhu Di couldn't help scratching his beard: "This cement is a good thing, but it's a pity that the output is not high, otherwise it could be used by cities all over the world."

Seeing what Zhu Di said, Zhu Gaoxu also reported: "Sun Cheng has purchased seventy-two cement plants in Liaodong, and his ministers have also asked Yi Shiha to purchase one cement plant in each province, and ten in the north and south."

"Today, these 103 cement plants have already begun operations, with an annual output of more than 86,000 tons."

"Tons?" Zhu Di was a little curious about this new word, and Zhu Gaoxu also explained: "One ton is one thousand kilograms."

"Well, where are you going to use all this cement?" Zhu Di asked Zhu Gaoxu, and Zhu Gaoxu replied without hesitation:

"It is needed for the construction of official roads, as well as the city's urban construction and sewers, as well as canals, rivers, and dams."

"My son, I have calculated that the official road is three feet wide and three inches thick. If half of the cement is left every year, about three hundred miles of official road can be built."

"Three hundred miles of official roads may not seem like much, but cement factories will continue to sprout up in various places in the future. It only takes a hundred years to build concrete official roads connecting various prefectures and counties."

Zhu Gaoxu expressed his imagination, but Zhu Di frowned: "The imperial court needs official roads, and this concrete official road is comfortable to walk on, but the imperial court only needs a few main concrete official roads."

"From Jilin to Jinzhou, from Shenyang to Quaning, from Quaning to Beijing, from Beijing to Yangzhou..."

Zhu Di seems to have been coveting cement for a long time. On the surface, he doesn't ask, but secretly he has built a huge transportation network in his mind.

His idea was to allow the army to enter the provinces as quickly as possible. The usefulness of concrete roads was similar to Qin Chidao's idea.

"It is necessary to build the main roads first, but if the court becomes rich in the future, it will be better to connect the various prefectures and counties in order to better govern the place."

"What's more, official channels can also be used by merchants and ordinary people, and can promote the exchange of goods from various places. This is a good thing."

Zhu Gaoxu swore that although the strength of the concrete he used to build the road was inferior to that of later generations of C15, the problem was that the Ming Dynasty in this era did not have vehicles carrying dozens of tons of weight driving on the road.

As for the most common sixteen-wheeled carriages in the Ming Dynasty, a long-row horse-drawn carriage that could be pulled by six horses only weighed five or six thousand kilograms. When calculated in later generations, the tonnage was not even four tons.

Judging from the standards of future generations, these concrete official roads are not even considered to be rubbish projects. But in the Ming Dynasty, they are connected to the local area and can ensure smooth traffic for hundreds of years.

"To build roads and the city roads and sewers you mentioned, are you going to use corvees or pay wages?"

"Also, the output of this concrete is so high. How many craftsmen did you use and how much did it cost each year?"

Zhu Di remembered that Zhu Gaoxu said that corvées can be used, but they cannot be eliminated, so he asked him.

"To pay wages, the imperial court has obtained so much copper money from overseas, and it has to be spent to make the money circulate."

"As for the number of workers in the cement plant, there are more than 26,000 people. Each person is paid ten cents per day and can be settled immediately."

"The cost of building official roads, city roads, and sewers is also priced at ten cents per day."

At this point, Zhu Gaoxu began to talk in detail about economic issues with Zhu Di.

Corvee labor can save money and food, but it also delays the farming season and the people's time to clear wasteland.

At present, the imperial court earns millions of gold, silver and copper coins from overseas and the southwest every year, and the copper coins alone are no less than two million.

These two million copper coins are an over-issued currency for the Ming Dynasty. They must not be used up in a single region. This will lead to local inflation and skyrocketing prices.

This money must be invested in local areas in a dispersed manner to ensure the stability of prices and at the same time build roads, urban construction, water conservancy and other infrastructure in Ming Dynasty.

When farmers have money in their hands, they will naturally consume it, which also stimulates the local economy. As long as there are no problems with tax collection, local governments can also recover part of it through commercial taxes.

Compared with Yan Fu, Zhu Gaoxu is more inclined to get rich through work.

Zhu Gaoxu had been talking to Zhu Di about these things for two hours, and he had not yet made it clear to Zhu Di until they had left the National Defense University under the escort of more than a hundred cavalry.

"Did you also tell Yu Xin and the others these words?"

Zhu Di always felt that these things seemed familiar, but he was confused when he heard them.

Zhu Gaoxu nodded: "Yu Xin and Xia Yuanji are important ministers that the court needs to rely on, so naturally we have to talk to them about these things." "Okay..." Zhu Di nodded, and his expression and movements made Zhu Gaoxu think that he had understood him. However, Zhu Di said:

"You don't need to tell me about these things in the future. It gives me a headache. You just need to ensure local money and food, and don't let the construction of Beijing, the Northern Expedition, and the dredging of the canal stop."

"Also, I think the Ancient and Modern Classics Library is really useful. If someone like you goes to read all the books in it tomorrow morning, I'm afraid the Ming Dynasty will be much richer and stronger in advance."

"I thought about it and wanted to copy all the useful books in the Ancient and Modern Classics Library together and make it into a book that can contain hundreds of schools of thought."

Zhu Di suddenly said that he wanted to repair a book. Zhu Gaoxu knew immediately that the book was probably the "Yongle Dadian", but he did not agree.

"It is good to repair books, but the books must be spread."

"Father, even if you ask people to edit books now, with the current manpower and material resources, you can only compile a kind of book. But if you wait a few years and wait for the students from Liaodong to graduate, you can make rubbings after compilation. It will be lost in the future.”

After Zhu Gaoxu finished speaking, he glanced out the window and realized that they did not return to the inner city, but were heading south.

Looking at the movement of the carriage, Zhu Gaoxu in the carriage couldn't help but frown: "Where are we going?"

"I really miss my third child when I go to the university." Zhu Di was still thinking about Zhu Gaoxu's words. He answered after hearing what he said and quickly changed the subject.

"What you said makes sense. If the book cannot be passed down after being revised, it will really not be able to demonstrate my achievements."

"Let's do this. When the students from Liaodong graduate, you can choose someone to help me compile this book."

"Yes!" Zhu Gaoxu nodded in agreement. After all, he also wanted to take the opportunity of compiling "Yongle Dadian" to stuff some "since ancient times" books into it.

When he thought of this, Zhu Gaoxu looked out the window and saw some people who were still working in the fields even in this cold winter month.

"We still have to improve productivity..."

Looking at the group of farmers, Zhu Gaoxu's mind flashed through various things that could improve productivity, such as steam engines and internal combustion engines. However, although he knew what these were and had learned them in school, he eventually forgot them during his years of work.

He only remembered that the principle of a steam engine is to generate heat energy by burning fuel, heating water to generate steam, and then using the expansion force of the steam to push the piston or rotating shaft to achieve energy conversion.

It's just that the principle and the specific steps are completely different things. Just because he remembers the principle doesn't mean he can figure it out.

He was able to make matchlocks, cannons, and flintlock guns because he had seen these things, and for Ming craftsmen, there was no generation gap in making these things.

But right now, he couldn't even remember the appearance of the steam engine. Apart from providing the principles, he couldn't provide anything else.

Because of this, he wanted to select a group of people with science talents from the students of Bohai and Liaodong.

"Calculating the time, the results are almost out. I don't know how many people will be selected."

Zhu Gaoxu thought about the final exam in Bohai, and when Zhu Di saw that he was silent, he immediately started to pick up the ink pen and start processing the memorials on the big coat.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu also started to deal with it. One of them was the memorial that Chen Ying impeached Luo Qian and Che Shu last time.

More than ten officials and their family members related to Luo Qian were sent to Yunnan to serve as edicts. As for Che Shu and more than fifty officials and their relatives, they were exiled to Guangxi after a thorough investigation, involving more than 2,000 people.

Zhu Gaoxu was very satisfied with this quantity, but it was not what he wanted most.

What he wants most is to start to strictly crack down on corruption after he has enough officials in his hands, and to classify the "routine income" of many yamen as illegal income.

At that time, he can capture and exile a group of people every year to enrich the border population.

While he was thinking this, the sound of artillery firing began to be heard in the distance.

"Boom boom——"

"This sound of artillery should be from siege artillery."

Zhu Di's eyes revealed excitement. It was obvious that he had memorized the sounds of various cannons during the more than half a year of running around.

Zhu Gaoxu was not alarmed by this, but was actually a little happy.

After all, if Zhu Di can better master the use of firearms troops, his journey to conquer Mobei will be much smoother.

"That's right!" Zhu Di suddenly thought of something, looked at Zhu Gaoxu and said:

"You did a good job in the battle deduction. I'm going to get it to test the generals in the military."

"That's okay, but..." Zhu Gaoxu hesitated for a moment, which made Zhu Di frown: "What?"

"No..." Zhu Gaoxu pretended to be embarrassed: "But I think father, you should not have too high expectations."

"With all due respect, my son, except for Zhu Neng and Song Sheng, the generals in the north, including Qiu Fu, Tan Yuan, Chen Wu, Huo Zhen and others, are all suitable to serve as generals and lead thousands of soldiers. The horse is okay, but once it exceeds 20,000, the results may not be as beautiful as if you lead 10,000 troops."

"Are you looking down on them?" Zhu Di has not experienced Qiu Fu's fiasco at this moment, so he still has illusions about his old brothers.

But in fact, he also has his own opinion in his heart, that is, there are really not many brothers in his group who can stand up and take charge of their own affairs, so he wants to select a few from them to focus on training.

But now judging from the words of his second son, it is estimated that this group of people really can't pick out a few handsome talents like Zhang Yu and Zhu Neng.

"You have transferred everyone to the south."

Zhu Di could only complain to Zhu Gaoxu. Zhu Gaoxu was speechless when he heard this and said: "There are Meng Zhang, Chen Mao, Wang Yi, Chen Chang and Xu Sheng in the north."

"That's true, otherwise I wouldn't ask for them from you." Zhu Di scratched his beard and seemed to approve of his own vision.

Among the five men Meng Zhang, Chen Mao, Wang Yi, Chen Chang, and Xu Sheng, except for Xu Sheng who is only suitable as a pioneer, the other four can all be well cultivated.

Although they cannot reach the heights of Geng Bingwen and others, they are still the mainstay of the Ming Dynasty today.

Of course, their biggest advantage is their youth. Even the oldest Wang Yi is only thirty-nine years old.

"Beep--"

"Stop for inspection!"

When the wooden whistle sounded, Zhu Di looked at Zhu Gaoxu with a resentful look. Obviously, he had experienced this kind of experience many times.

Zhu Gaoxu ignored Zhu Di's resentful eyes and got out of the carriage first.

"His Royal Highness Chitose——"

Seeing the sudden appearance of Zhu Gaoxu, the two hundred soldiers at the entrance of the large training ground quickly bowed and bowed, which made Zhu Di, who followed him out of the car, have a toothache.

"Long live your Majesty!"

Fortunately, a Baihu official saw Zhu Di and immediately took the lead in shouting long live, otherwise Zhu Di would have lost face today.

"Check it carefully, let's ride in first."

Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Di did not need to be inspected, so he asked someone to bring in two horses.

Zhu Gaoxu, who hadn't ridden a horse for a long time, couldn't help but think of Chi Huan when he got on his horse, so he asked, "How is Chi Huan doing at the racecourse?"

"Back to Your Highness, he gave birth to many foals, and the brothers took good care of him." Baihuguan grinned, and Zhu Gaoxu nodded after hearing this: "I'll go see him in a moment. He hasn't been seen for a few months. .”

Since Chi Huan was brought back to the south, he has taken on the task of breeding horse breeds at the military horse farm, and has been living a comfortable life. However, it often takes several months to meet Zhu Gaoxu, and every time they meet, he relies on him to stay.

It was hard to come to a large teaching venue today, and he just happened to be able to meet Chi Huan.

"Let's go."

Zhu Di shook his horse's reins, greeted Zhu Gaoxu and then rode towards the teaching ground, and Zhu Gaoxu followed closely.

Not long after, the two rode their horses to the edge of the playground of the cathedral.

On the playground, nearly ten thousand soldiers and horses were training. The two of them reined in their horses and watched from the edge.

The soldiers here are all Jurchen soldiers recruited from the Bohai Sea. No matter how many times they come, Zhu Di can watch them train with gleaming eyes.

"If you hadn't restricted me, I would have really wanted to take all the soldiers and horses in Beijing and go north, so that I can teach the barbarians who are supreme in the grassland how powerful the Ming Dynasty is now."

Zhu Di glanced at the Jurchen soldiers and horses in this playground and other playgrounds not far away, making no secret of his desire.

"Haha, father's words are serious." Zhu Gaoxu chuckled: "Whether soldiers and horses can fight depends on how they are trained."

"Of course I know, but I have never led this army into a battle, and my hands are itchy." Zhu Di smiled heartily, and his laughter was clearly heard by the soldiers who were training not far away.

Some curious people looked here, including Zhu Gaosui.

"father?"

In the military formation, when Zhu Gaosui saw Zhu Di, his brain shut down for a moment. He did not dare to imagine that the father he had longed for would suddenly appear, and he even thought it was a hallucination.

"Zhu Gaosui comes out and gives you a quarter of an hour's leave!"

When the Baihu official's voice sounded in Zhu Gaosui's ears, he realized that the Zhu Di in front of him was not in vain.

"Dad!!"

For a moment, tears burst into his eyes. He simply threw away the weapon in his hand and ran towards Zhu Di with his head buried.

Zhu Di didn't recognize that this was Zhu Gaosui at all, and was startled: "Who is this?"

"This is Gao Sui." Zhu Gaoxu laughed and said, "Aren't you coming to see him?"

"Is this the third child?!" Zhu Di looked at him in shock. He couldn't see the slightest resemblance at all. Those who didn't know better thought they were Xifan people from Uzang.

"Dad! You have to make the decision for me!"

Zhu Gaosui, who ran in front of Zhu Di, immediately hugged Zhu Di's legs, wailing with runny nose and tears:

"I want to go back to the palace. I'm going to Changsha now to join the feudal clan. I don't want to stay here anymore!!"

(End of this chapter)