Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 316 Zhu Jiaoxi

"Dang...dang...dang..."

In the early morning, when dew falls on the market, the fresh breath hits your nostrils.

In the city of Nanjing on the banks of the Yangtze River, ordinary people on the streets began to busy preparing for the day. Vendors setting up stalls also came to the streets early, pushing carts and shouting slogans to sell goods, and the shouts were endless.

On the roadside, various shops gradually began to open their doors, the morning bells in the distance gradually became quieter, and the noisy urging in the ears revealed a hint of familiarity and warmth.

The buildings on both sides of the street are lined up, and the heights are staggered. Some nostalgic roofs can still be seen as they were when they were built.

The signature flags hanging outside the window fluttered in the wind, and the morning breeze brought a slight coolness, making people feel the historical atmosphere exuded by this ancient capital of eight dynasties.

The ancient city wall seemed to be sleeping at this moment, without too much wind or footsteps.

The bells of Jiming Temple in the distance became more and more melodious, forming a sharp contrast with the excitement on the streets.

Compared with the worldly prosperity of the inner city, the Miyagi Castle not far away has just finished its morning dynasty.

Zhu Di arrived at Wuying Palace in a carriage and entered it. As he walked, he asked Wang Yan who was following behind him: "It's been two months since the second son went to Taixue. He hasn't come back for so long because he doesn't want to live with me." Together?"

When the words fell, he also sat back in his seat, and Wang Yan said with shame: "I also sent someone to inquire. His Highness said that the class is not over yet, and he can't get out and come back for the time being."

Wang Yan explained, but Zhu Di was dissatisfied and said:

"I heard that everyone in the government and the public is now calling him Jiaoxi, and the students of Taixue also say that he is an all-rounder in both ancient and modern times."

"OK……"

"Our Zhu family comes from a rebellious background, but we didn't expect that a great saint like him would suddenly appear. He was not a good prince, but he became his Zhu Jiaoxi."

Zhu Di said angrily, then touched his beard with one hand and pointed at Wang Yan with a red pen in the other hand: "Send someone to tell him that these days are the days when the princess will give birth. Even if he wants to be his Zhu Jiaoxi, he must first Take good care of my Zhu Huangsun first."

"Your servant accepts the order." Wang Yan agreed, and Zhu Di also looked at the pile of memorials and felt a headache.

After Zhu Gaoxu went to be a tutor and handed over one third of the East Palace Memorials to him, he did not feel the joy of taking back his power. Instead, he felt very irritable.

Zhu Jiaoxi has things to do, and he, Emperor Zhu, has even more things to do.

From the beginning of May to the beginning of July now, except for the anniversary of Zhu Yuanzhang's death, when he took time to go to Purple Mountain to pay homage, he had been staying in the palace to deal with memorials.

For an emperor like Zhu Di who was born as a vassal king, if he stayed away from the palace for too long, he would feel that he was out of touch with the people's livelihood and suffering, so he couldn't help but feel a little anxious.

Seeing Wang Yan sending someone to deliver the message, Zhu Di settled down to deal with the memorial.

When the time was approaching noon, Yu Xin, the Minister of Household Affairs, and Zhaozhou Bo Li from the Sixth Army Governor's Office appeared in Wuying Hall.

Zhu Di packed up a memorial and looked up at them who were bowing five times and kowtowing three times: "Let's do it in peace."

"I thank you..." Yu and Xin returned the greeting, then stood up slowly.

The two of them were holding wat tablets, and Yu Xin started to announce: "Qinzhou, Lin'an, and Siming have allocated one million in money and grain each. In addition, this year's summer grain collection has also begun."

"Shandong's immigration to Liaodong has come to an end. Although some people have fled south, they have also been repatriated back to Liaodong. It is expected that the number of people in Liaodong will exceed 2 million before winter."

Before Yu Xin finished speaking, Zhu Di said: "There are many people in Liaodong, but there are few in Shandong. How to prevent cultivated land from being abandoned?"

"Back to Your Majesty..." Yu Xin had already prepared, so he answered unhurriedly: "Before winter, Liaodong will transfer 7,000 draft horses and 30,000 cattle to the south. For the villages and towns in Shandong with equal land, these farmland Oxen and horses will be distributed and distributed, which is equivalent to the labor of more than 100,000 people."

"Currently, the three prefectures of Qingzhou, Dengzhou and Laizhou have a population of over 1,544,000 and more than 23,720,000 acres of cultivated land."

"These numbers of people, plus the oxen and horses that the imperial court has distributed to the people since the Hongwu period, are enough to cultivate all the cultivated land. And judging from last year's registration, the number of oxen and horses in the three prefectures has increased nearly compared with the number of acres of land and population in the Qing Dynasty. 60%, and the number of draft horses and cattle is nearly 150,000.”

"Based on the past growth situation, maybe in three years' time, people in the three prefectures will be able to continue to open up wasteland in the local area."

As the population on farmland increases, the number of cattle and draft horses used as livestock power will naturally increase as well.

The reason why the court didn't know anything about it was because the subordinate officials, the li chief, and the grain chief concealed the information.

After all, according to the previous policy, the draft horses and cattle issued by the imperial court had to be handed over after they had given birth to calves and foals.

In order to hide this group of cattle and horses, the people below were naturally able to do any kind of transaction.

They just bullied the imperial court and had no ears in the towns. However, as tens of thousands of subordinate officials from Bohai poured into Shandong, a large number of grain chiefs, li chiefs and subordinate officials were thoroughly investigated. The anti-corruption campaign in Shandong has continued from the beginning of the year to now, and no less than 3,000 people have been arrested. , were all exiled to prepare for the capture of Modong in the coming year and the establishment of the Three Guards.

"In addition, the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Household Affairs discovered a total of 376,400 taels of gold, silver, copper coins, treasure banknotes and other stolen money during the inspection in Shandong Province, and 179,240 taels of grain and grain were found to have been embezzled. , antique calligraphy and paintings are countless, there are 467 houses and houses, and 498,237 acres of land."

"The acres of land have been equally divided among the people, the grain and fodder have been shipped to Zhaozhou, the city houses have been handed over to Yahang for sale, and the township houses have been reserved as the residences of the newly transferred mayor, district chief, and grain chief."

"In addition to the stolen money, according to the decree of His Royal Highness, nearly 200,000 copper coins were transported to Zhaozhou for His Majesty to reward the three armies after the northern expedition and for post-war pensions. The gold and silver coins were transported to the south and deposited in the national treasury."

Yu Xin reported on the current situation in Shandong, and it must be said that Zhu Gaoxu was much more ruthless than Zhu Di in engaging in large-scale conspiracy.

Not to mention the Battle of Jingnan, let's just say that the corruption of the subordinate officials, the li chief, and the grain chief could have led to the confiscation of three thousand people into the army.

Zhu Di was familiar with the "Laws of the Ming Dynasty" and knew that Sun Cheng must have raised the price of the land according to Zhu Gaoxu's words. Otherwise, there would be no way so many people would be sent to the army. After all, there are requirements for the army to be sent to the army, and not every corrupt official can meet it. Not to mention these grassroots li and grain managers.

But it doesn't matter, as long as there is no trouble in Shandong, and the second brother still feels sorry for him, and has transferred nearly 180,000 shi of grain and 200,000 guan to him.

When he thought of the money and food, Zhu Di's previous complaints about Zhu Gaoxu dissipated a lot.

Seeing that Zhu Di didn't speak, Yu Xin took a step back to express that there was nothing to do.

Upon seeing this, Li Shi stepped forward and bowed: "Your Majesty, the Governor's Mansion has begun to report military affairs."

"Play." Zhu Di changed his sitting position and waited for Li Shi to report.

"Quanningwei has already transferred 200,000 shi of grain from the Liaohe River, and Zhaozhou City also has 380,000 shi of grain. After this year's autumn harvest, it will be able to store 600,000 shi of grain. Counting the 180,000 shi of grain transferred from the Ministry of Revenue to the north, it should be able to 780,000 shi will be stored in spring next year.”

"In addition, Zhaozhou also stores 100,000 kilograms of gunpowder, 30,000 iron artillery shells, 10,000 explosive shells, and 10,000 kilograms of lead bullets for shotgun shells."

"Except for the three thousand officials and subordinates who committed crimes in Shandong, nearly six thousand criminals from Peiping, Shanxi and other places were also sent to Zhaozhou to serve as soldiers."

"The Governor's Office would like to ask His Majesty whether to use them as garrison troops and join the three guards of Modong after Modong is recovered."

Li Shixian reported what happened in the north. After hearing this, Zhu Di scratched his beard and said, "Let's serve as the garrison of Modong. As for the name, we won't give it a name for now. Modong will be subordinate to Daning in the future and will be controlled by Daning."

"After regaining Modong, we can also transfer the garrison in Daning and Quaning to the north. Relying on the Wenjiang River can better solve the food and grass problem."

Zhu Di saw the benefits of the Wen River. Its water transportation was better than that of the Liao River. The Daning Guards relying on the Liao River had more than 20,000 troops and 78,000 dependents, which was a heavy burden for the Ming Dynasty.

However, after regaining Modong and moving most of them to Modong, it will not be a problem to feed them 40,000 to 50,000 people relying on the small granary of Wenwen River and Bohai Sea.

As long as Kaiping is guarded and Modong is guarded, it will be difficult for the Oara and Tatars in the north to invade the current Daning, and the local area can specialize in agriculture.

"Your Majesty..." After receiving Zhu Di's reply, Li Shi continued to report:

"The army for the southern expedition has begun to gather. The west route army is led by Muchun, Duke of Guizhou, the east route army is led by Governor Fu Rang, the sea route army is led by Yue Duke Yang Zhan, and the eunuch Zheng He."

"After negotiation, each army will set the time to dispatch troops on the 15th day of the winter lunar month."

After Li Shi answered, Zhu Di touched his beard and asked, "Is it too late or too cold on the 15th day of the winter lunar month?"

"Your Majesty, on the fifteenth day of the winter lunar month in Annan, the climate is similar to the summer in Jiangnan. It is already the most suitable time to send troops there."

"One month in advance, it will be even hotter than Nanjing's midsummer, and the soldiers are susceptible to miasma and malaria."

"Only the three months between winter and February are suitable for our army to fight. If it is exceeded, we will lose our troops and generals."

"This time the imperial court mobilized 126,000 troops, of which 46,000 were native people. The civilians mobilized 60,000 troops from Yunnan and Guangxi and 140,000 men, totaling 326,000. Half a million."

After giving an overview of the situation, General Li Shi also signaled to the young military attaché from the Governor's Mansion who was following him to hand over the marching formation map. Wang Yan took it and handed it over to Zhu Di.

At first glance, this marching formation map was made by a general from the Bohai School, because it clearly marked the width of the river, the altitude of the mountains and rivers, and the city passes in various places.

Of course, this mountain and river altitude is mainly based on collecting intelligence at night and then roughly planning it. It is not actually very accurate, but it can still give the general a general impression.

For a general like Zhu Di, this flat map seemed to become three-dimensional in his eyes, with rivers and mountains appearing in front of him.

He didn't understand Southwest, but with the Annan sand table made by Donggong, he still knew the difference between Southwest, Mobei and Jiangnan.

"This place is indeed difficult to fight, but this time with Muchun, Fu Rang, Qu Neng, Gu Cheng and the others, we won't be able to defeat them even if we think about it."

Zhu Di scratched his beard and put away the marching formation chart.

Li Shi also took a step back when he saw this, saying that he had nothing to report.

"How about Duke Cao Guo's encirclement and suppression of Duzhang barbarians in Xuzhou? Can he leave and go south?"

Zhu Di asked Li Shi. Li Shi paused when he heard the words and looked back at the military attache behind him.

Seeing this, the military attaché also stepped forward and bowed: "Reporting to Your Majesty, Duke Cao Guo cannot escape and is currently fighting with Du Zhangman in Lingxiao City."

"After the Duke of Guizhou learned about it, he discussed with Governor Fu and dispatched four thousand soldiers from Maitreya and Yiliang Guards to Guangnan, led by Guangnan Bo Fu Mao, in order to deter the chieftains who were close to the Hu family in Annan."

The military attache answered appropriately, causing Zhu Di to look sideways and ask: "What is your name, what position do you hold, and how old are you this year?" "Your Majesty, I have a colleague named Jiang Gui, commander of the Bao Tao Guard, and I am twenty-three this year."

Jiang Guiyi answered Zhu Di's question, and Zhu Di also became interested. After all, the reorganized Baotao Guard was managed by a general of the Yan Mansion, so he did not hesitate to praise: "It is rare that a military attache with your official position can answer such a decent answer."

At this point, Zhu Di began to ask Jiang Gui about his views on the conquest of Annan. Jiang Gui's views were highly consistent with those of Zhu Di, Zhu Gaoxu and others. They all believed that conquering Annan was not difficult. What was difficult was how to govern Annan after the war without causing trouble. .

In this regard, Jiang Gui also proposed several methods. Although they are not as fast as Zhu Gaoxu's policy, they can still manage Annan well.

After he said this, Yu Xin, Li Shi, and Wang Yan all looked at him, obviously not expecting that he could have such a level of insight, and Zhu Di was also very happy.

Recently, he has been troubled by the generals of Yanfu, because except for Zhang Yu and Meng Shan, who retired as tutors, only Zhu Neng among the generals of Yanfu can hold up the scene.

Although Zhu Di was very optimistic about Zhang Fu and Meng Ying, the two young and strong Yanfu generals who were marching south, they only wanted to compare with the equally young Meng Zhang, Zhang Chun, Lin Su, Chen Chang and others on the Bohai Sea. Still too little.

Well now, this Jiang Gui who came out is a young talent. If he trains hard, he might become a famous general who is not inferior to Zhang Yu and Zhu Neng.

"Comrade Commander is too young to display your talents. However, you have no merit. If you are suddenly promoted, I am afraid that the brothers in the Governor's Mansion will be dissatisfied."

Zhu Di valued Jiang Gui very much, so he asked: "There are still four months to go before the conquest of Annan. Are you willing to go south to Qinzhou and follow Zheng He to attack Annan by sea?"

"I have the full authority to obey His Majesty's arrangements!" Jiang Gui bowed in return, and Zhu Di nodded with satisfaction: "Okay, I will appoint you as the Commander-in-Chief of Nanhai Guard and you will take office immediately."

"Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty!" Jiang Gui knelt down, bowed five times and kowtowed three times, and Zhu Di also smiled and motioned for him to stand down.

When he stood up, Zhu Di also waved his hand: "If you have nothing to do, just step back."

"I'll take my leave..."

Seeing this, Yu Xin and others bowed and left. After they walked away, Zhu Di also stood up and looked at Wang Yan: "What do you think of Jiang Gui?"

"Brothers from Yanshan are trustworthy." Wang Yan smiled and narrowed his eyes, obviously he also valued Jiang Gui very much.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Di was also satisfied and walked around in Wuying Hall, humming an unknown southern tune.

"You kid is finally up."

While Zhu Di was humming the tune, Li Shi, who was walking out of the Wuying Palace, looked at Jiang Gui, who was four or five years younger than him, and praised him. Jiang Gui said modestly: "The last general has not accomplished even an inch of merit, even if His Majesty gives you a reward. But I don’t dare to accept it.”

"You go back to the cathedral to find me, and I will write you a letter. This will make it much easier for you to go to the south."

Although Li Shi was not very good at leading troops, he did not place a bet. When Zhu Gaoxu came to Jilin, he decided to go to Jilin City to meet Zhu Gaoxu in a few words from Yi Shiha. After meeting Zhu Gaoxu, he knew that Zhu Gaoxu must It will work.

Therefore, when Zhu Gaoxu established the Eight Jurchen Guards, he was the first to stand up and respond positively.

He is very accurate in judging people. According to what Jiang Gui said just now, his future is definitely better than his own, so it is not a bad thing to take this opportunity to make friends with him.

"Thank you, Uncle Zhaozhou." Jiang Gui did not refuse rigidly, but accepted Li Shi's kindness.

Seeing this, Li Shiye walked with him towards Xihua Gate, preparing to return to the Governor's Mansion.

However, Yu Xin just looked at the two of them, and then returned to the Wenhua Hall shift.

Jiang Gui has the style of a general, but this has nothing to do with him. His current focus is on helping Zhu Gaoxu sort out the Ministry of Household Affairs and the world's finances.

The summer grain harvest is coming soon, and at this time, the monsters and monsters below will appear one after another.

Only by solving them can the money and food below be received by the court, so he couldn't be careless.

Everyone is performing their duties, but Zhu Gaoxu, who is ridiculed as a "teacher" by officials in Beijing, is preaching and practicing in a serious manner.

"The Pythagorean theorem is a basic geometric theorem that states that the sum of the squares of the two right-angled sides of a right triangle is equal to the square of the hypotenuse."

"As early as the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the ancient Chinese mathematician Shang Gao proposed the idea of ​​" hook three, stock four, string five", which means that when the two right-angled sides of a right triangle are..."

Above the classroom, Zhu Gaoxu was telling forty-seven students the origin of the Pythagorean Theorem, as well as the proof of the Pythagorean Theorem, the converse of the Pythagorean Theorem and other knowledge.

He lectured at a fast pace, but it was not difficult for the forty-seven students who were killed from thousands of troops to keep up.

Not only did they learn quickly, but they were also able to take notes and comment on questions, and then ask Zhu Gaoxu questions after he finished explaining.

Facing their questions, even Zhu Gaoxu, who had the blessing of memory, couldn't help but look a little embarrassed.

He is not proficient in mathematics, physics and chemistry other than geography, so when asked about his blind spots, he can only say that neither ancient nor modern people know about it, and can only rely on them to explore in the future.

"Ding Ding Ding-"

"Learn to walk slowly!"

When the special bell rang, which also represented the end of the morning class, Zhu Gaoxu accepted the students' salutes and then walked out of the classroom with his textbooks.

In the corridor, many Class B students are looking forward to it, because after Zhu Gaoxu finishes his morning lecture, the forty-seven students in Class A will use the noon and afternoon time to give lectures to more than 300 Class B students.

One A-class student needs to teach six or seven B-class students. Although this will delay the progress of the course, everything is difficult at the beginning. As long as they survive this first batch of students, Ming's middle school system will be successfully established.

It will only take a dozen years for the knowledge from primary school to middle school to be spread across this land.

Walking down the teaching building, Zhu Gaoxu saw a high platform in front of the teaching building. There was an hourglass on the high platform and it also had a simple mechanical structure.

It uses the stored fine sand to perform a simple clocking motion when it reaches the preset time. It is currently the "clock" of Taixue.

This clock was handmade by Zhu Gaoxu and his students based on ancient books.

The history of Chinese clocks and watches begins with the two timepieces "Tugui" and "Sundial" invented more than 3,000 years ago.

They made China one of the first countries in the world to invent timers. In the Bronze Age, timers had new developments, and the bronze "clepsydra" replaced the "Tugui" and "Sundial".

During the Han Dynasty, Zhang Heng invented the world's first "Water Transport Armillary Sphere". Later, monks in the Tang Dynasty learned from and improved on this basis and invented the "Water Transport Armillary Sphere" and "Water Transport Instrument Platform".

Su Song, the prime minister of the Northern Song Dynasty, also presided over the construction of a water-borne instrument platform that could tell the time and ring the clock. Its structure was similar to that of a clock.

Up to now, timepieces have got rid of the structural form of astronomical instruments and have achieved breakthrough new developments.

For example, the "five-wheel hourglass" made by Taixue based on ancient books adopts a mechanical structure. It can not only strike the clock, but also has a wooden plate and pointer marked with twelve hours on its side to indicate the time.

Although it is not as accurate as a clock, Zhu Gaoxu believes that with this "five-wheel hourglass", he will definitely attract students interested in this aspect in the future, and then develop better mechanical clocks.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu walked onto the carriage with a smile, and Yi Shiha in the car had been waiting for a long time.

"What's wrong? There's news from outside?"

As soon as he got on the carriage, Zhu Gaoxu felt something was wrong with Yi Shiha, so he asked.

When Yishiha saw this, he told Zhu Gaoxu what the people from Wuying Palace had just said. Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but laugh when he heard it: "I was so busy that I became dizzy."

Patting his forehead, he said to Yishiha: "You ask the students from Class A to give lectures to the students from Class B. They have learned 70 to 80% of the knowledge this semester. I will teach the rest in the next few months." .”

"I won't go back to the courtyard today. I'll go back to the East Palace. I'll come back after the Crown Princess gives birth."

Zhu Gaoxu, who had stayed in Taixue for two months, finally announced that he was going to return to the East Palace, which made Yishiha breathe a sigh of relief.

During this time, he also read the textbooks compiled by His Highness, and it could be said that there were too many things that went against "common sense."

If it weren't for the fact that His Highness was in good spirits, he would have been ready to ask Zhang Sanfeng, a slovenly Taoist from Wudang Mountain, to exorcise evil spirits from His Highness.

"What are you doing standing still?"

Seeing Yi Shiha in a daze, Zhu Gaoxu stretched out his hand and waved it in front of his eyes.

After coming to his senses, Yi Shiha nodded quickly: "I will do it right now."

After that, he ordered a soldier to convey the news, then asked the sentries at the gate of Taixue to prepare the escort, and personally drove Zhu Gaoxu back to the East Palace on his way home.

Sitting in the car and watching the carriage leave Taixue, Zhu Gaoxu felt a little empty in his heart.

The two months he spent in Taixue gave him a special feeling. There was no intrigue in the temple, only the satisfaction of preaching and receiving karma.

During this period, he did not forget about governing the country, so he enjoyed the feeling of transforming the Ming Dynasty materially and spiritually.

It is true that he should not teach too much knowledge in the world that goes against the divine right of kings, but for him, if these things he brought are not spread, what is the difference between him and other emperors in the feudal era?

This land does not lack an emperor, but it lacks people who can completely change him.

What's more, for Zhu Gaoxu, how many years will it take for the knowledge of Taixue to spread and affect the world?

Perhaps by that day, Ming Dynasty will no longer exist.

In this case, what does he have to keep?

Children and grandchildren will have their own blessings, and he can only take care of them for a few decades.

Zhu Gaoxu opened the car window and saw the group of people who went out to work in the fields at around midnight and did not finish their work until noon. He couldn't help but sigh:

"Things that will happen a hundred years from now, let them run their own course..."

(End of this chapter)