Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 35 High Weight
"There are 150 six orphans, 57 minors, and 670 two disabled people."

In the nursing home, Zhu Gaoxu didn't expect the answer from the swordsman and penman.

"It seems that Wang Jian's words are not exaggerated at all..."

Zhu Gaoxu was silent for a moment, because as far as he knew, there were seven almshouses like Zhongzheng Street in Nanjing and more than two thousand in the world.

From this point of view, after decades of chaos caused by human traffickers in the late Yuan Dynasty, the number of disabled people in the Ming Dynasty was probably hundreds of thousands. It is no wonder that Zhu Yuanzhang hated human traffickers so much.

If these hundreds of thousands of disabled people had sound hands and feet, they could make a province rich.

For example, Yunnan and Liaodong only have 40 million people.

It can be said that the rampant human traffickers in the late Yuan Dynasty caused the early Ming Dynasty to lose the opportunity to Chineseize an additional province.

“Can we meet the needs of a courtyard by just farming on our own?”

Zhu Gaoxu asked the swordsman and penman, and the other party replied:

"Of course it's not enough, but many dignitaries and wealthy merchants in the capital have donated food, cloth, or money."

"With these subsidies from the court, we can barely keep it open."

"But because of this, some lazy people will be attracted to the hospital and will not leave."

The swordsman felt helpless at the end, and Zhu Gaoxu also expressed his understanding, reached into his arms, and threw out the remaining half of the money.

"This..." The swordsman and penman hurriedly caught the half-money, and Zhu Gaoxu also turned and walked out: "For my sake, treat them well."

"Thank you!"

"Thank you..."

The conversation between Zhu Gaoxu and the knife and pen official was witnessed by many disabled people. Seeing Zhu Gaoxu throwing out a half-money, the disabled people who usually had no chance to thank the donors quickly expressed their thanks.

Hearing these words, Zhu Gaoxu quickened his pace and walked out of the almshouse soon.

After walking out of the courtyard, Zhu Gaoxu looked at the healthy people on Zhongzheng Street who were walking and talking and laughing, and the depression in his heart weakened a bit.

Today's trip gave him a deeper understanding of civil life during the war, and also gave him a better understanding of the importance of Zhu Yuanzhang's efforts to end the war.

In front of the group of people who were harvested and cut off, Zhu Gaoxu did not dare and could not believe that without Zhu Yuanzhang, the next Zhang Yuanzhang and Chen Yuanzhang would appear.

A few more years of war will result in hundreds of thousands more victims.

This understanding also made Zhu Gaoxu feel disgusted with Zhu Yunwen's forceful reduction of vassal status.

He didn't want war to come, but if Zhu Yunwen insisted on putting a knife on his neck, then he would have no choice but to fight back...

"You said he went to the almshouse?"

Inside the Forbidden City and Wuying Hall.

When Zhu Yuanzhang raised his head and looked at the military attache in front of him in surprise, the military attache returned the greeting neither humble nor overbearing:
"Back to your majesty, your highness did go to the nursing home and left 560 two cents. He told Shen Chaofeng, the director of the hospital, to take good care of the widowed and lonely poor people in the hospital."

"Oh?" After hearing the military attache's words, Zhu Yuanzhang became interested. He put down the ink pen in his hand, leaned against the chair, and rested his hands on the armrests, looking very relaxed.

"I didn't expect that this frivolous boy could be so philanthropic."

"I hope he's not putting on a show for me, otherwise I'm afraid I'll have to deal with him hard."

There was no Zhu Yunwen in the hall at this time, so after Zhu Yuanzhang evaluated Zhu Gaoxu's actions, he also put away his smile and his eyes were cold:

"This kid has changed so much in just a few months. Are you sure there is no one to teach him?"

"Your Majesty, I and my brothers have been monitoring day and night and have found nothing suspicious. No new carrier pigeons have been received in Prince Yan's Mansion in Peiping..."

Although Zhu Yuanzhang did not refer to anyone specifically, the military attache still said that Zhu Di was not involved in Zhu Gaoxu's growth in the past few months. "Be considerate of the soldiers, care for the people, and be kind to both men and women. This boy has changed a lot..."

Although Zhu Yuanzhang still looked vigilant, there was always a bit of pride in his words.

He was baptized by many of his descendants, including Zhu Xi, Zhu Fan, and Zhu Xi, who often committed evil deeds.

In addition, among the third generation descendants of the Zhu family, there are many who lack ability but are cruel in temperament, while those who are considerate of the people and willing to be civilized and martial are rare.

All of this made Zhu Yuanzhang suspect that there was something wrong with his education many times.

But he thought again and again, even though they were in the same environment, why were Zhu Biao, Zhu Di, Zhu Quan and others docile and considerate of their subjects, while other descendants were cruel and unkind?

This problem has troubled Zhu Yuanzhang for a long time. It was not until Zhu Gaoxu, the "prodigal son turning back" guy, appeared that Zhu Yuanzhang finally cleared the air.

"Perhaps some children are destined to be born to collect debts."

Zhu Yuanzhang opened his mouth to comfort himself, and at the same time looked at the military attache: "Does Duke Ying have anything to say about this boy?"

"Back to Your Majesty, Duke Ying once said to Shouchun Prince Consort... King Yan is blessed."

"Oh, that's quite right. The Fourth child is indeed blessed to have Gao Chi and Gao Xu serving him."

Zhu Yuanzhang touched his beard, and when the military attache saw his appearance, he immediately lowered his head. It was not until a moment later that he couldn't help interrupting Zhu Yuanzhang's good mood.

"Your Majesty, my brothers in the East Palace have recently reported that the Emperor's grandson seems to have been discussing the affairs of the vassal king with Minister Huang Taichang."

"..." After hearing the military attache's words, Zhu Yuanzhang's expression suddenly darkened, but it soon became clear again.

He knew very well that Zhu Yunwen was worried for a reason, but Zhu Yuanzhang always felt that Zhu Yunwen was a little petty.

Zhu Yuanzhang did not take the so-called "harm of vassal kings" seriously. On the contrary, he believed that the current Ming Dynasty needed the vassal king system.

This can be seen not only from the scarcity of Han people in the north, southwest, and Guangdong and Guangxi, but also from the ongoing rebellions in various places.

In fact, why didn't Zhu Yuanzhang know that the taxes in the south of the Yangtze River were heavy?
But the problem is that the Ming Dynasty can only collect taxes from the areas south of the Yangtze River to fill the gaps in various places.

"What is the number of immigrants this year? Has the Ministry of Household Affairs compiled statistics?"

Zhu Yuanzhang turned his head to ask the eunuch who was responsible for the ceremony. After hearing this, the eunuch also turned sideways and bowed in reply:

"Your Majesty, according to the arrangement of the Ministry of Household Affairs, [-] people should immigrate from Shandong and Shanxi to Beiping, Shaanxi, Liaodong, Henan and other places this year."

"The three provinces of Southern Zhili, Jiangxi, and Fujian should immigrate 15 people to supplement Yunnan, Guangxi, Guangdong, Sichuan and other places."

"As for the cost, the Ministry of Revenue has submitted it to the East Palace and the Emperor Taisun has approved it. It will cost approximately 340 million shi."

"It's a lot of money..." Zhu Yuanzhang sighed, then lowered his head and wrote, preparing to continue handling government affairs.

However, before continuing, Zhu Yuanzhang still gave instructions to the military attache:
"Continue to monitor Gao Xu, he is a restless master just like his father."

"His father is stationed in Fengyang at the age of 16, stationed in the army and practicing martial arts. Even if this boy can't surpass his father, I'm afraid he won't be bad."

"Be careful and don't let him cause chaos in Nanjing City."

"Yes!" The military attache returned the greeting and stood up, then retreated out of the palace.

When he exited Wuying Hall, Zhu Yunwen happened to come over after finishing his business.

Looking at the military attache who exited the hall and saluted him, Zhu Yunwen frowned slightly, but in the end he didn't say much.

But after the military attache left, he took a meaningful look at Wuying Hall...

(End of this chapter)