Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 351: Calling someone lonely does not mean being a widower

"Yes, my father asked me to come to heaven to study Confucianism. I hope that I can become a person who respects teachers and Taoism."

In the Haruwa Hall, Ashikaga Yoshitsugu answered Zhu Gaoxu's question respectfully. After hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu also touched his mustache.

"The Celestial Empire is a country of etiquette. You and other countries are all the concubines of the Celestial Empire. Therefore, if you come here to learn from me, the Celestial Empire will naturally not refuse."

"But I heard that your brother is now the shogun of the shogunate, and you are the crown prince, so your relationship..."

Zhu Gaoxu remembered that Ashikaga Yoshitsugu seemed to have been killed by Ashikaga Yoshimochi, but he had to see if the relationship between the two brothers had changed now. After all, Ashikaga Yoshimochi's tendency was to refuse to become a minister, and he hoped to close the country in isolation, so as to strengthen the guardians in the south. Get the cut.

Ashikaga Yoshimochi's tendency is obviously not in line with the Ming Dynasty's policy toward Japan. After all, Japan is an important source of silver and copper ingots for the Ming Dynasty.

"Chen's brother voluntarily devolved to the rank of general and gave up his position as Crown Prince to me."

Although Ashikaga Yoshitsugu is only twelve years old, as a child of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, he obviously knows what to say and what not to say.

He did not explain the operating mechanism of the Ashikaga Shogunate, but directly established his father Ashikaga Yoshimitsu as the king of Japan, himself as the crown prince of Japan, and his brother as a general without inheritance rights.

According to the calculation starting from entering elementary school at the age of ten, five years of elementary school and five years of middle school are ten years, and graduation is twenty years old.

Soon, they left the Forbidden City happily, while Zhu Gaoxu picked up the memorial and read it.

After four and a half years, Taixue, founded in the first year of Yongle, has finally reached its graduation period.

At present, the places where the New Deal is implemented are the three provinces of Sichuan, Liaodong, and Shandong, as well as the capitals of the three provinces and the five capitals of Daning and Bohai.

But now that the New Deal is advancing, Zhu Gaoxu can only severely punish these people who have violated the red line in accordance with the law.

"Before these people are sent to other places, let's make it clear to them that they are still young and still have opportunities to learn."

However, due to insufficient and rushed teaching quality, they still need to serve as teachers at Taixue while reviewing knowledge and waiting to be assessed by Zhu Gaoxu from time to time.

Zhu Gaoxu is naturally nostalgic for this group of students, but nostalgia does not mean that he trusts them unconditionally.

Too young to be able to play with those old foxes.

Zhu Gaoxu, who didn't like kneeling, was not polite when facing these people. After accepting the five bows and three kowtows calmly, he waved his hand: "Okay, the court will organize a grand military parade during the Lantern Festival. You can visit then, but There’s nothing to see, so you don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”

As long as Ashikaga Yoshitsugu is not powerless to fight back, then these two thousand people are enough for Ashikaga Yoshitsugu to protect himself and wait for the Ming Dynasty to send reinforcements from Liaodong to help.

"Students from outside Guanxi and Shandong have graduated, and there are hundreds of thousands of scholars, but their knowledge is still too shallow to support local governance."

"The first batch of students from Taixue will graduate in half a year, so the Ministry of Industry is preparing to expand Taixue."

It's almost the expiration of the three-year assessment period from the time when Shandong's subordinate officials took office.

Zhu Gaoxu pretended to be confused while leaning on the chair and said:

"In this case, you should be able to speak to the court on some important matters on behalf of your father. Do you need to let the envoy in?"

Twenty-year-old is already an adult in this era, and the students trained in this way can almost be safely transferred to other places to serve as subordinate officials.

Regarding the teaching quality of Etherology, Zhu Gaoxu planned to let the first three batches of students stay in school to teach and study and make up for the knowledge they had missed before, and then start the second stage of middle school education in the official school and change the first stage of the official school to a junior high school.

"Ask the tax department to go to Henan, check all the district chiefs and grain chiefs in Henan and Beizhili, and then replace them. At the same time, Henan and Beizhili are preparing to build official schools."

There are now more than 3,800 students in Taixue, of which the first batch only has more than 300 students, while the current number of new students in Taixue has stabilized at more than 1,000 students each year.

According to the strength of Kaiwei, if he wanted to deal with these two thousand people, Ashikaga Yoshimichi would have to mobilize at least 20,000 people.

"The Metropolitan Procuratorate has been keeping an eye on Shandong, and now it is impeaching subordinate officials in Shandong for corruption. You ask Hu Lun to investigate this matter. It's almost time."

Zhu Gaoxu used retreat to advance, while Ashikaga Yoshitsugu praised the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, saying that they were as good as heaven and earth.

"In addition, the imperial court is planning to increase the military strength of Yinqi and Jinyin Islands to four thousand. Your father can mobilize two thousand troops with the gold seal."

His rhetoric can deceive people who are unfamiliar with Japan, but it cannot deceive Zhu Gaoxu.

"So it turns out that you two are brothers and sisters."

However, Zhu Gaoxu did not intend to expose it. Anyway, Ashikaga Yoshitsugu was an unsettling factor for the Ming Dynasty to control Japan, so it was better to support Ashikaga Yoshitsugu to deal with him.

Zhu Gaoxu spoke without thinking, obviously preparing to start promoting the New Deal in Beizhili and Henan this year.

Ashikaga Yoshitsugu stood up and knelt on the ground, bowing five times and three kowtows again.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu looked at the memorial from the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and Yi Shiha also followed it.

Zhu Gaoxu didn't know if he was deliberately exaggerating or if it was true in his eyes. Anyway, his goal had been achieved and he was too lazy to mess around with this little life.

As long as a person is faced with power, he will be corrupted, even if he has not done some music himself.

He deliberately tried to test, but he didn't want Ashikaga Yoshitsugu to shake his head: "How can I trouble Your Highness? I can make the decision."

Worried that Ashikaga Yoshitsugu would not be able to defeat Ashikaga Yoshimochi in the future, Zhu Gaoxu deliberately increased the number of troops that the Seal of the King of Japan could mobilize.

Not long after, Ashikaga Yoshitsugu left the Haruwaden Hall with joy and told the ministers who were waiting outside the good news.

"That's good." Zhu Gaoxu nodded and said, "The imperial court will organize official trade to the West, and official ships from all countries can follow."

After last year's tax collection under the New Deal and the elimination of exploitation by grassroots grain chiefs and li chiefs, although the taxes and grains paid by Sichuan have not changed, judging from the news from Xichang's private exploration, the lives of Sichuan people have become much more comfortable. The imperial court's new policies also built trust.

"To be specific, someone from the Ministry of Etiquette will go to the Siyi Pavilion to tell you. You can discuss with your father to see if you want to join the Western private trade market."

Holding the memorial, Zhu Gaoxu briefly looked at the number of graduates last year. Next to him, Yi Shiha also said: "But if they are not given a place to work, they will have no choice but to go home and work in the fields."

"But you said their knowledge is too shallow, this..." Yishiha hesitated, but Zhu Gaoxu said: "Scarcity is better than nothing."

"On behalf of my father, I would like to express my gratitude to His Highness for your kindness!"

Not surprisingly, after measuring the cultivated land in Sichuan Province this year, Sichuan's land tax may reach nearly 2 million shi.

"The eliminated people were exiled back to Nurgan City in Bohai Sea, allowing them to reminisce about the past."

After Zhu Gaoxu finished his instructions, he pushed aside the memorials on the table. Apparently, he had finished processing all the memorials.

He rubbed his eyebrows and asked, "How is my mother doing today?"

"Your Majesty the Queen is fine. The doctors have diagnosed her as cold, not complications."

Yishuha reported the good news, and Zhu Gaoxu breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this.

Originally, the old man should be responsible for meeting the envoys from North Korea and Japan today, but his mother was ill, so the old man was worried and blamed the whole thing on himself.

Now that these things have finally been taken care of, the sky is getting dark.

Before he could breathe a sigh of relief, footsteps sounded outside the hall.

Not long after, Guo Yan led a child with two hairpins into the hall.

"Hey, isn't your dad right here?"

Guo Yan smiled and pushed the child forward. When the child saw this, he immediately trotted forward, jumping up and down with a hairstyle similar to Nezha's head, making him look like a tiger with a tiger head.

"father!"

Zhu Zhanhe called out, and Zhu Gaoxu could only pretend to be energetic and pick him up.

"Now that the year has passed, you are already five years old. Why are you still so clingy?"

"You didn't go to accompany grandpa today?" Zhu Gaoxu looked at Zhu Zhanhe in his arms, with a rare kind smile on his face.

"Here we go, grandpa is staying with grandma."

Zhu Zhanhe stretched out his hand to touch Zhu Gaoxu's mustache. He seemed to like it very much, but he didn't pull it forcefully, he just touched it gently.

"How is mother?" Zhu Gaoxu looked at Guo Yan and asked. After hearing this, Guo Yan, whose face was full of motherly love, sat on the chair Yi Shiha brought and comforted: "There is nothing wrong with mother, I just miss you."

"I haven't been there for only three days, and my mother is already talking about me?"

Zhu Gaoxu teased, but Guo Yan hesitated and said, "Mom also misses my eldest brother and third brother."

"..." After hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu was a little moved, but he still suppressed the emotion and asked Guo Yan: "What did dad say?"

"Dad said that the eldest brother is not in good health and may be hurt by the long journey. But the third brother can come by water to have a look."

Guo Yan said, and Zhu Gaoxu also nodded, then turned to look at Yi Shiha: "What has Ji Gang been doing recently?"

"Since the last incident at Prince Ou Ning's Mansion, there has been no movement." Yi Shiha explained.

Zhu Di did not show anger when he came back when Prince Ou Ning's palace was burned down, which made Zhu Gaoxu a little curious.

But since the old man is not investigating the case, there is no need for him to cause trouble.

What he is more concerned about is the behavior of Xie Jin and other Jiangzu officials.

"Have official textbooks been circulated in Jiangzuo?"

Zhu Gaoxu asked Yi Shiha, and Yi Shiha nodded: "Not only Jiangzuo, but also Jiangnan has begun to circulate."

"Let Hu Lun find out how the teaching materials are circulated, and also prohibit these teaching materials from flowing overseas. Those who dare to print teaching materials privately are the Yi tribe."

Zhu Gaoxu hugged Zhu Zhanhe and talked about the Yi tribe in an understatement, which made people feel cold.

Everyone knows that although the prince of the East Palace is dissatisfied with the officials, as long as it does not involve treason, he is basically exiled. Beheadings rarely happen, let alone the Yi tribe.

Since he mentioned the Yi tribe, it means that this matter has shaken the foundation of the country.

"Slave, go and do it now."

Yi Shiha returned the greeting, and then hurriedly walked out of Chunhe Hall.

Watching him walk away, Guo Yan, who had been silent until now, finally said, "Do you really want the third child to come back?"

"It won't be long before he comes back, and besides, he's not a threat." Zhu Gaoxu hugged Zhu Zhanhe and raised him up, and said at the same time:

"By the way, Third Uncle has done a good job in Gansu. I'm going to send him to Gua and Sha to set up guard posts."

The third uncle in Zhu Gaoxu's mouth was Guo Yong. He originally sent Guo Yong to Gansu so that he could have a strong enough foundation to support when he entered the Western Regions in the future. Now Guo Yong has been tempered, and the corruption case of the subordinate officials in Beijing may be Many people will be implicated. At this time, it is necessary to set up guards in Guazhou and Shazhou.

These two continents are located to the west of Jiayuguan, and Guazhou is 600 miles away from Hami.

Although the distance is long and there is Gobi sand all the way, as long as they can enter Hami, move the Hami people into the pass, and station the army in Hami, the local army can rely on the snow water from the Tianshan Mountains to build karez and irrigate the area. A piece of farmland.

With Hami in hand, we can then go westward along the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains and enter the territory of Turpan.

Zhu Gaoxu doesn't know whether he can actually control Turpan in his lifetime, but he must do it to actually control Hami.

"I heard from Third Uncle that the land in the northwest is barren. Why don't you deal with the southwest instead of the northwest?"

After all, Guo Yan is a general and a tiger girl. She can still analyze the situation in the northwest from Guo Yong's letters.

In her opinion, compared to the northwest, even the Guanwai in the Northeast is a paradise. At least there is no shortage of water outside the Guan, and as long as there are enough people, a large amount of cultivated land can be cultivated.

"If we want peace in the north, it is necessary to control an area in the Western Region." Zhu Gaoxu didn't want to discuss government affairs too much with Guo Yan, so he just said a few words and took a sip from his tea cup.

"Aren't you going back for dinner?"

Seeing that he didn't want to talk, Guo Yan stopped asking. He just asked if he would go back to the former palace for dinner.

"I will eat with others at Chunhe Hall later. You and He'er should go back first."

Zhu Gaoxu reached out and pinched Zhu Zhanhe's face, while Zhu Zhanhe fell asleep at some point.

"Then I will take my leave now."

Guo Yan stood up and returned the greeting, then left Chunhe Hall with Zhu Zhanhe in his arms.

Soon after she left, the eunuchs also began to set up tables and light lamps.

Dozens of lights were lit, but it was still dim, which made Zhu Gaoxu miss the electric lights in his previous life.

"Your Highness, Duke Yue, Duke Liao, and Duke Shen are here."

The eunuch on duty at the entrance of the palace spoke. After hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu also walked out of his memories, stood up and said with a smile: "Pass the meal, let them in."

"Yes..." The eunuch on duty responded, and then announced the call.

Not long after, more than a dozen people walked into the Chunhe Hall, and the leaders were Wang Yi, Meng Zhang and others who had not seen Zhu Gaoxu for many years.

Yang Zhan was also among them, as were Li Shi, Chen Chang, Li Qi, Li Cha, Li Qi and others.

"I have met Your Highness."

Seeing Zhu Gaoxu walking out, they all saluted, and Zhu Gaoxu was not polite and stepped forward to hug them one by one.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve been together like this, let’s eat and drink today!”

After the hug, Zhu Gaoxu asked them to sit down, and asked Wang Yi and Yang Zhan to sit on his left and right sides.

After taking his seat, Zhu Gaoxu took the lead in asking Yang Zhan: "How is your father?"

Yang Zhan is now thirty-one years old, and his father is also in his fifties.

In future generations, fifty-three years old is not considered old, but it is not so in Yang Qiu.

In his early years, he was an official of hundreds of households doing dirty work. Now that he is getting older, various diseases have come with him.

Because of this, Yang Qiu fell ill in Nanjing not long after Yang Zhan's voyage to the West.

At that time, Zhu Gaoxu went to see him personally and asked Yi Shiha to visit him often. Fortunately, nothing happened in the end.

But even so, Yang Qiu did not covet power after recovering from illness. Instead, he submitted his resignation before Yang Zhan came back, took his title to Songjiang Mansion, and purchased property and a house within sight of Chongming Island.

Yang Zhan did not have time to discuss with Zhu Gaoxu after returning from this overseas voyage, so he returned directly to Songjiang Mansion to see his father.

Zhu Gaoxu asked Yang Zhan and was a little worried about Yang Qiu's health.

"It's getting better, but I'm still worried, so next time I go to the West..."

Yang Zhan showed hesitation, but before he could finish speaking, Zhu Gaoxu raised his hand and said, "If it's not convenient for you, I'll let Chen Xuan go."

"Chen Xuan has nothing to do in the Navy Governor's Mansion every day. He has long been envious of you."

As he said that, Zhu Gaoxu looked at Cui Jun, who followed him foolishly without saying a word:

"Let Chen Xuan and Cui Jun go south on the next voyage to the West. Cui Jun will be stationed in the old port, and Chen Xuan will accompany Zheng He to Cape Kunlun (Cape of Good Hope)."

"Don't be discouraged. I didn't go to the Western Ocean for the second time. For me, the third time is the most important."

As Zhu Gaoxu spoke, he also told everyone the route of his third voyage to the West in advance, and mainly explained the function of the bark of the cinchona tree.

When Yang Zhan and Cui Jun heard that the bark of the cinchona tree could cure malaria, their eyes almost lit up.

"With this, wouldn't our army be free to use troops in Nanyang and Sanxuan and Liuwei?"

Li Shi asked. He also heard the horror of malaria and miasma from the generals who returned from the south, so he was frightened.

"It's not that magical, but it certainly works."

As Zhu Gaoxu spoke, he did not forget to urge everyone: "Although you are already Dukes and Counts, you must not fall behind in your studies."

"There are a lot of new things at Taixue, and they recently built a telescope that is three feet long."

"I've seen that telescope, and I can see the moon directly. Although it's a little blurry, it's much clearer than the naked eye."

Zhu Gaoxu talked about some of the scientific research progress of Taixue, and everyone was excited after hearing this: "Have you seen Chang'e?"

"What the hell!" Seeing how vulgar these guys were, Zhu Gaoxu scolded directly:

"Think about it. If the telescopes in our hands can see the situation ten miles away, then the Hu people will lose the opportunity first when fighting in the north."

"That's true..." Everyone scratched their heads in embarrassment, which made Zhu Gaoxu helplessly look at Meng Zhang: "How is Bohai?"

"The situation is very good. The people in the mountains have all migrated out. Some have gone to Modong and some to Liaodong. Anyway, life is much better than in the mountains."

"That's right!" Li Shi and others agreed cheerfully, obviously they were very happy to see their fellow tribesmen living a good life.

Seeing them enjoying peace, Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but remind:

"We are all brothers, so I won't hide from you."

"I know everything about your purchases of land, mansions and houses, and I also know about your purchases of thin horses to take home for your enjoyment."

"You are fighting with me for glory and wealth. You have fought for half your life, and you should enjoy it. But I will say something ugly in front of you. You must hand over the land taxes, taxes and grain honestly. Don't think about deducting a little bit."

"If we had just cheated a little when we were in Bohai, then we wouldn't be able to sit in this position, let alone have a good time drinking and talking in this Chunhe Palace."

"Only when the court is stable and the people have food to eat, can your wealth continue."

"Don't forget what Bohai's "Military Discipline" is, and don't forget how miserable you were back then."

"Recently, the Metropolitan Procuratorate impeached many subordinate officials in Shandong for accepting bribes..."

Zhu Gaoxu paused and glanced around to make sure everyone was watching him before continuing:

"Many of these subordinate officials who accepted bribes may be people from Liucheng and Jilin, your fellow countrymen and clansmen."

"For them, I am going to exile Nuergancheng. What do you think?"

"Your Highness!" Hearing Zhu Gaoxu's words, Richard couldn't sit still. He stood up and bowed:

"We have absolutely nothing to say if you want to deal with them, we just hope that your family will not be implicated..."

After Richard finished speaking, Zhu Gaoxu glanced at the crowd: "What do you mean?"

"Uh... we..." Li Shi and others began to hesitate.

"Honestly, did anyone give you a gift, and who gave it to you."

When Zhu Gaoxu saw them like this, he knew that they must have accepted the gift.

Li Shi's group is not as straightforward as Yang Zhan, Meng Zhang, and Wang Yi, so Zhu Gaoxu only asked them to supervise one guard, because if there were more, they wouldn't be able to play.

"Honestly, I don't blame you."

Zhu Gaoxu sighed: "If you don't tell me, if someone uses these things to make trouble in the future, how can I help you?"

"Your Highness..." Seeing Zhu Gaoxu say this, Li Shi and the others started talking about receiving gifts.

At first they resisted, but later some officials from Bohai came to give gifts, and they accepted them because they couldn't save face.

I just never thought that once this hole was opened, it would never be closed again.

At first, it was only officials from the Bohai Sea who gave gifts, but later officials who were incompetent came to catch up. They were obviously Han Chinese, but they insisted on claiming that they had Jurchen ancestry, and there were countless people who were relatives.

Although Li Shi and the others did not have much power, they were still in charge of the Shangzhi troops and could often come to Chunhe Hall. As long as they used their connections a little bit, they could feed the officials below who gave gifts.

"Your Highness, we cannot tolerate your teachings..."

Li Shi and others stood up and bowed in shame, wishing they could bury their heads in their arms.

Faced with their words, Zhu Gaoxu stood up and sat them down one by one. After returning to his position, he said:

"Today I separate things from you just to prevent you from making bigger mistakes."

"If the water is clear, there will be no fish. Although it is just a metaphor, it is true that people cannot help themselves in officialdom."

"I have nothing to say about you accepting gifts, I am just making a request for you."

"It's okay to accept gifts, but from whom and what kind of things are required, you should make it clear to Yi Shiha yourself. Yi Shiha will go to Hu Lun."

"As long as the two of them say that this gift must be returned, don't be reluctant to part with it and return it to me."

"Some gifts only require your help, and some gifts cost my life, you know?"

Zhu Gaoxu's words were a bit harsh, and no one dared to talk to him.

In the end, Yang Zhan poured himself a glass of wine and said to everyone: "Although His Highness said so, we can't really do it."

"It's best to hand over all these gifts to the court, and we shouldn't keep them ourselves."

"That doesn't mean..." Zhu Gaoxu smiled bitterly. He himself was not a saint, so how could he expect the people below to be?

"Just remember what I said. I hope you and your heirs can strictly enforce family traditions and let your descendants protect the Ming Dynasty, not only to protect the world of my Zhu family, but also to protect your own wealth."

"As long as the land under your control comes from legal sources, treats tenants better, and pays taxes and grain honestly, then I won't say anything."

"I want to be Zhao Kuangyin, it depends on whether you are willing to be Shi Shouxin."

Zhu Gaoxu used the allusion of Zhao Kuangyin releasing his military power with a glass of wine to remind everyone not to abuse power for personal gain.

After hearing this, everyone raised their glasses and drank the glass of wine with Zhu Gaoxu honestly as a promise.

"In the grand military parade in half a month, you all will look so shameless on me that you will outshine our brothers in the North Field!"

After a glass of wine, Zhu Gaoxu also taught everyone a lesson: "If the brothers in Bohai are not as good as Beichang, then you all go back to the White Mountains and Black Waters, and live a hard life for a few more years before coming back!"

"Your Highness, don't worry, Beichang is no match for us!"

"Your Highness, just watch how we make you look good!"

"Just watch when the time comes. Our Jurchens' roars can make the Yanfu soldiers in Beichang wet their pants!"

"Only you Jurchens can do it, but what about our Han brothers?"

"They are all from Bohai. Look at what you are saying."

"Ha ha ha ha……"

(End of this chapter)