Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 385 Pilot Jiangnan
"Mom, slow down..."

In the Qianqing Palace, the palace was filled with the strong smell of herbs at this moment. Stepping onto the bed, Zhu Di's rough big hand held a skinny arm.

The blood vessels on the arms are clearly visible, and they are so thin that they cannot hang on to the flesh.

Sitting aside, Mrs. Zhang, as the eldest daughter-in-law, was giving medicine to the owner of the arm on the couch.

This is the fourth year since Queen Xu suffered from breast cancer. Although the doctors at Tai Hospital and Yingtian Hospital both said that she could live between five and ten years, judging from the current situation, Queen Xu The situation obviously cannot be sustained for ten years, or even...

"How is my mother's condition?"

Outside the Hall of Qianqing, Zhu Gaochi nervously asked the doctors from Yingtian Hospital and Tai Hospital. The two medical officers looked at each other in confusion after hearing this, and finally bowed and said:

"Your Highness's illness has entered the mid-to-late stage. Even with the help of physical therapy and medicine, but..."

The two were hesitating, and Zhu Gaochi became anxious: "Say it!"

"The longest is three years, the shortest is less than one year..." The medical officers bravely gave the results, which made Zhu Gaochi feel like he was struck by lightning.

Zhu Gaoxu struggled to answer and continued: "I set up a hospital in Annan early to specialize in breast cancer research, but to this day, there is still no progress."

Although the result is very rough, it can still be used as long as it is properly disinfected. However, the blood transfusion process must be very slow because the needle is too large and it is easy to make mistakes if you are not careful.

Empress Xu had been helped up, and her once tall figure had become a liability. Her weight of less than 70 kilograms made her cheeks sunken and yellow, and her eye sockets sunken.

Seeing this, Empress Xu stretched out her skinny hand and touched the heads of the three of them respectively. She then motioned for them to raise their hands and put their hands together:
"Mom, I don't have anything to say. I just hope that you three brothers will be well."

Zhu Gaosui helped Zhu Gaochi up, and Zhu Gaochi also reacted and looked at Zhu Gaoxu hurriedly: "Second brother, is there anything you can do about this mother matter?"

"What should I do, mother?"

In addition, in order to observe germs, the magnification of the microscope has also been continuously improved through manual polishing. It has now reached the level of 500 magnification, reaching the progress of the early 18th century.

For Ming Dynasty's colored glaze technology, it is not difficult to bake test tubes, and it is not a problem to mix plasma according to blood type.

She was supposed to pass away in July last year, but due to timely physical therapy and a strong desire to survive, she survived until now.

"Boss, don't sit on the ground. The ground is cold."

"Mom, I know, you should have a good rest." Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but rub his sore nose, but Queen Xu shook her head:

"Yes." The two medical officers were relieved and left in a hurry after returning the greeting.

He turned around and wiped his tears. When he looked back, neither Zhu Gaoxu nor Zhu Gaosui could give an answer.

"Yes..." The three of them had sour noses, but they still stepped forward one after another and knelt in front of the bed willingly.

Especially in Jiaozhi Hospital, which has frequent surgeries, morphine, an anesthetic drug, was successfully extracted from opium poppies under Zhu Gaoxu's reminder. This step alone led the world's medicine by 500 years.

Under Zhu Gaoxu's reminder, the research on blood types is also on the right track. Jiaozhi Hospital divides blood types into four conventional blood types: ABO, AB, and the special D (RH) blood type.

The only difficult part is the needle tube and the blood transfusion tube, but the craftsmen make the syringe from the aluminum needle tube. After the needle tube is cast and formed, a fine needle is manually polished to pierce the needle tube to make a hollow needle.

They walked into the hall and stood in a row, but without exception, they all lowered their heads.

Seeing his appearance, Zhu Gaoxu, who was standing behind him, waved his hand: "You guys, please step back."

These various simple situations require careful consideration even for promotion, and Zhu Gaoxu will naturally not apply them to his mother.

After getting these results, Zhu Gaoxu really didn't dare to use the surgery on his mother.

Zhu Di's voice came from the hall. Zhu Gaochi wiped away his tears and quickly took the lead and walked in.

Annan's breast cancer patients who underwent surgery had no problems within a short period of time after surgery, but as the wound became infected and alcohol disinfection could not control the inflammation of the wound, most of them died from the torture of the wound.

"This matter can only be decided by mother herself."

"With the current situation, neither my father nor I dare to bet..."

"I'm very happy to see you guys together. In the future, when you, second brother, become emperor, you must take good care of your eldest brother and third brother..."

Zhu Gaochi's nose was sore and tears gradually blurred his vision.

He asked the medical school to study penicillin and various anti-inflammatory drugs and anesthetics very early on.

Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaojiu had already learned about their mother's situation long ago. Only Zhu Gaochi had just learned about it and couldn't accept it for a while.

Guo Yan takes care of her every day, so he naturally understands her situation.

Obviously, Queen Xu can only rely on herself.

"Even for early-stage breast cancer, there is no chance of surviving more than two years after surgery, not to mention that the mother is already in the middle and late stages."

Although it is not as high as the 1,500-fold optical microscope of later generations, for Ming Dynasty, a microscope of this level was enough.

"..." Zhu Gaoxu was speechless. What could he do?

Even so, she still smiled and said: "Come forward, let me take a look."

She always smiles at Zhu Di, even if she is tired, she will smile to prevent Zhu Di from worrying, but only she can feel how much she endures behind the scenes.

What he said is true. In this era without antibiotics, surgery itself is extremely risky.

How long she can survive can only be determined by herself. Except for Guo Yan and Zhu Gaoxu, no one knows how much Empress Xu has suffered.

He stayed where he was, sitting slowly on the ground, speechless for a while.

If he could even cure illnesses, then Ming's technological progress wouldn't be so slow.

"Boss, second, third!"

"If they make any mistakes, whether you let them go or not, they are all members of your own family."

"Okay." Zhu Gaoxu nodded in agreement. He really couldn't bear to hear his mother's weak voice.

Even if his hearing is as sensitive as his, it still requires concentration to hear. The eldest and the third child knelt and took a step forward before they could hear Queen Xu's words clearly.

The two brothers with shallow eye sockets couldn't hold it in anymore and burst into tears.

"Okay, I'm fine. You all can go down. I won't have home-cooked food with you today."

Empress Xu seemed to sense something. Not only did she let the three brothers leave, but she also wanted to send Zhu Di away.

Zhu Di, Zhu Gaojiu, and Zhu Gaosui all understood. Only Zhu Gaochi was unwilling, but Zhu Gaojiu directly picked him up and dragged him out.

"Boy, don't drag me. I want to stay with my escort girl again."

Zhu Gaochi cried and howled like a slaughtered pig. Seeing this, Zhu Gaosui directly lifted his legs, and the two brothers carried him out.

After putting him down and seeing that he wanted to go in, Zhu Gaoxu reminded: "My mother's breast rock is bleeding with pus and blood. I need sister-in-law and Yan'er to help change the gauze. Why are you going in?"

"Ah?" Zhu Gaochi's crying expression paused, wiped his tears and complained: "You didn't tell me either."

"Do I have to tell you in front of my mother?" Zhu Gaoxu was speechless.

"That's true." After wiping his tears and nose, Zhu Gaochi stood there and waited.

After a while, a basin of sewage stained with pus and blood was brought out, with gauze soaked in it. The blood stains and pus on the gauze were serious. This was the first time for Zhu Gaochi to see it, and he almost retched. Fortunately, Zhu Gaosui covered his eyes quickly with his hands. Shut his mouth.

"Take a deep breath. This is the first time. It's normal."

Zhu Gaoxu glanced at it, and only looked away when he saw Zhu Gaochi swallowing it.

Soon, Guo Yan came out after wiping his hands, faced Zhu Di and the three brothers and said, "Mom said, let dad and you go back to deal with government affairs first."

"As long as my elder brother, sister-in-law, and three younger brothers and sisters are with me, I will stay."

"Okay." Zhu Gaoxu knew that his mother had many things to talk to the boss, so he looked at the boss:
"My mother's side will be left to you. You are the eldest son, so you have to take good care of your mother's emotions."

After saying that, Zhu Gaoxu looked at the third child again: "The third child, keep an eye on the boss, don't let him howl like a killing pig and disturb my mother's peace."

"Okay, second brother, don't worry, I know how to do it." Zhu Gaosui grinned.

"Dad, let's go."

Zhu Gaoxu looked at Zhu Di, who had been sitting silently. Hearing this, Zhu Di also stood up, took a complicated look at the palace, and finally turned around and walked out of the palace.

Zhu Gaoxu followed, and the father and son took a carriage to Wuying Palace.

After they left, Zhu Gaochi curled his lips and said, "Young man, you train me just like you train your son."

"Who told you to be so incompetent?" Zhu Gaosui added insult to injury. Zhu Gaochi came back to his senses and glared at him: "You call the second brother second brother, but you call me the boss?"

"We are both princes. Why do we care about so many things when we are equal?"

Zhu Gaosui's wings stiffened, and Zhu Gaochi also put his hands into his sleeves when he saw this: "Oh, the new man is really better than the old man. I remember when you and I were in the house, we had to call big brother whenever we wanted to eat. Now..."

"Come on, hurry in, mom misses you so much!"

After pushing Zhu Gaochi, Zhu Gaosui walked into the palace first.

Zhu Gaochi shrugged and said to Guo Yan on the side: "Look, the third child has this kind of virtue."

After that, he followed and walked in. Only Guo Yan watched the two people playing tricks and snickered from behind.

She could feel that her mother would be in a much better mood these days. After all, with these two living treasures around, it would be hard to be unhappy.

However, she was more worried about Zhu Di and her husband than her mother.

Thinking of this, she glanced outside the palace, but she could no longer see the backs of the father and son. On the swaying Bu Yu, Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu said nothing. It was not until Bu Yu came to the Wuying Palace and saw several great scholars and six ministers waiting in front of the Wuying Palace that Zhu Di said: "A little while. You handle it yourself."

"Well..." Zhu Gaoxu responded. It was obvious that Zhu Di had not yet come out of Queen Xu's side.

"Long live your Majesty, long live long live..."

The ministers saluted and bowed, but Zhu Di just responded softly and walked into the palace.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu forcibly raised his spirits and greeted: "Come in, everyone."

At his order, the officials walked into the palace, and Zhu Di also came to his seat and sat down.

Zhu Gaoxu sat aside, while all the ministers stood.

This is not Chunhe Hall. There are chairs to sit on when we go to Chunhe Hall, but in Wuying Hall we can only stand and perform.

"Your Majesty, Xie Jin, the great scholar of Chen Dian Pavilion, has something to report."

As soon as he entered Wuying Hall and sat down, Xie Jin, who was asking for trouble, took the initiative to stand up.

After returning for a few months to recuperate after the second northern expedition, Xie Jin was not as embarrassed as before. He finally had some flesh on his body and regained his previous demeanor.

Although Zhu Gaoxu hated Xie Jin's always condescending attitude, he still frowned and nodded: "That's right."

Zhu Di said nothing. Seeing this, Jie Jin could only organize himself and start to play.

"Diange has calculated this year's situation with the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Ministry of Works. We all believe that the troops stationed in Xifan can be reduced as appropriate. For example, the six thousand soldiers and horses under Duogan Dusi can be reduced to four. thousand."

"Although only two thousand troops and horses were reduced, nearly one hundred thousand in money and food were saved."

"Besides, the local post roads and post stations have basically been built, so there is no problem in transferring two thousand troops and horses back to Sichuan."

"If the land of Xifan encounters enemy invaders, troops can be transferred directly from Chengdu to Lhasa to prepare for the enemy."

Xie Jin proposed the policy of garrisoning troops in Xifan, which the current courtiers were dissatisfied with. Although they also knew that the court could obtain tens of thousands of horses from Xifan, in their view, as long as they controlled the post roads and the tea-horse trade, it was enough. Garrisoning too many troops is indeed a waste of money and food.

"The garrison in Xifan can be reduced, but not now. It must wait until the post road and post station are fully completed. At that time, I will reduce the garrison in Xifan to 7,000, Duogan to 4,000, and Uzang to 3,000."

Zhu Gaoxu rejected the idea of ​​the courtiers represented by Xie Jin. Seeing this, Xie Jin continued to bow:

"If this is the case, then I will explain to the courtiers that there is one more thing that needs to be reported."

"Tell me." Zhu Gaoxu was too lazy to talk nonsense with Jie Jin.

"Since Fu An and others have returned home safely, Zheng He and Chen Xuan should continue their voyage to the West instead of staying in Horumos."

"In addition, the imperial court has deployed many national embassies and officialdoms overseas, and even stationed troops and guards in Ceylon, which consumes a lot of money."

"In the memorial they submitted recently, Zheng He and Chen Xuan specifically requested the imperial court to increase the number of naval troops to twelve guards, and His Majesty also approved it."

"Currently, the Navy's salary has been supplemented with an additional overseas subsidy of ten per year. I would like to ask, is this too much?"

After yesterday's adjustment by Zhu Gaoxu, the navy's salary is now twenty shi of rice and eighteen guan of money. As for cloth and cotton, they have been cancelled. After all, the navy is not in short supply of these things and they can easily buy them wherever they are. Regarding commodities, the officers and soldiers in the mainland are not very good at it.

"I have calculated the salary of the navy. There are 67,200 people. After the money and food are discounted, it is 1.8 million guan. Including fleet maintenance, the total is 2 million guan."

"This amount of money is nothing to the imperial court, and the benefits brought by the navy are not many."

"Luzon's annual gold output is worth more than 12,000 guan, and including commercial taxes, it can reach 20,000 guan."

"The old port can collect nearly 500,000 guan in taxes every year, and nearly 60,000 guan in tax and grain."

"The Shipping Department of Japan can also earn nearly 2 million yuan from official trade. Together, these are not only enough to pay the navy's salary, but also to maintain peace along the coast."

"Now that there is peace along the coast, the imperial court can also abolish many of the guard posts along the coast."

"I have calculated that there are 22 guards along the coast. If they are all converted into people and war into soldiers, then after the integration, 22 new counties can be established and six guards will be retained."

"The dismantling of more than 80,000 garrison troops alone will save the imperial court nearly 600,000 guan of money, food, cloth and cotton."

"Based on this, does Bachelor Xie still think that two million dollars to maintain a navy of more than 60,000 people is expensive?"

Zhu Gaoxu's answer was reasonable and well-founded, and Xie Jin couldn't find any fault with it. However, he knew the independence of the navy very well, so he bowed and said:
"The navy is alone overseas, and only the generals and their families are in the capital. If any generals have different intentions in the future, they can completely separate themselves overseas and form their own country. This is not conducive to the court."

Xie Jin's words have been the worry of emperors throughout the ages.

Before telegraphs and telephones, it often took ten days and a half to send a letter thousands of miles away.

Such a long period of information transmission usually means that the court is unable to obtain first-hand local information. If a general plots a rebellion, it is very easy for overseas isolated islands to separate themselves.

However, Zhu Gaoxu had already thought of this, so he asked Xie Jin: "Where are the main shipyards of the imperial court?"

"Jiangnan." Xie Jin's heart sank, and Zhu Gaoxu asked again: "Are there any shipyards overseas that can manufacture warships with more than a thousand materials?"

"No..." Jie Jin lowered his head, and Zhu Gaoxu continued: "Can artillery be cast overseas?"

"Can't..." Xie Jin bowed in return and stopped refuting Zhu Gaoxu.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu also spoke: "The fate of the navy is already in the hands of the imperial court. As long as the imperial court gathers manpower and material resources and continuously iterates warships and artillery, the so-called rebellion of the navy will not be a problem."

"If it really comes to an overseas separatist regime and the imperial court is unable to send troops to suppress it, then it will probably be the end of the dynasty. Why should we care about overseas territories?"

Zhu Gaoxu's words were a bit unlucky, but everyone was used to him thinking the worst about things, so they didn't raise any objections.

It's not that I can't refute him, but it's useless to refute him. Anyway, the father and son have money and soldiers, and they don't nod when they say the same thing, and everyone else's words are like farts.

"His Majesty……"

Liu Jun, the Secretary of the Ministry of War, took the initiative to come out, bowed and saluted: "Yuanyi Benya lost his way to recruit troops to compete with Guilichi for the throne of Khan. Does the imperial court need to send troops?"

When it came to things in the north, Zhu Di managed to regain his energy. He took a deep breath to calm down and said:
"Although Guilichi has only tens of thousands of troops and only more than ten thousand soldiers and horses, it will not be easy for Benya Shili to defeat him unless Wala and Tatar help."

"There was news from Hailar'er Qianhu Station in the north. The Tartar Ali Taishu said that they met and fought with the tribes of Wala Mahamu in the lower reaches of the Yinma River."

"In my opinion, Mahamu should want to conquer the Tatars and unify Mongolia."

After Zhu Di finished speaking, Liu Jun quickly bowed: "The relationship between Mahamu, Taiping, and Baatu Polo is not very close. Looking at the current situation, the imperial court can send envoys to appease Taiping and Baatu Polo. Let Mahamu sing alone."

"Unlikely." Zhu Di rejected Liu Jun's idea and continued:

"If Wala can really conquer the Tatars under the leadership of Mahamu, then Taiping and Batu Polo will also benefit, and they will not be willing to surrender to the imperial court."

"I am going to order Wang Yi to lead the Daning cavalry to Hailaer Qianhu's headquarters to attack Alitai and temporarily block Mahamu's attack."

"When the court becomes more stable, I will personally lead my troops to Mobei and take care of these three wild dogs, Mahamu."

"As long as we keep them in check, they will be as honest as Alitai."

"At that time, the imperial court only needs to check and balance Mobei and wait for the right time."

When Zhu Di finished speaking, he couldn't help but look at Zhu Gaoxu. Apparently he felt that he couldn't wait until that day, but Zhu Gaoxu had the time.

In Zhu Di's view, if it were Zhu Gaoxu, it would be very feasible for the imperial court to manage Mobei with weak restraint.

However, Zhu Di underestimated Zhu Gaoxu. All Zhu Gaoxu wanted was actual control and strong restraint.

"How many prisoners are there in the court this year?"

Zhu Gaoxu asked the newly appointed Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice Liu Guan. Liu Guan was nearly fifty years old, but he was very good at reading eyes. Therefore, when Zhu Gaoxu asked, he thought of Zhu Gaoxu's thoughts and said quickly:
"The fourteen chief secretaries of the two capitals have a total of more than 16,000 prisoners, but there are more than 60,000 Changshan barbarians who were captured in Annan."

He mentioned the Changshan Barbarians. After hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu nodded and said, "Transfer the domestic prisoners to Hailar'er Qianhu Station and promote Hailar'er as a guard."

"As for the 60,000 barbarians in Changshan, they were transported to Ryukyu Prefecture, and the ports discovered in the northern part of Ryukyu Prefecture were placed in Keelung Port and Keelung County."

"The Fujian Pinghai Guard and Quanzhou Guard troops were abolished, and the combat troops were integrated into the Keelung Guard. They were stationed at the Keelung Port and were responsible for managing the Changshan barbarians who burned the local forests and collected vegetation and soil ashes."

"In addition, the order was given to the shipyards in Longjiang, Hangzhou and other places to build hundreds of horse-drawn boats, and to set up patrols to seize struvite from coastal islands and head to Chongming Island."

"The plant ash collected by Ryukyu Prefecture is also transported to Chongming Island. Starting next year, Songjiang and Suzhou Prefectures will be the second pilot prefectures for the Jiangnan New Deal."

"From now on, the people of Suzhou and Songjiang will be registered and the fields will be measured."

"Before six months, anyone who took the initiative to report their land acres and apply for measurement will not be punished for the crime of concealing the number of acres and acres in the past."

"Those who are overdue by six months will be dealt with severely in accordance with the Ming Law!"

When an order was issued from Zhu Gaoxu's mouth, the officials were both happy and worried.

The good news is that most of them got the news and purchased fields in Susong's Second Mansion early. They are undoubtedly the beneficiaries of this New Deal pilot.

The worry is that they feel that since the Susong Second Prefecture has started a pilot project, it may not be too long before a comprehensive pilot project is carried out in the three provinces of Jiangnan.

If this news spreads, the whole Jiangnan will probably be in uproar, and the wealthy squires below will probably put pressure on them.

So what if they just apply pressure, or what can they do?
Facing the father and son who had money and soldiers, they were really powerless to fight back, even more powerless than during the Hongwu years.

Zhu Gaoxu's New Deal, if they cannot interfere at the source, they cannot change the status quo.

Even if they can intervene and enter Liaodong and Bohai now, it is already too late.

They faced not only the father and son, but also an emerging force that was quietly rising behind the father and son.

In the eyes of Xie Jin and others, this father and son undoubtedly cultivated a terrifying existence...

(End of this chapter)