Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 396: Sweet first, then bitter
"clang……"

In the early morning, as the morning bell rang, hundreds of Buddhists and Taoists in Nanjing City began morning classes, and the content was to pray for Empress Xu, who was seriously ill at the moment.

They closed their eyes and meditated, reciting scriptures. They didn't know whether they were sincere, but at least they could make Zhu Di feel at ease in the palace.

Since the last time Empress Xu explained a lot of things to Zhu Di, she has often become drowsy. She occasionally sleeps for seven or eight hours, and her waking time is getting less and less.

In her situation, even little kids like Zhu Zhanji, Zhu Zhanhe, and Zhu Zhanqi could tell that something was wrong, let alone Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaoxu.

In the days that followed, Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaosui took the Zhang family and the Xu family to almost live in the currently uninhabited Fengxian Hall, separated by a wall from the Qianqing Palace.

Every day before dawn, Zhu Gaochi called Zhu Gaosui to go to Qianqing Palace, while Zhu Gaoxu lived in Jinshen Palace, one of the three main halls.

This palace is very close to the Qianqing Palace. If you take a Buyu, you can reach it in one hour at most.

Such an arrangement shows how bad Queen Xu's situation is, and what's even worse is that Zhu Gaoxu still has to endure his emotions and deal with the complicated memorials in Jinshen Hall.

Fortunately, Zhu Gaoxu welcomed several old friends today, which relieved his anxiety.

He should still be very young at the moment, but I don't know how long he can last under Fu Rang.

"Wang Xuan heard that the rebellion in Zhenkang has not been suppressed yet, and he wrote a letter asking me to send some Changshan barbarians to build roads. It seems that the war cannot proceed due to inconvenient transportation."

"Nowadays, the conflict between the local native people and the Changshan barbarians is getting deeper and deeper. In many cases, internal fighting breaks out between the native people and the Changshan barbarians, resulting in numerous deaths and injuries."

"Guizhou still has more than 100 families in southern Guizhou, and Yunnan has more than 200 families. Guangxi and Yunnan are about the same, especially the Yao Miao people in Dateng Gorge are in serious harm."

Fu Rang talked about the white-clothed rebellion in Zhenkang in southern Yunnan. Zhu Gaoxu realized after hearing this that it seemed that the rebellion in Zhenkang had been going on for a long time, so he couldn't help asking Yishiha who was standing aside:

Fu Rang, who succeeded the Duke of Ying after conquering Annan, may be one of the few people Zhu Gaoxu can talk to.

In thirty years, even if the southwestern chieftains cannot be eradicated, there is no problem in eliminating more than 80% of them, because Sichuan's agriculture is recovering, and the Ming Dynasty also has the large granary of Jiaozhi.

Hearing this, Yi Shiha hurriedly explained: "Originally it was not big, but in the area of ​​Lin'an Prefecture, as Guangnan Bofu Mao built the post road to the south, the Tai people in white clothes gradually became dissatisfied, and they all joined the rebellion of Bai Yi in Zhenkang. .”

"I will hand over the captured Changshan barbarians to the local people as slaves to reclaim the wasteland and exempt them from the two-year tax on the wasteland."

Looking at Fu Rang, who was already in his mid-thirties, Zhu Gaoxu, who had been depressed for a while, finally had a smile on his face.

"Now in Annan, there are very few people targeting our Han people. As for the Red River Delta area you mentioned, it is basically our Han people who are cultivating it."

"In Annan's case, you figure out when is the best time to take action."

"Originally, his power was relatively small, but as our team wiped out the remnants of the Chen State and the rebel forces, he was able to conquer many Changshan barbarians and remnants of the Chen State while hiding in Changshan, so he gradually grew stronger."

The nomadic peoples in the north rely on the Great Gobi Desert that stretches between the southern and northern deserts, while the chieftains in the southwest rely on the deep mountains and dense forests with rugged roads.

They have to fight a protracted war with Ming Dynasty, but fortunately, Ming Dynasty's national power is still on the rise, and there is enough time to fight them.

Facing the inquiry, the figure also slowly spoke: "That Chen Yao is still alive than I thought. Fortunately, his head is really not bright. He is now sixty-seventy, and it is estimated that he will only be alive for a few more years."

Zhu Gaoxu expressed his thoughts and asked Fu Rang: "How much tax can Jiaozhi bring to the court this year?"

Zhu Gaoxu did not expect that he would still hear the name Li Li, and in terms of the time when he started the army, it was nearly eleven years earlier than in history.

"Based on the information I currently have, he should be running more than a dozen forts in the mountains, and has cultivated slopes that can sustain basic survival. The number of soldiers and horses under his command is not many, only seven or eight thousand people. But from time to time it comes down the mountain and harasses states and counties, leaving local areas exhausted and unable to resume production.”

"Okay." Fu Rang nodded, and then said: "Over at Jiaozhi, I will let Zhang Fu, Zhang Chun, Chen Mao, and Meng Ying guard their respective places, while I personally lead the troops to conquer and capture the Changshan barbarians."

His point of view is the same as that of Zhu Gaoxu. For Zhu Gaoxu, when the Ming army mastered matchlock guns and cannons, no matter the nomads in the north or the southwest chieftains in the south, they were actually no longer opponents of the Ming army.

Zhu Gaoxu is confident that he can also bring at least thirty years of rising national power to the Ming Dynasty.

Fu Rang also nodded when he heard this and said, "That man's name is Li Li. He started rebelling in the seventh year of Yongle."

"Now regardless of the north or the south, the remnants of the Chen Kingdom who tried to separate the regime have been dealt with in every possible way. There is still a force in Changshan that has not been eliminated, which gives me a headache."

In the Jinshen Hall, Zhu Gaoxu sat in the main seat, with a tall figure sitting next to him.

"As soon as Chen Yao dies, Annan will be changed to Jiaozhi as the heir of the Chen family."

"However, they can only cause chaos in these places. Once they go to Lin'an, Mengding and other plains, they will be repulsed by Wang Xuan and Fu Mao."

Fu Rang knew the situation in the southwest very well. In his opinion, the chieftains in the southwest were no match for the Ming army and were just relying on the terrain to delay death.

Regarding this issue, Fu Rang, who was familiar with Zhu Gaoxu, had done his homework before going north, so he looked at Yishiha, who also handed the booklet Fu Rang brought to Zhu Gaoxu.

"How long will it take to clean him up?" Zhu Gaoxu picked up the tea cup and took a sip, asking subconsciously.

"Is there anything else that can give our Duke Ying a headache?" Zhu Gaoxu asked in surprise, revealing the identity of this figure.

After Yi Shiha explained, Fu Rang also said: "The main problem is the road, otherwise our army would have gone deep into it. In addition to destroying these chieftains, we can also rehabilitate the local area."

The reason why they can still struggle with the Ming army is simply because of the terrain.

"In the past, they could only rely on the terrain, but now the imperial court has field artillery and siege artillery. Therefore, as long as the road is built, it is only a matter of time before they capture their fortress."

"I've been having a headache recently while reading memorials. Just tell me directly."

"The white-clothed rebellion in Zhenkang was not said to be very large in scale before. Why has it been going on for so long now?"

Fu Rang's words made sense, and Zhu Gaoxu also nodded and asked: "How many chieftain families in Yunnan, Guangxi, and Guizhou have not been destroyed at the moment?"

"As for livestock power such as cattle and draft horses, I leave them to the Han people who immigrated to us."

Zhu Gaoxu refused to look through the album himself, because he had really felt uncomfortable reading the memorials recently, so only chatting with Fu Rang to discuss government affairs could make him feel a little more comfortable.

"At present, the rebellion of the white-clothed people has developed from Zhenkang to Mengmian, Menglian and other places, with tens of thousands of rebels."

"The situation in Changshan is complicated. I plan to ask Jianchang Hou Qu Neng to lead his troops to suppress the mountain after the chieftain Lu Luo of Daxue Mountain is dealt with. Regarding guerrillas in the mountains, only the Xichuan soldiers of Jianchang Hou and the Yunnan soldiers in Wang Xuan's hands can Only Western soldiers can do that.”

"From the winter of the second year of Yongle to the present, for six and a half years, the imperial court has successively migrated people from Fujian, Zhejiang, and Guangdong into Annan. Now there are more than 724,000 people in Hankou in Annan, and it is estimated that it will reach 770,000 this year. .”

"These 770,000 Han people now basically share more than 15 million acres of cultivated land, while the local people in Annan hold more than 8 million acres of cultivated land."

"The local taxes have been adjusted and are now one in ten. The amount of land tax that can be paid this year is about 4.6 million shi."

After Fu Rang finished speaking, Zhu Gaoxu nodded with satisfaction and continued to ask: "How many are the Annan natives and Changshan barbarians?"

"There are more than 2.2 million Annan natives who were captured by us, and they enslaved more than 400,000 Changshan barbarians, but they are basically in the Thanh Hoa area in the south."

After Fu Rang explained, he also mentioned the situation in Changshan: "There are probably no less than two million barbarians in Changshan. As long as the battle between them is balanced, we can slowly develop southward until we firmly grasp the entire situation." Cochin.”

"Although I say so, the chance is not great." Zhu Gaoxu shook his head and did not think that the Ming Dynasty could completely control the entire Jiaozhi. After all, there were too many local Annan people and Changshan barbarians.

In addition, the south of Thanh Hoa is mostly mountainous and hilly, so if you want to destroy them, you must maintain a relatively high military expenditure.

Although Annan can now receive a tax of 4.6 million shi, if the military pay of the local garrison is deducted, the amount that can be handed over to Nanjing is only 2 million shi.

These two million stones basically flowed to Yunnan and Guangxi to support Li Jinglong and Muchun's counterinsurgency work in the Southwest.

Even so, for the nearly 200,000 troops in the two legions, these two million stone grains were very insufficient. Therefore, Sichuan not only had to support Guizhou, but also had to maintain military pay with Jiaozhi.

"There are currently 370,000 troops in the four southwestern provinces. This number is still too complicated. After Guizhou is reorganized, I plan to convert the local troops into civilians and only retain six guards."

"Also, I am hesitating whether the next direction is Guangxi or Yunnan. What do you think?"

Zhu Gaoxu asked Fu Rang, and Fu Rang frowned slightly, and then said: "If I were to choose, it would be Guangxi."

"In terms of terrain, Yunnan is more complex than Guangxi, and Guangxi is close to Huguang and Guangdong. After the suppression of the chieftains, it is easier to move Han people to consolidate local achievements."

"Currently, among the chieftains in Guangxi, Dadengxia is basically the most vicious."

"They live in the mountains near the Xunjiang River, more than 300 miles apart from the north to the south. Among them, the chieftains are mainly Yao people with the four surnames of Lan, Hu, Hou, and Pan, as well as children who live in Lishan and are good at making poisonous crossbow arrows. The clan...numbers in the hundreds of thousands.”

"When we were fighting in Annan, I asked Yang Zhan, and even he said that he and Yang Wen were afraid of the terrain of Dadeng Gorge and did not lead an encirclement and suppression campaign."

"If you want to encircle and suppress the chieftains in Dateng Gorge, you won't be able to completely eradicate them without an army of hundreds of thousands."

The word Dadengxia has appeared on Zhu Gaoxu's desk many times, and it was indeed one of the chieftain turmoils that most harmed the Ming Dynasty after the Tumubao Incident. Zhu Gaoxu remembered that in history, the Ming Dynasty used troops against Dadeng Gorge three times, from the Chenghua period to the Jiajing period, continuously.

Later, it was not that the local area had changed its land and returned to its homeland, but that the Ming Dynasty fell into many wars such as the War to Resist Japanese Aggression and Aid Korea, the Toungoo War in the Southwest, the Three Victories in Huangzhong in the Northwest, and the Battle of Ningxia.

If he can resolve the issue of Dateng Gorge in one fell swoop, then in the future Ming Dynasty will only need to mobilize troops against Yunnan and Sanxuan and Liuwei, and many wars that have hindered Ming Dynasty's national strength will be resolved in his generation.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu nodded with satisfaction and said: "When the war in southern Guizhou is over, I will summon the Duke of Guizhou, Duke Cao and others to Beijing to discuss it in detail in Wuying Hall."

"Today, we will..."

Before Zhu Gaoxu finished speaking, he heard footsteps coming from outside the hall.

He frowned and looked, but saw a eunuch on duty coming over and bowing: "Your Highness, there is news from the Imperial College that there have been breakthroughs in many things. I hope you can go there in person and give guidance to the Imperial College scholars."

"Have you made a breakthrough?" Zhu Gaoxu stood up after hearing this and looked at Fu Rang subconsciously: "You go with me, just so you know what Taixue does."

"Yes!" Fu Rang was also curious about what this eight-year-old Imperial College was doing, so he followed Zhu Gaoxu out of Jinshen Hall.

But just when Yishiha wanted to follow him, Zhu Gaoxu turned around and told him: "You will stay in Jinshen Palace for the time being. If anything happens in Qianqing Palace, please inform me immediately."

"My slave, take your orders..." Yishu Hazuo bowed in agreement, and then watched Zhu Gaoxu and Fu Rang gradually leave.

An hour later, they appeared outside Taixue City. Today, Taixue is surrounded by a concrete wall with a circumference of twelve miles, and its scale is no less than that of some county towns.

Fu Rang and Zhu Gaoxu entered Taixue in a carriage, and the sight there surprised him.

There are a large number of students in Taixue, tens of thousands of them. Many people are curious when they see the carriage. Zhu Gaoxu also explained:
"There is everything you want in Taixue City, but students need to stay here until they graduate before they can leave."

"In addition, Taixue City is also divided into an inner and outer city. The outer city is for these students, and the inner city is for the Taixue scholars who have graduated and the Ph.D.s who have made certain contributions."

"Where we want to go is the inner city."

After Zhu Gaoxu finished speaking, the carriage gradually drove towards the inner city isolated by the city wall.

Compared to the outer city, which is no different from the county seat, the inner city seems relatively empty, and there are even a lot of cultivated fields.

The difference is that the inner city is more heavily guarded than the outer city. There is basically a soldier standing guard at every crenel, and the security is tight.

When the carriage arrived and stopped in front of the five-story experimental building made of wrought iron and concrete, Zhu Gaoxu and Fu Rang got off the car one after another, and saw more than 300 Taixue scholars who had gathered early in front of the experimental building, as well as ten people who were leading them to wait. Two Ph.D.

"Your Highness..."

The doctor who spoke first was a man in his thirties. When Zhu Gaoxu saw him, he also introduced him to Fu Rang: "This is Dr. Wang Fuwang who developed unearthed fertilizer and solved the problem of struvite bacteria."

"This is Duke Ying. You don't need to hide your research from him. Say whatever you want."

Zhu Gaoxu introduced their identities, and they both bowed and greeted each other politely.

After being polite, Zhu Gaoxu asked about any research breakthroughs that made it worthwhile for him to leave his official duties and come here.

Upon hearing this, Wang Fu also quickly bowed and said: "The steam engine has been made. In addition, glass mirrors, grain drills, mercury thermometers, threshing machines, cotton binding machines and other items have also been made and put into use."

Wang Fu's words surprised Zhu Gaoxu, but it was mainly about the progress of steam engines.

"Come on, take us to see it!"

Zhu Gaoxu quickly signaled, and Wang Fu also led many academicians to lead Zhu Gaoxu to a well.

Next to the well, an egg-shaped mechanical equipment with a length of four feet was placed quietly.

Under the watchful eye of Zhu Gaoxu, Wang Fu led the young bachelors to fill the equipment with coal as fuel, then waited for it to be filled with steam and closed the steam inlet valve.

After waiting for a while, Wang Fu personally turned on a switch, and then the machine made a sound of operation, and a light yellow plastic water pipe connected to the well began to pump water into the steam engine and drain the water to on the ground.

"Your Highness, this steam engine can rely on vacuum suction to draw water to a depth of two feet."

"If it is placed in a mine, it can safely draw water from a six-foot-deep mine without any danger."

"This pipe is made of Eucommia rubber. It is very easy to use, but it is not heat-resistant. I don't know what the difference is compared with the rubber from Dongzhou."

Wang Fu said excitedly, but Zhu Gaoxu was a little disappointed.

He thought that Wang Fu and the others had already developed a steam engine that could be operated on a car, but unexpectedly they had reached the water-pumping version of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties.

Although he didn’t know how Wang Fu’s steam water pump was compared to the West, he still praised it after being disappointed: “Yes, with this thing, in the future there will be no need for workers to pump buckets of accumulated water out of the mine. ”

"Let's go, show me other research." Zhu Gaoxu appeared very satisfied. Upon seeing this, Wang Fu took Zhu Gaoxu to visit the glass mirror, grain drill, mercury thermometer, threshing machine, cotton binding machine and other items.

The glass mirror is basically not much different from the mirrors of later generations. It can clearly illuminate a person's appearance. As long as the price comes down, Zhu Gaoxu believes that it can replace the bronze mirror on the market.

The mercury thermometer is the same as that of later generations, but it is much larger and needs to be placed under the armpit to measure accurate temperature, which will be helpful for future medical treatment.

As for other research on grain drills, threshing machines, cotton binding machines, etc., they are basically modifications of existing farm tools, only making them labor-saving and slightly improving efficiency.

The reason why I say it is subtle is mainly because for experienced people, the improvement in efficiency is just an extra quarter of an hour or two overtime on the original working time.

Although the improvement was not big, Zhu Gaoxu still gave Wang Fu and others due rewards and encouragement, and promoted more than ten bachelors who mainly studied these things to Ph.D.

After the visit, Zhu Gaoxu pointed out the direction of these things, but the main research direction is how to install the steam engine on the vehicle so that the carriage can move on its own and pull more cargo.

Zhu Gaoxu personally drew the appearance drawings of the steam car and the drawings of the steam train. However, regarding these drawings, Wang Fu said awkwardly:
"Your Highness, if there is no way to solve the sealing problem, then I'm afraid these things won't be researched."

Eucommia gum is not heat-resistant, so it cannot stably seal the steam engine. If it cannot be sealed, it will deflate and reduce the power. Zhu Gaoxu also knows this, but he knows that in a few years, Zheng He will bring rubber back from Dongzhou.

Rubber trees can be planted slowly, but rubber can be obtained directly from Dongzhou and shipped back in batches.

After the steam engine research consumes this batch of rubber, it is estimated that the rubber trees brought back can be harvested.

After appeasing Wang Fu and others, Zhu Gaoxu took Fu Rang and left Taixue City. The performance of Taixue City also made Zhu Gaoxu a little embarrassed.

"I thought there would be a very obvious improvement, and I never wanted to make you laugh."

On the carriage, Zhu Gaoxu was a little embarrassed, but Fu Rang shook his head and said: "No, for me, what I have seen today is enough."

"I have never seen something like that that can draw water from two feet below the well and can also make a sound."

"But what I am more concerned about is why Your Highness has not equipped the army with flintlock guns?"

The flintlock gun was a product of Zhu Gaoxu during the Hongwu period, but it has not been equipped with the army.

Fu Rang had also used a flintlock gun. Although he knew that the flintlock gun was not as stable as the matchlock in the south, in the north, the flintlock gun should be very good. But judging from what he had just visited, Zhu Gaoxu still had no equipment. Flintlock move.

"In fact, it is already being produced, but the quality of our flint is not very good. Therefore, during this voyage to the West, I asked Zheng He to bring back a batch of better quality flint."

"As long as we wait for him to come back, the more than 70,000 flintlock rifles currently in stock in Liaodong's Ordnance Bureau can be loaded with flint and put into the northern frontier army for combat."

Zhu Gaoxu explained to Fu Rang and continued: "If the flintlock gun equipped with new flint has a considerable ignition rate in the south, then I will order to stop the production of matchlock guns and start equipping the entire army with flintlock guns."

The quality of Ming Dynasty flint is not very good. In humid areas in the south, the ignition rate will drop significantly.

If the quality of the flints Zheng He brought back this time could ensure the ignition rate of the flintlock guns, then Ming Dynasty would be able to change weapons in advance.

Although there is not much difference in power and rate of fire from matchlocks to flintlock guns, after this round of improvements, the Ming army's advantage over enemies in the north and southwest will be more obvious.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but put a smile on his face, thinking of Zhu Di's joy when he saw the army equipped with flintlock guns.

It just seemed that God didn't want him to be happy, so while he had a smile on his face, the sound of horse hooves came from outside the carriage, which made him feel nervous.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty has sent you a message to enter Qianqing Palace as soon as possible!"

When the sound of singing and singing rang out from outside the carriage, Zhu Gaoxu's mood fell to the bottom, and he felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

What he had been worried about finally happened...

(End of this chapter)