Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 424 Yantai Huyu
"Uuuuuu——"

On the seventeenth day of the first lunar month, as the Lantern Festival passed, Jiangdongmen Pier also ushered in the excitement of the third voyage to the West.

Horse boats loaded all kinds of porcelain, cloth, and satin in boxes.

In addition to these Jiangnan specialties, they also need to go to Hangzhou, Quanzhou, and Guangzhou along the waterways to ship the specialties belonging to various places and ship them overseas.

Tea from Zhejiang and Fujian, sucrose and brown sugar from Guangdong and Guangxi...

These are all commodities needed overseas, among which brown sugar has the highest profit and greatest demand.

"Guangdong has prepared five million kilograms of brown sugar this time. According to the last route, it is estimated that all of them will be sold out after arriving at Ma Lindi."

"I estimate that this kind of product will be popular in Dongzhou, so I want Guangdong and Guangxi to prepare an extra million catties..."

On the deck of a horse boat, Zhu Gaoxu was walking in front, followed by Zhu Zhanhe and Zhu Zhanqi who were looking left and right, as well as six ministers including Zheng He, Xia Yuanji, and Guo Zi.

After Zheng He finished speaking, Guo Zi, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, explained to the officials of the Ministry of Revenue around him.

From sugar farmers to government officials, everyone has their own benefits and rewards.

Looking at their backs, Song Li, the Minister of Rites, bowed and said: "Your Highness, the two emperors and grandsons have reached old age. Please select a famous teacher to teach you..."

In the past, they were the ones pulling the flag, but when they met Zhu Gaoxu, Zhu Gaoxu was actually more skilled at pulling the flag than they were.

On the contrary, buying from Guangdong can save more money and time.

"This time, Guizhou was converted into a foreign country, and Quan Laier and others worked hard."

Walking into the Chunhe Hall, the sound of singing and singing began one after another. More than ten military attachés stood in the hall and bowed respectfully.

In this period before large-scale sugar production in Old Port, Luzon, and Cochin began, Guangdong and Guangxi were undoubtedly the largest sugar production bases on the Western Sea Route.

"Although His Majesty is not here, your achievements are enough to grant you a title."

On the deck, looking at the boxes of goods, Zhu Gaoxu immediately started to raise the banner.

However, regarding his suggestion, Zhu Gaoxu shook his head and said: "Students all over the world are studying in official schools, so why does the royal family give them preferential treatment?"

Not long after, his carriage was guarded by soldiers and horses in Beijing and escorted towards the capital.

When the ministers saw this, even though they were reluctant, they had to bow in return and see him off from the carriage.

"Okay, let's go play."

"Your Highness Chitose..."

"In addition to the goods for this voyage, the Ministry of Revenue also allocated you fifty thousand taels of gold."

However, such returns are not long-term in Zhu Gaoxu's view, because currently there are not many metal reserves in various countries on the Western shipping lanes.

Now the court is making money, and the people are also making money. Whoever dares to impeach the West is a traitor to the country.

With this sentence in mind, it is unrealistic for others to attack Western countries for wasting people and money. After all, the goods brought back by Zheng He were all counted by the Ministry of Household Affairs.

As the Minister of Rites, Song Li did not want others to say that he did not care about the emperor's grandson, so he stood up and made suggestions.

Because of this, the opening of the East China route and the development of Kunlun Island are particularly important.

Different from Zhu Di's voyages to the West in history, the voyages presided over by Zhu Gaoxu were good governance that benefited both the court and the people.

Zhu Gaoxu called out Qu Yu and Qu Tao, and the two generals stood up and bowed: "I am here!"

The bustle at Jiangdongmen Wharf continued. It was not until noon that nearly 300,000 boxes of goods were loaded onto the ship, and horse-drawn ships were loaded with goods and headed down the Yangtze River to the East China Sea.

In the past few years, the number of sugar workshops in Guangdong and Guangxi has also increased, and many people who have followed the trend of planting have also made profits.

After all, brown sugar can be stored for up to eighteen months. If you buy it from the south of the Yangtze River and go to the West, you will undoubtedly waste one or two months.

These generals gave Zhu Gaoxu the confidence to return to his hometown in the southwest.

Seeing Zhu Gaoxu raising the banner, some officials from the Six Ministries almost turned the color of pig liver.

“The trade with the Western Ocean is related to the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of weavers, sugar farmers, and porcelain craftsmen in the coastal areas of the Yangtze River and must be taken seriously.”

Song Li didn't say anything when he saw this, but Zhu Gaoxu looked at Zheng He:

Muchun, the Duke of Guizhou, Li Jinglong, the Duke of Cao, Gu Cheng, the Marquis of Zhenyuan, Qu Neng, the Marquis of Jianchang, He Fu, the Marquis of Ningyuan, as well as Sheng Yong, Qu Yu, Qu Tao and other generals who made great achievements in the southwest...

When the horse boat sailed out of the Yangtze River, Zhu Gaoxu's figure appeared on the palace road of Chunhe Palace.

Since the voyage to the East, the private economy in various places has gained more markets, take brown sugar as an example.

Zheng He spoke carefully to Zhu Gaoxu. Zhu Gaoxu nodded after hearing the words, looked down at Zhu Zhanhe and Zhu Zhanqi, stretched out his hand and patted them:

It's not that Zhu Gaoxu is hypocritical, but he doesn't want to hand over Zhu Zhanhe to those Confucian scholars, for fear that these guys will give him a weak and weak son.

"My slave..." Zheng He returned the greeting. Upon seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu also got off the deck and walked towards the dock.

In the past, sugar farmers in Guangdong and Guangxi could produce 20 to 30 million kilograms per year and were already saturated. But now that the voyage to the West has been maintained, more and more private merchants have begun to participate in the voyage.

Based on the current trade deficits of various countries, it is estimated that the metal reserves in each country will be stolen by the Ming Dynasty in a short time.

"Qu Yu Qu Tao!"

"The trade volume this time should be greater than last time."

After receiving the signal, the two boys immediately ran towards the ship's ladder, and soon ran along the pier towards Nanjing City, followed by more than a dozen strong men from the West Factory.

"Please make good use of this gold. I believe you can bring back something worth a hundred times more."

The two brothers, who were over six feet tall, stepped forward and did not put any pressure on Zhu Gaoxu.

Zhu Gaoxu, who was also over six feet tall, stretched out his hand and touched his mustache and said confidently:
"You have made great contributions to the peace of the chieftains of Guizhou. On behalf of the emperor, I confer on your brothers the titles of Wei Ning Bo and Bi Jie Bo!"

"Thank you..."

When Qu Yu Qu Tao heard this, he knelt down and bowed five times and kowtowed three times respectfully.

Behind them, Qu Neng couldn't help but straighten his back.

A family with three nobility, such an honor is rare in the past and present, and his Qu family can be regarded as a name in history.

Thinking like this, Qu Neng suddenly felt that His Majesty and his son are doing quite well today.

I think Qu Neng made numerous meritorious services during the Hongwu period, but never received a title.

During the Yongle period, he was awarded three titles in just eleven years.

How could Qu Neng not be grateful for such an honor?

"Sheng Yong!"

Zhu Gaoxu suddenly spoke, and the voice made Sheng Yong stunned. Finally, Li Jinglong pulled him, and he reacted and kowtowed quickly.

Looking down at the kneeling Sheng Yong, Zhu Gaoxu spoke majestically: "You have worked hard for many years, and now you have made great achievements. On behalf of the emperor, I confer you the title of Uncle Sinan."

"Thank you, long live long live long live long live..."

Sheng Yong bowed five times and kowtowed three times, with mixed feelings in his heart.

As the person who blocked Zhu Gaoxu from crossing the river, he had made numerous meritorious deeds over the years, but he still felt uneasy in his heart, not knowing when he would be settled by the Queen.

What Zhu Gaoxu did now undoubtedly showed his broadmindedness, and in turn made him feel ashamed.

"The rest of you are all meritorious officials, but some have no title, and some have insufficient merit..."

Zhu Gaoxu glanced at everyone and said with satisfaction: "Although the accumulated achievements are not enough, the reward is indispensable."

"The land of Nanyang is rich in gold and copper. I will give each of you a copper mountain so that your descendants can enjoy the wealth!"

"Thank you, Your Highness!!"

Compared with the previous singing ceremony, everyone's singing ceremony now is to show their loyalty.

Although the output of Nanyang Tongshan is not high, one can produce tens of thousands of copper coins every year.

This reward can be called a wealthy offspring.

Looking at them, Zhu Gaoxu was very satisfied.

After all, Nanyang is an overseas country. If something happens, there must be enough support from the temple.

Rewarding Tongshan was Zhu Gaoxu's way of binding the nobles to Nanyang. If Nanyang encountered problems in the future, these nobles would be able to stand up for their own interests.

"Okay, I have called you here today. In addition to the reward, there is one more thing that needs to be discussed."

Zhu Gaoxu walked to his seat and sat down, very casually, but full of majesty.

"Although the terrain of Guangxi is not as complex as Guizhou, it is densely covered with water networks and the composition of the toast is more complex."

"The imperial court wants to directly control the southwest, and Guangxi is the next link to target."

"You have been fighting in the southwest for a long time. Now tell me, if the imperial court also changes its control over Guangxi, how many troops and horses will it need, and how much food will it need?"

Zhu Gaoxu asked everyone, but his posture was confident, as if he was asking questions with answers in mind.

Such a posture made everyone feel even more stressed after sitting flat on their backs.

Among everyone, only Muchun and Li Jinglong were as calm as ever.

Muchun frowned and thought about the problem, while Li Jinglong looked at Zhu Gaoxu secretly.

Even now, he feels that the present moment is like a dream. The once unruly young man who showed off his martial arts skills on the campus has now become a majestic being who possesses both civil and martial arts skills.

Li Jinglong is not stupid. He knows these people in the Zhu family, but he can't see through Zhu Gaoxu.

Zhu Biao is kind but sinister, open-minded and open-minded. If he is in a high position, he will definitely be a conservative king.

Although he may not necessarily enable the Ming Dynasty to expand its territory, he can, like Zhu Yuanzhang, make the Ming Dynasty peaceful and peaceful, and the treasury full, laying the foundation for the development of the future king.

Zhu Xiongying was too young and passed away before he could show his talents, which is full of regrets.

Zhu Yunwen...

Thinking of this name, Zhu Yunwen's face with thick eyebrows and big eyes appeared in Li Jinglong's mind.

Although he seemed to value love and justice, he only inherited Zhu Biao's dark side and lacked any kindness or open-mindedness.

If he could be a little more open-minded, maybe...

"Not too possible."

Li Jinglong shook his head in his heart. After all, father and son Zhu Di were an unparalleled pair.

Zhu Di is on the front and Zhu Gaoxu is on the side. If the father and son are determined, it will be difficult to say the outcome of the Jingnan even if Zhu Yuanzhang is alive, let alone Zhu Biao and Zhu Yunwen.

Especially Zhu Gaoxu, he couldn't understand him at all. Even now, he still couldn't understand Zhu Gaoxu.

However, he knew that if Zhu Gaoxu wanted to rebel, he would be able to overthrow Zhu Yunwen even without Zhu Di. It was just a matter of how long it would take.

While he was thinking this, a sand table two feet long and wide was pushed out and placed in front of Li Jinglong and Muchun.

Upon seeing this, the generals stood up one after another. While sighing at the fineness of the sand table, they couldn't help but carefully analyze how to pacify Guangxi.

They were discussing, and Zhu Gaoxu held an orange in his hand, put it in front of his nose and sniffed it, as if the discussion in front of him was nothing in his eyes.

"With the topography of Guangxi, we can advance by both water and land, search by water, and squeeze and encircle by land."

"Yes, there is no chieftain in Dayeng Gorge in Guangxi who is difficult to deal with. As long as the road is built and artillery can enter it, it will be easy to deal with."

"But before Guizhou is defeated, Guangxi and Yunnan must be vigilant."

"That……"

The generals' discussion lasted for an hour.

Specifically, it is based on the east, west, south, and north, and is subdivided into ten armies, which advance separately and advance layer by layer.

According to Muchun and Li Jinglong's estimates, the war can be ended in a year at most, but the premise is to ensure that each army has at least 10,000 troops to prevent the Dadengxia chieftain from escaping.

There are 100,000 regular soldiers. Considering the depth of northwest Guangxi, at least 300,000 civilians must be recruited to ensure logistical supplies.

"I'm afraid there aren't that many men available in Guangxi right now..."

Standing next to Zhu Gaoxu, Yi Shiha spoke with shame, which surprised the generals.

Seeing this, Yi Shiha explained: "Over there with the Ministry of Household Affairs, Guangxi currently has a population of no more than 1.5 million and a population of over 770,000."

"However, most of the current troops stationed in Nanyang and Jiaozhi are from Guangxi. In fact, there are only more than 600,000 men in Guangxi."

"These more than 600,000 men are still distributed throughout Guangxi. It is very difficult to recruit 200,000 men, unless they are recruited by force..."

Yi Shiha looked at Zhu Gaoxu cautiously, as did all the generals.

Everyone knows that Zhu Gaoxu doesn't like to conscript people by force, and mostly conscripts.

If there was to be a forced conquest, it would be impossible without Zhu Gaoxu's nod.

But when facing them, Zhu Gaoxu said:

"The data from the Ministry of Household Affairs are often lagging behind. For example, the population in Guangxi is basically copied from the 14th year of Hongwu."

"In the 14th year of Hongwu, there were more than 1.4 million people in Guangxi. Now thirty years later, how come there are more than 1.5 million people? It's just that they were hidden by local officials and chieftains from all over the country."

"Although this expedition is mainly focused on recruitment, at the same time, we will implement the New Deal and return to the country."

"Learn from those who graduated last year, recruit an additional 30,000 officials, and a hundred thousand troops to cooperate with the reform of the Han region, liberate the slaves of the local chieftains, and record the number of slaves of the local gentry."

"According to the laws of our Ming Dynasty, except for meritorious officials, they can have slaves, and the rest can only hire helpers."

"Guangxi is far away from the Central Plains, and many of the imperial policies were not fully implemented locally."

"Take this opportunity to implement the New Deal and thoroughly investigate the number of mouths in Guangxi."

Zhu Gaoxu spoke, and all the generals bowed and cooperated. Yi Shiha also wrote down the content, preparing for the Chief of Ceremonies to communicate with the six departments.

After everything was settled, Zhu Gaoxu hosted a banquet for the generals in Chunhe Hall.

After a few glasses of wine, the generals also became lively. At this time, Zhu Zhanhe and Zhu Zhanqi returned to the palace and trotted all the way across the distance.

"See the emperor's grandson..."

"No need to be formal!"

Being drunk, Zhu Gaoxu spoke on behalf of the two boys, and at the same time waved to the two boys standing in the hall, motioning them to come over.

The two boys came and sat down next to Zhu Gaoxu. He put his arms around them on his left and right hands and introduced to the ministers:
"This is my eldest son Zhan He, and this is my second son Zhan Qi. There are a few more in the harem. They are too young so I won't introduce them."

"When they graduate from high school, I will send them to the army and give them to you for training."

"Your Highness, you can't..."

Seeing Zhu Gaoxu say this, everyone sobered up and bowed to ask Zhu Gaoxu to take back his words.

"Hey!" Zhu Gaoxu waved his hand: "The descendants of the Zhu family will either die on the battlefield or die on their desks."

"There is no reason for you to send your children and grandchildren to the battlefield, while the Tian family only knows how to sit back and enjoy the benefits."

"Yes!" Zhu Zhanhe's eyes shone and he quickly agreed. Zhu Gaoxu also nodded with satisfaction and patted his shoulder.

After encouraging Zhu Zhanhe, Zhu Gaoxu turned to look at Zhu Zhanqi: "Qi'er, do you want wealth or something else?"

"Whatever the father wants his children to do, the children will do."

Zhu Zhanqi always talks sweetly, and Zhu Gaoxu also said happily after hearing this: "Okay! Dad will arrange errands for you in the future."

Zhu Gaoxu looked back at the generals and signaled to the musicians: "The melodious music is not suitable for our soldiers of the Ming Dynasty. Play "Xing Wang Xing" and "Broken Formation Music"!"

Following Zhu Gaoxu's order, the music style changed and immediately became majestic and exciting.

"Your Highness, my brother is willing to dance with the sword for fun!"

The two brothers Qu Yu and Qu Tao stood up and bowed. Zhu Gaoxu also smiled boldly when he heard this: "Okay!"

"Go and offer the sword to the two newly promoted ministers!"

He lowered his head and ordered his second son. Zhu Zhanhe had known Qu Yu and Qu Tao's reputation for a long time. He immediately stood up and walked quickly to give the sword to Qu Yu.

"Thank you, Your Highness!"

Qu Yu took the sword with both hands and thanked him. Zhu Zhanqi on the side also followed his elder brother's example and received Qu Tao's thanks.

The two sons returned to Zhu Gaoxu and took their seats. Qu Yu and Qu Tao also began to dance swords along with "The Music of Breaking the Formation" to entertain everyone.

Zhu Gaoxu's eyes were blinded by the drunkenness, and he couldn't help but think of the scenes of his surprise attack on Xiyang Ha and the bloody battle at Jixiguan.

The Ming Dynasty was prosperous, but occasionally, Zhu Gaoxu would miss the past.

Sometimes he also envied Zhu Di. At least Zhu Di could experience what it was like to be the king of Yan during the Northern Expedition.

On the other hand, if I think about it carefully, I have not returned to Bohai or Jilin City for thirteen years.

Thinking of the Jilin City in his memory, Zhu Gaoxu's eyes became misty.

"Dad, you cried..."

Zhu Zhanqi suddenly spoke, and everyone was awakened by his words. Whether it was music or Qu Yu Qu Tao, they all stopped what they were doing.

Seeing them like this, Zhu Gaoxu also stood up and picked up his wine glass:

"The prosperity of the Ming Dynasty cannot be separated from your conquests in the south and the north."

"This scene reminds me of the difficulty of fighting the Hu soldiers in the Bohai Sea."

"We can stand here alive, but more brothers are buried on the battlefield."

"The imperial court will move its capital to Beijing in a few years, so I decided to encircle Huyu on the west side of Tianshou Mountain and build a high tower on the top of Huyu Mountain."

"In the future, every time there is a battle, a high tower will be built, with the hometown and military exploits of the fallen soldiers engraved on it."

"Every student who graduates from the military academy must go to Huyu to pay homage to the soldiers who died for our Ming Dynasty."

"As for you..." Zhu Gaoxu extended his hand and toasted to them:

"I will follow the example of the ancients and choose a place to build a Yantai for you, cast a golden body, and paint a statue."

"Your hometown will also build temples after your death so that you can enjoy the incense for eternity!"

Zhu Gaoxu's impassioned and impassioned words made the generals' eyes turn red, and they all bowed and bowed:
"I, my ministers, will repay His Highness's kindness to the death!"

(End of this chapter)