Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 454 Journey North
"graduated……"

Before New Year's Eve, looking at the graduation certificate in his hand and Jiangning Middle School in front of him, Zhu Zhanhe felt a lot of reluctance and emotion for a while, but in the end he could only express this sentence.

"Guo He, are you going to study military school next?"

A familiar voice sounded from behind him. Zhu Zhanhe turned around and saw that it was Jiang Huai who he had known for five years.

In five years, Jiang Huai has become a 182-year-old young man. He is handsome and handsome, and his figure is not like his parents. He is more than five feet seven inches (cm), tall and handsome.

In the past five years, he has been ranked first in the grade for five consecutive years. He has been targeted by those dignitaries early on, and they want to push their daughters onto his bed.

It's a pity that they were a step late, because Jiang Huai had long been recruited by Zhu Zhanhe, and Jiang Huai's inquiry also represented his attitude.

Zhu Zhanhe turned around and looked at Jiang Huai, looking around from time to time, and finally said: "Are you going back to your hometown to take the imperial examination?"

"Yeah" Jiang Huai responded, he had to return to Kunming to take part in the imperial examination.

Since this year was the Yiwei imperial examination, he returned to Yunnan after the Lantern Festival and could take the provincial examination in Kunming in August.

Entering the East Palace, all Zhu Zhanhe saw were soldiers, eunuchs, and maids busy carrying luggage, which made him feel a little uncomfortable.

"This is a bit much..."

When Zhu Zhanhe spoke, a man came not far away, holding a horse in his hand. There was a leather bag the size of a Cuju ball on the horse's back.

"I'm just sad that you have to go home to take the imperial examination, while I have to continue studying in the military academy for five years, and I have to go to the battlefield in the last year."

"This is my farewell gift to you. You can be polite to other people, but not to me. I don't want you to break your spine for a few buckets of rice."

They were already hungover last night, so there was no need to be so polite today.

Since the imperial court was about to completely move its capital to Beijing, he would need to take the overland road from Kunming to Xuzhou, then take a boat to Nanjing, take the canal north, and arrive in Beijing before February.

Of course, compared to the thousands of guans given by Zhu Zhanhe, these 50 guans are not enough.

"I know, I will come to Nanjing to see you when the time comes."

"Let's go." After listening to Guo Shao's words, Jiang Huai showed a smile on his face, led the horse and walked into the school.

Jiang Huai was not polite to Zhu Zhanhe. He just stepped forward to take the reins of the horse and opened the leather bag.

Seeing this situation, he quickly walked into the Chunhe Hall, where fortunately he saw his father sitting in a chair as usual, dealing with memorials.

After he left, Jiang Huai led the horse back to the door of his dormitory and took out the things he had packed up last night.

There are quotas for officials. After moving the capital to Beijing, although Nanjing still retains the six-department establishment, it does not need so many people.

At the same time, Zhu Zhanhe also returned to the palace in a carriage and saw the busy Donghua Gate defenders and eunuchs coming and going.

Although there were expenses in the past five years, there are still fifty strings left.

They are moving, and not just them, most of the officials in the entire capital are moving.

If the horse and money were stolen, he could still use the money he had to get home.

But if these fifty guan were placed in Xijiang Town, that would be the money his parents had saved in the past seven years.

There were originally more than 5,000 civil and military officials, but now only 1,500 are enough, while only 5,000 civil servants are retained.

Jiang Huai stretched out his hand to take it, but Zhu Zhanhe raised his hand to stop him and said with a smile: "That's it. Take this money and stabilize your family. This will be very helpful for you to serve as an official outside."

If the results of the provincial examination come out, he can then go to the capital to take part in the joint examination.

Putting the money into the leather bag, Jiang Huai thought for a while, then took out a bunch of hundred-cent money from the money bag and placed it on his chest.

Although it's not a fool's errand, it's at least safe.

"..." Hearing what Zhu Zhanhe said, Jiang Huai hesitated to speak, and finally nodded heavily:

"When you take part in the examination, come to Nanjing to reminisce with me and talk about the changes in your hometown."

Not far away, Guo Shao walked over slowly, looked at the horse and sighed: "This should be a cross between a Hequ horse and a big food horse. It is worth hundreds of dollars."

As expected, there was a Yongle Tongbao with a denomination of one hundred coins inside. It was at least a dozen coins thick and worth thousands of coins.

After the thought fell, Jiang Huai looked back at his alma mater where he had studied for five years, pondered for a moment and then turned around and left this land.

"That's it, farewell!" Zhu Zhanhe chuckled and bowed, then turned around and left with the guards.

Jiang Huai watched them leave and reached out to touch the black horse.

Guo Shao looked at his back, yelled, then turned and left.

As for the bedding and the like, he didn't need to take them away. He could just take some and give them to some elderly people.

"Are you envious?" Jiang Huai turned to look at Guo Shao, but Guo Shao was speechless: "You don't know about my family? There are dozens of horses like this."

Although he is almost sixteen years old, he has never left his parents' side.

In the past five years, he had achieved first-class grades in nine subjects every semester. In addition, he also earned sixty credits by tutoring Zhu Zhanqi and others.

Many ministers had already gone north early, and those who remained in Nanjing were only Zhu Gaoxu, Li Shi, Richard and other military attaches and soldiers who escorted him north.

He had to bring paper, pen and inkstone, and the money he had saved for five years.

In fact, he had nothing to prepare. In the past few years in the official school, he only had four sets of uniforms for all seasons, and he wore school uniforms the rest of the time.

"See you tomorrow..."

A pennies with a denomination of one hundred pennies is worth one hundred pennies.

"Dad, when are you leaving?"

Zhu Zhanhe asked Zhu Gaoxu, and Zhu Gaoxu said without raising his head: "I will leave after spending the Lantern Festival with you, but you don't have to feel sad."

"Take this opportunity to accompany me to Huaixi and see how the people live there."

Zhu Gaoxu was a little happy but a little reluctant to leave Nanjing.

The good thing is that he has not left the Yingtian Mansion for almost seventeen years. This is undoubtedly a huge prison for him who once traveled north to catch tigers and south to catch dragons.

The regret is that this is the place where he has lived for nearly twenty years.

"it is good……"

Zhu Zhanhe breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that he could still accompany him for a certain distance, and just wanted to enjoy the moment.

He took a chair and sat next to Zhu Gaoxu, watching him handle the memorial.

Zhu Gaoxu didn't say anything. He just dealt with it for a moment and then said: "I know you are reluctant to let go, but there is nothing you can do about it."

"I left home when I was thirteen years old. When I was your age, I had already killed Xiyang Ha and fought bloody battles with Ha Lawu."

"Of course, I can't use myself to force you to benchmark. After all, I was forced by life, and your living environment was also created after I was forced."

"If you want to live in my kind of environment, you should say that your grandfather and I are incompetent."

"But the main reason I say this is to let you know that the Tian family is different from the ordinary family, and the ordinary family is about to separate at your age."

"You should train hard at the military academy. If your equestrian skills are excellent, you might be able to ride your horse north to Beijing for a few days during the winter and summer vacations."

Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but laugh as he spoke. Zhu Zhanhe was very helpless when he heard this.

The distance between the two capitals is 1,700 miles. A normal person riding a horse would only rest after only 70 to 80 miles a day.

Although Zhu Zhanhe also ran horses on the official road of Yingtian Mansion, the maximum he could do was only one hundred and sixty miles a day.

Going to Beijing at this speed, his butt would probably break into several flaps.

"Okay, let's go have dinner with your mother."

Seeing Zhu Zhanhe's expression, Zhu Gaoxu immediately put down his ink pen with a smile, stood up and patted his shoulder, indicating for him to follow.

Zhu Zhanhe was only fifteen years old. Although he was not as tall as Zhu Gaoxu, he was still five feet seven inches tall, about half a head taller than an adult man.

Looking at him growing up, Zhu Gaoxu sighed a little, but he was lamenting that he had not been with Zhu Zhanhe much.

Fortunately, Guo Yan's education was fine and Zhu Zhanhe did not grow crooked. Otherwise, he might have had a headache for a long time about his heir.

After taking Zhu Zhanhe to the front palace for dinner, Zhu Gaoxu returned to Chunhe Hall to deal with the memorial.

Soon, late at night came, Zhu Zhanhe and Zhu Zhanqi went out for a New Year's Eve trip, while Zhu Gaoxu stood at the entrance of the East Palace, looking at the lively scene outside, regaining a bit of Nanjing's past.

After the implementation of the New Deal, there is no curfew from New Year's Eve to the 16th day of the first lunar month. This half month is the day when people in the Ming Dynasty can enjoy nightlife.

It seems inhumane, but it is to protect the people.

In recent years, with the establishment of the Military and Horse Division, the intensification of the penalties for harvesting and harvesting, the same crime of buying and selling, and the promotion of rural officials in towns and villages, the phenomenon of trafficking has become less and less.

For some rural elders who have no heirs, the village chief and grain chief will dissuade them and ask them to pick up their children from the almshouse and raise them instead of buying other people's children.

Although this kind of statement cannot convince everyone, it is always a good sign that the phenomenon of trafficking is becoming less and less.

After standing in the East Palace and taking a look at the fireworks blooming outside, Zhu Gaoxu turned around and returned to the Chunhe Hall to continue reviewing the memorials.

Time passed little by little, and half a month of nightlife came to an end.

On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, Zhu Gaoxu took his whole family to the Purple Mountain and arrived at the Ming Tower of Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum.

After arranging for the concubines and heirs to bow and bow, Zhu Gaoxu let them all go out.

After they left, Yi Shiha took out a scroll and slowly spread it out in front of Zhu Gaoxu.

Different from the portrait of Zhu Yuanzhang hanging high in Minglou, this portrait is a sketch drawn with pencil and restores 80% of Zhu Yuanzhang's appearance and temperament.

Soon after taking Nanjing, Zhu Gaoxu asked the court painters to go to the hospital to learn anatomy. After understanding light, shadow and the human body, he sent them pencils developed by Taixue, and finally painted this painting that has 80% of Zhu Yuanzhang's appearance and temperament. Sketch portrait.

This is a beginning, and the next thing to create is oil painting.

The Ming Dynasty that Zhu Gaoxu needs is not only a Ming Dynasty that can crush the world in terms of technology, military, and economy, but also a Ming Dynasty that can crush the world in terms of culture and art.

Painting is one of them, followed by music, dance, literature, drama, architecture, sculpture, calligraphy, etc...

"Grandpa, my grandson is no worse than your eldest grandson, right?" Looking at the sketch in his hand, Zhu Gaoxu was quite proud.

Fewer and fewer people have seen Zhu Yuanzhang. Even among the group of palace painters who once studied sketches, only a dozen or so people have seen Zhu Yuanzhang.

Before their deaths, Zhu Gaoxu had to leave enough portraits of Hongwu officials.

In addition to sketches and portraits of Zhu Yuanzhang, there are also sketches and portraits of Xu Da, Chang Yuchun, Zhu Wenzheng, Li Wenzhong, Feng Sheng, Mu Ying, Fu Youde, Deng Yu and others.

Zhu Gaoxu planned to send these portraits to their heirs, and also sent court painters to sketch and paint the Yongle generals.

With the sketch, future generations will know what this group of people looked like, and it will be much easier to restore them.

Putting away the sketch and portrait, Zhu Gaoxu dismissed Yi Shiha. He sat cross-legged on the futon, looking at Lao Zhu's portrait, not knowing what he was thinking.

He may be recalling Lao Zhu, and Lao Zhu in his twilight years gave Zhu Gaoxu the feeling of a sleepy dragon.

Thought he was asleep, but he could still kill people when he was sleepy.

His aura was not as ferocious as when he was young, but his murderous intent was not restrained at all, just like the blade hidden in the scabbard.

Zhu Gaoxu used to be afraid of Lao Zhu, but now, he doesn't seem to be afraid of Lao Zhu anymore.

Regarding his achievements, except for forcing Zhu Yunwen to death, which would make Lao Zhu furious, any other achievement would be enough for Lao Zhu to be proud of.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu stood up slowly, lit three sticks of incense and stuck them on the incense burner. He knelt down sincerely and meditated in his heart.

"Grandpa, Yongle is just the beginning. The Ming Dynasty is in its youth, and the sun is rising. When I sit in that great position, the Ming Dynasty will be even more prosperous. The sun and the moon will shine on all the concubines of the Han family..."

Standing up slowly, Zhu Gaoxu walked out of the Minglou. The portraits in the Minglou were also blown and swayed by the wind, as if in response.

After walking down the Purple Mountain, Zhu Gaoxu and the others did not have too much time to stay. Instead, they took a golden carriage and went directly to Jiangdong Gate.

Under the escort of the two guards on the left and right of Zhaozhou, Zhu Gaoxu's golden chariot was pulled onto the horse boat.

During this period, he stepped off the golden chariot and stood on the deck, watching the city of Nanjing gradually getting smaller.

This is the second time he has left Nanjing City. Compared with the last time he left, he was inspired to prove his thoughts. Now he has no regrets except that he is trapped in the palace in his upright prime.

"The rolling waters of the Yangtze River pass eastward, and the waves wash away the heroes. Right and wrong, success or failure, are all gone. The green mountains are still there, and the sunsets are red several times."

"White-haired fishermen and woodcutters on the river bank are used to looking at the autumn moon and the spring breeze. We are happy to meet each other over a pot of wine. Many things in ancient and modern times are all talked about with laughter."

Looking at the distant city of Nanjing, Zhu Gaoxu unknowingly read this poem by Yang Shen.

Zhu Zhanhe and others standing behind him were stunned when they saw him suddenly reciting a poem.

In their impression, their father had never shown this kind of poetry talent.

"Dad, can you also write lyrics?"

Zhu Zhanhe asked curiously. When Zhu Gaoxu heard this, he wanted to say that he had not written it, but then he thought about it. He had changed so many things in the world. Poets such as Yang Shen, Tang Yin, Nalan Xingde and other Ming and Qing dynasty and modern and later generations might have Won't show up anymore.

Although the poetry of these people is not as good as that of Du Fu, Li Bai, Xin Qiji and others, if they disappear, it will be a big loss to Chinese culture.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu nodded and said: "When you graduate and join the army in the future, I will write a letter to you."

"Okay!" Zhu Zhanhe felt inspired when he heard his father's words.

Standing on the deck, the father and son talked a lot. It was not until dusk when the boat docked in Yangzhou City that the father and son ended the conversation.

They got off the boat and took Zhu Zhanqi with them to prepare for the rural suburbs around Yangzhou.

The horses were brought in, and Zhu Gaoxu met his old buddy Chi Huan.

"Dad, was Chi Huan really given to you by Emperor Gao?"

The lifespan of a horse is about thirty years, and occasionally some can live to fifty years, but in any case, the twenty-three-year-old Chi Huan has already entered his twilight years.

Looking at it, Zhu Gaoxu sighed: "Yes, Emperor Gao originally wanted me to fight with it for the Ming Dynasty, but it's a pity that it has never been on the battlefield since I went south, and it is now in its twilight years..."

"Xilulu!"

Seemingly dissatisfied with Zhu Gaoxu's words that he was old, Chi Huan snorted. Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu also smiled and said: "Okay, you are not old. You are still young. If you have the chance, you can go to the battlefield and fight."

With that said, Zhu Gaoxu looked back at Zhu Zhanhe: "If you graduate and go to the battlefield, I will hand over Chi Huan to you and you will take him to the battlefield."

"Okay!" After hearing this, Zhu Zhanhe's eyes lit up, and he stretched out his hand to touch Chi Huan, but Chi Huan tilted his head to avoid it.

"Haha! It's very difficult to tame. No one could tame it except me."

Zhu Gaoxu commented with a smile, and Zhu Zhanhe also blushed at Chi Huan's move: "I can definitely do it!"

After he finished speaking, he did not insist on riding Chi Huan, but instead changed to a white and silver sweat horse sent from the Timur Kingdom.

The Ming Dynasty's horse administration has long been effective, especially after it has a horse farm as large as the Songnen Plain in the northeast. The number of horses in the Ming Dynasty is growing day by day. Now there are more than 200,000 military horses in reserve, and nearly 200,000 horses have been equipped. Ten thousand horses.

In addition, there are nearly half a million riding horses and more than one million draft horses.

Among them, there are tens of thousands of big food horses and hundreds of sweating horses.

Precisely because of such a large herd of horses, the Ming army was able to follow the Mongols in several northern expeditions and fight with them in Mobei.

"Let's go and see what's going on in the suburbs of Yangzhou!"

After Zhu Gaoxu got on his horse, Chi Huan took him and trotted away along the official road without shaking the reins.

"Dad, wait for us!"

Zhu Zhanhe and Zhu Zhanqi rode their horses to follow in unison. Yi Shiha, Li Shi and Richard also quickly shook their horse reins and led more than a hundred cavalry to follow Zhu Gaoxu.

For Zhu Gaoxu, who had not left Yingtian Mansion in seventeen years, the Yangzhou Mansion he had passed through was so fresh.

The city wall of Yangzhou in the distance has been built for who knows how many years, and the market town where they were stationed during the confrontation with Sheng Yong has also become much larger.

Zhu Gaoxu rode away from the canal and walked into the countryside.

Although it was already afternoon, two hours was enough for him to learn a lot of news.

After half an hour of walking and stopping, Zhu Gaoxu still didn't see any woods, which was expected by him.

After all, although coal has been mined in large quantities, the thermal efficiency of steam engines is still insufficient and the operation is not perfect. Therefore, pumps are only used on a small scale in a few copper mines in Yingtianfu. The mining speed of coal has not yet reached the level of the first industrial industry in the West. Amazing output during the revolution.

Before the First Opium War, Britain's coal production should have been about 30 to 40 million tons, and its population was more than 27 million.

In comparison, last year the population of the Ming Dynasty reached more than 82 million, but its coal output was only more than 12 million tons.

This has not been converted into units. After all, the British tonnage is one thousand kilograms per ton, while the Ming tonnage is one thousand kilograms per ton.

After calculation by both parties, the amount of coal mining in the Ming Dynasty was too small, but the population was more than twice that of the UK.

Before coal took over the fuel market, firewood was one of the few fuels available to the people.

If we want to restore the ecology, we must solve the fuel problem, so increasing coal production must be put on the agenda.

There is nothing if there are no woods in the south of the Yangtze River, but if there are no woods in the north, the wind and sand will continue to push southward. For many people in the Ming Dynasty, grass grids were also fuel and fodder for livestock.

If Zhu Gaoxu remembers correctly, the sandstorms in Beijing were not obvious before the Yuan Dynasty. Although there were sandstorms, they were not frequent.

Since the Yuan Dynasty, due to Mongolian grazing, Han people's deforestation for survival, and the worldwide temperature drop, the desert area on the grasslands has begun to expand.

In the 276 years of the Ming Dynasty, except for the tree planting projects of Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di in the first 71 years, Peking was rarely invaded by sandstorms. In the remaining 205 years, Beijing suffered from sandstorms with indescribable frequency. not tall.

Zhu Gaoxu remembers that Beijing was hit by more than a hundred sandstorms during the Ming Dynasty, most of which occurred between the first month and April.

Among them, the frequency before Jiajing was not high 20 years ago, only 40 to 50 times in 180 years. However, in the following 102 years, due to the advent of the Little Ice Age, the global temperature dropped sharply, so a total of sand and dust appeared. The weather was recorded eighty or ninety times.

Not to mention the officials who went to Beijing from Jiangnan, even the envoys from North Korea, Annan and other countries who came to pay homage wrote about the harsh environment in Beijing in their books.

In such an environment, if Zhu Gaoxu starts to change now, let coal enter thousands of households, and make coal no longer so expensive, then people will naturally not cut down trees on a large scale, but will plant flowers and plants for the sake of beauty.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu slowed down his pace, turned his horse's head and walked into the country road.

At this time of year, there are many children playing on the road.

When they saw Zhu Gaoxu and his group, they couldn't help but look at them curiously, and at the same time they looked at the horses they were riding with envy.

When passing some villages and towns, Zhu Gaoxu would get off his horse and walk into them to take a look.

The houses in these villages and towns are not pretty, but they are by no means crude. The villages are also equipped with wells and archways.

As village officials, the village chiefs and grain chiefs had long known that Zhu Gaoxu was going to pass through the canal, so when they learned that a large group of people was coming, they quickly walked out of the village officials' offices and exchanged greetings with Zhu Gaoxu and the others.

Zhu Gaoxu had a chat, but he couldn't get any useful information out of it.

Even if you ask the people, they will say that life is moist and much better than before.

Zhu Gaoxu naturally believed this sentence, but the so-called "good" depends on what it is compared to and what standard it is.

Although the Ming Dynasty during the Hongwu period was revitalized by Lao Zhu's large-scale infrastructure construction, generally speaking, people's lives were still the same as in the feudal era.

The purpose of implementing Zhu Gaoxu's New Deal and sending officials to the countryside is to further improve people's lives, and at the same time clarify taxation so that money can be used in practical ways.

Explorations in several villages and towns failed to give Zhu Gaoxu a good reply.

Yangzhou is a land of plenty. It is easy for the local people to have good food and drink. After all, tens of thousands of people need to be recruited every year just to dredge the canal. In the past twelve months, at least one million people have participated in dredging the canal. It couldn’t be easier to work and make some money.

In comparison, in places where there are not many major projects, it is more difficult to make a living by working.

Among them, Zhu Gaoxu is mainly worried about the northwest region.

"Coal, railways, steam engines..."

On the way back, Zhu Gaoxu murmured these things. He knew that only these things could bring the Ming Dynasty to a higher level and make the people's lives better.

In the early days of the Industrial Revolution, there is no need to elaborate too much on the oppression of workers by the court and capital.

What I can do is to supervise the people below me at this stage, so that the Ming Dynasty can get through this difficult period of transformation early...

(End of this chapter)