Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 460 Good things come in pairs
"Crackling——"

In mid-July, with the crackling of firecrackers, two couples walked into the Huagai Hall.

Zhu Di was wearing a red round-collar robe and a Yishan crown, and sat at the main seat with great satisfaction.

Beside him, Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaoxu were dressed the same, with tea beside them.

In the Wuying Palace decorated with lights and colorful decorations, the father and son all had smiles on their faces.

Compared with the three of them, Zhu Zhanhe, who had just arrived in Beijing from Nanjing in a hurry, looked confused.

He looked at Zhu Zhanji, who was smiling brightly next to him, and then at himself. Even at this time, he had not yet accepted that he was about to get married.

Compared with his confusion, the official of Honglu Temple who was in charge of the wedding of the emperor and his grandson was extremely careless.

The conductor, music, and furnishings were kept as usual, all civil and military officials were arranged to wear court uniforms, and the newlyweds Zhu Zhanhe and Zhu Zhanji were paid four tributes.

When all this was over, the officials of Honglu Temple came forward, knelt down and said: "I, my ministers, I wish that the emperor's grandson's ceremony has been completed, and it is a blessing to the Mian clan to prosper. I am extremely frightened by this, so I would like to congratulate you." "

At this time, Zhu Di thought of his relationship with Mu Ying, and at the same time he did not forget to teach Zhu Zhanhe a lesson, for fear that this guy would treat Mu badly.

Although Mu is only thirteen years old, she is slim and graceful. Although her skin is not as fair as that of the Central Plains women, her facial features are more attractive.

"Your Highness, what are you talking about..." Mrs. Mu replied generously: "It is my blessing to be able to marry the emperor's grandson."

"Uh... I..." Mrs. Mu obviously didn't expect that Zhu Zhanhe, as the grandson of the emperor, would have to go through so many things.

Mu was the daughter of Mu Chun. Historically, Mu Chun died of illness at the age of thirty-six. Most of his descendants died in infancy, so there were no descendants left.

For a moment, Mrs. Mu didn't know how to evaluate her father-in-law, and she hesitated and didn't know what to say.

Zhu Zhanji and Sun brought tea, and Zhu Gaoxu took it and drank it without knowing what emotion he had.

"Give me a feast!"

"Give me a feast!"

Li Wenzhong and Muchun, both of them are famous as teenagers and representatives of handsome appearance. Muchun was also very handsome when he was young, and his daughter is naturally tall and beautiful.

"Oh..." Zhu Zhanhe stood up awkwardly, took Mu to kneel down in front of Zhu Gaoxu and Guo Yan, and kowtowed five times and three times.

"Marrying a naughty boy like me is a injustice to you."

After he finished drinking tea, he said a few words casually and asked the newlyweds to get up and join the banquet.

"Grandpa, don't worry. My grandson has a pure nature and will naturally not do anything wrong..."

His concubine had long been decided by Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu, and she was the thirteen-year-old Mu.

After Zhu Zhanji, naturally came Zhu Zhanhe and his concubine Mu.

"When Mu Ying was still called Zhu Wenying, I was teased by him a lot. Now if he knew that his granddaughter married my grandson, I don't know what his expression would be."

"In these ten years, if you are willing, you can run around with him. If you are not willing, you can rest in peace in the palace and wait for him to come back."

"I can't raise a god of war this time..."

In her opinion, it is quite enough for an imperial grandson to attend middle school for five years, but now he still has to attend military school, join the army and be sent to other places.

Zhu Di continued to speak, and this time the people attending the banquet were Zhu Gaosui, Zhu Zhan'an, Zhu Yueying and other members of his clan.

"Give a banquet." Guo Yan smiled softly and nodded to empress Xu to give a banquet.

As they entered the banquet, Zhu Zhanji took the lead as the eldest grandson and brought the Sun family forward to salute. Then he first handed tea to Zhu Di and listened to Zhu Di's words. Then he handed tea to Zhu Gaochi and listened to Zhu Gaochi's words. Finally, he handed tea to Zhu Gaoxu.

Compared with Zhu Zhanji who can choose by himself, Zhu Zhanhe does not have so many possibilities.

"Uh..." Zhu Di paused and glared at him: "Ask your father yourself!"

"Seeing the Crown Princess, I sincerely hope that the emperor's grandson's ceremony has been completed, which will benefit the prosperity of the Mian clan."

Zhu Zhanhe knelt down in front of Zhu Di in a daze and handed him tea. Zhu Di smiled happily and said to Zhu Zhanhe:

Zhu Zhanhe scratched his head as he spoke: "Grandpa, what do you call this emperor's grandson's concubine? Is she also a princess?"

"Mom and Dad, you drink tea."

She was also a woman who had been pampered since childhood. If she followed Zhu Zhanhe around, she really didn't know if she could accept it.

"Haha... You must respect each other as guests. This little girl from the Mu family can be considered my grandnephew. You must treat her well. If she doesn't feel well, I won't spare you."

"Your Highness, please have tea..."

When the waiting woman entered the banquet, Guo Yan stepped forward and saluted Zhu Di: "The betrothal ceremony for the emperor and his grandson has been completed, which will benefit the country and the country."

When Zhu Gaoxu heard this, although there was a smile on his lips, he shook his head and said:
"This guy will have to attend the military academy for three and a half years, then do battlefield internship and join the army for three years. After that, he will have to be sent to a local government to work as an official for three years. In total, it is almost ten years."

But this was not the end, so after all the officials sat down, the court ladies came to the long road one after another to salute Guo Yan, who was temporarily in charge of the harem.

Zhu Di sat in a high position and spoke, and the officials also sat at the banquet on both sides of the hall.

After the words fell, he and the officials bowed four times to the two newlyweds, and then the ceremony was completed.

Zhu Zhanhe and Mu passed tea to Zhu Gaoxu and Guo Yan one after another. Zhu Gaoxu took a sip and ignored Zhu Zhanhe, focusing on the heroic face of Mu between his brows.

But in this life, Muchun not only had children, but also two sons and one daughter.

Looking at the young couple, Zhu Gaoxu felt a little uneasy.

"Grandpa, please drink tea..."

"It doesn't matter, just go back and think about it slowly."

Seeing that Mu was being questioned, Guo Yan quickly smiled and tried to smooth things over.

"Okay, go give your uncle some tea."

"Yes……"

At Guo Yan's reminder, Zhu Zhanhe took Mu to deliver tea to Zhu Gaochi, who was standing next to him.

Zhu Gaochi took it with a smile, and praised Zhu Zhanhe's talent with a smile. After Mrs. Mu knew the rules and regulations, she let them join the banquet.

Zhu Gaochi actually likes the Mu family, but the Han Palace and the Duke of Guizhou need to check and balance each other, and a marriage is impossible. So facing the current result, he can only choose to accept it.

"Pass the meal around!"

Zhu Di looked sideways at Wang Yan. Wang Yan nodded quickly and then sang the ritual and passed the meal.

The father and son sat at the main table with Guo Yan to eat. After a brief meal, Zhu Gaoxu took the lead to leave the Huagai Hall.

The old man can eat in peace, but he can't.

As expected, as soon as he returned to Chunhe Hall, he saw nearly three hundred memorials piled up like a mountain.

"There are more and more memorials now."

Looking at this pile of memorials, Zhu Gaoxu sighed to Yi Shiha beside him, and Yi Shiha smiled and said: "The territory has become larger, and naturally there are more things to do."

"Given the current situation of the country, even the Han and Tang dynasties could not catch up."

"Well..." Zhu Gaoxu did not refute what Yi Shiha said. After all, in his eyes, the Ming Dynasty has become the so-called "sun never sets."

From America in the east to Africa in the west, Ming products and flags can be found on land and sea.

The land under actual control and control was only less than that of the Mongol Empire. Even the largest territory of the Tang Dynasty was not as large as the current Ming Dynasty.

However, compared with the northwest territory, the Ming Dynasty was still slightly weaker, so the northwest railway must be connected.

Zhu Gaoxu had to build the railway to Yili within his lifetime, so as to ensure that the Ming Dynasty could control Central Asia.

As long as the railway reaches Ili, the existence of the Timurid State is not that important.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu began to immerse himself in the processing of the memorial, and Zhu Zhanji and Zhu Zhanhe also got drunk from the banquet for several hours, and were helped back to the Hanwang Palace in Shiwangfang, and Chunhe Rest in the Longevity Hall in the temple.

The two newlyweds stayed together for a few days before being informed that they would accompany Zhu Di north to Yanshan for hunting.

But before setting off, bad news came from the north.

In mid-June, conflicts broke out between Mahamu and Taiping, and between Batu Polo and Alitai at Hulan Huchwen. Both sides led 30,000 cavalry and fought fiercely for three days in Hulan Huchwen. Yan Ran commanded the Qian Shiwang Rong led three thousand horses out of Haila'er City, rushed to Hulanhu, and ordered both sides to stop.

Seeing this, Mahamu and Alitai had no choice but to give up and return to the army.

In this battle, although the troops were of equal strength and the Tatar tribe had far more ordnance and equipment than the Oara tribe, the Tatar tribe's Alitai was completely overwhelmed by Mahamu, so Wang Rong's move undoubtedly favored the Tatar tribe.

After Mahamu and others returned to Moxi, they were very dissatisfied with Wang Rong's move and sent envoys south to report the matter...

"I know what happened to you. You are all ministers of the Ming Dynasty. I don't want to see you two fighting."

Sitting in Wuying Hall, Zhu Di sat on a chair and consoled the envoy sent south by Mahamu:

"Well, the imperial court will allocate 500 kilograms of tea leaves and 2,000 iron pots for you to take back. You tell Mahamu that this is the imperial court helping the Tatar tribe to pay compensation to you, and forget about it. ”

"In addition, the imperial court has already built a city in Yijinai. In a few years, you will be able to go to Yijinai Mutual Market and temporarily endure the grievances for two more years."

As soon as Zhu Di opened his mouth, the envoy knelt down helplessly and kowtowed: "I sincerely obey His Majesty the Emperor's imperial edict."

"Okay, you go and have a rest first. I'll let the officials from the Ministry of Rites take you for a nice walk around Beijing later."

As soon as Zhu Di spoke, the envoy had no choice but to leave, while Zhu Gaoxu, who was sitting aside and watching the whole scene, sighed:
"It's a pity that Alitai is not capable enough, otherwise Wala would have suffered a lot in this war."

"No problem, I will personally lead the troops to conquer Oara when the time comes." Zhu Di was very confident facing Mobei.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu could only lament that Mahamu was lucky. If Zhu Di had not captured Arutai, Mahamu would have been severely wounded and killed by the Tatars in this battle. "Wala suffered heavy losses, but its strength recovered faster than the Tatars. I'm afraid it absorbed some tribes that moved eastward."

Zhu Di knew the situation in Mobei very well. Under normal circumstances, Wala's strength would never recover so quickly.

It now seems that apart from Mahamu taking advantage of the Hezhong tribe's eastward migration, there is no other explanation for this situation.

"Your Majesty, Guo Zi, the Minister of Household Affairs, would like to see you."

The voice of the eunuch on duty interrupted the conversation between father and son. Upon seeing this, Zhu Di nodded and said: "Xuan!"

As Zhu Di spoke, the figure of Guo Zi, the Minister of Household Affairs, appeared in Wuying Hall.

He walked towards the father and son, finally knelt down, bowed five times and kowtowed three times, sang the salute and stood up.

"Your Majesty, the tax and food documents of all the chief envoys and governors have been handed in. This is a summary..."

Guo Zi held out a booklet with both hands. Wang Yan stepped forward to take it and handed it to Zhu Di.

Perhaps he is more comfortable in Beijing, and Zhu Di's spirit in governing politics in Beijing has also improved a lot.

He opened the document and couldn't help but smile with satisfaction.

Zhu Gaoxu originally thought that the old man would hand the booklet to him directly after reading it, but he didn't want him to say directly:

"You are in charge of this family. What do you think of the situation this year?"

Zhu Di did not show it to Zhu Gaoxu, but asked him to guess. However, Zhu Gaoxu could roughly guess the situation this year, so he bowed and said:

"The land tax should be about 60 million dan, the grain for the army should be less than 3 million dan, and the commercial tax, miscellaneous, and mining taxes should be about 12 million dan. Counting the official trade profits, this year's annual income should be 4,200 dan. About a million dollars.”

"The population should not exceed 90 million, around 89 million, and the cultivated land should not change much."

Zhu Gaoxu told him his estimate. Zhu Di looked at it and nodded: "It's similar to your estimate, but the expenses are also a lot."

He handed the document to Wang Yan, who handed it to Zhu Gaoxu to read.

Zhu Gaoxu responded simply and found that the various situations were indeed similar to what he had said, but at the same time the expenses were also very high.

The two railways were started at the same time, and the transportation of materials was undoubtedly the biggest cost. In comparison, leveling the track bed seemed less troublesome.

The places where the Beijing-Beijing Railway passes have sufficient manpower, and it is not difficult to recruit workers.

As long as enough money is given, the road foundation for the Beijing-Beijing Railway can be excavated, leveled and constructed in at least half a year.

The real problem was transporting and laying the rails, and getting the sleepers.

The sleepers were obtained from Liaodong and Ryukyu Prefectures and transported to Huai'an Prefecture and Hejian Prefecture for processing. The rails were cast and transported by each province.

In just over seven months, 800,000 guan has been spent on the railway, and 1.5 million guan in a year is normal.

However, judging from this speed, the Beijing-Beijing Railway may not take more than seven years.

"To what extent has the railway developed, and what are the rail and sleeper reserves in various places?"

Zhu Gaoxu asked Guo Zi, and Guo Zi bowed his head when he heard this and said, "I am about to report this matter."

"The Beijing-Beijing Railway has been taken over by the Railway Troops and Horses Division. There are 252 warehouses along the line. Sixteen thousand tons of four-foot-five-inch standard rails and 720 tons of sleepers have been stored."

"According to estimates, every mile of rail track laid is about 90 tons, and 178 miles can be laid at present."

"In view of the difficulty in transporting iron materials in many places, I would like to ask if we can coordinate with the Ministry of Industry to start construction in some areas first, first ensuring that the rails can be transported to warehouses in some areas, and reducing road freight costs."

"In this case, the cost can be reduced by about half."

Guo Zi asked Zhu Gaoxu, who heard the words and closed the album: "If it is indeed beneficial to the court, then you can discuss it with Huang Fu. In short, the construction period cannot be delayed."

"I accept your order..." Guo Zi bowed in agreement and at the same time presented a booklet with both hands.

"This is the Northeast Railway brochure submitted by the Ministry of Industry to the Ministry of Household Affairs. This is the first section from Beijing east to Liaohe west. I have reviewed it and confirmed that it is correct. Please read it."

"Leave it to the prince." Zhu Di was not interested in checking accounts. He liked making money and spending money, but he didn't like the process.

Following Zhu Di's instructions, Wang Yan handed the document to Zhu Gaoxu.

Zhu Gaoxu frowned after reading it. This is the first section of the Northeast Railway, with a total distance of 880 miles and a cost of 3.26 million yuan.

"In the past six months, how much have the number of miners increased and how much has their output increased?"

The Ming Dynasty had enough money and food to build the railway, but the only thing missing was iron.

Zhu Gaoxu has invested a lot of money to start increasing steel production. Now that more than seven months have passed, he wants to know how the situation is.

"With an increase of 36,400 people, it is estimated that the increase will be 12,000 tons this year."

"In addition, machinery has begun to enter Fangshan's industrial zone, but are workers' wages too high?"

Guo Zi asked Zhu Gaoxu, but Zhu Gaoxu asked him: "It's hard to find workers who have graduated from middle school. Is the salary of 50 taels per worker per year considered high?"

"It doesn't count..." Guo Zi was ashamed. His annual salary was fifty thousand dollars, which was almost as much as the salary of an eighth-rank official.

Zhu Gaoxu paid very high wages to government-run workers. Even miners were paid fifty cash per day, including food and accommodation, regardless of region.

In addition, if there is an unfortunate mining accident, there will be a pension of 100 yuan, excellent treatment, and the recruitment conditions are not high, just be obedient.

He did this to ask private mines to improve their wages. He did not want Ming's industrial start to be based on the blood and tears of workers.

If he really did this, the miners' uprising during the orthodox years might have broken out decades in advance.

"How many craftsmen are currently affiliated with the government in the country? Is there any record at the Ministry of Household Affairs?"

"Yes!" Seeing Zhu Gaoxu's inquiry, Guo Zi said without hesitation: "There are more than 744,000 people in tea, mining, textile, porcelain, ordnance and other factories."

During the Hongwu period, there were 250,000 craftsmen households, and now that number has more than tripled, but the treatment is vastly different.

One is trying his best to escape, and the other is trying his best to squeeze in. In just a few decades, workers have become a hot commodity.

"Are all the more than 654,000 men men?"

Zhu Gaoxu asked, but Guo Zi shook his head: "There are also more than 60,000 female workers in charge of textiles, mainly weaving mandarin ducks and war coats and connecting armor pieces."

"How is the promotion of new crops?" Zhu Gaoxu set his sights on the promotion of sweet potatoes and corn. Guo Zi also said respectfully:
"Following the instructions, sweet potatoes, corn, potatoes, peanuts and other crops have been promoted to the southwest and northeast regions."

"However, in the land south of the Yangtze River, people are not very interested in these crops, but are more interested in many vegetable seeds among the new crops."

"On the other hand, in the southwestern mountainous areas and northeastern regions, these crops are being promoted faster."

After Guo Zi explained, Zhu Gaoxu also nodded and explained:
"It's not surprising. There is no shortage of staple food in Jiangnan and Huguang, so they naturally don't care whether they can eat enough."

"On the other hand, there are more mountains in the southwest and more open land in the northeast, so it is easier to accept these crops."

Throughout the Ming Dynasty, rice prices were very balanced across the country, but there were many records of cannibalism. This was not because the Ming Dynasty was poor, but because of the climate, the agricultural economy of the Ming Dynasty was very fragile.

The number of disasters in the Ming Dynasty was very high. Therefore, many farmers who were living a good life one year may lose their entire family due to a disaster and move away from home the next year.

Among them, the one that Zhu Gaoxu remembers most deeply is "Henan Miscellaneous Notes" written during the Chongzhen period.

When there was a famine in the northwest, farmers in Henan could still go to and from the countryside and give away dozens of coins during meals.

As a result, just one year later, those farmers who spent tens of thousands of dollars died of hunger due to the severe drought. Even the scholar who wrote this miscellany almost starved to death at home.

The local government is willing to provide disaster relief, but there is no grain or rice in the granary. The agricultural environment is so fragile that it is unbearable to look at it.

For Zhu Gaoxu, he is not optimistic that the Ming Dynasty can survive the thirty years from 1620 to 1650.

After all, in his memory, these thirty years were the period when a nationwide drought broke out. The nationwide drought lasted for more than ten years, during which there were also tsunamis and floods.

The land south of the Yangtze River was flooded by sea water, and much of the land became saline-alkali land. The northwest region suffered from drought, with no rain falling for up to nine years. Only large rivers such as the Jingwei River still had some water sources, and other places...

After shaking his head and shaking off these future matters, Zhu Gaoxu ordered Guo Zi:
"Before New Year's Eve, the imperial court will make a summary of the output of various industries such as steel, textiles, new crop promotion, coal, cement, etc. It does not need to be particularly accurate, but at least the Ministry of Household Affairs must know the status of these things."

"I accept the teaching order..." Guo Zi bowed in agreement, and then seeing that Zhu Gaoxu had nothing to say, he bowed and exited Wuying Hall.

After watching him leave, Zhu Di asked Zhu Gaoxu: "You must hide your steam engine so that no one can find it."

"Don't worry." Zhu Gaoxu shook his head and said with a smile: "The steam engine also has many difficulties, otherwise we wouldn't have spent sixteen years unable to apply it to the public."

This is really not Zhu Gaoxu's boast. Even if other countries were given steam engines, they would not be able to imitate them one to one.

In the area of ​​metallurgy, it was not until the Kangxi period that the Central Plains caught up with the West, and it was not until the Qianlong period that it was overtaken.

Historically, the metallurgy of the Central Plains could achieve such results, not to mention the Ming Dynasty Metallurgy, which has undergone several improvements and has adopted modern blast furnace technology.

The current Ming Dynasty is not that there are not enough blast furnaces, but that the iron ore mining speed is too slow.

The reason why the mining speed of iron ore is so slow is because gunpowder has not made any stage progress, but this cannot be rushed.

Zhu Gaoxu only knew about smokeless gunpowder, but he did not know what the ingredients of smokeless gunpowder were. Therefore, the matter of gunpowder could only be studied by the Taixue scholars themselves.

The current mining speed cannot keep up, so Zhu Gaoxu can only increase the number of mines to increase production, which is also a helpless move.

"Okay, you can pack things up tomorrow. Before school starts in Zhanhe, our father, son, grandson, and I will go hunting in Yanshan Mountain to see if there are any new prey in Yanshan Mountain after logging has been banned for sixteen years."

Zhu Di waved his hand to signal Zhu Gaoxu to return to the Palace of Rejuvenation and Harmony. Zhu Gaoxu bowed after hearing this: "Do you want to go too, son?"

"Of course, no one is missing." Zhu Di said firmly.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu could only accept it bravely, and then walked out of Wuying Hall, making preparations for a hunting tour in a few days.

(End of this chapter)