Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 475 The father’s debt is repaid by the son

"After I become a saint, you can't torture me, you can't... uh!!!"

In Caishikou, Qufu County, Yanzhou Prefecture, Shandong Province, Kong Sheng, who was wearing prison clothes, was stripped naked and tied to a rack.

The former Kong Xiucai was now meat on the chopping board. As Master Lingchi's hands moved, his flesh and blood were cut off piece by piece.

Beside the master, two doctors watched numbly as the master operated. When the master was tired, they stepped forward and sprinkled the man with styptic powder to prevent him from bleeding to death.

Even so, Kong Sheng did not survive three thousand blows, and died after only four hundred and twenty-seven blows.

The bloody scene caused many people around to vomit. Hu Lun, who was in a restaurant, saw Kong Sheng dying. He reached out and picked up the wine glass and took a sip: "According to the plan, do it!"

"Yes!" The three commanders standing behind him bowed and saluted.

Under his orders, everyone in the Kong Sheng clan was convicted. The Kong family, which was the target of the imperial court, secretly hid former Yuan official uniforms and seals, privately carved stone inscriptions that slandered Emperor Taizu Gao, and colluded with Shandong officials. He was implicated in crimes such as abusing power for personal gain.

For a time, the two provinces of Shanhe and South Zhili and the Jiangbei area were in shock.

"This achievement alone is not inferior to that of the time when Guangwu of the Han Dynasty established the Protectorate of Xianbei, and Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty established the Governor's Palace of Hanhai."

"As for the money, just come from the inner court. The money and food allocated to the Daming Palace will not be changed at all."

"I dreamed that I was in the main hall. Your grandfather came to me with a knife and your uncle, and asked me: 'Fourth brother, what happened to Yunwen?' I hesitated for a long time and couldn't say a word. , I was scared to death..."

"As for what those civil servants said, it's just that civil servants don't know how to fight, so they are wrong..."

Zhu Di's tone was a little concerned about gains and losses. When Zhu Gaoxu heard this, the smile on his face remained and he was not angry because of these words.

He poured tea for Zhu Di's empty tea cup and continued to comfort him: "Civil officials don't know soldiers. Besides, you and I were prepared before the expedition. It is very likely that Mahamu will escape to the west in this battle."

Although he was bending over, Zhu Di still kept his head up when he wanted to look at him, which made him lose in terms of momentum.

After returning the troops and horses, Zhu Di returned to the Daming Palace angrily.

"Acting?" Zhu Di looked at Zhu Gaoxu in disbelief with a stunned expression: "Do you think I am acting?"

"It's already mid-October. In a month and a half, I will be fifty-nine years old, and I will be sixty in a blink of an eye."

"You all go out."

If others saw it, they would definitely think that Zhu Di was sulking at himself and felt that the results of the battle were not obvious, but Zhu Gaoxu knew the old man too well. He was not sulking, but acting for himself.

In a few words, Zhu Gaoxu overrated Zhu Di's achievements in the Northern Expedition. Although Zhu Di knew that the examples Zhu Gaoxu gave were Jisu rule, he felt a little more at ease.

Zhu Gaoxu still cared more about Zhu Di's feelings, so cutting off half a million yuan was an apology for the lack of success in the Northern Expedition.

"Dad, actually our results this time were pretty good. We captured more than 2,000 cattle and tens of thousands of sheep, and captured more than a thousand fleeing Choros tribesmen..."

Since Zhu Di felt that he had not achieved much success, he specially sent someone to tell Zhu Gaoxu not to prepare any state banquet to celebrate his victory.

"Speaking of your grandfather..." Zhu Di showed a bit of fear on his face:
"On my way back south this time, I dreamed about your grandpa for several nights."

Zhu Di's tone didn't sound like he was acting, because Zhu Gaoxu knew that his acting skills were not that good.

"At the moment, it seems that things are as we expected. The difference is that we have included the Taiping and Tubo Luo divisions into the Yanran Dusi under the imperial court."

Passing through the corridor, Zhu Gaoxu walked forward at a fast pace, while Zhu Zhanhe and Zhu Zhanji, wearing mandarin duck jackets, followed closely behind him.

"Yes!" Zhu Di smiled after hearing this. He found out through testing that Zhu Gaoxu still supported his northern expedition, and his mood immediately became much more cheerful.

Zhu Gaoxu had noticed Zhu Di's mental state from very early on, so after Empress Xu died of illness, he often encouraged and praised what he did, in order to satisfy his vanity and make his life more comfortable.

Regarding this, Zhu Di also breathed a sigh of relief and said: "On the way south, I heard that many people in the court said that my expedition to the north was in vain, and that I was old and no longer what I used to be..."

"Sixty..." Zhu Di sighed slightly, and Zhu Gaoxu comforted him:
"Sixty years old, grandpa has lived to be seventy-one, will you lose to him?"

After they left, Zhu Gaoxu walked up to Zhu Di, poured him tea, and said softly:

As the son of a man, Zhu Gaoxu naturally wanted to go to the Daming Palace to see Zhu Di after he returned from the expedition.

"This Northern Expedition did cost a little, but it's not big. Next year I'll let the Ministry of Household Affairs reduce internal funds by 500,000 guan of money and food, so we can get over it."

This is how people are, the older they get, the more they crave love.

Walking into it, Zhu Gaoxu saw Zhu Di, wearing a mandarin duck jacket, sitting in the main seat with a slightly depressed expression.

Not long after, he took the two boys to the front of Yangxin Hall, but when he saw Wang Yan singing "Your Majesty is here", the whole hall suddenly fell to their knees.

Amid such shock, Zhu Di also returned to Beijing with 10,000 cavalry and 20,000 auxiliary troops.

Zhu Zhanhe felt that his record was already good, but Zhu Gaoxu educated him without looking back.

Seeing that Zhu Di could not deceive Zhu Gaoxu, he immediately began to reveal his true thoughts.

But after feeling cheerful, he still couldn't help but sigh:

Zhu Gaoxu glanced at Zhu Zhanhe and the others. Upon seeing this, Wang Yan quickly led the eunuchs out, and Zhu Zhanhe was also pulled out of the Yangxin Hall by Zhu Zhanji.

"Compared with your grandfather's previous achievements, these results are nothing."

"Why should father continue to act when everyone is gone?"

Looking at his appearance, Zhu Gaoxu raised the corner of his mouth. The sunlight slanted through the window and shone on his face, making his eyes bright.

"Your expedition to the north has not achieved much. Although you may have a bit of a temper, you will not show it on your face." Zhu Gaoxu handed over the tea, and Zhu Di took it.

In response, Zhu Gaoxu just chuckled: "Then you have to take care of your health. The next Northern Expedition may not be so fast."

"Okay, although I am old, I am not confused yet. The results of this Northern Expedition are indeed not great. I admit this, but I will definitely achieve results next time."

"Second brother, have you never experienced nightmares like this in the past few years?"

Seeing that Zhu Gaoxu had no reaction, Zhu Di asked Zhu Gaoxu very doubtfully, and Zhu Gaoxu chuckled:

"You are afraid of my grandpa, that's why you do this, but I'm not afraid."

"Aren't you afraid?" Zhu Di had an expression of disbelief, but Zhu Gaoxu sat directly on Zhu Di's footstool, leaned against his chair and said:
"I said it when grandpa was alive. If my eldest brother succeeds in reducing the vassal status, I will definitely support him."

"It's a pity that others are trying to cut down the vassal, but he wants the lives of you, my father and my son."

"Then if that's the case, if we don't take the opportunity to counterattack, what are we waiting for?"

Zhu Gaoxu spoke grandly, but Zhu Di said suspiciously:

"But I remember that before your grandfather died, you incited me to rebel."

"..." Zhu Gaoxu obviously didn't expect that the old man had such a good memory, so he could only change his tune and said:
"Because I know who my eldest brother is. Instead of waiting for him to take action, I might as well strike first."

"Forget it, it's useless to say this now. If you are really afraid, then when you go down later, just say that I forced you to rebel."

"When I go down, I will go down with the "General Map of the World's Four Yi Bin Servers". I don't believe that grandpa can deal with me down there after seeing this "The World's Four Yi Bin Servers General Map"."

"And let me tell you, if grandpa had passed on the position to you from the beginning, the family would not be in such trouble."

"Look, my eldest brother forced my twelfth uncle to commit suicide and annihilate his heirs. Look at us two, my uncle's children and grandchildren are still alive and well. Doesn't this comparison show the difference?"

"That's true of you." Zhu Di stroked his beard and was convinced by Zhu Gaoxu.

Zhu Biao's children and grandchildren, except for Zhu Xiongying who died young and Zhu Yunwen who set himself on fire, the rest Zhu Yunxi, Zhu Yunzhen and Zhu Yunxi are all living well. Even Zhu Yunwen's son Zhu Wenkui is still alive and well.

After Zhu Gaoxu went north, he did not take them from Jiangnan to Beijing, but left them in the Ouning Palace in Xiaoling Tomb of the Ming Dynasty.

Now they have four families of twenty-seven people, and they have enough food and clothing.

If Zhu Yunwen knew about it, he would have to give Zhu Gaoxu a thumbs up.

As for Zhu Biao's lineage, Zhu Gaoxu didn't bother to deal with them at all.

Historically, many officials were promoted by Zhu Yunwen and survived. As a result, after Zhu Qizhen released the Wu common people and Jian Shu people, many Jiangnan officials and wealthy households who praised Zhu Yunwen did not care about these guys at all, but Zhu Qi Zhen and Zhu Jianshen are pretty good to them.

After being released, the family had a family of eighteen and could hire six female slaves.

It's a pity that later on, because the clan had too many people, no attention was paid to them.

With this kind of management method, no one supports the rebellion. Zhu Gaoxu can only say that these Jiangnan scholar-officials are really Zhu Yunwen's loyal ministers...

"Don't think so much. Take a good rest these two years. When the Northeast Railway opens to traffic in a few years, you can go on expeditions as many times as you want. I have absolutely nothing to say."

Zhu Gaoxu stood up and patted the non-existent dust on his butt, and said with a smile: "You must take good care of yourself first."

"You really need to take good care of yourself." Zhu Di said angrily:
"I read the handwriting you gave me. Why, are you really planning to kill the Kong family?"

Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di both looked down upon the Confucius Mansion in Qufu, but after taking the throne, they all chose to reward the Confucius Mansion in Qufu without exception, because this was one of the means to win over scholars.

After Zhu Gaoxu came to the throne, he adopted a laissez-faire attitude towards the Confucius Mansion. At that time, Zhu Di felt that something was wrong. Now, less than a year has passed, and the Confucius Mansion will collapse in the Hongxi Dynasty, which makes people feel sad.

"The imperial court is short of money. Money is needed to build railways, dredge the Yellow River, and dredge canals. It just so happens that the Confucius Mansion has hit the target again. If you clean it up, you can win a wave of Shandong people's support. If this is the case, then why keep them? "

"Besides, most of today's students are still majoring in the New Deal. Although they also minor in the Four Books and Five Classics, classics and history, who would really die for a person in the books?"

"Taizong of the Tang Dynasty once said that the people's hearts are like water. Water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it."

"Throughout the ages, many kings and even Li Shimin have regarded the people as powerful gentry who are different in each era. Now the times have changed. Although they are still the main body of the people, in my case, the people are the people of the world, regardless of high or low."

"This move can be regarded as a way to accumulate virtue for my Heavenly Family..."

Zhu Gaoxu had already anticipated the collision between his thoughts and reality in the future, so he talked about accumulating virtue and hoped that future generations would think of him better and not make him extinct. This sounds a little childish, but that's how people are. The older they get, the more they believe in karma.

"Okay, you can go back to your Forbidden City and stay there. If you want to attack the Kong family, you will be busy next."

Zhu Di knew that he could not convince Zhu Gaoxu and could only remind him to deal with the next storm.

Zhu Gaoxu nodded clearly and glanced outside the door: "How did your two grandsons perform this time?"

"Well..." Zhu Di stroked his beard, thought for a while and gave the answer:

"Too young. As far as this performance is concerned, Zhan Ji is slightly more mature than Zhan He. Zhan Ji can lead thousands of people. In time, it will not be a problem to command tens of thousands."

"As for Zhan He, his growth is good. He is more than enough to be an official of thousands of households. If he wants to go further, he will have to look carefully at the future."

"Your military academy is still useful. More than 70% of the current generals in the army are talents who graduated from your military academy. They are much better than I was back then."

Zhu Di's slight regret is that his team is not as good as Zhu Gaoxu, or that he is not as good at leading people as Zhu Gaoxu.

Zhu Gaoxu's men walked out of Meng Zhang, Wang Yi, Chen Chang, Xu Sheng, Fu Rang, Yang Zhan, Zhang Chun, and Zheng Jun.

Looking back at myself, except for Zhang Yu, Meng Shan, and Zhu Neng who can be called generals, the rest are only Zhang Fu, Meng Ying, Li Yuan, and Li Bin who can read.

The two seem to have about the same number, but the age gap is too big.

In the past two years, General Yan Fu died after taking the lead. Only Zhu Neng, Zhang Fu, and Meng Ying were able to take the lead.

On the other hand, except for the neutral Chen Heng, everyone in the Bohai faction is living well.

Thinking of this, Zhu Di couldn't help but feel depressed.

"In this case, Nachen will resign."

Zhu Gaoxu bowed and was about to leave, but he thought of something before leaving and couldn't help but ask:
"By the way, how about living in Daming Palace, Young Master?"

Zhu Gaoxu mentioned Yao Guangxiao, and Zhu Di nodded after hearing this:

"The old monk has some hidden diseases, but the doctors you trained are quite good. The old monk is still in good health."

"But at his age, you don't have to bother him."

"He has adopted an adopted son named Yao Ji. If you don't need someone to feed him, you can arrange an errand for him."

Zhu Di explained the affairs of Yao Guangxiao and reminded Zhu Gaoxu not to bother him. Zhu Gaoxu nodded in response and finally replied: "Let's arrange to go to Taichang Temple to do things. It's not easy to make mistakes."

"You can just take care of it yourself." Zhu Di responded. Upon seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu also bowed and saluted, and then walked out of the Yangxin Hall.

When Zhu Gaoxu left in Kuabu, he saw Wang Yan, Zhu Zhanhe, and Zhu Zhanji standing at the gate of the palace.

Zhu Gaoxu nodded to them: "Take good care of your grandpa."

As soon as he finished speaking, he walked out accompanied by Yi Shiha.

Not long after, he returned to the carriage from which he came, and he couldn't help but smile bitterly while sitting in the carriage.

"Your Majesty?" Yi Shiha asked curiously, but Zhu Gaoxu touched his mustache.

"It's a pity that Yao Guangxiao can't be used by me, but considering his age, he probably won't be able to use it for a few years, so I can only smile bitterly."

Zhu Gaoxu explained the reason for his bitter smile, and Yi Shiha nodded when he heard the words: "Young Master is a scholar of heaven and man, but in the end he was too cautious."

Yao Guangxiao is a qualified counselor, but almost all of his suggestions are for Zhu Di.

He has always been wary of Zhu Gaoxu, because in his opinion, Zhu Gaoxu is not like Zhu Di, but more like Zhu Yuanzhang.

Therefore, during the many years that Zhu Gaoxu assisted Zhu Di, the old monk hardly appeared much, and his life in the Yongle Dynasty became transparent.

This was his way of protecting himself, and Zhu Gaoxu understood it very well, but he still felt a little regretful that he could not drive Yao Guangxiao.

Zhu Gaoxu did not continue the discussion with Yi Shiha, but looked out the car window.

It must be said that the location of the Daming Palace is excellent. Under the circumstances of the logging ban in Beizhili and the active recruitment of workers and the promotion of low-price coal, as the greening of Beizhili continues to recover, this place can be regarded as the lake and the sky and the earth. The flying birds in the distance are like a row of egrets ascending to the blue sky, swaying up to the blue sky and flying away.

Time passed slowly, and soon Zhu Gaoxu returned to the Forbidden City by car.

However, soon after he entered the Wuying Palace, a eunuch on duty stopped Yishiha and whispered something to him.

After hearing this, Yi Shiha stepped forward and bowed respectfully: "Your Majesty, Yang Shanren from the private gold mining area of ​​Kunlunzhou, North Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asian countries are developing muskets. You see..."

"Not stupid." After receiving the news, Zhu Gaoxu chuckled and didn't take it to heart.

In his opinion, as long as countries like Japan are not fools, they will naturally learn from the Ming Dynasty to develop firearms after seeing the Ming Dynasty's armaments.

However, the development of firearms is not easy. The metallurgical technology of these countries cannot even compare with the Ming Dynasty during the Hongwu period, let alone the Ming Dynasty during the Hongxi period.

The reason why Ming Dynasty was able to sell large pots at sky-high export prices was that many countries simply could not produce such large pots, nor could they produce cast iron pots, so they had to pay high prices to buy them from Ming Dynasty.

The progress of iron smelting technology means that the price of iron products is low, and iron products are easy to promote when they are low in price. Therefore, one can tell how good a country's iron smelting technology is by looking at people's livelihood alone.

In any country with advanced metallurgical technology, its people will at least use iron pots to make delicious food.

The West took a detour in iron smelting for thousands of years. It was not until the invention of the blast furnace that it understood how to smelt iron. This directly led to Europeans and Middle Easterners not knowing how to cook, because cooking requires massive and cheap iron pots.

Although countries such as Japan and North Korea are more advanced than the current European iron smelting technology, it is still too early to use current technology to compete with the Ming Dynasty's iron smelting technology.

It took North Korea hundreds of years to obtain slightly advanced iron-smelting technology from the Ming Dynasty, while Japan only obtained more advanced iron-smelting technology from Korean craftsmen who were plundered during the Imjin Japanese Rebellion.

Even though they are continuing to learn from the Ming Dynasty, in terms of folk technology, it is already very impressive that they can make a matchlock gun.

As for artillery, that is not a technology that the private sector can master.

By the time they understand the technology of cast iron cannons, the Ming Dynasty may have been making steady progress towards rifled cannons.

“After the lines are drawn, what about the conflicts in these countries?”

While Zhu Gaoxu was processing the memorial, he asked about the situation in Kunlun Continent.

"According to information from Yang Shanren and Xichang, they have become much more honest after crossing the line, but small frictions still continue."

"In addition, Yang Shanren also told some news about private business gangs..." Yi Shiha glanced at Zhu Gaoxu secretly.

Zhu Gaoxu noticed his behavior and immediately stopped his pen and waited for him to speak.

Seeing this, Yi Shiha said: "The private business gangs have colluded with the navy, and they often use bribes to ask the navy to help arrest some natives..."

"This is not a good sign. Tell Yang Zhan about this and ask him to send someone to take a look."

Zhu Gaoxu interrupted Yi Shiha's words, conveyed his order, and continued at the same time:

"If this phenomenon is common, then they should be replaced so that they can be taught that this is not how they get the high military pay for the ocean-going navy."

"My slave, take your orders." Yi Shiha agreed, turned around and went down to take care of the matter.

Shortly after he left, Zhu Gaoxu gradually became absorbed in processing the memorial. When he came back to his senses, it was already dusk.

He got up and drove back to Qianqing Palace. When he arrived at Qianqing Palace, he saw Guo Yan and Zhang Fengyi and Zhu Zhanqi, who were already noble concubines, greeting him at the palace gate.

"Tell me, what happened?"

Seeing Guo Yan and Concubine Zhang appear together, Zhu Gaoxu knew that they were here for Zhu Zhanqi's affairs.

Seeing this, Guo Yan motioned to Zhu Zhanqi to step forward and explain himself. The thirteen-year-old Zhu Zhanqi could only step forward and bow:
"Dad, I feel that studying in middle school is not interesting, and I want to go directly to the military academy in Nanjing."

Although Zhu Zhanqi is only thirteen years old, he still inherited Zhu Gaoxu's genes. He is five feet four inches (173cm) tall and looks about the same as some teenagers in his fifteenth or sixteenth year.

Just thinking about him, Zhu Gaoxu stepped forward, put his arm around his shoulders and walked inside, saying as he walked:
"The knowledge in middle school may not seem interesting, but in the future you will be in a different place, and you will be able to use a lot of this knowledge."

"Don't rush things in the military academy. Once your elder brother comes back, you can communicate with him and you will know whether the knowledge from middle school is useful."

Zhu Zhanqi was quite obedient. Seeing Zhu Gaoxu say this, even if he was impatient, he could only nod in agreement.

Concubine Zhang breathed a sigh of relief when she saw this, and Guo Yan also smiled and stepped forward and said:

"I'll ask your elder brother to talk to you later. Although he didn't encounter many enemies in this northern expedition, he still has some experiences."

"Besides, if you also like to fight, you should also know that the soldiers and horses go first before the food and grass are used. Only by managing the place well can you fight better."

Guo Yan did not educate Zhu Zhanqi immediately, but waited until Zhu Gaoxu came back and followed Zhu Gaoxu's guidance.

In this way, Zhu Zhanqi could listen to some of it.

The family was seated, and Zhu Gaoxu was eating at the dining table. He looked up at Zhu Zhanqi from time to time, slightly sighing.

He was busy with government affairs and neglected the relationship between his parents and children. Although he rarely brought his majesty to the harem, Zhu Zhanqi and the others were still afraid of him, just as the old man was afraid of his grandfather.

"Your Majesty, Brother Qi is getting older. It is not convenient to live in the harem all the time. I don't know..."

Concubine Zhang rarely spoke, but now she actually wanted Zhu Zhanqi to go out and live.

After hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu shook his head and said: "I am busy with government affairs, and I rarely get together with them and stay away from them often. If I drive them out of the palace to avoid suspicion, the relationship will definitely be more peaceful."

"With so many houses in the outer court, is it possible that there is not enough space for him to have a few yards?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhu Gaoxu asked Yishiha who came over to change the Rouyi Palace into the Prince's Palace, and formulated the corresponding policy that the prince could not leave the palace until he was sixteen years old, and he could only join the feudal clan after graduating from elementary school, middle school, and military school...

(End of this chapter)