Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 480: Carrying the old and supporting the young

"Your Majesty, the prince wishes to see you."

"Let him in."

In the early morning of the next day, Zhu Gaoxu changed his regular schedule to once every ten days, so he usually came to Wuying Hall to manage affairs at Chen time and returned to Qianqing Palace to rest at You time.

In this way, he can rest for five hours a day. Although there is still time for eating, bathing, etc., excluding these times, he can still sleep for about four hours a day.

After all, he is getting older, and at the age of forty, he no longer dares to deal with government affairs as carelessly as he did when he was young.

For him now, his body is the most important thing, because only if he lives long enough can he allow Ming to complete the existing industrial revolution faster.

Everything about Daming is carried out according to his will. Once he falls, it is difficult to say whether Daming will continue according to his will.

With this in mind, he picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea, and then watched Zhu Zhanhe, who had rushed back to the Forbidden City from the Daming Palace early in the morning, walk into the palace.

"My son meets his father..."

Zhu Gaoxu motioned for him to sit down, and at the same time, Xia Yuanji, Guo Zi, and Huang Fu also walked in outside the hall.

As Xia Yuanji is the "Heavenly Official" among the six departments, it is natural for him to open his mouth to explain.

The reason why Huang Fu quarreled with Zhu Zhanji but Zhu Zhanji did not dare to do anything to him was because none of Huang Fu's words was a lie.

"How is the profitability of the railway?" Zhu Gaoxu asked Guo Zi, and Guo Zi quickly said:

Under his explanation, the three albums were presented. Zhu Zhanhe also stood up and took the album and brought it to his father.

With this father, son, grandfather and grandson serving as negative teaching materials, Zhu Gaoxu naturally had to immerse himself in the direction of longevity, saving money, and expanding territory.

Zhu Gaoxu signaled the eunuch on duty to give him a seat, and after the three of them took their seats, he said:

There are 320,000 teachers in the world, 340,000 soldiers and horses, and the annual basic administrative salary expenditure is more than 28 million yuan.

Although Zhu Gaojiu thought that Zhu Qizhen was very unlucky and fell into trouble with Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Zhanji, two guys who liked to leave messes, the fact that he was captured still made Zhu Gaojiu feel uncomfortable.

Zhu Gaoxu didn't know what to say to his eldest brother because he had no courage to be ridiculed by those insects.

He also talked about recuperating, but after a few years of recuperation, the scale of the people's rebellion was even greater than that of the Yongle period, the territory was also lost, the internal armaments were slack, and the national treasury was becoming increasingly empty. It was all supported by the abundant internal funds after Zhu Di sent Zheng He to the West. , whenever something happens, there is no money or food in the treasury to support it.

"Yue'er?" Zhu Gaoxu looked confused, but Zhu Zhanhe explained: "I wanted to leave it to my father to help you choose the name, but grandpa took it first when he saw it yesterday, the yue of the axe."

"How is the financial situation this year?" Zhu Gaoxu looked at Guo Zi and opened the booklet in his hand.

"Back to Your Majesty, the documents from the Ministry of Household Affairs, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Ministry of Works have been prepared. Please check them out."

When Guo Zi heard this, he bowed and said: "The overall annual income is 45.24 million guan, and after excluding military and political affairs, there is still a balance of 1.54 million guan."

"Where are Yi Daban and Zheng Daban?" Zhu Zhanhe nodded in agreement and asked why Yi Shiha and Zheng He were not seen.

Zhu Gaoxu didn't see his grandson and frowned a little. Zhu Zhanhe quickly explained:
"Grandpa said he wanted to take Yue'er with him more. I saw that grandpa was really lonely in the Daming Palace, so I left Yue'er in the Daming Palace."

Not to mention the current situation, even at the peak of the Hongwu period, the finances could only support this team and a small number of additional troops.

Zhu Gaoxu flipped through the documents, and found that the documents of the Ministry of Personnel recorded in detail the administrative team of the Ming Dynasty.

"It's okay, just take it. Yue'er is fine too."

Historically, Zhu Di accounted for at most one-quarter of the losses caused by the Chief Secretary of Cochin, and Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Zhanji accounted for three-quarters.

They walked into the hall and were stunned for a moment when they saw Zhu Zhanhe, and then saluted Zhu Gaoxu and the others.

"However, now that the three railways are under construction, plus the Ministry of Industry's survey of new lines, and other river and water conservancy projects, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development will bear an expenditure of nearly 4 million yuan this year, and has already withdrawn money from the national treasury to balance the accounts."

It has to be said that the administrative team of Ming Dynasty was indeed more efficient than the previous dynasties, but its cost was also prohibitive in previous dynasties.

Facing the rebellion in Jiaozhi, Zhu Gaochi showed kindness to the generals when he won, but became uneasy when he lost. Even North Korea openly thought that he was cowardly and lacked courage.

"I see your Majesty, Your Highness..."

The reason why I work so hard is because I want to make the situation better.

At present, there are more than 37,000 civil servants in the Ming Dynasty, and the number of civil servants who have been eliminated after the Beijing inspections totals more than 458,000.

Zhu Gaoxu responded, and then said to Zhu Zhanhe: "Come and sit next to me and listen."

Zhu Zhanhe bowed in salute, and Zhu Gaoxu nodded: "Yes, I haven't seen you for a few years, and I have grown up a lot. Where is my grandson?"

Before the father and son had a good chat, they heard the eunuch on duty singing a salute.

"The three of us came here looking for him early in the morning. I guess something happened."

"Well..." Although he was a little disappointed, Zhu Gaoxu also knew that the old man was indeed a bit lonely, but...

"Xuan!"

"Give me a seat"

"Your Majesty, the four ministers of the Ministry of Household Affairs, Ministry of Works, Ministry of Officials, and Ministry of Rites would like to see you."

Zhu Gaoxu breathed a sigh of relief. As long as it was not Zhu Qizhen, any other name would be fine.

"Zheng He and Yang Zhan went to Tianjin to attend to matters at the naval camp. Yi Shiha caught the cold, so I asked him to have a good rest."

As for the situation left to Zhu Qizhen by his eldest nephew, Zhu Gaoxu was even more speechless.

"I have also read the documents of the Sixth Army Governor's Office. This year's military expenditure is 15 million guan. Counting yours, the total is 43.7 million guan."

Seeing that Zhu Gaoxu did not let Zhu Zhanhe avoid suspicion, Xia Yuanji and the others naturally had nothing to avoid.

“The Beijing-Beijing Railway is estimated to recover its costs in another three years, but the Northeast Railway is estimated to take another twenty years to recover its costs.”

"As for the Northwest Railway, it can only be built as far as Zhangjiakou. In terms of current income, this section alone will take at least fifteen years."

"If the Beijing-Beijing Railway had not made a profit, the negative expenses this year would have been as high as 6 million yuan."

Guo Zi explained, Zhu Gaoxu also nodded to show his understanding, and at the same time turned his attention to Huang Fu:
"How are the preparations for the Central Plains, Beijing-Tianjin, and Sichuan railways?"

"Your Majesty, everything has been surveyed and prepared. Once the two-Beijing railway is completed at the end of next year, we can start construction on the three railways at the same time."

"The three railways total 2,200 miles and cost more than 1,300,000 taels. Construction is expected to start after the Lantern Festival in the fifth year of Hongxi. The Beijing-Tianjin Railway will be opened to traffic in the middle of the sixth year of Hongxi. The Sichuan Railway will be opened to traffic at the end of the seventh year of Hongxi. The Central Plains Railway will be opened to traffic at the end of the eighth year of Hongxi. ”

"For the Ministry of Household Affairs, I'm afraid it will need to provide an additional 3 million guan each year for the first three years, and 1.3 million guan for the last year."

Huang Fu laid out all the plans for the new railway of the Ministry of Industry, and Guo Zi had communicated with him early. Apart from feeling the pressure, he didn't know what to say.

"Now the expenditure on the Beijing-Beijing Railway has been gradually reduced. If the Two-Beijing Railway is ended and three new railways are built, the imperial court's negative expenditure will be about 2 million guan more, which means the annual negative expenditure is 6 million guan. "

Zhu Gaoxu talked about the pressure from the Ministry of Household Affairs and continued: "The imperial court's annual financial growth is only 1.5%, which means an annual increase of about yuan."

"If we maintain this scale, we will probably have to bear expenditures of more than 16 million yuan in the next three years."

"However, three years later the second section of the Northeast Railway has been completed, and the Beijing-Tianjin Railway has also been completed. Only the Sichuan Railway, the Northwest Railway and the Central Plains Railway are still under construction."

"Financially, once these two railways are completed, coupled with the increase in finances in three years, the imperial court's annual negative expenditure can be reduced to about 2.6 million guan."

Zhu Gaoxu settled the accounts clearly and continued: "If the debt is accumulated for another year, the negative expenditure will be reduced to 1.5 million yuan after the completion of the Sichuan Railway. If we persist for another year, we can achieve balance of payments."

"Have the northwest railway encountered any problems? Will the construction period be extended?"

He raised his head and asked Huang Fu. Huang Fu nodded and said, "There are some problems, but they won't be more than twenty years after Hong Xi's death at most."

"Okay!" Zhu Gaoxu nodded and did not express any dissatisfaction. He was confident in his body. He was only fifty-seven years old in Hong Xi's 1437th year. By then the railway to Hami would be completed, and the time would be almost the same. It should be AD.

Although the Eastern Chagatai Khanate was not divided at that time, the overall situation was in a mess because of a certain powerful official.

Although Zhu Gaoxu did not remember this man's name, he had to say that this was also a good opportunity for the Ming army to advance westward.

If he consolidates the Ming Dynasty's rule in Mobei, the northeast, southwest, and overseas, and finally takes over the Western Regions, leaving a sufficient treasury for his children and grandchildren, then his mission will be completed.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu touched his mustache: "Is there anything else?"

He asked Xia Yuanji and others. Xia Yuanji and others knew that the emperor and the prince had something to say, so they all stood up and bowed: "I will leave..."

"Yes" he responded. Zhu Gaoxu watched them leave and then turned his attention to Zhu Zhanhe: "You are going north this time to go to Yanran Dusi to practice border guarding, right?"

The last year of the military academy focuses on border guarding. After border guarding is over, you can graduate by going south.

Although Zhu Gaoxu didn't put much thought into his children and grandchildren, he was still aware of Zhu Zhanhe's every move.

"Back to my father, I really want to go to Yanran City to guard the border. Besides..."

Zhu Zhanhe's words came to his lips, but he didn't know how to say them out.

He had just listened for a long time and already knew that the imperial court was incurring expenditures every year due to the huge construction projects, and it would not be until the tenth year of Hongxi's reign that the balance of payments would be balanced.

Under such circumstances, he couldn't help but feel a little blushing when he came to his father to discuss his grandfather's Northern Expedition.

"What else?"

Zhu Gaoxu frowned. He was a little worried that Zhu Zhanhe would have other ideas, such as some time-consuming hobbies.

"In addition, I hope that after returning from guarding the border, I can go to Longchuan Mansion in the south to serve as an official."

After enduring it for a long time, Zhu Zhanhe finally didn't have the nerve to discuss the Northern Expedition. After all, Mahamu had now arrived in Penlanzhou, which was far from the Ming Dynasty and had to cross the entire Mobei to reach it. Once the expedition was in vain, it would most likely lead to his own death. Grandpa was criticized.

"I know, you and that Jiang Huai are old friends, right?"

Zhu Gaoxu saw something was wrong with Zhu Zhanhe, but he still continued to chat on the topic he raised:
"I support you if you want to serve as an official there. Now that you have anti-malarial powder, I'm not worried about anything happening to you."

"If you can do a good job in guarding the border in the north and administering the affairs in the south, then I will feel more at ease leaving this family to you."

Zhu Gaoxu was pleased. If Zhu Zhanhe, as the prince, could go to Yunnan to guard the border, it would be much easier for him to ennoble the princes and rule in the future.

"father……"

Zhu Zhanhe couldn't hold it back in the end, and as soon as he changed his title, Zhu Gaoxu knew that something was wrong.

"Although Nawala Taiping and Baotupolo have surrendered, Mahamu is still wandering around, and we don't know when he will invade Mobei." "Have you never thought of sending troops to completely eradicate Mahamu? ?”

"Completely eradicate it?" Zhu Gaoxu looked Zhu Zhanhe up and down, and finally said, "Your grandfather asked you to come, right?"

"No, that's what I thought." Zhu Zhanhe said shamelessly, but Zhu Gaoxu tutted:

"You were sold and you helped count the money. I guess these words of yours were all told by your grandfather, right?"

"No..." Zhu Zhanhe felt a little guilty. Upon seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu knew that it was the old man who wanted to go out to deal with Mahamu.

It's just that Zhu Gaoxu became a little worried as he got older.

"You also heard what I just said. The second section of the Northeast Railway will not be completed until the end of Hongxi's sixth year, which means that troops will not be mobilized until Hongxi's seventh year."

"When Hong Xi was in his seventh year, your grandfather was already sixty-four years old. Could your grandfather still go on an expedition at that time?"

Zhu Gaoxu's words hit Zhu Zhanhe's heart directly. He thought about it for a while and then said firmly: "Grandpa is in good health, it will definitely work."

"..." Hearing Zhu Zhanhe's words, Zhu Gaoxu felt a little uncomfortable.

Zhu Di went to war at the age of sixty-four, and he would probably be sixty-five when he came back. Historically, he died in Yumuchuan at the age of sixty-five, but what about this life...

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu felt a little reluctant to let go of Zhu Di. After thinking for a long time, he finally said:

"Your grandpa is old. Go back and tell him that I really can't bear to let him go."

"This..." Zhu Zhanhe didn't expect that his father, who had always supported his grandfather, would say this. He hesitated for a long time, and finally could only nod: "Yes."

After the words fell, he bowed and said, "I'll take my leave and tell Grandpa the news."

"Yes" responded, and Zhu Gaoxu lowered his head and started processing the memorial.

Seeing that his father really didn't intend to keep him, Zhu Zhanhe could only walk out of Wuying Palace in embarrassment, take a carriage to Xihua Gate, and then take a carriage to Daming Palace.

An hour later, when he arrived at Daming Palace, Zhu Di also received news of his arrival.

At this moment, Zhu Di no longer felt as lonely as the empty-nest old man yesterday. Instead, he stood walking back and forth in the hall, feeling a little uneasy.

"Prince, please see me!"

"come in!"

When Zhu Di heard the voice, he quickly sat back down and deliberately hunched his back to make himself look older.

While breathing, Zhu Zhanhe walked into the hall with an embarrassed look on his face. His expression instantly made Zhu Di unable to sit still, and he couldn't help but leaned forward: "What's wrong?"

"Grandpa, my grandson is incompetent and failed to persuade his father..."

Zhu Zhanhe bowed awkwardly, but Zhu Di was not angry when he heard this. Instead, he raised his hand and said, "Come here and tell me in detail."

Helpless, Zhu Zhanhe could only follow Zhu Di's instructions and sit next to him. From when he entered the palace to when Huang Fu and others asked for an audience, to when Huang Fu and others left, he explained all the details of his questioning Zhu Di. .

After listening, Zhu Di said: "So, your father still supports me going, he is just worried about my health, right?"

"That's it." Zhu Zhanhe nodded without thinking. Zhu Di felt confident after hearing this and couldn't help but smile:

"Okay, okay, if he was just worried about this, then things would be much easier to handle."

Zhu Di said happily, and Zhu Zhanhe couldn't help but ask some things: "According to father's words, I'm afraid it will be four years before we can start the army, but grandpa, you will be sixty-four in four years."

"No problem, no problem. I eat well and sleep well every day. In addition, your great-grandfather lived to be seventy-one. How can I say that your grandpa will live to be seventy-two-three, right?"

"In short, now that the Northern Expedition has been settled, there is no need to worry about not being able to achieve it."

"This year, you go to the north to guard the border first and help Grandpa get some information. When the border guarding is over, it will take almost three years for the official administration to be in charge, right?"

"When you come back half a year early, you can just bring your uncle and others to see me."

"Before the expedition, our family will have a meal and catch up on old times. Then you and your eldest brother will go out together. We, the three of us, grandpa and grandson, must deal with this old dog Mahamu before we go on an expedition."

"Okay!" Zhu Zhanhe's blood boiled with enthusiasm after being deceived by Zhu Di. Zhu Di also patted him on the shoulder and said:
"I know you are also busy guarding the border, but the snow is still relatively heavy now. It is useless for you to go early. You will wait until the beginning of March before setting off. During this period, you will stay in Daming Palace and spend more time with grandpa. Next time you It’s been more than a year since I came back.”

"Well, my grandson will stay here with you." Zhu Zhanhe coaxed Zhu Di, and Zhu Di fooled Zhu Zhanhe. The two grandsons talked and laughed, making the Yangxin Palace a little brighter.

While they were talking and laughing, Zhu Gaoxu was busy in Wuying Hall.

The Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Justice each sent in their end-of-year documents. The Ministry of Rites was solely responsible for mediating disputes among vassal states and discussing matters related to primary education.

By the end of the third year of Hongxi's reign, the Ming Dynasty's 320,000 teachers corresponded to more than 7 million students, including 6,247,000 in primary schools and more than 86,900 in middle schools.

In terms of the ratio between primary school and middle school alone, in the minds of most people, it is enough to complete primary school and there is no need to continue to attend middle school.

This is not surprising. After all, primary schools can be attended in counties near home, but secondary schools must go to provincial capitals, and the stay lasts for five years. Most families find it difficult to accept their children studying away from home for five years.

Although it is easier to become an official after graduating from high school, being an official now is not as simple as before. If you want to become an official, you also need to take an exam.

If you fail to pass, it will almost be a waste of several years of family efforts, and the pressure on the students can be imagined.

Although Zhu Gaoxu has implemented a credit system in middle schools to ensure a learning environment for poor students, concepts cannot be changed overnight.

Compared with the step-by-step concept of education, things in the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Punishment are much simpler.

The Ministry of War is nothing more than the number of newly added railway troops and horses due to railway construction. The Ministry of Punishment records the number of crimes committed last year. After reporting the number of people who need to be exiled to Zhu Gaoxu, Zhu Gaoxu decides where they will be exiled.

In this regard, Zhu Gaoxu has four choices. The first is Hami, the second is Qamdo, the third is in the car, and the fourth is Beizhou.

As for overseas, he is not considering it for the time being, because Ming's overseas population is almost the same.

At the end of the third year of Hongxi's reign, in addition to the population of the Ming Dynasty moving closer to over 100 million, the overseas population also increased significantly.

In the Xuanwei Division of Jiugang, there are nearly 560,000 people in Hankou, nearly 160,000 people in Ceylon, nearly 350,000 people in Luzon, and even Ryukyu Prefecture has 140,000 people settled there.

Most of them are coastal people who seek to make a fortune by growing sugar cane and spices locally.

These places have alleviated the population pressure in Jiangnan. Some people who can no longer live in Jiangnan will naturally accept the call of the migration policy and drag their families to Nanyang.

In addition to these places, there are also many people in various officialdoms and Xuanwei Departments in the Ming Dynasty.

According to the records of the Ministry of Household Affairs, the population north of the Qinling Mountains has increased from 15 million in the 26th year of Hongwu to 29 million in the 3rd year of Hongxi, and an increase of 14 million in the 28th year.

The population of southwest China has grown from 3 million in the 26th year of Hongwu to 12 million today.

If you include the more than 5 million people in Cochin and overseas, the total is 46 million.

The remaining southern Zhili, Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Huguang and other places add up to 50 million.

Proportionally speaking, the north and southwest accounted for only 30% of the national population during the Hongwu period, but now it has increased to 47%.

Although Zhu Gaoxu's large-scale migration played a role in this, the more important thing was the transformation of the southwest.

Now as long as the Han people continue to migrate to the southwest, the southwest area can settle down and continue to expand to the Indochina Peninsula.

"Assign them to Chefu. There was a rebellion caused by chieftains there, which caused many people to flee north."

"Although I later ordered Muchun to raze the rebellious chieftains, and the people who fled north were also sent back to the car, in the final analysis there were still too few Han people in the car."

"The 30,000 prisoners who need to be transferred to the moving car should be able to make a lot of contributions to the car, and it will also facilitate the imperial court's strategy for the southwest in the future."

Zhu Gaoxu ended a slightly tiring day after sending back Zhu Pi's memorial to the Ministry of Punishment.

He did not rush back to Qianqing Palace, but went to the palace where Yishiha lived to visit him.

Yi Shiha, who is in his fifties, is not considered old, and the cold this time is not a serious illness. When Zhu Gaoxu came to see him, he was sitting in front of the stove, chatting and laughing with the young eunuchs around him.

After Zhu Gaoxu arrived, they quickly bowed and bowed, which was the rule of the Hongxi Dynasty.

Except for the three days of Zhengdan, Wanshou and Winter Solstice, where kneeling is required, bowing is sufficient at other times.

"Your Majesty, how can this servant bother Your Majesty to come?"

Yishiha's tone was as humble as ever. Zhu Gaoxu looked at the situation in the palace. There was a calligraphy treasure hanging high inside, which read "Loyalty to the Emperor and Patriotism". There was a statue and a tablet under the calligraphy treasure.

Zhu Gaoxu took a closer look and found that the statue and tablet were written about Yue Wumu.

"You taught me well." Zhu Gaoxu chuckled and took out a memorial from his arms.

"Get up, I came to you to ask you to help me make some decisions."

"Wang Yi wants to go back to Beijing to retire. Calculating his age, he is almost 60 years old. I don't think it's strange to retire, but I have to think carefully about who will replace him."

"I have two candidates here, one is Meng Zhang and the other is Lin Su."

"If Meng Zhang is transferred, then I will transfer Lin Su to Bohai."

"Who do you think is better?"

Zhu Gaoxu asked Yi Shiha, who bowed after hearing this and said: "I think only Meng Zhang can control Daning and Yanran Dusi, and it would be better for Lin Su to be transferred to Bohai."

"Okay, let's do what you said." Zhu Gaoxu said he was asking for advice, but in fact he already had an idea in his heart.

"Then help me draft an imperial edict to send Linsu to the Bohai Sea, Mengzhang to control Daning, and Xie Cong to control Yanran."

"As for the three counties in Hetao... I thought about it and transferred Chen Mao to guard them."

After saying this, Yi Shiha also showed a smile: "I accept the order..."

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu stood up and walked out the door, followed by Yi Shiha.

When he came to the door, Zhu Gaoxu looked back at him: "No need to send it off."

After saying that, Zhu Gaoxu's eyes showed a bit of sadness, because he saw Yishiha's white temples, and he couldn't help but feel a bit sadder.

"You have to take care of your health. There are fewer and fewer people who can talk to me properly these days..."

(End of this chapter)