Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 481: Too much time to give
"Crack!"

In the smoke and firecrackers, the third year of Hongxi passed away quietly, and the fourth year of Hongxi was welcomed by the people of the Ming Dynasty.

In the Fengtian Palace, Zhu Gaoxu decreed that the fourth day of the first lunar month would be the National Day, a holiday together with Zhengdan and Lantern Festival, totaling fifteen days.

In addition, important festivals such as Cold Food Festival and Shangsi Festival also have one to three days of holidays. Since then, the Ming Dynasty has had sixteen festivals and sixty-two days of holidays. Compared with Hongwu and Yongle, there are many more days of rest. .

Of course, for the rest of the officials, the yamen will arrange their own rest at the beginning of the month, and they can also take consecutive breaks, but they cannot take more than one consecutive month at most.

After the decree was issued, the officials sang long live and couldn't hide their joy.

After the announcement, Zhu Gaoxu also ended the court meeting and began his daily work.

Time passed and it soon came to the beginning of March.

At the sound of the train whistle, Zhu Zhanhe packed up his luggage and took the train heading northeast.

Now he was going to Tieling by car, then to Songyuan by horse, to Hecheng by boat, and then to Hailaerwei by horse.

Sitting in the car, Zhu Zhanhe began to read newspapers habitually, and time passed quickly.

"Okay, I understand, please step back."

The train slowly passed through the gate, which also meant that Zhu Zhanhe had officially set foot on the northeastern boundary mentioned by Zhu Gaoxu.

Seeing Zhu Zhanhe wake up, they bowed and said: "Your Highness, the train is boarding."

This time he is probably personally commanding and leading the team, so this experience is very valuable.

He originally thought that the passengers were taking a boat and then leaving by car at the train station on the other side of the river, but he didn't expect that it was not the case.

Zhu Zhanhe asked curiously. The driver who got out of the car bowed after hearing this and said: "Go back to your highness, of course not."

Since he was guarding the border this time, he did not take Mu and Zhu Qiyue to the north. Even the dozen or so warriors around him would lurk in secret after he arrived at Hailar City and would not directly help.

Since the people in Liaodong basically migrated from Shandong and Huaibei, Zhu Zhanhe could understand a lot when the train stopped at the station to replenish water and coal.

Although it is troublesome, it can save nearly a month of time.

Zhu Zhanhe didn't expect that the train could board the ship. After all, when he took the Fengyangfu train, since the train station was in the north of Huaihe River, he had never experienced a train crossing the river.

After the driver finished speaking, planks were lowered to fix the stern in the direction of the train's entry, and the train's wheels were mechanically locked.

Not long after, the train started, taking the carriage towards the northeast.

"The reason why we drove the car on the ship today is because this carriage is specially made. There is no such carriage on the other side of the river."

The train passed through Shanhaiguan before dusk. In order to facilitate the passage of the train, a section of the city wall was rebuilt here, leaving two tracks four feet wide.

The stationmaster of Beijing East Railway Station looked at Zhu Zhanhe, who was surrounded by more than a dozen strong men from the West Factory, and respectfully brought him to the platform, and then took him onto the carriage where he went north.

Seeing the train slowly stop on the track on the ship's deck, Zhu Zhanhe got off the car and looked at the huge horse-drawn ship.

Since the space for movement is small, the rails on the ship deck are easy to fix.

Another four hours passed, and when the time came to Yin hour, Zhu Zhanhe felt a shock in his sleep.

Now, another eleven years have passed, and the population of Liaodong has exceeded four million. The cultivated land has benefited from the promotion of new crops, many slopes have been utilized, and the population growth rate is very stable.

"Usually people and cars are separated, and passengers take a boat to the other side to change to a train again."

After Zhu Zhanhe explained, the stationmaster exited the carriage.

At this moment, it was slowly sailing forward. Not long after, he felt a shaking, and then Zhu Zhanhe saw a huge horse boat.

A few decades ago, Liaodong was a symbol of bitter cold. Today, although Liaodong cannot be regarded as a land of abundance, the people's lives are still extremely comfortable.

"Even this horse boat was temporarily renovated."

Zhu Zhanhe had someone buy a newspaper from Liaodong. What was striking was that the population of Liaodong exceeded four million and the cultivated land reached 27 million acres.

However, since it was already dusk, he returned to the car after a brief stroll and continued heading north.

Although this section of the city wall is free, there are two thousand-jin gates at the top. Once the thousand-jin gates are lowered, this gap can be closed.

Thinking of this, he looked out curiously, and sure enough he saw the train docked at a place similar to a port.

It's parked in a boat bay, with concrete dock roads extending into the water to the left and right.

"I haven't been to Liaodong and Bohai yet, and I don't know what it will be like."

"Your Highness, the car is ready."

He was about to get out of the car in a daze, but saw two strong men from the West Factory standing at the door.

All this stems from the destruction of Uliangha and the inclusion of Bohai into the Ming Dynasty, as well as Zhu Gaoxu's policy of moving millions of people into Liaodong many years ago.

Zhu Zhanhe's grades were only above average in the military academy. Among the more than 800 people in each level of the military academy, he was only ranked more than 180, so his official position after graduation was only a flag officer.

Although Zhu Zhanhe also brought a thousand soldiers and horses during his last northern expedition, due to Zhu Di's preference, his thousand soldiers and horses almost had several thousand households to help him. He was only responsible for leading the team, which was not too difficult.

"Your Highness, this trip is a total of 1,300 miles. Since we need to board the ship at the Panzhou Line, it will take fourteen hours to arrive."

"Boarding?"

Sitting on the bed and looking at the receding scenery, Zhu Zhanhe was curious about the place where his father made his fortune.

"Does this always happen when trains cross rivers?"

In the past thirty years, the population of Liaodong has continued to increase from 400,000 during the Hongwu period, to more than one million after the end of the Jing Dynasty, and to 2 million in the 10th year of Yongle.

Soon, the ship began to move forward in the dark night. Zhu Zhanhe walked up to the bow of the ship and took a look. Although it was dark, he could still hear the sound of ice floes hitting the hull.

The average water depth at the mouth of the Liao River is about ten feet. Although the width is only a hundred steps, there is no sandbar in the river. Therefore, the Ministry of Industry considered technical problems and did not build a high bridge.

In just one word, the ship arrived at the east side of Liaohe River.

Zhu Zhanhe did not get on the train, but got off the boat and stood on the pier, watching another locomotive pull the train and its carriages off.

The original locomotive was pulled down and sent for maintenance, and a new locomotive and driver took over for the rest of the journey.

After walking into the carriage and lying down, the familiar whistle sounded again, taking him north.

An hour later, the sky began to brighten, and what appeared outside the window was melted snow and muddy farmland.

Many people got up early, but they did not come to farm, but to go for a walk.

The people here dress the same as the people in the capital, and it can be seen that it is a very wealthy place.

"The people in Liaodong don't have much arable land, so why do they all wear silk and brocade?"

Zhu Zhanhe held the newspaper and asked curiously. The Xichang warrior who was sitting in his room and responsible for protecting him replied:

"The income of the people in Liaodong mainly comes from their family workers and officials. The wages of miners here are one hundred and twenty coppers per day, and the prices of coal, cattle and sheep, etc. are cheap, so they have spare money to buy silk, brocade, and satin to dress up. "

Lishi's words made Zhu Zhanhe speechless: "It seems that the ordinary people in Liaodong are living much more comfortably than the ordinary people in Nanzhili."

In Zhu Zhanhe's description, ordinary people are rural people, and the rural people in Liaodong can wear silk cloth, which is enough to show their strength.

Of course, in addition to the high income of people in Liaodong, what is more important is that as the textile industry in Jiangnan began to be standardized, the prices of various silks and satins have dropped, allowing more people to enjoy garments made of better materials.

This was before Zhu Gaoxu put steam engines into the textile industry. After all, what Ming Dynasty now wants to solve is the employment problem of the people. Before there is any new industry in Jiangnan, rashly promoting the textile industry into the steam age will undoubtedly be a heavy blow to the people in Jiangnan. .

"Whose life is more comfortable, Bohai or Liaodong?"

Zhu Zhanhe became curious, and when the warrior heard this, he said without hesitation: "Of course it's the Bohai Sea."

"There are pastures, large tracts of farmland and various factories in the Bohai Sea. In addition, the population is small. Every household has relatives and relatives of North Korean and Chinese civil and military officials, so it is difficult to live an uncomfortable life."

"After the construction of the Northeast Railway is completed, it is said that construction of the railway from Changchun to Jilin will begin. With the blessing of Bohai Sea transportation and railways, the lives of the people can be imagined."

Zhu Zhanhe nodded after hearing this, and then continued to read the newspaper in silence.

Three hours later, as the train slowly stopped at the station, Zhu Zhanhe and the others also arrived at Tieling Station, which is now the northernmost point of the Northeast Railway.

There are many passengers and merchants coming and going here, mainly selling southern vegetables that are more durable in storage, as well as southern brown sugar, white sugar and other commodities.

After walking out of the train station, they changed carriages and headed north.

Although it is a horse-drawn carriage, since Bohai was the first place to make cement, many official roads in Bohai began to be laid with cement twenty years ago.

Zhu Zhanhe felt this very clearly.

The road from Tieling to Hanzhou is basically an official road with rammed earth road, but after entering Changchun, the rammed earth road instantly turns into a smooth cement road.

The carriage was not too slow on such a concrete road and could travel forty miles per hour. It just needed to change horses after arriving at the inn.

Pastures can be seen everywhere in the Bohai Sea. Large wetland pastures are surrounded by wooden fences. People plant willows next to the fences, so that herds do not dare to cross these fences.

When riding a carriage, occasionally passing by some older horse farms, the sight of hundreds or thousands of horses galloping makes people feel even more thrilling.

Even if the mutton in Jiangnan reaches Fengyang via the Beijing-Beijing Railway, it still costs fifteen cents per catty, but here it only costs twelve cents.

Not only that, some cultivated beef cattle can be slaughtered at will, and the price is even cheaper, about ten yuan per catty.

Even pork is extremely cheap here, the same price as beef, only ten cents.

Such prices are hard to find in Peiping, not to mention Jiangnan.

"When the railway is completed, these cattle and sheep can travel south by train to feed the people in the south!"

Zhu Zhanhe looked at the pasture outside the window in the carriage with a big smile on his face.

Except for the high prices of silk and sugar, the prices of all kinds of commodities in the Bohai Sea seem to be very low.

High labor and low prices are the current situation in Bohai, with cement roads connecting every county and town.

Although he is just a capital secretary, the situation is richer than those places managed by chief envoys. All of this is the result of policy inclination. In the Bohai Sea, there was no need to worry about selling beef, mutton and grain. The imperial court would transport grain from here to Daning, Liaodong and even Peiping every year.

Once the railway is opened to traffic, this place will become Beijing's granary, and nearly one million tons of grain can be shipped out every year to alleviate the food problems of Beijing and Daning.

Here, it is normal for people to wear silk cloth. They are not like the people in the south who worry about wearing out their clothes and go shirtless when working. They don't even bother to change into cloth clothes and just walk around and work in the fields wearing silk clothes.

Although it is only mid-March and the local land is not easy to cultivate, people with nothing to do will still apply for workers and go to work in the mines.

Only when going to the mines would they wear uncomfortable coarse linen clothes.

The price of grain in the Bohai Sea is only two cents per catty, and miners can earn one hundred and twenty cents for a day's work.

If you include wine and meat, then one day of work is enough for a person to eat wine and meat at home for seven or eight days.

Bohai has a population of only 600,000, which is only more than 100,000 households, and there are as many as 40,000 sergeants coming out of here.

In the words of Xichang warriors, that is to capture a random person. Maybe his relative is the commander of a certain guard, or even the commander of the general.

Faced with this phenomenon, Zhu Zhanhe did not sigh, but was slightly worried.

It's just that the policies in Bohai are all formulated by his father, and this is indeed the land of Longxing, so it is normal for the policy to be tilted.

After passing through Changchun City, Changchun, which was in ruins in the past, was built. Now tens of thousands of people live in it, and most of them make a living working in the nearby government-run mines.

After a brief stroll, Zhu Zhanhe went north to Songyuan and arrived at Hechengwei by boat.

When we came here, the prosperity of Bohai Sea gradually faded away.

Crane City Guard has not changed much from a few years ago. The only change may be that more wasteland has been reclaimed.

When Zhu Zhanhe followed Zhu Di on his northern expedition, the cultivated land here could only be cultivated five or six miles outside the city, but now it needs to go eight or nine miles.

This is a good thing, because it means that they are gradually becoming self-sufficient. Except for the need to rely on the Bohai Sea to transport food during operations, they rarely need to transport food from the outside world.

In a few years, I am afraid that food will be able to be stocked here to supply Yan Randusi.

Thinking of this, Zhu Zhanhe quickened his pace and finally arrived at Hailar City in the eastern part of Mobei at the end of March.

This was the residence of Yanran Dusi in the past few years. The soldiers and horses gathered were 1,1200 people in the second guard.

As expected by Zhu Zhanhe, the military status card he received was indeed the chief flag officer, and he would spend a year guarding the border here as a chief flag officer.

"Your Majesty, Your Highness has arrived at Hailar City."

"I saw."

In mid-April, at Yishiha's reminder, Zhu Gaoxu read the letter home from Zhu Zhanhe.

In the letter, Zhu Zhanhe implicitly pointed out the imbalance of development between the Bohai Sea and other places, to which Zhu Gaoxu was helpless.

Although Zhu Zhanhe is twenty-one years old, he has almost no contact with political intrigues.

Bohai is the land of Longxing and the home base of the Bohai Sect. If Bohai cannot be managed well, how can he manage other places?
"This kid is a little naive. I hope that after the border guarding ends and goes south to Yunnan, he can change his attitude."

Zhu Gaoxu commented on Zhu Zhanhe's words, and he nodded and said:
"If these words are heard by the people below, I'm afraid a memorial will be necessary."

Yishiha also knew that his Majesty relied on the basic base of Bohai to implement the New Deal. If Zhu Zhanhe continued to speak unabashedly about Bohai, it would inevitably cause many people to be unhappy.

After all, Zhu Zhanhe was still well protected.

Both Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu had experienced being taught a lesson by Zhu Yuanzhang when they were young, but Zhu Zhanhe did not.

At the age of sixteen, Zhu Di was sent to Fengyang by Zhu Yuanzhang to understand the sufferings of the people. He also married Empress Xu. At the age of twenty, he trained his own bodyguards in the feudal vassal. At the age of thirty, he made a surprise attack on Nai'er Buhua.

Zhu Gaoxu entered Beijing to study at the age of thirteen and was trained by Fu Youde and Feng Sheng. He was coaxed and frightened by Zhu Yuanzhang into changing his temperament, and was targeted by Zhu Yunwen with soft knives.

At the age of fifteen, he went to Bohai to become a vassal and could not rest. He conquered Xiyang Ha, guarded Jixi Pass, and fought bloody battles in Ha Lawu.

At the age of seventeen, he conquered Wuliangha in the north and destroyed Wuliangha Tushan.

At the age of twenty, he launched an army to pacify Nanjing and conquered Nanjing. That is, the prince became the superintendent of the country. At the age of twenty-two, he implemented the Yongle New Deal...

In Yi Shiha's view, his majesty's experience in ancient and modern times is really unparalleled. At the same age, Li Shimin rescued Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty at Yanmen Pass, but his majesty had already destroyed Wuliangha Tushan.

When Li Shimin was defeated in Qianshuiyuan due to illness, his Majesty was already in Liaodong and crossed the sea to capture the two states of Denglai.

When Li Shimin fought fiercely against Song Jingang at Baibi, his Majesty had already conquered Nanjing City and helped his father ascend the throne.

In the past and present, there is no one else who can beat him at the same age. He cannot think of this, and he even thinks that there will never be another one in the future.

It's really embarrassing to compare him with his own prince.

"There won't be any wars in Mobei in the past few years, but it's always better to be on guard. You and Hu Lun will tell Wang Rong and Meng Zhang."

"My slave takes orders" also failed to agree, and at this time the eunuch on duty also sent a memorial.

"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Rites has sent a memorial. Shaharul, the leader of the Timurid Kingdom, has sent his eldest son Ulugh Beg, second son Ibula, third son Beisunhu, fourth son Suyuer and fifth son Ju as envoys to heaven. There are more than 3,000 people in the delegation. Do you want to receive them?”

“When friends come from afar, it’s natural to treat them well.”

Zhu Gaoxu squinted his eyes. He knew very well that this was Shaharu's test of Ming Dynasty's strength, so he said: "Let Cao Guogong entertain the envoy well, and also let the envoy enter Beijing via Hexi, Ningxia, Hetao, and Datong. "

"Your Majesty, please take your orders!" The eunuch on duty retreated, and Yishiha bowed and said, "Your Majesty, this Shaharul's envoy is coming with bad intentions."

"The person who came here is not good, but if he is used well, he can continue to be honest for more than ten years."

Zhu Gaoxu stroked his mustache and said at the same time: "Let them see the imperial government's operations in Gansu, Ningxia, and Hetao, especially let them know about the Northwest Railway, so as to teach them that the Western Regions that Timur can't cross, I can easily Can be determined.”

Zhu Gaoxu's words were not false. As long as Shaharul was not stupid, he should know the strength of sending hundreds of thousands of troops to Hami in half a month.

They have already seen the power of the Ming Dynasty on the sea, this time let them see the power on land.

"The Eastern Chagatai Khanate has gradually deepened its defense against us over the years. It has repeatedly requested tribute over the years. It is obvious that it is observing the movements of the imperial court."

Yi Shiha said: "Once the Northwest Railway is completed, I'm afraid they will turn the blame on the imperial court."

"It would be best to change the situation. If not, how can the court recover the Western Regions?" Zhu Gaoxu stroked his mustache and leaned back in his chair with confidence.

"Only by properly demonstrating strength can we better govern the vassal states under the Celestial Empire, especially those two guys in the Northeast."

Zhu Gaoxu was referring to North Korea and Japan, and they have had a lot of friction in recent times.

"The conflict between North Korea and Japan in Kunlun Island has become more and more serious recently. Both sides have increased their troops three times. Currently, North Korea has 9,000 troops and Japan has 12,000."

"If there is a fight between the two sides, does the court have to take care of it?"

Yi Shiha was asking, Zhu Gaoxu nodded: "It is necessary to take care of it, but it depends on the situation."

"The weak government supports the DPRK, and the weak government supports the Japanese government. Let them focus on Kunlun Island, and the imperial court turns to dumping goods on their homeland."

"I heard that over the past few years, many people from Korea and Japan have fled into Liaodong, hiding their differences?"

"That's right." Yi Shiha nodded.

"This is a good way to make the people of both countries yearn for the Celestial Empire, so that if they become disloyal in the future, the Celestial Empire will be able to deal with them."

Zhu Gaoxu leaned on the chair and Yi Shiha poured tea for him.

After taking a sip of tea, Zhu Gaoxu continued: "The chieftain in Laos is not very stable. If it weren't for the fact that the car cannot supply the army, I would like to start restoring the local land."

The terrain of Laos is mainly plateaus and mountains. Logically speaking, Zhu Gaoxu should not invest troops to renovate the land here, but he cannot resist the fact that the Lancang River (Mekong River) is navigable to the whole country.

With water transportation, the terrain is no longer a problem.

Laos is very rich in mineral resources, and Zhu Gaoxu only remembers coal, copper, gold, silver and other resources.

In later generations, the reason why the local area was poor was mainly due to inconvenient transportation, backward technology, and insufficient funds, so it was impossible to develop enough gold, silver, and copper mines.

Due to terrain problems, the local chieftains basically have little contact, so it is not difficult to capture and assimilate here. After capturing it, the Ming Dynasty will be able to connect Siam, Kampuschi and Champa by sea, and can better control these three vassal states. , and also allow Yunnan to gain access to the Nanyang Sea.

Compared with Laos, the chieftains in places such as Myanmar and Mengyang are more difficult to deal with, and a land and sea attack must be adopted to take care of the local area.

Moreover, because the plain area is relatively large and the local population is relatively large, assimilation is more difficult.

Now that the railway cannot reach Yunnan, the only option is to use sea transportation to move the population for assimilation.

Before the steam engine ships were developed, it was still difficult to attack the local land and sea and migrate a large number of people to assimilate them.

Of course, the main reason was that the Laotian chieftain was disobedient and repeatedly attacked the Ming people in Che Prefecture.

In comparison, the Mengmao War made the chieftains under Luchuan and Burma and other places aware of the strength of the Ming Dynasty, and the larger chieftains were still more deferential to the Ming Dynasty.

As for those small chieftains, Wang Xuan has been leading his troops to deal with them, and one day they will be cleared out completely.

Laos needs to be cleaned up, at least the chieftains north of Vientiane have to return to their old ways, but not now, at least until the balance of payments is balanced in the ten years of Hongxi.

After his thoughts fell, Zhu Gaoxu looked out the window.

Looking at the spring scenery outside the window, Zhu Gaoxu also thought of Zhu Di.

After thinking about it, he still didn't want to let Zhu Di leave on the couch with regret.

"Is the Supreme Emperor still talking about the Northern Expedition these days?"

He asked Yishiha, and Yishiha nodded: "I ask every once in a while, but I always get passed over."

"Prevarication..."

Zhu Gaoxu slowly closed his eyes, as if to rest his mind, but also as if to compromise.

"If the Supreme Emperor asks about the Northern Expedition again, just say that we can start the Northern Expedition after the Northeast Railway is completed..."

(End of this chapter)