Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 499 Brothers and Brothers Respect
"I heard that there were 100,000 people in this military parade."

"So many people? Can we get in line?"

"I don't know about this. Anyway, just go there and take a look."

"Haha, it's hard to come back, but this is what happened as soon as I came back!"

At Beijing East Railway Station, in the noisy and lively train station, Zhu Zhanhe heard many people discussing the military parade.

"Zhan He, walk slower, your uncle and I can't keep up with you."

Zhu Zhanhe's footsteps stopped because of the sound coming from behind him. He turned around and saw his uncle who was pale and panting as he walked.

Carrying a weight of more than 200 kilograms, although Zhu Gaochi was considered tall for this era, he was still out of breath because he did not exercise back then.

Zhu Zhanji and others who were standing beside him supported him, while Zhu Gaosui, who was following behind, walked up and said with a cheerful smile: "Boss, you have spent a lot of energy on women's bellies in recent years."

"Brother is not as good as you. I heard that you have several concubines. The music class given to you by your second brother has almost become your inner courtyard."

Although Zhu Gaochi was very tired, he was still very effective in fighting people.

"Uncles, please stop making so much noise."

Zhu Zhanhe looked at these two living treasures, comforted them with laughter and tears, and together with Zhu Zhanji, he helped Zhu Gaochi out of the train station.
Outside the train station, more than a dozen four-wheeled carriages were waiting eagerly. When they saw Zhu Zhanhe and the others coming out, they immediately stepped forward to pick them up and prepared fans for Zhu Gaochi.

"It's still cooler in the north, much cooler than Yunnan."

The relaxed Zhu Gaochi said this, while the youngest Zhu Zhanli next to him kept fanning him with a fan.

"Should we go see Grandpa You first or where should we go?"

Zhu Gaochi asked Zhu Zhanhe who was riding in the same car. Zhu Zhanhe shook his head and said, "Grandpa has told me to go to Shiwangfang to rest first, and then go to Daming Palace for dinner tomorrow morning."

"Okay, I'm exhausted..." Zhu Gaochi was panting. Looking at his appearance, it felt like he would lose his breath soon.

"Uncle, you need to lose weight now. The doctors in Kunming have said that if you continue to gain weight, it will be difficult to cure."

Zhu Zhanhe kindly reminded him, but Zhu Gaochi waved his hand and said: "Those are all lies. How can people resist this desire for food and drink? Is it still called a desire for food and drink if it can be reached?"

Denying Zhu Gaochi food and drink is no different from killing him.

Although Mrs. Zhang had always been in charge of Zhu Gaochi, the boy had various ways of stealing food. Gradually, Mrs. Zhang could not control Zhu Gaochi, so she could only ask people to give Zhu Gaochi something that would not make him fat.

This matter was reported to the palace last year. After Zhu Gaochi heard about it, he also took the initiative to ask for the recipe from the Han Palace. Then he wrote a recipe book himself and asked someone to send it to Kunming Mansion to Zhu Gaochi.

Zhu Gaochi told Zhu Gaoxu that he was eating according to the recipe, but in fact Zhu Gaochi still went his own way.

Although he was only a vassal king, Zhu Gaochi's dining table was much more exciting than both Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu.

Just last year, Zhu Gaochi consumed 16 beef, 22 sheep, 5 donkeys, and 124 pigs. In addition, he bought 12 roe deer and three roe deer from the north to Yunnan at a high price. Deer, more than 300 pheasants, more than 100 hares...

In addition, there are also seafood sent from Jiaozhi to Kunming on an expedited basis, as well as wild delicacies from Yunnan, etc.

For a single staple food, Zhu Gaochi also requested steamed fragrant rice, steamed glutinous rice, steamed millet, rice porridge, coix porridge, Xiliang rice porridge, etc.

Noodles must include flowers, sweet-scented osmanthus, fruit fillings, oil and sugar, and are subdivided into methods such as leavened noodles, hot noodles, and clear noodles.

Even if Zhu Yuanzhang, Empress Ma, and Empress Xu need to eat vegetarian food these days on their death anniversaries, Zhu Gaochi is also very picky.

For side dishes, only wild bitter bitter roots, bitter leaves, dandelions, asparagus, garlic sprouts, gourds, bitter gourds, celery, wild garlic, etc. are eaten.

Snacks include millet, jujube and bean cakes, millet and millet cakes, barnyard grass, sorghum, moxa juice, miscellaneous beans, alfalfa, elm money, etc.

In addition, every month the people of the palace have to buy all kinds of fruits from all over Yunnan. All the fruits and vegetables that Zheng He brought back from his voyages to the West have to be tasted by him personally. The delicious ones are sprinkled on the mountains. In short, they can be eaten Gotta eat wild.

Although he is obviously so picky, he can still eat so fat, which shows how much he consumes.

“Although it’s cooler here in the north, it’s still not as rich as Yunnan. If you come here, you won’t even find wild vegetables and fruits, let alone any delicacies from the mountains and seas.”

Sitting on the carriage, Zhu Gaochi, who had only shown off a few kilograms of fruit on the train, started talking about eating and drinking again.

Zhu Zhanji sat aside, ashamed, and Zhu Zhanhe also advised: "You should say less, if grandpa sees you..."

"Isn't it just getting scolded..." Zhu Gaochi knew it well. He touched his belly:

"Let me tell you, you have to be thick-skinned. You see how thick-skinned the old man is. He went to the Northern Expedition every time for these five expeditions, but the people are saying that His Majesty forced him to go. Tell me, The old man is so shameless..."

Zhu Gaochi clicked his tongue a few times, and at the same time he praised himself: "It's okay to be scolded. Just watch it tomorrow. The old man will definitely use me as a mouthwash to scold me."

"It's a pity. I have a good attitude. As long as your grandfather can still scold people, then I will be happy. I wish he could scold me for a few more years until he is a hundred years old."

He smiled cheerfully, and that was indeed what he was thinking.

Maybe for Zhu Zhanhe and Zhu Zhanji, they really don't understand why they are willing to be scolded, but for Zhu Gaochi, if Zhu Di can scold him until he is a hundred years old, then he will be very happy.

If you can curse until you are a hundred years old, you can live to be a hundred years old.

For Zhu Gaochi, besides what he worries about every day, the only thing he worries about every day is Zhu Di's body.

Zhu Di was already sixty-six years old. He summoned Zhu Gaochi this time. Zhu Gaochi also wanted to persuade him not to go to the northern expedition. He was worried that something would happen to Zhu Di during the northern expedition, resulting in the father and son not being able to see each other for the last time.

He also knew that he couldn't stop it, but he still had to say it.

"Your Highness, Your Majesty summons His Highness the King of Han and His Highness the King of Zhao to enter the palace."

Suddenly, a voice sounded outside the carriage, and Zhu Zhanhe looked at Zhu Gaochi after hearing the words.

Zhu Gaochi nodded, and Zhu Zhanhe responded: "I know, let's change the route."

"Yes!" After hearing this, the carriage began to change its route and headed towards Xihua Gate.

At this time, Zhu Gaochi opened the car window. Outside the car window, he could see the wide roads in Beijing, as well as the bustle and bustle of people.

"How many people are there in Beijing now?"

"Almost 760,000."

Zhu Gaochi asked, Zhu Zhanhe answered, and the number he got made Zhu Gaochi couldn't help but click his tongue.

"I heard that my father is planning to expand the city of Beijing, but this time he will not build a city wall, but use houses as a city wall. The circumference is about 120 miles, which is slightly smaller than Nanjing."

"Also, I heard that this time a railway will be built that will go around the entire city of Beijing. I don't know if that's true."

Zhu Zhanhe told the news about the expansion of Beijing. Zhu Gaochi clicked his tongue when he heard the words: "Your father is really rich, but didn't I hear that the treasury has no money?"

"It's just that my father was reluctant to use the treasury." Zhu Zhanhe responded with a chuckle. After hearing this, Zhu Gaochi said nothing more and changed the subject to chat with Zhu Zhanhe about his interesting things in Longchuan.

When he learned that sugar cane and durian could be grown in Longchuan, his mouth began to water.

It has been twenty years since Zheng He brought back durian. Not many people like to eat this fruit, but Zhu Gaochi happens to be one of the few.

Therefore, after hearing the news, Zhu Gaochi said to Zhu Zhanji: "Zhanji, you have to remember this for dad. When you get back, let someone go to Longchuan to get some durians to eat."

"Isn't there one in Jiaozhi too?" Zhu Zhanhe asked curiously. When Zhu Gaochi heard this, he smiled and said:

"Every place has its own taste. I will taste the difference between Longchuan, Jiaozhi, and Nanyang durians."

Saying this, Zhu Gaochi couldn't help but look forward to it.

As he was looking forward to it, the carriage also slowly stopped, which also meant that they had arrived at the Xihua Gate of the Forbidden City.

More than a dozen people from the two families got off the bus one after another. Although Zhu Gaosui was lustful, he had relatively few heirs.

Thirteen of the sixteen boys were born to Zhu Gaochi, and the remaining three were born to Zhu Gaosui.

In addition, the three sons born to Zhu Gaosui were all frail and sickly. Last year, a cold wind almost killed the fifteen-year-old Zhao Shizi Zhu Zhanqi.

If Zhu Gaoxu hadn't equipped Prince Zhao's Mansion with doctors with superb medical skills, Zhu Zhanping would have died.

Because of this, Zhu Zhan'an, Zhu Zhanyao, and Zhu Zhanpei of Prince Zhao's Mansion were all very thin, as if they would fall down if the wind blew.

When Zhu Gaojiu came to Beijing this time, in addition to attending the family dinner, he also wanted to ask Zhu Gaojiu to send an imperial doctor to diagnose his three sons.

When everyone got out of the car, they saw hundreds of people standing beside more than a dozen walking carriages waiting for them.

"Your Majesty has a decree, please come to the throne!"

When Hong Bao, the eunuch of the outer court, sang, Zhu Gaochi and others had no choice but to bite the bullet and ride on the chariot.

Hundreds of people carried them to the Forbidden City and then to the Wuying Hall after a detour.

Since there are mostly children, it can be a bit noisy.

Wang Hui in Wuying Palace frowned when he heard the noisy noise.

When he stood up and looked outside the palace, he saw more than ten people riding in carriages. He then sat down and spoke to Xu Shuo, Yang Rong and others around him: "The prince, the king of Han and the king of Zhao are here."

Hearing this, the five ministers stood up one after another, waiting for Zhu Zhanhe and the others to step into the palace and salute: "I will see you, Your Highness..."

Since he is either a prince or a prince, the title "Your Highness" is enough.

"What a huge palace!"

“That big spot up there looks so grand!”

"Hey, hey, you can't talk about that casually. That's where His Majesty can sit."

Seeing the appearance of his sons, Zhu Gaochi quickly explained.

"Shut up!" Zhu Zhanji frowned and said, and in an instant all the dozen brothers shut their mouths.

For a moment, Wuying Hall became quiet, and footsteps could be heard in the side hall.

In just a breath, a figure bypassed the screen of the side hall and appeared directly in front of everyone.

"My lord, please see your Majesty..."

In an instant, everyone bowed and bowed. Zhu Gaoxu was wearing a silver-white round-neck robe. He did not wear a Yishan crown on his head, but was simply tied with a jade crown.

"Be flat!"

His voice was deep and majestic, and his whole body was tall and straight. Even if it was the first time for the children in the Han Palace to see him, they couldn't help but lower their voices.

"Boss, why are you so fat?"

As soon as Zhu Gaoxu opened his mouth, Zhu Gaochi couldn't help but roll his eyes in his heart, thinking that you, a guy with thick eyebrows and big eyes, also started to say that about me.

On the face of it, Zhu Gaochi still smiled awkwardly and said: "Kunming is a good place. There are fruits and vegetables all year round. It is inevitable that I will gain weight."

"Dad, seeing you like this, I'm afraid you will be scolded again." Zhu Gaochi shook his head helplessly, and he knew at a glance that Zhu Gaochi did not follow the recipe he gave him.

"Go to the side hall and sit down first. I'll call someone from the Taiyuan Hospital to auscultate you."

Zhu Gaoxu motioned for them to go to the side hall opposite, where he had people specially set up a place to temporarily entertain the two families.

He took the lead towards the side hall, and Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaosui followed closely with their children.

When they walked into the palace, Yang Rong could not help but sigh: "It has only been a few years, but we have so many heirs."

"No problem, Zonglu has already been restructured, and having more children or fewer children has nothing to do with the court." Yang Pu withdrew his gaze, and Wang Hui and others also withdrew their gaze and sat down, continuing to deal with the mountain of memorials.

While they were quietly processing the memorial, the side hall was full of seats, and Zhu Gaoxu looked at Zhu Zhanxi and other three princes from Prince Zhao's palace.

In the case of the three of them, even with his shallow medical skills, he could tell that they were suffering from congenital diseases, otherwise they would not be so thin.

However, he didn't say much. He just chatted with Zhu Gaochi and others: "Are you still used to living in Kunming and Changsha now?"

"Kunming is very good, but the feudal lord is used to it." Zhu Gaochi smiled happily. For him, a place with fruits, wild vegetables and delicacies from the mountains all year round is a good place.

"Changsha is too hot and muggy, and the Xiangjiang River often floods. Even my Prince Zhao's Mansion was flooded once."

Compared with Zhu Gaochi, Zhu Gaosui was a little dissatisfied with his vassal territory.

However, Zhu Gaoxu also comforted him by saying, "The Xiangjiang River is already under management and will stabilize in a few years. As for the sweltering heat, we can only store more ice in the palace's icehouse."

Although there were no refrigerators in ancient times, the Han people had a long history of using military force in summer. By the Song and Ming dynasties, there were even merchants specializing in selling ice and vendors making ice drinks.

They take the ice during the coldest period of winter, transport it to a designated icehouse, and seal the icehouse directly with yellow mud, masonry, and the like.

Because ice is not used in spring, you have to wait until the hottest days of summer to open the cellar to get ice.

After the icehouse is opened, the ice in the icehouse will be sold out quickly, even if it is sold at a low price, because after the air outside the icehouse enters the icehouse, the ice in the icehouse will melt faster and faster. If it is not If used up in a short period of time, all the ice will turn into water.

This is why ancient emperors always rewarded ministers with ice cubes in the summer. Because there was too much ice in the royal ice inventory, the emperor could not use up tens of thousands of kilograms of ice cubes, so it was better to be a favor.

Zhu Gaoxu rarely rewards ministers with ice cubes, because after the advent of cement, building an icehouse is not as expensive as before.

Spending a few dollars is enough to build an icehouse at home that can hold tens of thousands of kilograms.

"I heard that there are people in Liaodong, Beizhili, and Shandong who sell ice cubes to go abroad. Is this true?"

Zhu Gaochi suddenly asked Zhu Gaoxu. This question seemed like a fantasy, but it was true.

As ice storage became more popular, more and more people harvested ice in winter, and many even started an ocean-going ice business.

Hundreds of thousands of kilograms of ice are stored from winter to summer, then loaded onto ships at night and transported thousands of miles across the ocean to countries in North Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia, India, and Arabia.

This sounds incredible, but it actually exists in history.

Historically, at the beginning of the country's founding, the United States relied on selling ice across oceans to earn foreign exchange.

Since Europe had begun its first industrial revolution at that time and many rivers were polluted, many countries in Europe imported ice from the United States.

They believe that American lake water is pollution-free and relatively pure, so they would rather buy ocean ice than buy ice sold by domestic ice harvesters.

Before steamships were commonplace, the United States was shipping ice from North America to Europe, the Middle East, and India.

Of the three tons of ice shipped to India, less than one-third melted.

"It is indeed true. A piece of ice worth 100 kilograms in Beizhili sells for only 200 Wen. It is sold to North Korea for 300 Wen, to Japan for 400 Wen, to Nanyang to 600 Wen, and in Tianzhu, Hezhong, and Persia, the price is even higher. ”

Zhu Gaojiu nodded and admitted. After hearing this, Zhu Gaosui said: "Didn't the imperial court prohibit Ming Dynasty from doing business in East and Southeast Asia?"

As soon as he said these words, Zhu Zhanji looked at his father, but saw that Zhu Gaochi remained silent. Apparently he had guessed what his second uncle was planning to do.

"Haha, we have to give them some way to survive after all." Zhu Gaoxu chuckled.

Although the Ming Dynasty did not allow people to do business in the East and Southeast, they usually used the excuse that cargo ships needed to be counterweighted, otherwise the empty ships could not withstand strong winds and waves to sell ice.

Zhu Gaoxu was well aware of this matter, but he chose to turn a blind eye.

After more than ten years of development of maritime trade, there are now only 16 surviving private merchant gangs. Therefore, whatever goods they sell, the Ming Dynasty can easily detect and punish them.

There was nothing wrong with selling ice cubes, but once you sold some commodities that were closely related to the imperial court's finances, you would face the fate of being deprived of your trading qualifications.

During this period when the imperial court was strong, no business gang dared to do such a thing.

It can even be said that when Zhu Gaoxu asked them to sell ice cubes, they were just fishing.

Once they felt that selling ice would not be discovered by the court and turned to selling other products, that was when Zhu Gaoxu took action.

At least one of these sixteen large merchant gangs had a fortune of more than one million yuan, which was enough for Zhu Di to fight in the north for two months, and enough to build a railway of more than 200 miles.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu hoped that these people would be bolder.

His thoughts were guessed by Zhu Gaochi when Zhu Gaosui asked about the problem, but he chose to act dumb and remain silent.

It is not a good thing for him to show a certain political ability.

The Bohai generals did not attack him not because of kindness, but because of his common sense.

If he had shown some political talent and tried to compete with Zhu Gaoxu for the throne, he probably would not have survived the Yongle period.

Pretending to be dumbfounded was the only way he could survive to this day.

"Actually, according to this statement, can this ice cube be sold to the northwest?"

Zhu Gaosui's eyes flickered. Zhu Gaochi guessed what he was thinking when he saw this, and quickly interrupted: "Haha, whether this ice cube can be sold is also a matter of the court and has nothing to do with us."

"Why doesn't it matter?" Zhu Gaosui still has zero political acumen, and has even lost his vigilance due to years of comfortable life.

He seemed to have forgotten Zhu Gaoxu's kick back then, and actually said: "Second brother, can I do this business of selling ice cubes?"

"You want to do it?" Zhu Gaojiu looked at him with a smile, and Zhu Gaojiu actually nodded.

"A small salary is indeed not enough. Although you have given me enough, second brother, it is not that I am not allowed to purchase land now. I can only manage the farmland issued by the court."

"Thousands of acres of farmland only generates an income of more than 1,000 guan per year, which is not even enough to maintain the palace."

Seeing that Zhu Gaosui actually dared to negotiate terms, Zhu Gaochi felt that this guy had shit in his head.

Zhu Gaoxu's control over the clan was very strict. Although he seemed to rarely take action against the clan, when he did he was irresistible.

Not long after Chu King Zhu Zhen died of illness, only one of his guards was reduced to one by Zhu Gaoxu.

In addition, the guards of King Qin and King Jin were also cut down by him for various reasons.

Zhu Jixi and Zhu Shangbing may not be afraid of Zhu Di, but they must be afraid of Zhu Gaoxu. After all, they were often pushed to the ground and hammered by Zhu Gaoxu in the main hall.

Facing the situation where Zhu Gaoxu wanted to deal with them, it was difficult for them to have any means of resistance. It was obvious that they had a psychological shadow on Zhu Gaoxu.

Therefore, compared with Zhu Di's ups and downs in dealing with Qin and Jin in history, Zhu Gaoxu's deal with them can be said to be taken away in one wave.

Now Zhu Jixi and Zhu Shangbing are very honest in Xi'an and Taiyuan. They are afraid that if they cause any trouble, Zhu Gaoxu will order to change the vassal status, or directly depose them to common people.

Even Qi King Zhu Shu, who was dissatisfied when Zhu Di ruled the world, is now not honest after suffering dozens of blows from Zhu Gaoxu.

It can be said that except for the ordinary people and the more straightforward officials who were happy when Zhu Gaoxu became emperor, the rest were not very happy, but they had nothing to do.

Seeing Zhu Gaoxu doing better and better, the feeling was even worse than killing them.

It seems that they are now left with only one choice: to boil Zhu Gaoxu to death, or to be boiled to death by Zhu Gaoxu.

"Actually, I've been thinking about it in the past few years. I feel that although the salary given to you is high, you reproduce children very quickly, so I'm wondering whether I should let you do some things."

"Second brother, it has to be you!"

As soon as Zhu Gaojiu opened his mouth, Zhu Gaojiu immediately flattered him, while Zhu Gaochi was shocked by his words.

Based on his familiarity with his second brother, he would eat whatever was delicious for himself. His attitude towards the feudal king was exactly the same as his attitude toward the officials. How could he let the feudal king eat well?

"I was recently looking at the Shandian Mine on the map of Kunlun Continent, so I discovered a relatively large gold mine vein."

"Therefore, I am wondering whether to let the vassals go to Kunlun Continent to mine gold mines..."

As soon as Zhu Gaoxu spoke, Zhu Gaochi calmed down. Sure enough, the second child was still the same second child. This thing was in the soil thousands of miles away. If you want to eat it, you have to spend money. His second brother probably wanted the vassal king to open up wasteland. Then take over directly.

"No, I can't be taken advantage of..."

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaochi smiled and said: "This matter is naturally good, but I am weak and sick, and Zhanji has to take care of me, so we will not get involved in this matter."

"I'll do it!" Zhu Gaosui's head started to heat up, thinking that the boss was really a fool, not even trying to fight for the gold mines.

"Haha..." Zhu Gaoxu chuckled, glanced at the boss meaningfully, and then continued:
"I will draw up the regulations for this matter. Whether it can be done or not depends on the consent of many uncles and brothers."

"It shouldn't take too long, just the past two years."

After Zhu Gaoxu finished speaking, before he could continue, he saw the eunuch on duty bowing at the door of the side hall:
"Your Majesty, the imperial doctor from the Imperial Hospital is here."

"Xuan!" Zhu Gaoxu responded, then looked at Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaosui:
"Okay, let's see a doctor first. I see that both of you don't look right. You might as well go to the imperial doctor for a checkup..."

(End of this chapter)