Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 501 The Emperor orders troops
"If you say that again, get out!"

In the Wanshou Palace, Zhu Di was helpless when faced with his eldest son's shamelessness.

These sons couldn't be beaten and scolded, and there was nothing he could do.

"Okay boss, dad knows it himself."

Seeing the old man being rendered speechless by the boss's shamelessness, Zhu Gaoxu could only stand up and defend the old man.

"Now that there is a railway, dad does not necessarily have to go to the front line in person during this northern expedition. Why are you anxious?"

Zhu Gaoxu didn't believe what he said, but he still had to say it in order to excuse himself.

After he said that, Guo Yan quickly spoke and urged: "Everyone is on the table, why hasn't lunch been served yet?"

"Pass the meal!" Wang Yan said quickly, and in an instant, plates of delicious food were served on the table.

Dishes such as shark tendon, fried rake goose, steamed pig's trotters, roasted goose and sheep's head and hooves, and mutton crystal dumplings were brought to the table.

Imperial wines such as lotus stamens, Hantanxiang, Qiulubai, golden stem dew, Taixibai and other royal wines were also placed in front of everyone in pots and bottles.

Zhu Gaochi, who originally wanted to argue, immediately forgot about his father's expedition after seeing the food and wine, and began to devour.

The delicious food made him forget to continue eating. Zhu Di saw that he was eating well. Although he felt a lot quieter, he still motioned to Wang Yan to remind him to eat less later.

A family dinner was nothing more than a discussion of family affairs. As for government affairs and the like, if Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu didn't speak, naturally no one would mention them.

Since he still needed to meet with envoys from various countries in the afternoon, Zhu Gaoxu took the lead in returning to the Forbidden City after lunch.

On the eve of the military parade, he had a lot to do, especially meeting kings and envoys from various countries, mediating conflicts among some vassal countries, and communicating on some diplomatic matters.

For example, soon after he returned to the Bueiden Palace, Song Li, the Minister of Rites, arranged a meeting for him with the King of Japan, Ashikaga Yoshitsugu.

"The Yisi bows to Your Majesty, Your Majesty, long live, long live, long live..."

The thirty-two-year-old Ashikaga Yoshitsugu knelt on the ground and bowed respectfully.

If there is any country that listens to the Ming Dynasty's instructions the most at the moment, it is undoubtedly Japan in the hands of Ashikaga Yoshitsugu. Even North Korea can hardly catch up with this.

Li Di, who lost the Ming Dynasty, would at best fall into an internal struggle for power, but Ashikaga Yoshitsune, who lost the Ming Dynasty, would probably be beheaded and exterminated.

As the guy who cut off the thousand-year inheritance of the Emperor of Japan, Ashikaga Yoshitsugu can survive until now not because of how powerful his methods are, but because the two guards and horses stationed on the sea and land of Japan are enough to intimidate the guardians and samurai all over Japan.

Even so, Ashikaga Yoshitsugu was often assassinated by some samurai. Because of this, his life was very depressed.

Japan's tribute period was limited to once every three years by Zhu Gaoxu. Every time the tribute was paid, Ashikaga Yoshitsugu personally led the team as the king.

He knew very well what made him secure the throne, so he always accepted Ming's orders without hesitation, even if he was reviled by the people in the country.

Zhu Gaoxu was very satisfied with his loyalty, but he was satisfied. This did not mean that he was not wary of Ashikaga Yoshitsugu.

The Japanese environment has created the contradictory character of the Japanese people. This character has affected them for thousands of years, and it is not easy to change.

"Give me a seat!"

"Thank you, His Majesty the Emperor, for granting me a seat. May your Majesty live forever!"

Zhu Gaoxu opened his mouth to offer a seat, and two eunuchs on duty brought chairs. Although Ashikaga Yoshitsugu was only five feet tall, he was at best short for the Ming Dynasty and could not be considered a dwarf.

His height was due to eating non-vegetarian food throughout his adolescence in the Imperial College. Compared with him, his brothers and brothers looked very short.

Because of this, Ashikaga Yoshitsugu is also known as the "Giant King" in Japan.

To the Japanese people, the five-foot-tall Ashikaga Yoshitsugu is enough to be called a giant, while the Ming army is called the Heavenly Soldiers and Heavenly Generals.

"Why do you want to see me?"

Zhu Gaoxu sat relaxedly on the chair, while Ashikaga Yoshitsugu sat upright, fearing that his sitting posture was not correct.

"Japan has always admired the culture of my father's country, so I would like to hire some gentlemen to go to Japan to spread Chinese studies. I ask my father's permission!"

Ashikaga Yoshitsugu confessed his thoughts, and Zhu Gaoxu narrowed his eyes after hearing this.

He knew very well what Ashikaga Yoshitsugu had in mind. He just wanted to send envoys to the Tang Dynasty like he did during the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and learn one technique after another from the Ming Dynasty.

"Who are you going to hire?"

Zhu Gaoxu didn't have an attack, he just asked him calmly.

"I hope..."

"Forget it" Zhu Gaoxu interrupted Ashikaga Yoshitsugu and said directly:

"Since we call the Celestial Kingdom our father's country, I will follow the trend and send some gentlemen to Japan to teach Confucianism!"

"Confucianism..." Upon hearing Zhu Gaoxu's words, the smile on Ashikaga Yoshitsugu's face froze instantly.

What he wanted was not Confucianism, but unfortunately it was not whether he wanted it or not, but whether Zhu Gaoxu wanted it or not.

Japan's actions over the years are all in Zhu Gaoxu's eyes. According to the intelligence collected by Xichang in Japan, Japan has actually smuggled many expelled elementary school teachers from the Ming Dynasty.

After these teachers went to Japan, they spread Chinese culture and knowledge there, and Ashikaga Yoshitsugu also used them to open the "Taishou Pavilion", an official school directly under the shogunate.

There are more than 100 teachers and more than 2,000 students in this Taishou Pavilion, and this is already the largest number of full-time students that Ashikaga Yoshitsugu can train.

The teacher he wants now is nothing more than a teacher from Daming Middle School.

The annual salary of teachers in these middle schools is as high as 50 kuen, and they are strictly prohibited from leaving the school area. It is very difficult for Ashikaga Yishitugu to start.

Because of this, he wanted to get Zhu Gaoxu's approval to hire some teachers to go to Japan.

However, his wishful thinking failed. Zhu Gaoxu knew very well what the vassal states under his rule were like, and he was even more aware of their complicated psychology towards the Ming Dynasty.

Middle schools involve too much knowledge. Zhu Gaoxu used militarized management of middle schools in order to slow down the spread of knowledge in middle schools.

Ashikaga Yoshitsugu wanted to get the textbooks he compiled with just a few words. This Ashikaga Yoshitsugu was really whimsical.

"Okay, is there anything else?"

Zhu Gaoxu asked Ashikaga Yoshitsugu. Seeing that he was rejected, Ashikaga Yoshitsugu did not dare to make any more requests. He quickly knelt down and kowtowed to indicate that it was okay.

"Just step back if you have nothing to do."

Waving his hand, Zhu Gaoxu lowered his head and started processing the memorial.

Ashikaga Yoshitsugu left the Wuying Palace under the guidance of a frustrated Zai Shiha, and Zhu Gaoxu also threw the ink pen on the table after he left: "The Japanese are repeated, which is very despicable."

"What your Majesty said is true." Yishuha bowed and saluted, and Zhu Gaoxu hummed softly after hearing the words:
"This is the first vassal country that has come to ask for your help in the past few days?"

"The eighteenth..." Yi Shiha answered. Zhu Gaoxu nodded after hearing this, but didn't care.

With the size of the Ming Dynasty, only the Ming Dynasty ate meat, and the vassal countries drank soup. It was absolutely impossible to have the situation of Britain, France and Spain where many people ate meat.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu asked: "After the Dongzhou Three Kingdoms visited the two capitals these days, have there been any changes?"

"More humble, but the leader of the Southern Kingdom still hates the imperial court." Yi Shiha said, and Zhu Gaoxu didn't take it seriously and said:

"Since there is hatred, then send him to see his father. What Ming Dynasty needs is an obedient Southern Kingdom."

Although it is a bit cruel, no matter how the times change, the law of the jungle and the strong will never change.

He only penetrated the southern country culturally and absorbed resources, but those people in Europe almost wiped them out.

Thinking of Europe, Zhu Gaoxu asked: "How is the penetration of Xichang in Lumi Kingdom (Ottoman)?"

Facing the inquiry, Yi Shiha showed a smile on his face:

"It has penetrated in. Lumi Kingdom has also known about the existence of the imperial court for a long time and is happy to trade with us."

"But now there is no port in Lumi Country that can do business with us directly in Xiaoxiyang. They can only trade with us through the trade routes of Michel and White Sheep and Black Sheep."

"Hu Ji also wrote a memorial for this, believing that in order to trade with the imperial court in the future, Rumi would inevitably go to war with Michel, Aries, Black Sheep and even Timur."

Hu Ji's judgment was quite accurate. Osman did go to war with the Mamluks after becoming stronger, but that was a long time later.

Before the 16th century, there was no doubt that the center of the world was in the Central Plains. Even in the 16th, 17th and even 18th centuries, East Asia and Europe were the two poles of the world.

It was not until the 19th century that Europe gradually became the center of the world, and finally established its position as the center of the world through the Opium War.

The maritime trade surplus that the Central Plains had maintained for thousands of years was broken, and the vassal system was slowly destroyed.

It is enough that such a thing only exists in Zhu Gaoxu's mind.

"If Lu fans know about the imperial court, then countries in the more western countries will definitely know about it."

Zhu Gaoxu judged according to common sense: "It is very likely that they will know about Kunlun Xuanwei Division, and they may even know about Beizhou and Dongzhou."

"Zhang Chun and Jiang Gui must be well prepared, and the Kunlun Xuanwei Division must also be well prepared."

"The Little Western Trade is not a trading system that other countries can join at will. Only by becoming a vassal of the imperial court can you be qualified to sail in this sea area."

After giving the instructions, Zhu Gaoxu lowered his head and processed the memorial in his hand.

At the same time, the eunuch on duty at the gate of the side hall also sang a salute: "Your Majesty, Xu Xueshi wants to see you."

"Xuan!" Zhu Gaoxu responded, and within a few breaths he saw Xu Shuo leading two officials into the side hall, each holding a tray of memorials in their hands.

Although it looks scary, Zhu Gaoxu can review it very quickly because it has been processed.

"Your Majesty, this is the official rating report for this year. In addition, this is the report submitted by the Ministry of Personnel based on the official rating. You need to read and approve it personally."

Xu Shuo bowed respectfully and then presented the two memorials to Zhu Gaoxu.

Yi Shiha took it and put it on the table. Zhu Gaoxu opened the official rating report.

The performance evaluation of local officials is graded by the Civil Service Department, and promotion or demotion is a process. Those who can be written and submitted by the Civil Service Department in memorials are basically the names of officials above the seventh rank, and only Class A and Class D officials are considered. appear on this.

A-level representatives can be promoted, while D-level representatives can be demoted or dismissed.

After Zhu Gaoxu opened the memorial, it was arranged according to rank and merit.

This year, there are about 100 officials who have been promoted to Grade A, but there are more than 500 officials who have been rated as Grade D and are waiting to be demoted or dismissed.

More than 600 people have their achievements and detailed achievements of the past three years written on their backs. It seems like a waste of time to look through them. Zhu Gaoxu waved his hand and said nothing, but Yi Shiha nodded clearly, and then motioned to Xu Shuo and the others to go out to manage politics first.

It took him two hours from sending off Ashikaga Yoshitsugu to reading the memorials of Li Ke, which was the result of his relatively fast reading speed.

For others, it would have taken at least a whole day to read this memorial, or compare two memorials to decide whether Zhu Pi agreed.

Zhu Gaoxu doesn't have to be so troublesome, because he has a very good memory, just like the legendary memory camera.

Putting down the memorials of the Ministry of Personnel, Zhu Gaoxu began to read the memorials of the Ministry of Personnel.

It was already dusk at this time, and Yishiha stepped forward and bowed: "Your Majesty, have dinner first, and then go back to Qianqing Palace to rest and deal with it later."

Zhu Gaoxu shook his head, carefully looked at the memorial from the Ministry of Officials, and explained while reading: "This matter cannot be delayed, it must be implemented early."

"You can ask someone to make some and send it over. I can eat it here. I will also send some to the bachelors."

"Yes..." Yishiha reluctantly agreed. Zhu Gaoxu also picked up the ink pen and carefully read the memorial in the dusk.

After a while, it got dark, but the candlelight allowed him to deal with the memorial.

In the album, he found many familiar names, such as Jiang Huai, Lu Yu, Zhang Bohai, as well as historical celebrities such as Yu Qian, Kuang Ye, Wang Zhi, and Shi Pu.

Based on Zhu Gaoxu's experience, he no longer simply believes in the merits and demerits in history books. He can accept them, but he will not be partial to them.

Now he only looks at ability and merit, and these people have undoubtedly proven their ability once again.

For them, Zhu Gaoxu chose Zhu Pi for promotion without much hesitation. For the rest, he stayed up until midnight (23 o'clock) to finish the Zhu Pi review.

Since he did not leave, Xu Shuo and the others in the palace did not dare to leave, so they waited until he finished reviewing the memorials and walked out of Wuying Hall before Xu Shuo and the others relaxed.

The palace gate has been closed, and they can only spend one night in Wuying Palace.

The next day, Shen Guogong Wang Yi rarely put on the uniform of a military attache, and went to Wuying Hall with Chen Chang holding two memorials.

Compared with the achievements of civilian officials, which require multiple investigations, the achievements of military attachés appear to be very easy to investigate.

There were more than 20,000 military attaches in the Ming Dynasty. This year, more than 2,700 people were promoted. Among them, those who need Zhu Gaoxu's nod are military attaches with a thousand households and above. The military positions of such military attaches are usually very stable, so they only need his approval. More than a hundred people.

Sitting in the main seat, Zhu Gaoxu was reading the memorials, while Chen Chang and Wang Yi, who were sitting in the hall, pretended to be busy and looked around the hall.

Since the last time they interceded for Richard and others, they unconsciously felt guilty and embarrassed when they saw Zhu Gaoxu.

Restless is the best way to describe them now.

Compared with them, Zhu Gaoxu's thoughts were mainly on military affairs.

There were more than a hundred military attachés, but Zhu Gaoxu still found a few more eye-catching names among them.

"Liu Yongcheng, Fang Zheng, Zhu Yong, Mao Zhong, Cao Yi..."

Looking at these names, Zhu Gaoxu's eyes lit up.

Although he would not rely on history books, these names were still somewhat familiar to him.

Zhu Yong is Zhu Neng's son, and Zhu Gaoxu knows this. However, although Zhu Yong is brave, in history, because Zhu Neng died too early, he did not have someone to train him. If he had not led the cavalry to a disastrous defeat at Yao'erling, he would have been defeated first. With his hands, Zhu Qizhen could retreat with his horse power even if he was surrounded.

Of course, Zhu Gaoxu would not blame the whole Yaoerling defeat on him. After all, Zhu Yong was controlled by the eunuch sent by Zhu Qizhen at that time. If he did not save the eunuch who was ambushed, it would be difficult for him to return to Beijing alive.

As for Fang Zheng, although he is not particularly famous, Zhu Gaoxu remembers his son Fang Ying.

Fang Ying became famous at a young age. It can be said that he participated in all the wars in the southwest during the Zhengtong, Jingtai, and Tianshun years. He was one of the few people in the mid-Ming Dynasty who was awarded the title of marquis for military merit.

The remaining Mao Zhong and Cao Yi, both well-known generals in the Zhengtong years, also attacked the Ming Dynasty in four groups. The two effectively resisted and counterattacked. At the same time, Cao Yi also rushed to the capital behind the Tumu Fort. Their military exploits were not outstanding, but That's enough.

But it was Liu Yongcheng at the end. When he saw his name, Zhu Gaoxu thought he had made a mistake.

Liu Yongcheng in his memory was a eunuch, and he was an eunuch of the Six Dynasties who was capable of both literary and military skills.

In the hearts of the eunuchs in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, Liu Yongcheng and Zheng He had a high status, and Liu Yongcheng was also respectfully called "Liu Mahou" by the eunuchs.

Zhu Gaoxu thought he had made a mistake, but he took a look and found that Liu Yongcheng's military exploits recorded on it were indeed good, and he was from Beizhili and joined the army to fight during the Jing Dynasty.

"Yishiha, is there a eunuch named Liu Yongcheng in the palace?"

Zhu Gaoxu asked Yi Shiha, and Yi Shiha shook his head: "I haven't heard of it."

"Yes, I understand." After hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu no longer hesitated and praised these people for their promotion.

After doing all this, Zhu Gaoxu turned his attention to Wang Yi and Chen Chang, who were restless. The two of them stood up one after another the moment they felt the gaze.

"It's done, let's do it."

Zhu Gaoxu said businesslikely. Wang Yi and Chen Chang sighed in their hearts after hearing this. After bowing, they took the memorial and exited Wuying Palace.

Looking at their lonely backs, Yi Shiha couldn't help but feel sad and said: "Your Majesty..."

"Stop it." Zhu Gaoxu didn't want to discuss the previous affairs between him and the Bohai general, so Yishiha could only shut his mouth when he saw this.

Time passed little by little, and as June 20th arrived as scheduled, the whole of Beizhili became lively because of the military parade in the capital.

At the sound of morning bells in the early morning, all the city gates in Beijing opened one after another, and people filing out in order to catch up early.

The troops who left the city in advance had already maintained order at the scene, but they underestimated the enthusiasm of the people to watch the excitement.

Nearly 200,000 people rushed to the military parade. Except for the seats for the envoys from various countries, the rest of the seats were occupied. It is not an exaggeration to say that there were people crowded and people sitting there.

Fortunately, the construction quality of the parade platform is good. Otherwise, if so many people rushed up at once, the parade platform would probably collapse due to some vibrations.

An hour passed in an instant, and the people gradually calmed down.

"Add more guards and draw them from several city gates!"

Chen Chang, who was responsible for guarding the entire security work, gave an order with a cold face, and the generals quickly dispatched troops and horses to strengthen the security work on site.

The Daming Gate was controlled, and under the gaze of nearly 200,000 soldiers and civilians, luxurious four-wheeled carriages appeared in their sights.

The most conspicuous one is a large carriage pulled by two elephants.

"Roar!!"

When the elephant appeared, the originally quiet scene immediately became lively.

The sound of the roaring mountains and the tsunami made Zhu Di, who was sitting on the big train, smile from ear to ear. Zhu Gaoxu, who was sitting next to him, also smiled.

"So many people..."

"There are more people than there are in our country..."

"It must be hundreds of thousands, right?"

"More than that, at least hundreds of thousands!"

"I think there are at least a million people!"

As the saying goes, once you pass by, there is no limit, and the miles-long military parade gives people the illusion that you can't see the edge at a glance.

In the eyes of envoys from various countries, this was the largest military parade they had ever seen. The Ming Dynasty's national power was undoubtedly demonstrated at this moment.

You must know that when they just drove out of the city, there were many people on both sides of the road.

In other words, hundreds of thousands of people are inside the city and hundreds of thousands of people are outside the city. This is the center of the world...the foundation of Beijing.

Not to mention some small countries, even the kings and envoys of Japan, North Korea, Tamerlane, Michel, Nanguo and other countries who considered themselves big countries could not help but feel shocked.

"The military parade hasn't even started yet, but these people are already scared, haha..."

Zhu Di's hearty laughter echoed in Zhu Gaoxu's ears, and Zhu Gaoxu also touched his mustache:

"When all nations come to pay homage, the two saints ride together in the same carriage... This should be a story for the ages!"

Zhu Gaoxu's words made Zhu Di laugh even more heartily, and he was increasingly looking forward to the upcoming military parade.

The large coat pulled by the elephant arrived in front of a specially built military parade platform at a higher altitude under the spotlight of everyone.

Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu were helped out of the car, and Zhu Gaoxu turned sideways and signaled: "Elders please go first!"

"Okay, you're welcome then!" Zhu Di did not refuse and happily brought out my self-proclaimed name.

They walked up to the seven-foot-high platform, which was like a pyramid. The father and son were sitting at the highest point, followed by the prince and princess, and then below were the princes, kings of various countries, and envoys from various countries. and Ming officials.

Walking up to the high platform, the area here is only two to three hundred square meters, and a small pavilion has been built.

There are two chairs in the middle of the pavilion, while the six ministers and the six governors are standing on the left and right.

There are bamboo curtains around the pavilion to block the surrounding view, ensuring ventilation, coolness and privacy.

The two of them took their seats, and the minister of Honglu Temple saw this and walked up to a huge copper speaker.

He took a deep breath, and then began to sing: "The emperor has taken his seat, and the ministers have taken their seats!"

The voice shouted, and the trained troops immediately began to join in from near to far, and then sang the salute.

For a time, the words "The emperor has taken his seat and the ministers have entered the class" were passed word of mouth through the rows of soldiers in front of the military parade, so that the common people on the military parade learned the progress of the military parade.

Maybe they were nervous, but in short, the people calmed down one after another. Some children who made noisy were silenced by a few slaps from their parents.

The common people who were closer to the emperor's platform soon saw teams of vassal states wearing various costumes disembarking from carriages.

Even without escorts, the number of kings and envoys from these more than seventy countries reached thousands.

These thousands of people represent more than 80% of the world's political power that can be called a country, and control nearly half of the world's population except the Ming Dynasty.

As long as Ming Dynasty opens its mouth, they can gather hundreds of thousands of troops to conquer those countries that do not surrender to Ming Dynasty.

This group of people with high positions in their country are now standing under the high platform where Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Di are, waiting for the call from the Minister of Honglu Temple before they can take their seats.

The Chinese civil service system inherited from the pre-Qin Dynasty developed through the Han and Tang Dynasties, and finally reached a new height during the Hongxi period of the Ming Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)