Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 529: Become a vassal
"Most of the sufferings of the people are related to food, clothing, housing and transportation. It's not bad for Cochin to be near the sea, but it's the real suffering for places not close to the sea."

"That's why my father majored in the Northwest Railway to make the people of the northwest have sufficient resources and prosperity."

In a rice field outside Jiaozhi City, although it is a cold winter, in this era where as long as the land can be cultivated, it cannot be left uncultivated. Unless it is time to cultivate the soil, most farmers are not willing to leave the land uncultivated.

Zhu Zhanhe and Zhu Zhanqi walked on the concrete road, looking at the rural road less than one foot wide and the farmland on both sides of the rural road, and couldn't help but sigh:
"Neither you nor I have seen the Ming Dynasty decades ago, but you and I should have seen the Ming Dynasty now."

"Not to mention anything else, just using this cement to build rural roads to the farmland for the people is something that has been impossible in all dynasties."

Zhu Zhanhe is right. Although Daming's cement production has reached more than 400,000 tons, there are still too many places that need cement.

"At the beginning of the year, the imperial court formulated the standards for official roads, which are national roads, provincial roads, prefectural roads, county roads and rural roads."

"There are more than 260 mansions in the Ming Dynasty. It is impossible to connect them all without more than 20 years of hard work."

"My father said before that the regional conflicts in the imperial court would gradually change from north to south to east to west. What do you think?"

Zhu Zhanhe stopped and looked back at his second brother.

"I want you to stay in Fanbeizhou, but this is not mandatory. If you don't want to, or you like other places, then I won't force you."

Zhu Zhanqi was unconvinced, but still showed respect to Zhu Zhanhe on his face:
"Thank you very much, brother. When will you return to Beijing?"

"Now that the Western barbarians are on the rise, the imperial court is preparing to support several forces on the east coast of Beizhou, but I am worried that these forces will unite with the Western barbarians to invade the imperial court's territory in Beizhou in the future."

It was uncomfortable to leave his fate to others, but the situation was such that he had to bow his head.

"Since you don't care about brotherhood, I won't have to talk about brotherhood with you in the future."

In his view, the cost of operating inland is too high and the output is too little, which is far less important than operating the ocean.

After finishing the banquet respectfully, Fu Rang left the banquet on the grounds of old age, leaving his sons to accompany Zhu Zhanhe.

But even so, through his few words, Zhu Zhanhe still understood part of his true thoughts.

"After this year, you won't be able to continue in the military."

The vassal king of the Ming Dynasty did not leave the vassal alone. Zhu Zhanhe's meaning was very obvious, that is, he sent officials to set up a county on the east coast of Beizhou, and then asked Zhu Zhanqi to garrison there. The two Han dynasties granted territory to the princes and kings.

Relying on the Ming Dynasty's shipbuilding industry and artillery technology, the Ming Dynasty was able to occupy most of the coastal areas around the world.

Fu Rang had already known about Zhu Zhanhe's arrival, but he did not take sides easily.

No matter who has an incompetent child in his family, why should he be given all the good things since he is the eldest? He obviously does no worse than him, but now he has to be locked up in a barbaric land like the east coast of Beizhou.

That night, Zhu Zhanhe went to visit Fu Rang and his heirs.

Zhu Zhanqi, who was daydreaming in his mind, stopped talking and walked with Zhu Zhanhe in silence for a while. Finally, the two brothers returned to Jiaozhi City in a carriage.

"I don't think you need any experience. Have you ever thought about becoming a vassal?"

Although Zhu Zhanqi has been fighting wars, it does not mean that he does not care about government affairs.

Although he kept saying that his own thoughts would prevail, but now that he has spoken, it means that he is inclined to seal himself overseas.

Thinking of this, Zhu Zhanqi was silent for a moment and then said: "Brother, do you have any recommendations?"

Seeing his appearance, Zhu Zhanhe immediately reached out and patted his shoulder.

Of course, he only dared to think about these thoughts in his mind, but actually did not dare to speak them out.

"The west is not only underpopulated, but also has a very complex geographical environment. If things go on like this, the gap will only get wider."

"..." Listening to what his eldest brother said, Zhu Zhanqi felt that his eldest brother had changed a bit.

Once the county town on the east coast of Beizhou develops in the future, his eldest brother will definitely set up a government and three divisions to govern Beizhou, and he will be nothing more than a watchdog.

The so-called taking a look at yourself is nothing more than checking to see if you can control yourself well.

Thinking of this word, Zhu Zhanqi felt a little dissatisfied.

Although he was full of resentment in his heart, Zhu Zhanqi still had to face it with a smile.

"You are going to guard the border for the court this time. I will discuss with my father and assign you more guards."

After a simple test, Zhu Zhanhe knew that Fu Rang was not prepared to participate in the affairs of the Tian family, and he felt relieved about the Fu family.

The banquet lasted until midnight before Zhu Zhanhe returned to the former Annan Palace to rest, and took a train to Haiyang Port early the next morning.

It seemed that the sibling-respecting behavior before was just a show put on by his good brother.

"We'll see whose territory it is..."

"I will return to Beijing tomorrow. The main reason for coming here this time is to see you."

Zhu Zhanhe asked, but Zhu Zhanqi knew that since his eldest brother asked, it meant that he had somewhere he wanted him to go.

The scene of how his father died was still vivid in his mind, so it was naturally impossible for him to continue making mistakes.

overseas……

"Since the eldest brother wishes it, then the younger brother will naturally accept the order."

Zhu Zhanqi naturally knew what his eldest brother was thinking, so he felt that his eldest brother had changed a lot.

Zhu Zhanqi lowered his head and remained silent. After a moment, he spoke: "Although the imperial court is still based on agriculture, commercial taxes have gradually increased. There seem to be only tens of millions of people in the eastern coastal area, but they are facing the imperial court." Zongfan has a population of nearly 200 million. "

The value of these places is much greater than the value of inland areas.

Zhu Zhanhe turned his attention to the fertile fields around him, and Zhu Zhanqi also sneered in his heart.

The navy had already arranged a fleet to escort him, and he arrived in Guangzhou in less than half a month, where he met with King Zhu Shu of Qi and reminded him on behalf of his father not to continue causing trouble before riding a carriage north.

Since Zhu Dong, the king of Ying in Chenzhou, died of illness during the Yongle period and had no children, he did not stay in Chenzhou for too long. He only had a look at Prince Ying's Mansion and managed it well before continuing northward.

In the next month's journey, he went to Hengyang to visit Zhu Mo, the king of Shen who was vassal here.

Zhu Mo is doing pretty well. He is in the same year as Zhu Gaoxu, but his health is obviously not as good as Zhu Gaoxu.

Not only was he fat and had three highs, his body was also drained of alcohol and sex, which made Zhu Zhanhe shake his head.

Since the Huguang Railway had been built to Hengyang, Zhu Zhanhe briefly exchanged greetings with Zhu Mo and then took the train north to Changsha.

When visiting Zhu Gaosui in Changsha, he also informed Zhu Gaosui of some of Zhu Gaochi's circumstances and reminded him to pay attention to his health, and then continued to ride north to visit many vassal kings.

The King of Chu in Wuchang, the King of Tang in Xiangyang, the King of Ning in Nanyang, the King of Zhou in Kaifeng...

Among them, King Chu and King Tang were easy to say, but King Ning and King Zhou needed to pay attention to etiquette.

Prince Ning Zhu Quan is still alive and well, and at the age of fifty he is in strong health. According to the palace physician's oral instructions, Zhu Quan will have no problem living for another ten or twenty years.

Facing Zhu Zhanhe's arrival, Zhu Quan did not make any pretense. Instead, he discussed with Zhu Zhanhe the interesting stories of his coming south from the great victory in Mobei and becoming a vassal queen.

In the years since he returned to Nanyang, he has been communicating with the royal scholars all day long, and edited "Tongjian Bolun", "Family Instructions", "Ning Guoyi Fan", "Secret History of the Han and Tang Dynasties", "Historical Judgments", and "Wenpu" , "Poem Book" and other articles and works.

Zhu Zhanhe's words of flattery made him happy.

But Zhu Zhanhe couldn't test whether this elation was true or false.

After all, Zhu Quan was an old man who experienced the calamity in Hongwu and lived to this day. In terms of scheming, Zhu Zhanhe was still too young and it was normal not to see through him.

Perhaps feeling that Zhu Quan had settled down for pleasure, Zhu Zhanhe stayed in Nanyang for a few days and then took the train to Kaifeng.

In Kaifeng, he did not see Zhou Wang Zhu Ru, only because Zhu Ru suddenly became seriously ill and was recuperating in the backyard, and he had reached the point where he could not walk.

After learning about the situation, Zhu Zhanhe reported the matter to Beijing. Zhu Di, who had just returned from Suzhou in the northwest with Zhu Qiyue, took a train south to see Zhu Ju after learning about his brother's situation.

On the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, Zhu Di arrived in Kaifeng and entered the Zhou Palace to meet the sixty-seven-year-old Zhu Xi.

Zhu Rui talked with him about the past for more than an hour, and said that after recovering from the illness, he wanted to go to Purple Mountain to worship Zhu Yuanzhang and Queen Ma.

Zhu Di agreed to accompany him and stayed with Zhu Xi in Kaifeng for more than ten days.

Seeing that Zhu Rui's health was getting better, Zhu Di originally wanted to take him to Nanjing, but he didn't want Zhu Rui's situation to change suddenly.

On the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, Zhu Di passed away in the palace in front of the Zhou Palace. He was sixty-seven years old. Zhu Di cried with grief.

When the news reached Beijing, Zhu Gaoxu announced that he would not attend court for ten days, sent officials to offer sacrifices, and ordered an administrator to organize the funeral.

After Zhu Di burst into tears in Kaifeng, he personally chose "Ding" as the posthumous title for Zhu Rui, and raised more than 100,000 gold and silver from the Daming Palace to organize the funeral for Zhu Rui.

Zhu Youdun, the crown prince of Zhou who was deeply loved by Zhu Yuanzhang, succeeded Zhou Wangjue and took over all funeral arrangements for his father.

Zhu Gaoxu did not feel sad about Zhu Gaoxu's departure.

After all, Feng Sheng's death in captivity had something to do with Zhu Rui's naughty nature when he was young.

For his Uncle Wang, except for a few sighs, he had no emotion at all.

Amidst the smoke of firecrackers, Zhu Gaoxu led the people of the world into the eleventh year of Hongxi.

In this year, the population of the Ming Dynasty exceeded 110 million, the cultivated land exceeded 700 million acres, the fiscal revenue also reached more than 58 million guan, and the expenditure also exceeded 64 million guan.

Although it is still a negative expenditure, with the official control and layout of salt, wine, tea oil and other commodities, coupled with the continuous expansion of the overseas vassal country market, Daming's financial growth is also increasing at an alarming rate.

The world is making continuous progress according to Zhu Gaoxu's plan, and compared with the rise in national power, the supporting education and technology are also constantly improving.

In the tenth year of Hongxi's reign, more than 98,000 students graduated from middle schools, most of whom joined high-end factories such as steam engines, pumps, and steam locomotives.

Those who are slightly outstanding can choose to take the imperial examination to pursue an official career, or take the exam to teach in middle schools in other areas.

As for the extremely outstanding people, they were directly admitted to the Imperial Academy, awarded the official position of the seventh-grade Imperial Academy, and participated in research.

After the survival of the fittest, there are now more than 300 doctors in Taixue, but the number of Taixue scholars has been continuously reduced to 3,000.

Compared with the more than 7,000 Taixueshi in the Yongle period, the 3,000 Taixueshi left in the 10th year of Hongxi's reign are undoubtedly those who have a great love for scientific research.

Because of them, one issue after another began to be solved.

On the fifth day of March in the eleventh year of Hongxi, the first steam engine ship of the Ming Dynasty was launched in Tianjin for trial voyage. Because of the different construction methods and the use of steam engines and wheel sets, this was the first ship among the Ming Dynasty ships to use displacement as a unit.

The experimental ship was the Hongxi, which was six feet long, one foot eight feet wide, and had a displacement of 360 tons.

In this experiment, the 'Hongxi' sailed smoothly on the sea for 120 miles at a speed of twenty miles per hour and then successfully returned.

There was a breakdown due to technical problems, but it arrived at Tianjin Port without incident.

After learning the news, Zhu Gaoxu directed the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development to allocate 400,000 yuan to rebuild the Tianjin Shipyard and use the Tianjin Shipyard as a steam engine ship improvement and experimental shipyard.

Over the past two decades, Taixue has conducted a large number of experiments, discovered the existence of a variety of gases, and accumulated more new knowledge about the transformation of matter.

In addition to oxygen, several Taixue scholars threw iron filings into sulfuric acid during experiments and discovered hydrogen.

At first, no one knew it was hydrogen, but when it was reported that it was combustible and would explode when encountering Mars, Zhu Gaoxu quickly named it hydrogen and wrote down many things that needed attention.

In addition to hydrogen, gases such as nitrogen, fluorine, and coal gas have been discovered, but there are no suitable means to use them.

Based on these gas studies, Taixue also explored ways to use sulfuric acid to discover other substances and gases.

During the launching of the Hongxi, Doctor Mao Rong used sulfuric acid to process phosphate ore to make phosphate fertilizer. Although the cost was very high, after the news reached the Forbidden City, Zhu Gaoxu still granted him the hereditary rank of the third rank, and his team also received a reward of 30,000 strings of cash.

After the discovery of phosphate fertilizer, how to efficiently produce sulfuric acid became a big problem.

The current price of sulfuric acid is not cheap. Naturally, the phosphate fertilizer obtained by using sulfuric acid to treat phosphate rock cannot be promoted.

Therefore, new topics emerged and the School of Chemistry became busy.

In April, Zhu Zhanqi, Zhu Zhantan, Zhu Zhanluo and others returned to Beijing, and Zhu Gaoxu met them at Wuying Hall.

"Long live your Majesty..."

"Be flat!"

After being polite, Zhu Gaoxu looked at his three sons.

Unlike Zhu Zhanqi who stayed in the army for three years, Zhu Zhantan and Zhu Zhanluo only stayed for one year because they had no military merit and then went to study as officials in the mountainous areas of southwest China. Now it is time to return after completing their studies.

The three children all inherited Zhu Gaoxu's good health. Although they were not as exaggerated as Zhu Gaoxu himself, their tall height and Kong Wu's powerful body still made them regard themselves as superior to others many times.

It’s not surprising that a person’s physical fitness affects a person’s personality.

"The three of you have done well, and now you have reached the age where you should be crowned king and vassal."

"Yishuha..." Zhu Gaoxu looked at Yishiha, who bowed and bowed.

"Draft a decree to confer the second oldest son as the King of Song, the third youngest as the King of Zheng, and the fourth oldest as the King of Yue."

"Your servant accepts the order." Yishiha bowed in response, and Zhu Gaoxu continued to glance at his three sons and said:

"Now that the three of you are princes, have you thought carefully about the vassal status?"

"Dad, I have discussed it with the fourth child, and we want to conquer Yunnan and Jiaozhi!"

As soon as Zhu Gaoxu finished speaking, Zhu Zhantan took the lead in making it clear where he and Zhu Zhanluo were going to join the feudal vassal.

They all knew that it was impossible for their father to seal them off from the mainland, so the southwest became their first choice.

Although the Southwest seems backwater and remote compared to the Central Plains and Jiangnan, it is still much better than overseas.

As soon as Zhu Zhantan and Zhu Zhanluo expressed their opinions, Zhu Gaoxu nodded and turned his attention to Zhu Zhanqi, who had the most eye-catching performance during his military career.

Zhu Zhanqi was a handsome man, and he could be said to be the most handsome and capable among the scholars. He had been favored by Zhu Gaoxu since he was a child.

Because of this, he has unrealistic ideas about the throne.

Zhu Gaoxu looked at Zhu Zhanqi, hoping that he could tell him something about what the court needed him to do.

Just facing his gaze, Zhu Zhanqi glanced at the good brother standing next to his father.

Finally, he bowed and said: "Your Majesty, I heard that the imperial court is going to set up a prefecture on the east coast of Beizhou. Please go to Beizhou to join the feudal clan!"

"..." Hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu frowned.

The establishment of the county seat on the east coast of Beizhou is top secret, and with this boy's strength, it should be out of reach.

In addition, he has carefully studied Zhu Zhanqi's abilities, and the ones who can exert his greatest abilities are undoubtedly the current Meng Yang, Meng Ken and other mansions.

Although Beizhou needs supporting forces, with the character of the second child, there is no guarantee that this kid will find a way out in a hundred years.

Although he was unable to separate himself and stand on his own due to his strength, it was very easy to create obstacles for the imperial court.

Because of this, Zhu Gaoxu was not prepared to canonize him in Beizhou, because Beizhou needed a vassal king that was easy to control, not an ambitious vassal king.

"Beizhou is too far away, and there is almost no power on the east coast to support it."

"If you really want to join Fan Beizhou, then you'd better wait a little."

"As for the third and fourth children..." Zhu Gaoxu turned his eyes to Zhu Zhantan and Zhu Zhanluo, and after thinking for a while, he said:

"The third child will be the vassal of Meng Yang, and the fourth child will be the vassal of Meng Ken. We will allocate 200,000 yuan from the internal funds to build palaces for them. From now on, they will be entered into the clan jade plate to receive their salaries."

"After the construction of the palace is completed, he will immediately leave for the feudal clan. The palace guard will have 5,600 people per guard."

In a few words, Zhu Gaoxu arranged for Zhu Zhantan and Zhu Zhanluo to join the feudal clan, but he did not agree with Zhu Zhanqi's idea of ​​joining the feudal clan.

"Okay, please step back first. Although you, the second brother, have not yet joined the feudal clan, the war to suppress bandits in the southwest is serious. You are allowed to take the post of commander of Meng Yangwei, the capital of Yunnan Province, and go to Mengyang to participate in the suppression of the rebellion."

"My son, I accept the decree!" Upon hearing his father's words, Zhu Zhanqi immediately bowed and responded.

It seems that my father is still reluctant to leave me so far away...

Zhu Zhanqi's thoughts were flowing, and finally he exited Wuying Hall at Zhu Gaoxu's signal.

After the three brothers left, Zhu Gaoxu said: "Did you instruct us about Beizhou?"

Zhu Gaoxu didn't say it clearly, but Zhu Zhanhe still took the initiative to stand up and bow to him: "It was the signal from my son."

"With the second child's ability, the southwest is easy to separate. If he is allowed to do so, he will only become more powerful in the southwest."

"On the contrary, although Beizhou is far away, it is still a vast area. If the second child has any ideas, it can be easily dealt with."

Zhu Zhanhe's words made Yishiha next to him swallow his saliva. He didn't expect that the once upright prince would become so scheming.

"Your idea is good, but the situation in Beizhou is far more complicated than you think. What are you really thinking about? Even if you can suppress it, it will devastate the eastern part of the country that has finally developed."

"The second brother will stay in the southwest to put down the rebellion first, and we will talk about the feudal affairs later."

After the words fell, Zhu Gaoxu picked up the teacup and prepared to take a sip, but Zhu Zhanhe was not ready to end the topic, but continued:
"If you continue to keep the second child in the court, I'm afraid the second child will have other thoughts in the future."

"I said this not because I was worried about the competition between the second child and Erchen, but because I was worried about the unhappiness between the brothers in the future."

What he said was very measured, showing that as an elder brother, he was worried about the brotherhood with his younger brothers.

It's just that these words were slightly harsh to Zhu Gaoxu's ears.

Even so, Zhu Gaoxu still didn't want to make his two sons unhappy.

He thought for a while and finally said: "If he wants to be a vassal, let him do it in Dongzhou."

"Dongzhou is dominated by rainforests, and with the three countries of Dongzhou holding him hostage, it is easy to control him, whether in terms of food or diplomacy."

"The east coast of Dongzhou?" Zhu Zhanhe asked, and Zhu Gaoxu also nodded and said:

"On the east coast of Dongzhou, I will let the navy choose a site to build the city in a while. You don't have to worry about this."

"I haven't seen Brother Yue for a long time. Go to the Daming Palace and bring him to me for a look. Also, go see your grandfather."

"Yes" Zhu Zhanhe knew that leading Zhu Qiyue was just a cover, and the purpose was to get rid of him.

But he didn't say much. Anyway, as long as he opened his dick, his goal was achieved.

He walked out of the side hall, and after he walked out, Zhu Gaoxu looked at him with confusion.

"I seem to have sharpened him too much, and now he is a little sharper."

"This slave seems to be just fine. At least His Highness has feelings for other His Highnesses, so they won't fight to the death."

Yi Shiha expressed his opinion, and Zhu Gaoxu also nodded in approval.

"Your Majesty, where should Your Majesty choose as the place where His Majesty the Second Highness will become a vassal?"

"Choose..." Zhu Gaoxu sighed, and while standing up, he signaled Yishuka to open the map.

Seeing this, Yi Shiha immediately opened the maps of Dongzhou and Beizhou. Zhu Gaoxu picked up the ink pen and glanced at the map, and finally stopped at a river mouth in the northeast of Dongzhou.

"Choose this place to build Jinghai Mansion as the vassal site for the second son. The navy will dispatch two thousand soldiers and horses, and the Ministry of Household Affairs will allocate 200,000 yuan to prepare for the construction of the county seat and the royal palace."

After the words fell, Zhu Gaoxu also circled the ink pen and marked the location.

This was Belem, later the largest port in northern Brazil, and the second largest port city on the Amazon River.

This place with a tropical rainforest climate is destined to rely on external inputs for food, which makes it easier for the court to control it.

At the same time, since rubber can be grown locally, the local area can completely rely on rubber imports to the Ming Dynasty to earn certain profits, and will not blindly rely on the support of the court.

Of course, the main reason for choosing this place was that the Ming Dynasty really needed a force from the east of Dongzhou to unite with the Dongzhou Xuanwei Division to control the unruly and populous Southern Kingdom.

For Zhu Zhanqi, the second child, based on his experience in catching Changshan barbarians in Jiaozhi, the natives in the eastern part of Dongzhou will also become the best labor force for local development.

However, whether to fish from the marsh or to take a long-term view depends on the specific measures taken after Lao Er takes over the vassal territory.

Thinking of the situation of his sons, Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but sigh.

At this time, he finally understood Zhu Di's complicated mentality in history...

(End of this chapter)