Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 530 World Situation

"If you read this book too much, your heart will become heavy. If your heart becomes heavy, you will not be happy."

"You said what books are you reading at your age? Riding a horse, holding a bow, shooting arrows, and climbing trees to dig out bird eggs are what you should be doing at your age."

In the Daming Palace, Zhu Di looked at the little ghost sitting in his arms and reading a book. He was happy and encouraged him to play more.

Compared with him, nine-year-old Zhu Qiyue joked:
"I've learned almost all of the things you mentioned. There's nothing I don't know how to do."

"Not to mention riding and shooting and climbing trees, I can also shoot birds with a slingshot. I can also do calligraphy and drawing."

"After reading it over and over, I still feel that my grandfather's book is well written, interesting and profound."

Zhu Qiyue looked like a young adult, which made Zhu Di very happy.

"That's true if you want to say that. After all, it's my seed, so it's only right that you can pick up all kinds of crafts at your fingertips."

Zhu Di stroked his beard, patted Zhu Qiyue and said: "Okay, remember to go to the palace for a walk. It's okay if you don't go to school at your age, but you still have to go and see how your grandfather and the others manage politics."

There were five exits separated by wooden fences under the tall city gate. Each exit was one foot wide and could only be released after inspection. Zhu Qiyue was no exception.

"Okay, let's go!"

Amid Zhu Di's resentment, Zhu Qiyue ran out of the Daming Palace and took a carriage to Beijing.

By the Hongxi period, many once rare commodities had become cheap, such as glass, clocks, cloth, flowers and other commodities that could either be mass-produced or became popular due to the improvement of transportation.

After Yongle, because the Ming Dynasty rarely castrated defeated children, eunuchs often came from North Korea as tribute.

"Not to mention Wang Yan and Zheng He who are beside my great-grandfather, and Yi Shiha who is beside my grandfather. Which of these three is not a real man?"

Zhu Di joked, and Zheng He next to him smiled and said, "You are also the one who spoiled me."

"What? You were not a child of Mr. Geng's family before you entered the palace?"

"Of course, of course, I have been working with my parents since I was a child. Later, when I couldn't afford to support myself, I was chosen to be a slave of the Tian family because I was quite handsome. I traveled across the ocean to see His Highness's beauty. ”

"I'm excited to see it, don't fan the wind to disturb me!"

After smiling for a moment, Zhu Di felt a bit resentful again: "It would be nice if I could be more polite..."

People come and go, and from time to time you can see many merchants from the feudal state walking on the streets.

"Go after reading this article." Zhu Qiyue's eyes were as wide as bells, and he put down the book after reading the entire article as he said.

Of course, compared to the former, bicycles are a product that has just been launched less than three years ago, and the price is relatively expensive. Each bicycle costs up to three months, which is three months' income for ordinary people in Beijing. It is also a plaything of the rich.

"Well, that's it!" Seeing Wang Tao straighten his back, Zhu Qiyue patted him on the shoulder happily, then picked up the book and continued reading.

There were many people working in the fields on the rural road from Daming Palace to Beijing. When Zhu Qiyue saw this, he touched his chin and said:

Zhu Qiyue cursed dissatisfiedly, but when Wang Tao heard these words, his heart felt warm and he couldn't help but straighten his spine.

After the inspection, the carriage entered Beijing.

Regardless of whether he was in Daming Palace or anywhere else, others just called him a piece of shit, but there was no way he could speak so eloquently.

Seeing this slave say this, Zhu Qiyue was a little curious: "Tell me your name."

"Grandpa, I'll be back after dinner."

"Gengjun?" The eunuch was stunned. He had never heard anyone call these mud-legged people that way.

Wang Tao said humbly, but Zhu Qiyue said dissatisfied: "A real man will not change his name or surname. Wang Tao is Wang Tao, but what is he called Xiao Taozi? He has the same name as a dog. Could it be that he has lost those two taels of crotch stuff?" Not a husband anymore?”

Zhu Di did not hesitate to praise Zhu Qiyue. Zheng He also chuckled and did not refute, obviously he also thought so.

"This kid is adorable. If he looks good, our Ming Dynasty will be able to prosper for decades more."

The streets are clean and tidy, and there are many horse-drawn carriages, rickshaws, and two- and three-wheeled bicycles.

"Your Highness, please feel warm. I will give you a fan."

Zhu Di waved his hand, and Zhu Qiyue ran away without politeness.

"This kid doesn't even care about etiquette anymore."

"My surname is Wang Mingtao. I am fourteen years old this year. Your Highness can just call me Xiao Taozi."

"Yes, this slave will definitely live like a man in the future and will not disgrace His Highness."

"What's wrong with missing two ounces of meat? Those old barbarians in the temple are not as good as the three people I just mentioned."

The difference is that after the Hongxi military parade, most of the countries in Nanyang, except Majapahit, converted to Buddhism and began to follow the Ming Dynasty's reforms.

"Follow me in the future and read more books. There are many eunuchs who are men and heroes. Look at the way you flatter yourself. Are you ugly?"

Zhu Qiyue looked at him dissatisfied, as if he disliked him for not agreeing with him. When the eunuch saw this, he nodded quickly and said:

"Uh..." Wang Tao didn't know how to respond to Zhu Qiyue's few words. No one had really said that to him since he became an eunuch.

The carriage continued to drive towards Beijing, and as time passed, it finally arrived at Andingmen before noon.

Since it was already May, even in Beijing it was a little hot, so it was a little hot on the carriage.

On the carriage, an eunuch was flattering and fanning himself, but Zhu Qiyue reminded him and ridiculed him, so he took his hand back in embarrassment.

Not only them, but even North Korea and Japan began to copy Ming Dynasty's policies intact.

"Look, none of these farmers are afraid of the heat, so why should I be afraid?"

North Korea and Japan respectively set up their own Protectorate and General's Palaces in Kunlun Continent, and invested the mined gold and silver in increasing their national military strength, thereby striving to obtain greater benefits in Kunlun Continent.

After more than twenty years of research and study, North Korea and Japan, two countries whose iron smelting technology is closer to that of the Ming Dynasty, successfully imitated the matchlock gun.

Due to the high price of iron in their country, they chose to purchase wrought iron directly from the Ming Dynasty and return it to China to manufacture armaments.

In the 10th year of Hongxi, Ming Dynasty exported more than 700 tons of wrought iron to Japan, and North Korea also exported more than 500 tons.

Logically speaking, the imperial court should not sell iron materials to these countries, but Zhu Gaoxu had his own plans.

The two countries of North Korea and Japan are different from Southeast Asian countries because they are culturally closer to the Ming Dynasty, so their resilience in research is also the same.

If Ming Dynasty blindly blocks them, it will only make them have the idea of ​​​​research and development or production on their own.

In this case, it is better to free up some resources and let them get used to Ming Dynasty's cheap and high-quality iron materials, thereby neglecting the country's iron smelting production.

Facts have proved that Zhu Gaoxu's approach is more clever.

At least in the 10th year of Hongxi, Japan and North Korea basically imported iron from the Ming Dynasty.

Not only them, but also many countries in Southeast Asia.

It can be said that as long as Ming Dynasty cuts off the supply chain, these countries will only be trapped in a situation of overstocking.

Japan and North Korea were highly dependent on the Ming Dynasty not only for iron materials, but also for cloth, grain and other materials.

In terms of grain exports alone, last year Ming Dynasty sold 720,000 shi and 540,000 shi of grain to Japan and North Korea respectively, as well as 1,500 tons of oil and 800 tons of oil.

If it were not for the current technology that could not transport vegetables to North Korea without spoiling, it is estimated that these countries would have staged the drama of buying cabbage from Shandong six hundred years in advance.

With cement, railways, and Zhu Gaoxu's dedicated investment in large-scale infrastructure, the number of natural disasters that have occurred in the entire world in a year can be counted on both hands.

Even if a disaster occurs, disaster relief is very timely, and there will never be a surplus of grain in one place or a famine in another place.

Looking at the bustling streets of Beijing, Zhu Qiyue felt that he was used to it. After all, since he was born, no matter where he went, people could not afford to wear clothes or eat.

As time passed, the carriage arrived at Xihua Gate. Zhu Qiyue got out of the car and left Wang Tao outside the door. He took the Buyu to Wuying Hall.

Two quarters of an hour later, as Bu Yu stopped in front of Wuying Hall, Zhu Qiyue also stepped off Bu Yu and walked into Wuying Hall.

"Your Highness Taisun..."

Seeing a small figure appear, Wang Ji and Xu Shuo were the first to salute, followed closely by Yang Pu, Yang Rong, Xue Xuan and others.

"Yeah!" Zhu Qiyue didn't bother to return the greeting and ran directly into the side hall. This rude behavior made people frown.

At least in the current cultural context, his words and deeds fall into the frivolous category.

Fortunately, he was young, so even if officials saw him, they wouldn't say anything.

"Grandpa, I'm here!"

When the familiar self-identification appeared, coupled with the childish voice, Zhu Gaoxu knew who it was without even thinking.

"Have you had lunch?"

Zhu Gaoxu put down his ink pen and asked Zhu Qiyue who was running towards him. Zhu Qiyue looked at his father, saluted the two of them respectfully and then replied:
"I ate it with my great-grandpa, and my stomach is very round."

After he finished speaking, he patted his stomach a few times with both hands, which was very friendly to the people.

Zhu Zhanhe now has three sons. Except for Zhu Qiyue who is slightly older, the other two are only three or four years old and were all born in recent years.

Seeing Zhu Qiyue living happily, Zhu Gaoxu was too lazy to find fault with him and waved: "Come to grandpa."

Seeing this, Zhu Qiyue trotted all the way, not only came to Zhu Gaoxu's side, but also sat directly on Zhu Gaoxu's lap.

"Kid, you're a little presumptuous."

Zhu Zhanhe reminded him, but Zhu Gaoxu patted Zhu Qiyue on the shoulder: "It's okay."

"Grandpa, is there a war in Japan?"

Zhu Qiyue told the contents of the memorial on Zhu Gaoxu's desk without hesitation. Zhu Gaoxu also smiled and nodded:
"Then the leader of Japan has a hard fist and wants to clean up the people below and consolidate power."

"How can that be possible?" Zhu Qiyue said in shock:
"The little Japanese country is very humble. It fears power but not virtue. It's good to let it be divided like this." "Oh?" Zhu Gaoxu became interested: "Who taught you to say this, your great-great-grandfather?"

"Do you still need someone to teach you this?" Zhu Qiyue looked disgusted and patted his schoolbag: "I have read a lot, so I naturally understand."

"Take it out and let me see what books you have read." Zhu Gaoxu motioned for him to take out the book, and Zhu Qiyue did the same.

Those books include not only geography and nature, science and mathematics books, but also history books and some newspapers.

Looking at these books, Zhu Gaoxu smiled and said: "You said it would be good to let him split, but the court needs to give him some benefits, so what should we do?"

"Let him swallow one or two cities, and then teach the little Japanese in Guanxi and Guandong to resist him." Zhu Qiyue answered without thinking, and the answer satisfied Zhu Gaoxu.

Zhu Gaoxu was not afraid of his pride and said directly to Zhu Zhanhe beside him: "You gave birth to a good son."

"The little boy is not sensible. He only makes brilliant remarks occasionally." Although Zhu Zhanhe said this, he had a bright smile on his face, obviously very happy.

"Come, look at the other memorials and show your father some skills."

Zhu Gaoxu did not refute, but encouraged Zhu Qiyue to review the memorial.

Zhu Qiyue was not polite. He picked up the memorial and started to read it, and he also grabbed the ink pen.

What was before him was a memorial from the Yanran Dusi in Mobei. The content of the memorial was mainly about the construction of the Mobei Railway and the situation of Yanran City.

At present, the Mobei Railway has only 400 miles to reach Yanran City (suddenly hypothermic), and the Yanran Dusi has four cavalry guards, two horse infantry guards, and more than 246,000 criminals, including herdsmen. More than 130,000.

Wang Rong, the commander of the Yanran Capital Division, reported whether the railway should be built to the west after reaching Yanran City, and whether it was necessary to move the people there.

Seeing this, Zhu Qiyue directly said: "When choosing a site to build Xiran City, there must be water sources and rivers for reclamation."

"If the city is built, it will be reported to the imperial court, and the imperial court will send officials from the Ministry of Works to survey and build the railway to the west."

"There is no need for the people to move, it is enough to distribute some criminals from the Ministry of Punishment."

The handling is quite satisfactory and the handwriting is clean and tidy, which makes people satisfied.

"Grandpa, how do you like my approval?"

Zhu Qiyue began to claim credit. Zhu Gaoxu asked, hugged him and smiled: "It's very good. It will be even better with a few more years of experience."

"Grandpa, what you said is a bit embarrassing." Zhu Qiyue actually refuted Zhu Gaoxu's words, which made Zhu Zhanhe and the others sweat for him.

"What, you don't want to practice?" Zhu Gaoxu asked with a smile, and Zhu Qiyue shook his head and said:
"I'm so talented, so I don't need any experience. Just read more books and ask the people below to know how to do things."

"Why are you talking like that?" Zhu Zhanhe interrupted Zhu Qiyue's arrogant words, but Zhu Gaoxu raised his hand to signal him not to speak, and just hugged him and asked:

"If you are talented, you don't need experience. You must know that reading thousands of books is not as good as traveling thousands of miles, and traveling thousands of miles is not as good as reading countless people."

"No matter how smart you are and you haven't experienced anything, you will inevitably be deceived."

"Grandpa's words are very good, but I don't need to know that much." Zhu Qiyue still adheres to his own opinions and even puts forward reasons to refute.

"In the future, if I want to occupy a high position, I don't have to quarrel with the people below. I only need to maintain the people's lives well and make the world safe and peaceful."

"The so-called conspiracy is nothing more than a conspiracy as a last resort due to the decline of imperial power."

"If I have great power, if those old barbarians in the temple dare to fool me, they will send people to take him by force and beat him in accordance with the law. If that doesn't work, I will replace him."

"There are tens of millions of people in the Ming Dynasty, but I can't find tens of thousands of people who want to be officials?"

"That's a wonderful thing to say." Zhu Gaoxu was amused by the little devil, pinched his face and said:

"If you perform well, I won't let you practice anymore."

"Tell me, grandpa, how do you perform well?" Zhu Qiyue is not stage frightened, probably because he was raised by Zhu Di and has a wild temper.

"When you go back, read through the books in primary school and middle school, and read more history books. If you can pass the paper I gave you when you were twelve years old, then you will be considered powerful and you will not be allowed to practice."

Zhu Gaoxu made a promise, and Zhu Qiyue nodded and said, "That's it."

"Come on, pull the hook." Zhu Gaoxu stretched out his hand to hook up with the doll, but saw Zhu Qiyue's look of disgust.

"I don't behave like this little kid like my grandpa."

"Ha ha ha ha……"

Seeing Zhu Qiyue say this, Zhu Gaoxu was rarely amused and laughed, and said happily: "Okay, okay, you are not a little kid. Let me see if you can pass my exam in three years."

"Of course it's no problem." Zhu Qiyue nodded confidently, and upon seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu also put him back on the ground.

"Okay, now that you're in the palace, let your father take you to meet your mother and grandma and catch up on old times."

"Yes." Zhu Qiyue bowed in return. Upon seeing this, Zhu Zhanhe also smiled bitterly. After holding his forehead, he bowed to Zhu Gaoxu and left the side hall with Zhu Qiyue.

Watching them leave, Zhu Gaoxu touched his mustache with satisfaction.

"Little baby, although you are small, you have a big heart."

"If that's not the case, how can you be called His Majesty's grandson?" Yi Shiha also agreed.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu shook his head with a smile and then started reviewing the memorial.

While he was reviewing memorials, the sound of singing came from the entrance of the palace.

"The commander of the West Factory, Hu Jiqiu, wants to see His Majesty!"

"Xuan!"

Yi Shiha spoke up for Zhu Gaoxu, because Hu Ji always came because of foreign matters.

Not long after, Hu Ji, wearing a bullfight uniform, walked into the hall and bowed in salute. Zhu Gaoxu also put down his ink pen and listened to his report attentively.

"Your Majesty, there are many things happening in the west. I am here to report."

"Quickly." Zhu Gaoxu leaned on his chair and waited for him to speak. Hu Ji also read out the information written on the tablet.

"The Tamerlane Kingdom in the west developed the technology of matchlocks and began to make them."

"Not only that, Ulugh Beg relied on taking away bachelors to develop agriculture in the country, build irrigation projects and open up new trade routes, which greatly enhanced the national strength."

"The news came from the Tamerlane Hundred Household Station that Shaharul is preparing to equip his five thousand guards with matchlocks to fight against the Black Sheep Dynasty in the west."

"However, their main intention in fighting this time is to defeat the Black Sheep Dynasty and make them stop provoking the border of Timurid State."

"Shaharu is discussing sending an envoy to Beijing to talk to the court about this matter. If the court can come forward, then they will not need to use troops."

"If the court does not come forward, they are prepared to resolve the matter themselves."

"Judging from the time when the message was sent, the envoy from the Timur Kingdom should have been sent and is on the way."

The first thing Hu Jixian reported was that Timurid became the third country under the Ming Dynasty vassal system to develop a matchlock gun.

This is not surprising to Zhu Gaoxu personally. The matchlock gun was originally developed around 1450, but it is not surprising that it was developed by this group of people more than ten years in advance.

With the national strength of these countries, even with matchlock guns, they cannot change the Ming Dynasty's crushing attitude towards them, and they must know it themselves.

Because of this, Shaharul first sent an envoy to explain to the Ming Dynasty. After all, the Black Sheep Dynasty was also one of the vassal states of the Ming Dynasty.

"Is it true that the Black Sheep Kingdom is provoking Timur's Kingdom?"

Zhu Gaoxu asked Hu Ji, and Hu Ji nodded: "It's true."

"Since it is true, then send the Persian Guard Commander Chen You and the ambassador to the Timur Kingdom to mediate the dispute between the two countries and order the Black Sheep Kingdom not to invade the territory of the Timurid Kingdom."

Zhu Gaoxu opened his mouth to determine the outcome of the matter. Although Ming could leave the matter to Timur State without taking action, doing so would undoubtedly weaken Ming's voice in West Asia.

Only by allowing Ming to maintain a sense of presence at all times can Ming maintain its voice in West Asia and continue to strengthen it.

"Is there anything else?"

Zhu Gaoxu asked Hu Ji, and Hu Ji also said: "The king of Rumi (Ottoman) sent troops to attack the Karaman region (Asia Minor Peninsula). There are some small countries supported by Timur in this area."

"These small countries were destroyed, and Lumi's strength increased greatly. They successively used the cooperation of fleet and artillery to regain a lot of lost territory."

"They were fighting with the Huns (Hungary), and the war situation was in a tense state. Therefore, Timurid hoped that the imperial court could stop the trade of iron and other materials to Rumi."

After Hu Ji reported, Zhu Gaoxu pondered for a moment and said: "Although the relationship between Lumi and the imperial court is acceptable, it is not a vassal state of the imperial court after all. Since the two parties are at war, the imperial court will naturally side with the vassal state."

"Ask Shaharul to draw up a note and the court will ban the goods on these notes."

"Yes!" Hu Ji responded, and then continued to report:
"The fleet that the Franji Kingdom broke through in the Battle of Kunlun Cape returned to the Franji Kingdom last year. Our people bribed many Western barbarians from Xizhou and set up the Qianhu Station in Xizhou to spy on intelligence."

"According to the information gathered from the Western Barbarians, Franji Country has been greatly shaken, and some countries nearby are preparing to build fleets to go south to trade with the imperial court."

"This news is already a year ago, so I don't know how these countries are progressing."

After all, the information transmitted by pigeons and animal power still lags behind. The situation in Western countries is very exciting, but Zhu Gaoxu doesn't care.

His only worry was that countries like Xizhou would learn of the existence of Beizhou and then cross the Atlantic Ocean, posing a certain threat to Ming's interests in Beizhou.

After all, these guys can bring viruses unscrupulously for gold and silver. Although the people of the Ming Dynasty are immune to these viruses and have methods to deal with smallpox, if the natives of Beizhou and Dongzhou die, who should dig the gold and silver mines? ?
The Ming Dynasty couldn't just start a triangular trade and transport black slaves from Kunlun Continent, right?

Therefore, in order to protect the natives of Beizhou and Dongzhou, Zhu Gaoxu had to give some reminders to the local natives.

"Ask Meng Mao and the others to speed up and send the imperial court's "Epidemic Prevention Manual" to Dongzhou."

"The Confucian school established by the imperial court in Dongzhou has been around for more than ten years. Those little children will remind their elders after reading the manual."

"In addition, the navy has newly established the North Atlantic Guard and the South Atlantic Guard. The two guard fleets must constantly patrol the Atlantic Ocean and the east coast of Beizhou and Dongzhou."

"Once a Xiyi ship is discovered, sink it directly without asking for instructions. The Governor's Office will take credit for it!"

(End of this chapter)