Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 532: Go slow, gentlemen
"I'm afraid it won't work..."

On the hospital bed, a slightly thin figure made such a sound.

Just these words made the more than 20 children surrounding the hospital bed burst into tears.

"Don't say stupid things, you can get through it."

Holding his hand tightly, Ms. Zhang looked at Zhu Gaochi, who had lost a lot of weight due to illness, and shed tears before she could speak.

"Dad, it's okay."

"Dad, you will definitely make it through this."

"Dad, nothing can happen to you."

"Doctor Wang, do you think so?"

The children questioned Wang Wanzhe and other medical teams who were standing in the corner in a jumbled voice, but all they received was silence.

After helping him sit down, Yishiha quickly poured him a cup of hot tea. Zhu Zhanhe also said nervously: "When I went to Kunming last time, I already had a premonition in my heart. My uncle also said that life and death are determined by destiny. Please Don’t be too sad, grandpa.”

On the fourth day of the first lunar month in the twelfth year of Hongxi, Zhu Gaochi died of illness at the Kunming Hospital of Kunming Prefecture at the age of fifty-two.

My throat was throbbing, but I still couldn't spit out a word.

Zhu Gaoxu felt sad and his eyes turned red: "I can bear this news, but where is your grandfather?"

He was swaying, but fortunately Yi Shiha and Zhu Zhanhe worked together to hold him up.

Zhu Gaochi never stopped caring about himself, but he always pushed back.

Hundreds of Yanshan guards at the palace gate knelt down and bowed. Zhu Gaoxu ignored them and walked into the Daming Palace.

Upon seeing this, all the ministers stood up one after another and followed Zhu Gaoxu closely towards Xihua Gate.

"Father, you have to cheer up. My uncle definitely doesn't want you to do this."

Although the two were also shocked, they were more worried about Zhu Gaoxu's health.

Hu Ji, who was driving for him, was very worried and would look back from time to time to see how the emperor was doing, but his view was blocked by the curtains in the glass window.

Zhu Gaoxu raised his hand to ask Bu Yu to stop. After turning around and giving instructions to the ministers, he continued to give in to Bu Yu and walked towards Xihua Gate.

At this moment, officials from the Sixth Ministry, the Imperial Procuratorate, and the Sixth Army Governor's Office gathered at the entrance of the side hall. They were all worried that the emperor would not be able to accept the news of the death of the King of Han, so they came.

Zhu Zhanhe persuaded, but Zhu Gaoxu's mind kept thinking about Zhu Gaochi's concern for him after he joined the big teaching field.

Seeing Zhu Gaoxu come out, they all knelt on the ground and sang, but Zhu Gaoxu ignored them, walked out of Wuying Hall and took a carriage to the outside of the palace.

At this moment, they may all know that Zhu Gaochi has reached the end of his life.

"Ugh……"

The carriage stopped at Daming Gate. Before Hu Ji could get out of the car and open the door for Zhu Gaoxu, the door opened. Zhu Gaoxu got out of the carriage with red eyes. He had obviously cried in the carriage.

"I miss dad, the second and third children..."

The brotherhood that lasted for more than thirty years finally came to an end with the death of the other party.

The relationship between the two brothers was not stable until he succeeded in becoming the prince.

After enduring the discomfort for a long time, his eyes gradually dimmed until his chest stopped rising and falling...

A young man loses his mother, a middle-aged man loses his wife, an old man loses his son...

Zhu Gaochi wanted to say this, but his throat was shaking and he couldn't spit it out.

As soon as he opened his mouth, Yi Shiha and Zhu Zhanhe subconsciously looked at each other with unbearable expressions on their faces.

"His Majesty……"

Wang Ji and others looked at each other, and finally sighed, and returned to Wuying Hall, Wenhua Hall and the Six Ministries and Six Mansion to manage their affairs.

After setting off from Xihua Gate to Xizhimen and leaving the capital, Zhu Gaoxu sat alone in the carriage without making a sound.

In the past, when emperors passed by this place, they would greet them in a pleasant manner, but this time the situation seemed to have changed.

This move made the soldiers look at each other in shock.

"Everyone, please stop. This is a family matter. Why bother with state affairs?"

"Long live your Majesty!"

"father!!"

Even if the doctor beside him kept changing oxygen for him, he could only barely keep him alive, and he couldn't even regain the strength to speak.

Based on Zhu Di's current situation, after learning about this incident, can he be safe and sound?
"I will go and tell him personally that you two will handle the government affairs here."

"Your Majesty (Father)!"

When the news reached Beijing, it was early in the morning. Zhu Gaoxu walked into Wuying Hall and learned the bad news before he sat down.

He was very worried and could only shake the horse's rein faster.

Time passed little by little, and when the Daming Palace slowly emerged from the horizon and gradually became clearer in sight, the stone in Hu Ji's heart finally fell to the ground.

Zhu Gaoxu stood up holding the chair and walked out of the side hall with red eyes.

Zhu Gaochi took a deep breath and exhaled. He no longer had the strength to explain anything anymore. He just looked at Zhu Zhanji and Zhang, with tears constantly flowing from his eyes.

At this moment, even the soldiers guarding the palace gate noticed that something big had happened, but Zhu Gaoxu walked to Changchun Palace in silence.

Changchun Palace was getting closer and closer to him, and Hu Ji quickened his pace to catch up: "Your Majesty, I have arranged for the imperial doctor of Daming Palace to be ready to enter the palace at any time."

"Well..." Zhu Gaoxu responded, and then walked into the Changchun Palace.

Walking into it, he saw Zhu Di wearing reading glasses, and Zhu Qiyue sitting in his arms reading a book.

"Why did you come suddenly?"

Seeing Zhu Gaoxu coming, Zhu Di put down the book in his hand. Then he saw Zhu Gaoxu's red eyes, and his heart suddenly skipped a beat.

He nervously took off his reading glasses and hugged Zhu Qiyue back to the side.

Zhu Gaoxu also stepped forward at this moment, knelt down and kowtowed: "Dad, eldest brother, he..."

He pondered for a moment, giving Zhu Di enough time to prepare, and only after taking two breaths did he say: "Big brother passed away!"

As soon as these words came out, Zhu Di couldn't help but his lips trembled, but he still reacted after a moment, gritting his teeth and pretending to be calm.

"I expected it. I have been flustered since the beginning of the new year. At that time, I was worried that something was wrong with the boss."

"Half a month has passed, and I have been feeling uncomfortable. Now that you have given me the answer, I feel much better."

Even so, Zhu Di's eyes couldn't help but turn red.

"Grandpa, you are crying."

Zhu Qiyue suddenly spoke and stretched out his hand to wipe Zhu Di's tears with his sleeves. Zhu Di also made up for himself and said: "As people get older, their eyes are blinded by a little wind."

Zhu Qiyue saw that the two were sad because of the death of his great-grandfather. In his memory, he remembered that his great-grandfather was a fat man who was always smiling, but the deeper memory was gone, so it was not particularly uncomfortable.

"What are you going to do for the boss's funeral?"

Zhu Di wiped his tears and pretended to be normal and asked Zhu Gaoxu. Zhu Gaoxu also said in a deep voice:
"The boss predicted the year before last that his life would not be long, so he asked Zhanji to repair the royal tomb at the foot of the West Mountain in Kunming."

"Zhanji didn't expect this day to come so quickly. Although the underground construction of the royal tomb has been completed, the above-ground buildings have not yet been completed."

"My son, I plan to bury my eldest brother first, and then allocate 100,000 yuan to repair the buildings on the Han Dynasty Mausoleum."

"The eldest brother has a kind-hearted nature. He rarely bothered the people after taking the vassalship of Kunming. He often contributed money to repair bridges with the people. He deserves the posthumous title of "Cheng and Kang"."

"Let's make the choice." Zhu Di took the initiative to choose a posthumous title for his eldest son. Zhu Gaoxu nodded after hearing this.

"If you have nothing to do, please step back. The state affairs are heavy, so don't waste your time too much."

Zhu Di waved his hand to signal Zhu Gaoxu to step back. Zhu Gaoxu nodded after hearing this, got up and left Changchun Palace in a sad mood.

Not long after he walked out of the Changchun Palace, he heard the sound of wailing coming from the palace, and he burst into tears.

Zhu Gaoxu quickened his pace and left the Daming Palace, and after returning to the Forbidden City, he made all arrangements for Zhu Gaochi.

Internal funds allocated 100,000 yuan to repair the tomb of the Han Dynasty King, and he was given the posthumous title "Cheng", and his full name was King Cheng of Han Dynasty.

The crown prince of the Han Dynasty, Zhu Zhanji, was given the title of King of Han, and the other sons were designated as princes of the prefecture, but they were not hereditary.

In addition, he exempted the people of Kunming from paying taxes for one year, in order to accumulate moral virtue for Zhu Gaochi and see him off.

The next day, the news of the death of Han King Zhu Gaochi spread. Within half a month, vassal kings from all over the country sent messages to Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu and his son to comfort them.

Among them, Zhu Gaosui was saddened by the news and wrote the "Essay on Sacrifice to Emperor Brother Han Chengwang" and sent it to the Han Palace. Zhu Zhanji had a rubbing and then burned the original text.

Shortly after Zhu Gaochi's death, Yang Zhan's father Yang Qiu also died of illness at the age of seventy-three.

Since Yang Zhan already had a duke, Yang Qiu's title was no longer inherited. Zhu Gaoxu posthumously named him King Chongming, with the posthumous title Zhongzhen.

Less than a month after Yang Qiu died of illness, Wei Guogong Xu Zengshou passed away at the age of sixty-five. He was posthumously named King of Hecheng and given the posthumous title of Zhongmu.

In less than two months, the old people died one after another, which not only made Zhu Gaoxu feel uncomfortable, but also caused many old ministers in the temple to beg for employment because of their old age.

Xia Yuanji, Huang Fu, and Guo Zi begged to become officials, but Zhu Gaoxu persuaded them to stay.

In addition, people such as Xu Sheng, Li Shi and others have also retreated behind the scenes.

The old brothers of the past are leaving the temple one by one, leaving only those familiar but not close faces.

The death of Zhu Gaochi was a great blow to Zhu Gaoxu, and the exit of the veterans made him feel even more empty. He wanted to go back to Jilin City to visit, but the government affairs on his shoulders prevented him from moving.

In May, news came from the Kunlun Xuanwei Department that Franji State once again sent a fleet to Kunlun Cape.

However, after being beaten once, they also knew how powerful the Ming Dynasty was, so this time they came not to fight, but to negotiate peace.

Although Prince Enrique died in the naval battle at Cape Kunlun, driven by interests, King Joao I of France still sent a fleet to negotiate peace.

They used two hundred pounds of gold as a condition for peace talks, hoping to obtain the qualifications for direct trade with the Ming Dynasty.

When the news came back to the country, Franji's envoy had been at Cape Kunlun for half a year.

Faced with this condition, Zhu Gaoxu did not answer easily, but agreed to negotiate peace after thinking for a long time. The condition was that Franji surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, and the trade was not unilateral trade between Franji and Ming Dynasty, but merchants of Ming Dynasty could also do it. Go to Flang Machine to trade.

In addition, in order to make it easier to intervene in the situation in Xizhou, Zhu Gaoxu also promised to provide diplomatic mediation and military asylum for Franji when he encountered a crisis.

Of course, military protection does not mean that the Ming Dynasty will help Franji fight the war, but that when Franji encounters a war to destroy his country, the Ming takes action to protect him from being subjugated.

These are the specific conditions, but as to whether Franji will agree, that's another story.

At least for Zhu Gaoxu, the current Ming Dynasty has not even fully digested the Indian Xidang and Dongzhou and Beizhou markets. The Xizhou market is there anyway. Even if Joao I does not agree, the Ming Dynasty will not suffer any big losses. .

Anyway, in the end, they will still come and beg to trade with Ming Dynasty.

The difference is that in history, they could also obtain gold and silver from Beizhou and Dongzhou to trade with the Ming Dynasty, but now they seem to be able to only obtain resources through constant internal fighting in Xizhou.

Of course, they can also compete for resources in countries such as Kunlun Continent and the Songhai Empire, but that has nothing to do with the Ming Dynasty. After all, the Songhai Empire is not a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty.

In July, Jiang Gui, the commander-in-chief of the Navy Command, led his fleet to Nanzhou and set up hundreds and thousands of households on several islands in the Nanyang region.

Sulawesi, the Bachan Islands, New Papua Guinea, the Aru Islands and other well-known Southeast Asian islands were occupied one by one.

On the fifth day of August, Jiang Gui went south to Nanzhou and went south along the east coast of Nanzhou.

Eventually, the Nanzhou Xuanwei Department was established in Bribans in later generations, but it was not permanent, but temporary.

The reason why it was temporary was because the original location of the Nanzhou Xuanwei Division was in the Sydney area in later generations. However, because it was too far away and had difficulty in supplying supplies, it was chosen to be in Bribane, more than a thousand miles away from Sydney.

The Ming Dynasty's fleet successfully captured Nanzhou, and Zhu Gaoxu also began to name Nanzhou.

First of all, Nanzhou temporarily set up two prefectures, namely Pingdong Prefecture in the east and Pingxi Prefecture in the west, which governed eleven counties.

As for the islands such as New Papua Guinea in the north, they are also designated as Zhongshan Qianhu Station, Sanshan Qianhu Station and Dongshan Qianhu Station because of their rich copper resources.

Of course, administrative units must be established first, and then the actual control of the relocated people must be discussed in detail.

"Dongshan Island (New Papua Guinea) is rich in refined copper resources. There are hundreds of thousands to hundreds of thousands of local natives living on it, who can help us develop it."

"It is the imperial court's policy towards the local area to station a thousand-household camp, prepare enough anti-malarial powder, and then develop it."

In the Wuying Hall, Zhu Gaoxu sat on the golden platform, and below stood Zhu Zhanhe, seven great scholars from the palace, six governors of the six armies, and six ministers.

They watched Zhu Gaoxu speak, while Yi Shiha stood next to the hanging map of Nanyang and Nanzhou, pointing with the command stick.

"Dongshan Island is dominated by dense forests, and medicines to prevent snakes, insects, rats, and ants are essential."

"Compared to Dongshan Island, the development of Nanzhou is much simpler."

"Pingxi Prefecture in the west should not be taken care of for the time being. Instead, Pingdong Prefecture should be developed first and gathering areas should be continuously built from north to south."

"From north to south, first is Jinghai County, which is across the sea from Dongshan Prefecture, then Yulin County and Hepu County."

"Hepu County is where Jiang Gui and the others now set up the Nanzhou Xuanwei Division. However, this is not the ideal location for the Nanzhou Xuanwei Division. It should be the Jiuzhen County and Cangwu County areas further south."

Zhu Gaoxu said while pointing.

"The terrain of Nanzhou can be divided into three different terrain distribution areas: the east, the middle and the west. The west is the desert and semi-desert area of ​​low plateau, the middle is the Gobi Plain, and the east is the highland formed by ancient mountains."

"Suitable places for living are mainly the eastern, southern and southwestern coastal areas."

"Although Nanzhou is vast, 70% of the land is very arid and prone to wildfires."

"So the Dudu Mansion and the Sixth Ministry only need to open up county towns in what I call livable areas. As for Nanzhou's resources, they are mainly gold, iron ore, coal, silver, and lead mines."

"These are resources needed by the imperial court, and the number of natives on the island ranges from 700,000 to 1.5 million."

In a few words, Zhu Gaoxu briefly told everyone about the situation in Nanzhou, and continued:
"The map has been sent to the Dudu Mansion and the Sixth Department. This year's criminals do not need to be sent to Yanran Dusi Xiran City. It is enough to send them to Sanshan, Zhongshan and Dongshan Qianhu Station."

Zhu Gaoxu looked at Xu Shuo, who served as the Minister of Justice. Xu Shuo still followed the emperor's lead as he did in the cabinet, and answered without thinking:

"There are more than 45,000 prisoners in the Ministry of Punishment's custody with sentences of more than one year this year, and all of them can be sent to Nanyang."

As the population of Ming Dynasty increased, the number of criminals also began to gradually increase.

Ten years ago, at most 20,000 criminals a year could meet the standards for distribution, but now the number has reached more than 40,000.

Of course, this has something to do with the strictness of the "New Ming Dynasty Law", but it is not absolute.

"Your Majesty, the Mobei Railway is making rapid progress. It will be open to traffic by the end of the year at most."

Huang Fu suddenly opened his mouth and bowed. Zhu Gaoxu nodded after hearing this and said: "After the Mobei Railway is opened to traffic, the imperial court will be able to defend the enemy from Jinshan (Altai Mountain), and there will be no more military disasters in the interior."

"Mobei now has a population of more than 400,000 criminals and herdsmen. What is the local economic situation like?"

He asked about the economic situation in Mobei, not because he was unclear, but because he wanted to let the ministers know what the situation in Mobei was like.

In response, Guo Zi, the Minister of Household Affairs, stood up and bowed: "Reporting to Your Majesty, after the population of Mobei increases, more than 400,000 yuan of profit can be obtained from coal, iron ore and other businesses every year."

"In the past few years, the imperial court has invested more than 15 million yuan in Mobei. If the current financial situation in Mobei is followed, the cost can be recovered in about thirty years."

Time is the biggest uncertainty factor in policy. Even though Zhu Di was very concerned about Cochin and the Northeast region, the resources he could allocate were not enough to develop these areas in just 20 years.

In comparison, Zhu Gaoxu is different.

He promoted the Ming Dynasty's industrial revolution, improved productivity, and guaranteed medical care, so the population was able to grow explosively.

In more than 60 years, the population almost doubled, with the main population growth occurring during the Yongle and Hongxi reigns.

While countries around the world are maintaining an annual population growth of 1% to 2%, Ming Dynasty is growing its population at a growth rate of 4% to 5%.

The most important thing is that the population base of Ming Dynasty is large enough.

According to Zhu Gaoxu's estimate, the current world population should be less than 30 million, and the population of the Ming Dynasty accounts for at least %.

Judging from the current population growth situation, in about seventy years, the Ming Dynasty's population will reach a minimum of 250 million, and the world's population will not exceed 600 million at most.

By then, the proportion of Han Chinese in the world will reach a minimum of 40% and a maximum of 50%.

Of course, how much it can achieve has a certain relationship with Ming's technological level and medical level.

In addition, we have to see to what extent other countries can follow the Ming Dynasty's reforms.

"The Northwest Railway has been built to Shazhou and will reach Hami by the end of next year."

"By then, the railway will be built to the west, and as far as I know, Waisi Khan in Yilibaoli in the west seems to be wary of the imperial court."

"The Ministry of Rites sent envoys to the Western Regions to negotiate with Waisi Khan and told him that I was not plotting the Western Regions, but I was short of war horses in the river area, and building a railway would make it easier to transport war horses across the river to the Ming Dynasty."

"The Ming Dynasty's railway will not go deep into Turpan, just let him rest assured."

Although Zhu Gaoxu said this, no one in the temple knew that Emperor Jianfeng was clearly pointing at Yili.

At this time, if there is any change in Fan Yili, then His Majesty will probably not be stingy about sending troops to the Western Regions.

"What's the current situation in Hami Mansion?"

Zhu Gaoxu asked Guo Zi, who bowed and said: "Since the delivery of the water pump, the area of ​​local cultivated land has continued to expand. Now there are 3,000 troops stationed there, 40,000 people, and more than 300,000 acres of cultivated land."

"After the train is repaired, and with enough fertilizer, we will be able to accumulate 50,000 shi per year to store grain."

The truth is obvious when Guo Zi said this, but once there is a railway, Hami's annual grain storage of 50,000 shi will be nothing.

If the imperial court really wants to use troops against Yili, it can completely rely on railways to transport food from Huguang and Jiangnan to the Western Regions. Although the cost is higher, the army will not run out of food.

Of course, in addition to this, there is also the issue of auxiliary troops, and this is the reason why Zhu Gaoxu is not ready to take action against Yili.

Even if the Ming Dynasty's railway was built to reach Turpan, it would be more than 1,500 miles from Turpan to Yilibali, and more than 2,000 miles to Kashgar, not to mention Yesuli (Altay) in the north.

These distances are all distances that require a large number of draft horses and auxiliary troops to transport.

Even if each auxiliary soldier is equipped with a horse-drawn carriage, at least 300,000 auxiliary soldiers are needed to support the 30,000 cavalry fighting in the entire Western Region.

The cost of traveling and fighting was also a huge expense for the Ming Dynasty.

Although there are still more than 40 million yuan in money and grain in the treasury that have not been used, you cannot use it casually if you have money, so Zhu Gaoxu needs to wait for an opportunity to build a railway while fighting.

This opportunity is Yili's chance to kill Li Waisihan.

"The Ministry of Rites will mediate properly regarding matters in the Western Regions. Don't let Yi Li think that our empire is powerful and bully others."

After Zhu Gaoxu gave his instructions, he stood up and walked towards the side hall. The ministers all bowed and made way for him.

Seeing him walking into the side hall, the ministers looked at each other in confusion. Zhu Zhanhe followed him to the side hall, but when he passed by Jiang Huai and Lu Yu, he paused for a moment and said, "Are you two on duty today?"

"Back to Your Highness, I have two men on duty."

Lu Yu bowed and saluted, Zhu Zhanhe nodded and said nothing more. Apparently he had something to explain to Lu Yu and Jiang Huai.

Everyone saw this scene in their eyes and didn't feel strange in their hearts, but they left one after another after Zhu Zhanhe also entered the side hall.

In the end, there were only seven cabinet ministers left in Wuying Palace: Chen Chang, Yang Rong, Yang Pu, Xue Xuan, Lu Yu, Jiang Huai, and Wang Ji.

The seven people sat down to manage the government tacitly. Although they were only seven people, they each represented the four forces in the temple today...

(End of this chapter)