Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 555 The fox pretends to be the tiger's power
"Minister of Punishment Xu Shuo enters the palace!"

Inside the Wuying Palace, when the eunuch on duty in the side hall started singing, Xu Shuo walked into the side hall at a leisurely pace.

"I, Xu Shuo, the Minister of Justice, pay my respects to Your Majesty. May Your Majesty live forever..."

"Give me a seat."

In response to Xu Shuo's polite words, Zhu Gaoxu did not say much. He only spoke after offering him a seat:

"Have you read the Ministry of Industry's memorial on the Southwestern Railway?"

"I have looked it up and found that there are twelve railways with a total length of about 2,800 miles."

"The three main railways are in the four prefectures of eastern Sichuan, and the other nine railways are scattered throughout Yunnan, but the mileage of each railway is not long, and none of them exceeds 300 miles."

Xu Shuo told what he knew and praised: "Although the construction is not long, it is more convenient for Yunnan and Xichuan."

"If technology improves in the future, we can also connect these railways and save two years of time for local governments."

“If completed, it will be more convenient for Yunnan’s silver and copper mines to reach the Yangtze River waterway.”

"It's not as exaggerated as you say. Tell the truth!" Zhu Gaoxu interrupted Xu Shuo. He didn't want to hear these flattering words.

"Yes..." Xu Shuo nodded, and then he thought for a while and said slowly:

"These railways have little impact on Yunnan as a whole, but have a greater impact on Sichuan."

"Although the railway from Baoning Prefecture to Chongqing via Shunqing was divided into two sections due to some engineering problems, it can still serve as a link between northern Sichuan and southeastern Sichuan."

"However, my memorials mainly focus on Yunnan. Although Sichuan also operates Shu brocade, it is not a priority for the court."

The status of a region depends on the circumstances. The basis for Sichuan's development for more than a thousand years is that its regional value was very high in the past.

However, as the Ming Dynasty continued to expand into the Indochina Peninsula, Yunnan gradually became the high ground for the Ming Dynasty to control the entire Indochina Peninsula, while Sichuan and Jiaozhi became de facto granaries.

In the era of industrial change, granaries were not something to be happy about, not to mention that Zhu Gaoxu had migrated so many people to Sichuan.

The population of Sichuan has grown from over 2 million in the 24th year of Hongwu to 6.7 million.

It is easy to feed such a large population by agriculture alone, but what about the future?

Moreover, although Yunnan is the strategic high ground of the Ming Dynasty against Indochina and South Asia, it also needs Sichuan for auxiliary support, so Sichuan’s industrial construction must also be accelerated.

"This is Wang Hui's memorial, please take a look..."

Zhu Gaoxu handed the original copy of Wang Hui's memorial to Wang Tao beside him, who passed it to Xu Shuo.

As for the latest version, Zhu Gaoxu naturally would not show it to Xu Shuo.

"I accept my order..."

Xu Shuo took the memorial from Wang Tao, then lowered his head and began to read it.

After seeing this, he finally understood what Wang Hui had been doing all these years.

Gradually, he began to be unable to stop and became immersed in it, and Zhu Gaoxu did not interrupt him.

As time passed little by little, Xu Shuo finally woke up after an hour.

He closed the memorial and felt a bitter taste in his mouth, which was very unpleasant.

Wang Hui's memorial is enough to change the current economic environment in the entire north.

Xu Shuo didn’t know what would happen a hundred years later, but at least if the contents of this memorial could be implemented, the north would usher in decades of economic prosperity.

"Learn from his memorial, make good use of the population of Yunnan Xingdusi and Sichuan, revise your memorial and come back to me."

"Don't be timid about the budget. You are making profits for the court, not for yourself."

"As long as the money is well spent, it will be your achievement, a benefit to the court and the people of the southwest!"

Zhu Gaoxu waved his sleeves to signal Xu Shuo that he could leave. Xu Shuo nodded, then placed the memorial on the chair, stood up, bowed, and slowly walked out of the hall.

Watching him leave, Zhu Gaoxu stroked his mustache and glanced at Wang Tao: "How is your godfather?"

Wang Tao’s godfather was naturally Yishiha, whom Zhu Gaoxu often missed.

Thanks to his status as Zhu Qiyue's great companion, Wang Tao was recognized by Yishiha and adopted as his godson.

After Zhu Gaoxu learned about this, he transferred him to a side hall of Wuying Palace.

His intuition told him that Wang Tao was no simple person, and that was indeed the case.

In the past few months, Wang Tao has been very cautious when assisting in governing the country in Wuying Palace. He will not ignore a matter because it is too small, nor will he panic because of a matter that is too big.

Judging from his performance alone, Zhu Gaoxu was quite satisfied with him.

"Godfather has almost finished his recuperation recently. He often said that he wanted to come to work, but I persuaded him not to."

"I told my godfather that His Majesty would prefer you to stay with him longer rather than die of exhaustion in office."

After he finished speaking, Wang Tao bowed and said, "What I said was a bit presumptuous. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

"No problem." Zhu Gaoxu didn't care about these, he just looked at him and ordered:

"Tell your godfather to take good care of his health and not to enter the palace for duty without my summons."

Zhu Gaoxu used "I" to refer to himself, which also shows how much importance he attached to this matter.

Wang Tao bowed respectfully and accepted the gesture. At this time, the sound of singing a salute was heard from the palace gate.

"Your Majesty, the prince wishes to see you."

"Xuan!"

After a while, Zhu Zhanhe walked into the hall and bowed to Zhu Gaoxu from about ten steps away.

Then he came forward and asked for advice with a military newspaper.

"Father, the situation in the southwest has become tense. Wang Xuan has sent someone to ask if we should change our tactics."

Zhu Zhanhe lowered his voice, and the so-called method he mentioned was the method that Zhu Gaoxu asked Wang Xuan to consume the strength of the Burmese in the Jinsha River Plain.

The Burmese population was too large, and unlike the Dai people who were called Baiyi by the Ming Dynasty, they were incompatible with the culture of the Ming Dynasty and were prone to causing trouble.

Because of this, Zhu Gaoxu wrote a letter to Mu Chun and Wang Xuan in advance before pacifying the Burmese and setting up the Han people, asking them to use their methods in the Jinsha River Plain.

It's a pity that Mu Chun didn't survive until the end of the war, but fortunately, the 56-year-old Wang Xuan was still strong and healthy, and the two brothers Qu Yu and Qu Tao were still active on the front line.

The three of them cooperated well. The Burmese army had consumed too much strength in the long-term battle with the Ming army. Now they have begun to capture able-bodied men on a large scale, and even an uprising has broken out in the country.

Faced with these popular uprisings, the Burmese army's suppression resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of indigenous people.

Zhu Gaoxu saw all this and was carrying out his plan.

Human resources are hard to come by, but the subsequent unrest is unpredictable.

Without depleting local strength, the Ming Dynasty would not be able to gain a foothold in the local area.

"Continue with the trick and make him not worry."

Zhu Gaoxu spoke calmly, and Zhu Zhanhe nodded in agreement.

If it were the old him, he would definitely despise such means, but now he fully supports it.

Zhu Zhanhe's talent is average and he learns very slowly, but fortunately he is making progress.

As Zhu Zhanhe replied to the memorial and sent it down, the reform of the native system in the southwest also accelerated...

"kill!"

"I surrender! I surrender!"

"Crack, crackle -"

"Drop your weapons and lie on the ground!"

In May, when Zhu Gaoxu was preparing to carry out economic reforms in various places and to transform the aboriginal people into officials in the southwest, the sounds of horse hooves, carbines, surrender and fighting were heard in Kunlun Continent thousands of miles away.

A gold mining area guarded by hundreds of people was defeated by more than a hundred Ming cavalrymen. The Ming army relied on the speed of their horses and the power of their flintlock rifles to ruthlessly shoot and kill the rebels.

Except for some rebels who announced their surrender and lay on the ground, all the other servants were shot to death by the Ming army.

One third of the hundreds of people were killed, and the rest all surrendered.

After clearing the mining area, they left behind a general flag of fifty soldiers to guard the mining area and servants, as well as thousands of Kunlun slaves, while the rest walked out along the dirt road in the mining area.

After trekking for more than ten miles, they finally found their own military camp at the intersection of several dirt roads.

There were several teams similar to theirs, and most of them were heading towards the military camp.

In the military camp, the horseless infantry were under martial law, and they could also chat and joke during the period.

Several centurions from the cavalry teams rode to the front of the big tent in the military camp, dismounted, and bowed in front of the tent, saying, "Duke, the mining area has been pacified. This is the military report!"

Several people presented the battle reports they had just written with both hands, and at this time a group of people walked out of the tent.

The leaders were Zheng He and Yang Zhan, followed by Yang Rui and two guys who all looked unhappy.

The identities of these two people are Japan's Kunlun Province General Yoshitsugu Kajii and Korea's Kunlun Province Military Commander Kim Jong-seo.

The two sides had been fighting openly and secretly in Kunlun Continent for many years and went to war last year. The course of the war was beyond everyone's imagination.

The Japanese army led by Yoshitsugu Kajii overwhelmingly overwhelmed the Korean army led by Kim Jong-seo, and of the 12,000 Korean troops that had arrived at Kunlun Island, only less than 4,000 remained.

Such combat power even made Zheng He and Yang Zhan, the chief and deputy envoys of the mediation, dumbfounded.

Originally, people thought North Korea was playing the victim, but it turned out that North Korea was actually defeated by the Japanese army led by Yoshitsugu Kajii.

It took five days on the road from Malindi to here, and Zheng He and Yang Zhan basically understood the general process of the war between the two sides.

If many centurions had not returned after completing their military orders, they might have made a judgment on the situation in the two countries.

"We have already taken control of the seven mining areas. Qian Liao must have taken his remaining people and fled to a place in the west where there is no road."

After reading through the military reports one by one, Yang Zhan decisively gave the movements of the rebels.

Since the Ming army went north to A'dan and Tianfang to purchase horses and head south half a month ago, the rebels led by Qian Liao have suffered defeats one after another. Most of the rebels surrendered to the government army. Only Qian Liao and less than 3,000 rebels around him, as well as tens of thousands of Kunlun slaves, were left.

Now, Qian Liao's only seven remaining mining areas have also been lost. Thirty percent of the nearly two thousand soldiers were shot dead, seventy percent surrendered, and more than 50,000 Kunlun slaves were captured.

After such a careful count, Qian Liao only had less than a thousand people.

"There is a rain forest to the west, and it is not convenient for cavalry to enter. We can simply send cavalry to surround the rain forest, and send a fleet to patrol the Atlantic Ocean. After a long time, they will surrender on their own." Yang Zhan made the arrangement easily, and Zheng He nodded and said, "This place is close to the grassland in the south, so it is easy to surround it."

"If they were in the dense rainforest in the north, it would be difficult to search and surround them."

"Now that you have finished what you are doing, let's focus on solving the problem here."

What Zheng He was talking about was mediating the war between Japan and Korea. Upon hearing this, Yang Zhan frowned and looked at Kajii Yoshishinari and Kim Jong-seo.

These two guys who were rampant in Kunlun Continent felt an inexplicable sense of guilt when facing Yang Zhan.

Yang Zhan walked back into the tent first, and Zheng He followed behind him.

Seeing this, Kajii Yoshitsugu and the other man also followed him into the tent, while Yang Rui was outside instructing several centurions to do their work.

The tent was bright, with a hole at the top that let in the sunlight.

Yang Zhan and Zheng He sat in high seats. In the end, Yang Zhan looked at Zheng He and signaled him to make the judgment.

Zheng He understood, and then he said: "I have a general understanding of the affairs of your two countries."

"In addition, the court has also investigated your confessions, so all the judgments are based on real evidence. If you have any objections, I can also have someone send the evidence to you."

After he finished speaking, without giving the two a chance to prepare, Zheng He continued:

“It is true that the Korean army was stationed along the border drawn by Your Majesty, but it is also true that Japan was the first to attack Korea.”

"According to the judgment of this envoy, Japan shall hand over all Korean prisoners and Kunlun slaves and withdraw from the border between Korea and Japan. In addition, compensation shall be paid to the Korean soldiers who died in the battle at the price of three taels of gold per person."

Three taels of gold equal thirty strings of cash, which is not cheap. However, the losses suffered by North Korea are far greater than this amount of compensation.

Zheng He and his men had no way to deal with this. After all, North Korea did not even have the strength to engage in a long-term war with the Japanese army. Even if they came to take sides, North Korea would not be able to stand up on its own.

A blacksmith must be strong himself. The Ming Dynasty would not eliminate the Japanese troops including Kajii Yoshitsugu in Kunlun Island for the sake of Korea. After all, Japan was also the second vassal state of the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, after the news of this war spread, Japan would probably replace Korea and become the first vassal state of the Ming Dynasty.

"Do you have any objections?"

Zheng He questioned the two men, and Kajii Yoshishun bowed and said, "We have more than 7,000 Korean prisoners, more than 2,000 of whom are merchants."

"As for the Kunlun slaves, we did not capture them. They fled after the city was opened."

"Ridiculous!" Hearing Yoshishinari Kajii telling lies with his eyes open, Kim Jong-seo couldn't help but scold him, as if he was a pet dog with the support of his owner.

"Angel, everything I said is true." Kajii Yoshishinari bowed and ignored his defeated opponent, Kim Jong-seo.

If it weren't for the people coming from the Ming Dynasty, if he was given another half a year, he would have been able to keep Jin Zongrui and the thousands of men under his command on the land of Kunlun Continent.

A defeated general dares to bark in front of me. Wait until the angel leaves and see how I will deal with him.

The scene of the two quarreling made people frown. Zheng He said in a cold voice: "The Celestial Empire has already found out the results of the investigation. You placed the Kunlun slaves in several mining areas southwest of Dadi Town."

"That's right! There are at least five... a hundred thousand Kunlun slaves!" Jin Zongrui opened his mouth loudly, but Kajii Yoshishinari ignored him and just bowed his head and said:
"Lord Angel, we captured them in the wild. According to the rules set by His Majesty, all captured Kunlun slaves belong to their masters."

Kajii Yoshitsugu wanted to take advantage of the situation, but Zheng He ignored him and said coldly: "Return 30,000 Kunlun slaves to Korea!"

Zheng He knew that 50,000 Kunlun slaves had been captured from Korea, but he couldn't let Kajii Yoshitsugu get nothing, so 30,000 Kunlun slaves was the bottom line, and the rest were considered his spoils.

"understood……"

Yoshitsugu Kajii was very dissatisfied, but he had to bow his head.

Zheng He nodded and said, "You two are no longer suitable to continue to hold important positions in Kunlun Continent. The kings of your two countries have also issued an order."

"After a few days, you will leave Kunlun Continent!"

If the previous verdict could make the two of them calm, the current verdict made them turn pale.

There are many gold mines in Kunlun Continent. Those who hold important positions here can obtain hundreds or even thousands of taels of gold every year through their official positions.

Now that mining is getting on track, they are about to be expelled from Kunlun Continent. Who can tolerate this?

"Angel!"

Jin Zongrui and Kajii Yoshishun emphasized their tone, and Yang Zhan directly scolded: "Why, are you dissatisfied with the verdict?"

“No…” Seeing Yang Zhan getting angry, the two could only lower their heads.

Yang Zhan's relationship with the emperor, as well as his identity, are not something they can afford to provoke.

If Yang Zhan had just said a few words to the emperor, their country might have been destroyed.

It is not a wise move to irritate him.

"Alright, I'll send officials to supervise your handover. Don't try to be cunning."

Yang Zhan glanced at the two of them sharply, and they lowered their heads even deeper, almost burying them in their chests.

"Go back!"

"I will take my leave..."

Following Yang Zhan's instructions, the two could only leave the tent respectfully.

As they walked out, Yang Rui followed them. It was obvious that Yang Zhan had already informed Yang Rui before the verdict.

With Yang Rui around, Kajii Yoshishinari and Kim Jong-seo didn't dare to play any tricks.

Seeing them gradually walking away, Zheng He frowned and said, "The imperial court's military strength in Kunlun Continent is still too weak."

“Yes!” Yang Zhan nodded in agreement, and said, “The barbarians of Xizhou, the merchants and servants of Kunlunzhou, and the armies of various countries…”

"These forces are gradually gaining a foothold in Kunlun Continent. If the imperial court wants to manage them well, it must deploy enough troops."

"After returning from this voyage, I will submit a petition to the court, asking it to add two more guards."

Kunlun Continent currently has only 4,000 soldiers and horses. That is why Kajii Yoshitsugu, Qian Liao and others dared to be so bold.

Of course, if Qi Sheng really wanted to fight, he could definitely repel them with 4,000 people, but it was hard to say what the final casualties would be.

Because of this, when faced with the fact that Qi Sheng was forced to retreat to the sea from Malindi by Qian Liao and others, neither Zhu Gaoxu, Zheng He, nor Yang Zhan thought there was anything wrong with him.

With only 4,000 men, he had to blockade Cape Kunlun, mediate the conflicts between Japan and Korea, supervise Siam and other Southeast Asian countries, and finally deal with Qian Liao.

Qi Sheng has done a good job, but the strength of the Ming Dynasty in Kunlun Continent is indeed too weak.

The countries were expanding very quickly in Kunlun Continent. This time, Zheng He brought many Jinyiwei and Xichang strongmen with him. After more than a month of running around, they basically had a grasp of the situation in Kunlun Continent.

Not to mention the local forces, the combined military strength of the Nanyang Alliance and vassal states such as Japan and Korea is no less than 30,000.

This is the result of the war that has just ended. When Japan and North Korea learn the news and increase their investment, their military strength in Kunlun Continent may reach about 50,000.

The prerequisite for supporting them to have so many troops in Kunlun Continent was that the Ming Dynasty’s fleet continued to conduct official grain trade in Ceylon, Timur and other countries.

Despite the high costs, the profits from mining gold in Kunlun far outweigh the costs.

The greed and madness of these people made even Zheng He and Yang Zhan feel scared.

Including the private camps in Kunlun Island of Ming Dynasty merchants, the number of Kunlun slaves captured by them was no less than 200,000.

You have to know that the Ming Dynasty only employed 350,000 Dongzhou miners in Dongzhou, where gold and silver were everywhere, but this group of people captured 200,000 Kunlun slaves in just over a decade.

Not only that, they also built cities, reclaimed farmland, and constructed canals in Kunlun Continent.

These practices undoubtedly represent their desire to take root for a long time in this land where the Ming Dynasty allowed them to mine gold.

Yang Zhan and Zheng He were frightened by this, so they suggested strengthening the military forces in Kunlun Continent.

After the two reached a consensus, they quickly wrote a letter each and asked someone to send it to Beijing.

If the war in Burma is over, it will take about two and a half months to deliver it to Beijing. If it is not over, it will take more than three months.

In any case, the matter of Kunlun Continent has come to an end.

Except for Qian Liao and his accomplices who were roaming in the rainforest, everything else has been concluded.

Compared to them, the economic transformation of the Ming Dynasty had just begun.

In mid-May, Yang Shiqi, who had come to his senses, took the initiative to submit a memorial entitled "A Memorial on the Reform of Corruption in Jiangnan", in which he mentioned corrupt officials, the economy and various situations in Jiangnan.

In addition, Xu Shuo also submitted a new memorial entitled "Memorial on Southwest Reform", which included many of the light and heavy industries mentioned in Wang Hui's memorial.

For example, the rubber plantations and supporting rubber factories, whose consumption is gradually increasing, as well as the processing of non-ferrous metals, the construction of steel plants and the increase in production, etc.

Although not as comprehensive as Wang Hui's memorial, the things mentioned by Xu Shuo are also noteworthy.

Faced with these three memorials on economic reform involving the entire north, southeast and southwest, Zhu Gaoxu chose to approve them without hesitation.

These three memorials will drain the Ming Dynasty's treasury in the next ten years, but at the same time, the policies implemented after these memorials are implemented will also increase the Ming Dynasty's fiscal revenue.

"Ten years later..."

Zhu Gaoxu sighed and hoped in his heart that he could see that day.

"Your Majesty, the prince wishes to see you."

A voice came from the palace gate, and Zhu Gaoxu nodded to signal him to come in.

In a breath, Zhu Zhanhe walked into the hall, but brought some not-so-good news.

"Father, the Cao Guogong residence just reported that Cao Guogong passed away at 4:00 pm, at the age of 62."

"..." Zhu Gaoxu was silent. He did not expect that the last nobleman he knew well during the Hongwu period had also come to an end.

At this moment, his mind was filled with the scene of his meeting Li Jinglong at the Nanjing Parade Ground that year, and he was unable to come back to his senses for a long time.

"Father?"

Zhu Zhanhe spoke softly to wake Zhu Gaoxu from his memories, and Zhu Gaoxu also cheered up and said:
"Tell His Majesty about this, and confer posthumous title of King of Xining on Duke Cao, with the posthumous title of Wushun."

"Yes," Zhu Zhanhe agreed, but at the same time he continued, "Although Duke Cao is sixty-two years old, his eldest son is only sixteen years old. Should he inherit the throne now, or wait until he reaches adulthood?"

Zhu Gaoxu didn't expect that Li Jinglong actually had a son. He remembered that in history Li Jinglong only had one daughter.

"You can inherit it after you become an adult."

After thinking it over, Zhu Gaoxu gave an order and then motioned for his attendants to leave, as he wanted to be alone for a while.

Watching everyone leave and looking at the empty side hall, Zhu Gaoxu's eyes gradually became cloudy...

(End of this chapter)