Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 576: The Martyr’s Old Age
"Crackling..."

Winter passed and spring came, and in the blink of an eye, more than half a month had passed.

Even in Yinshan City, many soldiers fired guns and set off firecrackers to celebrate the New Year under instructions.

The seventeenth year of Hongxi arrived as expected, and Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu reached the ages of seventy-five and fifty-five respectively.

On the day of the New Year's Day, there was heavy snow all around Yibohai, making it very difficult to travel.

Don't even think about eating luxurious foods like fruits and vegetables in this season.

Eating some mutton is the way to celebrate the New Year.

Compared to Yinshan City, the dignitaries in Beijing City lived a more comfortable life.

The three east-west, south-north railways were completed, and even the Hu-Guang Railway, which had encountered many difficulties, was built to Yingde in Guangzhou.

Although it has not yet reached Guangzhou, its arrival in Yingde means that they can eat some vegetables and fruits from Guangdong and Guangxi.

Because of this, they can spend the least money and eat the best food all year round, and their life is very comfortable.

Of course, while it was a boost, it also meant that the court's control over the local areas was strengthening. Wherever there was a railway, it was basically the place where the imperial inspectors and imperial censors liked to go the most, and it was also where things were most likely to go wrong.

For this reason, local officials became more cautious and their methods of corruption and bribery became more covert.

Some of these things were revealed, while others were not.

The competition among the three forces in the north, southwest and south of the Yangtze River has undoubtedly stabilized the situation, and none of the parties dared to blatantly abuse their power for personal gain.

Incidents similar to those during the Hongwu and Yongle periods were gradually decreasing, and the nobles were gradually keeping a low profile.

"Sing……"

"Long live the Emperor..."

On New Year's Day, in Wuying Palace, even though Zhu Gaoxu was thousands of miles away in Yinshan Mountain, all the ministers still had to kneel and kowtow to the golden platform, including Zhu Zhanhe.

After doing all this, Zhu Zhanhe walked onto the Golden Platform, and then the grand court meeting of the 17th year of Hongxi began.

The thirty-third year of Hongwu, the seventeenth year of Yongle, the seventeenth year of Hongxi…

In the blink of an eye, the Ming Dynasty had already reached its sixty-seventh year.

This year happened in the Western Han Dynasty, during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che. Although Emperor Wu of Han agreed to the marriage, he had already begun preparing for a war against the Huns in private.

If this year happened in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Dou Xian, who inscribed the Yanran Stone, would be executed, and the Eastern Han Dynasty would enter an era in which eunuchs and foreign relatives took turns to interfere in government affairs.

If this year happened in the Tang Dynasty, Wu Zetian would have changed the reign title to Chuigong. Although her son Li Dan was still the emperor in name, she had actually begun to control the government.

If this year had happened in the Northern Song Dynasty, the literati and officials would still be enjoying the peace and comfort after the Treaty of Shanyuan, completely unaware that the Northern Song Dynasty would have lasted less than a hundred years.

If it were in the Southern Song Dynasty, it was the Yellow River that took over the Huai River to flow into the sea, starting a period of more than 600 years.

If it were set in the Yuan Dynasty, it would have been during the Zhizheng period. Zhu Zhanhe's great-grandfather Zhu Yuanzhang had just moved to an isolated village. Under the instructions of his father Zhu Wusiba, he helped the landlord Liu De to herd cattle every day. There were already signs of civil rebellion.

With the exception of the Western Han Dynasty, no dynasty could be considered peaceful during this period.

Against such a historical background, the Ming Dynasty was undoubtedly a unique dynasty in terms of strength.

It is also because of this that Zhu Zhanhe's governing philosophy tends to be cautious and meticulous.

This does not mean that he is cautious and conservative about policies, but that he is also very cautious and meticulous in implementing policies.

After all, he had worked at the bottom of the bureaucracy, and he knew clearly to what extent a policy of the imperial court could be distorted and magnified from the capital to the provincial government, and then to the prefectures, states, counties, and towns.

If it is not corrected properly, it will cause great harm to the people.

For example, for a rule “keep the city clean and tidy”, Zhu Zhanhe could learn from some memorials of inspecting censors that the county government was driving away street vendors.

The court's intention was clearly just to keep the place clean and tidy, but in order to achieve even greater cleanliness and hygiene, the people below were willing to overturn the jobs of some of the people with one blow.

For such behavior, Zhu Zhanhe not only published the news in newspapers, but also wrote articles himself to criticize such behavior. He also sent direct orders to the county to reprimand local officials.

Over time, some officials no longer dared to make such a one-size-fits-all approach.

But Zhu Zhanhe also knew that the officials did not dare to do so, not because they had changed, but because they felt they were being closely watched, so they did not dare to do so.

If you ever slack off, they will immediately come back and convey the policies in the simplest and cheapest way.

As for the livelihoods of the people and the harm that a one-size-fits-all approach would cause to them, these were not within their consideration.

Because of this, Zhu Zhanhe repeated his remarks more than once at this grand court meeting, and the officials bowed to show that they had listened.

After he finished his explanation, the court meeting entered the reporting process of the six ministries.

In the 17th year of Hongxi, the population of the Ming Dynasty had grown to more than 129 million, and it is estimated that it will exceed 130 million by the middle of this year.

As for arable land, after the completion of the Songhe Railway, Zhu Gaoxu personally went to Jilin City to give speeches to the meritorious officials. They also began to sell some land within the Great Wall and shifted their attention to the Songnen Plain along the Songhe Railway.

Although there were still a large number of swamps and silt-filled lands in the Songnen Plain during this period, many places began to slowly transform into wasteland due to the continuous construction of water conservancy projects upstream.

These wastelands are very fertile, which naturally attracted the attention of the meritorious officials. Therefore, a large amount of arable land in the Daning area is being continuously reclaimed.

Their act of reclamation became a kind of weather vane, and for the densely populated Liaodong region, Daning became a place where one could make a fortune.

Many people began to migrate spontaneously. The population of Daning has increased by more than 300,000 in the past three years, and the cultivated land has increased by more than 2 million acres.

In addition to the Northeast, many places in the interior of China are also reclaiming wasteland due to population growth. Sichuan, with a population approaching seven million, is reclaiming three million acres of wasteland every year on the basis of cultivating the original land.

Today, the cultivated land area in Sichuan has reached more than 37 million mu, and land reclamation work in Yunnan, Huguang and Jiaozhi is also going very smoothly.

Because of this, the amount of cultivated land in the Ming Dynasty reached more than 736 million square meters in the first month of the 17th year of Hongxi.

These two data are the result of the efforts of three generations of people in the Ming Dynasty.

Whether it is population, arable land, or territory, the Ming Dynasty was far superior to all previous dynasties, but this is not something to be proud of, because history is vertical and the times are constantly advancing, so it is normal that the Ming Dynasty was more powerful than all previous dynasties.

Today, the financial resources of the Ming Dynasty have reached more than 70.42 million strings of cash, which is much faster than anyone expected.

Of course, compared with the increase in fiscal revenue, the growth in spending is particularly frightening.

Just to maintain the current political, military, and educational team of the Ming Dynasty, 58 million strings of cash are needed each year, and the maintenance of local facilities is 7 million strings of cash.

The annual accumulation was 5.42 million guan, but these accumulations often could not be saved because there were so many places where the Ming Dynasty needed to spend money, such as the three major railways in the Western Regions that were currently being prepared.

"The three railways in the Western Region have not yet been surveyed, but the total mileage is at least 9,000 miles, and the materials need to be transported from the Central Plains and the Northeast. The cost is too high."

"If all three railways were built, even if they were all on flat land, it would cost at least 60 million strings of cash. The imperial court would need to accumulate at least 12 years to save up such a huge amount of wealth."

"Because of this, I suggest allocating money and grain to the three military governors in the Western Regions, so that the local military governors can mine the local coal and iron ore."

"I have calculated that at least 7 million guan will be needed, but the cost of the project can be reduced to 50 million guan, saving a full 3 million guan."

"Besides, after the construction is put into operation, the factories and mines built with these 7 million guan will be able to provide at least 200,000 jobs."

“Two hundred thousand jobs represent two hundred thousand families and millions of people.”

In the Fengtian Hall, Wang Hui not only raised the problem, but also proposed solutions, as well as what impact such solutions would have on the environment in the Western Regions.

However, there is a problem with this method, which is that it requires people, lots and lots of people.

Since Zhu Gaoxu moved the population of Tingzhou, Xizhou and Yizhou to the interior of the country, the population in the Western Regions has decreased by about 150,000.

The registration of the people in the Western Regions has not yet been completed, but judging from the intelligence sent back previously, the number will probably not exceed 400,000 at most.

These 400,000 people included both men and women, and the court needed at least 200,000 workers, all of whom had to be men.

In other words, the population of the Western Regions could not meet Wang Hui's plan at all.

The population problem was before them, and at this time Zhu Zhanhe said: "Your Majesty has issued an order to relocate the people affected by the disaster in the three counties of Jiangxi to Anxi."

"I have already consulted the Ministry of Works about Anxi and Beiting. They will be able to reach Luntai in Tingzhou Prefecture by the end of the year at the latest."

"In addition, Yizhou has abundant coal mines, and there are also iron mines near Luntai. These are the resources the court needs to build railways."

"Therefore, I have decided to follow your majesty's order and relocate the disaster victims from the three counties of Jiangxi to Xizhou and Tingzhou."

"The six ministries must be well prepared to ensure that the victims have housing and jobs."

"These more than 200,000 people can at least solve the job shortage of 80,000 people. Combined with the migration of disaster victims from other places and the local people in the Western Region, solving the job shortage of 200,000 people will not be a problem."

Zhu Zhanhe's words made the ministers look at each other in surprise. Since ancient times, population has always been a precious resource.

The Mongols had enough animal power, but the reason they were unable to farm on the Mongolian Plateau, in addition to climate and environmental issues, was because of manpower and investment issues.

The Ming Dynasty now also has similar problems because its territory is too large and the population is extremely unbalanced.

However, the imperial court did not have sufficient financial resources to support the large-scale migration and advance construction of millions of people, so it could only be done bit by bit.

Wang Hui just went over the account of relocating more than 200,000 people from three counties in Jiangxi Province in his mind and got the result.

"Your Highness, if we move more than 200,000 people from Jiangxi to the Western Regions, it will cost about 1 million strings of cash, and it is feasible."

"How long will it take?" Zhu Zhanhe asked Wang Hui, and Wang Hui bowed and said:

"The Jiangnan Railway has not yet reached the three counties, but the distance is not too far. It takes about a month to walk, half a month to cross the river, and it will take at most three and a half months to migrate to Xizhou, a total of five months."

"If the decree is issued now and all places prepare to move supplies and porridge stalls, the migration can start in March and be completed by the end of August, a total of six months."

The role of railways was infinitely magnified at this moment. In the past, in the Ming Dynasty, it would cost at least 2 to 3 million strings of cash and take a year or even a year and a half to migrate 200,000 people to a place more than 6,000 miles away.

Now it only takes six months to migrate more than 200,000 people to a place 5,000 miles away, and this process is a gradual process.

In other words, the first batch of migrants may have settled down, and the last batch has just arrived.

If only a group of civilians were transported, without taking into account the issues of crossing the river and the land transportation, the train could transport them from Jiangpu in Nanzhili or Wuchang in Huguang to Anxi in ten days.

Faced with such a speed, it was naturally impossible for Zhu Zhanhe to refuse.

As for the Three Yangs, although they were reluctant to relocate more than 200,000 people from Jiangxi, if the problem of more than 200,000 people was not solved, it would probably provoke civil unrest if time was delayed.

Because of this, they could only watch the imperial court relocate more than 200,000 people from Jiangxi.

"From today on, for all the people who have suffered from disasters and lost their crops, the court will buy the affected fields and relocate the victims to Anxi to live."

Zhu Zhanhe announced another decree, which made everyone in the temple look very unhappy.

Population is a resource, especially in today's world where the land is vast and the population is sparse.

Take the example of the 200,000 people who migrated to the Western Regions. After they arrived in Anxi, even if they were farmers, they could reclaim millions of acres of arable land in a few years, and pay more than 100,000 shi of agricultural tax every year, which is at least 40,000 to 50,000 strings of cash after deduction. 40,000 to 50,000 strings of cash is already a considerable sum for the local finances.

"If you have something to do, start the show, if nothing happens, leave the court!"

After Zhu Zhanhe finished the process, he signaled to leave the court. At this time, an official suddenly stepped forward and bowed, saying:
"I, the Censor Wang Xun, have something to report..."

"Accurate!" Zhu Zhanhe frowned. He had no impression of this Wang Fan. It seemed that he had just been promoted.

People who are suddenly promoted are often just pawns.

"I heard that the Grand Master and His Majesty were ill when they arrived at Yinshan Prefecture in Beiting, and there has been no news for a long time. May I ask Your Highness, how are His Majesty and the Grand Master doing..."

Wang Can's problem suddenly pushed Wang Hui to the forefront. After all, the Censorate had basically become a one-man show for the Northern Faction, and it was hard to say that Wang Can's behavior was not instigated by Wang Hui.

However, Wang Hui bowed to Wang Yu and said, "Censor Wang, the news from His Majesty and His Majesty is top secret. How did you get it?"

"Your humble servant..." Wang Yu suddenly hesitated.

"That's enough!" Zhu Zhanhe didn't want to pay attention to the factional disputes among these people. At the same time, he also knew that many people were watching the physical conditions of Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu, so he spoke frankly:

"It is only because spring has not yet arrived in the Western Regions and the roads are covered with thick snow that we have suspended our journey. Your Majesty will return to the capital after summer."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhu Zhanhe stood up and walked towards the back hall. Seeing this, the Minister of the Honglu Temple immediately shouted, "Dismiss the court!"

"Your Highness, a thousand years old, a thousand years old, a thousand years old..."

Listening to the singing of rituals coming from behind, Zhu Zhanhe shook his head.

My father and grandfather are still alive and well, but this group of people are so impatient.

"Your Highness, the Crown Prince has just conquered Qiemo City. Should we send him to Yinshan City to take a look?"

When Zhu Zhanhe arrived at the back hall, Wang Tao asked worriedly. Zhu Zhanhe glanced at him and said, "Is it your idea or Yi Daban's idea?"

"That's what Yi Zhangyin meant." Wang Tao answered as he changed Zhu Zhanhe's casual clothes.

Hearing that it was Yishiha's intention, Zhu Zhanhe did not blame Wang Tao, but nodded and said, "Let him go."

"Yes……"

After the two finished their conversation, they walked out of the back hall of Fengtian Hall one after another.

Soon, decrees were issued from the Forbidden City and spread to various places.

Time passed, and soon it was March, and the weather began to warm up.

Even in Yinshan City in the east of Yibohai, the snow on the Gobi grassland has melted.

Except for the top of the Tianshan Mountains in the distance which is still covered with snow, normal travel is no longer a problem.

After three months of rest, Zhu Di's health improved a lot, but he was a little thinner than three months ago.

Zhu Gaoxu put aside his writing and started chatting with Zhu Di on the way back to the capital.

There were laughters coming from the car from time to time, and then silence from time to time.

On March 17th, the team arrived at Shuanghe City in Kunling Prefecture and began to move eastward towards Luntai.

At this time, Zhu Qiyue, who had just finished fighting in southern Xinjiang, came riding with more than a hundred cavalrymen and Guo Deng.

"Grandpa! Great-grandpa!"

Zhu Qiyue was wearing a mandarin duck-patterned battle jacket with only a breastplate on the outside, and rode a black military horse to the front of the carriage.

The carriage door opened, and Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu got out one after another.

"I am here to see His Majesty, the Emperor!"

After not seeing him for more than half a year, Zhu Qiyue seemed to have become more disciplined and had grown taller.

"Good boy, you've grown taller."

Zhu Di knew Zhu Qiyue best. When he helped him up, he could tell that he had grown a lot taller.

Zhu Qiyue grinned and said, "It has grown an inch. I also find it strange. The food we eat on the march is not very good, but it grows faster than normal."

"It's a good thing to exercise more." Zhu Di took his hand and walked to the military horse with a hunched back. After touching it, he climbed onto the horse with difficulty.

Just from the way he mounted the horse, Zhu Qiyue knew that his great-grandfather had probably suffered a lot this winter.

"Grandpa..."

Zhu Qiyue wanted to help, but Zhu Di signaled him not to come forward.

Zhu Di climbed onto the horse, breathed a sigh of relief, shook the reins, and rode around on the horse's back.

"This horse is quite good. Was it captured?"

Zhu Qiyue's horse was a Ferghana horse awarded by Zhu Di, and this horse was a Arab horse, so he asked about it specifically.

"Well, I left Wu Taxue in Luntai. There are a few captured Arabian mares there. I want to see if they can give birth to some foals."

"Okay..." Zhu Di nodded with a smile, then looked towards the north: "Huh...it's time to go back."

After he finished speaking, he got off the horse with great difficulty, and then said to Zhu Qiyue: "Let's go, get on the carriage and talk, don't delay going home."

"Okay!" Zhu Qiyue nodded and followed Zhu Di into the carriage. Zhu Gaoxu looked at Guo Deng who came with Zhu Qiyue, stepped forward and patted his arms: "You have matured a lot, it seems you have learned a lot of skills."

"Hehe, only through actual combat can one learn skills." Guo Deng scratched his head, and Zhu Gaoxu also indicated:

"You can also get on the carriage, so you can listen to what we talk about."

"Yes!" Guo Deng was a little excited, and then followed Zhu Gaoxu into the carriage.

After they boarded the carriage, it began to move slowly eastward.

Zhu Di was very curious about Southern Xinjiang, so he asked Zhu Qiyue to talk to him about Southern Xinjiang.

Zhu Qiyue was very interested in this. He told about the lush and lush Yanqi, the dangerous Tiemen Pass, as well as Qiuci, Gumo, Shule, Yutian, etc.

As he was talking, he took out a few pieces of jade that he had dug up in Hotan, and then talked about the Hotan River that runs across the Great Qi (Taklamakan).

He and Guo Deng rode camels along the Hotan River, crossed the Great Desert, and crossed the desert that was nearly a thousand miles long from north to south. This was enough for him to brag about for a long time.

In response to his words, Zhu Di just smiled and looked at him, watching him speak and gesture, and laughing out loud from time to time.

Amidst all the laughter and joy, Zhu Gaoxu seemed to sense something. He didn't say a word along the way, but his eyes were always on Zhu Di.

From Shuanghe to Luntai, there was constant laughter along the way. These were the times when Zhu Di laughed the most in the past ten days.

He did not read the book written by Zhu Gaoxu again. Perhaps for him, since he already knew the result, there was no need to pursue the process. Anyway, he would not live to see that day.

At the end of April, they arrived at the former Mohecheng Gorge.

At this time, a city pass had been built here, and a bridge was also built over the Baiyang River.

Guancheng is at the mouth of the gorge, and in front of Guancheng is a railway station under construction.

The train had not yet reached this place. As Zhu Qiyue passed the gorge where he had bravely fought the enemy, he vividly recounted the danger of that day.

At this time, Zhu Di didn't joke, but just raised his hand and patted him on the back.

The next day they passed through the gorge, and the railway had been built to the hilly area south of the gorge.

The number of laborers increased greatly, reaching as much as 20,000 to 30,000.

Without delay, they changed trains and returned to Xizhou, formerly Turpan.

The ancient city of Gaochang in Xizhou was preserved. Based on the rammed earth foundation, officials directed the laborers to build stone walls to surround the city.

As for the rammed earth buildings inside, they were demolished according to the situation and rebuilt into northern-style courtyards.

When Zhu Gaoxu and his companions arrived at Gaochang Railway Station, there was a traffic jam.

After asking, I learned that the disaster victims from three counties in Jiangxi had been relocated here, with thousands of people arriving at Gaochang Railway Station every day.

When Zhu Di and his men arrived, they happened to see a group of disaster victims getting off the bus.

Zhu Di took Zhu Gaoxu and others off the bus and sat down in a corner of the exit.

In their eyes, the victims, who were not dressed cleanly, revealed anxiety and confusion about the future.

They didn't know whether they could live well in this desolate northwest, nor did they know whether the government's promises would be fulfilled.

They could only go with the flow and, under the leadership of the Bingmasi, walked out of the train station and headed towards Gaochang City not far away.

"Can Gaochang City accommodate so many people?"

Zhu Di asked Zhu Gaoxu, who shook his head and said, "If Gaochang can't accommodate them, we can build Shanshan County on the site of Shanshan County, and build Tianshan County on the site of Liuzhong City, where the Tianshan Army was stationed in the Tang Dynasty."

"I thought about this when I set up the three counties, so you don't have to worry."

"In addition, as for the Mohe City we passed by, it can also accommodate tens of thousands of people for farming and living. The train is expected to reach Luntai County by the end of the year."

"The land conditions in Luntai County are such that it is not a problem to support more than 200,000 people. Therefore, the more than 200,000 people in the three counties of Jiangxi are a drop in the bucket for the entire Western Region."

"But don't worry, I will protect this land for you..."

Zhu Gaoxu's eyes were always on Zhu Di. Zhu Di nodded after listening. He looked at these immigrants who were confused about the future, as if muttering to himself, or as if giving orders.

"We have to treat them better. Our Zhu family owes them too much..."

He might be talking about the disaster victims in Jiangxi, or he might be talking about the people of the world.

He did not say this to the people of that time, but rather expressed his feelings after reading Zhu Gaoxu's book and learning the results.

It’s just that such things can last for one, two, or three generations, but they cannot be maintained for a long time.

After all, descendants will have their own opinions, and no one can completely control everyone.

Zhu Gaoxu, who was well aware of this, also turned his attention to the victims and nodded.

"Yes, at least it's the same among our three generations..."

(End of this chapter)