Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 579 Time flies
"The Emperor... has passed away..."

On the second day of October, at the Palembang Wharf in Nanyang, as Zheng He read the contents of the latest newspaper, he felt dizzy and was about to fall forward.

"Zheng Zhangyin!"

"Get out of my way!"

The naval guards around him reacted quickly, grabbed his body and slowly laid him down on the deck.

Seeing this, Yang Zhan also rushed over and pinched his philtrum with his hand.

After a while, Zheng He slowly woke up. His eyes were confused at first, then bewildered, and then he said sadly: "The emperor... has passed away!"

He cried loudly, tears constantly flowing from his eyes and flowing down the wrinkles on his face.

His crying was sad, as sad as a child who lost his parents.

"Zheng He, you can't fall down, we have to go back and see the emperor!"

Yang Zhan anxiously held Zheng He's hand, trying to wake him up.

"I can't go...I can't go..."

No one could understand Zheng He's feelings for Zhu Di. His recollections of the past only deepened his grief.

In his grief, he began to have difficulty breathing and finally fell into a deep sleep.

"Zheng He! Zheng He!"

Yang Zhan shook him anxiously, but he couldn't wake him up.

"Take him to the cabin to rest, and the fleet will return to Tianjin Port immediately!"

Yang Zhan gave orders quickly, and the fleet set out on its return journey towards the north under his orders.

Even so, Zheng He's health continued to deteriorate. He was bedridden for several days and became increasingly thin.

After ten days, he felt a little more energetic, but this was not a sign of physical recovery, but rather a last burst of energy.

With the help of Yang Zhan and others, he walked out of the cabin and looked at the sun setting over the sea, as if it was not the sun, but the end of a generation.

"Duke Yue..."

Zheng He spoke in a hoarse voice. Yang Zhan quickly stepped forward and grabbed his arm, saying excitedly: "Zheng He, we both have to go back and report!"

From the first voyage to the West to the fifth voyage to the West, Yang Zhan cooperated with Zheng He four times. If the voyages to the East are counted, it makes five times.

The two worked together for more than ten years, seeing each other every day, which made the time particularly long.

Faced with Zheng He's situation, Yang Zhan was particularly reluctant to let him go and kept encouraging him to be stronger.

However, human power cannot defeat destiny, and Zheng He himself was well aware of his situation.

This voyage to the West had already consumed a lot of his energy, and when he suddenly heard the bad news, he knew that his life span had reached its limit.

He reached out and tightly grasped Yang Zhan's wrist. There were no words, only this simple action.

But after just a few breaths, Yang Zhan could feel Zheng He's strength suddenly weakening, and before he could react, Zheng He fell backwards.

"Zheng He!"

"Zheng Zhangyin!"

Yang Zhan and the surrounding naval officers and soldiers cried out his name in grief, but Zheng He never opened his eyes again.

On October 12, the 17th year of the Hongxi reign, the eunuch Zheng He died of illness in Wanlishitang at the age of 64...

When the news reached Beijing, it was already the second day of November.

In order to prevent the body from rotting and becoming smelly, Yang Zhan bought a coffin for Zheng He in the Port of Luzon. He also listened to the advice of some military attachés and purchased a stone coffin, using two coffins, one large and one small, to seal Zheng He's body.

Even so, when the fleet arrived in Guangzhou, Zheng He's body still smelled bad because it had been there for so long.

Yang Zhan went to the Prince of Qi's Mansion in Guangzhou and bought stored ice from Prince of Qi Zhu Xianxuan, which prevented the corpse from rotting.

During the rest of the voyage, Yang Zhan continued to purchase river ice from wealthy families along the coast. As the weather gradually turned colder heading north, he was able to safely transport Zheng He's body back to Beijing.

Zhu Gaoxu ordered Zhu Qiyue to preside over Zheng He's burial, and chose a location not far from Changling for Zheng He's mausoleum. The imperial treasury was used to pay for the construction of the mausoleum and the burial.

Since Zheng He adopted Zheng Jun of his own clan as his adopted son, Zhu Gaoxu posthumously conferred the title of Earl of Xiyang on Zheng He, and his adopted son Zheng Jun was conferred the second rank, the Wusan rank of General of Cavalry, which was hereditary.

On the second day of the twelfth lunar month, Zhu Gaoxu renamed the archipelago where Zheng He died as the Zheng He Islands.

In the following period, Zhu Gaoxu did as he said. Although he did not abdicate, the power in Zhu Zhanhe's hands began to gradually increase.

"Crackling..."

Amid the sound of firecrackers, time entered the eighteenth year of Hongxi, and history also announced the end of a generation.

On the ninth day of the first lunar month, Xia Yuanji, the Prince's Junior Tutor, died of illness at home at the age of sixty-eight.

Zhu Gaoxu posthumously awarded him the title of Guanglu Dafu, Taishi, and the posthumous name of Zhongjing. He entered the Yantai of Changling and suspended court for three days.

Before the news of Xia Yuanji's death spread, Guo Zi, his colleague for decades, died on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month at the age of seventy-three.

Upon hearing the news, Zhu Gaoxu posthumously awarded him the title of Special Advancement Guanglu Dafu, Taishi, and posthumously named him Zhongding. He entered the Yantai in Changling and suspended court for three days.

This year, in addition to the deaths of Xia Yuanji and Guo Zi, Jian Yi, who returned to Sichuan to retire, also died in March.

Zhu Gaoxu gave Jian Yi the same treatment and posthumous honors as Xia Yuanji and Guo Zi, and gave him the posthumous title of Zhongsu, and suspended court for three days.

After that, there was finally no more bad news, and Zhu Gaoxu gradually got over the sad news of Zhu Di's death.

During this year, Zhu Gaoxu did not make any major moves, and the court basically focused on the construction of the three major railways in the Western Region, the two major railways in Mobei and the Jiangnan railway, the fragmented railways in the southwest, and the industrial transformation of the world that were formulated last year.

In addition, the migration of the two capitals, three provinces and thirty-eight counties is the most important.

More than 274,000 people from three counties in Jiangxi migrated here last year and were settled in Gaochang, Tianshan and Puchang counties in Xizhou, and Luntai, Jinman and Pulei counties in Tingzhou.

The migration of people from the two capitals, three provinces and 38 counties began in September last year. More than 146,000 households with an average of less than 20 mu of land per household, totaling 740,000 people, were relocated.

After arriving at the front line by train, they began to join the work of building railways and mining.

The daily wage for building the railway was 40 wen, and the wage for working in the mine was 100 wen.

Although it is much lower than that in the mainland, it is at least much better than their previous farming.

Since there were enough officials to be deployed and many people had received the most basic primary education in official schools, they knew that they had to wait until the railway was built before they could be resettled, so they accelerated the work at hand.

As nearly 300,000 men out of the 740,000 people joined the construction of the Western Region, the local railways continued to advance westward.

At the end of the 18th year of Hongxi, the three railways of Anxi, Beiting and Hezhong made rapid progress, each advancing 200 to 240 miles.

In the 19th year of Hongxi, Zhu Qiyue graduated from high school and Zhu Gaoxu sent him to the Western Regions as an inspector to prepare for the westward advance more than 30 years later.

Zhu Qiyue was also very happy that he could still go to the Western Regions, so he happily accepted the task.

Of course, letting the crown prince serve as an inspector was something worthy of criticism, but since it was a decision made by Zhu Gaoxu, no one dared to raise any objection. After all, the emperor was not in charge of much affairs now, but no one else could stop him from taking care of things.

While Zhu Qiyue was inspecting the three offices in the Western Regions, many of Zhu Gaoxu's sons had been demoted back to Beijing.

On the fifth day of April in the nineteenth year of the Hongxi reign, Zhu Gaoxu conferred titles on vassal kings in the Forbidden City.

Except for the four youngest sons and the three sons who had already been enfeoffed, Zhu Gaoxu enfeoffed the other five sons on the east coast of Beizhou.

From north to south, they are the fifth Prince of Liang, who was enfeoffed in Jiankang Prefecture (Boston).

The sixth Prince of Huai was enfeoffed in Shouchun Prefecture (New York).

The seventh Prince of Jing was enfeoffed in Jiangling Prefecture (Orlando).

The eighth prince was enfeoffed in Daliang Prefecture (New Orleans).

The ninth prince, King De, was enfeoffed in the Texas Prefecture (Houston).

The five princes did not have their own fiefdoms. They could only control their own guards and the internal affairs of their own palaces.

The five prefectures were under the jurisdiction of the Beizhou Xuanwei Office, and the officials and the military department were appointed by the imperial court.

The people of the five prefectures were the relatives of the guards, as well as those who migrated from the two capitals, three provinces and thirty-eight counties affected by the disaster.

Each of the five kings had only one guard, and the military department of each prefecture initially had a thousand soldiers.

After the imperial edict was conveyed, the national treasury allocated 500,000 strings of cash to build five provincial capitals, and was also responsible for the migration of the people and the subsequent transportation of food, as well as the annual salaries of the vassal kings.

The palace guards initially numbered only a thousand, but gradually increased as the city became more self-sufficient.

Faced with being canonized overseas, among the several sons, except for the seventh son Zhu Zhanping who was relatively happy, the rest were quite uncomfortable.

They may feel uncomfortable now, but in the future they will know the benefits of being a vassal overseas.

This enfeoffment will last for three years and will take three years to complete. This shows how time-consuming and laborious it is to enfeoff overseas vassal kings on a large scale.

The construction of the provincial capital alone would cost 500,000 strings of cash. Taking into account the various expenses of migration, subsequent food supplies, etc., it would cost almost 3 million strings of cash.

Only the Ming Dynasty today can afford such an expense. If it were the Ming Dynasty in history, it would probably empty the national treasury in one fell swoop if it suddenly took out 3 million strings of cash to support the vassal state.

However, the establishment of vassal kings was indeed beneficial to the stability of the Ming Dynasty's overseas territories.

The cold wave in Beizhou is very terrifying. If steam ships had not been put into use, and if the Beizhou Xuanwei Office had not already had a lot of coal, and there were also many coal mines in the inland east coast, Zhu Gaoxu might not have chosen to enfeoff his five sons now.

As his decree was issued, the Ming Dynasty and the five princes all began to get busy.

The 19th year of Hongxi passed in busyness and peace, and the Qilu Railway was completed in the same year.

In July, the Anxi Railway was built to Yanqi Prefecture, and 30,000 households were selected to settle in Yanqi, with a total of 176,000 people.

In September, the Dingliao Railway was completed. From then on, it only took sixteen hours to travel from Haizhou to Lushun and Dingliao.

On the fourth day of October, Duke Chengguo Zhu Neng requested to retire, and Zhu Gaoxu approved his request, rewarding him with three copper mountains and three thousand coins.

On October 24, Li Ying, the commander of the U-Tsang army, died of illness in Lasa and was posthumously named Dingfanbo. His son Li Qian inherited the title and served as a compiler in the Hanlin Academy. On the 25th, Zhu Gaoxu transferred Shi Heng, the commander of the Ili Guard, to serve as the commander of the U-Tsang army.

On the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, thirty-seven countries including Korea, Japan and Siam came to Beijing to pay tribute, but Zhu Gaoxu did not show up.

Time passed quickly. Zhu Gaoxu, who had been making big moves for more than ten years, finally began to slow down as he grew older.

What he had to do now was no longer to expand the territory, but to consolidate the territory and accumulate money and food for his children and grandchildren for the Western Expedition more than 30 years later.

Because of this, on the New Year's Day of the 20th year of Hongxi, although Zhu Gaoxu did not participate in the grand court meeting, he summoned the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Ministry of Works to the Qianqing Palace to report on the national situation.

"According to the Ministry of Revenue's overall situation at the end of the 19th year of Hongxi, there were 27,365,240 households and more than 136,825,000 people in the imperial court."

"The country has more than 748 million mu of cultivated land, and the annual income is more than 74,467,000 strings of cash."

"Last year, the national government's basic expenditures were over 58.6 million, the Ministry of Works' expenditures were over 8.4 million, and the accumulated reserves were 7.45 million."

"There are currently 52,470,000 taels in the national treasury, and more than 7 million taels in the treasury."

In the Qianqing Palace, the Minister of Revenue Wang Hui reported to Zhu Gaoxu who was sitting in the main seat in front of him.

Compared to two years ago, the 57-year-old Zhu Gaoxu has unnoticed gray hair on his temples, but his eyes are still sharp.

It's not that he is indifferent to worldly affairs in the Qianqing Palace, and this is why no minister has dared to test him so far.

After all, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di both lived to be over seventy years old. Who knows if His Majesty will also live to be over seventy years old.

This person does not have as many concerns as the previous two. The fate of the Jiangnan business gang is still vivid in people's minds, so naturally no one dares to test it.

"The situation is quite good." Zhu Gaoxu nodded with satisfaction and then turned his gaze to Huang Fu.

Huang Fu, 75 years old, was still in good health. He bowed slowly and said, "The three major railways in the Western Region are expected to be completed in about 15 to 20 years."

"As for the Mobei Railway and the Anxi Railway between Mobei and Anxi, they are expected to be completed within seven years."

"The Jiangnan Railway is expected to be completed in four years."

"The fragmented railways in the southwest have been completed one after another. They can be connected in series in the future as technology improves, which can save a lot of effort."

"The Nanyue Railway has been surveyed. It runs from Jiaozhi to Guangzhou. It is 1,845 miles long and will cost about 9 million strings of cash. It will take at least ten years."

Huang Fu reported everything he had done, and Zhu Gaoxu nodded and said, "The construction of the Nanyue Railway can begin now."

"Yes..." Huang Fu bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I am old, and I beg to retire after a year."

Huang Fu insisted on retiring for nearly six years, but Zhu Gaoxu never agreed. Now he is 75 years old, and he doesn't know how long he can live.

He wanted to keep the last few years of his life to himself.

"Once the Nanyue Railway is back on track, I will approve your retirement."

Zhu Gaoxu did not force him to stay, but just made a promise.

In fact, it only took about a year to get the Nanyue Railway under construction and on track. Huang Fu had managed to hold on for six years, so this year wouldn't be a big deal.

Hearing this, Huang Fu bowed respectfully and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your understanding..."

"Sit down." Zhu Gaoxu ordered, then looked at the Minister of Personnel Lu Yu.

Lu Yu felt the gaze and immediately stood up and bowed, saying, "In recent years, there have indeed been many corrupt officials. However, with the increase in the number of inspectors, the risk of corruption is also increasing. Moreover, the court selects a lot of officials every year, so the administration is still clean."

"Although the government has been increasing the number of candidates for the imperial examinations in recent years, I believe that the imperial examinations select the most outstanding candidates, and the current number does not need to be changed."

"If there is an urgent need for officials, there are thousands of candidates waiting for appointment, so there is no need to worry..."

Lu Yu was well aware that the emperor was unwilling to increase the number of Jinshi seats in the imperial examination, so his attitude had always been to disagree with the voice of the court.

His approach also satisfied Zhu Gaoxu.

Looking at the three of them, Zhu Gaoxu said, "I feel very relieved to have you assist the Crown Prince."

"Thank you for your praise, Your Majesty. We are so humbled..." The three of them stood up and bowed. Zhu Gaoxu waved his hand and said, "Retreat."

"Yes……"

The three of them slowly left the Qianqing Palace, and after they left, Zhu Zhanhe walked into the Qianqing Palace.

Zhu Zhanhe is now thirty-five years old and has four sons and six daughters. However, except for Zhu Qiyue, his other sons do not show any talents.

Seeing Zhu Zhanhe coming in, Zhu Gaoxu slowly said, "After the Lantern Festival, I plan to go to Nanjing. You should prepare well."

"What are you going to Nanjing for?" Zhu Zhanhe had a lot of his own ideas. If it were in the past, he would not dare to ask Zhu Gaoxu and would only answer yes.

This change made Zhu Gaoxu very satisfied.

His eldest son was not a gifted emperor, but he worked very hard and was growing continuously.

"Go see your great grandfather, and also help your grandfather do something."

After Zhu Gaoxu said this, Zhu Zhanhe understood what his father was going to do.

He bowed in response and then waited for Zhu Gaoxu's further instructions.

Looking at him, Zhu Gaoxu chuckled and said, "Go and do your thing."

"Then I will take my leave. If you have anything else, please remember to tell me."

Zhu Zhanhe was very worried about Zhu Gaoxu. Since Zhu Di's death, he often visited Zhu Gaoxu, almost taking time to visit him two or three times every day.

As a son, he was more filial than Zhu Gaoxu.

Zhu Gaoxu nodded to show that he understood, and Zhu Zhanhe bowed and left.

However, he was not very confident in Zhu Gaoxu. He looked back every three steps while leaving. If Zhu Gaoxu had not urged him, he would probably have only walked one step for the ten-plus steps.

Watching him leave, Zhu Gaoxu also breathed a sigh of relief.

More than ten days passed in a flash, and with the end of the Lantern Festival, Zhu Gaoxu took Guo Yan on a train south.

Along the way, he saw many people riding bicycles, rickshaw drivers, and many horse-drawn carriages waiting to pick up passengers.

Without exception, these people are in good spirits, the men have some meat on their bodies, and the women can go out openly.

Their faces seemed to be filled with longing for the future, and they felt that the future was promising.

On the seventeenth day of the first lunar month, Zhu Gaoxu came to Purple Mountain in Nanjing again after several years.

He first went to Xiaoling Mausoleum to visit Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma, and then stayed alone in the Ming Tower of Xiaoling Mausoleum for an hour.

Guo Yan stayed with him without saying anything until Zhu Gaoxu stood up, then she signaled her to go back to the palace to rest.

Guo Yan did not ask him where he was going. Perhaps she knew very well the purpose of her husband's visit to Nanjing this time.

"Remember to go back early."

After giving some instructions, she took the palace maids back to the Forbidden City in Nanjing.

"Go and call a few of them over."

Zhu Gaoxu gave instructions to Guo Deng, the current commander of Jilin Guard, and Guo Deng bowed and left.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu sat back on the mat and looked up at the portraits of Emperor Zhu and Empress Ma.

Time passed little by little, and as the sun gradually darkened, several figures appeared outside the Ming Building.

"come in."

Zhu Gaoxu heard Guo Deng's footsteps and motioned for them to come in.

Under Guo Deng's surveillance, four figures walked into Minglou one after another. This was the first time in all these years that they were allowed to leave that place.

"Please burn some incense for Grandpa."

After Zhu Gaoxu opened his mouth, four figures came forward and burned incense for Old Zhu as he said.

Zhu Yunhuan, Zhu Yunwen, Zhu Yunxi and Zhu Wenkui, these four people are the purpose of Zhu Gaoxu's visit to Nanjing this time.

In the 20th year of Hongxi, Zhu Yunhuan was 59 years old, Zhu Yunwen was 52 years old, Zhu Yunxi was 46 years old, and Zhu Wenkui was 41 years old.

Zhu Gaoxu watched them awkwardly burn incense and kowtow to Old Zhu and Empress Ma, then he stood up and spoke to the four of them:

"I said before that I would let you go when the day came, and that day has come now."

"You can continue to live in the Prince's Palace of Ouning, or you can go to Yingzhou (New Zealand) to be a vassal. It's up to you to decide."

Zhu Gaoxu's words made the four people feel a little uneasy. They naturally knew that Yingzhou was the two large islands in the eastern part of Nanzhou.

They have never been there and don't know what the environment is like there.

However, facing their embarrassment, Zhu Gaoxu said, "Two years ago, I had people build the city and the palace. The environment of the two islands is good, and there are already more than 6,000 immigrants living on them. You can rest assured to settle down there."

"I will tell my children and grandchildren not to worry about you and let you develop on your own."

Faced with Zhu Gaoxu's promise, Zhu Yunhuan and his men felt uneasy, but Zhu Yunhuan knew that Zhu Gaoxu would not use his credit to persecute them, so he nodded and said:
"We are willing to go to Yingzhou to be a vassal, and Your Majesty can also send officials to monitor us."

"No need." Zhu Gaoxu shook his head. He didn't think that Zhu Yunhuan and the others could cause any trouble.

Since they agreed, Zhu Gaoxu looked at Guo Deng and said, "You go there in person to escort them to Yingzhou. Jiang Gui will escort you."

"Tell Jiang Gui not to have any other thoughts and send them to Yingzhou to live obediently."

"Yes!" Guo Deng agreed decisively. Even though this job was a hot potato, he still took it. This was why Zhu Gaoxu appointed him as the commander of Jilin Guard.

"Thank you, Your Majesty..."

Zhu Yunhuan bowed to Zhu Gaoxu with complicated eyes. Perhaps he had never thought that he could walk out of that small palace and into the free outside world.

"No need to thank me." Zhu Gaoxu looked at Zhu Yuanzhang's portrait and murmured, "If you want to thank someone, thank Grandpa..."

(End of this chapter)