Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 587 Epilogue: Jingtai
“Don’t miss it if you pass by!”

"New cargo bikes are on sale, don't miss out, don't miss out!"

"Jingle Bell……"

Amid the bustling hawking, several years passed in a flash.

It had been several years since Zhu Zhanhe abdicated. The current emperor is Zhu Qiyue, who also changed the reign title to "Jingtai".

It is now the sixth day of July in the sixth year of the Jingtai reign (1483), the sixth year of Zhu Qiyue's reign.

Although he had become emperor and was 63 years old, Zhu Qiyue's mind never stopped.

In the past six years, the policies issued by Zhu Qiyue were mainly aimed at immigration to the west to alleviate population pressure in the Central Plains and Jiangnan.

By the sixth year of Jingtai in the Ming Dynasty, the population had grown to more than 240 million.

Although 240 million people was a large number, it was still too small compared to the land owned by the Ming Dynasty.

Of these 240 million people, nearly 150 million live in the two capitals and sixteen provincial governments in the Central Plains.

The remaining 90 million people also mainly live in Southeast Asia, Persia and the Northeast.

In the sixth year of Jingtai, the population of Nanyang Governorate reached more than 14 million, while the population of Persia recovered to 20 million.

The population of Hezhong is over 4 million, the population of Xihai is over 6 million, and the population of Shannan is over 3 million.

The population of Bohai, Liaodong and Daning has reached 18 million and is difficult to grow.

The combined population of Anxi and Beiting is less than three million, and the population of Mobei is two million, which is difficult to increase.

The population of Nanzhong is over 3 million, that of Nanzhou is over 1.5 million, that of Beizhou is over 2 million, that of Dongzhou is over 9.7 million, and that of Kunlunzhou is less than one million.

The land development in the northeast, west and overseas created a huge demand for wasteland reclamation in the Ming Dynasty.

Under such demand, many technologies have emerged.

The internal combustion engine was invented in the third year of Jingtai, but its thermal efficiency was not as good as the existing steam engine.

In order to solve the problem of land reclamation, Zhu Qiyue ordered people to install a row plow on a locomotive to start the land reclamation.

However, the heavy locomotive could not run on cultivated land, so Zhu Qiyue ordered people to install carriage tires on the locomotive and shrink the locomotive to make the first steam tractor.

This steam tractor can clear wasteland three times faster than an ox and plow land five times faster than an ox.

Although its cost was as high as 3,000 strings of cash, Zhu Qiyue still ordered the Ministry of Works to put it into production and use it in the development of the Northeast and Northwest.

During this period, Zhang Bo, a doctor of the Imperial College, improved the batteries of the Imperial College and invented the zinc-copper battery, electric light and AC generator.

With the invention of the electric light, Zhu Qiyue ordered the construction of the Miyun Reservoir and the installation of alternating current hydroelectric generators to meet the needs of possible tram operations in the future.

In addition, Zhu Qiyue transferred 4 million strings of cash from the national treasury to build 72 hydroelectric power stations and more than 2,400 thermal power stations.

After a total of 83 years of development during the Yongle, Hongxi, Xuande and Jingtai periods, the basic education of the Ming Dynasty was extremely solid, and basic physics, mathematics and chemistry were constantly being improved.

Thirty-eight years after Zhu Gaoxu's death, the Ming Dynasty entered the second industrial revolution ahead of schedule...

"Are you here?"

"It should be soon, Your Majesty..."

Beijing in early autumn is full of bustle, and in the northwest of the capital, a huge palace covering thousands of acres is a fascinating place.

Standing in the Changchun Palace of the Daming Palace City, the 82-year-old Zhu Zhanhe wore reading glasses, held a newspaper in his hand, and looked up at the dome of the palace from time to time.

As he was talking to the eunuchs, the dome suddenly lit up, and the warm yellow light illuminated every corner of the main hall in Changchun Palace.

Not only that, it was not just the Changchun Palace that was "lit up", but all the palaces in the Daming Palace.

"The call is coming!"

“It’s so bright!”

"This is an electric light, it's much better than oil lamps and candles!"

For a while, there were discussions one after another, and Zhu Zhanhe, who had been waiting for a long time, put down the newspaper in his hand, with a smile on his face.

"Grandpa, how is it! I didn't lie to you, did I?"

Shouting came from outside the palace. The 37-year-old Zhu Jianshen walked into Changchun Palace. When Zhu Zhanhe heard his voice, his face immediately fell.

"Why are you coming to Daming Palace instead of staying in the Forbidden City as regent?"

Zhu Zhanhe scolded him, and Zhu Jianshen bowed helplessly: "My father has returned from the West Sea (Black Sea). I finally got some rest, and I came to see you right away."

"He still remembers to come back?" Zhu Zhanhe's face immediately fell and became gloomy when he heard his words.

Even though he had become emperor, Zhu Qiyue's heart was still wild.

In the third year of Jingtai, he could not wait to let Zhu Jianshen start to serve as regent.

Even though he is 63 years old now, he is still running around, calling it "understanding the people's sentiments."

He compiled what he saw and heard into articles and published them in the Da Ming Pao.

By the sixth year of the Jingtai reign, the wired telegraph technology had become very mature. The Da Ming Daily, which used to be published quarterly, can now be published weekly.

Apart from his identity as an emperor, Zhu Qiyue was more like a gourmet and traveler who traveled around the world.

The so-called understanding of the people's sentiments is false, going to see the mountains and the sea is real.

In the past three years, Zhu Qiyue has traveled all over the country.

From Jiaozhi in the south to Yanran in the north, from the Beihai (Sea of ​​Japan) in the east to the Xihai (Black Sea) in the west.

Even if there was no railway to the West Sea, he could ride a horse all the way from the Caspian Sea to the West Sea.

If Zhu Zhanhe had not repeatedly forbade him to go out to sea, he would probably have gone to Nanzhou, Kunlunzhou, or even Dongzhou and Beizhou.

Of course, although Zhu Qiyue was fond of playing, he did not neglect the affairs of state, which is why Zhu Zhanhe turned a blind eye.

"Tell him what he saw when he went to the West Sea."

Zhu Zhanhe pushed his reading glasses, and Zhu Jianshen bowed and said:

"The Saishu people learned the technology of flintlock rifles during their battles with Japan and Korea, and because the imperial court had a huge trade surplus with them, they began to consciously unite."

"According to the book left by my great grandfather, these countries with different religions should not be able to form an alliance, but now they have formed three alliances."

"They called themselves Europe and formed the Western European Union, the Eastern European Union and the Northern European Union."

"If we include the Ottoman Empire, which annexed the Mamluks, then there are only four forces left that are independent of the Ming Dynasty."

"But their combined population is only about 80 million, far less than that of the Ming Dynasty."

"My father's idea is to first focus on digesting the four places of Persia, Xihai, Hezhong, and Shannan. When the Central and Western Railway is completed, we will immediately take over small countries such as Moscow and occupy the eastern plains of Xizhou."

"The internal combustion engine has been continuously improved. It will only take a dozen years to develop a car. By then, the entire Western Continent will be at the mercy of the National Dynasty!"

Zhu Jianshen spoke calmly, and Zhu Zhanhe nodded repeatedly: "I don't know if I can live to see the day when the car comes out."

Zhu Zhanhe was very clear that developing a car and using it on the battlefield were two different concepts.

According to my father's prediction, the Ming Dynasty should be able to use tanks and trucks produced by internal combustion engines on the battlefield in the third fifty years of the plan.

It is now the 116th year of the Ming Dynasty, but it is only the 83rd year in my father's plan. There are still 17 years until the beginning of the third fifty years and 67 years until the end of the third fifty years.

By this calculation, he might not live to see that day.

"Grandpa, if you live a hundred years, you will naturally be able to see..."

"Even if I live to be a hundred years old, I may not be able to see my great-grandson!"

Zhu Jianshen wanted to flatter him, but he was directly rebuked by Zhu Zhanhe:

"I gave birth to your father when I was 18, but your father didn't give birth to you until he was 27. You're even more amazing, you didn't have a child until you were 30."

"If Xian'er is like you two, then even if I live to be a hundred years old, I will never see my great-grandson!"

Zhu Zhanhe's biggest resentment towards the father and son Zhu Qiyue and Zhu Jianshen was that they had children late.

Although with the advancement of medical technology, having children later is more beneficial for future descendants to succeed to the throne, in Zhu Zhanhe's opinion, twenty-four or twenty-five is already very late.

Zhu Qiyue gave birth to Zhu Jianshen when he was 27, and Zhu Jianshen gave birth to Zhu Youxuan when he was 30.

If the two of them had had children earlier, Zhu Zhanhe would have probably had a great-grandson and realized his wish of having five generations living under the same roof.

At the age of 82, he is the oldest person in the Zhu family. However, he cannot even have five generations living under one roof. It would be laughable if people knew about it.

"This... this can't be rushed..."

Zhu Jianshen scratched his head in embarrassment, while Zhu Zhanhe snorted coldly:
"Don't worry, don't worry. Wait until your grandfather dies, and then you will know how to worry."

"You won't be able to see it even if you die..." Zhu Jianshen said subconsciously.

"You!!" Zhu Zhanhe grabbed his cane and was about to attack, scaring Zhu Jianshen so much that he quickly hid behind a pillar.

Seeing his agile movements, Zhu Zhanhe looked at his old arms and legs and had no choice but to give up.

"Go away, and ask your father to come and visit me in a few days. And don't bring your wife with you."

"Aren't you ashamed to find a wife who is three years older than you?"

Facing Zhu Zhanhe's words, Zhu Jianshen was dissatisfied and said, "My wife will be more caring when she is older!"

"You!" Zhu Zhanhe subconsciously picked up the cane again.

"Hey, grandson, take your leave!"

Zhu Jianshen ran away, and Zhu Zhanhe shook his head as he saw this: "Playthings will ruin your ambition..."

After a while, he spoke to a eunuch not far away:

"Drive my steam tricycle over here. I want to go out and get some fresh air..."

No one knew how Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu felt when they saw the state of Zhu Zhanhe and his two grandsons.

Of course, Zhu Qiyue didn’t know what they felt, nor did he want to know. Now he was weaving a big network of his own.

In the sixth year of Jingtai, the Ming Dynasty's fiscal revenue had exceeded 150 million guan, but its fiscal expenditure had also reached more than 134 million.

The main reason for this increase is the high spending on education and military.

Today, the number of Ming troops remains stable at 1.24 million, including 1.07 million in the army and 170,000 in the navy.

In order to develop the economy, Zhu Qiyue decided to reduce the army and change the military system.

On the fifth day of September in the sixth year of the Jingtai reign, Zhu Qiyue issued an edict to change the military system from the original guards, thousand households, hundred households, general flags, and small flags to guards, regiments, battalions, brigades, teams, ten teams, and squads.

A guard consisted of 3,600 men, a regiment consisted of 1,200 men, a battalion consisted of more than 400 men, a brigade consisted of more than 100 men, a team consisted of more than 40 men, a ten consisted of more than 10 men, and a squad consisted of five men.

There were armies at the guard post, each with more than 10,000 men, and they were commanded by a commander-in-chief.

Zhu Qiyue's military reform mainly retained the name of the Wei and imitated the Tang Dynasty's system, and the organization used was basically the Tang Dynasty's.

If it was just a change in organization, there would be nothing wrong with it. However, after Zhu Qiyue issued an order to retain only 270 guards, many generals in the army submitted petitions one after another.

According to the new organizational changes, the number of soldiers under the 270 Guards will not exceed one million.

In other words, at least 240,000 soldiers will face the path of retirement.

However, the future of the soldiers had nothing to do with these military commanders who petitioned the emperor. They were only worried about whether their power would decline after the 240,000 soldiers were laid off. From 222 guards to 270 guards, on the surface, the number of military officers increased, but in reality, the power of the positions decreased.

For this reason alone, the military officers had to submit a collective petition.

It’s a pity that the emperor they were facing was none other than Zhu Qiyue, who had made great military achievements in expanding territory.

The main reason why the meritorious officials did not follow suit and submit a memorial was because their interests were not harmed, and they were all promoted by Zhu Qiyue, so it was naturally impossible for them to follow the military officers in making trouble.

Zhu Qiyue had already made sufficient preparations, so it was no surprise that the military officers' memorials were rejected and the military reform continued.

The retired soldiers were transferred to local military units. Although their salaries were not as high as before, the intensity of training was reduced and life was more convenient, so no one objected.

Of course, there were military officers who caused trouble during this period, but their fate was to be detained and finally executed after being tried by three courts.

The Ming Dynasty had no shortage of people who could fight. Even without Yang Xin, Fang Ying, Zhao Fu and others, Zhu Qiyue could lead his eight sons and raise an army of tens of thousands to quell the rebellion.

Against this background, the military reform was finally settled in just three years.

After the military reform, the number of Ming troops remained at around one million, including 180,000 in the navy and 820,000 in the army. Military expenditure dropped from more than 32 million to more than 25 million.

After the military reform, Zhu Qiyue did not stop there, but instead began to carry out drastic reforms on the Ming Dynasty's economy.

On the fifth day of the third month of the tenth year of the Jingtai reign, Zhu Qiyue issued an order to issue 50 million strings of Ming Tongbao paper money.

The Ming Tongbao paper currency is in units of "liang" and is anchored by gold and silver. It is basically a substitute for existing copper coins.

After several generations of efforts from Zhu Di to Zhu Qiyue, the gold reserves in the Ming Dynasty's treasury reached more than 1,600 tons, enough to issue more than 260 million Ming Tong Bao coins.

Including the silver held by banks and the treasury, the number of banknotes that can be issued is nearly 600 million.

Zhu Gaoxu once said that he left Zhu Qiyue three legs to walk on. The first was the bank, the second was the treasury, and the third was the treasury.

The first article guarantees the development of the Ming Dynasty, the second article guarantees the reform of the Ming Dynasty, and the third article ensures that future generations will not be constrained.

Now, the second leg has been used by Zhu Qiyue.

In fact, he was wrong. He left more than just three things to his children and grandchildren, because there was a fourth one... credit.

Since the recovery of treasure notes began during the Yongle period, Zhu Gaoxu continued to recover them to subsidize the people, even though it was a losing business, in order to cultivate the court's credit.

Because of this, when Zhu Qiyue began to issue paper money, the people became interested in the "Baochao" that had not appeared for more than 50 years, and using paper money became a trend.

The 50 million taels of banknotes were circulated in the market in less than half a year, and Zhu Qiyue also issued another 150 million taels of banknotes in the eleventh year of Jingtai.

In the following years, he issued banknotes at a frequency of 50 million taels per year until he suspended the issuance in the 15th year of Jingtai.

During this period, hydropower stations and thermal power stations in various places also began to generate electricity, and electricity was guaranteed in more than 2,400 counties in the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, there weren't many electrical appliances at that time, except for electric lights and telegraphs.

However, as a new thing, electricity undoubtedly gave rise to many related inventions, so during this period, some machines that used electricity were invented.

In the 16th year of Jingtai, electric welding technology came into use.

In the military, the Ming Dynasty launched the "Songjiang" ironclad cruiser with a displacement of 5,600 tons in the same year, and began to build the "Suzhou" ironclad cruiser with a displacement of more than 7,000 tons.

In people's livelihood, electric welding technology was applied to machines and vehicles and began to spread.

In addition to electric welding, fans were a new option available to the people at that time.

Although electric fans make a lot of noise at first, for most people, there is no more luxurious way to cool down than enjoying the cool breeze in the hot summer.

Even so, Daming's electricity is still sufficient for urban residents. In that year, Daming's urban population rate was 9%, and the urbanization rate was 22%...

All of this seems to indicate that the situation in the Ming Dynasty is moving from good to better.

However, just as the people were rejoicing, a piece of bad news was spread from Beijing to the world.

On the seventh day of the third month in the seventeenth year of the Jingtai reign, Emperor Zhu Zhanhe died at 3:55 pm in the Changshou Palace in the Daming Palace at the age of ninety-three.

Such a lifespan is shocking even if you look at the whole world, not to mention for a profession like emperor where the average lifespan does not exceed forty years.

On April 22, after his body had been kept for more than 40 days and after receiving condolences from the heads of various countries, Zhu Zhanhe was buried in Ruiling in Tianshou Mountain.

After his burial, his posthumous title and temple name became a difficult issue to determine.

Logically speaking, with Zhu Zhanye's achievements, it would not be a problem for him to choose one of the four temple names "Taizhong Gaoshi", but the problem was that the best Taizong was used by Zhu Di, and the more famous Shizong was also used by Zhu Gaoxu, leaving him only Zhongzong and Gaozong.

These two temple names were originally top-level temple names, but the people who used them were so incompetent that they suddenly pulled the two temple names down to a low level.

Between Gojong and Jungjong, Gojong is the more interesting one.

In every dynasty, the Emperor Gaozong was generally at the beginning of the dynasty's decline. The more famous ones are Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Emperor Gaozong of Song and Emperor Gaozong of Qing.

The temple name of Song Gaozong represents a mixture of merits and demerits. He established his country in the south of the Yangtze River, and it was his merit that he preserved half of the country. However, it was his fault that he used Qin Hui to eliminate Yue Fei and other anti-Jin generals.

Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty, Hongli, made the Qing Dynasty reach its peak, but in the later years of his reign, he lived an extravagant life, was ambitious, and launched a literary inquisition, leaving behind a country riddled with corruption. That's why Jiaqing gave him the temple name Gaozong, implying that his merits and demerits were mixed.

The territory of the Tang Dynasty reached its peak during the reign of Emperor Gaozong, but the Turks rebelled again in his later years. At the end of his reign, power was seized by Wu Zetian. A few years after his death, Wu Zetian usurped the Tang Dynasty and established the Wu Zhou Dynasty. Her merits and demerits were mixed.

Compared with Gaozong's mixed reputation, the original Zhongzong was at two extremes.

Zhongzong is the temple name of the ruler of the restoration. The first Zhongzong after the Qin Dynasty was Emperor Xiaoxuan of the Han Dynasty, Liu Xun, and the Zhongzong emperor who unified the country before the Ming Dynasty was Emperor Zhongzong of the Tang Dynasty, Li Xian.

Although Liu Xun's choice of crown prince is worthy of criticism, it was generally a good thing. However, Li Xian, the Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, is really laughable.

Li Xian was in power twice, for a total of five and a half years. He was poisoned to death at the age of 55.

After much deliberation, the ministers finally decided on the two temple names "Xuanzong" and "Xianzong" for Zhu Qiyue to choose from.

However, faced with the two temple names chosen by the ministers, Zhu Qiyue directly rejected them:
"Since the pre-Qin period, ancestors have merits and ancestors have virtues. The late emperor can be called an ancestor based on his merits. However, Taizong and Shizong did not call him an ancestor, so the late emperor certainly does not dare to be called an ancestor."

"If we talk about the sect, Taizhong Gaoshi is the best."

"Although the titles of Zhongzong and Gaozong were tarnished by the former, our Ming Dynasty was founded and continued the orthodoxy of China, so we cannot be judged by the former."

"When evaluating temple names, it is natural to judge by merit, so why not give them Gaozong or Zhongzong?"

"When you evaluate temple names, you use the past to comment on the present without considering their achievements. This is really pedantic."

Zhu Qiyue's speech probably meant that it was okay for the previous emperors to give temple names at random, but you guys now always want to associate the predecessors with the successors when you give temple names. It's so pedantic that I don't want to comment on it.

When discussing temple names, just evaluate them based on their achievements, and don't always try to use history to criticize the present.

After being criticized by Zhu Qiyue, Li Dongyang and others gave up and simply picked a decent one between Gaozong and Zhongzong to give to Zhu Zhanhe, and chose the character "Jing" as the posthumous title with a series of prefixes.

After this, Zhu Zhanhe became Emperor Gaozong Jing.

From this incident alone, it is clear that Zhu Qiyue was dissatisfied with Confucian scholars.

It's clearly a new era, but I'm always thinking about the past.

In Zhu Qiyue's view, Emperor Gaozong is not scary, but whoever is worse than him will be scary.

Our predecessors were shameless and abused the temple name. They forced it upon those who did not have the necessary merits, thus tarnishing the good temple name.

Now that our great Ming Dynasty has arrived, if we dare to choose a good temple name, it naturally means that we have made sufficient achievements and are not afraid of being ridiculed by future generations.

It was just one thing, but it strengthened Zhu Qiyue's thoughts.

In September of the 17th year of the Jingtai reign, Zhu Qiyue reformed the Imperial College and turned it into a place for Jinshi and Juren to study before they took up official positions.

In March of the eighteenth year of Jingtai's reign, Zhu Qiyue selected more than 2,600 Jinshi and Juren who passed the imperial examinations to enter the Imperial College, and dismissed more than 3,400 unqualified Juren from the Imperial College.

After elimination, the Imperial College retained 824 Jinshi and 24,556 Juren.

In July, Zhu Qiyue recruited more than 167,000 officials.

In September, the civil service examination ended. Zhu Qiyue appointed Wang Jie, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, as the governor of Beijing and ordered an inspection of the entire country.

The main force of this imperial inspection was the Jinshi and Juren from the Imperial College and the newly selected clerks for the civil service examination.

Zhu Qiyue’s subtext is very simple. There are no positions for them to be officials now. If they want positions, they should overthrow those corrupt officials themselves.

At Zhu Qiyue's suggestion, a team of more than 190,000 officials went out from Beijing to inspect the surrounding areas.

In just less than a month, more than 900 officials and more than 20,000 civil servants were brought down.

Of course, Zhu Qiyue also had his own considerations.

When faced with the memorials from the Beijing inspection team, he did not sentence people based on their crimes, but also decided whether to beat or kill them based on their political achievements.

In the twelfth month of the same year, Li Sheng, the Chief Secretary, was investigated, and his son-in-law, Zhu Yunming, the magistrate of Taoyuan County in Ryukyu Prefecture, was also implicated. Both the father-in-law and the son-in-law were sentenced to exile in Nanzhou.

During his exile, Zhu Yunming was mocked for having a little finger growing on a branch, so he called himself "Zhu Zhishan".

After being exiled to Nanzhou, he communicated with many exiled criminals, collected "historical materials", and wrote "Zhu's Wild Records".

In July of the 19th year of Jingtai's reign, the "Yimao Jingcha" ended, with more than 17,600 officials and 226,000 clerks being dismissed, and the confiscated funds amounting to about 78 million taels.

Zhu Qiyue was not satisfied with what he had gained from this seizure. Considering what he had gained from the seizures and the scale of the major cases during the Xuande and Hongxi years, Zhu Qiyue believed that the grassroots of the Jinyiwei and the Western Factory had become corrupt.

In the winter of the 19th year of Jingtai's reign, Zhu Qiyue established the East Factory, which was mainly responsible for the West Factory and the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

In June of the 20th year of the Jingtai reign, 464 military officers and more than 47,000 grassroots strongmen were arrested from the Western Factory and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and residences, fields, gold, silver and jewelry worth more than 73 million taels were seized.

At the same time as the Censorate was under investigation, the China-Western Railway was completed, connecting Yangyi to Xishan (Kazan).

In the twelfth month of the twentieth year of the Jingtai reign, Zhu Qiyue ordered Zhu Jianshen to be regent, and he personally led the twelve guards from Jilin, Yanshan and other places to Xishan Prefecture.

Upon hearing this, Li Dongyang took a train and rode fast to Xishanfu (Kazan).

In March of the 21st year of the Jingtai reign, Li Dongyang arrived in Kazan City and cried to Zhu Qiyue to wait until the summer of next year before conquering the Principality of Moscow. Zhu Qiyue had Li Dongyang taken away and imprisoned him in the former palace of the Kazan Khanate.

In May, Zhu Qiyue led the troops of Shangzhi, Xihai, Hezhong, Anxi, Beiting and other military departments, totaling 24 guards, to attack the Principality of Moscow.

On the fifth day of June, Zhu Qiyue led an army consisting of 90,000 regular troops and 120,000 auxiliary troops across the Volga River. Ivan III mobilized 200,000 men to defend the city and persuaded Lithuania and Sweden to send troops to assist.

On July 16, Lithuania and Sweden did not send troops to support the Ming army, and the Ming army launched an attack on the Moscow army.

The two sides fought on the outskirts of Moscow. The Ming army's breech-loading rifles greatly shocked the Principality of Moscow and countries such as Sweden and Lithuania that came to watch.

The war lasted for three days and Moscow was captured. Zhu Qiyue took advantage of the victory and pursued the entire territory of the Principality of Moscow. Lithuania, Sweden and other countries sent envoys to request trade and test the attitude of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Qiyue agreed to open trade in Moscow and Kiev and set up the three northern offices on the land of the Moscow Principality.

In September, winter began and Zhu Qiyue was in poor health. The Minister of War Wang Yue, the Vice Minister of Works Wang Qiong, the Deputy Minister Wang Shouren, the Duke of Liao Meng Huan, and the Duke of Yue Yang Yue escorted him back to Xishan Prefecture.

In October, Zhu Qiyue was seriously ill and ordered Wang Yue to release Li Dongyang.

Li Dongyang was released and summoned. Seeing that Zhu Qiyue was seriously ill, he cried bitterly.

Zhu Qiyue ordered Li Dongyang to draft two imperial edicts, one to reward the generals who had made contributions in the Western Expedition, and the other to be a will.

"Wang Yue, the Minister of War, was conferred the title of Marquis of Weining, Wang Shouren, the Deputy Minister, was appointed as the Grand Secretary of Wuying Palace, and Wang Ling, Li Pi, and Zhang Jing, who made the greatest contributions in the army, were conferred the title of Earl."

"Order Crown Prince Zhu Jianshen to ascend the throne, and keep the funeral simple..."

After giving all the instructions, Zhu Qiyue, lying on the train bed, was already barely breathing.

He listened to the train whistle beside his ears and looked out the window unconsciously.

"On horseback, I kill the enemy. On horseback, I govern the country. How many people are there who are as old as me?"

"His Majesty!!"

(End of this chapter)