Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 607: The Underworld: Zhu Yunwen, the Artful and Fickle

"That's basically it. Do you understand?"

Sitting in the promenade by the lake, Zhu Gaoxu roughly explained to hundreds of emperors how the Ming Dynasty controlled such a vast territory.

In a nutshell, power needs to be delegated to remote areas, and corruption among officials needs to be turned a blind eye.

When the imperial court runs out of money, they will make sufficient preparations in advance, transfer these fat guys back to the Central Plains, and then stage a big case to reap their rewards.

By then, not only can the national treasury be enriched, but the money can also be used to support the people's migration overseas, allowing the poor in the Central Plains to become small farmers overseas, thereby solving the distribution problem and easing class contradictions.

Of course, this premise is also based on the premise that steam locomotives and warships began to roam land and sea.

"Your method, isn't it treating the officials as livestock?"

Liu Bang clicked his tongue a few times, but Ying Zheng nodded and said, "That's how we should treat them."

"From what you say, you have committed many big crimes?"

As soon as Zhu Yuanzhang opened his mouth, Zhao Kuangyin and others looked at Zhu Gaoxu, who shrugged: "There were a few fights, but not many people were killed, only a few thousand."

"Thousands..." The emperors nodded, feeling that the number was not too large.

Zhu Gaoxu's words made Zhu Di ashamed. His second son did not kill many people, but compared to the number of people he killed, the number of people he exiled was nearly a thousand times that number...

Zhu Yuanzhang carefully observed his surroundings, so when Zhu Di looked ashamed, Zhu Yuanzhang asked:
"You said that immigration to the border is the only way to control remote areas. Everyone here knows this method. I just don't know how many people you have moved to remote areas using trains?"

"Hmm!" The emperors nodded one after another, and Zhu Gaoxu stroked his chin and calculated carefully:
"Nearly 8 million people migrated from the Northeast, about 1.5 million from the two deserts, about 2 million from the Western Regions, about 3 million from the Southwest, about 2 million from Southeast Asia and South Continent, and about 2 million from East Continent..."

As everyone listened to the numbers Zhu Gaoxu said, they gradually felt that it was unreal.

"About 17 to 18 million people migrated from the Central Plains. If you calculate carefully, during the 45 years of the Yongle and Hongxi reigns, the average annual number was about 400,000 to 500,000 people."

Zhu Gaoxu's tone was calm, but it made people dumbfounded.

"Four or five hundred thousand..."

Many emperors swallowed their saliva. Ying Zheng shook his head and said, "Back then, I was called a tyrant just because I sent 600,000 people into exile in Lingnan. You..."

"At the height of our Han Dynasty, the population was only 50 to 60 million." Liu Bang clicked his tongue a few times.

"At its peak, the Tang Dynasty had a population of about 70 to 80 million. It's a pity that these people were not passed down to my descendants. If I had 70 to 80 million people at that time, my territory would not be smaller than yours."

As Li Shimin spoke, his eyes wandered between Li Zhi and Li Longji.

"My Great Song... Never mind, Sanlang, let's go back and talk about it."

Zhao Kuangyin also wanted to interject, but halfway through he turned the topic to Zhao Guangyi.

Temujin and Kublai Khan didn't care. Although they knew that this method was tough, for the Mongols, migration was just a daily part of their lives.

"You have done a good job. This way, these places will not be separated from the Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Yuanzhang praised Zhu Gaoxu, but Zhu Gaoxu stroked his mustache and said:

"Expansion must be orderly and steady. Expansion similar to that of the Tang and Yuan dynasties is not advisable."

"While expanding, we must also maintain the improvement of productivity and not over-exploit the people. Otherwise, when conflicts become serious, the people will not even have children, or even have to kill their children. That will be the failure of the court."

As soon as Zhu Gaoxu opened his mouth, he immediately mentioned the Tang and Yuan dynasties.

As for the last question he mentioned, the emperors turned their attention to the emperor of the Song Dynasty, including Zhao Kuangyin.

"Why are you looking at me? It wasn't me who did it! People haven't been raising children since the end of the Tang Dynasty."

Zhao Kuangyin glared and immediately tried to comfort himself. Li Shimin could only sigh and shake his head: "Unworthy descendants."

While Li Shimin was sighing, Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and looked at Zhu Gaoxu, asking:

"The Ming Dynasty only has a population of 60 million. You have to relocate nearly 20 million people in 45 years. Can the court afford it?"

"The population of the Ming Dynasty is more than 60 million." Zhu Gaoxu shook his head.
"After I changed the civil service system, the population of the Ming Dynasty was counted to have reached over 80 million in the early years of the Yongle reign. In the following 45 years, the population doubled to over 168 million."

"The amount of cultivated land in our Ming Dynasty has reached more than 770 million mu, and the fiscal revenue has reached more than 87 million guan."

"In addition, three-fifths of the world's territory is directly under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty or its vassal states."

"The remaining one-fifth is considered uninhabited area, and the other one-fifth is the territory of the countries in Western Continent."

"Of course, if I give my grandson another twenty years of life, it won't be a big deal to conquer the last two fifths of the territory."

Zhu Gaoxu clicked his tongue a few times, which made many emperors feel very aggrieved.

Everyone knows that this guy is pretending, but no one can pretend better than him, so they can only watch him pretend.

Fortunately, he didn't pretend for too long, because the Huaguang appeared on time, covering most of the emperors and sending them to the land that belonged to them.

The four members of the Zhu family were enveloped in brilliant light and sent to the Ming Dynasty, and landed directly in front of the Fengtian Hall in the Forbidden City.

When the brilliant light faded, what appeared before the four people were nearly a thousand well-known officials and civil servants, both large and small.

In addition, Hou Xian, Wang Yan, Zheng He and others also appeared one after another.

Zhu Gaoxu was surprised by the appearance of some of these people. He looked at Zhu Di and said, "Don't they say that people who died after me should not appear until the next emperor dies? Why are they all here?"

"I don't know about that. If someone wants to use it, just use it."

Zhu Di also found it very strange, but he was still very happy to meet Zheng He and Wang Yan.

"Zheng He, Gou'er, has your thing grown yet?!"

Zhu Di asked excitedly to Zheng He who was walking towards them quickly. Zheng He was a little embarrassed, but still nodded with a blush.

"Okay, okay, just grow it out!"

Zhu Di laughed heartily, and Zhu Yuanzhang kicked him on the butt: "Finish the business first!"

"Business? What business, father?" Zhu Di felt a little guilty, and Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at them, then said:
"Call the ministers who served during the Hongxi era into the palace. I want to interrogate them in person!"

"Ah?" Zhu Di wanted to cry but had no tears. Zhu Gaoxu also shrugged his shoulders, indicating that he could do nothing to help.

In the desperate eyes of Zhu Di, Zhu Yunwen happily summoned many meritorious officials and civil servants during the Hongxi period, including Xia Yuanji, Guo Zi and others.

Zhu Di wanted to enter the palace, but was stopped by Li Wenzhong and Mu Ying.

Time passed little by little, and while Zhu Di was feeling anxious, a deafening roar erupted from the Fengtian Hall:
"Zhu Di!!"

Zhu Di ran away, while Zhu Yuanzhang walked out of the hall angrily. Zhu Yunwen got a stick from somewhere and was ready to hand it to Zhu Yuanzhang at any time.

When Zhu Yuanzhang walked up to Zhu Gaoxu, he glared at him fiercely:
"I'll settle the score with you another day for helping to lie!"

"The kid is helpless..." Facing Old Zhu, Zhu Gaoxu could only call himself a kid.

He bowed and stood up, and even Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Yunwen began to search the world for Zhu Di.

Zhu Gaoxu looked at their backs and couldn't help laughing out loud.

"The boy is here?"

Two familiar voices sounded behind Zhu Gaoxu. Zhu Gaoxu turned around suddenly and saw the two people who were very important to him in his memory.
"Greetings to the two dukes..."

Zhu Gaoxu bowed to Fu Youde and Feng Sheng.

The two waved their hands and smiled, "We just heard about your matter from Fu Zhong and the others. You did a good job!"

"It's just a small achievement." Zhu Gaoxu chuckled, and then he heard Zhu Di's screams in his ears.

"Second brother, I told you a long time ago not to think about rebelling, look at this!"

Zhu Di fled shouting, followed by Zhu Yuanzhang holding a stick, as well as a large number of military officers he had killed in the Jingnan Campaign, including Geng Bingwen and Teng Ju, and Zhu Yunwen, who was holding two sticks, ready to hand them to Zhu Yuanzhang at any time.

"Zhu Di! Stop right there!"

"You can't stand, Dad. People will die!"

"Fourth Uncle, please stop, you are a ghost now!"

"Second brother, come and save me!"

Watching their farce, Zhu Gaoxu crossed his arms and chuckled, "Dad, it's just a little bit of weathering."

Amid his chuckles, Zhu Di was still caught by Zhu Yuanzhang and beaten severely.

Zhu Yuanzhang was no longer angry about Zhu Di's rebellion, but was angry that this guy had deceived him for more than ten years.

In short, all three sticks were broken in the end, and Zhu Di was helped back to the Daming Palace by Zhu Gaoxu amid his wailing, and Zhu Di also moved from the Daming Palace to the Forbidden City with a clear conscience.

Although this is the Forbidden City in Beijing, and not the Forbidden City in Nanjing where he and Empress Ma lived, overall, the layout of the two is similar, except that the former is much larger than the latter.

Since Guo Yan had not died yet, Zhu Gaoxu could be considered a lonely man.

Zhu Zhanji and Zhang did not come down, so Zhu Gaochi would come to "harass" Zhu Gaoxu every now and then. As time went by, Zhu Gaoxu got used to this kind of life where he didn't have to work hard anymore, slept until he woke up naturally, and went out with his brothers in Bohai to ride horses, fish, hunt and farm in his spare time.

Zhu Gaoxu asked Empress Ma and other people who came down first, who created the animals and plants in this world.

Queen Ma said that these animals and plants were people who had entered the animal realm of reincarnation, so there was no need to worry about them.

If we beat and kill them, we will actually help them end their lives in this life and put an end to their sins in advance.

With Empress Ma's words, Zhu Gaoxu felt more at ease and went hunting.

In addition, Zhu Gaoxu also asked the boss about what the world after death looks like.

Zhu Gaochi said that while they were waiting for Zhu Di to come down, they had been living in the underworld city of Fengdu.

Although the residence is not bad, Fengdu City is gloomy. It has been cloudy every day for decades, which makes people feel depressed.

It is for this reason that after arriving in this place that is like the human world, many of them are reluctant to be reborn.

After all, they are not the same people they are now after reincarnation. This is why Lan Yu and others have been making trouble but have never thought about leaving this world.

If they want to reincarnate, as long as Lan Yu and the others are willing and Lao Zhu agrees, they can be reincarnated.

However, if they were really asked to reincarnate, they would be reluctant to leave.

Compared to the underworld and the human world, this place where you don't have to worry about food and drink and can live forever is the best place.

After learning all this, Zhu Gaoxu nodded and agreed with this idea.

If people have enough food and drink, then they naturally don't have to bow down for a few pieces of silver. In a sense, this world is no different from heaven.

As he thought this, time in this world was passing by little by little.

In a blink of an eye, Zhu Gaoxu had already attended three emperor gatherings, which also meant that thirty years had passed.

"By calculation, Zhanhe is almost 72 years old. I wonder how many more years he will have left."

On the grassland, Zhu Gaoxu was riding his horse and talking leisurely, while Zhu Gaochi, who was riding on the horse next to him, said, "I guess Zhanji and the others have been in Fengdu City for a long time."

"You are so unconfident about Zhanji?" Zhu Gaoxu asked knowingly, while Zhu Gaochi said with a dark face:
"Zhanji is a few years older than Zhanhe. It's unlikely that he will live past seventy..."

"You are really a good father." Zhu Gaoxu teased and continued to gallop on his horse.

"Second brother, wait for me." Zhu Gaochi shook the reins and quickly caught up with Zhu Gaoxu.

Looking at their receding backs, Zhu Biao, who was also out for an outing, clenched his teeth and glanced at Zhu Yunwen next to him:

"Look at them, they have been in power for more than ten or twenty years at a time, and then look at you!"

"Dad, I am just unlucky to have met my fourth uncle and Gao Xu. If I hadn't met them, I would definitely be a promising king!"

Zhu Yunwen said this with absolute certainty, as if he could lead the Ming Dynasty to its peak even without meeting this father and son.

It can be seen that after more than 70 years of beatings, Zhu Yunwen had nothing to say, but his face became thicker and thicker.

After all, he had already gotten used to a small fight every three days and a big fight every five days.

Compared to them, Zhu Yuanzhang was sitting in the Qianqing Palace in the Forbidden City at this moment, playing chess with Tang He and Xu Da.

"Old Four, the tea is gone!"

"Hey, I'm here!"

Zhu Yuanzhang tapped the table lightly with his hand, and Zhu Di immediately turned into a waiter and came forward to pour tea and water.

If Zhu Di was just watching Go, there would be no need for him to be so active. At this moment, Zhu Yuanzhang and others were playing the war sandbox chess that Zhu Gaoxu and his people made for them.

Zhu Gaoxu created dozens of battles in this kind of war sandbox chess, covering most of the classic battles from World War I to World War II.

If weapons could be made in the underworld, Zhu Gaoxu might have been able to bring out a few cannons from those who were granted titles in the Imperial Academy to help these men out.

Zhu Di was learning from others, after all, military confrontations between Zhu Yuanzhang and Xu Da were rare.

"Hmm... this sand table of the Battle of Peace (Leningrad) is pretty good. Next time we take it to the Emperor's party, we'll divide into groups and play with it."

Zhu Yuanzhang was very satisfied, but Zhu Di said, "Dad, this thing weighs five or six hundred kilograms. I can't carry it."

"It's okay, Gao Xu can handle it." Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand and continued to fight with Xu Da in the defense of Ping'angle.

In addition to the Battle of Ping'angle, there were also battles in various other terrains, from land battles to naval battles, dozens of sand table simulations and new weapons. Zhu Yuanzhang, Xu Da, Li Wenzhong and others were very excited.

Time passed little by little, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di practiced hard for several years. When the fourth emperor gathering after Zhu Gaoxu's arrival began, Zhu Gaoxu could only bite the bullet and carry a sand table weighing more than 600 kilograms and was led to the island by Huaguang.

Originally, the emperors came happily, but when they saw Zhu Gaoxu, who was two meters tall and had arms strong enough to run a horse, appear carrying a solid wooden table weighing hundreds of kilograms, dozens of emperors and khans led by Temujin immediately lined up and prepared to fight.

Zhu Gaoxu had taken good care of them during the previous fights, and now they felt a little psychologically traumatized.

"Zhu Gaoxu, what do you want to do?"

"Hmm?" Zhu Gaoxu glanced at Temujin and gently put down the sand table, causing many people to gasp.

"Don't be nervous!"

Zhu Yuanzhang put his hands behind his back and walked to the front of the stage proudly. He stretched out his hands to signal everyone to rest assured: "This is this game. It is mainly a war sandbox game created by the Ming Dynasty in the future. The content is about fighting, but the weapons have changed a little, such as this..."

Zhu Yuanzhang picked up the thumb-sized iron tank model and artillery model.

"This is the Hongwu tank of my Ming Dynasty. This is the Hongwu cannon and Hongwu plane, the Hongwu aircraft carrier and Hongwu battleship, and the armored vehicle..."

Zhu Yuanzhang introduced the weapons and equipment in a torrent of words, naming them "Hongwu".

"This Hongwu tank can travel a hundred miles a day, and one shot can destroy mountains and break rocks."

"This Hongwu plane can travel two thousand miles a day and can drop bombs. One bomb can turn an area of ​​a hundred steps into dust."

"This Hongwu aircraft carrier... well, there's actually not much to say, it just has dozens of Hongwu aircraft."

Zhu Yuanzhang said modestly: "I know that everyone is good at military strategy, but the products of this new era have new era sayings, and the wars of the new era also have new era fighting methods."

"The three of us in the Zhu family are not talented, but we are willing to compete with you in a martial arts competition. I hope you will do me a favor and not refuse."

Zhu Yuanzhang bowed and explained to the four emperors. Zhu Yunwen behind him carefully pulled the hem of Zhu Yuanzhang's clothes and said, "Grandpa, there is also me, so there are four of us."

"Okay! Let me, Temujin, meet the three emperors of your Zhu family!"

Zhu Yunwen: "Yes, four!"

"You put out three, and my Song Dynasty will also put out three!" Zhao Kuangyin said.

"Yes, four!"

"The Tang Dynasty only needs me, Li Shimin!" Li Shimin stroked his beard and walked out.

"Taizong, there are four of them!!"

Zhu Yunwen was in tears. Not only did Zhu Yuanzhang ignore him, but other emperors also ignored him.

Although he lost the Jingnan Campaign, he was fighting one against two in that campaign. Losing to the father-son combination of Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu does not mean that he did not know how to fight.

"Got it, let Saburo play with you!"

Li Shimin smiled kindly, and Zhu Yunwen was stunned: "Sanlang?"

He glanced sideways and saw Li Longji daydreaming beside him.

"Taizong, are you talking about Li Sanlang, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang?"

Zhu Yunwen was slightly ashamed. Although he also liked to urge battles, he was not good at micro-management and would not kill the main coach before a major battle.

"Why? Do you think I'm unworthy?"

Feeling Zhu Yunwen's gaze, Li Longji reacted: "Let me tell you, I also know military skills!"

"Well... then force Geshu Han to leave Tongguan..." Zhu Yunwen was stunned and asked back.

"Can't you change the subject?" Li Longji's mouth twitched. After his death, he was beaten many times by Li Shimin, Li Yuan, Li Zhi and others because of this matter.

"Then Wang Zhongsi..." Zhu Yunwen said cautiously.

"Let's change the subject!" Li Longji held his forehead helplessly.

"Then Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing..."

"Change to another one..."

"Then you deceived the people of Chang'an and swore to live and die with Chang'an, and then you secretly fled to Bashu overnight..."

"You should go back to Geshu Han!"

(End of this chapter)