Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 612: The Underworld: The Rat-eyed Zhu Laosi
"Buzz-"

During the day, when the trams hummed, cars full of people took the trams to other cities outside Nanjing.

Colorful flags with "The 260th Year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty" were fluttering. On the road outside the city, two rows of fixed trams were transporting people from the south to the north.

Although Ming Dynasty had a population of one million at that time, its activity range was limited to two prefectures. Compared with the territory of Ming Dynasty, its activity range was less than 1% of the territory. This also shows the potential of Ming Dynasty in this world.

The people's livelihood technology of the Ming Dynasty had caught up with that of the reign of Zhu Houzhao. Hydropower and wind power became the main energy sources of the Ming Dynasty, while oil became a secondary energy source.

Zhu Gaoxu didn't know why this world had such complete resources, but except for hydropower and solar energy, other natural resources would eventually disappear, so there was nothing wrong with using hydropower.

In the use of hydropower, this world even surpasses the Ming Dynasty on earth.

"Thirty-seven years have passed. If we calculate the time, the human world should have entered the active period of the Little Ice Age disaster that Gao Xu mentioned. However, Hou Zhao said that Zai Xi is willing to accept good advice, so our Ming Dynasty should be safe and sound."

Zhu Yuanzhang stroked his beard and chuckled, and Zhu Di also echoed: "Dad, you are right. Our Ming Dynasty will last for thousands of years and will never fall because of a natural disaster!"

"Hmm..." Zhu Yuanzhang nodded happily and looked at the other emperors sitting in the Fengtian Hall.
Among them, Zhu Yunwen was undoubtedly the calmest. After all, even if the Ming Dynasty was destroyed, it had basically nothing to do with him.

Except for Zhu Yunwen, other emperors also had different mentalities.

After all, they have been dead for dozens or even hundreds of years, so they have become indifferent to many things.

Even though Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di cared very much about the Ming Dynasty, the former only wanted to show off at the emperor's gathering, while the latter only wanted to avoid being beaten.

It’s a pity that Zhu Yuanzhang’s words were interrupted by a burst of light the next second.

"coming?!"

"coming!"

Zhu Yuanzhang stood up excitedly, and Zhu Di also looked sideways.

Under their gaze, a ray of brilliant light illuminated a figure in front of the gate of Fengtian Hall.

"Zai'e, come on, tell me about your achievements!"

Zhu Houzhao stood up first, and without waiting for Zhu Zaigui to come out of the chaos, he dragged him into the Fengtian Hall.

When Zhu Zaigui's eyes regained clarity, he was dragged by the excited Zhu Houzhao in front of the eight emperors of the Ming Dynasty.

"Zai'er, tell me about your achievements!"

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand, and Zhu Di next to him already felt something was wrong. Zhu Gaoxu in the audience interrupted directly:

"The wordless book I left behind told you to prepare enough food and manage the government so that you can cope with the disasters that will last for more than ten years. How have you done?"

"Ah?" Zhu Zaigui responded dully. Zhu Yuanzhang instantly felt something was wrong, but he still forced a smile and said, "Don't be afraid. This is the underworld. You and I are both dead."

"I..." Zhu Zaigui hesitated a little. This did not match the image of him that Zhu Houzhao had described to everyone. Zhu Gaoxu stood up directly.

"What are you hesitating about? Speak now!"

Seeing that his ancestor was about to take action, Zhu Houzhao hurriedly urged Zhu Zaigui.

"During my reign, the civil officials included Zhao Zhenji, Gao Gong, Hu Zongxian, Zhang Juzheng, Tan Lun, Xu Jie, Yan Shifan, Hai Rui, and Li Hualong..."

"The military generals include Qi Jiguang, Qi Jimei, Yu Dayou, Li Chengliang, Li Rusong, Qi Jin, Chen Lin..."

"After my father passed away, the Ming Dynasty under my rule invented the alternating current generator and the tungsten filament light bulb."

"At the same time, the world's temperature growth has reached its limit and the world's temperature has begun to stabilize."

"In response to your wordless book, King Sejong, I ordered the Imperial Academy to invent urea, potash fertilizer, and antibiotics, which increased food production and provided cures for many diseases."

"At the same time, the world's population grew to 900 million, and the population of the Ming Dynasty grew to 600 million under my rule."

“But as temperatures begin to drop, natural disasters around the world begin to increase and the world’s population growth rate begins to slow.”

"In addition, Zhao Zhenji, Hu Zongxian, Gao Gong, Xu Jie, Yan Shifan, Yu Dayou, Hai Rui and others have passed away one after another. Politically, only Zhang Juzheng and others support me."

"In the later period of my administration, floods in the Northeast became increasingly serious. In addition, the former Bohai officials gradually lost their power. The topic of moving Northeast light industry southward began to arise, but I rejected it."

"Later, Zhang Juzheng and others died of illness, and the pressure on the government became greater and greater. In addition, the northern light industry had a lot of bad debts, and local disasters continued. With the national treasury unable to make ends meet, I had no choice but to move the northern light industry southward."

"Later, the Zhejiang Party and the Yan Party had serious factional disputes, but fortunately the court had enough grain and did not have to worry about not having enough food, so I did not pay much attention to the Changping Warehouse and the reserve warehouse."

"My calculations were quite good, but I didn't anticipate the collusion between officials and businessmen, which led to merchants driving up grain prices. In addition, the warehouses in the Arab and Persian regions were misappropriated, resulting in deficits for many years, so rebellions broke out in the Arab and Persian regions."

"At the same time, tens of millions of refugees from India poured into Shannan, and conflicts continued."

"Later, I felt something was wrong, so I sent officials from the Ministry of Revenue to investigate and found out the truth. I immediately launched an investigation into the Zhejiang Party."

"After two years of investigation in Beijing, I found that the Zhejiang Party officials in Jiangnan supported the grain merchants in Jiangnan to smuggle grain in Xizhou and India, driving up the grain prices in the western countries of Daqin, Persia, and Shannan. I have exiled more than 3,000 officials including Shen Yikuan to Kunlunzhou, and confiscated the homes of all the merchants involved and beheaded them, and their families have been exiled to Kunlunzhou."

"After one case, the national treasury obtained more than 60 million taels of seized income, of which 30 million taels were used by me to stabilize the grain prices in Persia, Daqin and other places."

"In addition, I liberalized the grain trade, which led to all countries in the world welcoming me as the 'Holy Son of Heaven'."

"I took this opportunity to have in-depth exchanges with delegations from various countries and established a trade alliance led by the Ming Dynasty."

"The rebellion in the west was quickly suppressed by me, and the refugees in Shannan returned home because the food prices in the country were stable."

"Western Continent and India are becoming the downstream factories of Ming Dynasty, providing Ming Dynasty with cheap labor."

Zhu Zaiqi talked about his own achievements, but Zhu Gaoxu felt something was wrong the more he listened. He asked directly:

"The Ming Dynasty's economy is worth at least 20 billion, and you only confiscated 60 million. What can you do with this little money?"

"Also, answer my question. Before your death, have you checked the grain storage and reserve storage in the Ming Dynasty? How much grain was there?"

Zhu Gaoxu asked Zhu Zaigui two fatal questions, which stumped Zhu Houzhao. Zhu Houzhao was furious and kicked Zhu Zaigui to the ground: "Answer me, my ancestor is asking you questions!"

"The Changping Warehouse... The Changping Warehouse has about 84 million shi, and the Reserve Warehouse has about 52 million shi."

Well, looking at Zhu Zaigui's answer which was full of uncertainty, Zhu Gaoxu was so angry that he took a deep breath.

"In other words, you didn't check the granary at all, and all the data was just given to you by your subordinates?"

"Uh... it's pretty close..." Zhu Zaigui replied guiltily. Upon hearing this, Zhu Houzhao pulled out his leather belt and said, "Pretty close!"

"Father! Father!"

"Don't call me daddy!"

Zhu Houzhao chased Zhu Zaigui and beat him. Zhu Gaoxu was a little angry and stood there for a long time without moving.

Zhu Yuanzhang's smile disappeared and his face twitched.

"Zhu Di..."

"Dad! You can't blame me for this. I've been dead for almost two hundred years!"

"How dare you say that! They are all your descendants!"

Zhu Yuanzhang roared and pulled out his leather belt, but this time Zhu Yunwen dodged it immediately. There was no one next to Zhu Di, and after being whipped, he immediately jumped up and ran away.

"Zhu Di! Stop right there!"

"Dad! This really has nothing to do with me... Ugh!"

"How dare you talk back!!"

Zhu Yuanzhang chased Zhu Di and beat him, Zhu Houzhao chased Zhu Zaigui and beat him, Zhu Jianshen chased Zhu Youtang and beat him...

For a time, the entire Fengtian Hall became a vegetable market.
Zhu Yunwen looked at everything in front of him with pride, while Zhu Zhanhe and Zhu Qiyue looked at Zhu Gaoxu guiltily, fearing that their father (grandfather) would take action.

Fortunately, Zhu Gaoxu kept his composure and the two were not beaten.

Zhu Yunwen, on the other hand, watched a good show and felt very happy.

"Okay, okay... I said it's impossible for wise rulers to appear all the time, hehehe... Zhu Gaoxu, you have finally come to this day, haha..."

Zhu Yunwen couldn't help laughing out loud, but when he saw Zhu Gaoxu looking directly at him, he immediately covered his mouth.

The farce lasted for more than half a year. During this period, Zhu Zaigui took over Zhu Yunwen's position of being beaten and was chased and beaten by Zhu Di, Zhu Houzhao and Zhu Jianshen almost every few days.

Zhu Biao's depression was relieved a lot, and Zhu Yunwen spent a period of comfortable time because of this.

A few years later, as the light of heaven descended again, the emperors of the Ming Dynasty were all taken to the Emperor Island.

As soon as he landed, Zhu Yuanzhang was surrounded by many emperors. "Alas, my dear brother Chongba, I have said it before, every dynasty has its moments of vigor and ambition, but don't think you can be vigorous and ambitious forever."

"Brother Chongba, I know that the Ming Dynasty was interrupted and you feel very sad, but think positively, at least your Ming Dynasty lasted more than 260 years!"

"Come, Brother Chongba, tell us about your glorious deeds in your presence. Although he did not expand the territory, don't be too harsh on him!"

"My dear brother Chongba..."

Zhu Yuanzhang had been showing off the Ming Dynasty for more than two hundred years, but now it was facing backlash.

Liu Bang, Li Shimin, Liu Xiu, Liu Yu, Temujin and others threatened him in a sarcastic way, which made him pull out his leather belt and chase Zhu Zaigui to beat him hard.

After finally getting through the emperor's party, about five years later, brilliant light descended from the sky again.

After the emperor arrived this time, Zhu Di and Zhu Houzhao waited anxiously for Hua Guang's figure to become clear, while Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Yuanzhang looked livid.

The Ming Dynasty was in a period of disaster, and the new emperor died after only ten years in office, which was obviously not a good thing.

The brilliant light gradually dissipated, and an emperor who looked to be around twenty-five or twenty-six years old walked out.

"Lian'er, tell me what's going on with Daming!"

"Yes, tell me quickly!"

Zhu Zaigui ran up and hugged his son, crying. He felt that he would be beaten for hundreds of years if Zhu Yihuan could not solve the disaster problem.

Going up with Zhu Zaigui was the very anxious Zhu Houzhao.

"Dad...Grandpa?"

Zhu Yixuan never thought that there really was an underworld in the world, but as a scholar, he subconsciously regarded the underworld as an existence in other dimensions.

"After you passed away, I appointed Sun Chuanting and Yuan Keli to implement the New Deal. At the same time, floods in the south and droughts in the north became more severe, and collusion between officials and businessmen to drive up grain prices became common."

"I followed the advice of Sun Chuanting and Yuan Keli and first increased the military pay to ensure that there were no problems with the army. Then I took action against the inner court and investigated the eunuchs, and found more than 20 million in wealth."

"At that time, Wang Chongming, the commander of Laos and Guizhou, and others were in turmoil, and the King of Beizhou also raised troops to quell the rebellion. The Dashi region rebelled because of collusion between officials and businessmen and capital driving up grain prices."

"Faced with these situations, I can only rely on my great-grandson Chuanting and Yuan Keli to solve them one by one."

"It's a pity that I was too old. I only had time to deal with the internal rebellion, but I died before I could deal with the rebellion of the Arabs."

"That's right!" At this point, Zhu Yizhen complained to Zhu Zaigui: "Dad, you clearly knew that there was a description of the disaster in the wordless book, why didn't you listen to me and store food for disaster relief!"

Faced with the mess left by Zhu Zaigui, Zhu Yizhen was exhausted from trying to make up for it. However, after he ascended the throne, he found out that the disaster had been mentioned in the wordless book long ago, and his father was totally unprepared.

"I..." Zhu Zaigui wanted to say something, but Zhu Houzhao pulled him up and said, "You are very good, you were very good at pretending during those years when I was alive!"

"Dad! Listen to my explanation!" Zhu Zaigui shouted at the top of his lungs, but Zhu Yunwen appeared without anyone noticing and handed a leather belt to Zhu Houzhao.

"Explanation? I think it's just a quibble!"

Zhu Houzhao mercilessly chased Zhu Zaigui and began to beat him violently. After hearing what Zhu Yizhen said, Zhu Yuanzhang and others could only sigh:
"You did a good job, it's better than doing nothing. What happens next is up to God."

"This is Grandpa Taizu, Grandpa Taizong, Grandpa Shizong, Gao..."

Zhu Youtang came forward to introduce Zhu Yizhen, who bowed immediately after hearing the introduction: "Greetings, ancestors. Please rest assured, Crown Prince Zhu Changqing is quick to follow good advice and will surely solve the disaster and rebellion problems!"

"Let's talk about it later..." Zhu Yuanzhang's mouth twitched. He no longer dared to believe the nonsense that "the prince is willing to follow good advice".

They turned their eyes to Zhu Zaigui, and with great anger in their hearts, they all joined the team that beat Zhu Zaigui.

Of course, Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Yihuan did not join in.

Zhu Gaoxu had questions for Zhu Yifan, but Zhu Yifan did not dare to do anything because Zhu Zaigui was his biological father after all.

"Boy, tell me if there has been any change in popular thought?"

"Thoughts?" Zhu Yizhen shook his head: "Grandfather, you are talking about the thoughts in the wordless book, right?"

"If it is the thought in the book, it has not appeared yet. The people still miss you the most."

"Really..." Zhu Gaoxu smiled, then shook his head and chuckled before leaving, leaving behind a farce in the Fengtian Hall.

After he walked out of the Fengtian Hall, the Fengtian Hall Square was already filled with civil and military officials who had come during the Longqing period.

During these years, Zhu Gaoxu had a lot of fun chatting with Wang Hui, Wang Xuan, Yang Zhan, Wang Shouren, Wang Yue, Wang Qiong, Qi Jiguang, Hu Zongxian, Zhang Juzheng, Gao Gong... and others.

Although these people had their own thoughts when they were officials, in the afterlife, they gradually lost so many thoughts and just focused on thinking about things to pass the time.

Under the guidance of Zhu Gaoxu, the technology in this world related to people's livelihood has basically surpassed that of the human world throughout the year. It is not surprising to think about it.

All the Imperial Academy officials who were awarded titles were scientific research geniuses selected from millions.

Zhu Gaoxu provided the topics and general directions, and it is not surprising that these hundreds of meritorious officials worked one after another on the research, and their research speed exceeded that of humans.

Even if Zhu Gaoxu did not specialize in military technology, as long as the underworld lifted the restrictions, he could rely on the Ming Dynasty's population of more than two million in this world to quickly mobilize tens of thousands of troops.

Of course, this kind of thing is just thought. He is tired of being an emperor, and what he wants to do most in this world is to lie down and do nothing.

Humming a little tune, Zhu Gaoxu walked towards the Shouning Palace in the Daming Palace.

Returning to Shouning Palace, Zhu Gaoxu breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Guo Yan sitting in the yard embroidering, as well as Zhu Zhanqi, Zhu Zhantan and a bunch of other princes and concubines.

"What happened in the human world is just a thing of the past for me."

He joined the courtyard, but the Fengtian Hall was still in chaos.

Time passed quickly and a few years passed as scheduled, during which time they went to Emperor Island.

Since Zhu Yixian did a good job, there was no doubt that Old Zhu showed off again. However, because Zhu Yixian did not expand the territory, Liu Bang and his men did not take Old Zhu's tricks seriously at all.

It was not until fifteen years after Zhu Yihuan's reign, when glory once again descended upon the Ming Dynasty, that Zhu and his followers regained interest and rushed in.

With the help of Zhu Yizhen, Zhu Changqing, who had just arrived, quickly figured out the situation and gave an honest account of everything he had done while in office.

"After I took over my father's position, I still used Yuan Keli, Sun Chuanting, Lu Xiangsheng, Cao Bianjiao, Cao Wenzhao and others to conduct the imperial and military inspections."

"In the second year of the Wanli reign, I used the method of work-for-relief to resolve the civil unrest and rebellion in the Arab world."

"After that, he used the imperial examination to target some meritorious officials and civil servants, launched two major cases, and seized countless amounts of money and grain."

"As you, Emperor Wu, expected, the Little Ice Age will be active for about seventeen years."

"In the seventeen years, the Ming Dynasty suffered about five million deaths due to disasters such as plague, drought, heavy snow, tsunamis, floods, and war.

"Compared to the Ming Dynasty, Xizhou lost nearly 40 million people in the years of war and plague, of which nearly % died in Germany. The rest of the countries also suffered from the plague and suffered a large number of deaths."

"But even so, before I died, the population of the Ming Dynasty exceeded 900 million, and more than 4 billion mu of arable land was reclaimed."

Zhu Changqing finished his brief account of the incident, and at the end he said with shame: "It's just that the Ming Dynasty has developed into the hands of this kid. The emperor is no longer able to govern a country with such a large population. Only by giving up power can the Ming Dynasty survive this disaster."

"Prince Youxiao has a conservative but playful personality. I can't say for sure what the Ming Dynasty will be like in the future... Maybe it will be replaced by a new wave of thought as you said."

The Ming Dynasty had been developing for more than 280 years, and even Zhu Changqing could see that the imperial power was declining.

If it weren't for Sun Chuanting, Yuan Keli and their group, perhaps the emperor would not even have a few people to use during this disaster.

Today, the moral trend in the Ming Dynasty is no longer based on simplicity, but is moving towards profit-seeking.

It would be fine if there were great leaders like Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Yuanzhang who were both talented and energetic, but people like them only appear once in hundreds of years.

Zhu Changqing knew very well that it was only a matter of time before his son's imperial power fell into the hands of others. The key was whether he gave up the power voluntarily or passively.

"It's OK. It's enough that the Ming Dynasty can get through this difficult time. It's already good enough that my Zhu family can pass on the country for more than 280 years. The rest will be left to my children, grandchildren and the people themselves."

Zhu Gaoxu patted Zhu Changqing on the shoulder, then turned to Zhu Yuanzhang and said:
"Grandpa, it seems that we still have to focus on this world."

"Hmm!" Zhu Yuanzhang was full of energy. He stroked his beard and said, "The Ming Dynasty in the human world can perish because of the lack of ability of its descendants, but the Ming Dynasty in this world cannot perish."

"You and Grandpa will rule the country together and create a prosperous Ming Dynasty in the underworld!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was talking excitedly, and Zhu Di interrupted: "Dad, what about me?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at Zhu Di with disdain and said, "You are such a jerk. Just be an idle emperor. The Ming Dynasty has me and Gao Xu, which is enough!"

(End of this chapter)