Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 82: The Theory of Expanding the Land
"grandfather?"

In the Ming Building of Xiaoling, Zhu Yuanzhang was influenced by Zhu Gaoxu's firm eyes and thought of Zhu Biao, so he couldn't help but be stunned for a few seconds. It was not until Zhu Gaoxu called him cautiously that he returned to reality.

"Well..." Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly, looking at Zhu Gaoxu's current appearance, a rare smile appeared on Gu Jing Wubo's face.

He walked towards the outside of Minglou. When Zhu Gaoxu followed, he also asked as he walked;
"In Yunnan, even if gold, silver and copper mines are discovered, I'm afraid they won't be able to produce too much in a year, and the amount of treasure money that can be recovered for taxation may not be too much."

"Of course." Zhu Gaoxu followed him out of the bright building and replied at the same time: "My grandson estimates that he will only be able to produce 60 million gold and silver coins at the beginning, and the treasure banknotes that can be recovered are only 60 million gold and silver coins per year. ."

"But Sun'er has calculated that as long as the imperial court adheres to this policy and stops issuing excessive amounts of treasure banknotes in the future, including the gold, silver and copper classes in other regions, the treasure banknotes should stabilize in ten years."

"At that time, there will be no need to recycle treasure banknotes, but more treasure banknotes will need to be issued."

Zhu Gaoxu's tone was relaxed when talking to Zhu Yuanzhang, and the previous caution was reduced a lot. This change made Xu Zengshou and Guo Ying at the gate of Minglou a little stunned, and at the same time they were more afraid of the emperor's methods.

Zhu Yuanzhang took Zhu Gaoxu to Baoding and asked questions about his answer:

"Although what you say is good, the country still has a lot to spend, and it is impossible to stop issuing treasure notes."

"My grandson has also thought about this." Zhu Gaoxu is a quick thinker and often answers Zhu Yuanzhang's questions as soon as he raises them:

"As long as the government does not issue more than 500 million coins per year, the problem can be solved within 20 years."

"Twenty years?" Zhu Yuanzhang stopped, turned around and asked expressionlessly.

Once his face straightened up, Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but feel flustered, but when he thought about the results of his calculations, he still nodded: "About 20 years."

Zhu Gaoxu didn't think there was any problem, but he didn't expect that Zhu Yuanzhang would suddenly change the topic.

"But I remember that you said that my guard system was only about twenty years old..."

Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Gaoxu narrowed their eyes when they looked at each other, and their tone was a bit cruel.

At this moment, Zhu Gaoxu felt that his mind was in chaos, and he had completely forgotten the words he had planned to respond to earlier. It was not until he took a few breaths that he pretended to be calm and bowed and answered:
"Grandpa, what my grandson said is that in another twenty years or so, the Wei system will go downhill, and then in another twenty years it will be out of use."

"If you understand the military system of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, you should naturally know the problems with the military system of the Sui and Tang Dynasties."

"The Sui and Tang dynasties had military systems, and so did the dynasties."

This was a rare occasion for Zhu Gaoxu to have the courage to resist the pressure from Zhu Yuanzhang and give his own response at the same time.

Facing Zhu Gaoxu's answer, Zhu Yuanzhang withdrew his gaze, turned around and continued towards Baoding: "Continue talking."

"Yes..." Zhu Gaoxu breathed a sigh of relief. While following Zhu Yuanzhang's back, he also gave his own opinion:
"Sun'er feels that the Wei system needs to be preserved, but it must be used in areas that have been recovered."

"For example, the area north of Liaodong could support millions of Bohai, Khitan, and Jurchen people during the Sui, Tang and Song Dynasties, so why couldn't it support the Han people?"

"When the north is stabilized in the future, the imperial court can set up a Han garrison there and immigrate to the border to guard the area and block the possibility of North Korea's westward expansion."

"There is also the land of Three Annals and Six Solaces. Since it has been surrendered to our Ming Dynasty, we can naturally take the opportunity to intervene when the population of the southwest is prosperous in the future and completely control this place."

"Besides, there is also..."

Before Zhu Gaoxu finished speaking, Zhu Yuanzhang stopped again, interrupted him, and turned to glance at him:
"I really didn't see that you kid had such great ambitions."

"Uh..." Zhu Gaoxu was slightly speechless, but he quickly responded with a smile: "My grandson will be the king of the border fortress in the future, so he will naturally open up territory for the Ming Dynasty."

"If my father and I expand the territory further, the hinterland will be safer, and the people in Jiangnan will naturally be willing to go there."

"Having said that," Zhu Yuanzhang pondered for a few seconds, then turned around and moved forward. At the same time, he turned his back to Zhu Gaoxu and expressed his opinion: "The territory is too large, and it is difficult to govern."

"You kid, go back and look through the history books for me, focusing on the Han and Tang Dynasties."

"The Han and Tang Dynasties also crossed the Western Regions and fought into the river."

"But what's the result? What kind of scenery is the territory left behind?"

Zhu Yuanzhang's words made Zhu Gaoxu not sure how to answer, just because he really couldn't answer this question.

Although the Han and Tang Dynasties were strong, their territory shrank after that. There is no doubt about this.

Compared with the Western Han Dynasty, the Eastern Han Dynasty's control over the Western Regions weakened and it lost the Hetao.

Compared with the Eastern Han Dynasty, the control of Liaodong, Bingzhou, and Longyou in the Western Jin Dynasty was greatly weakened. A large number of miscellaneous people lived in the local areas, making governance difficult.

As for the Tang Dynasty, there is no need to say more about the situation in its later period.

These powerful dynasties tried their best to expand their territory to the maximum when they were glorious, but they continued to lose territory when their national power weakened. In the end, they were not even as good as when they were founded.

Obviously, in Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes, the development methods of these dynasties were undesirable. On the other hand, his guard system could greatly consolidate the border and stabilize the basic territory of the Ming Dynasty.

Facts have also proved that under the Wei system, no matter how the temples fought internally, the peace in the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty was still the best in history.

In the early Ming Dynasty, there was a scene like the Han and Tang Dynasties, but the path taken was very different. It was one step at a time, consolidating the territory before moving forward.

The system of the Ming Dynasty itself was improved by absorbing the advantages and disadvantages of the Han, Tang and Song Dynasties. If you proceed steadily, you will not make mistakes.

If it hadn't been for the sluggish military style after the Tumubao Incident, the Ming Dynasty's territory might have continued to expand.

Understanding what Zhu Yuanzhang meant, Zhu Gaoxu also quickly explained:
"My grandson naturally knows the truth, so my grandson will not blindly expand the territory."

"Besides, there is a grandson in the court. Even if the grandson wants to fight, he must get permission from the court."

Zhu Gaoxu moved Zhu Yunqi out. After all, Zhu Yunqi behaved in front of Zhu Yuanzhang as a qualified monarch.

Since he is the king of defense, he will naturally not be happy to expand his territory.

"You are right." Sure enough, Zhu Yuanzhang did not lecture Zhu Gaoxu again, but agreed with his words very much.

From Zhu Yuanzhang's point of view, he really couldn't imagine that Zhu Yunwen would be so happy that his success would ruin his family fortune.

For now, the family fortune he left behind cannot be lost in one generation, and he is still accumulating it.

While thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang also came to the entrance of Baoding's underground palace.

This time, he did not ask Zhu Gaoxu to follow him in. Instead, before entering the underground palace, he turned to Zhu Gaoxu and said, "Just wait here. I will come out in a quarter of an hour."

Having said that, Zhu Yuanzhang did not give Zhu Gaoxu a chance to speak, raised his legs and entered the Baoding Underground Palace, and quickly disappeared.

However, Zhu Gaoxu had no intention of going in. He just wanted to blur what happened just now.

However, after Zhu Yuanzhang entered the underground palace, Zhu Gaoxu began to recall what he had just said, and even muttered to himself involuntarily: "Is it ineffective to expand the territory..."

(End of this chapter)