Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 84

"Your horse is good, better than your uncle's horse."

On Baoding Shinto, Xu Zengshou mentioned Chi Huan, and Zhu Gaoxu also smiled and explained the origin of Chi Huan to Xu Zengshou.

Hearing that Chi Huan's identity was a sweaty horse, Xu Zengshou took a deep breath and then exclaimed:
"Even your uncles don't have this horse, so you're lucky enough to enjoy it."

An envious expression appeared on Xu Zengshou's face, and at this time, the wind suddenly blew, making the trees far and near rustle.

The three of them instinctively looked up at the sky, only to see dense clouds over Nanjing City, blocking out the sunlight.

"It looks like it's going to rain a little bit, but I don't know when my grandson will arrive. Calculating the time, the morning service should have ended two-quarters of an hour ago."

Xu Zengshou talked about the time, while Zhu Gaoxu turned his attention to the door of Baoding Underground Palace.

In his eyes, Zhu Yuanzhang slowly walked out of the dim underground palace. The expression on his face did not change much from before entering. However, after carefully calculating the time, he had been in for more than a quarter of an hour.

He had been alone in the dark underground palace for such a long time, so he probably had a lot to say to Queen Ma.

Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang walking out, the eunuchs and soldiers carrying various sacrificial utensils came forward and began to burn yellow paper and various paper objects.

Zhu Yuanzhang stood on the Shinto dressed in black, watching the yellow paper being burned in front of him, the firelight swaying on his face, and there was no ripple in the ancient well.

After a while, the wind got stronger and the surrounding trees roared loudly. Even the clothes of Zhu Gaoxu and others were blown away.

"I'm afraid it's going to rain."

Zhu Gaoxu looked at the sky. Thanks to his keen senses, he could feel that the air had become much more humid.

"Prepare an umbrella." He turned to greet an eunuch who was with him. Hearing this, the eunuch with him first bowed in return, and then led someone to bring the yellow luogai umbrella and many royal umbrellas in the palace from behind.

The moment he took the oil-paper umbrella, Zhu Gaoxu came forward with his eunuch and came to Zhu Yuanzhang's side to bow:

"Grandpa, it's going to rain. It's time to go to Tanglin."

"..." Zhu Yuanzhang did not respond to Zhu Gaoxu. He just stood there and stared blankly at the fire in front of him. He didn't turn around until all the yellow paper was burned.

There was no sadness or joy on his face, and he seemed to have no emotional fluctuations, but Zhu Gaoxu could feel that he was different from the past.

Therefore, Zhu Gaoxu took the lead and led everyone to stand on both sides of the Shinto, making way for Zhu Yuanzhang to walk along the entire road.

When Zhu Yuanzhang passed in front of Zhu Gaoxu, he followed him closely with an umbrella, followed by Guo Ying, Xu Zengshou, and finally the accompanying eunuchs and Baotao guards.

Following the procedure, they walked towards the Dongling Tomb, where the former prince Zhu Biao was buried.

Everyone walked towards Dongling Shinto, and after only three hundred steps, they saw Dongling's Shinto stele.

Like the Xiaoling Tomb, after passing many Shinto buildings, the Dongling Ming Tower also appeared in front of Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Gaoxu and others.

But at this time, in front of the Dongling Ming Tower, stood Zhu Yunwen, who had been waiting for everyone for a long time.

After getting closer, he stepped forward to bow to Zhu Yuanzhang and salute. Zhu Gaoxu also saw the sweat on his face, thinking that he should have rushed here after finishing the morning court.

"Let's go in and see your dad."

After Zhu Yunzhang responded to Zhu Yunwen, he raised his legs and walked into Dongling Minglou.

Since Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Biao did not have a deep relationship, and Zhu Yunwen had already arrived, Zhu Gaoxu stood at the door of Minglou and did not go in.

But looking at the postures of Zhu Yunwen and Zhu Yuanzhang, I am afraid they are not ready to let him in.

"Old Zhu's genes are really strong..."

Although he was standing at the door, Zhu Gaoxu could still see Zhu Biao's portrait more than ten steps away.

The Zhu Biao in the portrait is different from what was passed down later on the Internet. He has a round face and good eyes, and has a beard typical of previous generations of the old Zhu family.

However, compared with Zhu Di's beard, Zhu Biao's beard is similar to that of Zhu Yuanzhang.

Judging from the portrait, Zhu Biao's facial features are majestic, and his brows reveal a sense of kindness.

Of course, although the portraits in the early Ming Dynasty also pursued realism, they were not as vivid as the sketches of later generations and could not be displayed vividly. "If I leave a portrait in the future, I will definitely leave a sketch. But I can't draw, so it's a bit difficult..."

Looking at Zhu Biao's portrait, Zhu Gaoxu suddenly wanted to leave a realistic portrait.

However, he has no talent for painting since he was a child, and he has no hobbies that he can use. Apart from playing games and typing on the keyboard, he is probably the guzheng and pipa he learned in college.

only……

Zhu Gaoxu looked down at his height of five feet and six inches at the age of 15, and couldn't help but think of himself playing the pipa as an adult.

A strong man, probably 1.9 to [-] meters tall, is holding a pipa... What kind of Eastern King Dhrita is this?

Shaking his head, Zhu Gaoxu drove this scene out of his mind and returned his attention to Zhu Yuanzhang, his grandfather and grandson.

The two of them burned incense and offered sacrifices in the Ming Tower. After standing for a while with their hands clasped together, Zhu Yuanzhang turned around and ended everything.

According to the previous process, Zhu Yuanzhang should go to the underground palace to see Zhu Biao. After all, the Crown Princess Lu has not passed away yet, so the underground palace should not be closed yet.

"Let's go..."

As Zhu Gaoxu expected, Zhu Yuanzhang greeted him to the underground palace after leaving the palace, and Zhu Yunwen followed closely.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu followed the two of them one step away, and Zhu Yunwen's summary of today's morning meeting rang in his ears.

"Grandpa, there is nothing major happening this morning. It's just that the Chief Secretary of Shanxi Province reported that the number of people who moved to Gansu last year and fled back to Shanxi this year has been no less than [-]."

As soon as Zhu Yunwen said these words, Zhu Yuanzhang stopped and Zhu Gaoxu was also shocked.

He had already known the population of Gansu through Fu Youde and Feng Sheng. Even after Zhu Yuanzhang spent a lot of effort and continued to immigrate for more than ten years, the population of Gansu was only more than 80 households and more than [-] people.

However, nearly 50 of them are Mongolians, Fans and Semu people who were captured and resettled in Hexi. Han people account for less than [-]% of the local population.

With such a population base, it is not surprising that more than [-] Han people fled back a year.

Of course, what makes Zhu Gaoxu feel even more heavy is the attitude of the people towards immigrants.

The Ming Dynasty's policy towards the migration of Han people to Hexi was already very good, but even so, the people could not be retained.

Zhu Gaoxu remembered that when he was dealing with government affairs, he had seen the number of people accepted by Gansu and other towns last year. It seemed to be about 7 people.

It's only July now, and last year's [-] immigrants have already fled back to [-], with a retention rate of less than [-]%.

At this rate, I am afraid that by the end of the year, there will be less than [-] immigrants left.

You must know that for those who escaped, the imperial court spent food to ensure their migration to Gansu. But now that they escaped, the imperial court's expenditure was in vain, and tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of food were in vain.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang, trying to see some human emotion on his face.

It just disappointed him. Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to have expected it. He calmly turned his head and glanced at Zhu Yunwen and Zhu Gaoxu, and then explained:
"Those who fled back were asked by the local government to be sent to Shanxi Dusi as deserters, who ordered Shanxi Dusi to exile them to Gan, Su and other states."

"Yes!" Zhu Yunwen bowed in return, and Zhu Yuanzhang turned around and continued on his way after speaking.

All that was left was Zhu Gaoxu, who was speechless because of Zhu Yuanzhang's words.

At this moment, Zhu Yuanzhang showed Zhu Gaoxu the mentality of a qualified emperor.

He was not affected by the sorrow and joy of the people who fled back, and even tried his best to let them go to Hexi.

If you don't want to go there as a common person, then go there as a prisoner.

In short, no matter what their status is, they have only one fate, and that is to go to Hexi to guard the border for the Ming Dynasty and pay taxes for the Ming army in Gansu and other towns.

They can escape, but no matter how they escape, as long as they are still alive, they will be sent back to Hexi. This is their fate...

Understanding Zhu Yuanzhang's thoughts, Zhu Gaoxu took a deep breath, and then chased after them.

(End of this chapter)