Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 87
"Hey... cool!"

In the outer city and Dashuying Town, the sound of Zhu Gaoxu taking a breath of cold air could be heard. At this moment, he was wiping the oil foam around his mouth, and there were two large empty bowls in front of him.

"You haven't eaten for a whole day..."

At the dinner table, Yang Zhan and Wang Xuan, who had been away from Zhu Gaoxu for a long time, looked at the two big bowls and finally understood why Zhu Gaoxu had grown so big.

"I went with my grandpa to pay homage to my grandma during the Hungry Ghost Festival, but I didn't eat for a day."

Zhu Gaoxu wiped his mouth and looked at the street outside the restaurant while explaining.

There are few people on the street. It seems that since the last time Shangyuan County Yamen announced the relocation of three villages, Dashuying Town has never been as lively as before.

"Your Majesty... Young Master, this mine map... I..."

Wang Xuan at the dinner table was talking about the Yunnan mining map with a face on his face, but Zhu Gaoxu interrupted him and said:

"You are just a military attaché. They ask you to hand over your things. You have no reason to refuse."

The two talked about the Yunnan mining map, and the reason why Zhu Gaoxu came to Dashuying was precisely because of this matter.

Since the last incident, he has never had a chance to ask Wang Xuan for clarification.

Today, during the Ghost Festival, the Duke's Mansion had to go out to pay homage to his ancestors. Only then did he have time to find Wang Xuan and Yang Zhan.

After some questioning, Zhu Gaoxu also found out what happened.

Not long after Zhu Gaoxu handed over the mine map to Wang Xuan and Wang Xuan, military attachés came to Wang Xuan to ask for the drawings drawn by Zhu Gaoxu. They did not say a single unnecessary word. It seemed that they all knew the content of the previous conversation between Wang Xuan, Zhu Gaoxu and Yang Zhan. .

In this regard, Zhu Gaoxu was curious about why they knew about his conversation with Wang Xuan and others, but had no clue.

The reason why the Yunnan mining map was exposed was because Zhu Gaoxu had no awareness of precautions and thought that as long as there was no one around, everything would be fine. But the reality slapped him hard in the face.

If Zhu Yuanzhang's intelligence source could be discovered so easily, how could he have so easily eliminated Hu Weiyong and Lan Yu.

This time, he had despised everyone, and he deserved the punishment he deserved.

The only thing he was glad about right now was that he didn't draw a map of Japan's gold and silver mines that day.

He could still rely on ancient Han books to make up a lie in the Yunnan mines, but he couldn't get out of the Japanese mines.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu also guessed who the military attaches who went to find Wang Xuan and others were.

I am afraid that this group of people are the Jin Yiwei who were abolished by Zhu Yuanzhang himself.

The so-called abolition is only on the surface. Secretly, they are afraid that they have not relaxed at all and are monitoring officials for Lao Zhu all the time.

His performance was too impressive, so he deserved to be monitored.

Zhu Gaoxu took a sip of crude tea, then stood up and signaled to leave.

Seeing this, Yang Zhan stood up and went to pay the bills in front of him, while Wang Xuan walked to the stable outside and took out Chi Huan, who was full of food and drink.

"How are your skills lately? Are you still confident about taking the exam next year?"

Zhu Gaoxu asked while walking on the street with the two of them. Yang Zhan and Wang Xuan also walked out of the solemn atmosphere just now, smiling and bowing:

"Don't worry, I won't embarrass you this time."

"I believe you." Zhu Gaoxu responded with a smile. At the same time, he took the horse rein from Wang Xuan's hand. After skillfully getting on the horse, he ordered the two of them:
"The people in the palace already know what happened between us, there is no need to hide it anymore."

"If you have any questions, just go to the city and look for me."

"Yes..." The two bowed in return. Zhu Gaoxu glanced at him and smiled heartily: "Let's go!"

After that, he rode away from the place, leaving only Wang Xuan and Yang Zhan looking at his back.

Soon after, the two of them turned and left, leaving three high-spirited young men missing from Dashuying Town.

Not long after, Zhu Gaoxu rode his horse to the Zhengyang Gate of the inner city. After a brief inspection of his waist badge, he was released by the soldiers.

As mentioned before, today the two governments went to pay homage to their relatives outside the city, so Zhu Gaoxu could have a day off.

He wanted to go to the [-]th floor in Nanjing that Wang Jian had mentioned before to see if there was anything delicious.

However, Zhu Gaoxu gave up the idea when he thought that there were not only food in that place, but also more famous official prostitutes.

Although he was curious about the appearance of the official prostitutes in the Ming Dynasty, he was more afraid of going there and tarnishing his reputation that he had finally "cleared".

With nowhere to go, he naturally slowed down.

After a rare half-day break, he turned his attention to the bustling area of ​​Nanjing City, and then rushed to Xi'anmen Street in Shangyuan County.

Thanks to Zhu Yuanzhang's massacre of distinguished officials in the past few years, he did not see any bullying of men and women along the way, nor did he see many porcelain incidents recorded by literati in the middle and late Ming Dynasty.

The high pressure during the Hongwu period required the high-ranking officials to be cautious, but for most common people, many rules were difficult to implement on them.

Various restrictions such as dressing, wearing hats, speaking and behaving, etc. have little effect on them, because their lives have not yet reached the upper limit of the rules set by Zhu Yuanzhang. Therefore, similar to the collapse of etiquette and music in the late Ming Dynasty, people often exceed It is difficult to see the phenomenon of restraint.

"It seems that the high-pressure policies adopted during the founding of the People's Republic of China can actually make ordinary people's lives safer..."

"Blind your dog eyes!"

Before Zhu Gaoxu could finish his sigh, he heard a familiar voice coming from the front.

He originally wanted to move forward, but it is human nature to like to watch the excitement, and soon a wall of people formed in front of him.

"Who told you to walk on this road? Don't you know that common people can't walk on this road?! I think you want to be whipped!"

There was constant noise in the human wall, but Zhu Gaoxu heard it clearly and even thought of who the people in the human wall were.

"Please let it go!"

Zhu Gaoxu politely greeted the people in front and left at first, but he received no response and was even pushed back.

"Sorry..."

Chi Huan was made uncomfortable by the crowd and couldn't help but make a sound, which made Zhu Gaoxu frown. In the end, he could only yell at the people around him:
"The Yamen is doing business! Get out of here! Anyone who disobeys the order will be given twenty sticks!"

In order to prove his words, Zhu Gaoxu even took out his palace token.

However, when he shouted the words "Yamen is doing business", the people around him didn't even look at his token. They only saw his clothes and the horse he was riding on, and they dispersed one after another.

As soon as they dispersed, Zhu Gaoxu saw what was inside the human wall.

I saw an old man in his fifties or sixties sitting on the ground in the open space, his forehead flushed, and firewood scattered on the ground next to him.

In front of the old man was a Qiluo young man with two soldiers and a horse.

Zhu Gaoxu was very familiar with that young man, so he couldn't help but gallop forward and walked up to the young man.

"Second brother! Why are you here?"

When Zhu Gaojiu's face and voice appeared, Zhu Gaojiu felt something bad in his heart. He pointed condescendingly with his riding crop at the injured old woodcutter next to him, and asked Zhu Gaojiu intently: "What's going on?"

"This old jerk came onto the road and bumped into me, causing me to almost fall off my horse!"

On Xi'an Menchang Street, Zhu Gaosui scolded the injured old woodcutter and patted some dust marks on his body with resentment on his face.

The old woodcutter had never seen such a posture before. Regardless of his injury, he knelt down and kowtowed: "Master, have mercy on me! Master, have mercy on me!"

He hit his head hard on the green bricks of Xi'an Menchang Street, which made the original injury more serious.

"Master? Who is your master? He is the prince of the third county of Yan Mansion!"

Zhu Gaosui's face was full of cruelty. He turned around and was about to draw out the Yanfu guard's saber to teach the old woodcutter a lesson.

Just as Zhu Gaoxu was about to stop him, there were messy footsteps in the distance. Everyone looked up and saw soldiers from the Zhongcheng Army and Horse Division arriving.

When the flag officer at the head saw what was going on here, he secretly exclaimed that it was terrible. He stepped forward and kicked the old woodcutter on the back without thinking about anything.

This scene caught Zhu Gaoxu off guard. He never expected that this little flag official would beat people indiscriminately.

"You, an old man, dare to attack His Highness the Prince of Yan Mansion, are you..."

"Stop!" Seeing that the flag officer was still going to take action, Zhu Gaoxu, who had recovered his composure, scolded him and rode forward to drive him away from the old man.

"This……"

The flag official only heard Zhu Gaosui's words, and he didn't recognize Zhu Gaosui, so he couldn't help but cast his eyes on Zhu Gaosui who was standing there with a knife in hand.

When Zhu Gaojiu saw Zhu Gaoxu protecting the old woodcutter, he also screamed: "Second brother! Why are you still helping this old man?"

"Shut up!" Zhu Gaojiu turned around and cursed, which actually silenced Zhu Gaosui for a moment.

Seeing that Zhu Gaojiu had no move, Zhu Gaojiu also turned to look at the little flag officer, and the little flag officer also heard Zhu Gaojiu's identity from Zhu Gaosui's words, and immediately knelt down and bowed five times and kowtowed three times: "Zhongcheng Soldiers and Horses Si, Peng Liu, the small flag officer of Xi'an Gate, comes to see the Prince of the Second County of Yan."

"Let me ask you!" Zhu Gaoxu clenched the riding whip in his hand and scolded: "Which article in the "Da Ming Law" says that the military commander can beat people indiscriminately?"

"As a small flag officer of the Zhongcheng Army and Horses Division, why don't you act according to the Ming Law?"

As soon as Zhu Gaoxu said these words, many people in the distance looked at each other, unable to believe that there was such an enlightened prince these days.

"Second brother!" Zhu Gaosui shouted unwillingly.

"I told you to shut up!" Zhu Gaojiu glared at Zhu Gaosui, who was so frightened that Zhu Gaosui couldn't help but lower his head.

Only then did he remember the character of his second brother before he entered the university. He did not dare to refute for fear of being beaten.

"Say!" After reprimanding Zhu Gaosui, Zhu Gaoxu turned his attention to Peng Liu again.

"But...but..." Peng Liu hesitated for a long time and couldn't say anything. Finally, he could only hold back one sentence: "But he went the wrong way."

"Of course you will be punished for trespassing, but you are not allowed to use lynching without permission." Zhu Gaoxu cursed, got off his horse and helped the old woodcutter up.

At this moment, the old woodcutter had a nosebleed, and he was obviously kicked hard by Peng Liu's unexpected kick.

He looked at Zhu Gaoxu tremblingly, his body trembling uncontrollably, and he was extremely scared.

"The fine for trespassing is one hundred. I paid the one hundred on his behalf, but if you abuse lynching, you should receive ten sticks yourself!"

Zhu Gaoxu turned his head and punished Peng Liu for his actions. At the same time, he also ordered the soldiers standing stupidly on the side: "Do it. If you don't do it, I will do it myself!"

"This..." The soldiers of the Bingma Division looked at each other. No one dared to stand up. This scene made Peng Liu despair and couldn't help but curse:

"Didn't you hear what His Highness said?!" "Do it!"

Peng Liu knew Zhu Gaoxu's identity and was scared to death.

Zhu Gaoxu is a man who can shoot a bow weighing 130 kilograms in a large teaching field. If he were to hold a staff, he, Peng Liu, might not be able to hold it with three staffs.

"Hurry!" Seeing Zhu Gaoxu rolling up his sleeves, Peng Liu was so anxious that he almost cried.

Seeing this, the soldiers on the left and right stepped forward cautiously, raising their guns to fight.

"Take it hard! Don't let me suffer twice!" Peng Liu was afraid that these two people would not dare to use force, so he quickly ordered.

"Yes..." The soldier was helpless when he saw this, so he could only grit his teeth and swing his gun, and hit him hard.

"what!!!"

The spears fell down one after another, and Peng Liu screamed repeatedly. After the ten sticks were beaten, his whole body was covered with sweat, and it was difficult to stand up.

Seeing his appearance, Zhu Gaoxu took out a handful of money from his arms and threw it away without counting it. He thought it was over a hundred coins.

"One hundred coins is the fine for this old man, and the rest will be used to buy medicine for him."

He confessed, and then looked at Peng Liu, who was being helped up with difficulty: "In the future, when doing errands, you must act according to the law. If anyone commits a crime and refuses to obey the law, you can call me by my name!"

"Yes...remember this humble duty..."

Peng Liu was already unconscious at this moment, but he still reluctantly bowed in response with the help of others, and then left in a hurry after Zhu Gaoxu waved his hand.

This scene was seen by Zhu Gaosui. He was angry but did not dare to show it, for fear that he would end up like Peng Liu.

"You want reputation, why bother taking advantage of me..." Zhu Gaosui cursed in his heart, as if he regarded Zhu Gaoxu's actions as an attempt to win over people's hearts.

However, what he didn't expect was that Zhu Gaoxu didn't say anything to him when he turned around. Instead, he frowned at the injured old man and said:
"I'll take care of what you committed, but you almost caused my brother to fall from power, and there must be consequences for this matter."

After Zhu Gaojiu said this, the people watching suddenly started talking. Apparently they felt that Zhu Gaoxu was going to cause trouble for the old man, and even Zhu Gaosui had a smile on his face.

However, Zhu Gaoxu did not criticize the old man harshly. He just pointed at Zhu Gaosui and said, "Just go up and bow down to him five times and three times."

"Ah?" After hearing Zhu Gaojiu's words, the old man froze on the spot, and Zhu Gaojiu and many other people also looked stunned.

This is not to say that Zhu Gaoxu punished the old man severely, but that the punishment was almost non-existent.

The old man was a commoner, but he took the wrong path. After bumping into the prince, he should have bowed five times and kowtowed three times. This is a basic etiquette.

Not only that, after saluting, according to the "Da Ming Law", he must be punished with at least twenty sticks and a hundred coins confiscated.

However, when Zhu Gaoxu arrived, he only asked the old man to salute and it was over. How could everyone not be surprised?

If all the noble officials in the world were as easy to talk to as him, the common people wouldn't be scared to death of this group of people.

"Is it because you don't want to salute and want to receive twenty sticks?"

Seeing that the old man did not move, Zhu Gaoxu chuckled and asked.

"Yes, yes... the grass people will bow now."

The old woodcutter reacted and immediately walked up to Zhu Gaosui, knelt down and bowed five times and kowtowed three times.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaojiu also walked to Zhu Gaosui: "This little old man is old. Even if you want all his wealth, it won't be worth a lot of money, so let's leave it like that."

"Hmph... Just give my second brother some face today. You old man will watch the road in the future. Don't take the road you shouldn't take. Get out!"

Zhu Gaosui didn't want to forgive the old woodcutter, but because Zhu Gaoxu was standing aside, he had no choice but to tell the old woodcutter to leave with a dark face.

Hearing this, the old woodcutter stood up, regardless of his injury, nodded and bowed to apologize, and then turned around to collect the firewood scattered on the floor.

"I still have classes to study today, so I won't play with my second brother."

Zhu Gaosui was unhappy, so he was naturally too lazy to listen to what Zhu Gaoxu said about him. After slapping Zhu Gaoxu's hand away, he got on his horse and left with two Yanfu soldiers.

But after he left, Zhu Gaoxu glanced at the old woodcutter with a bruised nose and swollen face, stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder:
"Send this firewood to the Sixth Courtyard of the Third Lane of the Fujun Qianwei. Here is the firewood money."

Zhu Gaoxu took out a sling of money, took out a hundred coins and put it in the hand of the dazed old man: "The more is money for medicine."

After that, Zhu Gaoxu didn't wait for the old man to say anything else, turned around, climbed on the saddle, and rode Chi Huan towards the front line of the government army on the return journey.

Seeing him leaving, the onlookers clapped their hands and applauded. It was obviously the first time they saw such a sensible and noble son who stood up for the people.

The sound of clapping gradually spread, and what happened here was recorded and sent back to the palace by someone who was interested.

"He doesn't care about Gao Sui's feelings at all..."

In the Qianqing Palace in the Forbidden City, Zhu Yuanzhang, who was lying on a chair with his eyes closed and meditating, murmured these words while listening to the report of the people below. In front of him stood the familiar unknown military attaché.

"Do you think this grandson of mine is trying to win people's hearts?"

Zhu Yuanzhang was obviously very satisfied with Zhu Gaoxu's approach, but he still asked the military attache with the answer in mind.

The military attache did not dare to interfere in royal affairs, so he could only bow: "I dare not speculate."

"Well..." Zhu Yuanzhang ignored the military attache's attempt to protect himself, but slowly opened his eyes, stood up and sat upright.

The military attache took a step back upon seeing this, waiting to listen to the oracle.

Facing his retreat, Zhu Yuanzhang showed a bit of disappointment in his eyes, but he quickly corrected his identity and asked solemnly: "How many mines in Yunnan have been found so far?"

"Your Majesty, I only found two silver and copper mines." If the military attache's words were heard by others, their eyes would probably widen in surprise, because the emperor clearly mentioned three gold and silver mines to both Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Yunwen.

"Both places are good, at least that kid Gao Xu didn't fool me." Zhu Yuanzhang showed an imperceptible smile on his face, and stared at the military attache for the next second:

"Let people spread the word and say that six mines have been found in Yunnan, four gold and silver mines, and two silver and copper mines."

"In addition, let the miners in Yunnan step up and let the Yunnan Dusi fully cooperate."

"I want to see how many mines can be found in the mine map drawn by that boy."

"Your Majesty, receive the order!" the military attache agreed. Seeing his appearance, Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand impatiently: "Go down and do your business. Keep an eye on me over there in the East Palace. The same goes for the wealthy squires in the six prefectures in Jiangdong. .”

"I excuse myself..." The military attaché slowly withdrew, and the palace maids and eunuchs who had been sent away earlier also entered the palace one after another.

Seeing him leaving, Zhu Yuanzhang also got up and walked to the place where he usually sat and rested. After sitting down, he took a sip of tea and savored it.

He looked out the window, and there was a refreshing feeling in the Forbidden City after the rain. In the past, Zhu Yuanzhang would always play chess and talk with those close to him.

It's just that since the affairs between Fu Youde and the King of Jin, and Feng Sheng and the King of Zhou have been revealed, he has few people with whom he can talk.

Tang He, the only one who could have a good conversation without worrying, also suffered from a stroke and was unable to speak.

Now he can be said to be truly alone.

So what if I'm just alone?

This is not the first time he has experienced this feeling of being alone!

Thinking of this, he put down the tea cup and quietly waited for the next drama to take place on the stage.

As he expected, as soon as the dusk drum sounded, familiar footsteps could be heard outside the hall.

Not long after, the military attaché who had left a few hours ago returned to Qianqing Palace again. At this moment, his face was solemn, and he obviously had something important to report to Zhu Yuanzhang.

"Your Majesty..."

"Is there anything going on in the East Palace?" Zhu Yuanzhang tapped his fingers on the tabletop. The eunuch and eunuch serving beside him skillfully added hot water to the tea, poured it for him, and then walked out of the palace one after another with the maids and eunuchs in the palace.

At this moment, Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to have expected everything. At his signal, the military attaché glanced at the empty palace, then lowered his head and responded solemnly:
"The Minister of Taichang Temple went to the Hanlin Academy to find Hanzhong Professor Fang Xiaoru, hoping that Fang Xiaoru would call on the scholars from Jiangnan to build momentum for his grandson."

"Okay..." A smile appeared on Zhu Yuanzhang's face, as if he had seen a fish taking the bait.

Unable to sit still, he stood up, walked back and forth for a moment, stopped, and told the military attache:

"Let your people help this group of Confucian scholars build momentum, not only in the court, but also in the countryside!"

"I want everyone in the south of the Yangtze River to know about Su Song's second mansion's use of banknotes to offset taxes!"

"I accept your order!" The military attache bowed in response and instinctively wanted to get up and leave, but Zhu Yuanzhang stopped him: "Slow down!"

He touched his white beard, hesitated for only a moment, and then asked the military attaché: "Do Duke Ying and Duke of Song still have contact with the King of Zhou and the King of Jin?"

"Never discovered" the military attaché replied honestly, but Zhu Yuanzhang asked again:

"Is there anyone who has been in contact with Gao Xu recently who is related to the Marquis of Xiping?"

"..." Upon hearing Zhu Yuanzhang's words, the military attache's heart skipped a beat.

The current Marquis of Xiping is Mu Ying's son Mu Chun, and Mu Chun is the top military and political leader in Yunnan.

Zhu Gaoxu, a man who had never been to Yunnan, could actually point out so many gold, silver and copper mines in Yunnan, which Zhu Yuanzhang could not help but doubt.

However, his doubts were mostly dispelled by the military attache's words in the next second: "The Xiping Marquis Mansion has no connection with the Yan Mansion or His Highness the Second Highness."

"Even Wang Xuan's father, who follows His Highness the Second Highness, has close ties with the Xiping Hou Mansion."

"I boldly believe that if the Marquis of Xiping discovers so many gold, silver and copper mines, I am afraid that he will not hand them over to His Highness easily. After all, His Highness has never been able to obtain such a thing before..."

"Stand down!" Before the military attaché could finish speaking, Zhu Yuanzhang interrupted him and asked him to stand down.

"Your Majesty..." The military attache said nothing more, but obediently exited the hall.

After he left, the palace maids and eunuchs returned to the palace as before. As for Zhu Yuanzhang himself, he got up and returned to his Dragon Case.

He didn't worry too much about the matter between Zhu Gaoxu and Muchun, because he knew very well that no matter how talented his grandson was, he was still a person who could see through it at a glance.

For Muchun, a person whose future limit is limited to the county king is not worth spending so much effort to win over and support.

Rather than passing the credit on to Zhu Gaoxu, it would be more honest to hand it over directly to the East Palace.

"Perhaps this kid really has the talent to see Shandian Mine..."

　Today I will update [-] words in two updates, one and one each, which is considered a half-day break. I will update [-] words in two updates at [-]:[-] tomorrow morning. From now on, I will basically maintain this amount of updates, except when I am sick or have something to do.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)