Anti-Qing: Starting from the Reincarnation of the Ming Dynasty

The news that Zhu Jing'an sealed Langjuxu in Langjuxu Mountain and successfully formed an alliance with various Mongolian tribes was quickly sent back to the pass by fast horses.

Then, he was sent to the capital immediately, preparing to report his victory to the emperor.

In the Yangxin Hall, Zhu Jianzhuo was lying on the bed with a white silk handkerchief on his forehead. His face was sallow and full of illness.

Just a few days ago, Zhu Jianzhuo stayed up late reviewing memorials. He occasionally caught wind and cold and fell ill again.

After taking medicine for a few days, he still didn't feel better, so he could only keep it like this and let him recover slowly.

Because of this, in recent times, government affairs have been temporarily handed over to the Cabinet and the Supervisor of Ceremonies for the time being!
Unless there are very important matters that must be decided by the emperor, they will be reported. Otherwise, Wang Shun and Yang He can decide on their own.

There is no need to disturb Zhu Jianzhuo's recovery.

On this day, Zhu Jiazhuo had just fallen asleep.

Queen Liu tucked the quilt for him gently, for fear of waking Zhu Jianzhuo.

Lao Zhu is in poor health and has shallow sleep. The slightest movement may wake him up.

He finally fell asleep. If he woke up, he would inevitably feel uncomfortable again.

Mrs. Liu looked at the sick look on her husband's face, her eyes full of concern and distress.

In the past, although the Zhu family was not rich and powerful, the family's life was still considered prosperous.

But now, although the Zhu family is extremely wealthy, her husband often falls ill due to overwork, and his health is getting worse day by day.

His own son is often away from home leading troops, and is often not seen for several years.

Liu couldn't help but wonder, is all this really worth it?
She doesn't understand how powerful and wealthy men need to be to be satisfied?

Just as Ms. Liu was looking at her husband's sick face, lost in thought, there was a burst of light footsteps outside the hall.

The rules in the palace are very strict, and the eunuchs and maids have been specially trained to walk, striving to have a good-looking posture and make the sound of their footsteps quiet.

And the speed can’t be slower!
As soon as the footsteps stopped, there was a questioning voice from a young eunuch.

"Why are Eunuch Yang here? Is there something important?"

"Your Majesty has just fallen asleep. The Queen has told you not to disturb him if there is nothing important."

The person who stopped Yang He was called Li Huai, a confidant eunuch beside Queen Liu.

The status is extraordinary!
Of course, if he was just an ordinary eunuch, he would definitely not dare to stop Yang He like this.

Yang He was not angry when he heard this, he just spoke softly.

"It's good news coming back from outside the customs. We just received the news from the Supervisor of Ceremonies, so we didn't dare to neglect it and came to report to His Majesty as soon as possible."

"I'd be happy to have Eunuch Li pass the news on my behalf!"

Although Li Huai's status was high, Yang He was not a vegetarian.

Although he would not fall out with Li Huai, the queen's confidant, over such a trivial matter.

But that didn't stop him from secretly poking Li Huai's heart.

He, Yang He, is now the chief minister of etiquette and is known as the internal minister. Even the chief minister of the cabinet must be polite when meeting him.

Who are you, Li Huai, a slave who can only serve others?
Hearing this, Li Huai nodded to express his understanding.

I don't know if he understood Yang He's hint and was pretending to be innocent, or if he was simply naive because he didn't understand it at all. He responded and prepared to pass the message.

But at this moment, Zhu Jiazhuo, who was already very light-hearted, woke up on his own.

He rubbed his groggy head and simply said loudly.

"Come in, good news outside the pass? But the prince is coming back?"

Zhu Jianzhuo couldn't wait to be enthroned in Zen.

He thought that after he achieved Zen status, he would first go back to his hometown in Guangxi and live in the old house there for a while.

People, the older they get, the more nostalgic they become.

The same is true for Zhu Jiazhuo.

Of course, this is also related to the fact that Zhu Jianzhuo grew up in Guangxi and was a little uncomfortable with the northern environment.

The soil and water support a person, and Zhu Jianzhuo's frequent physical ailments probably have a lot to do with his inability to adapt to the northern environment.

If he could return to Guangxi to recuperate, his health would definitely improve a lot even if he didn't take medicine.

Hearing this, Yang He and Li Huai walked in from the outside.

He presented the urgent report in his hand to Zhu Jianzhuo, then bowed and said.

"This servant didn't know that Your Majesty was sleeping peacefully, and disturbed His Majesty's rest. It's really a crime worthy of death. Please punish Your Majesty..."

When Zhu Jianzhuo heard this, he coughed suddenly and then spoke.

"It doesn't matter!"

"I wasn't too asleep to begin with, I just squinted a little."

Mrs. Liu took a few steps forward, helped him sit up personally, and stuffed a pillow behind his back.

Zhu Jianzhuo glanced at his wife, smiled and said.

"The Queen is here!"

Upon hearing this, Liu shook her head and said.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but Your Majesty is in ill health right now. You can put aside state affairs for now, but you should practice more and take care of yourself."

Zhu Jianzhuo smiled and had no intention of arguing with Mr. Liu.

The two have been an old couple for decades, and of course he knows that Ms. Liu is doing it for his own good.

"What the queen said makes sense."

Zhu Jianzhuo casually responded and looked at the good news in his hand.

Soon, as he read through the good news, a sincere smile appeared on his face.

"Good news!"

"Jing'an has already sent troops to regain Lake Baikal and is preparing to rename Lake Baikal to Beihai. Then, in Langjuxu Mountain, he completed an alliance with the Mongolian tribes and finalized the basis for the Ming Dynasty to control the grasslands in the future."

"Soon, Jing'an will lead his troops back to the court."

Speaking of this, the smile on Zhu Jianzhuo's face became more and more obvious.

"Okay, okay, Jing'an will be back soon."

"Finally, someone can help share this burden on me."

Queen Liu couldn't help but smile.

"Jing'an is finally coming back. He is alone outside the customs. I don't know if he can eat well and sleep well. I don't know if he has lost weight..."

As a mother, what she really cares about is not her children's achievements, but their children's health.

In her opinion, as long as Zhu Jing'an is healthy, that is better than anything else.

Zhu Jianzhuo heard this and said with a smile.

"Although Jing'an is leading an expedition beyond the Great Wall, there is no shortage of people around him to serve him. Don't worry..."

As he spoke, Zhu Jiazhuo couldn't help but cough again.

After coughing, Zhu Jiazhuo spoke again.

"When Jing'an comes back, we will first let him supervise the country."

"When the New Year comes, I will meditate on him."

"After the Zen Ceremony, how about the queen follow me back to Guangxi?"

Hearing this, Mrs. Liu nodded and said.

"Since the first year of Xuanwu we set off from Guangxi and arrived in Guangzhou, we have never gone back."

"Seven or eight years have passed now, and it's time to go back and take a look."

"I don't know what's going on with our old house now..."

Mrs. Liu also misses her hometown very much.

Because she was also born, grew up, got married, and gave birth to children in Guangxi...

Almost all the important moments in her life happened in Guangxi, in the Zhu family's old house.

How could she miss home?
The couple looked at each other and saw the longing in each other's eyes.

Zhu Jianzhuo was wondering, after he abdicates, should he simply build a palace in Guangxi for retirement?

As for the practice palace, it will consume people’s fat and money?

Why, he, Old Zhu, has worked hard for half his life, why can't he still enjoy it when he gets old?
……

At the end of July in the seventh year of Xuanwu in the Ming Dynasty, after finishing the affairs of the Huimeng grassland tribes, Zhu Jing'an led his troops on the road to return to the court.

In the process of returning to the court, Zhu Jing'an took a trip to Hangai Mountain, also known as Yanran Mountain, and recreated the feat of the great Han Dynasty Shi Yanran.

After Le Shi Yanran, Zhu Jing'an led the team to continue south.

At the end of August, the Ming army arrived at Suiyuan City.

Zhu Jing'an ordered the army to repair in Suiyuan City. After a month of hard journey, the Ming army was very tired and needed repairs.

After five days of continuous repairs, the Ming army began to move southward. In early September, the army returned to Datong.

Then he turned to the capital and prepared to return to the capital.

When the time came in mid-September, Zhu Jing'an led the team to the capital.

He was riding on horseback, looking at the tall and majestic city wall in the distance, his eyes full of exhaustion.

Since the beginning of this year, when Zhu Jing'an led his army to Shanxi to preside over the Battle of Xinzhou, until now in mid-September, Zhu Jing'an has been running around and working hard without rest.

After eight or nine months of running around, Zhu Jing'an has obviously become much thinner, and his cheeks have become more angular.

It was okay when they were on the road. Zhu Jing'an had something on his mind. Although he was tired, he didn't feel it.

Now that he finally returned to Beijing, Zhu Jing'an's tight string finally relaxed. In an instant, a strong sense of exhaustion came over him like a tide, almost making him unable to hold on.

However, Zhu Jing'an finally took a deep breath and said hello.

"Go back to Beijing!"

After his words fell, the army continued to move towards the capital.

Soon, the army arrived outside Desheng Gate.

The city gate of Deshengmen is wide open. On the city gate tower, there are yellow umbrellas, dragon flags, and the emperor's guard of honor unfolded, displayed in front of everyone.

After Zhu Jianzhuo learned that his son was returning to the imperial court today, he took his people to wait outside the capital city gate early, preparing to welcome his son's triumphant return.

Zhu Jing'an's battle directly wiped out the grassland and made all the grassland tribes surrender to the Ming Dynasty.

This was something that even Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di had never done back then.

For the Ming Dynasty, this matter has quite significant significance.

It is precisely because of this that Zhu Jianzhuo personally came to the city gate tower in the outer city of Beijing to welcome his son in triumph.

Zhu Jianzhuo stood at the top of the city and saw the army coming back from a distance. He spoke to Yang He who was beside him.

"Yang He, order people to prepare. I will go to the city gate to greet the prince in person." Yang He heard this and did not dare to refuse, so he nodded and said.

"Well, I understand!"

Immediately, he went to make arrangements.

Soon, Zhu Jiazhuo appeared at the city gate in person and continued to look to the west.

Zhu Jing'an was riding on horseback and galloping, and also noticed the scene at the city gate.

His expression changed slightly, and then he began to urge the horse under his crotch to speed up.

Soon, he led his guards on horseback and arrived at the city gate.

Then, Zhu Jing'an got off his horse, walked quickly to his father, knelt down and bowed.

"My son, my master, is returning to the court. I am greeted by my father and the emperor. I am really scared."

Hearing this, Zhu Jianzhuo stretched out his hand to help Zhu Jing'an up and said with a smile.

"Get up, Jing'an, get up!"

"This time you led an expedition to defeat the Northern Tartars for the Ming Dynasty. It can be said that you have done a great service to the country. My father should personally go out of the city to welcome you..."

Looking at his son's much thinner face, Zhu Jiazhuo said with emotion.

"Jing'an has really worked hard this time and has lost so much weight."

When Zhu Jing'an heard this, he just shook his head and said.

"For the sake of Ming Dynasty and the world, this is what I should do."

Zhu Jianzhuo patted his son's shoulder with great relief, and then said.

"Haha, okay, okay!"

"Let's go and follow our father into the city..."

Zhu Jing'an responded.

After arranging for the army to camp and repair in the school grounds outside the capital, and arranging for people to prepare wine, meat, gold and silver as rewards for the army, Zhu Jing'an followed Zhu Jianzhuo into the car, and then headed into the capital.

As they drove into the car, Zhu Jianzhuo asked.

"Jing'an, now that the various Mongolian tribes have been pacified, do you have any ideas on how to manage the grassland next?"

When Zhu Jing'an heard this, he pondered for a while and then spoke.

"The first thing is to ensure military security. I plan to build forts and posts at regular intervals on the grasslands, along rivers and water sources, and station troops and horses."

"Then, these individual fortresses are connected in series and formed into a network to completely lock the grassland."

The reason why a fort is built next to a water source is because although the grassland is vast, if people want to survive, they cannot do without water sources.

As long as the Ming army can control the water source, they are not afraid of rebellion on the grassland.

Although this trick is simple and crude, it is absolutely effective.

As for why this trick has not been used in all dynasties?
How should I put it? It’s not that we don’t use it, but that we can’t afford it.

The cost of building more forts and garrisoning troops on the vast grasslands is too high.

With the basis of national strength in the agricultural era, it is difficult to afford such consumption.

The most typical example is the large and small guard stations set up along the Great Wall by the Ming Dynasty in the early Ming Dynasty.

When the country was strong in the early Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty did have a certain degree of control over the grassland by relying on these large and small guard posts.

At the very least, the grassland tribes close to the Great Wall, such as the Duoyan Tribe, are all under the control of the Ming Dynasty.

However, once the peak period of the Ming Dynasty passed, Xuande began to shrink and abandon these large and small guard posts.

What is the reason?

To put it bluntly, isn’t it just that the cost is too high?
The reason why the Ming Dynasty now has the strength to build a large number of fortresses and outposts on the grasslands and prepare to garrison troops is because the Ming Dynasty has begun to carry out industrial reforms.

It was precisely with the support of national strength after industrialization that the Ming Dynasty was able to carry out such large-scale construction on the grasslands.

Zhu Jianzhuo nodded slightly when he heard this, and then continued to ask.

"and then?"

Zhu Jing'an didn't show off, and spoke directly.

"After ensuring military security, cultural assimilation and economic success are the next steps."

"While building outposts and fortresses, Erchen also suggested that Chinese education be carried out on the grasslands and Confucianism be promoted to ensure that even if the Ming Dynasty loses its military power in the future, the cultural attraction will still prevent the grasslands from breaking away from the Ming Dynasty. control."

"Economically speaking, I suggested that the imperial court allocate special funds to support the development of breeding, planting, mining and other related industries on the grassland, so that the lifestyle of various grassland people can change from nomadic to settled as soon as possible."

Needless to say, the breeding industry in Inner Mongolia was quite developed in later generations. A number of additional industries in the outside breeding industry provided Inner Mongolia with a large number of jobs and tax revenue.

The same is true for the planting industry. The promotion of corn, potatoes, sugar beets and other crops is the key to changing the lifestyles of all grassland areas.

Not to mention the mining industry, the history of later generations has proved that both Inner Mongolia and Outer Mongolia are quite rich in mineral resources.

Even if all other industries are shut down, as long as the mining industry can develop, it will be enough to support the combined population of less than two million people in Mongolia.

If the mining industry wants to develop, railways are the top priority!
Otherwise, even if the ore can be mined, transportation will be a big problem.

“When the lifestyles of various parts of the grassland change and Sinicization has progressed to a certain extent, the imperial court will then directly manage the grassland through the establishment of prefectures and counties.”

Zhu Jing'an added later.

He believed that as long as all his above-mentioned ideas were completed, the grassland would truly become an integral part of the Ming Dynasty.

As for the Mongolian princes?
Haha, they won't be important by then.

Zhu Jing'an can deal with them how he wants to deal with them.

Zhu Jianzhuo nodded with satisfaction after hearing this.

"What Jing'an said makes sense. Let's handle this matter according to your opinion, Jing'an."

As if he remembered something, Zhu Jiazhuo suddenly spoke.

"By the way, Jing'an, you can rest for a few days and prepare to accept the order to supervise the country. After this year's New Year, I will officially give you the Zen position, and then return to my hometown in Guangxi to retire."

Zhu Jing'an didn't react when he heard this.

But he spoke anyway.

"Why should my father be in such a hurry to take the throne? My sons and ministers are terrified!"

When Zhu Jiazhuo heard this, he just shook his head and said.

"Don't shirk it, I'm serious."

"My current body really can't handle the complicated government affairs every day. If you succeed to the throne as soon as possible, I can take care of myself as soon as possible so that I can live longer."

When Zhu Jing'an heard this, he no longer shied away, but spoke.

"My son, I obey!"

Seeing this, Zhu Jianzhuo nodded with satisfaction.

Then he went on to talk about other topics.

"By the way, several Shanxi merchants from Shanxi have reported to the court, asking them to provide their own funds, and the court will provide technology and crowdfund to build a railway connecting Taiyuan and Beijing."

"Jing'an, do you think the court should agree to them?"

When Zhu Jing'an heard this, his expression was startled at first, and then he realized it. After thinking for a long time, he nodded and said.

"I can agree!"

"After the railway is completed, the revenue can be distributed to them as dividends according to the proportion of investment, but the ownership of the railway must belong to the imperial court."

"And, in times of emergency, the court can requisition the railway unconditionally."

Since the construction of the railway connecting Beijing and Tianjin, the railway has entered the attention of people all over the world.

Many people with a keen sense of smell have realized the importance of railways.

There are rivers and lakes in the south that can be used for water transportation. Although we attach great importance to railways, we do not feel urgent.

But it’s different in the north!
Due to the limitations of the natural environment, most trade routes in the north are by land, and the cost is much higher than that by water.

Railway construction is a very urgent need for the north.

As the top businessmen of this era, the group of Shanxi merchants in Shanxi would not sit back and let such a good opportunity fly away.

Therefore, they united to go to the court and wanted to fund the construction of such a railway.

For the Ming Dynasty, this was actually a good thing.

Because now the Ming Dynasty is fully supporting the railway line connecting the north and south Beijing, and cannot afford to build other lines.

If at this time, the local businessmen and gentry could stand up and express their willingness to spend money to build the railway, it would be beneficial but not harmful to the court.

Take, for example, the Beijing-Taiwan Railway that Shanxi merchants are preparing to pool money and finance to build.

First of all, railway construction requires a large number of workers, which can absorb idle labor in society and maintain social stability.

Secondly, after the Beijing-Taiwan Railway is completed, it can greatly promote the development of heavy industry in the North China Heavy Industry Center of Ming Dynasty.

Before the railway was built, coal in Shanxi and iron in Hebei were two relatively independent entities.

When Ming Dynasty wanted to develop heavy industry, how to transport raw materials was the biggest problem.

Then, after the railway is built, coal from Shanxi and iron from Hebei will combine and a wonderful chemical reaction will occur.

By then, the development process of Daming's series of heavy industrial bases in Hebei and Shanxi will be on the fast track.

Third, after the Beijing-Taiwan Railway is completed, it will greatly promote the economic development along the railway, and the economies of Shanxi and Hebei will take off.

In addition, building railways also has a series of hidden benefits politically and militarily.

In this regard, the court really had no reason to refuse.

As for railway dividends?
How should I put it? After all, the money to build the railway was paid by Shanxi merchants, so the railway dividends should naturally be paid.

You don't want to have sex for nothing!

Of course, the court can also issue bonds to raise money to build railways, thereby preventing private capital from interfering with important state-owned assets.

However, if the imperial court builds railways through the discovery of bonds, then all the local gentry and merchants will contribute is money.

But if the court allows local gentry and merchants to pool money to build the railway, then in order for the railway to be built as soon as possible, the gentry and merchants will not only contribute money, but also contribute their efforts.

Without the court's intervention, these gentry and merchants who contributed money would spontaneously solve all the difficulties that stood in the way of railway construction.

For example, the issue of land acquisition...

Don't look at it. In order to solve the problem of land acquisition, the Ming Dynasty simply let the railway pass next to Xiaoling, hoping to block the people of the world and allow the court to acquire land legitimately.

However, when the Ming Dynasty was building railways, land acquisition was still a long-standing problem.

The officials in charge of land acquisition are almost worried to death!

However, if the local wealthy merchants and gentry are willing to cooperate with the court on the land acquisition issue, then the resistance to the Ming Dynasty's land acquisition will not be so great...

Well, just giving money and giving money and efforts are definitely two different things.

Besides, after the railway is completed, the court can also introduce a bill similar to the one in which the court has absolute priority in the transfer of railway equity, and after a certain number of years, the court can unconditionally contribute money to recover the railway equity.

Facts have proved that as long as you are willing to use your brain, there are always more solutions than difficulties. (End of chapter)