Rebirth of Zhu Di's son

Chapter 369 I, the Ming Dynasty, will never build a new Great Wall from now on.

In the third year of Qianxi's reign, it was the seventh day of the tenth month.

After the dispersion of the dynasty, Wuying Hall.

At this time, Zhu Gaoxu was sitting behind the imperial table, discussing matters with the six cabinet ministers sitting on both sides of the hall.

"Your Majesty, the Military and Political Governor of the Zhili Dudu Mansion, Jiao County Gong Xue Lu, reported that the Great Wall from Datong to Xuanfu has been in disrepair for a long time, and many walls have collapsed. I request the imperial court to allocate funds for repairs."

Xia Yuanji, the Minister of Household Affairs, made a memorial statement.

After Zhu Gaoxu heard the memorial, he did not immediately give instructions on it.

He paused, looked at Xia Yuanji and asked a question: "Da Situ, I am supervising the construction of the Shaoling Deer Hunting Garden under the supervision of Jin Youzi, the right minister of the Ministry of Revenue. Is it not completed yet?"

The Shaolu Hunting Garden is similar to the Shanglin Garden during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. It is a type of royal garden, but the word "hunting" means that it is a place for royal hunting, not a place for recreation.

Because the "garden" of the past dynasties prohibited the common people from entering and exiting at will, this garden is also known as the "Shaoling Forbidden Garden".

The "Sentinel Deer Hunting Garden" mentioned by Zhu Gaoxu was a summer hunting place for the Liao Emperor during the Liao Dynasty. It was known as the "Thousand Miles of Pine Forest" and was also the place where Emperor Kangxi ordered the establishment of the "Mulan Paddock" in history.

"Your Majesty, I received a letter from Minister Jin not long ago. In half a month, the two halls, three terraces, four floors and six pavilions in the Hunting Garden will be completed."

Xia Yuanji replied respectfully.

"Shaolu Hunting Garden is located at the junction of the Yinshan Mountains, the Daxian Mountains and the Yanshan Mountains, and is also located in the transition area between the desert and the western Liaoning Mountains. It can be said that it controls the grassland in the north, the capital in the south, and connects to the northeast. It is really a key place. "

Zhu Gaoxu nodded and said solemnly: "Since the 19th year of Yongle, my father has led the princes, princes, eldest sons of princes, ministers, and generals in the capital to hold the Autumn Festival (xiǎn) there every autumn. Therefore, the construction period of the hunting garden can be Slow down, quality must be guaranteed.”

"Your Majesty, don't worry, Mr. Jin knows the importance."

Xia Yuanji answered.

In June of the 18th year of Yongle, Zhu Gaoxu followed Zhu Di on his northern tour. When he first arrived at Shaoluyuan Hill, he was immediately shocked and intoxicated by the sight in front of him.

But you can see the dense virgin forest covering the sky and the sun, with rare birds and animals roaming among them. The century-old trees seem to be guards guarding the capital and protecting the Central Plains.

Later, Zhu Di, at the suggestion of Zhu Gaoxu, designated the mountains, forests and grasslands in this area as a royal hunting ground.

The environment here is very complex, with ups and downs of mountains, vast yellow sand and patches of green grass and forests.

It can be said that there are mountains, grasslands, forests, canyons, and hills, which are excellent places for military training.

From the following year until the 25th year of Yongle, Zhu Di led the Beijing camp troops to practice here many times.

The reason why Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu attached so much importance to this place was mainly because of its special geographical location.

This was once the frontier for the northern nomads to move south, and it was also the throat for the Central Plains dynasties to communicate with the outside world.

During the Warring States Period, in order to resist the invasion and harassment of northern barbarians, the Yan State built the Great Wall in the Yanbei area where Shaolu Hunting Garden is now located.

After Qin unified the six kingdoms, it repaired the original Great Wall of Yan to form the Qin Wanli Great Wall.

In November of the second year of Qianxi, after Zhu Gaoxu returned to Beijing triumphantly from his personal expedition to the desert, he immediately turned his attention to the north, preparing to search for a place that could serve as a strategic location to control the grasslands and the Northeast.

After careful consideration, he chose the hunting garden named Shaolu Garden by Zhu Di in February of the third year of Qianxi, and sent Jin Youzi, the right minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, to personally supervise the construction of the hunting ground.

"Da Sikong, how far is the construction of the hot spring palace in Yuyang?"

Zhu Gaoxu then looked at Song Li, Minister of Industry, and asked.

Yuyang City was a new city built by Zhu Gaoxu in the 16th year of Yongle's reign. It was located in Chengde in later generations, and was stationed with a force of one thousand households led by the Yuyang garrison.

This city was originally mainly used to house the naturalized people such as the Yeren Nuzhi, Kitayama Nuzhi, Linzhong Yeren, Kuwu people, Ezo people, etc. who passed the layers of screening by the Rites and Examinations Department and were relatively thoroughly Chineseized.

In June of the 18th year of Yongle, Zhu Di took Zhu Gaoxu on a northern tour. When passing by Yuyang City, they found that the place was very cool, so they stayed for a few days.

The following year, in order to escape the summer heat, Zhu Di took Empress Xu, Prince Zhu Gaoxu and all the emperors' grandchildren to Yuyang City to escape the summer heat. They set up camp in the mountains and forests outside the city and stayed there for half a month.

In this way, Yuyang City gradually became lively. After several years of development, by the 20th year of Yongle, the city had become a large city where people were busy with farming and farming, and tens of thousands of families gathered together.

Since then, in order to meet the needs of Zhu Di and Empress Xu to go to Yuyang to escape the summer heat every year, court ministers and some poets and scholars rushed to build mansions and houses in Yuyang. Yuyang's industry and commerce developed rapidly, and the streets were bustling with people and noisy cars and horses. , restaurants and tea shops are lined up in rows.

In April of the first year of Qianxi, Zhu Gaoxu established Yuyang County under Shuntian Prefecture, with Yuyang City as the county government, and managed the civil affairs of sixteen surrounding villages and towns.

In February of the third year of Qianxi's reign, while Zhu Gaoxu sent Jin Youzi to supervise the construction of the Shaoling Deer Hunting Garden, he also issued an order to the Ministry of Industry to build a palace on a site by the Hot Spring River near Yuyang County within three years.

Because the palace was built near the Hot Spring River, it was named Hot Spring Palace.

There are hot springs in the upper and middle reaches of the hot spring river, so it is not freezing in winter, hence the name.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, because the Hot Spring Palace occupies a vast area and the perimeter of the palace wall is nearly [-] paces (ten kilometers), the foundation of the palace area has just been completed by the end of last month."

Song Li, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, first covered his face and lowered his head and coughed, then he bowed his hands and saluted.

The architectural layout of the Hot Spring Palace can be roughly divided into two parts: the palace area and the garden scenic area. The garden scenic area can be divided into three parts: the lake area, the plain area and the mountainous area.

Among them, the construction of the palace area is relatively time-consuming and is also the most important part of the hot spring palace. The Ministry of Industry does not dare to be careless.

Seeing that Song Li's face was a little sallow, Zhu Gaoxu immediately frowned and asked, "Da Sikong, I asked the Imperial Hospital to send someone to diagnose and treat you. Has your cough not improved yet?" "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your concern!"

Song Li said respectfully: "I have been taking medicine for several days, and my cough is much better than before. Now I no longer cough up phlegm."

Zhu Gaoxu nodded and wrote down the matter for the time being. Then he looked at Xia Yuanji, the Minister of Household Affairs, and said, "Da Situ, did you just say that the Jiao County Government requested the imperial court to allocate funds to repair the Great Wall?"

"Exactly."

Xia Yuanji replied respectfully.

Zhu Gaoxu looked around at the six cabinet ministers in the palace and said loudly: "Since the Qin Dynasty built the Great Wall, the courts of the Han, Tang, and Song Dynasties also often repaired and added buildings. But did this completely eliminate border troubles? No! First it was the Liao Dynasty, then the Jin Dynasty, and then It was the Meng and Yuan Dynasties who all led strong troops and marched straight in. All the strongholds on the Great Wall were breached and no one could stop them."

"It can be seen that the way to persevere does not depend on how long the Great Wall is or how strong the walled city is, but on whether the court works hard to nourish and comfort the people! If the people's hearts are fully restored, the country will be prosperous and the borders will be secure. This is called united will to unite the city. It is also!"

"I have inspected the city walls from Datong to Xuanfu. It has been more than fifty years since Hongwu and has been damaged by wind and sun. If we build them, how can we do no harm to the people?"

"And the Great Wall stretches for thousands of miles. How many soldiers and how much food and wages do we need to defend it?"

Zhu Gaoxu saw that Xu Huizu, Jian Yi, Xia Yuanji, Xie Jin and others were all silent, so he changed the subject and said: "Besides, the grassland tribes have been pacified, and the guards of Yanran, Shuofang, Anbei and other real capitals have been set up one after another, and the Great Wall The area along the line is no longer the frontier of the Ming Dynasty. Compared with the land in Mobei, it has become the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty. I think the Great Wall can no longer be built."

"Your Majesty, please think twice."

Xia Yuanji hurriedly stood up and knelt down in front of the royal table. He said earnestly: "Your Majesty is so talented and powerful, I feel ashamed, but no one dares to guarantee the future. In my opinion, it is better to be cautious to prepare for future troubles." .”

His subtext is that although Zhu Gaoxu conquered the grassland and set up a solid tudusi to manage the grassland, there is no guarantee that future kings will be able to defend the grassland.

If there is a big chaos in the grassland in the future, and the imperial court does not have the Great Wall for defense, then the trouble will be big!
Jian Yi followed closely and said, "Your Majesty, please think twice."

Song Li and Xie Jin also stood up one after another, walked to the imperial table, knelt down and said, "I ask your Majesty to think again."

In today's world, when facing the Qianxi Emperor Zhu Gaoxu, whose power and prestige in the unified grassland is comparable to that of the Yongle Emperor Zhu Di, there are probably the only ministers who have such courage who have followed Zhu Gaoxu for many years.

"You are all important ministers of the imperial court and my loyal ministers. Why do you have to do this? Get up and speak!"

Zhu Gaoxu looked at the four people kneeling on the ground and quickly raised his hand to signal.

At this time, among the six cabinet ministers, only Xu Huizu and Yu Yanzhao did not express their stance.

Compared with the advice of Xia, Jian, Song and Jie, the silence of Xu and Yu is also an attitude - not to object is to agree.

In May of the first year of Qianxi, Zhu Gaoxu made some adjustments to the personnel of the imperial court. The seven cabinet ministers at that time were Jian Yi, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Yu Yanzhao, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, Xia Yuanji, the Minister of the Ministry of Hubu, Song Li, the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, and Song Li, the Minister of the Ministry of War. Qi Tai, as well as Zhengfang Xiaoru and Xie Jin, the chief and deputy chief of the Printing and Printing Department.

The following year, Fang Xiaoru became an official in old age, and Qitai went to Guizhou to take up the post of governor. There were two vacancies among the seven attendants and advisers in the cabinet.

In November of the same year, after Zhu Gaoxu returned to Beijing triumphantly from his personal expedition to the desert, he ordered that Li Jinglong, Duke of Cao, and Xu Huizu, Duke of Wei, be transferred to the cabinet, thus completing the cabinet with seven ministers.

Even though Li Jinglong, who was still assisting Prince Zhu Zhanyu in the grassland, was present and expressed his approval of Zhu Gaoxu's decision not to build the Great Wall, it still could not change the result that all four cabinet ministers opposed it.

"What do you think, Duke Wei?"

After Xia Yuanji and others stood up, Zhu Gaoxu looked at Xu Huizu and asked.

"I feel that since the imperial treasury is full, for the sake of safety, we can spend three to five years hiring workers in batches and repairing the Great Wall in stages."

Xu Huizu hesitated for a moment, but finally said bluntly: "Of course, if Mo Qiaosi builds a powerful small steam engine in the next five years, he will stop repairing the Great Wall and start laying the railway track to Mobei. Not too late."

Zhu Gaoxu was surprised when he heard Xu Huizu's words and praised: "What Wei Guogong said is very appropriate."

Then, he looked at Xia Yuanji and the others and asked, "What do you think, sir?"

"The words of Wei Guogong are very sound. I agree with you."

Xia Yuanji cupped his hands and said.

Jian Yi and others also echoed: "I have no objection."

They have already known about railroad tracks and steam engines, and of course they will not dwell on these issues anymore.

"I ordered the Sentinel Deer Hunting Garden to be built in the Key Land and the Hot Spring Palace to strengthen our control over the grassland and the Northeast."

Zhu Gaoxu stroked his beard and said: "Even if the surrendered grassland tribes rebel again, it will not cause any waves, so you don't have to worry too much. Therefore, I have decided that my Ming Dynasty will not build the Great Wall from now on."

In order to avoid misunderstanding by Xia Yuanji and others, he then specifically added: "What I said is that we will no longer build the Great Wall, not that we will not repair the Great Wall."

"Your Majesty Shengming!"

Jian Yi, Xia Yuanji and others said in unison.

Zhu Gaoxu looked at Song Li, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, and ordered: "As for the specific methods of repairing the Great Wall in batches and on schedule, the Ministry of Industry will take the lead and work with the department to draft a charter and submit it."

"The minister obeys the order."

Song Li stood up, saluted and took orders.

PS: In the next chapter, Zhu Di returns to the voyage, and Zhu Zhantang presents the drawings of a small steam engine that he improved and designed.

(End of this chapter)