Daming: My boss Zhu Yuanzhang

Chapter 381 The collapse of Beiyuan
After the army returned, Zhu Yuanzhang quickly began to prepare for the next northern expedition.

This time due to the accident caused by Chang Mao's recklessness, the Northern Expedition failed to achieve its full success. Now Beiyuan is still in a state of scattered sand. If someone waits to gather these scattered soldiers in the future, it will be a big blow to the Ming Dynasty. Threat, and he was older at this time, and he was even more anxious to get rid of this serious problem of Ming Dynasty.

There were not a few people in the court who understood this truth, and privately they were all discussing another northern expedition. At this moment, Guangxi and Yunnan and other places suddenly reported to the court that the remnants of the Northern Yuan Dynasty had joined forces with chieftains to cause rebellion.

Although Mu Ying was stationed in Yunnan, Zhu Yuanzhang was still worried, so he transferred Fu Youde to join him in quelling the rebellion.

Originally, Fu Youde was the main general in Yunnan, so it was most appropriate for him to go.

As for the expedition to the north, there is still Feng Sheng.

After Fu Youde left, Zhu Yuanzhang also officially ordered another northern expedition.

However, at this time, there was a censor in the court who impeached Feng Sheng for illegal activities such as hiding good horses and seizing wives during the Northern Campaign.

Chang Mao, who was imprisoned, also began to criticize Feng Sheng's various illegal behaviors, and even blamed him for the enemy's rebellion.

When Zhu Yuanzhang saw these impeachment memorials, he was immediately furious and ordered Feng Sheng to be banished to his hometown in Fengyang and not allowed to go out. At the same time, he withdrew the reward given to him.

In the Ordnance Bureau, Li Wei listened quietly to Chen Su's report.

In order to avoid Zhu Biao and for safety reasons, he moved to the Arms Bureau.

After Chen Su finished speaking these things, Li Wei pondered for a moment and suddenly showed a smile: "Interesting."

These things gave him a familiar feeling, just like those things arranged by Chen Su when he went to conquer Japan.

At that time, in order to gain military power for him, Chen Su and the court officials prepared to impeach Tang He. Although he was suppressed in the end, the result did not change much. Tang He was still recalled due to negligence, and he successfully obtained the command of the Japanese army. .

Now the imperial court is preparing for another northern expedition. However, several generals leading the army, first Fu Youde was transferred due to the rebellion in Yunnan, and then Feng Sheng was impeached and convicted. This is obviously someone repeating what he did before. Deeds.

"The Marquis is wise, and my subordinates also think these things are unusual." Chen Su said in a deep voice.

He originally planned those things. Although these people's methods are different now, they can't hide it from him.

Li Wei nodded lightly and ordered: "In this case, you go and check to see who is secretly instigating this matter, and keep an eye on Lan Yu."

Now Feng Sheng and Fu Youde can no longer participate in the Northern Expedition, and Xu Da is unwell. Among the remaining generals in the court who are qualified to lead troops, except for him, the Duke of Han, only Lan Yu can barely do so.

Of course, he knew that it was impossible for Zhu Yuanzhang to let him lead troops on another expedition, otherwise the series of arrangements to transfer the Shenji Battalion and the navy would be in vain, and the only remaining leader would be Lan Yu.

"Yes!"

Chen Su responded respectfully, then turned around and left, following Li Wei's instructions to investigate these matters and keep an eye on the activities in Lan Yu's house.

At the same time, Jin Yiwei is also secretly investigating these matters.

With Zhu Yuanzhang's astuteness, he would not fail to notice the strangeness of these things, but he still severely reprimanded Feng Sheng and drove him back to his hometown.

Feng Sheng is also a veteran, but he is not as knowledgeable as Tang He and Li Shanchang. Several of the Dukes who were granted the title of Duke at the founding of the country, Xu Da, are ill and no longer interfere with military affairs. Tang He and Li Shanchang also became Dukes after Li Wei. He resigned and returned to his home, leaving him as the only founding father in the court. Zhu Yuanzhang was also a little unhappy with him, so he took this opportunity to drive him back to his hometown.

As for the Northern Expedition, it will naturally fall on Lan Yu.

Just as Li Wei thought, it was impossible for him to leave this matter to Li Wei again. After all, although Lan Yu was high-spirited now, she was still worse than Li Wei. Naturally, he wanted to help Lan Yu suppress Li Wei. .

Under the leadership of Mao Xiang, Jin Yiwei secretly investigated Lan Yu and Li Wei.

Although Zhu Yuanzhang would not leave the Northern Expedition to Li Wei, judging from the current situation, Li Wei is also one of the leading candidates for the Northern Expedition, so the possibility of Li Wei controlling everything cannot be ruled out.

Jin Yiwei had a large number of men and their abilities were incredible. Mao Xiang soon discovered Wang Xing beside Lan Yu.

Originally, it didn't matter that there was a Confucian scholar in Lan Yu's mansion, but this Confucian scholar once stayed in Li Shanchang's mansion, so it was a little different.

Although it was not certain whether these matters were related to Wang Xing, Mao Xiang still reported the matter to Zhu Yuanzhang.

In the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Yuanzhang narrowed his eyes slightly after hearing Mao Xiang's report.

"Your Majesty, do you want to arrest this Wang Xing for interrogation?" Mao Xiang asked tentatively.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head gently: "No, let's put it aside first."

Even if it was true that Lan Yu and others were behind these things, he didn't want to touch Lan Yu for the time being.

He wanted to see what surprises these people would bring to him by pushing Lan Yu up.

What Li Wei did at the beginning was responsible for the destruction of the country in the end. If Lan Yu could take over and destroy Bei Yuan for him, he would be so happy that he would not be able to count, and naturally he would not stop it.

"Is there any change on Li Wei's side?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked instead.

"Your Majesty, I haven't noticed anything unusual in Duke Han." Mao Xiang replied respectfully.

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned slightly. He always felt that this boy would not be honest. Ever since this brat showed off his authority in the court, he had made many moves and replaced all the servants in the house. But now he has become honest again. unusual.

After thinking about it, Zhu Yuanzhang put his matters aside and told Mao Xiang: "Okay, we understand. You continue to watch. Don't alarm Lan Yu. We have our own arrangements."

"Yes."

Mao Xianggong claimed that he was, and then Zhu Yuanzhang asked him to retreat.

A few days later, Zhu Yuanzhang officially issued the order for the Northern Expedition. With Lan Yu as the general, Tang Shengzong and Wang Bi as his deputy generals, and Sun Ke, Guo Ying and others as participating generals, he launched another expedition against Bei Yuan.

Li Wei also learned about Wang Xing through Chen Su's investigation. He was not surprised by Zhu Yuanzhang's decision, but he did not pay too much attention to it and focused on Minghuang Academy.

After he gave Tao Sheng some ideas, all the last technical difficulties of the new college were solved, and this nearly modern college was finally completed.

On the day of the opening ceremony, Zhu Biao was present in person, and Li Wei and Fang Xiaoru co-hosted the ceremony.

Zhu Biao and Fang Xiaoru were amazed when they saw the faucets that could be turned on to produce water and the lights that turned on by pressing a switch. While Li Wei laughed that they had never seen the world, he secretly sighed in his heart.

He had not seen these things for a long time, and it was eight or nine years before he used them again.

After the opening ceremony, Li Wei started enrolling students.

When I was in Xiaopoyuan, Minghuang Academy had a total of more than one hundred students. Including the supervisors who followed Fang Xiaoru to the academy, the total number was only two to three hundred. But now there is this huge new academy. Academy, he can finally recruit students in a standardized manner.

As for the teachers, these are naturally the newly graduated students. Those who were unsuccessful have agreed to stay in the academy to teach. Others, such as Zheng Zhihua and Lu Xiu, who have already become officials, can also come to the academy to teach part-time when they have time.

There are also Tao Sheng and others who stay in the Ordnance Bureau. When they are not busy, Li Wei will let them come to the academy to serve as part-time teachers.

In short, he doesn't have to teach by himself this time, so he can recruit more students.

Due to the controversy of "the gentry receiving food from one body", no current literati are willing to come to his Minghuang Academy. Most of them, including those who previously agreed with Minghuang Neo-Confucianism, have drawn a clear line with the academy.

But it doesn't matter, Li Wei didn't really regard them as academy students.

This time, he mainly recruited the children of craftsmen from the Ordnance Bureau, as well as the children of navy and Shenji battalion soldiers.

Most of these children come from poor backgrounds and cannot afford to go to school. The academy provides free teaching and provides food and accommodation. Naturally, they are very happy with such a good thing.

As for "the gentry receiving food from one body", it has nothing to do with them.

In a few days, the newly established Minghuang Academy enrolled thousands and a half-year-old children. Fortunately, there were recent graduates Hou Jun and Song Baozhong as teachers to help take care of these children, otherwise he would not be able to take care of them.

After settling the classrooms and dormitories for these children, he improved them based on the courses he had taught in the small courtyard before, and let Hou Jun, Song Baozhong and others use them to teach.

Of course, Fang Xiaoru still taught him Minghuang Neo-Confucianism. Although Li Wei didn't care about this, he attached great importance to it.

While Li Wei was busy with the academy, the Northern Expedition army also left the border. Lan Yu led the army to Qingzhou, which had been occupied by the Ming army. He first sent people out to inquire about the enemy's situation, calmed down the surrounding stragglers, and then went straight to The place where the Yuan Lord who was informed by Pu Wangxing is located - Yuerhai.

It's just that this place is far away and the environment along the way is harsh. Even if he is fully prepared, it is still difficult.

Fortunately, there were many generals in the army who had surrendered from the Northern Yuan Dynasty. They had lived in the grasslands for many years and were familiar with these terrains. They played a leading role for the Ming army, and they led the army to reach this destination smoothly.

Tuogu Si Timur, the Great Khan of the Northern Yuan Dynasty who was hiding in Yuerhai, never expected that the Ming army would find this place. After all, this place was already very far north. It was impossible for the Ming army to find this place if they were not familiar with the terrain.

However, Beiyuan was in extreme decline at this time. Not only were there countless surrenders, but there were also spies within the Yuan court who betrayed his position.

Lan Yu sent Wang Bi as the vanguard to attack the Yuan army. The Yuan army was unprepared and was killed in a chaos. Although the 100,000 imperial guards guarding the Northern Yuan court tried their best to resist, they were no match for the Ming army. The leading general was beheaded. He was killed, and all the rest of the 100,000-strong army were captured except those who fled.

The royal concubines of the Northern Yuan Dynasty, the prince and princess, could not escape. They could only escape with Gusi Timur and dozens of fast horses, but he had also become the cursor emperor, and not long after he ran away, he became the descendant of the hostile Ali Buge. Killing, Beiyuan has completely collapsed since then.

When the news came back to the capital, Zhu Yuanzhang was overjoyed. The Qian Yuan, which he had been worrying about for more than twenty years, had finally completely disintegrated in his lifetime, which was also a knot in his mind.

Lan Yu made the greatest contribution this time, and Zhu Yuanzhang had already made a decree for him to be canonized without waiting for Da Bian to return.

Li Wei also got the news. He was not surprised at all that Lan Yu could achieve such a great victory this time. First, he had known for a long time that Lan Yu would have such a great achievement. Although he was not sure when, it was all a matter of time. .

Moreover, Wang Xing's existence also vaguely indicates that someone secretly helped him rise to power, so it is not surprising that he can achieve this feat.

However, he remembered that after Lan Yu became a prince, Zhu Yuanzhang was about to go on a killing spree, which made him feel a sense of urgency.

He didn't know if he was on Zhu Yuanzhang's must-kill list, but judging from the current situation, he was probably very likely to be on the list.

Daming's technology has developed to this day, and to be honest, it is enough. Moreover, he has also built a college and spread knowledge. In the future, his uniqueness will gradually decrease.

As long as the imperial court continues to support the academy in cultivating scientific and technological talents, the future development of science and technology will be inevitable, and there will not be much difference with or without him.

Fortunately, the college and the students are still in his hands. Even if Zhu Biao shows kindness many times, he cannot replace his position.

The day after the news of Yuerhai's victory came back, Li Wei went to the Ordnance Bureau.

In the Ordnance Bureau, he ordered the special steel pipes made by Tao Sheng to be cut into two specifications of different lengths. The long one was about half a meter and the short one was more than 20 centimeters. He also asked Tao Sheng to take someone to secretly engrave these pipes. Rifling.

At this point, Tao Sheng also understood the purpose of these steel pipes. Since they were to be rifled, they were naturally used as gun barrels. He just didn't know what the new muskets the teacher was going to make would look like.

In addition to these steel pipes, there are many scattered parts, especially springs and the like, which are very important. Li Wei personally inspected them and randomly inspected some of them.

Now that the Ordnance Bureau has undergone transformation, it has basically achieved standardized production. The quality of these products is not much different. If there is no problem in the random inspection, then this batch will basically be fine.

"By the way, how is the production of the three acids going?"

After checking these spare parts, Li Wei asked Tao Sheng again.

These parts were all designed by him to make real firearms for later generations, but these alone are useless. The most important things are smokeless gunpowder and percussion powder. If you want to make this kind of thing, the basic chemical acids and bases are the most important. of.

Upon hearing this, Tao Sheng immediately replied: "Many of them have been produced. According to the teacher's requirements, they are strictly kept in the Arms Bureau and guarded by dedicated personnel."

"Well, that's good." Li Wei nodded and said, "By the way, buy more cotton in the end. I can use it."

Now that we have the acid and alkali, we can try to make smokeless gunpowder and percussion powder.

Tao Dui nodded in agreement. This matter is not difficult. The Ordnance Bureau usually purchases a lot of cotton for paper making and so on. Purchasing more will not attract attention.

After the affairs in the Arms Bureau were properly arranged, Li Weicai felt a little relieved.

As long as he has these weapons, even the three thousand guards in his hands are enough to deal with unexpected events. If it is not possible, it is too late to temporarily expand the army. As long as he has these weapons, even a group of children can massacre an army dominated by ordinary cold weapons. , not to mention that there are so many craftsmen available in the Ordnance Bureau, and they are still very familiar with firearms.

Furthermore, although his naval forces have been transferred to Peiping, if it is really necessary, it is not impossible to transfer them, it will just take some time.

With so much power in hand, as long as guns are made, there is nothing to fear from the likes of Sapphire.

(End of this chapter)