The Ming Dynasty started with saving the eldest grandson

Chapter 143 Imagination in the New City
Just when Chen Jingke was confused, Zhu Biao asked:

"Jing Ke, do you know what disease Cao Guogong is suffering from?"

Chen Jingke nodded and replied: "It's hard to say specifically, but based on the diagnosis from the imperial doctor, I think it should be a heart disease."

"He seemed to be frightened...but I really can't think of anything else that would warrant his fear."

"Heart disease?" Zhu Biao was stunned for a moment, as if he thought of something.

But he didn't say anything, but asked: "Do you have any way to treat it?"

Chen Jingke shook his head and said: "No, as the saying goes, a heart disease requires a heart medicine doctor. Firstly, I don't know what his heart knot is, and secondly, I am not good at treating this kind of disease."

Zhu Biao nodded and said: "I understand, you don't have to worry about this matter."

"I happened to have something to write a letter to respond to, so I just mentioned this matter at the same time."

Chen Jingke smiled and said, "That's a good relationship, and it saves me a lot of trouble."

After that, Chen Jingke left with an excuse.

When there was no one around, the smile on his face suddenly disappeared and turned into happiness.

Zhu Biao's reaction reminded him of a terrible truth.

There was only one person in the entire Ming Dynasty who could make the majestic Cao Guogong so fearful and even sick.

Zhu Yuanzhang.

But what happened to make Li Wenzhong so scared?
It can only be said that it is terrifying to think about it carefully.

There must be a great secret hidden here.

Zhu Biao's reaction showed that he was an insider.

He told himself not to get involved in the matter anymore, but he was actually protecting himself.

After figuring this out, Chen Jingke felt extremely grateful.

Although he was curious, he didn't want to die yet.

Some things are better not to know.

Fortunately, he left Yingtian first, otherwise he would not be able to escape with his medical skills and reputation.

Regardless of whether Li Wenzhong can be cured by then, I'm afraid he won't be able to do so.

When he thought of this, he felt extremely happy.

Maybe this is called lucky people having their own blessings.

Speaking of which, I really want to thank Zhu Ping.

If he hadn't made Zhu Biao sick from anger, it would have been difficult for him to avoid this dispute.

I just hope that this matter can be properly resolved before I return to Beijing.

What Chen Jingke didn't know was that he really escaped.

When Li Wenzhong died of illness in his previous life, Zhu Yuanzhang suspected that the doctor who treated him had poisoned him.

The Marquis Hua Zhong of Huai'an was demoted and his family was driven to the bitter cold area. Hua Zhong died soon after.

All the other doctors were executed.

What exactly happened, no one knows.

But judging from Zhu Yuanzhang's reaction, it was somewhat abnormal.

Given Chen Jingke's importance, even if he participated in the treatment, the probability of Zhu Yuanzhang killing him was low.

But it will definitely cause a lot of trouble.

This accidental avoidance of this dispute was indeed a matter of luck.

On the other side, looking at the medical certificate in his hand, Zhu Biao was also very helpless and a little angry.

He naturally knew what Li Wenzhong was afraid of.

Back then, he was scolded by his father for visiting prostitutes in the army. He was prepared to surrender to Zhang Shicheng out of fear.

Later, my father extinguished his anger under my mother's persuasion and wrote a letter of comfort.

He changed his mind again and killed his accomplice.

Li Wenzhong thought he was doing things secretly, but who was Lao Zhu?

There are informants everywhere, and what he does has been known for a long time.

Afterwards, Li Wenzhong himself realized that the matter could not be hidden from Zhu Yuanzhang.

So I got a heartache.

Speaking of this matter, Zhu Biao himself felt speechless.

Li Wenzhong is his cousin, and Zhu Wen is his cousin.

Both of them actually made moves to surrender to the enemy...

How come there are so many weird things coming out of Lao Zhu’s family?

Zhu Wenzheng had already taken practical actions, so he was punished severely and was arrested and imprisoned.

He died of fear not long after.

Li Wenzhong only had such an idea but did not take any actual action.

In addition, Zhu Yuanzhang only found out about it after the fact, so he turned a blind eye and pretended not to know about it.

Unexpectedly, after so many years, Li Wenzhong himself has not let go.

Zhu Biao's information is more timely and accurate, and he knows more.

In fact, something was wrong with Li Wenzhong starting a few years ago.

Things have to start with Zhu Wenzheng.

Although he died of fear, he had a son named Zhu Shouqian.

He was raised by Zhu Yuanzhang and Queen Ma since he was a child.

Later, he was named King of Jingjiang, and the state was also placed in Guilin.

It can be said that he is treated completely like his own son.

But Zhu Shouqian's violent temper aroused the anger of heaven and people.

Zhu Yuanzhang called him to Yingtian to criticize him. Not only did he not repent, he also wrote poems to ridicule him.

You said that we had the hatred of killing our father. What are you hypocritical about? It's like I don't care about the noble title.

Lao Zhu was completely angry, deposed Zhu Shouqian's title, and imprisoned him in Fengyang Shouling.

Perhaps because of the sadness of the rabbit's death and the fox's death, Li Wenzhong's mood was not right from then on.

A few days ago, Li Wenzhong was reprimanded by Zhu Yuanzhang because he wrote a letter of remonstrance on some political matters.

It was probably because of this incident that my mentality completely collapsed.

Zhu Biao thought deeper.

Zhu Ping's deposedness was probably the straw that broke the camel's back.

If a biological son can be crippled, what does a nephew mean?
But Zhu Biao knew that his old man had really put aside what happened back then.

Otherwise, how could Li Wenzhong be allowed to live until now?
It was entirely because of his guilty conscience that he could not untie this knot.

But Zhu Biao completely understood Li Wenzhong's concerns.

First of all, Zhu Wenzheng died too quickly. You said he was frightened to death. Where is the evidence?
It was probably in everyone's mind that he was executed secretly.

Secondly, my old man killed people too ruthlessly. He killed batch after batch of people who contributed to the founding of the country.

The case of Hu Weiyong was even more bloody.

Even his own son is a little scared, let alone Li Wenzhong.

It happened to coincide with Zhu Ping being deposed.

All I can say is that it is time.

Faced with this situation, Zhu Biao was helpless and wrote a letter to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Write down Chen Jingke's diagnosis, and then bluntly say that he has a heart disease and can only solve the problem by himself.

Then he wrote a letter to Queen Ma, asking her to enlighten Li Wenzhong, hoping it would have some effect.

After that, he stopped worrying about this bad thing, it was really beyond his control.

December passed without realizing it, and the 17th year of Hongwu quietly arrived.

Zhu Biao did not return to Yingtian, but stayed in Chang'an to celebrate the New Year.

In his letter to Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma, he stated the reason:

Celebrate the Chinese New Year with the people of Shaanxi.

This also brings an end to Zhu Shuang's affair.

Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma felt very sorry for their son, so they naturally agreed without hesitation.

If Zhu Biao doesn't leave, Chen Jingke will naturally not be able to go back.

Besides, there was Li Wenzhong's mess, and he didn't want to go back and get involved in right and wrong.

I wrote a letter to my parents and sent a lot of Shaanxi specialties.The people of Shaanxi indeed had a happy year this year.

Zhu Xiang, the king of the Papi King, was deposed, and the court exempted him from taxes for another year.

Zhu Biao also used a large part of the money from the Qin Palace to purchase supplies and distributed them to children under ten years old and elderly people over 60 years old.

With some surplus food in hand and a head start in life, the people will naturally be happy.

Looking at the smiling people, Zhu Biao also smiled from the bottom of his heart.

Most of the depression in my heart has also dissipated.

Just after the New Year, Zhu Biao took his people and set off for an on-site visit to investigate the specific situation in Shaanxi.

Finally, several key data were obtained:
The winter in Shaanxi becomes colder and rainfall decreases.

Grain production is about two tons less than 20 years ago.

You must know that the yield of fertile farmland at this time was only about twenty bushels (two stones) per mu. A loss of two bushels would be equivalent to a tenth reduction in yield.

The situation in northern Shaanxi and Hetao areas is even more serious, with the area of ​​cultivated land reduced by about half compared to the Tang Dynasty.

Production has been reduced to the point where we can barely break even.

This shocking number made Zhu Biao realize more intuitively how serious the problems in northern Shaanxi and Hetao are.

And it is foreseeable that this situation will become more and more serious.

At the end of January, Zhu Biao left Shaanxi with detailed data.

People in Shaanxi spontaneously came from all directions to see him off, and countless people knelt down to beg Zhu Biao not to leave.

Many people lay directly in front of the wheel, begging him to stay.

Zhu Biao was moved to tears several times, and everyone in his entourage was moved.

Chen Jingke was also very sad in his heart. How the people longed for a good official.

But as the crown prince, how could Zhu Biao stay here? The frame still moved forward bit by bit.

More than ten days later, he left Shaanxi amid the people's appeal.

Listening to the faint voice of condolences behind him, Zhu Biao rubbed his eyes and said:
"I finally understand why my father hates corrupt officials so much."

Chen Jingke was choked and speechless for a long time.

Is this how you feel?
Do you think it is appropriate to say this at such a deeply touching moment?

Sure enough, few of you, Mr. Zhu, have normal brain circuits.

After a long while, he said: "If you find an opportunity to dig the Guangtong Canal, the people of Shaanxi will be even more grateful to you."

Zhu Biao took a deep breath, his expression returned to normal, and he said:

"We have discussed this matter before, and I have put Guangtong Canal in the memo."

He took out a map and said, "I didn't finish what I said last time. Now that you have time, you can continue to tell me."

Chen Jingke came over and said, "Okay, where did you talk about last time? Oh, this time the capital relocation should be done one step at a time and two steps at a time."

Chen Jingke previously told Zhu Biao what he said to Zhu Yuanzhang in Yingtian.

And emphasized the importance of Guangtong Canal to Shaanxi.

In fact, at this point, there is no suspense about the location of the new capital.

It's Luoyang.

It’s not that this is the only place that’s suitable, but that it takes into account the objective conditions and the subjective factors of Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao.

Luoyang best meets the requirements.

Chen Jingke naturally knew that Peiping was the place with the greatest potential.

Being close to the Bohai Bay, the advantage enjoyed by the Sea Power Era is too great.

However, Chen Jingke himself knew what the era of sea power was, but he could not explain it to Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao.

Do you want to tell them that in a hundred years Europeans will embark on a great voyage?

Is the world about to enter the era of sea power?

It's not convincing at all.

Open the map and see the current world situation.

In Central and Eastern Asia, the Timurid Empire has entered its peak period.

How powerful is this country? In the second year of Yongle, their monarch Timur formed an army of more than [-] people and prepared to conquer the Ming Dynasty.

However, he died of illness during the march, so the matter was dropped, and then he fell into civil strife.

Regardless of whether they can win the battle or not, just because they can form an army of more than [-] people and raise enough food and grass to cross the Western Regions.

This shows how strong this country is.

By the way, Timur's fifth grandson led the remnants south to the Indian subcontinent and established the Mughal Empire.

Let’s talk about Central and Western Asia, where the Ottoman Empire is rising rapidly.

As for Europe, which will dominate the world in the future, it is now more chaotic than the Middle East in the 21st century.

Tell Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao that these small countries that are fighting each other will usher in an era of sea power in the future?
Damn it if they believe it.

Just like some people say now that the Middle East will dominate the world in a hundred years, no one believes it, right?
The reason is the same.

Continuing to look at the map, the coastal areas are basically all small and backward countries.

To reach relatively large countries with current navigation technology, the time required is calculated in years.

How to gain sea power?
What about trouble?

It's not that Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao didn't have forward-looking vision. Their ability to move the capital to the north was already a very forward-looking performance.

It is true that the era of sea power is too far away from them.

Therefore, it is too difficult to convince them to place the capital in Peking, so difficult that it is almost impossible.

And Chen Jingke also believes that placing the capital in Luoyang is a good choice.

why.

Just look at the situation of the country in the previous life and you will know what the Central Plains region, which once gave birth to Chinese civilization, has become.

It has become synonymous with backwardness.

People from Shaanxi and Henan can quarrel over the meeting place of Li Bai and Du Fu in a cartoon.

Chen Jingke only felt sad.

To put it bluntly, it’s still too depressing.

If the family is rich, who will care about three melons and two dates?

It is precisely because of being down and out that even the smallest things are worth fighting for.

Is it really because these areas are incapable of developing?

All I can say is that everyone who understands understands.

If everyone is rich, who will do the dirty work?
Even if you have the ability to reach the sky, all you need is a light policy to lock you down.

What Chen Jingke has to do is to change this situation.

Placing the capital of the Ming Dynasty in Luoyang ensured that the central region had a political center.

The entire Central Plains is integrated. If one place develops, it can radiate to most areas.

Chen Jingke picked up a pen, drew a line on the map, and said:
"When the Guangtong Canal is dug, Luoyang's economic influence can be radiated to Chang'an through water transportation."

Another long line was drawn:

"The Yellow River has returned to its old course, and the downstream areas of Shandong and Hebei are on the main waterway of the Yellow River and can also be radiated."

Zhu Biao couldn't help but nodded again, which was one of the reasons why he wanted to place the capital in Luoyang.

Chen Jingke drew several more lines:

"There is also the Grand Canal. Facts have proven that the economy along the Grand Canal develops better than elsewhere."

"The Sui-Tang Canal took a turn and passed through Luoyang, radiating a wider area and benefiting more places."

"But Meng Yuan never considered this. They just straightened this bend to make it easier to transport grain from the south."

"Although the distance has been shortened by eight to nine hundred miles, it has also weakened the economic radiation ability of the Grand Canal."

“In their eyes, the Grand Canal’s only function is to transport grain, and everything else is ignored.”

"It can be seen from this that the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty lacked the vision to unify the country."

"We can reopen the Sui-Tang Canal..."

"In this way, Luoyang only needs to be transported by water, and it can reach Chang'an directly in the west and the sea in the east."

"It leads to Peiping in the north and Yuhang in the south..."

Looking at the map with many extra lines in front of me, I imagined the grand picture drawn by Chen Jingke.

Zhu Biao couldn't help but get excited and said repeatedly:
"Okay, okay, okay, if all your plans can be realized, the Ming Dynasty will regain the glory of the Han and Tang Dynasties."

(End of this chapter)