The Ming Dynasty started with saving the eldest grandson

Chapter 451 Medal
Late at night, Qianqing Palace.

Zhu Yuanzhang's face turned pale as he looked at the file in front of him.

Originally, he had moved out of the Qianqing Palace after he abdicated.

However, Zhu Biao knew that he could no longer hold imperial power, so shortly after waking up, he insisted on moving out of the Qianqing Palace.

Although Zhu Yuanzhang was very reluctant, he still moved in here again in order to facilitate the handling of government affairs.

It has been proven in previous lives how energetic Emperor Hongwu was.

Ever since he moved in, the candles in the Qianqing Palace have been lit until the end of the second watch every night.

But it is rare that I haven't taken a break yet, as I did today, almost at the end of the third watch.

All the eunuchs were driven out, leaving only Jiang Lin serving by his side.

The room was quiet, with only the sound of Zhu Yuanzhang flipping through files.

After a long time, Lao Zhu suddenly said, "Jiang Li, are you afraid of death?"

Jiang Li answered without hesitation: "I am not afraid. I am just a humble life. Fortunately, I have the grace of Your Majesty to enjoy the wealth and glory I have today... I can only repay you with my death."

Zhu Yuanzhang did not comment, pointed to the file in his hand and said:
"What if we ask you to investigate this matter?"

Jiang Li's eyes revealed an uncontrollable look of fear, and he hesitated to answer.

Zhu Yuanzhang mocked: "You are still afraid."

Jiang Li's face was filled with humiliation. He knelt down and said, "I am not afraid of death. It is just that the other party is so powerful that I am afraid of implicating my family."

Old Zhu looked relieved and said, "We misunderstood you. Get up."

Jiang Li did not stand up, but said: "This Ming Dynasty belongs to your Majesty. There is nothing you cannot do as long as you want to do it."

"If you are really determined to move them, I will serve as your vanguard."

Old Zhu asked back, "Aren't you afraid that your family will suffer?"

Jiang Li replied with a sad face: "I am afraid, but they have enjoyed the grace of the court and should sacrifice for the court."

Lao Zhu was very satisfied with this answer and said, "Very good, but we can't really ignore the life and death of your family."

"A batch of supplies will be sent to Yan State in a few days. Let your family go with you."

"We will instruct Gao Chi to conceal your family's origins and arrange a decent job for them in the palace."

"You know his character and ability. You should trust him."

Jiang Li kowtowed three times and said:
"Thank you, Your Majesty. I die without regrets."

Zhu Yuanzhang stood up and helped him up personally, saying:

"Don't come to the palace these days. Spend time with your family and enjoy the happiness of family life."

"After you send your family away, come see me at the palace."

Jiang Li stood up and said, "I will take my leave."

Watching him leave, Zhu Yuanzhang sneered:
"We changed the color of the world back then, and today we will change the heart of the world again."
-
The latest issue of Ming Weekly is sent to all parts of the country at the fastest speed.

Another part was sent to various armies.

One of the Jinyiwei rode at full speed to catch up with the Shenjiying and delivered the newspaper to Xu Yungong.

After reading it, he once again felt the court's determination.

At the same time, I also breathed a sigh of relief because I had the teaching materials for ideological work.

As the commander-in-chief of the entire army, he has been paying attention to the psychological changes of his soldiers.

Because the calculation was based on military merit, the soldiers did not object to this trip.

After all, fighting a war is a military merit, and disaster relief is also a military merit, and it is even less dangerous.

why not.

But the reason why everyone was willing to do so was not because of any ethnic justice, but because of military merit.

This has deviated from the original plan of Chen Jingke and Zhu Xiongying.

If it were an ordinary general, he would definitely not care so much.

As long as I complete my mission, I don’t care what the people below think.

However, his identity was different. He was the elder brother of the Crown Princess and had a close personal relationship with Chen Jingke and Zhu Xiongying.

He wanted to cooperate with their plan as much as possible.

He understood the true intentions of Chen Jingke and Zhu Xiongying and instilled in them the idea of ​​righteousness.

Saving and protecting the people is the army's duty, and military merit is just a reward for their righteous deeds.

But the current situation has clearly gone astray.

Everyone only cares about military achievements, and no one cares about whether it is righteous or not.

Although both are disaster relief, having military merits but no moral integrity is no different from the old army.

Today they can save the people for the sake of military merit, and tomorrow they can harm the people for the sake of military merit.

He is familiar with the details and has been trying to find ways to change the situation.

He held several meetings with the envoys of appeasement and asked them to convey this point to the soldiers.

But he was just a general, not a great scholar of ideology, and he didn't know how to do ideological work.

The appeasers were not much better than him. Although they had always been responsible for ideological work, they could only read from the script.

After receiving Xu Yungong's order, their approach was very simple. They took out the textbooks that had been sent to them and read them to the soldiers.

You have to know that these textbooks are mainly used to cultivate their loyalty to the emperor and patriotism, and there is not much content about protecting the people.

The most that can be said is that we all come from the common people, so we should love the common people and not rob them.

Nothing else.

The final result of using this kind of teaching material to do ideological work can be imagined.

Everyone does understand the importance of loyalty to the emperor and patriotism, but few care about protecting the people.

Xu Yungong saw it all and was anxious, but there was nothing he could do.

The arrival of Ming Weekly perfectly solved this problem.

Moreover, Chen Jingke had people take the trouble to deliver the newspapers. Wasn't his purpose to use them to do ideological work for the soldiers?

So he ordered that newspapers be sent to the various envoys to read them to the soldiers in the army.

It is imperative to make them understand the good intentions of the court.

In fact, the comforters are also having a headache.

Is it the army's job to protect the people? And should the soldiers understand the deep meaning of this?
It's all what it is.

Aren’t the armies all about being loyal to the emperor, patriotic, and expanding territory?

Protecting and loving the people is the government's business. What does it have to do with us?
However, a higher-ranking official can crush a person with great power, so they naturally dared not disobey Xu Yungong's orders and could only go ahead with it.

The result can be imagined.

Now that the teaching materials have been provided, they all feel relieved.

Then their curiosity arose and they wanted to know what the court meant.

When they opened the newspaper, everyone was shocked.

So this is what the court was planning, and it turns out... the army can be capable of this.

Although their level is not high, they are engaged in ideological work after all, and their sensitivity to many things is higher than that of ordinary people.

Naturally, one can understand how significant this change in the court is.

But being able to understand does not mean being able to comprehend.

The army has been used to fight wars since ancient times. Aren't you doing something other than your job by doing this?

Is it worth taking such a big risk and spending such a huge price?
Whether it is worth it or not is not the issue they need to consider. As soldiers, all they have to do is convey the meaning from above and then execute it.

So, after getting the newspaper, they immediately started a new ideological work.

As for the effect...

All I can say is, yes, but not many.

Everyone listened, but basically didn't take it seriously.

Xu Yungong was helpless about this and could only write a letter to tell Chen Jingke about it.

But soon he had no time to worry about that.

The troop transport ship went downstream and soon arrived at Yingtian Prefecture.

Here they felt a completely different atmosphere, tension.

The country roads were filled with disaster victims, dragging their families with them as they headed towards Yingtian Prefecture.

Faced with these disaster victims, Xu Yungong did not dare to take it lightly, as he knew the consequences too well.

Even Yingtian Prefecture had a large number of disaster victims, let alone other places.

He did not get off the ship, but met with officials from Yingtian Prefecture on the ship and learned in detail about the disaster situation in the southeast.

After all, Yingtian Prefecture is located on the south bank of the Yangtze River, so it can learn about the disaster in the southeast more quickly. After obtaining detailed intelligence, he assigned his soldiers according to the severity of the disaster.

Then the entire army went downstream to their respective destinations.

When the Shenjiying arrived, the local officials were actually very nervous.

At first, I thought the court sent people here because it was afraid that the victims would rebel.

You can imagine how shocked they were when they understood the purpose of the Shenji Camp.

But compared to people in other places, the shock is followed by ecstasy.

When disaster strikes, they also want to do something.

But faced with this kind of natural disaster, they had limited manpower and could not do much.

The arrival of the army will make a difference. First of all, it can ensure that the victims will not cause chaos.

Secondly, the military has a large number of people and great strength. If they were really involved in disaster relief, they could do a lot.

Therefore, when they learned about the purpose of the Shenji Camp, they all gave their support.

From the limited number of people, a team of capable personnel was selected to cooperate with the Shenjiying in its work.

With the guidance of local officials, the soldiers of the Shenjiying quickly devoted themselves to disaster relief.

When the victims saw the army coming, they were terrified, thinking that the imperial court had come to drive them away.

No wonder they think so.

This has been the case in every dynasty.

In the eyes of the imperial court, disaster victims were not considered human beings, but a nuisance.

What is more important than providing relief is to guard against rebellion.

But the victims soon discovered that the situation was not what they thought.

Instead of driving them away, the army guided them to a safe place and established resettlement sites for them.

We also teach them knowledge on epidemic prevention to reduce unnecessary illness.

That’s not all. When they learned that there were still victims trapped, they immediately went to rescue them.

Naturally, everyone didn't believe it at first and thought it was just a show.

But as more and more people came to the resettlement site and told how they were rescued, all the victims believed it.

This army really came to rescue them.

Then... the soldiers noticed that the victims' attitude towards them had changed.

From fear, it turned into love and support.

The people who used to avoid them from afar now surrounded them and expressed their gratitude.

They stuffed into their hands the little supplies they had brought with them when they fled, such as dried fish, dried meat, and steamed corn bread.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t want to.

There were also many old men and women who held their hands and told them about their family situations.

Something like, I also have a son who is about the same age as you and so on.

There are even more people trying to find him a partner.

Many bold girls took the initiative to flirt with them with their eyes.

The soldiers had never been treated like this before. They were excited but at a loss, not knowing what to do.

At this moment, the content in the newspaper involuntarily emerged in my mind.

What I couldn't understand before and treated as a joke now makes so much sense.

The army comes from the people and is a part of the people, and it must protect all the people.

It is simply the truth.

The retired emperor was indeed wise and capable. He discovered this point very early on. No wonder he was able to conquer the world.

The love of the people makes them feel an unprecedented sense of accomplishment and honor.

It also changed the mentality of the soldiers.

It changed from fighting for military merit and disaster relief to fighting to protect the people.

They began to take the initiative to go deep into dangerous places to search and rescue civilians.

Then, casualties occurred...
-
Beijing.

Chen Jingke was also not idle, and was always paying attention to the disaster situation in the southeast.

He received Xu Yungong's letter, and he was not worried about the soldiers' lukewarm response.

Verbal preaching does not have much effect.

When they experience the disaster and feel the love of the people firsthand, they will naturally understand everything.

This is also the biggest reason why he insisted on sending the Shenjiying to the disaster area.

His main job at present is to arrange the transportation of grain.

The Ming Dynasty did not lack food, but what it lacked was efficient means to transport food.

It’s okay in places where boats can pass, but in places where boats can’t pass, not only is the speed slow, but the consumption on the road is also astonishing.

Faced with this situation, Chen Jingke proposed a plan.

"Military rations, send the reserve canned meat to the disaster area."

The military has been using canned food on a large scale for a long time.

Mainly canned fruits in the south and canned fish in coastal areas.

Of course, these canned foods are not staple foods, but are used as supplementary foods.

For example, canned fruit can only be eaten once a week, and must be shared by a team of people.

There are more canned fish, and each person gets one piece on average every day, mainly for drinking soup with meals.

Even so, it is a world of difference compared to eating only coarse grains before.

However, due to the limitations of production technology, the current reliable shelf life of canned food is six months.

It doesn’t mean that it will go bad if it’s over six months, but the probability of it going bad will be higher.

In actual use, about 30% of them will leak and deteriorate after six months.

Therefore, the Ming Dynasty generally stockpiled three months' worth of canned food to deal with emergencies.

For example, this southeast typhoon will affect the production of canned food.

What Chen Jingke is going to use now are these three months' reserves.

This move was naturally opposed by the ministers. It was not that the court was short of food, it was just that the transportation was slow.

There is no need to use military rations just to gain a few days.

What if something else happens in the meantime?
Chen Jingke also knew that he couldn't be too radical, so he proposed to allocate some canned food to the disaster area.

"Meat is more effective than grain in relieving hunger. Even a little bit of meat soup can save a lot of food and prevent many people from starving to death."

Finally, with the support of Zhu Xiongying, this proposal was passed.

Zhu Yuanzhang ordered that one-fifth of the canned food in stock be sent to the disaster area.

The transportation speed of canned food is much faster than that of pure grain, and soon transport ships set out to the south.

Just then, the latest news about the disaster relief in the southeast came back.

A total of 164 soldiers died, of whom 113 were never even found.

The most tragic incident occurred when a general flag group (50 people) went to a mountain village to rescue.

A sudden flash flood hit, and no one was spared.

This number is not large. In any random encounter, the casualties would be several times more than this.

However, everyone who saw this number was shocked.

Because this number represents a message:
The army's disaster relief strategy was successful.

Zhu Yuanzhang was overjoyed and immediately issued an edict to commend all the soldiers, and double the reward for the soldiers who died.

At the same time, the matter was announced to the entire army so that they could learn from their deeds.

Chen Jingke was both sad and excited. He found Xie Jin and asked him to prepare additional issues immediately.

"Write down the names, hometowns, life achievements, etc. of these 164 soldiers."

“Let the whole world remember their contributions.”

Without saying a word, Xie Jin gathered the people in the newspaper office to work day and night to print out the additional issue as quickly as possible.

This is not the end. Chen Jingke found Lao Zhu and made two suggestions:
"Erect a monument in the disaster area and put the names of all the fallen soldiers on it for people all over the world to see and pay their respects."

"At the same time, a special medal will be made and awarded to all the soldiers who participated in the disaster relief."

Old Zhu asked curiously: "Medal? What is it?"

(End of this chapter)