Daming: I am the Crown Prince

It is only natural that a talent like Huang Dao Po will be remembered for generations and that local people should build a temple to worship her and erect a monument to commemorate her.

She helped so many people. To put it in a smaller way, many people in Songjiang benefited from her. To put it in a larger way, the whole Jiangshan enjoyed huge benefits because of her contributions.

Especially since she is no longer alive, it is only appropriate that she should be given a series of posthumous honors.

In fact, Zhu Yunhuan also understood that many people in this era looked down on craftsmen. This was also the reason why Zhu Yunhuan transferred some craftsmen to Wuyuan. Ultimately, it was still a matter of some universal values ​​today.

Transferring the craftsmen to the Wuyuan and making them military households means that if they are counted as military merits, there will be less resistance. Giving them some civil service positions is not a good idea. In addition to the resistance of the civil service group, it is also because craftsmen may not care about a low-level civil service position.

Becoming a military household and obtaining a military position, even if it is of a middle or low level, can allow descendants to inherit some positions.

Zhu Yunhuan was naturally happy after getting some things done, and after returning to the palace he began to prepare for the next work.

Old Zhu looked at Zhu Yunhuan and said, "How are your muskets, gunpowder, and cannons?"

Zhu Yunhuan instantly became proud. "The Gunpowder Department was in charge of a lot of things before, and the Five Military Commandery and the Ministry of Works were also in charge. I think there are too many things, and it would be uncomfortable for the daughter-in-law to have too many mothers-in-law. It's better to just take charge directly."

Old Zhu didn't say anything. The main point was that there were indeed quite a few government offices that made firearms in the past, but there were reasons for that.

On the one hand, there is a worry that some government offices will dominate the market. On the other hand, there is a huge demand for military equipment. Thirdly, there are naturally a series of issues such as manufacturing costs and allocation.

The places where firearms are made are basically close to coal mines and iron mines, so the manufacturing cost will definitely be reduced a lot.

Zhu Yunxun continued, "In fact, my Wuyuan workshop will be independent in a few years. We are only researching skills here. Once we learn, we will pass them on to other guards so that they can also make firearms."

Old Zhu asked, "Aren't you worried about the secret being leaked? I've thought about this. If the weapons of the Tartars are the same as ours, the men of the Ming Dynasty will shed more blood."

It is normal to have such concerns. Craftsmen are worried that their skills will be spread and they will lose their skills to make a living.

The imperial court was actually the same and would not easily allow a series of technologies to spread.

The Ming Dynasty did not allow a series of ironware to enter the grassland. Tea, porcelain, etc. were also sold as finished products, and many technologies had to be retained within the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

Science has no borders, but scientists do have borders.

Zhu Yunhuan was very proud and said, "From now on, I only need to manage the craftsmen. The best craftsmen in our Ming Dynasty are all under my control. It is not under the control of the Ministry of Works or the Five Military Commandery. How great is that!"

Old Zhu squinted his eyes and took a look, and said unconfidently, "When the time comes, if you want to build a clever little gadget, no one can stop you. If you want to build a golden house, no one can stop you either."

This was said to the extent that Zhu Yunhuan even suspected that he was becoming a carpenter emperor in the eyes of his father Zhu.

Lao Zhu sat down and said, "Is Ren Hengtai coming back?"

Zhu Yunhuan nodded, "The journey is long to begin with, and there are many things to do on this trip, so it will probably take until next year. Our Minister of Rites is quite capable, so this mission is great."

The feedback we have received so far is that Ren Hengtai's mission to Annan can be regarded as a promotion of the emperor's power. Annan also feels honored that the Ming Dynasty, its suzerain state, has sent two top scholars as envoys. This is also a noble thing.

It is said that Japan has learned a lot of Confucian culture, and Korea also calls itself a small China. In fact, we cannot just look at East Asia. Many people in Southeast Asia have also been influenced by Chinese culture and are part of the Chinese cultural circle.

Old Zhu said with some concern, "This guy is capable, but he has a lot of bad intentions. He talks nonsense, but he doesn't really have any good intentions."

Zhu Yunhuan asked, "Grandfather, what news did you receive?"

"This Ren Hengtai is well-read and is also the Minister of Rites. He has helped to formulate rituals and laws and promote education over the years." Old Zhu said unhappily, "He has barbarians as slaves in his family, and it is said that this is especially true in Annan."

Zhu Yunxun's face suddenly lit up. This Ren Hengtai could be said to be having a lot of fun.

But if you think about it carefully, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong. These scholars are just so contradictory sometimes.

While they talk about promoting enlightenment, they often take ethnic minorities and foreign races lightly. In the eyes of Ren Hengtai and others, barbarians are just that.

If you are uneducated, you are not even a real person in their eyes!
Zhu Yunhuan thought for a moment and said, "He wouldn't come back with a child, would he?"

Old Zhu snorted coldly and said, "It seems that it is not the case now. He looks down on those barbarian women. He is good at sending him to Annan. He instructs them to be cautious on the border and writes to comfort the people of Annan for the reasons why the court uses military force. But in private, he is arrogant and domineering!"

"There's nothing much to say. He is the Minister of Rites and an important official of the Ming Dynasty. Naturally, there will be people trying to curry favor with him when he arrives in Annan." Zhu Yunhuan said with a smile, "As long as things don't get delayed, it'll be fine. I'm just afraid that someone will appear and sleep with the Queen Mother of Annan."

The envoys of the Han Dynasty played wildly, and the envoys of the Tang Dynasty were not well-behaved either.

It is true that one person destroyed an entire country, or killed the ruler and his ministers of a vassal state.

In the final analysis, they have the support of a powerful suzerain state, so some envoys are so tough and not at all pretentious.

"Use this man first. You will have to deal with the civil servants under you sooner or later." Old Zhu said, "Less than half of the six ministers are your people. This is not good."

Zhu Yunhuan was a little dissatisfied, "That's not right, most of the six ministers have the label of the Grand Sun Mansion."

Old Zhu laughed and said, "I arranged Ren Hengtai to work for you, and Yang Jing and the others are also my people. After thinking about it, among the six ministers, only Yu Xin and Qi Tai can be considered your people."

Qi De, this was also the name given to Lao Zhu, becoming Qi Tai.

Zhu Yunhuan didn't care and said cheerfully, "It doesn't matter who they are, as long as they are easy to use and can serve the court."

Zhu Yunxun then asked, "Uncle Wu will be arriving in Beijing in the next two days. You should at least tell us what you want him to do?" Old Zhu became serious and said, "How about asking him to keep an eye on your uncle?"

Zhu Yunhuan was shocked and said quickly, "Grandfather, my fourth uncle is an honest and upright person. Besides, my fifth uncle can't stand a single move from my fourth uncle, so it's useless to let him go. If you really need someone, my third uncle is busy with other things now, so let my second uncle keep an eye on him. Is that okay?"

Old Zhu immediately waved his hand and said with a smile, "You only know how to protect your second uncle and fifth uncle. Your fifth uncle is useless, so you should take care of him more in the future. Your second uncle is also not honest, so you should teach him a lesson for a few years and don't let him return to his old ways."

Zhu Yunhuan asked again, "Grandfather, let's not joke, there will definitely be nothing wrong with Fourth Uncle."

"You like fighting, maybe you will have to fight again next year." Old Zhu sighed and said, "We originally wanted to wipe out the barbarians in Liaodong, but now we can only wait. Something happened to your seventeenth uncle, and a cavalry officer found the armor left behind by the Tartars."

Zhu Yunhuan immediately became serious, "Do the Tartars still dare to invade our borders?"

No wonder Zhu Yunhuan is so optimistic.

Xu Da and others successfully launched a northern expedition and drove Emperor Shun of Yuan back to the south of the desert. After that, Emperor Shun of Yuan's sons succeeded to the throne and called it the Northern Yuan Dynasty.

However, after the Battle of Buir Lake, the bureaucratic system of the small court of the Northern Yuan Dynasty was completely destroyed, and Emperor Tianyuan Toghon Temur was killed by Yesüder. This was also the first case of regicide in the Northern Yuan Dynasty.

After Toghon Temur's defeat, the power of the Great Khan of the Northern Yuan Dynasty declined, and the power of the nobles of different surnames expanded. Yesüder also died, and now the Mongolian tribes are still fighting among themselves.

Old Zhu said, "We are afraid of these things, even though those Tartars have long lost their vitality. But the Hu people are treacherous and show weakness to others. Who knows, those people may have set an ambush and are planning to ambush our Ming army. The desert south has just been settled, and we can't make any mistakes now."

Zhu Yunhuan fully agreed with this point. Now the southern part of the desert seemed to be controlled by the Ming Dynasty, and some Mongolian tribes had also surrendered.

But it is hard to say whether those Mongolian tribes are truly loyal. Especially once they see that the Ming Dynasty is not able to gain a firm foothold in the south of the desert, or has lost its current strong crushing power, they may have some ideas.

Old Zhu continued, "It's time for your fourth uncle to lead the troops. Select the best soldiers and horses to go to Daning and Quanning. Join forces with your seventeenth uncle and kill those Tartars when you find a chance. Make sure they don't dare to go south again."

Zhu Yunhuan nodded and said, "Let Fifth Uncle come back. One is to let him take the imperial edict to Fourth Uncle. The second is probably to let Fifth Uncle lead the elite troops of Henan Dusi to patrol Beiping, right?"

Old Zhu was still very pleased, although his grandson was sometimes too opinionated and had too many ideas, which made Old Zhu feel a little difficult to control.

But this is by no means a bad thing, because Old Zhu is willing to give up power. He is just worried that his grandson will cause trouble.

What he is most satisfied with and proud of is naturally that his grandson has a very broad vision and can see and understand many things clearly.

"We are afraid of those things now. The Tartars are in turmoil now. I guess they are just fighting and seizing power." Old Zhu said seriously, "Those who win will be much stronger. Those who have no way to survive will have to think about moving south."

Zhu Yunhuan also became serious. "Liaodong and Daning are the most likely places. They can't get to the northwest, and they don't dare to go there."

Old Zhu nodded, "Your second uncle and third uncle are in the northwest, so the Tartars naturally don't dare to challenge us. We also have a lot of military garrisons there. It's not so good in Beiping and Liaodong. The most annoying thing about the Tartars is that they run so fast."

The Tatars might want to counterattack and go back south to seize the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun and other places.

However, as long as they are not crazy, they will understand that they do not have that kind of strength now. Even if they unify the grassland, they may not be able to launch a decisive battle with the current Ming Dynasty.

However, the difficulty with these nomadic peoples is that they will run away if they cannot win, and retreat back to the grassland after looting the border. It will be difficult to find these people at that time, and the Ming Dynasty will not be able to recruit people even if it wants to fight a decisive battle.

This is undoubtedly a very tricky thing, as these roaming enemies are the most difficult to eliminate.

Zhu Yunhuan thought about it carefully and said, "Now we are fighting in the southwest and the north at the same time. I don't think it will be a big problem."

Old Zhu said, "There is no need to worry about Guangxi. The 100,000-man army has not arrived yet, and I think those chieftains will be scared out of their wits. We are not too worried about the things in the north. They can't beat us."

Zhu Yuanzhang naturally had the confidence to do so. This was not a strategic decisive battle. These could even only be considered small or medium-scale wars. Naturally, they were not a particularly big burden for the Ming Dynasty.

With sufficient strength, one will naturally appear confident, and even opening two fronts will not be a problem.

Zhu Yunhuan thought for a while and said, "The problem in the southwest is not big. Let alone the 100,000-man army, even the chieftain will not have too many soldiers and horses. We have dealt with Luchuan very well, so the chieftain is naturally no problem. It's just a matter of time and subsequent pacification."

Old Zhu also nodded in agreement. The war in the southwest was actually a minor matter. What needed to be pacified was not to allow rebellions to occur frequently, otherwise it would inevitably involve a lot of troops and money from the court.

In the southwest, not only military means should be used, political means are also extremely important measures.

As for the north, there is not much to worry about. It is just a small group of Tartars invading the border, so there is no need to mobilize too many troops.

Just treat it as the autumn hunting for the kings. Anyway, the border princes of the Ming Dynasty need to patrol the border every year. The only difference is that this time they have to fight a war. They need to find the enemy's location and destroy it.

Basically, you don't need to consider too much politics here. The only thing you can do is to scare those people thoroughly.

Zhu Yunhuan was silent for a long time before he said, "The Tartars will probably recover some of their strength in the next few years, and their internal strife will probably be decided. If we don't use our military to fight a big battle, they will come back sooner or later."

Old Zhu also agreed and said, "That's right, it's only been a few years, and these Tartars have already gained some strength. If we don't give them some tough treatment, they will march south sooner or later."

Zhu Yunhuan, who was thinking about something, suddenly felt something was wrong. He immediately looked up and met Old Zhu's gaze.

Zhu Yunhuan asked uncertainly, "Grandfather, do you mean that I should continue to use troops against the north in the future?"

Old Zhu smiled, "It's not that we need to use troops all the time, and we don't need to send out hundreds of thousands of troops every time. We just want you to keep fighting them until they have no time to rest and recuperate. You know how to fight and how to fight. If you fight for ten or twenty years, my great-grandson will be able to sit on the throne of a peaceful emperor!"

Zhu Yunhuan thought about it and it made sense. When he had the strategic initiative, he must not be polite and must not let the Tartars truly recover! (End of this chapter)