Daming: I am the Crown Prince

Whether it was the wedding or Xu Miaojin's pregnancy, these did have a certain impact on Zhu Yunhuan and would take up some of his energy.

But no matter what, as the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty, especially with the increasing power in his hands in the past two years, it means that Zhu Yunhuan should also devote more energy to governing the country.

Fu Youde and Lan Yu received arrangements one after another, one going to Beiping and the other to Taiyuan. These two dukes were about to prepare to assist the Prince of Jin and the Prince of Yan in sending troops.

Naturally, there would be some nobles following them. This was how the Ming Dynasty deployed its troops, so nobles would definitely follow them.

Including Xu Huizu and Li Jinglong, both of them also went to the war. The Duke who stayed in Yingtian Prefecture suddenly looked around and found that only Chang Sheng was left.

Daoyan sorted out the documents and handed them to Zhu Yunhuan, "Your Highness, I think this military operation will not yield much results."

Zhu Yunhuan asked seriously, "Master, why do you make such a judgment?"

Daoyan did not hide it and said, "Your Highness, Prince Ning found Tatar armor on the grassland before. But there were not many horse hoof prints, so I think it was just a small scout team."

Last year, Zhu Quan discovered some Mongolian cavalry armor, and this year he found a few more pieces. This proves that some Mongolian Tartars are constantly approaching the south of the desert, and seem to be showing signs of being ready to make some moves.

But many people can see clearly that this is just a small group of cavalry, and some even think that such a small movement is not worth mobilizing the Ming Dynasty.

But in the eyes of Zhu Yuanzhang, including Zhu Quan and some nobles, these signs cannot be taken lightly. They may be signs that the Mongolian Tartars are about to start invading the border.

Nahachu was subdued, the small Northern Yuan court was destroyed, some Mongolian tribes surrendered, etc., and there are also internal struggles among some of the current Mongolian tribes.

All these signs show that Mongolia is now divided and their strength has been greatly weakened. They can't even hide from the Ming Dynasty, and now they have fled to the south of the desert, which only means that they have no choice.

Zhu Yunhuan thought about it carefully and said, "What the monk said makes some sense, but this time, no matter what, the imperial court will definitely send troops. These Tartars are like this, and there is no need to be polite to those who are greedy."

Daoyan naturally agreed with this, but still said worriedly, "Your Highness, I think that after subduing the Tartars, winning back the hearts of the people is the most important thing."

There is nothing wrong with this statement. Some of the Mongolian tribes that surrendered were also fickle-minded. In recent years, there have been occasional cases of Mongolian tribes that surrendered and then rebelled again.

Even some of the vassal garrisons were in a semi-submissive state, and there was a high possibility that they would obey orders but not declarations, or even directly defect.

Xia Yuanji snorted coldly and said, "Those who are not of my race must have different hearts! The court treats them with kindness, but these people really don't know how to appreciate it!"

Zhu Yunhuan just laughed at Xia Yuanji's words, but some of what Xia Yuanji said still made sense.

It's a pity that even though the Ming Dynasty is now powerful, it is unable to truly control all the lands firmly in its hands. Whether it is in the south of the desert or Liaodong, it is not easy to station troops and build cities for a long time.

Today's Liaodong and other places are not yet the Northern Granary. It is a truly bitter and cold place, which is why it is not yet called Ningguta.

Some places south of the desert are grasslands, and a large number of troops stationed there cannot guarantee sufficient supplies, etc. Soldiers now need to learn the Mongolian way of life instead of growing rice and wheat.

It’s not that Zhu Yunhuan didn’t want to do something, but the level of productivity could not keep up. Crazy development and so on would not be worth the cost, and the price to pay was too high.

Daoyan looked at Xia Yuanji and said, "Master Xia, those Tartars are a threat to the court, and I think everyone understands that. But Master Xia, the court is short of money and food, so how can we send troops?"

Xia Yuanji could only sigh dejectedly, but still said, "Now those Tartars are not a serious threat, they are just grasshoppers after autumn. In a few years, the imperial court will surely send an army to attack them!"

Zhu Yunhuan smiled and joked, "Xia Yuanji, you really surprised me. I thought that if the court wanted to send troops, there would definitely be people in the court who would come to persuade them, saying things like "warmongering the enemy" and "educate the barbarians."

Xia Yuanji was not in a position to argue, because every time troops were sent out, there would indeed be similar voices in the court, and most of them came from civil officials.

Now it seems that there is not much opposition, not because the views and cognitions of those civil servants have changed much.

In fact, it was simply because the emperor and the crown prince were too powerful, and there was no doubt about sending troops this time, so naturally they had no choice but to insist at this time.

Before sending troops, you can use various conditions to dissuade the emperor from doing so. However, once the troops have been sent out, mentioning these things will shake the morale of the army, and then the army will inevitably suffer, which is self-inflicted.

As for Xia Yuanji, he was not a person who was keen on war. He was even quite resistant to war, thinking that it was a waste of money and manpower and would be a heavy burden on the court.

But under the current circumstances, he obviously couldn't object to some things.

For the people in various government offices now, the most important thing is to fully cooperate with the court in sending troops. This is also their job responsibility and there must be no delay or slackness.

Zhu Yunhuan looked at Xia Yuanji and said seriously, "How is the situation with the treasure notes now?"

Xia Yuanji immediately replied, "Your Highness, we have recorded all the notes that have been made and collected, and are now ordering the government offices of all prefectures and counties to collect and exchange the notes."

Zhu Yunhuan nodded in satisfaction, "That's right. In the past few years, the treasure notes were not used by the people and the people had many doubts. It was because the treasure notes had lost their credibility. The credibility of the treasure notes is the credibility of the court! We must keep an eye on this matter and ask the Ministry of Personnel to include matters such as the exchange of treasure notes in the evaluation."

This is a not-so-big-or-small move, but it can also be considered a gradual process.

Two years ago, Zhu Yunhuan directly mentioned the hidden dangers of Baochao to Zhuge Liang, but the pit dug in the early stage was too big, and there was no way to reverse the downward trend directly, and it could only be improved step by step.

Now we finally see some good trends. When there is a small surplus in the treasury and some surplus grain in the granary, we can recycle the Baochao, which will make the Baochao more credible as legal tender.

Daoyan also advised at this time, "Your Highness, I think we should not rush this matter. Too much treasure notes were issued in the early stage. If all the two taxes this year can be exchanged with treasure notes, I am afraid there will be much less grain in the treasury."

Zhu Yunhuan asked with a smile, "What if the court accepts treasure notes and uses them to buy grain?" Daoyan said directly, "If that really happens, I'm afraid those grain merchants will make a fortune, and some officials will also benefit a lot. If that really happens, the court and the people will suffer the most losses."

Zhu Yunhuan also nodded, "That's indeed the truth, so this year's two taxes can only be offset by treasure notes, and some things should indeed be taxed in kind."

It’s not that Zhu Yunhuan lacks courage, but sometimes it is really impossible to do things in a one-size-fits-all manner, and it is still necessary to proceed step by step.

Take it slow, taking big steps is not a good thing.

Xia Yuanji also talked about other situations at this time, "Your Highness, the shipyard has built some new ships, but they are being transferred to Fujian, so I'm afraid there will be some shortages."

Places like the Longjiang Shipyard are also responsible for shipbuilding. Naturally, both military and civilian ships need to be built, and the purpose of these ships has actually been determined long ago. The Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Revenue and other government offices allocate silver, money, and ship workers.

Zhu Yunhuan understood what Xia Yuanji meant and said with a smile, "You mean that all the ships you build are seagoing ships, and if you want me to transfer them all to Fujian, I'm afraid the shipyard will be unable to continue?"

"Your Highness, you are too polite. Although there are many ships transferred to Fujian and other places, there is no shortage of ships in Liaodong and other places." Xia Yuanji said quickly, "It's just that the Yangtze River, the Yellow River and many large lakes are short of ships."

Most of the funds were given to Zhu Yunhuan to build large ships. In addition to the tall and majestic Fu ships, there were also other ships to support the fleet, etc. This was a considerable expense.

Ever since Zhu Yunhuan became the Crown Prince, he has been constantly accumulating wealth and forming a fleet so that he can have a fleet that goes to sea.

There is no way that all the money came from Zhu Yunhuan. A lot of it was taken from ships of other navies.

Zhu Yunhuan thought about it carefully and said, "If the shortage is not too big, we can transfer some from the East Palace Treasury to fill it. It shouldn't be too big a gap."

Xia Yuanji heaved a sigh of relief and said, "Your Highness, please forgive me. Some ships have already been built and it is difficult to reconcile the accounts. Besides, the people in the shipyard are afraid of being implicated, and it is not easy for them."

Zhu Yunhuan could naturally understand these things. An order from him, the crown prince, could naturally bring about significant changes in the shipbuilding direction of the shipyard, and many people would do their best to fulfill his requirements.

But some things are not that simple, and we need to give some explanation to the court and various government offices, otherwise it would be unacceptable.

Daoyan looked at Zhu Yunhuan and asked, "Your Highness has built so many ships. I'm afraid you will use military force against Ryukyu."

"Ryukyu?" Zhu Yunxun couldn't help laughing and jokingly said, "You, a great monk, are good at judging people. Am I such a martial arts person? Is Ryukyu worth an expedition by the Ming navy?"

Now the three Ryukyu Kingdoms have accepted the canonization of the Ming Dynasty and become vassal states, and their exchanges with the Ming Dynasty can be considered relatively close. Zhu Yunhuan is not very interested in these places for the time being.

Since there was no plan to use military force against Ryukyu, Daoyan naturally thought of another possibility. Even Xia Yuanji thought that such a thing was too normal.

The Japanese pirates have actually been causing some harm in recent years. Liaodong and Fujian are places where the Japanese pirates appear most frequently, and the imperial court has never been lenient in fighting the Japanese pirates.

Now that such a large fleet has been formed, and they are basically all warships, it is obvious that they are going to go out to sea, and to fight in the distant seas.

If you think about it carefully, the only people around who deserve to do this are the Japanese pirates, and everyone seems to think that all this is natural.

Zhu Yunhuan just smiled at this and didn't plan to explain anything for the time being. He decided to wait a little longer. When the time is right, he could naturally consider putting it on the agenda.

Think about it, I have done a lot of preliminary preparations. In addition to direct tools such as ships, I have also prepared a lot of soft power. Zhu Yunhuan's considerations are relatively comprehensive.

Recruiting some crew members and sailors in Fujian, Guangzhou and other places, and letting Chang Sen and others arrest some maritime merchants, including asking for the sea routes and experience of the merchant families who used to engage in maritime trade, etc., these are all soft power.

Without settling these issues, Zhu Yunhuan did not dare to let anyone go out to sea easily, otherwise it would be too irresponsible.

Even though he knew that sailing on a long sea voyage was risky, he shouldn't gamble with the lives of thousands of soldiers. The risks had to be controlled within a certain range.

Especially now that the Ming Dynasty has the conditions to do some things well, it is very necessary to spend a little time and money to reduce the risks as much as possible.

Perhaps it will only take one or two years for the Ming Dynasty's huge fleet to set sail and head directly to Southeast Asia.

At that time, it would not only be about fighting pirates, nor simply about promoting the national prestige of the Ming Dynasty. Although these things were also very meaningful, Zhu Yunhuan hoped to get more tangible benefits.

It’s just that some things don’t need to be mentioned now. It’s not that it’s wrong to mention them too much, but Zhu Yunhuan is too lazy to explain more to some people. It’s more meaningful to wait until things are almost done before announcing them.

After dealing with government affairs for a day, Zhu Yunhuan felt that he could relax a little and return to the East Palace to rest for a while.

However, some things were obviously not going so smoothly. Zhang Fusheng hurriedly reported, "Your Highness, the Minister of Rites will return to Beijing soon, and the Censor of the Censorate has impeached him."

Zhu Yunhuan would not be surprised at all by this, mainly because the news of this matter had already spread before. Ren Hengtai bought barbarians as servants in Annan, which caused quite a stir in the court and the country.

For many civil officials, this was a great shame and humiliation. The Minister of Rites was sent to Annan to promote national prestige and education, but he did such a thing.

Zhu Yunhuan said unhappily, "The impeachment memorial is placed on the desk, in the most conspicuous position. What a good thing the Minister of Rites has done!"

Daoyan and Xia Yuanji looked at each other. They could also guess that Ren Hengtai would definitely be punished after returning to Beijing.

After doing something like this, even if Ren Hengtai is the so-called confidant of the Eastern Palace, it does not mean that this matter can be easily brushed aside.

Demotion is a certainty, and as for whether the emperor and the crown prince will punish him severely, that depends on Ren Hengtai's luck. (End of this chapter)