Daming: I am the Crown Prince

Chapter 97: Sacrifice and War
Just after Zhu Yunhuan's birthday, Zhu announced in the court that the crown prince should lead all officials back to his hometown to worship his ancestors.

Although some important ministers will not be allowed to go, there will definitely be civil and military officials, nobles and relatives accompanying them.

No one would say that it is inappropriate to do so now because it is winter, especially since the winter solstice is approaching. This also means that it is only natural for the crown prince to return to his hometown to worship his ancestors.

Because even if the Crown Prince does not go, other members of the royal family will go.

In the years since the founding of the country, Zhu Yuanzhang basically did not let his ministers offer sacrifices on his behalf. This was the advantage of having many children and grandchildren. He could not go in person, or the crown prince could not go in person, and there were a lot of princes who had not yet been enfeoffed, so it was not the turn of outsiders to offer sacrifices.

The founding duke Chang Sheng received the imperial edict at the first opportunity and immediately led his army to the Zhangzhongdu garrison.

Wu Gao, Marquis of Jiangyin, immediately led his troops to inspect and guard the post stations along the way, and ordered Cao Xing, Marquis of Huaiyuan, to command the troops in preparation for rushing to the rescue.

Duke of Liang Lan Yu, Duke of Wei Xu Huizu and Duke of Cao Li Jinglong were appointed as deputy envoys, and in fact they were asked to provide escort.

Zhu Yunhuan naturally would not have any objection to this, and the officials would not have any objection at this time.

Those who are allowed to accompany him may even feel lucky in their hearts, while those who are not allowed to accompany him may feel a little regretful, because this is also an opportunity to get close to the crown prince.

There are so many people who can be used by the crown prince. If you don’t have a good background, even if you have outstanding abilities, you may not be able to enter the crown prince’s vision.

Now is the best opportunity, but unfortunately many people still find it difficult to get these opportunities.

Zhu Yunhuan also began to pack and prepare. After all, his aunts and sisters were also with him, so he didn't think about riding a horse and galloping all the way. Fortunately, the place was not far away and they would arrive soon.

Li Jinglong spoke eloquently, saying, "Xing means to march in formation. Laozi said, there is a saying about using troops: 'I dare not be the master but the guest, I dare not advance an inch but retreat a foot.' This means to march without marching, to fight without arms, to throw without enemies, and to hold without weapons."

"Although you are at the feet of the emperor, Your Highness is responsible for the country. So I ordered the Tang cavalry to advance 30 miles and go back and forth to explore." Li Jinglong continued, "The vanguard troops are all cavalry, and the central army is guarded by the Five Army Camps and the Jinyiwei."

Lan Yu, who was standing beside him, could not help but said, "Duke Cao, your use of troops is so dull!"

Li Jinglong was not convinced, but he was elegant and graceful since childhood and asked humbly, "Please teach me, Duke Liang."

"Although the rear army has garrison troops to support us, we must not be careless." Lan Yu said directly, "Although your majesty has ordered people to support us at any time, when you are on the march, how can you just think about others coming to support you? When you are leading troops outside, even if you have soldiers and horses with you, if you always calculate how many reinforcements there are, your deployment and use of troops will be restricted."

Li Jinglong said somewhat unconvincedly, "Duke Liang, the capital is not far away."

"I know this!" Lan Yu continued, "During your march, the rear army was lax in their support and just hoped for the court to come to their aid. If it were me, I would rather leave a strong army in the rear army. First, it can provide support at any time, second, if the army is in chaos, it will inevitably break down the front, and third, it is to prevent the enemy from making a detour and attacking."

Lan Yu continued, "You are too top-heavy. You only think that there is a troop of soldiers coming to support you. The fighting on the battlefield is just a blink of an eye. How many hours or days can you have before you can get support?"

Li Jinglong wanted to refute, but he didn't know how to say it for a moment.

He thought he was right, Wu Gao and others were still rushing to the rear to help, so they should be counted in. But the Duke of Liang did not count those people in the queue, and only counted the people in his hands as the total force.

If we get stubborn, it will be like the husband thinks he is right and the wife thinks she is right.

Zhu Yunhuan smiled. He intended to let Li Jinglong arrange the march along the way back to Fengyang, etc., in order to test him.

Although he didn't understand these, Lan Yu was beside him.

"Cousin, you are in charge of the Left Army Commandery. Next time you go to Liaodong, you will escort the emperor's uncle to his fiefdom, reorganize the troops, and lead the army to hunt down the remnants of the Mongols."

The Liaodong Regional Military Commission was under the jurisdiction of the Zuojun Military Governor's Office, so it was natural for Li Jinglong to go to Liaodong.

Since Nahachu surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, Liaodong was basically recovered. However, we should not be careless, as some tribes were not convinced and occasionally rebelled again.

Or the Jurchen tribes, which occasionally showed signs of activity in Liaodong and other places. The current Jurchens are roughly divided into three tribes: Jianzhou Jurchen, Haixi Jurchen, and Donghai Jurchen.

Nurhaci belonged to the Jianzhou Jurchens, and initially inherited his father's position as the commander of the Jianzhou Left Guard.

However, it is a bit early to talk about these things now. The Jianzhou Jurchens have not yet been brought under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty, and the garrison posts have not yet been established.

So even if Zhu Yunhuan wanted to take precautions, it would not be of much use, as he didn't even know where Nurhaci's ancestors were.

There will be plenty of opportunities in the future to slowly deal with the Jurchens and those who surrendered and then rebelled again and became disloyal.

Although it is winter now, Zhu Yunhuan and others don't feel cold. They are all wearing thick clothes.

Just looking at the desolate scene in the wilderness, I felt a little worried.

This is a natural phenomenon. In winter, everything becomes depressed. There is nothing wrong with this.

But Zhu Yunhuan knew that under normal circumstances, the wheat yield of the better land in Jiangnan and other places was less than 300 kilograms. On average, the national yield was only about 200 kilograms per mu.

As for rice, the yield per mu is less than 400 kilograms.

If they pay more taxes, the people will basically have little food. It is almost impossible to have white rice and white flour every day. Although Zhu encouraged the people to grow more cotton, many people still have problems keeping warm in winter. They only have straw and catkins on their beds to keep warm.

Zhu Yunhuan really wanted to form a fleet to go to South America to find crops such as corn and potatoes.

But he knew that if he did so, he would be playing with human lives. Let's not talk about the issue of sailing technology for now, the accumulation of sailing experience alone is a problem.

Moreover, even if we find crops such as corn and potatoes, it is not possible to produce several thousand kilograms per mu all at once. Those are the results of continuous breeding and improvement.

But we still have to give it a try. The yields of those crops may be higher than those of wheat and rice at this stage.

As a food supplement, there is no harm in trying it out. If you cultivate it carefully, high-yield crops may gradually emerge.

Princess Anqing lifted the carriage curtain and said to Zhu Yunhuan, "Yunhuan, go to the carriage and rest for a while. You can't let the cold air get into your body."

Zhu Yunhuan said confidently, "Auntie, I'm wearing thick clothes, it doesn't matter."

Princess Ningguo quickly said, "That won't work either. Otherwise, your royal grandfather will definitely blame you if he finds out."

Li Jinglong, Xu Huizu and others also hurriedly followed suit, including Lan Yu. They could ride horses, but the crown prince could not ride horses all the time, as it was cold now.

When they were arresting Zhou Dexing, Guo Zhen and others made the round trip in less than three days, but Zhu Yunhuan and others took almost a week to reach Fengyang.

Even so, it is still relatively fast, after all, it is a large group of people.

Chang Sheng, wearing a helmet and armor, led the Imperial Mausoleum Guard and Fengyang Guard to take over the responsibility of security, while Lan Yu and others neatly led the army to station outside. Zhu Zhong and other Jinyi Guards naturally followed Zhu Yunhuan all the time, and everyone's responsibilities were clear.

When Zhu Yunhuan arrived in Fengyang, he did not rush to offer sacrifices immediately, but fasted for three days before offering sacrifices.

Zhu Yunxun asked with concern, "Are there any elderly people in Dongxiang and Taiping Township?"

Dongxiang is where Lao Zhu was born, and Taiping Township is where he grew up, both in Zhongli County.

Song Zhong quickly replied, "Your Highness, all the elders in the imperial town are invited to a banquet."

Zhu Yunhuan smiled and said, "Please don't neglect me. I will host a banquet for the elders after I offer sacrifices to my ancestors."

Wealth that does not return to its hometown is like walking in brocade at night.

Although everyone in my hometown now knows that Zhu Yuanzhang, the cowherd boy, became the emperor, most of the people in my hometown also benefited from it.

However, as the grandson of Zhu Yuanzhang and the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty, since Zhu Yunhuan had returned to his hometown, even though he was born in Yingtian Prefecture, he should have hosted a banquet for his old neighbors.

Zhu Yunhuan continued, "Duke Xin is often ill, so don't bother him with these matters. Send someone to tell him that Duke Xin doesn't need to come. I will go to the mansion after I offer sacrifices to the ancestors."

There are also differences in the treatment of ministers. Ministers like Tang He are obviously not just ordinary ministers. Zhu Yunhuan's visit to Tang He's house was not considered condescending.

This should be done either for the sake of Lao Zhu's face or for Tang He's past achievements.

Tang He has suffered a stroke now and can't even speak clearly. There is no reason to bother him.

The worried Zhu Yunxun continued, "In two days, let Yihuihou and Shuling accompany the sacrifice."

Liu Jizu is gone, but his son Liu Da is still here. Cao Xiu, who accompanied Zhu to Huangjue Temple, is gone, but his son Wang Wen is still here.

Wang Wen is the grandson of Godmother Wang. Old Zhu specifically asked him to change his surname back to Wang, which was also to express his gratitude to Godmother Wang for her kindness.

Zhang Fusheng and others naturally remembered that these things were not details, but major matters that could not be neglected.

Princess Anqing and Princess Ningguo also came over and said, "Yunhuan, you have to go and see the sacrifice yourself."

Zhu Yunhuan nodded, although he felt that his subordinates would not dare to fool around with this matter. However, such a major event as ancestor worship cannot tolerate any mistakes, especially since it was the first time to return to his hometown to worship his ancestors, and there could be no mistakes.

Calling Xu Huizu, Zhu Yunhuan said, "Go to the armory and check. All the weapons are available."

The Zhongdu Liaison Office has an arsenal where military equipment and other items are usually stored.

Zhu Yunhuan continued, "I'll give you another half day. The King of Zhongshan was buried in Xiaoling Mausoleum, and your ancestral home is also in Fengyang. Now that you're back, you should go and pay your respects."

Xu Huizu immediately knelt down to express his gratitude. Without Zhu Yunhuan's order, he really would not have been able to get away to go back and worship his ancestors.

The great affairs of the country lie in sacrifice and military affairs.

This is not something that can be said casually, and Zhu Yunhuan must also treat it with caution. The significance of offering sacrifices to the imperial mausoleum is no less than that of offering sacrifices to the imperial temple.

(End of this chapter)