Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 194

With Jianlu in the northeast, rebels in the southwest, and Henan not yet settled down, the Ming Dynasty in the second year of the apocalypse seems to be a bit troubled.

With the arrival of Dongyue, Xu Hongru was sent to the capital, and then died in Xishi Lingchi.

On the fourteenth day of the winter month, the heavy snow of the twenty-four solar terms arrived, and the snowflakes over the capital began to fall bigger and bigger.

In such a snowy day, Zhu Youxiao lived happily.

Liaodong is stable, and the Central Plains does not need to worry about him.

The only thing in the southwest that needs his attention, after Zhu Xieyuan commanded Sun Chuanting and other troops with more than [-] troops to capture Shuixi City, Zhijinguan, Yongning Prefecture, Anshun Prefecture, Pingbawei and other places at the end of last month, has gained a completely controllable situation. situation.

An Bangyan and Song Wanhua could only stay in Duyun Mansion, Xintianwei, and southern Guiyang. The Zhenning generation lingered on, relying on the terrain to entangle with the Ming army, but anyone with a discerning eye could see that An Bangyan was getting closer and closer to the day of failure.

Therefore, such a great situation allowed Zhu Youxiao to live very comfortably except for having some headaches when dealing with memorials every day.

When he was free, he ordered people to build a huge dock next to Taixiye behind the Inner Prison, and asked people to send all the teak wood that had been transported to the capital to the dock.

When the dock was completed, Zhu Youxiao called all the royal craftsmen in Beijing, and under his command, he built a sailing battleship that he designed by himself.

Zhu Youxiao had great ambitions for this sailing battleship. After learning that the Tianjin Shipyard had successfully produced a warship of [-] materials, he went directly to the warship of [-] materials.

This kind of intensity has kept his busy feet off the ground recently. Except for the occasional constant facing, he almost lives in the dock next to Taixiye at other times.

Those concubines in the harem have not been blessed for more than a month.

Even Zhang Yan, whom Zhu Youxiao loved so much, Zhu Youxiao didn't meet him, but was bewitched by Wei Zhongxian and Hakka, so he buried himself in the construction of the eight-thousand-material ship.

After Dongyue, he didn't even go to the Chang Dynasty. Except for the memorials about the Southwest, the Central Plains, and Liaodong, he would handle the memorials of the Supervisor of Rituals, and the other memorials were handed over to Wang Tiqian, Liu Ruoyu, and Wei Zhongxian. people.

The only person who could see him was Cao Huachun, except for the shipyard craftsmen, Wei Zhongxian and Keshi.

"Long live, Imperial Concubine Zheng please see me..."

In a courtyard of the official prison next to Taixiye Dock, when Liu Ruoyu's voice sounded in the courtyard, Zhu Youxiao, who was still processing the memorials in the study in the small courtyard, stopped the ink brush in his hand, frowned and said to the outside:
"Except for you, Zhongxian, Wang Tiqian, Huachun, and Kebaba, no one else will be seen!"

"Your maidservant takes orders..." Liu Ruoyu responded, and Zhu Youxiao also looked down at the memorial on the table.

【Hanlin editor Gao Panlong: The minister heard that the king of Qi led the army and was too fast...】

Before finishing it, Zhu Youxiao raised his hand and threw the memorial into a bamboo basket next to it.

Not surprisingly, the memorials in these bamboo baskets were all for the impeachment of Zhu Youjian, and their end will eventually be thrown into the earth dragon and burned to keep warm for the palace.

As Zhu Youjian swept across the Central Plains, there were more and more memorials to impeach him, and there were countless rumors about the incident.

[The king of Qi tortured and killed the soldiers and horses of thousands of households in Taoyuan without going through the governor's mansion of the five armies, and the minister...]

The next memorial was to impeach Zhu Youjian again, but Zhu Youxiao still threw it into the bamboo basket next to him.

At this time, the sound of light footsteps also sounded, and Zhu Youxiao looked up, only to see the smiling Hakka with four maids, carrying five plates and ten stacks of dishes, entering the house, slightly in the hall outside the study. He bowed and said:

"Hooray, it's time for lunch."

"Well, Kebaba is on the table in the hall." Zhu Youxiao also responded when he heard the words, and then got up and walked out of the study.

At this time, the maid had already pulled out the chair for him, and after he sat down, he saw his favorite seafood stew at first sight.

In addition to this dish made by Hakka himself, there are roasted mutton, mutton buns, roasted clams, fried fresh shrimp, frog legs, steamed fresh fish, steamed gluten with five flavors, mutton crystal dumplings, and a dish that Zhu Youxiao has never seen before. dishes.

After the tribute rice, brewed tea, and a pot of royal wine and golden stem dew were served, Zhu Youxiao asked Keshi:

"Kebaba, what kind of dish is this? Why haven't I seen it before?"

Seeing Zhu Youxiao asking about the carefully prepared dishes, Ke Shi, who was pouring wine, responded with a smile:
"Long live, didn't you say that His Royal Highness Qi said that you need to prepare a vegetarian dish? This dish is a tribute from the toast of Bazhai, Lin'an Prefecture, Yunnan Province. It tastes extremely delicious."

"Oh? Then I have to try it."

Hearing this, Zhu Youxiao became interested, picked up the chopsticks and poked them into the plate, picked up a few pieces and put them in his mouth. After refusing, he couldn't help admiring:

"The mushroom tastes delicious, and it's no worse than some meat after stir-frying."

"However, it will take a lot of manpower and material resources to pay tribute from Yunnan, right?"

"Long live Mingjian..." Mrs. Ke slightly bowed and saluted, and then responded:

"From Lin'an Mansion to the capital, it's more than [-] miles, with more than [-] times of changing horses and people along the way, and it takes three days to reach the capital. If it is two days later, it will not be edible."

Having said this, Zhu Youxiao nodded and sighed slightly:
"The chieftain of Bazhai has a heart, so the tribute to Bazhai will be exempted this year."

"My maidservant wrote Long Live Long En for the Bazhai chieftain..." Ke Shi saluted respectfully, as if she was the one receiving the gift.

Seeing Ke Shi like this, Zhu Youxiao simply smiled and said:

"Kebaba is tired of being in charge of my daily life during this time, so I'll get five hundred taels of silver from my inner pocket."

"Long live the maidservant's dress, how can he be tired? Long live is hard work, and he should have a good rest. The memorial is not a big deal. You can ask the ceremonial supervisor to help you so that you don't get tired."

Ke Shi looked at Zhu Youxiao with a distressed face, which made Zhu Youxiao, who was a little disturbed by the handling of the memorial, relax a little, and couldn't help sighing in his heart:

"It's true. There is no major event in the world. The memorials of these speech officials can all be handed over to the Supervisor of Rituals."

After thinking about it, Zhu Youxiao felt a little uneasy, and then said to the door:

"Let Liu Ruoyu come in."

"Long live, this servant is here..." Liu Ruoyu turned around and walked out from the left side of the door, knelt down to show respect, and Zhu Youxiao saw this, and said:

"In the future, there is no need to hand over the memorials of the officials to me for reading, and the supervisor of ceremonies will handle it by himself."

"In addition, order Cao Huachun, the admiral of the imperial horse supervisor, to concurrently serve as the eunuch of Bingbi, the supervisor of ceremonies, and order him to take office immediately."

There are eight members of Bingbi and Suitian eunuchs in the supervisor of ceremonies, but it is not fixed, and sometimes four or five people can be used.

Zhu Youxiao let Cao Huachun enter the Sili Supervisor and Bingbi, obviously because he was worried that someone would deceive the upper and lower, so he sent Cao Huachun in to balance all parties.

For this, Liu Ruoyu didn't do anything else, but responded directly, then got up and said:
"Long live, Imperial Concubine Zheng hasn't left, she's still waiting at the door."

"If she's willing to wait, let her wait." Hearing that Concubine Zheng Huanggui was waiting in the snow, Zhu Youxiao sneered inwardly, but responded calmly.

Seeing this, Liu Ruoyu had no choice but to bow and retreat, and ordered someone to clean up and take away all the officials' memorials in the study.

After this cleaning, there were only more than [-] memorials left on the desk in an instant, the task was much easier, and Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but regret it, thinking that he should have done this a long time ago.

After eating and drinking, Zhu Youxiao didn't spend too much time to finish all the more than [-] memorials, and then continued to rest in the courtyard.

After resting like this for six days, in order to understand the progress in Tianjin, he planned to call Cao Huachun to understand the situation while heading to the shipyard of the Internal Supervisor.

The dock of Taixiye is six feet high, twenty feet wide, and forty feet long. It drained the water of Taixiye Lake and dug four feet down.

Since the warship cannot be transported out even if it is successfully built, Zhu Youxiao just instructed more than [-] skilled craftsmen in the capital to build various parts of the warship, and then sent the parts to the dock on the Tonghui River outside the city to wait for Zhu Youxiao. Ordered to assemble.

Therefore, the main body of the warship is actually in the dock of the Tonghui River, and what Zhu Youxiao can see are important parts one by one.

As long as all the parts are produced, it can then be assembled successfully within ten days by relying on the mortise and tenon technology.

Right now, the deck, keel, mast and other parts of the ship have been sent out of the outer city, and the only thing left is the iron slide rails of some turrets, and some various facilities inside the ship.

Unsurprisingly, the ship can be assembled at the end of the month, and as the assembly time approaches, Zhu Youxiao is also very disturbed.

After all, this was his first time building a warship. Even though this warship had assembled the best [-] shipwrights of Ming Dynasty, he was still a little uneasy.

If the warship is successfully launched and there are no major problems, Zhu Youxiao will be able to brag in front of his younger brother when he returns from suppressing the rebellion.

"Bam—"

In the dock, there were endless sounds of planing and chiseling, while Zhu Youxiao was sitting on the second floor of the dock, watching the craftsmen below at work.

Even though it's just watching, it takes a lot of energy.

After each part is finished, the craftsmen need to notify Zhu Youxiao, and then hang the parts in mid-air, and let Zhu Youxiao measure them with a cloth ruler.

After the measurement, Zhu Youxiao will observe the craftsmanship and confirm that there is no problem before sending it to the Tonghui River Dock outside the capital.

"Seventeen feet and two inches, if you pass the test, send it outside the city."

No, Zhu Youxiao just measured a part, and footsteps sounded behind him.

"Slave Cao Huachun sees Long Live..."

Cao Huachun's voice sounded, and Zhu Youxiao rolled up the ruler after hearing it, and then said:
"You are asked to serve as the eunuch Bingbi, the supervisor of ceremonies, do you know?"

"Your servant understands, thank you for your kindness, I will do my best..." Cao Huachun said, and immediately kowtowed a few times, and Zhu Youxiao also said:

"Okay, get up, tell me about the progress of the warships in Tianjin Shipyard."

Zhu Youxiao is still more concerned about this issue. After all, the warship he wants to make must be bigger and better than the Tianjin Shipyard, otherwise he will have no way to claim credit in front of his younger brother.

Cao Huachun was also very clear about Zhu Youxiao's thoughts, so he got up and bowed his head in response:
"Tianjin Shipyard has completed the water test of the [-] warships, and it is confirmed that there is no problem. Ten of the [-] warships have also been launched, and they have been tested for half a month. There is no problem so far."

"Have been testing the waters for half a month?" Zhu Youxiao swallowed, feeling a little anxious for a moment.

After all, if [-] warships have been tested for a month and there is no problem with one of them, then Tianjin Shipyard can put the plan of [-] warships on the agenda.

After all the calculations, it would only take three or four months at most.

Thinking that it was only so little time, Zhu Youxiao was a little anxious, but his self-esteem did not allow him to give an order to let the craftsmen of Tianjin Shipyard stop the research and development of warships.

Therefore, he could only walk back and forth in a hurry, and Cao Huachun was on Zhu Youxiao's mind, so he stepped forward cautiously and said:

"Long live, in fact, His Highness doesn't pay much attention to warships, so there is no need..."

"That won't work! How can I lose to those craftsmen in Tianjin?" Zhu Youxiao interrupted Cao Huachun, frowning.

Cao Huachun had no choice but to take a step back, watching Zhu Youxiao anxiously.

But after a while, the sound of going upstairs came. Zhu Youxiao, Cao Huachun, and Liu Ruoyu looked around, but saw Wang Tiqian approaching obsequiously, and handed over a memorial:

"Long live, this is the summary memorial made by the Ministry of Rites to collect the vassal lords from all over the world. The supervisor of ceremonies cannot be the master. I need you to read it..."

"Huh?" Hearing what Wang Tiqian said, Zhu Youxiao frowned and took the memorial, and then opened it:
[List of vassal contributions: Tang Wang Shuoyu donated [-] taels before and after, Zhou Mansion [-] taels, Chong Mansion [-] taels, Zheng Mansion [-] taels, Shu Mansion [-] Fifteen thousand taels, Shen House [-] taels, Han House [-] taels, Qin House, Jin House, Jing House, Lu House, Fu House each [-] taels, Chu House, Rong House, Lu House, and Heng House each. Twenty-two thousand taels, Xiangfu, Zhaofu, Yifu, Defu, Daifu, Sufu, Qingfu, each with [-] taels, and the rest of Qingcheng, Jingjiang, etc. and the kings of various counties donated differently, totaling [-] hundred taels

[Ministry of Rites, please send officials to send edicts and commendations as usual, and still write the chief secretary to prepare colored coins and sheep wine as a salute, and the Tang government donates Duduoyite and Jianpan Lifang to show the court's appreciation of the family's sincerity...]

A very interesting thing happened. After Zhu Youxiao released the pigeons of Concubine Zheng Huanggui for six days, all the vassals in the world began to help pay.

Zhu Youxiao looked at the list of subsidies, and didn't have any big disturbances in his heart, but he also knew that this was a soft move by the feudal clans.

"My brother's method is somewhat interesting..."

Zhu Youxiao narrowed his eyes, and while sighing in his heart, he turned his head and said to Cao Huachun:
"Order eight hundred li to rush southward, and tell my younger brother that the siege can be relieved, and it will be bad if the siege continues."

"By the way, give him this memorial as well." Zhu Youxiao handed the memorial to Cao Huachun, and Cao Huachun received it cautiously, not daring to open it to watch, and left after saluting.

Afterwards, this memorial and Zhu Youxiao's will were drafted by Cao Huachun in the name of Lijian, and sent to Fengyang Mansion in an expedited [-] miles.

It's just that when the imperial decree was sent to Fengyang Mansion, Zhu Youjian was not as tired as everyone imagined.

"boom--"

"Come again!"

Outside Yimen County, Fengyang Prefecture, the continuous stream of iron cavalry frightened the people who wanted to go to the county to buy and sell.

In the temporary camp outside the county, Zhu Youjian and Lu Xiu swung their knives and collided with each other. The iron knives buzzed, and then withdrew as the master's arm was withdrawn.

Zhu Youjian is dressed in armor and is ready for battle.

Lu Xiu is simply dressed in a scarlet robe, with leather armguards on each of his hands to restrain the cuffs, and his steps are light.

The Qi's parent's knife in his hand was pointed at the ground obliquely, and he seemed to be unprepared against Zhu Youjian. In fact, his free left hand was ready to hold the handle of the knife behind him to press the knife at any time.

Zhu Youjian was panting slightly in the snow, his forehead was covered with beads of sweat, but he still didn't stop training. Instead, he and Lu Xiu circled each other in the prescribed circle, staring at each other.

Outside the circle, Lu Wenzhao and Tiancewei's generals watched the two perform martial arts, and one of them also sighed:
"Your Highness is nearly thirteen years old and has the strength to confront Lu Qianhu. I'm afraid he will be able to fight Lu Qianhu in two years."

His words were nodded and approved by many people, and Zhu Youjian in the circle also raised his sword at the same time.

Lu Xiu touched the tip and handle of the knife quickly with his eyes and hands. After pulling away the long knife, the long knife in his hand reached Zhu Youjian's shoulder.

"Lonely lost!"

Seeing his defeat, Zhu Youjian was not discouraged, but smiled and stuck the long knife on the ground, and Lu Xiu immediately retracted the long knife, and said with a smile:
"Your Highness, in another two years, I'm afraid that the strength will be enough to beat the low position. If you reach the crown, I'm afraid that the low position will not be His Highness's opponent."

"Exaggerated..." Zhu Youjian panted and raised his hands. The Jin Yiwei outside the circle saw this and immediately came up to take off his armor.

After taking off the armor and lightening his load, he breathed out a foul breath, and said to Lu Xiu and the other generals:
"Personal bravery needs a little bit, but it is not the whole battlefield. In the future, it will inevitably be the world of firecrackers and artillery, and cold weapons will eventually be eliminated."

After saying this, everyone nodded in approval, because they all saw the prospect of firearms.

As far as this southward counter-insurgency is concerned, riding the blunderbuss can be said to have become the key to the four cavalry guards breaking the formation.

In front of the rebels who formed a spear formation, thousands of cavalry scattered, and then they could break through the formation with a single round of assault. This is a representative.

Not only this, but also Sun Yingyuan on the Southwest battlefield.

The three guards and horses led by him have not killed or injured more than [-] people so far, while the chieftain soldiers and horses he has wiped out have reached as many as [-].

Artillery suppressed the formation, platooned guns to kill...

If it weren't for the dense forests in Guinan Mountains and the restrictions on flintlock guns, it is estimated that Sun Yingyuan would have gone to Duyun Mansion.

The difficulty of fighting in the Southwest now is that the rebels will cut off the road.

It only takes one day for them to dig a place, but it takes a month for the Ming army to restore the road to the point where five-jin cannons and ten-jin cannons can pass through.

It is precisely because of the obstruction of the road that the southwest rebels have been arrogant for so long.

But this also taught the generals of the Sixteenth Guards a lesson.

That is, although the firearms of the Ming army have traveled far and wide, they still have quite a few shortcomings.

For example, going to a mountain will restrict the terrain, and going to a humid place will affect the ignition rate of flint.

To put it simply, the north and the west are the most suitable for firearms warfare, and even the northeastern mountainous areas of this era are not suitable.

All these, Zhu Youjian has already made a summary for the generals, so everyone understands.

Everyone followed Zhu Youjian to the big tent, and after entering the big tent, they sat down step by step, while Zhu Youjian washed his face with a copper basin in the main seat, wiped it with a towel, and then said:

"At present, the rebels in Fengyang Mansion have been wiped out, and there are still more than [-] rebels in Henan, but the number is also decreasing."

"Brother Huang sent me an imperial edict this morning, ordering me to send troops to rescue Henan, what do you guys think?"

After Zhu Youjian said something, Sun Shoufa stood up and said:
"The rebel army is nothing but a mob. Even if I lead the army alone, I can defeat them."

"It's easy to defeat, but I want to capture all the rebels." Zhu Youjian wiped his hands, then put the towel on the shelf, turned and sat back on the main seat and said:
"The rebels are also the people of Ming Dynasty. Although there were mistakes in the rebellion, most of them were coerced and rebelled. The law does not blame the people."

"In Liaodong, next year we will prepare for the battle to restore Liaodong. I am going to raise [-] troops to go out of the city to restore Liaodong. With this [-] army, at least [-] auxiliary soldiers and civilians are needed to recover the entire territory of Liaodong."

"Right now, there are already a million refugees in Henan. These refugees have experienced military disasters, and they need disaster relief if they stay in Henan."

"Gu means recruiting these millions of refugees as husbands, going to Liaodong, and resettling them there after the restoration of Liao next year."

With Zhu Youjian's words, he asked millions of refugees to travel more than [-] miles to Liaodong, which sounds like making trouble.

But the problem is that without these millions of refugees, the population of Liaodong is too sparse to support the army's northern expedition.

And after the recovery of Liao, people in Tieling, Kaiyuan, Fushun and other places needed people to cultivate them. The people in southern Liao had settled down, and finally resumed production. Mobilizing them would only make the food shortage in Liaodong continue to expand.

The most difficult thing to mobilize millions of refugees is the food problem.

Millions of refugees had to cross more than [-] miles to go to Liaodong.

The merchant ships in Huangdian cannot be transferred, because the merchant ships must be used to buy grain.

Therefore, the people had to walk over, and according to the strength of the people's feet, if they did not have enough to eat, they could move up to forty miles a day, and if they had enough to eat, they could move up to eighty miles a day.

In other words, it will take a full month to reach Liaodong when millions of refugees are fed.

Soldiers and horses have to clear the way and urge them, otherwise they won't be able to finish the journey in a month.

If he had to carry the family belongings again, he might have to leave for three months.

If a million refugees want to eat enough, each person must have at least two catties of rice, which is sixty catties of rice a month.

Millions of refugees need to eat at least [-] shi. After arriving in Liaodong, they can be allowed to cultivate there.

If these millions of refugees go to Liaodong, then the foundation of Ming Dynasty's rule in Liaodong will be stable.

The only thing to pay attention to is that after arriving in Liaodong and starting reclamation, two catties of rice per person per day will definitely not work, at least four catties of rice, and oil and salt vegetables.

Then the monthly expenditure is nearly [-] shi.

Even if the refugees departed in the twelfth lunar month and arrived in the first month, it would take at least ten months from the first month to when the army finished the Liaodong recovery battle.

After ten months, all the people can be moved to Kaiyuan and Tieling in northern Liaoning, and they will be given land to re-cultivate.

As far as the land that has been reclaimed in northern Liaoning is naturally not enough for them to share, it still needs to be reclaimed.

Calculated in this way, even if the arable land in northern Liaoning can meet one-third of the rations of millions of refugees, the imperial court still needs to pay [-] shimi a month, and it takes three years.

In this way, the pressure on the court was a bit high.

But the problem is that if the people are not relocated, these people still need disaster relief in Henan, and the population in Liaodong will not be able to guarantee the expenditure of the garrison in the future.

If the expenditure of the garrison in Liaodong cannot be guaranteed, then Liaodong is still a place that needs blood from the imperial court.

Therefore, the migration of millions of refugees is necessary, and Zhu Youjian must also solve the problem of refugees right now.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian said to Lu Wenzhao:
"Decree to Huachun, order him to make a route from Henan to Liaodong, and set up porridge sheds every fifty miles along the road, and each porridge shed needs to store [-] shi of rice."

"In addition, I will go to the emperor's brother to tell the emperor about the relocation of millions of refugees in Henan and the importance of it, and ask the emperor to order the Liaodong economic strategy, Xiong Tingbi, Yuan Yingtai, and Sun Chengzong, who are the left and right political envoys, to raise millions of farm tools."

"Again, please ask the emperor to issue an order to order Zhu Xieyuan's troops to quickly encircle and suppress the Guinan rebels."

"By the end of the twelfth lunar month, regardless of the outcome of the rebel siege, Qin Liangyu, Ma Xianglin, Yang Wenyue, Sun Chuanting, Sun Yingyuan, Cao Wenzhao, etc. must be transferred..."

Having said that, Zhu Youjian paused for a moment, did not continue, but thought about the situation in Liaodong, and finally sighed:

"That's all, then transfer Hong Chengchou and Wu Aheng to go north to aid Liao."

"As for the southwest matter, please Zhu Xieyuan Governor Hu Yingtai, Mu Zeng, Mu Changzuo and other three departments to continue to suppress bandits."

Three soldiers and horses, plus Zhu Xieyuan's headquarters, still have [-] soldiers and horses.

With [-] against An Bangyan, who currently has less than [-] troops, it is unlikely that he will overturn.

This time, Zhu Youjian is going to mobilize the elites of the whole country of Ming Dynasty to show the country's prestige in Liaodong, in exchange for three years of peace in northern Xinjiang!

As long as there is peace in northern Xinjiang for three years, Liaodong can become a self-sufficient iron wall.

But it is very difficult to change the peace of northern Xinjiang for three years, so Houjin's backbone must be completely broken!

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian clenched his fists. The sword he had sharpened for two years only needed to be sharpened for another year before he could stab Jianlu!
(End of this chapter)