Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 320
"My brother did nothing wrong in putting Hong Chengchou in Annan..."

On July [-]th, when Zhu Youxiao's voice sounded in the dense forest, at this moment he and Zhu Youjian were riding side by side on the mountain road on horses.

The soldiers and horses of General Han and Xiao cavalry guarded them, and there was a long convoy behind them.

Time has entered autumn, but the power of the autumn tiger has made the already severe drought in Beizhili extremely dry and hot.

Therefore, Zhu Youxiao came up with the idea of ​​going hunting in Yanshan Mountains while riding in autumn.

When the civil servants shut up in unison and the imperial power was extremely powerful, the emperor's idea of ​​going into autumn was almost conveyed to the civil and military officials who needed preparations in just three days.

In Taqiu's convoy, there were not only many generals from the Five Armies' Commander's Mansion, but also the eunuchs who were in charge of rituals, and the accompanying officials from the six departments.

Of course, the more important thing is Zhang Yan and the concubines in the inner court.

It is not surprising that Taqiu brought concubines, not to mention Zhu Youxiao, many officials brought their wives and children, and Zhu Youjian himself brought Li Dingguo, Yang Rushi, and Yang Yuanai.

Compared with hundreds of officials, the number of people brought by Zhu Youjian is already relatively small.

This kind of team for stepping into autumn has never been seen in the Ming Dynasty since the reign of Xuande, and no one has come to the place of stepping in autumn since the reign of Yongle.

Only when Zhu Youjian eliminated Monan, did Zhu Youxiao and Baiguan dare to come to the Yanshan Mountains outside the Great Wall for an autumn walk, and the place they chose was Chengde, which was hailed as a summer resort by later generations. .

But in Daming, the area of ​​Chengde belongs to Yanshan County of Duoyan Mansion.

The current Yanshan County has only just been built and has only a few thousand people, but Zhu Youxiao's autumn troop has tens of thousands, which can be described as spectacular.

This spectacular team is worthy of Zhu Youxiao's current status.

Among the people, some people have long boasted him as a wise king, but he is not satisfied with this.

What he wants is to lay down a large territory, comparable to Qin Huang Han Wu, so the battle to recover Annan is particularly important.

Zhu Youxiao has a characteristic. Like the ancient kings, although he knew the vastness of the old port, he was not concerned about the expansion of the old port because he knew it was an overseas territory.

What he cares more about is the recovery of the territory connecting the mainland of Ming Dynasty, and Annan is perfectly in line with this.

Hong Chengchou's arrangement in Annan made him very satisfied, but Zhu Youjian, who was walking side by side with him, didn't think there was anything worthy of praise.

Everything about Hong Chengchou was proceeding according to the plan, and there was no surprise for him.

On the contrary, it was the surrender of the three forces of Mo, Wu, and Laojie, which made him a little disappointed that the Ming army failed to cleanse the three forces.

But now that everyone has surrendered, it is naturally impossible for him to ask them to go back and fight again.

However, although they surrendered, Zhu Youjian would not let them stay in the north of Annan, so he said to Zhu Youxiao:

"Mo Jinggong can be named Gao Pingbo, Wu Degong can be named Xuanguangbo, and the thirty-two chieftains of the old street can confer Sanjie respectively on Xiaoqiwei."

"After the Battle of Annan, they were transferred to serve in Luzon, Zhongshan, and Nanhai respectively, and their families were moved to Kunming, Yunnan."

"Hmm..." Zhu Youxiao also knew that if this group of people were kept in the local area, a gentry family would have been entrenched in the local area for hundreds of years, and they would be discriminated against if they moved to Nanjing and Beijing.

Only by moving them to Kunming can not only contain their family, but also appease them, after all, Kunming is very close to Annan.

"How is the disaster situation in Sichuan, Shanshan, and Zhili?"

Zhu Youxiao rarely asked about the drought, and Zhu Youjian also responded:

"Sichuan is mainly affected by the disaster in Chongqing, Tongchuan, Shunqing, and Baoning. It is estimated that more than [-] million people will suffer from the severe drought, and more than [-] million acres of fields will lose their harvest..."

"Datong, Pingyang, and Taiyuan prefectures in Shanxi have lost about [-] million mu, and the five prefectures in Shaanxi except Xi'an, Fengxiang, Hanzhong, Shuofang, and Ningxia have lost about [-] million mu..."

"Northern Zhili is mainly harvested in the Xuanfu area, with a total of about [-] million mu. In Henan, there is a harvest of more than [-] million mu in Henan Prefecture. The provinces have a total of about [-] million mu, affecting tens of millions of people..."

After clarifying the number of dead crops, Zhu Youjian explained:

"The imperial court is already doing its best to solve the problem of severe drought. Wherever wells can be drilled, the Ministry of Households will directly dig wells with money."

"In places where wells cannot be drilled, the people basically moved to Annan, including the people in Sichuan. Currently, the number of people who must be relocated is about [-]. Sichuan has not yet been counted."

"The Ministry of Households allocated [-] million taels of silver and [-] million stones of grain for relocation. In addition, the people who stayed and had no crops in their fields adopted the method of labor for relief, and hired millions of people to clean up the Yellow River."

"Do the household department and Yumajian still have money and food?" Zhu Youxiao asked worriedly, and Zhu Youjian asked Zhu Youxiao to rest assured:
"There are still more than [-] million taels of silver, and the Changping warehouses in the north of the government warehouses in various places have accumulated nearly [-] million shi."

"The price of food in all provinces is kept below [-] Wen, and should not exceed [-] Wen as much as possible."

"Well..." Hearing this, Zhu Youxiao nodded. Obviously, when Zhu Youjian was here, he didn't need to spend too much effort on government affairs and military affairs. He only needed to maintain the balance of the court. .

"It's hard work, brother." Zhu Youxiao felt a little guilty. After all, Zhu Youjian is the king of Qi in name, but he is almost comparable to the prime minister in fact.

"The affairs of the country are difficult, so it's good for my brother to rest for a while. If the situation in the south is settled next year, the younger brother will lead the troops to sweep the north. At that time, the elder brother will need to work hard."

Zhu Youjian didn't think there was any difficulty. He came to this world and had this identity, so he had to bear this burden on his shoulders.

Although he can send the burden down right now, he doesn't have anyone who can help him carry it.

The problem in the late Ming Dynasty was actually the problem of the lack of politically capable ministers. If you had to choose a few people to enter the cabinet, then Yuan Keli and Hong Chengchou were the only two people Zhu Youjian could choose.

Sun Chengzong's strategy is good, but when it comes to tactics, he pulls away, and he has too little understanding of politics and economics.

The personalities of Sun Chuanting, Lu Xiangsheng, and Xiong Tingbi were destined to offend many civil and military officials if they went to Beijing to become officials, and putting them in the frontier was the only way to protect them.

Only two people, Yuan Keli and Hong Chengchou, are enough to be placed in the cabinet no matter where they come from.

As far as pure economic issues are concerned, Hong Chengchou in history also saw clearly how much damage the peasant uprising army did to the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, when many people in the Ming Dynasty were still looking forward to appeasement, he chose to kill them all.

If the economic problem cannot be solved, it is useless for the peasant uprising army to appease them, and they will rebel again in the future.

In the Battle of Songjin, Zhu Youjian's hole cards to Hong Chengchou were not considered the best hole cards that he could show at that time, but Hong Chengchou still played a few small victories.

If it weren't for Wang Pu's behavior of selling his teammates, it would not be difficult for Hong Chengchou to lead the army back to Ningyuan. Even without the check and balance of the Ministry of War, Hong Chengchou could continue to suppress Huang Taiji.

The key point is that Hong Chengchou has a thick face and a dark heart, and he has strong abilities. He can play well in the entire history of more than [-] years of Ming Dynasty, or even in the long history of [-] years.

"After the Battle of Annan, Hong Chengchou may be able to add the crown prince Shaobao."

Zhu Youjian was looking for a position for Hong Chengchou. For Hong Chengchou, he would have to transfer him back to the capital after three more battles at most.

"Well, but my younger brother said before that he wanted to flatten Nanzhang, so after Hong Chengchou flattened Nanzhang, wouldn't it be impossible to seal it?" Zhu Youxiao asked suspiciously.

"It's not like..." Zhu Youjian said: "Bo, Hou, Gong... He can fight three more battles, and he has to solve it within ten years, and then he will be transferred back to the capital or to the northwest."

"Ten years..." Zhu Youxiao frowned slightly. He felt that his younger brother was a little wary. After ten years, Hong Chengchou would only be forty-four years old. He would be in his prime, so it would be a waste to transfer back to the capital.

Zhu Youxiao felt that it was a bit wasteful, but Zhu Youjian knew very well that it was not a good thing to put Hong Chengchou in the southwest for too long, and after ten years, Ming would also need Hong Chengchou.

At Gu Bingqian's age, it is still a question of whether he can use it ten years later, and ten years later will be the last seven years of the worst drought in Ming Dynasty.

Hong Chengchou was transferred back to the capital, and he started to serve as the sixth minister, and then entered the cabinet. Judging from the fact that he was scolded every day and lived to seventy-two in history, this guy can run the cabinet for at least [-] years.

Yuan Keli was sixty-five years old, three years older than Gu Bingqian, and he was not as useful as Gu Bingqian.

It is much better for him to be a foreign minister and leave his name in history than to stay in the capital to fight against each other...

"Alas..." Thinking that he has no famous ministers to use, mainly because of the failure of Wanli in those years, which led to the discontinuation of civil and military officials, Zhu Youjian became very angry.

However, Zhu Youxiao's words made Zhu Youjian entangled in whether to send troops to Nanzhang.

In terms of resources, Nanzhang's resources are not good, and it is a plateau jungle country, and the amount of minerals is not so attractive.

Fighting Nanzhang, it is easy to fight long-term security guerrilla warfare, and Nanzhang's population is only a few hundred thousand, and the arable land is only one to two million mu, which makes people feel a little weak.

If Nanzhang continues to regard Daming as orthodox and accept Daming's economy, garrison and culture, then Zhu Youjian doesn't want to take this place, because the investment and income are not directly proportional.

By capturing Toungoo and Annan, Daming can gain thousands of kilometers of coastline, two major plains, and tens of millions of acres of arable land.

But by taking Nanzhang, Daming can only get hundreds of thousands of people who can't even eat enough, and a territory full of diseases.

"For the matter of Nanzhang, let's see if it is worth attacking." Zhu Youjian still wanted to solve it by peaceful means, because he really had no interest in places like Nanzhang.

Mineral deposits and forest resources can be obtained through trade, which is much more cost-effective than war.

"If Nanzhang can be recovered, it is better to recover." On the issue of territory, Zhu Youxiao put forward different views.

It's just that he hopes to expand the territory as much as possible, instead of thinking about whether he can make ends meet after the local settlement like Zhu Youjian.

If he can't make ends meet, then Da Ming will have to give him blood transfusions all the year round.

"Let's take a look first..." Zhu Youjian didn't directly reject his brother, after all, it would be ugly to refuse in person.

The two did not continue talking about this, but changed the subject and said:
"In recent days, the Duke of England and many ministers have been inquiring about my younger brother's marriage. It seems that they are planning to participate in my younger brother's marriage."

"Heh..." Zhu Youjian chuckled at Xungui's actions.

Obviously, the nobles were really forced to have nowhere to go, or they narrowed the way by themselves.

Since Zhu Youjian completely deprived the power of the nobles in the fourth year of the apocalypse, the nobles seem to have become mascots for the royal sacrifices every year.

However, this situation was not forced by Zhu Youjian, but by their own choice.

The Military Academy opens its doors to them all year round, but the number of students who enroll each year is pitifully small.

Take the five years of Tianqi as an example, when the Military Academy and Yanshan Academy were mainly aimed at self-enrolling clan and noble children, there were [-] clan students who voluntarily signed up for Yanshan Academy.

Although there is a large number of low-level clans, after statistics, the number of noble children is nearly [-], and the number of students who signed up for these [-] people was only [-] people.

Among them, the British government contributed [-] people, and it is not difficult to see how filthy the nobles are and cannot support the wall.

Zhu Youjian was desperate for most of the nobles in Ming Dynasty, and he even sneered at the way they wanted to use women to marry him.

In the face of power, women are often just the ruler's playthings, and Zhu Youjian will not do things that affect his plans for women.

When Zhu Youjian was thinking this way, the sound of horseshoes sounded, and two generals rode forward in front of them, and the leader was the young general whom Zhu Youjian had bestowed upon everyone.

"Long live, Your Highness, the former army has arrived in Yanshan County, and Chen Te came to ask for instructions whether to go to the unfinished Dading Palace or Yanshan County."

When the young general opened his mouth, Cao Bianjiao's immature face appeared under the phoenix-winged helmet, and Cao Dingjiao was following him.

"Zhongxian!"

Zhu Youxiao suddenly yelled, and Wei Zhongxian, who followed Zhu Youxiao and his cavalry in the rear row, immediately rode forward and said flatteringly, "Long live..."

"How is the construction of Dading Palace?"

"Long live, although the construction of Dading Palace has just started, the surrounding scenery is beautiful. Living in Dading Palace is suitable for you and Your Highness to hunt together." Wei Zhongxian responded.

Dading Palace, this is the palace that Zhu Youxiao asked Wei Zhongxian to build, but after careful calculation, it took less than half a month for this palace to be built from the decree to the present, so naturally it could not be repaired.

It's just that the folks who were in charge of building the palace at least managed to get out of the place. These places are good for camping, and the hunting ground behind it is also very suitable for Zhu Youxiao and Zhu Youjian's hunting.

"Since you can be stationed here, let's go to Dading Palace, just let me see how to build a palace here."

Zhu Youxiao said, and Wei Zhongxian also flattered: "Long live, I will be satisfied with the place I found."

He was flattering, and Zhu Youjian was just watching this guy from the side.

Maybe it's his personality problem, or maybe he's too young, in short, Zhu Youjian doesn't like to listen to such flattering words.

However, these words seemed very useful to Zhu Youxiao. He enthusiastically asked Zhu Youjian to change his goal, and the army rushed towards Dading Palace.

Until dusk, the army successfully arrived at the location of Dading Palace, which was built next door to Chengde Mountain Resort in Qing Dynasty.

Although Zhu Youxiao said that the building should not be too large, Wei Zhongxian made preparations and chose a place large enough to facilitate future expansion.

Mountain views, lakes, rivers, hunting grounds...

Wei Zhongxian has thought of all these things, and it's not too big for him to drive people away.

The scale of the field is about two thousand acres. The slightly soft soil and the tree roots that can be seen from time to time can make people realize that this place was primitive not long ago.

Wei Zhongxian mobilized people from the entire Yanshan County, thousands of people cleaned up for ten days, and finally drove out a place that could accommodate tens of thousands of people to camp.

Not surprisingly, high walls, palaces and pavilions will be built here in the future.

For the establishment of this palace, Zhu Youjian didn't have any other ideas. His personal frugality could not require everyone to be frugal.

His elder brother spent tens of thousands of taels of silver to build the palace, and he couldn't control this matter.

"Long live, look, the Wulie River is winding and rugged, and the lake in the mountain is vast, enough to go boating here in the future."

"in addition……"

Wei Zhongxian was introducing to Zhu Youxiao how good the location of Dading Palace was, and Zhu Youjian glanced at it and confessed to Cao Bianjiao and Cao Dingjiao behind him:
"Tang Qi sent out fifty miles to ensure the rear of the luggage, and another [-] troops were stationed in Yanshan County."

"The last general takes orders!" The two agreed, then turned and left.

However, not long after they left, Lu Wenzhao rode a white horse and came with Baitiqi. He dismounted in front of Zhu Youjian, and handed over a military report saying:

"His Royal Highness, Beizhen Fusi has reported that there are remnants of the White Lotus Sect in Shandong, please call the Gongwei camp to wipe them out."

"How about the quantity?" Zhu Youjian glanced at the memorial absently, not because he was arrogant, but because he saw the figure of the White Lotus Sect several times a year.

Some of them number dozens, some hundreds, and some thousands. After they are basically discovered, Zhu Youjian will send the local guard battalion to exterminate them, and the captives will be distributed to Jiugang.

"About [-] people, not many people." Lu Wenzhao responded, and Zhu Youjian also nodded and said:

"Everything is the same, but in the future, the bandits, robbers and remnants of grass bandits will be encircled and captured, and all will be sent to the local cement field to work for ten years."

"Yes!" Lu Wenzhao responded, and at this time Zhu Youxiao also noticed Zhu Youjian's side, he walked over and said curiously:

"what happened?"

"It's nothing, eight hundred white lotus sect remnants have been discovered in Shandong, and it can be settled in a flash." Zhu Youjian generously handed the memorial to Zhu Youxiao, but Zhu Youxiao didn't bother to take it, so he waved his hand and said:

"Your brother can figure it out. I'm not interested in these things, but how about seeing this place?"

Zhu Youxiao happily pointed around, and Zhu Youjian took a look, nodded slightly and said, "It's a good choice."

"I think so too, so I'm going to increase the scale of this construction. One hundred thousand taels of silver will be used to enclose this place first. After that, my younger brother and I will come here every year to escape summer and autumn."

Zhu Youxiao spoke happily with his hands behind his back, and Zhu Youjian also thought it was pretty good.

But before he could say anything, Ke Shi’s voice sounded:

"Long live, Your Highness the Queen invites you and His Highness King Qi to have dinner."

"Oh, I see."

Keshi came over step by step, and although she was close to forty, she was well maintained, and she could be considered an old lady.

Zhu Youjian didn't care about this kind of woman who had been played with by eunuchs, but some big Han generals couldn't help swallowing.

Seeing this, Wei Zhongxian flattered and said, "Long live, Your Highness, let's eat first..."

"Well, let's go brother." Zhu Youxiao grabbed Zhu Youjian's wrist, and then pulled Zhu Youjian towards the temporary palace.

It is said to be a palace because Zhu Youxiao spent a few days concocting a tent that can be spliced ​​by himself.

This thing is like a yurt, but it is more exquisite and delicate than a yurt.

Once the things are unfolded, they will be nine feet nine feet in diameter, occupy an area of ​​one mu, and be five feet high, with a door frame as the gate.

Zhu Youxiao took Zhu Youjian to the temporary palace, and after entering the palace, he proudly pointed everywhere, talking about his whimsical ideas.

Zhu Youjian took a look at the structure inside. Among other things, its area alone is enough to accommodate thousands of people.

At this moment, carpets are laid here, and there are mats, beds, screens, mirrors, tables, chairs, cabinets and other furniture inside...

Ancient furniture has experienced thousands of years of development, and it was the most prosperous in the Ming Dynasty. Among them, hardwood furniture is the most respected and appreciated by the world.

Ming-style furniture is exquisite in materials, simple and elegant. It uses hard wood that is firm and delicate, high in strength, and beautiful in color and texture.

Zhu Youxiao, the top carpenter of the Ming Dynasty, and the silver money from the family, so the furniture with exquisite craftsmanship also has the richness left by the top painter of the Ming Dynasty.

All the furniture in this palace, not to mention anything else, just the wood of that chair can be sold at a high price of hundreds of taels of silver.

The disaster victims cannot affect the enjoyment of the rich and powerful, and this side is fully revealed in front of Zhu Youjian.

It's just that he also knows that as long as there are people with classes, there will be rich and poor.

The slogan of equal wealth can only be achieved relatively, not absolutely.

At least for now, there are more than [-] Shimimai in the homes of the disaster victims in various provinces, and there are jobs that the imperial court has found for them.

Even if there is a severe drought, they can still live and live a nourishing life.

"Why is my brother stunned? Why are you envious? Don't be envious. I have already prepared a palace of the same size for my brother. You can see it when you go back after you finish your meal."

Zhu Youxiao didn't know what his younger brother was thinking, he thought Zhu Youjian was envious, so he patted him on the back, smiled and comforted him, then took his hand and walked towards the dining area.

"Uncle Fifth..."

After Zhu Youjian sat down and heard the voices of more than a dozen sister-in-laws greeting him, he was brought back to reality.

In front of him was a huge table that could accommodate more than [-] people for dinner after splicing together, and Zhu Youxiao was sitting next to him, and Zhang Yan was sitting next to Zhu Youxiao.

On the other side of Zhu Youjian, there was Zhu Ciran who was sitting and lying on the table, staring at him with big black and white eyes.

His eyes seemed to be thinking about why he was arranged to sit next to his uncle, and Zhu Youxiao also took a chopstick of Zhu Youjian's favorite goose meat at this time, and put the meat in Zhu Youjian's bowl inside.

Zhu Youjian took advantage of the situation and looked up at his brother, while Zhu Youxiao smiled warmly:
"What do you like to eat..."

After that, he turned his head to look at the concubines, said with a smile:

"This time it's a family banquet, so don't talk too much about etiquette, it's too much for you, use your chopsticks..."

"Yes..." More than a dozen concubines responded, and then began to chat about some topics between them.

It's funny to say that such a scene should have made Zhu Youjian feel the warmth of home, but he only felt unfamiliar.

Only when he turned his head and saw Zhu Youxiao smiling and talking to him about all kinds of jokes he encountered while doing carpentry, Zhu Youjian would feel warm in his heart.

"You don't know, I almost got it at the time, and then Zhongxian rolled and crawled over, making me laugh so much that my stomach hurts, thinking about it now..."

Zhu Youxiao explained vividly, while Zhu Youjian laughed with him while eating.

At the end of the meal, Zhu Youxiao asked for a drink, and the two brothers exchanged glasses, and the smell of alcohol gradually attracted the eyes.

Until the end, Zhu Youjian didn't remember how he returned to the palace...

　I still rushed out, and I have to work to catch up with the manuscript after a daily update of [-], which is really difficult

　　
　
(End of this chapter)