Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 355 Prelude to the War of the Feudal Domains
"The water temperature is still good, let's continue..."

In the Cui Mansion of Dashiyongfang, when Cui Chengxiu was sitting by the bed, watching two attractive maidservants bring the footbath, after testing the temperature of the water, he submerged his feet in the water, the two maidservants also Start cleaning it.

When cleaning the soles of the feet, the maid also needs to massage the soles of the feet to make Cui Chengxiu happy.

After finally washing and wiping every inch of the feet, the two carried the footbath away, and Cui Chengxiu, who was only wearing a middle coat, turned around and patted the bedding behind her.

Two [-]- and [-]-year-old maids came out from the quilt, as if saying that the bed had been warmed up.

The two got to the foot of the bed and knelt there. After Cui Chengxiu went to bed, he got into the quilt and stretched his legs towards the two maidservants while feeling the warmth.

The two maids touched their feet, and then moved forward, pressing their feet close to their chests, while Cui Chengxiu's feet were swinging restlessly.

After a while, three maidservants entered the house again. The two maidservants took off their clothes and went to bed in their middle clothes, clinging to Cui Chengxiu's left and right.

Cui Chengxiu stretched out her hand, and two fourteen or fifteen-year-old maidservants also put their hands on her chest and abdomen to warm them up.

The remaining maid was kneeling at the head of the bed, and there was a small table next to it, with pastries, tea and warm water on the table.

Everything was ready, and just as the maid at the door was about to come in and turn off the lights, a voice sounded in the courtyard.

"Sir! Sir, it's not good! Jin Yiwei has brought someone to arrest him."

Cui Chengxiu sat up suddenly, and a panic-stricken mansion manager broke into the room, knelt on the ground and panted heavily.

"Jin Yiwei came to get me? Who?"

Hearing Jin Yiwei's arrival, Cui Chengxiu subconsciously wanted to know who was going to take her.

"It's Yang Huan. I heard that it was ordered by King Qi and Long Live."

The manager hurriedly explained, but Cui Chengxiu didn't dare to answer the question: "Where's the factory owner?"

"The factory owner... There is no news from the factory owner..." It was difficult to manage the job, but Cui Chengxiu was struck by lightning when he heard this, knowing that he was probably abandoned by Wei Zhongxian.

Before he could react, the sound of footsteps came towards the bedroom. Yang Huan walked into the room first. When he saw the five maidservants serving Cui Chengxiu, there was a hint of jealousy in his eyes:
"Cui Shangshu is so leisurely, even Long Live and King Qi don't have such a big show."

"Okay, pack up and go to prison with us!"

"Yang Huan, you and I..." Cui Chengxiu still wanted to plead, but Yang Huan turned around and left.

The other party's move instantly made Cui Chengxiu slump like an eggplant beaten by frost.

He understood that if even a profit-seeking person like Yang Huan showed such a reaction, then Cui Chengxiu probably would not survive...

"The king regards his ministers like dirt, and his ministers regard him like a bandit!"

"It's a pity that I have been in the Ming Dynasty for more than two hundred years, and I was finally ruined by this generation of unworthy descendants!"

"I am an official of the Metropolitan Procuratorate! Jin Yiwei has no right to arrest me!"

"Paws!"

The turmoil of Jin Xuan being imprisoned has not been settled. Although the upper-level people already know the ending of Jin Xuan, the middle-level officials have already incited the lower-level officials.

It's just that before the Yanshan faction officials' discussion turned into a riot, Jin Yiwei began to break down the houses one by one.

Officials of the Eunuch Party and Zhejiang Party who participated in instigation and released news to officials of the Yanshan faction were taken down one after another.

Among them, there are many high-ranking and powerful people, and Cui Chengxiu is just one of them. In this involvement, more than [-] officials were arrested in the first batch, and more than [-] scribes and subordinate officials were involved.

It's just that everyone knows that these 600 people are just the beginning. If some of them cannot withstand the pressure to confess, then the number will increase exponentially.

All of a sudden, the whole capital city was full of panic, and the grass and trees were full of soldiers.

It's just that compared to this group of people who are cautious in seeking self-protection, the high-ranking people are often as relaxed and natural as walking in the garden...

"Finally done..."

In the Hall of Mental Cultivation, when a memorial was put down, Zhu Youxiao breathed a sigh of relief and looked up at Wang Andao:
"The memorials here should be one-third of the memorials that my brother usually handles."

Standing in the warm Hall of Mental Cultivation, when Wang An heard Zhu Youxiao's question, he was silent for a moment before saying:
"Less than one-fifth..."

"One-fifth?" Wei Zhongxian who was standing aside was startled, and Zhu Youxiao's expression froze slightly.

"It took me two hours to process these memorials. If it's only one-fifth, wouldn't my brother have to process ten hours a day?"

Wang An was a little relieved by Zhu Youxiao's inquiry, because it meant that Zhu Youxiao knew Zhu Youjian's difficulties, so he explained:
"His Royal Highness processes the memorial very quickly, so the processing of the memorial can be completed in about eight hours."

"What are the memorabilia that my younger brother usually deals with?" Zhu Youxiao got up to go for a walk, Wang An and Wei Zhongxian followed behind him, and explained:
"The five army governors' mansions and the Yumajian are the most, and the two account for about three-fifths, followed by disaster relief accounts for one-fifth, and the remaining one-fifth is basically a matter of relocating the people."

"In addition, according to the records of the living notes of Prince Qi's Mansion, during the eight days from October 21th to 660st in the eighth year of Tianqi, His Highness reviewed a total of 390 memorials from various divisions inside and outside the capital, and handled about [-] state affairs. .”

"On average, there are more than 700 memorials to be reviewed every day."

"So much?" Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but feel a little guilty when he heard the record of his younger brother's handling of memorials, and subconsciously asked, "How about the Hall of Mental Cultivation?"

"This..." Wei Zhongxian paused, apparently feeling that it was not easy to talk about it, but Zhu Youxiao frowned and said, "Say it!"

"Yes..." Wei Zhongxian had no choice but to say:
"During the same eight days, Wansui reviewed a total of 550 and two memorials from various divisions inside and outside the capital, and handled about 370 and five state affairs."

"On average, there are more than 120 memorials to be reviewed every day."

After finishing speaking, Wei Zhongxian was afraid that the emperor would lose his face, so he deliberately said:
"However, according to the processing of the past few days, Wansui probably handles about [-] memorials every day, and he is considered a more diligent emperor in the history books."

Although Wei Zhongxian said so, Zhu Youxiao knew how tired his younger brother was, and what Jin Xuan said in the Hall of Mental Cultivation made Zhu Youxiao keep thinking about it.

Calculated in this way, the workload of my younger brother in one day can be equal to his workload in three or four days.

What's more, although the number of memorials is not bad, after all, Zhu Youxiao has dealt with the memorials of the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies and the Imperial Horse Supervisor, and has also seen the memorials for disaster relief and relocation of the people.

Really counting the content, I am afraid that my younger brother's workload in one day is equal to my own workload in more than ten days.

It can be seen that Zhu Youjian's diligent heart is indeed "Zhen Gu Han Li".

If you have to find the second place in history, I am afraid that only Qin Shihuang and Ming Taizu can compare with it.

"Brother, are there any memorials that can be handled by the Hall of Mental Cultivation?"

Zhu Youxiao thought about it. He only worked two hours a day, so he was really lazy.

"If it is really necessary to count, according to the actions of Prince Qi's Mansion, the memorials for disaster relief and relief with work may be able to handle, about 160 pieces per day."

Wang An spoke, and Zhu Youxiao also waved his hands when he heard the words: "In the future, the memorials for disaster relief and relief with work should also be moved to the Hall of Mental Cultivation to deal with."

"In this way, my brother should be able to rest for an extra hour every day."

"Long live Your Highness Renai, I'm afraid His Highness will be very moved when he finds out..." Wei Zhongxian smiled obsequiously, but Zhu Youxiao didn't respond to him.

"In your opinion, if the crown prince is handed over to my younger brother, will it make my younger brother too tired?"

Zhu Youxiao looked at Wang An, but Wang An paused when he heard the words, and then spoke after a few seconds:

"Even if Long Live helps to process the memorial, Your Highness will have to work for seven hours a day. I heard that Li Dingguo, who was adopted by His Highness in Prince Qi's Mansion, has only had a chance to be taken by His Highness in the past few days."

"However, even with him, His Royal Highness King Qi only has time to supervise his homework. Things such as horse bow, border affairs, and governance are still taken by the people of the palace."

Speaking of this, Wang An comforted: "Just wait for Huachun to go north, and if Long live helps deal with disaster relief and work-for-relief memorials, His Highness's tired time should be shortened to about five hours."

"At that time, His Highness should be able to spare more time to bring Li Dingguo. Since he can take Li Dingguo, he can naturally take His Highness the Crown Prince."

"Five hours..." Zhu Youxiao frowned, while Wei Zhongxian was worried about Zhu Youxiao's body and said:

"Long live, the number of memorials you have approved to send to the Hall of Mental Cultivation is already more than [-] pieces. Even Long live, you need to deal with it for four or five hours."

Wei Zhongxian was afraid that Zhu Youxiao's head would get hot, and he would have to deal with some other memorials.

To be honest, according to Zhu Youjian's big stall, if the memorials are piled up for one person alone, even if this person is the emperor, living to the age of 50 is considered a "longevity".

Right now, the two brothers are handling memorials at the same time. Although Zhu Youjian still handles more, the efficiency of the two is not the same. In fact, Zhu Youxiao's fatigue is not much worse than Zhu Youjian.

Wei Zhongxian can count on Zhu Youxiao to live longer, after all, only when Zhu Youxiao lives longer can he make more money.

After Zhu Youxiao was persuaded like this, he also felt that in terms of his own ability, more than 300 memorials were not bad, so he changed the subject and said:

"In that case, let me tell my younger brother that when Hua Chun arrives in the capital, Cheng En and Hua Chun will be handed over to Cheng En and Hua Chun. When my younger brother takes Li Dingguo, he will take the crown prince with him."

"But don't rely too much on your younger brother for the prince's schoolwork. Among Jin Xuan's friends, is there anyone with the same temper as him?"

"Yes..." Wang An nodded and said: "His best friend has good morals, the family style is not bad, he has not accepted any bribes, he has a straightforward personality, he is clean and unconventional, and he hates evil."

After Wang An finished speaking, Zhu Youxiao nodded and said:
"Then arrange him as the prince's lecturer, and let him take care of the younger brother when he is too busy."

"By the way, is there anything else going on recently?"

Zhu Youxiao asked about side affairs, but Wang An heard that after thinking about it, he said:

"If it's a side matter, then it's only Xiao Xiyang's side."

"I heard that many Western barbarians in Xiaoxiyang are dissatisfied with my appointment to the kings, but I don't know how His Highness will deal with it..."

"Dissatisfied?" Zhu Youxiao frowned, as if he couldn't tolerate these "small countries" being dissatisfied with Daming, and waved his hand directly:

"If you are dissatisfied, hit me! Tell the household department to cooperate with the Qi Palace, and you don't need to ask for instructions on the memorial to Xiyi. You can back up the Hall of Mental Cultivation after being approved."

"Yes..." Wang An answered, and after Zhu Youxiao took a walk, he also felt a lot more comfortable, turned around and walked towards Kunning Palace...

------

"Jingle Bell--"

On the coast of the Guli Coast in the winter month, a warm wind was blowing on the port, and a group of five or six feet long armed merchant ships sailed away from the port along with the monsoon.

The tall sails whistled in the wind, and the slightly undulating waves seemed to be responding to something, only when the ship was chopping the waves, some of the waves were shattered and wiped out.

Guli is the Ming Dynasty's name for this place, and in the mouth of the Portuguese, it is called Kozhikode.

Since the rise of the Maritime Silk Road in the Song Dynasty, this place has been the object of competition from many parties.

In the Song Dynasty classics, it is called Nanpi Kingdom, and in the Yuan Dynasty ancient books, it is called "Guli Buddha".

Of course, Guli has an ancient history. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties of the Central Plains, it has become a famous port.

Arabs and Chinese engaged in the spice trade here, and the port city gradually began to prosper.

Until the Song Dynasty, it was divided into many city-states, and maritime merchants in the Northern Song Dynasty began to trade spices here.

Due to Guli's superior geographical location on the coast, from Song Dynasty to modern times, it was a relatively important maritime trade center in the world at that time.

From the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty to the first year of Yongle period, the Ming Dynasty also sent envoys to visit Guli many times. Later, when Zheng He sailed to the West, Zheng He built an official factory there and stationed troops there for a long time.

According to the records in "Yingya Shenglan" written by Ma Huan, a translator who accompanied Zheng He to the West, the Guli people were divided into five classes: Huihui, Nanbi, Zhedi, Geling, and Papaya.

In the fifth year of Yongle, after Zheng He arrived in Guli on his second voyage to the west, the local king also accepted the imperial edict and the silver seal of the edict of Zhu Di, Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty, who made him the king of Guli. Therefore, Ming became the first-class race here.

Not only the king of Guli, but also the leaders of the southern city-states also accepted the promotion of crowns, so that Zheng He even erected a stone stele pavilion in Guli to commemorate:
"The country is more than [-] miles away from China, and the people and things are salty, and the howls are in the same wind. They are engraved here, and they will be shown forever."

Unfortunately, with the interruption of Zheng He's voyages, Westerners began to invade half a century later.

The Portuguese suppressed the local states many times and built castles here. During the Wanli period, the Dutch also began to develop trade in Guli, and the power and influence of Portugal began to fade.

Until the Ming army regained Ceylon Island, businessmen from various countries also poured into the area one after another. As a result, although the territory here is not large, it is the place with the most Europeans on the South Asian peninsula.

At this time, in front of the port in Guli, looking at the armed merchant ships going away, the densely packed crowd on the port was watching the merchant ships gradually disappearing into the sky, waving from time to time.

But when the fleet completely turned into a small black spot, everyone couldn't help but look back reluctantly, with a little confusion in their eyes.

In fact, the people standing in front of the pier were not ordinary people, but high-level people from European companies in East and Far East in South Asia.

They can be regarded as the real explorers of this era. In order to obtain wealth, they did not hesitate to travel thousands of miles away from their homeland and came to this South Asian region with a very different climate, domineering and reckless.

However, these are the old calendars of the past, because for the Europeans standing in front of the port today, their good days are basically gone forever, because Daming's stance in South Asia has become more and more serious. tough.

Some time ago, Huang Long, the commander of the navy of the Ming Dynasty who captured Xiaoxiyang and managed the Nanyang region, sent a diplomatic letter stating that the Ming Dynasty would attack South Asia and recover the former Guli official factory.

Huanglong mentioned in the letter that merchants from various European countries can trade in Guli, but they still need to abide by the laws of Ming Dynasty, and the price of spices will not change.

Perhaps in Huanglong's view, he has shown enough sincerity.

But for businessmen from various European countries, what Huang Long said was undoubtedly to snatch all the colonies of European countries in India.

Although the warships of the Ming Dynasty Navy have demonstrated their strength many times in the past few years, which has exerted tremendous psychological pressure on the governors of European countries stationed in India, this means that they are ready to simply withdraw from the Indian market just like Xiaoxiyang did.

Although they don't know the full strength of the navy under Huanglong's command, they still can't do such a thing as allowing Daming to take over the Indian region.

Whether it's Huanglong or the Ming Navy that cruises the entire coast of India, they are actually telling people from all over the world one thing.

That is, Daming is the master here, and outsiders like them will always be just outsiders.

Therefore, since Huanglong released the news of "all the vassals will join the vassals", the atmosphere in the whole of India has become very delicate.

Merchants from various European countries located here began to speed up the delivery of property back to Europe, and hoped that the governors of various countries would write to their countries so that their countries could provide more support and reinforcements.

The "Jasmine" that is leaving the port now is carrying a large amount of wealth accumulated by businessmen from various European countries, as well as some family members of high-level companies in European countries, and began to set off to return to Europe.

This is a very clear signal, which illustrates one point, that is, in the process of competing with Huanglong for South Asia, people from various European countries have no determination to win, and they have already begun to prepare for defeat, so there are so many European countries Businessmen chose to leave South Asia.

The governors of all countries actually know that at this moment in Europe, a large-scale melee of European countries that evolved from the civil war of the Holy Roman Empire is erupting.

This may be the first all-European war in history, and it will be very tragic.

But even if all countries know about it, no one chooses to withdraw from the battlefield, because this war is the product of conflicts between European countries competing for interests, establishing hegemony, and intensifying religious disputes, and no one can withdraw.

Moreover, this war has been fought for ten years, and at this juncture, no one will withdraw at all, and all countries are already jealous.

Therefore, the governors of various countries stationed in India do not believe that the country will come to support tens of thousands of miles of sea.

Even if there is a supporting army, the size of the army is not much larger.

Daming is already increasing its troops one after another, and there are already tens of thousands of elite soldiers ready to go on the island of Ceylon in the south.

Their artillery and muskets, as well as the number of people, even if they are placed in Europe, they can easily conquer some small countries.

In this era, no country in Europe can send an army of more than 6 people across tens of thousands of miles of waters in the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean.

Based on the limitation of this era alone, it is determined that no one can stop Daming in this war.

The governors of various countries who understand this truth can only turn around and return to their stations after the "Jasmine" leaves.

As soon as they left, the people on the pier gradually dispersed. Except for a few people who were still standing in front of the pier, the place had regained its former calm.

It's a pity, because the departure of the Jasmine is not the beginning, and the waves here in Guli have just emerged.

The governors of European countries, whose total strength could not even gather 1 people, really did not want to fight head-on with the Ming army.

Their greatest hope is that the Mughal Empire in the north can show the strength of a "superpower" to disintegrate the evil ambitions of the Ming army.

Letters began to go back and forth between the north and the south. Everyone in the southern lands was in danger, but the news from the north was delayed.

Sitting in his office, Menezes, the Portuguese governor in India, is writing a letter at the moment, reporting the situation here to the country.

On the chairs not far from him, several Portuguese officials also had very bad faces.

Because just now, Menezes made a decision.

This decision is that once the Ming army wins the battle with the Mughal Empire, Portugal can only obediently surrender all its colonies in India.

There is no way around this. Although Portugal did not have a conflict with the Ming army in the last Nanyang War, it was because the Ming army looked at Portugal's technology in Haojing trade and cannon casting.

However, at the moment, Ming's trade no longer needs such a small support from Portugal, and its cannon-casting technology is far superior to that of the Portuguese.

In this situation, Meneses, who had only 6 troops, never thought of conflicting with the Ming army, which might have a strength of [-].

The letter he is writing now is also clarifying the strength gap between the two sides.

On the letter paper, the weak strength of the Portuguese is undoubtedly revealed.

There are no more than 500 large and small artillery pieces, the total tonnage of warships and armed merchant ships is no more than [-] tons, and the military strength is only [-] people, plus [-] mercenaries.

In contrast to the Ming army, in Huanglong's letter, Huanglong himself dictated that there were more than [-] warships, the converted tonnage was more than [-] tons, and more than [-] artillery pieces.

Not only that, the number of troops at sea is as high as more than 7000, and there are [-] soldiers and horses ready to go on land.

With nearly 13 troops, this thing is not an expedition at all, but a game to destroy the country.

Even though Meneses also knew that only the Little West Ocean and the Old Port, as well as Siam under the influence of the Ming Dynasty, could not support the 13 people to fight a protracted war.

But here comes the question, with such a huge number of troops and terrifying artillery numbers, besides the Mughal Empire, who else on this continent can fight a protracted war with them?

Therefore, Menezes's idea will be so clear.

Once the Ming army wins the battle with the Mughal Empire, Portugal will send back troops to return to other colonies, and Menezes will stay in South Asia to maintain the company's trade with Ming.

"Okay, let's send the letter."

When the letter was finished, Menezes got up and handed the letter to one of them. The person who got the letter was full of resignation, but after sighing, he turned and left.

After he left, another person said unwillingly:

"Can we stand firm and wait for the kingdom's reinforcements?"

"Even if reinforcements can come, how much can they come?" Meneses asked the other side, and clarified:

"It only takes two months for Ming to send troops from the Old Port to Kozhikode, and it takes up to four months if they come from Guangzhou."

"What about us? It will take ten months to reach Guli from Lisbon in the Kingdom."

"In ten months, Da Ming has been able to send reinforcements twice, and the third reinforcement is on the way."

"They have Luzon, Borneo, Java and Malacca as supply bases, and they can deliver a large number of troops, while our colony can only support no more than 3000 people."

Having said that, Menezes sighed:

"Although I really don't want to admit it, but in the east of the Cape of Good Hope, no country can match Daming's delivery ability."

"Let's wait quietly for news from the Tatars in the north..."

Meneses turned around and looked at the sunny streets of Kozhikode outside the window, and there were not a few people who thought the same as him...

　a bit moldy...

　　The sheep died, and now I have a low-grade fever and body aches.

　　Today's second update may not be able to be written, even if it is written, it will probably be at night...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)