Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 616

"Tiger and Rabbit Dun fought far enough. I didn't expect that they even violated the border of Xilu (Crimea). It's no wonder that Lumi Kingdom (Ottoman) sent us a letter."

In the twelfth lunar month of the 21st year of Apocalypse, when the north had been covered with snow, all the people cheered in the face of the snow.

The thick white snow will turn into creeks and rivers after the beginning of spring, nourishing the drought-stricken land. Everyone can see that the drought seems to be coming to an end.

The people were happy, and Zhu Youjian, who was sitting in the Qi Palace and could not go out, was also very happy.

At the beginning of the month, the Ottoman Empire sent a letter to the Ming Dynasty in the Ottoman Imperial Store, asking if Ming knew about the Tatars’ westward expedition.

It was also at this time that Zhu Youjian knew that Lin Danhan had reached the banks of the Volga River and gained a firm foothold.

"The royal guards from Fusi in Beizhen didn't send back a message, presumably there is no chance to release the pigeon."

Lu Wenzhao stood in front of Zhu Youjian's desk to explain, but Zhu Youjian didn't care about it, and waved his hand to signal him not to be nervous.

"It's not a bad thing for us that Lin Dan Khan won the Volga River, at least he blocked the way for the Raksha people to go east."

"Now a Lingbei mountain range (Ural) blocks the connection between the local Luocha people and Lingbei Luocha people, so we can also send troops after the beginning of spring."

"Let the new Beiting General Commander Fumin dispatch troops and go north along the Yinma River (Irtysh River) to recover the lost land east of the leading mountains."

"Secondly, Cao Wenzhao, the governor of the Northern Army, will command the troops to march westward and recover the land of Mengchi and Hezhong in the imperial court. It is best to release the signal in advance."

Zhu Youjian opened his mouth and issued two military orders. For the former stubborn Rakshasa, he chose to attack directly and destroy the opponent with a thunderous blow.

For the latter Mongols, he still chose to build momentum early and give the Mongols time to escape, just like the previous choice.

For Lin Dan Khan, who occupies the plain between the two rivers, there is no place in the middle of the river that is worthy of his nostalgia except for the Fergana Valley.

He can even abandon the Ili Valley, let alone the Fergana Valley.

"Your Highness, in fact, why don't we accept the surrender of Tiger and Rabbit Dun after taking this place, and let people become the Great Ming Ping Fan?"

Cao Huachun opened his mouth to speak. He felt that Lin Danhan could be used as the screen vassal of Ming Dynasty to support Lin Danhan and disrupt the situation in Eastern Europe.

Compared with the Crimean Khanate, Lin Dan Khan is more war-loving and more tenacious in combat power. If Lin Dan Khan was the screen fan, then the western frontier of Ming Dynasty would be peaceful for many years.

After all, to the east of the Ural River is the grassland next door, and to the west of the Volga River is the plain. Even a fool can know where to grab it.

For Cao Huachun and the others, except for the Fergana Valley, the entire river land has barren grasslands and Gobi deserts, and there is really nothing to win.

But for Zhu Youjian, the wealth of Hezhong Land is not on the ground, but underground.

Various natural resources such as petroleum, lithium ore, iron ore, gold ore are all needed by Daming.

"Lin Dan Khan can be called the Ping Fan of the Ming Dynasty, but that will not be possible until the imperial court drives it to the east of the Volga and Don Rivers."

"I can't see this scene when I'm here, so I can only leave it to Brother Ran or Brother Ran."

Zhu Youjian really wants to support power to check and balance Europe, and he really wants to support Lin Danhan.

But he will not support him while he is still in power, but will leave this opportunity to Zhu Ciran.

This is not because Zhu Youjian gave up, but because the timing was wrong.

He now agrees that Lin Dan Khan should enter the Daming vassal system, and the Lianghe Plain and the Caucasus region will no longer belong to Ming Dynasty.

Daming needed the Lianghe Plain and the Caucasus region to support two new Ping feudal states, namely Yongguo and Dingguo.

As Pingfan, one contained the Ottomans in the south of the Caucasus region, and the other contained Lindan Khan and Tsarist Russia in the west.

In this way, if the descendants of Lin Dan Khan rebel in the future, they will not directly attack the territory of Daming, but will be resisted by Yongguo and Dingguo first, giving Daming enough time to mobilize troops.

Zhu Youjian closed the information in his hand, and then said to Lu Wenzhao:

"How long will it take for the people sent by Yan Yingyuan to reach Europe?"

"About half a month..." Lu Wenzhao responded with a bow.

This diplomatic event in their mouth will be Spain's last chance.

If Spain disagrees, then Zhu Youjian can only sit back and watch Spain lose the war.

At that time, even if Spain falls and France rises, Ming can still support Britain and Lin Dan Khan to disrupt the European situation.

Zhu Youjian nodded slightly in response, and stopped paying attention to this matter, but turned his attention to Daming.

"How is the development of the plague in Shanxi? Has the source been found?"

He asked Lu Wenzhao, and Lu Wenzhao also bowed his body and responded: "Basically under control."

"The scope of the plague is currently within the territory of Taiyuan Prefecture and Datong Prefecture. It has not spread to other places. The infected will die within three days. They cannot go very far without horses."

"In the two prefectures, many counties, towns, and villages have eradicated the plague. Currently, the main infected areas are nine counties including Yangqu, Daizhou, Dingxiang, Huairen, Datong, and Yingzhou."

"According to Dr. Wu's investigation, the source should be caused by rats running away on the grassland due to hunger. They migrated in groups, approaching various places close to water sources like waves, gnawing on the local grass roots, and interacting with people at the same time. touch."

"Except for those who have just been infected, the plague virus can be suppressed with medicine, and the other people are hard to save even the Da Luo Immortal."

"In the month since the plague broke out, 12 people have died in the two prefectures..."

12 people fell ill and died, which made Zhu Youjian's hands tighten.

"Physician Wu said that it is estimated that the plague will be curbed after the beginning of spring, but the casualties of the common people may not be less than 20..."

Lu Wenzhao lowered his head and reported the information. The so-called casualties were actually the number of deaths.

With a population of 20, this is almost [-]/[-] of the population of Ming Dynasty.

This plague is coming fiercely. If Zhu Youjian has not always been prepared for the plague and the local control is timely, then under the operation of the train, this plague will probably be like the plague in the late Ming Dynasty. spread to the south.

Industry is a double-edged sword. It makes population flow more frequent. For Daming, whose medical methods cannot keep up, it is a hidden explosive that may explode at any time.

"Fortunately, the drought is coming to an end..."

Zhu Youjian sighed, the fundamental culprit of the great plague in the late Ming Dynasty was rats.

However, this kind of mouse is not a common house mouse in ordinary people's daily life, but a prairie mouse.

Zhu Youjian's memories of the end of the Ming Dynasty are mostly about severe drought and plague, followed by the struggle between Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Regarding the plague at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the research result of later generations is that the grassland was degraded due to the drought in the west of Daming Shanxi.

At this time, a large number of plague bacteria began to multiply in the body of a certain mouse that had no food due to the degradation of the grassland.

At this time, the fleas, which were unable to suck blood because of the blocked digestive tract, vented their anger on the mice in the wilderness, so they jumped on the mice and gnawed desperately.

A few hours later, the bitten mice began to fester and bleed internally, until they died.

The Yersinia pestis did not die because of the death of this mouse. They would move to another mouse in a dark and dry place, and then a large-scale spread occurred.

Rats in the wild have fleas on them. Once humans have contact with this kind of rats, it is easy to transfer the fleas carrying Phytophthora to humans!
Temperature drops and droughts, which lead to migrations of rats.

Such a "thrilling" scene is the same as the result of Wu Youxing's investigation. Thousands of rats bit each other's tails and crossed the river as if they were dead, even though countless companions died behind them.

So many rats surged from the grasslands and scattered to eat crops and grass roots when they were close to human settlements.

In the dry environment of the late Ming Dynasty, the mice carrying the virus moved on a large scale. In Wu Youxing's investigation, many refugees went to find food in the mouse hole because of hunger.

The prairie rats drove away the house mice, and the people went to dig out the house rat holes, and the plague spread, and the spread of the plague was inevitable.

This series of coincidental factors came together to trigger the rapid spread of the plague in the late Ming Dynasty and this plague.

Fortunately, Zhu Youjian has been paying attention to the plague. He not only contained it in time, but also sent Wu Youxing and others to the disaster area to treat the people.

However, judging from the current situation, there are not many people who can be saved by them. In the final analysis, traditional Chinese medicine still uses natural medicinal materials to stimulate human immunity, and then eliminate the virus in the body.

However, the people in Shanxi were not able to get nutritional supplements due to the severe drought, and they were infected with the plague virus. Even if Wu Youke's medicine was useful, it would not be of much help.

"The plague must be curbed in time, and the trains will be stopped as soon as they are stopped. For the safety of the people, it is worthwhile to lose more benefits."

Zhu Youjian had a headache about the suspension of the train, but he knew it was necessary.

"Can……"

Hearing Zhu Youjian's words, Lu Wenzhao hesitated and said, "If the train stops, then the Western Expedition may have to be postponed for a few months."

"Postpone it..." Zhu Youjian was also very helpless, and he had no way to curb the plague.

To be honest, he has done a good job.

The plague at the end of the Ming Dynasty lasted through Chongzhen for 17 years, and it is a surprise that the plague did not break out in Daming until now when the drought was at its worst.

If the plague broke out from the very beginning, then Daming would not be able to reach the current situation regardless of its territory, population, or cultivated land area.

Compared with the tens of millions of people who died due to the plague in history, although the death of these 20 people is heartbreaking, it is also worthy of gratitude... Fortunately, it is only to this extent.

"Your Highness..."

When Zhu Youjian had mixed feelings, Lu Yuangao walked into the hall with a memorial:

"Memorandum from the Metropolitan Procuratorate..."

The Metropolitan Procuratorate... This yamen has almost become the headquarters of Yanshan.

Therefore, the meaning of Lu Yuangao's words, no accident, is that the Yanshan faction chose to give in again.

Hearing this, Wang Chengen hurried up to take it, and then handed it over to Zhu Youjian.

Zhu Youjian opened it and looked at it, and the content made him feel a little better.

"Reserve the three cabinet seats in the first election, and permanently set the cabinet seats to six seats. The purpose is feasible. Military generals are not allowed to interfere in politics, and the law is changed to a lighter sentence."

Zhu Youjian read out the demands of the Yanshan faction, which can be said to have undergone a 180-degree change from their attitude in August.

Therefore, Cao Huachun and others next to him couldn't help showing a smile of relief.

But compared to their smiles, Zhu Youjian closed the memorial in the next second, threw it on the table casually, and said calmly: "It's good to be like this early, but it's too late now."

"Your Highness..." Cao Huachun wanted to come up to persuade him, after all, in his opinion, such a result is enough to satisfy people.

Their masters and servants will always go to Qi State, there is no need to go deeper and deeper in the muddy water of Daming Temple.

It is enough to make the Yanshan faction compromise to the current situation.

only……

"Their methods have been exhausted, but mine has not yet been used."

"If they are really sincere, then they will pay the southern taxes first."

As soon as Zhu Youjian opened his mouth, everyone immediately remembered what happened a few days ago.

October is the time when the provinces of the world deposit their taxes in banks and then hand them over to the imperial court.

However, at the tail end of October, not only the south, it can be said that taxes in many parts of the world were not paid in time.

Local towns and towns have all kinds of excuses, all of which are delaying time.

Cao Huachun and others didn't know why they procrastinated, but now they all know.

They want Zhu Youjian to agree to the content of this memorial, thus ending the confrontation between the two sides.

The most fundamental reason is the sudden emergence of Jin Xuan, as well as Yan Yinshao, Wu Aheng and others who have already arrived in Songjiang Mansion.

Jin Xuan's faction has already been called the "Golden Party" in the temple.

Gentlemen don't call themselves Dang, and Yanshan just calls himself "Yanshan", and the so-called Jindang is also a high hat that Yanshan puts on Jin Xuan and his group.

"How long has the Ming Dynasty not had a regular dynasty..."

Zhu Youjian suddenly opened his mouth, and Cao Huachun who heard the words bowed and bowed: "Since the crown prince's memorandum was rejected by the Metropolitan Procuratorate, it has been four and a half months since the regular court was held."

"Judging from this situation, I am afraid it will be difficult to carry out the grand court meeting on the Zhengdan Festival in the 22nd year of Tianqi."

At present, the political struggle among the upper class of the Ming Dynasty is not considered serious, and the normal operation of various ministries will not be affected without the Chang Dynasty, so Zhu Youjian is not worried.

It's just that he is not ready to agree to the matter that the Yanshan faction wants to compromise.

He has already prepared everything he should prepare now, and he will be able to do it when the students graduate from the prefectural school in the next year.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian thought of a person, and after pondering for a moment, he couldn't help asking:

"Brother, what's going on now..."

"boom!"

When Zhu Youjian asked, there was the sound of hammering in Nanjing Qianqing Palace.

I saw Zhu Youxiao wearing a middle coat and holding a mallet in his hand to replace a damaged pillar. Sun Chuanting and Hong Chengchou in official uniforms were standing in the hall.

"Long live, according to my investigation, the officials of the three provinces in the south of the Yangtze River are indeed in collusion with the small and medium-sized gentry in the local area, and they still collect miscellaneous taxes that are prohibited by various orders, and they don't take the imperial court's orders seriously."

Hong Chengchou in the hall took the lead in bowing and speaking, and Sun Chuanting next to him also added:

"Although many gentry in the three provinces in the south of the Yangtze River moved, it only took two years. Some small landlords and rich peasants, in collusion with local officials, quickly occupied the right to speak in the local area and became the new gentry."

After Sun Chuanting finished speaking, Zhu Youxiao stopped hammering the mallet, but turned around, frowning and looking at the two of them.

"Who are most of the officials in Jiangnan?"

Zhu Youxiao asked, but facing this easily offending question, Hong Chengchou hesitated for a second before raising his hands in a bow.

However, although it was only one second, this second was enough, because Sun Chuanting's straightforward character made him raise his hand and bow to Zhu Youxiao when he asked:

"Most of them are dominated by Yanshan, and occupy [-]% of the official positions. Jiangnan is also the base camp of Yanshan, and the remaining [-]% are basically people who used to care about the party and the Zhejiang party."

"Most of the officials who graduated from government schools and government schools were sent by the Ministry of Officials to Luchuan, Jiaozhi, Jiugang and the northern provinces outside the Guan. Most of the original two capitals and thirteen provinces in the Guan were Yanshan officials."

Sun Chuanting's words can be regarded as exposing the old background of the Yanshan faction.

When many people think that the Yanshan faction's political appeal is outrageous, in fact, the middle and low-level Yanshan faction officials have realized the profit network of colluding with the local government to exploit the local government.

The problem is that people in high positions such as Cheng De have never known it.

Children from poor and rich families have the same chance of corruption, but poor families are theoretically more likely to be corrupt.

Because the better the family background, the more money the briber needs to impress him.

A civil servant from a wealthy family, he has a very solid economic foundation behind him, so what he pursues is more about fame and performance.

As for the pursuit of money, he already had it before he became a civil servant, so he didn't need to be a civil servant to earn money.

On the contrary, a child from a poor family is much more sensitive to money. He has to consider the life of his family, the life of his relatives, and even the face of his family.

He worked hard to study not only to change his own destiny, but also to change the destiny of his family. Therefore, the motivation for accepting bribes is even greater.

If a child from a poor family wants to endure the temptation, the level of thinking must be higher than the level of life.

However, the Yanshan faction is a fast-growing talent cultivated by Zhu Youjian. Although they were raised by Yanshan for free and have learned many new ideas and education, they have two fatal flaws.

First of all, Yanshan students generally enter school at an older age, ranging from seven to 15 years old.

It’s okay before the age of ten, but those who enter school after the age of ten have basically developed the three views, and the new ideas have not affected them deeply enough.

Here, the second point is involved, they are always cultivated quickly.

The current education for all in the Ming Dynasty consists of five years of government schools starting with beginners, and five years of government schools mainly in middle schools, adding up to ten years.

They started school at the age of seven and graduated from government schools at the age of 17. They spent nearly two-thirds of their lives receiving new education.

In contrast to Yanshan, for them, the five-year crash course is only one-third, or even one-fourth, one-fifth of their initial life.

The later on, the lower the proportion of this experience, and the shallower the impact on them.

Looking back now, many Yanshan officials can't even utter a famous line from "Yanshan Thought".

The status and power have kept up, but the ideology has not kept up. This is the reason why the Yanshan faction has been corrupted rapidly.

Although they look down on the Donglin Party and the Zhejiang Party, the Donglin Party and the Zhejiang Party have been doing business from Wanli to Tianqi, and stopped doing personnel until the Chongzhen period.

where are they?It has only been 16 years since Tianqi graduated five years ago, and he has already started to become greedy.

"I need to tell my brother about this matter."

"If all of them are replaced, what is the minimum number of officials needed?"

Zhu Youxiao pondered for a moment and then asked. Hong Chengchou thought that nothing would be involved, so he took the lead in answering:

"At least 20 officials are needed to replace all the officials in Jiangnan from rank nine and above."

"However, soldiers, horses and government servants are not among them. If they are included, at least 30 people are needed."

"..." Hearing Hong Chengchou's words, Zhu Youxiao frowned, because now Daming is gradually using students who graduated from the government school as officials, but the government school has only started for a few years after all.

The vast majority of people still think that after their children finish their studies as officials, they will go home to help with work, or to beg for a living. After all, in their opinion, a child of twelve or thirteen years old is already very old.

Therefore, there are not many people who continue to study in government schools after government studies, and some of them choose to enter the Military Academy and various departments to continue their studies after graduation, and even fewer people can graduate to become officials.

30 people, at least two years of talent reserves for government schools.

"Can those older people in the official school be used as temporary officials?"

Zhu Youxiao didn't want to use older young people from government schools, because he knew that they were the second in the Yanshan School.

Only students who start at the age of seven and graduate at the age of 17 are the most preferred officials of Ming Dynasty, because their education is long enough.

"If it's temporary, it's naturally possible, but the specifics still depend on Long Live and His Royal Highness King Qi."

Hong Chengchou bowed his head to answer, and Zhu Youxiao also nodded slightly when he heard the words:
"Go ahead and check, not only the three provinces in the south of the Yangtze River, but it is best to check all the southern provinces."

Zhu Youjian is leaving, and Zhu Youxiao will naturally start to take up the burden.

Although my younger brother doesn't want me to be in power, it doesn't mean that I have to obey their arrangements for everything.

Zhu Youxiao must control part of the power.

"I'm waiting to retire..."

Seeing Zhu Youxiao turned away, Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting withdrew from Qianqing Palace one after another.

Not long after they left, there was another sound of gavels in the Qianqing Palace.

At the same time, when withdrawing from the gate of Qianqing Palace, Sun Chuanting immediately bowed to Hong Chengchou and said:
"The land in the southwest has an old relationship with Hong Gechen, Hong Gechen..."

"Because I have an old relationship, so I asked Sun Gechen to investigate on my behalf, and I went to Fujian and Huguang to investigate the case. What does Sun Gechen think?"

Sun Chuanting originally wanted Hong Chengchou to investigate the situation in the Southwest by himself, but Hong Chengchou interrupted him, telling Sun Chuanting not to worry about him, and went to Fujian and Huguang to investigate the case himself.

Sun Chuanting didn't have any fancy ideas, he only thought that Hong Chengchou didn't want to go because of favors, so he bowed: "If that's the case, then I will take my leave first."

"Thank you Sun Gechen..."

Hong Chengchou returned a salute, then got up and looked at Sun Chuanting's back, he couldn't help squinting his eyes.

Of course he understands the situation in Southwest China, and it is precisely because he understands that he does not go.

There are many officials of the Southwest Yanshan faction, once they are found out, and they need to be replaced in the future, and if the Yanshan faction cannot be killed at once, then Hong Chengchou will have to face the revenge of the Yanshan faction.

But Fujian and Huguang, most of them are the sites of conservative officials, and the conservatives are no longer popular, so if you go there by yourself, you can't offend too many people.

As for Sun Chuanting, anyway, he has been hated by the Yanshan faction for many years, and he has a lot of debts...

Thinking of this, Hong Chengchou secretly smiled, turned and walked towards the Xihua Gate, and gradually disappeared in the square in front of the Qianqing Palace Gate.

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(End of this chapter)