Brother Zhu Youxiao

"Peach patter..."

In April, when summer arrives, the first drizzle of summer greets South Zhili.

The sound of pattering rain hitting the tiles dispelled the summer heat a lot, and made the people on both sides of the Yangtze River in Nanzhili feel happy.

A few days of fine rain has caused the water level of the Yangtze River to increase, further rejuvenating tens of millions of acres of fields on both sides of the Yangtze River.

Light rain pattered, frogs croaked in the fields, the people of Nanjing rejoiced, and the world was peaceful and healthy.

It's just that I don't know how much filth is hidden in this so-called peaceful and healthy situation...

For the people in Houhu behind the Jiming Temple in Nanjing, today is just a very ordinary day.

Although the news of the national land tax exemption in the "Da Ming Pao" a month ago made the people revel, but the atmosphere of celebration has long since passed. People who should work part-time, and those who should work in agriculture, their lives will not be affected.

It's just that when the common people were walking through the streets, a group of brocade guards in crimson round-neck robes charged towards this place with rifles on their backs.

The people on both sides of the street looked at the Jinyiwei curiously, and the Jinyiwei directly poured into an alley in Houhufang against the eyes of the people.

"Surround the back door!" The leader Jinyiwei General Banner Officer ordered the people under his command.

Under his command, more than fifty Jinyiwei surrounded a house with an area of ​​less than half an acre.

Dengdeng!

"Open the door!" The chief banner officer knocked on the main gate of the house under the guards on the left and right, but there was no movement in the house.

"total……"

"boom!!!"

"Jin Yiwei handles the case! Be honest with me!"

Before the subordinates next to him could speak, the violent chief banner officer kicked the wooden door with one kick. The bolt of the wooden door was broken several times, and more than [-] Jinyi guards rushed into the small courtyard immediately.

The alley also began to be surrounded by crowds of people, and when the Chief Banner Officer led people into the courtyard, he happened to see an old man with gray hair in a Taoist robe burning papers in a hurry.

"Take it down!" Seeing the blank papers being burned, the Chief Banner Officer rushed forward and kicked the old man to the ground, and put the burning iron basin on the ground backwards. The flames in the basin were all extinguished in just a few seconds. .

"You guys are trespassing on a private house!!!" The old man whose mouth was bleeding from being kicked was still opening his mouth to quibble, but a large number of Jin Yiwei found all his criminal evidence in just 10 minutes.

Dozens of letters related to the interests of officials, as well as poems mocking the emperor, the king of Qi, and the state were found. Among them, the angry chief banner officer directly took the old man to the ground with a sheathed Yanling knife.

The old man lying on the ground had a mouth full of blood. He opened and closed his mouth, but he couldn't speak at all.

The small flag officer next to him saw the contents of the letter, and was even more angry than the chief flag officer. He immediately kicked the guy and cursed:

"Insulting His Highness, bribing officials, I really want to go to prison!"

"What nonsense! Arrest people according to the letter, and send troops to the Ma Si brothers to arrest people!" The chief banner officer cursed, and then left the alley with the half-dead old man.

Such a scene is just a microcosm of the entire Ming Dynasty. From March to now, nearly 12 Jinyiwei in the Fusi of Nanbei Town started from the two capitals, went down to the towns and villages in Chafu County, and found out more than 3 small and medium-sized landlords and gentry related to Yanshan. .

Some of them and the local Yanshan officials divided up the land left by the relocated people, but did not distribute it to the people who stayed in the local area.

Some, as local government officials, used their power in the yamen to illegally sell Changping granaries and receive kickbacks from migrant workers' wages.

Others, in their capacity as officials, contracted out work-for-relief projects to small and medium-sized local landlords, and together with the small and medium-sized landlords lowered the wages paid by the imperial court to migrant workers, and then shared the saved money from the Ministry of Industry equally.

Yanshan fell, and countless corrupt officials were reported. As a result, the Jinyiwei was short of manpower, so that soldiers, horses, and government officials were mobilized to help investigate the case.

Right now Nanjing City is just a microcosm, but this microcosm is seen by Zhu Youxiao.

Not long after the team of royal guards left, a carriage parked by the side of the road was driven towards the imperial city.

In the car, Zhu Youxiao put down the curtains, picked up a memorial on the table and read it, with mixed feelings in his heart.

Kneeling and sitting opposite was Liu Ruoyu who was making tea, and facing the cup of hot tea Liu Ruoyu handed over, Zhu Youxiao took it and drank it down in front of his surprised face regardless of the scalding.

The hot tea entered his belly, and Zhu Youxiao knew in his heart that the last stone that blocked his brother Jiufan had also been dug out.

Next, he only needs his son to fill up the hole, and he can leave with peace of mind.

Thinking of this, he exhaled the hot air brought by the tea, closed his eyes and whispered:

"Yanshan is powerful, but in front of my younger brother, it is like a chicken and a dog."

"If you are stupid, tell me, who can stop him."

Zhu Youxiao's voice fell, Liu Ruoyu looked at him hesitantly and said:
"My servant's humble opinion, I'm afraid His Royal Highness King Qi has no one to stop him."

"..." Hearing this, Zhu Youxiao was silent for a long time, until the carriage stopped, he got out of the carriage with Liu Ruoyu's support.

"Clean up, we will return to Shuntian Mansion when we are twenty."

"The servants take orders..."

On the way back to the palace, following Zhu Youxiao's opening, the master and servant also walked into the palace.

When Zhu Youxiao made up his mind to return to the capital, the "Daming Daily" on the second day brought the news that Zhu Youjian was trying to solve the financial problems caused by the exemption of land taxes from Daming.

"Selling newspapers! Banks issue treasury bonds, which can be bought and sold regardless of power, status, or people. The annual interest is five cents. Don't miss it when you pass by!"

"Sell newspapers, sell newspapers, banks issue government bonds..."

On the second day of April, when Yanshan officials were arrested and charged with crimes, the issuance of national debt caused many merchants and forces to look sideways.

Many people bought newspapers, but most of the newsboys and employees selling newspapers in Huangdian were talking about stunts and would not publish all the contents.

Therefore, when people bought newspapers, they discovered that the so-called national debt meant this.

However, when they saw that the national bonds issued by the imperial court were only for two years, that is to say, no matter whether they were held for three years or four years, they would only pay two years of interest in the end.

Even so, the 5% five-point interest still makes many people excited.

It should be known that throughout the ages, no matter what era it is, wealth has been controlled by some people, and so is the way to make money.

There are losses and profits in doing business. In addition to lending, the folks in the Ming Dynasty really did not have a few types of businesses that were risk-free and could earn 10% in two years.

For many people with families, national debt is undoubtedly unfamiliar territory, and they are reluctant to venture into it.

However, for many people who have some savings and don't know how to do business, national debt seems to be a stable profit.

Therefore, when the news of the national debt spread, there were some people buying national debt in banks all over the country.

It's just that many people are still suffering from drought, so not many people are willing to buy government bonds.

"wipe--"

When the sound of the sand being shoveled out of the small hole came out, Zhu Cihong, who was panting, didn't care whether it was dirty or not, and sat down on the Gobi Desert.

"tired?"

When Zhu Cihong stuck out his tongue tiredly and was out of breath, an umbrella hit him on top of his head. When he looked up, it really was Xia Wanchun, his best playmate during this time.

"Brother Xia, Dad clearly said that he came to play with us, this kind of tree is not fun at all!"

Looking at Xia Wanchun, Zhu Cihong, who was tired for a long time, began to complain.

While speaking, the kid pointed to the five brothers lying on the ground beside him tiredly.

They have planted the tree for three days, and among their five brothers, the oldest Zhu Cihong is only ten years old, and the youngest Zhu Cican is only four years old.

At this age, other children were playing, but they were tricked by Zhu Youjian to plant trees in Kaiping Mansion, Modong Province, and exercising under the pretense of exercising.

"Hehe..." Regarding Zhu Cihong's complaint, Xia Wanchun said with a smile:

"The yellow sand in Kaiping Prefecture is constantly eroding towards Shuntian. Planting trees here can effectively prevent the wind and sand, which is a great achievement."

"If you don't want this achievement, then I will take it myself."

As Xia Wanchun said, he stretched out his hand to grab the shovel on the ground, this action frightened Zhu Cihong to quickly grab the shovel, and tightly protected the shovel in his arms.

"I'll plant it! Where did I say I won't plant it anymore!"

Zhu Cihong said, and then kicked Zhu Cizheng who was lying on the side pretending to be dead, and the two brothers continued to plant saplings in cooperation.

Their move was noticed by Zhu Youjian who was planting trees in the distance.

He wiped the sweat off his forehead with a smile, but Zhu Ciran's voice at work came from beside him:

"Huh... Uncle, do you think this kind of tree can really control sand? And the desert grass trellis I saw a few days ago can really fix sand."

Zhu Ciran couldn't imagine asking Zhu Youjian, but he didn't stop what he was doing.

In this regard, Zhu Youjian also laughed and said: "Wind prevention and sand control, grass lattice sand fixation, these are naturally useful."

"However, manpower is manpower after all. Although we can control the desert and even push the desert deeper, we cannot completely eliminate the desert."

"To plant trees, there must be water. Even you and I cannot plant trees without water."

"As long as there is water and trees are planted, it will rain in these places over time, and the number of surviving trees will increase."

"You have been to Shaanxi, you should also know the large sandy land north of northern Shaanxi, south of the Yellow River, and west of Ningxia?"

Zhu Youjian asked Zhu Ciran, and Zhu Ciran nodded when he heard the words.

"Before the Song Dynasty, that area was a great pasture, full of grass, but now there is only yellow sand left."

"The yellow sand there, the yellow sand in the Western Regions, and the yellow sand in the north of the desert invade the Central Plains every summer."

"But if we plant trees in Qingyang Mansion, Pingliang Mansion, Datong Mansion, Kaiping Mansion, and Shuofang Mansion to form forests, then Guanzhong and Gyeonggi will no longer suffer from wind and sand."

"However, we have to start from the Western Regions, Mobei, and Monan to plant trees little by little."

"If you hurry up and plant a forest in Datong, Shuofang, and Kaiping within ten years, then the sandstorm in northern Zhili will be eliminated."

As Zhu Youjian said, he also picked up the shovel and planted saplings on the Gobi Desert.

In the distance, there are many migrant workers who are building canals, but they don't know the identity of Zhu Youjian and his party, they just think they are officials who came here to plant trees.

In the Ming Dynasty, there were quite a lot of trees outside the pass. Kaiping Mansion was located in the north of Zhangjiakou in later generations and south of Xilin Gol League. From the Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty, this place was a nomadic place for Mongolians, and the natural ecological environment was basically maintained. in original state.

With the passage of history, due to official corruption and financial decadence, a large number of people came here to cultivate, and then destroyed the local forest vegetation.

In just half a century, the local grasslands have disappeared, and the local grasslands have completely degenerated into Gobi desert hills, presenting a desolate scene of "flying birds without trees, and yellow sand covering the sky".

However, in the current era, the natural environment of grassland and a small part of forest is still maintained here, only the Gobi desert hills in the northwest.

If it is treated in time, it may allow Hebei to avoid the suffering of yellow sand hundreds of years in advance.

At the end of Zhu Youjian's second Northern Expedition, after taking down the three prefectures of Taining, he ordered the local herdsmen and people not to cut down local trees and forests to build houses, but to let people cut down trees from the Yanshan Mountains and transport them here. Build houses for the people.

Not only that, Kaiping Mansion also planted trees during the annual spring and summer communication, and the imperial court also allocated special money for this.

As for how to plant trees, the officials of Kaiping Prefecture have a very simple method, that is, to pay a wage of ten cents a day, and then hire a large number of people to plant trees near the water source, connecting the forests in Kaiping Prefecture.

At the beginning, this did not achieve much results, because until the 12th year of the apocalypse, the population of Kaiping Prefecture was not very large.

However, with the recovery of Mobei and the Western Regions, the number of people who migrated to Kaiping Mansion began to increase. Up to now, there are no less than 40 people in Kaiping Mansion.

Every year after the autumn harvest, the Kaiping government government organizes at least [-] civilians to build water canals in the northwest of Kaiping Prefecture and build a series of covered underground rivers.

Trees are planted around the underground river, and when it is time to plant trees, the common people only need to open the manhole cover and use machines to pump water from the underground river.

Although Zhu Youjian and the others are standing on the Gobi Desert, behind them are actually small saplings that are more than three feet high, and they gradually become taller and larger from the outside to the inside.

The sand control in Kaiping Prefecture has been going on for 15 years. Although North Zhili, Shanxi, and Shaanxi have suffered from severe drought for many years, it has been lucky here. There is little rain but steady rain.

Up to now, in 15 years, 32 acres of artificial forests have been planted here. Although it is not yet able to resist all wind and sand for Beizhili, I believe it will be possible in the future.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian put aside all the negative emotions accumulated in his mind during this period, and buried himself in planting small saplings.

While he was bringing Zhu Ciran to plant trees, Sun Chengzong was in charge of the capital.

However, Sun Chengzong was single and lonely, and many of his ideas were difficult to implement, so he only held a regular court as usual, and after making sure that all the officials had nothing to report, he announced the disbandment of the court.

Chang Chao dispersed, some returned to the yamen to handle errands, some stayed on duty in the outer court, and some Muxiu returned home to rest.

It seems that the fall of the old Yanshan School is already a thing of the past for everyone.

The new Yanshan officials were won over by Yan Yinshao and Jin Xuan, and there were no major problems.

Many Yanshan village officials who had been held by Chengde for many years were promoted, but they were promoted overseas.

With a tick of Jin Xuan's pen, [-] Yanshan village and town officials were promoted overseas, and all of them were promoted to a higher level. Jin Xuan moved them with his official position.

However, this is only a part of the old people in Yanshan. After all, not everyone is willing to go overseas and serve in various vassal states.

As for the officials who were unwilling to be transferred, Jin Xuan verbally asked the officials below to appease them and asked them to wait for the end of Enko in October.

At that time, 10,000+ students will pour into the grassroots of Daming, and many Yanshan officials will naturally be promoted.

Zhu Youjian left the problem to Jin Xuan and Yan Yinshao, and took Zhu Ciran to Kaiping Mansion to plant trees.

However, the two of them had no objection to this, but worked diligently in their posts.

It's just that, after doing a lot of things, it's inevitable that I will feel a little tired, not to mention facing these insects in the Daming Temple.

Holding a booklet and a three-layer food box, Jin Xuan walked into the imperial prison in front of two Jin Yiwei guards.

Entering the imperial prison, a smell of rotten wood and rust rushed into Jin Xuan's mind.

It's not the first time he came to the imperial prison. Once upon a time, he was imprisoned by Zhu Youxiao because of his direct remonstrance.

Thinking about it now, it can be regarded as revisiting the old place.

With this in mind, he walked to a prison cell closed by a sealed iron door under the leadership of a Jin Yiwei.

Jin Yiwei opened the cell, and Jin Xuan walked into it calmly.

There is only one place where light can be seen in the cell, and that is a window the size of a brick.

The sunlight came in, headed towards the door, and fell on Jin Xuan who was blocking the door.

He covered the glare of the sun with his hands, and saw Chengde sitting in the straw meditating.

His hair was disheveled, and although his clothes were fairly clean, Jin Hyun could also smell the smell of him who hadn't showered for a long time.

"Yuansheng, I'm here to see you."

Jin Xuan's words sounded, and the cell door behind him was slowly closed, and Cheng De, who was meditating, slowly opened his eyes.

He saw Jin Xuan standing in the sun. Jin Xuan was wearing a gray Taoist robe, a square scarf and a net scarf on his head. The clothes did not look rich, but they were better than clean.

On the other hand, he was dressed in a gray prison uniform, with disheveled hair, sitting in the dark, like a small person.

Cheng De didn't speak, but Jin Xuan found a clean haystack to sit down on his own.

The narrow cell of four to five square meters didn't look crowded when two people sat down.

Jin Xuan handed the document book in his hand to Cheng De, and then opened the food box he brought.

A pot of "Taixibai", two meat dishes, one vegetarian dish, and finally two bowls of white rice.

"The wine is given by His Highness, and the dishes are made by my mother."

"I have already told her all of your difficulties. My mother told you to have a light meal at home after you get out of the imperial prison."

While pouring wine for Sung-deok, Jin-hyun told him some trivia about himself.

Cheng De became more energetic after listening to it. He looked at the document in his hand and handed it back to Jin Xuan instead of opening it.

"Since I'm white, I can't read this document anymore."

As he spoke, he put the document in Jin Xuan's arms, picked up the wine glass and drank it down in one gulp, taking a deep breath of relief.

According to King Qi's order, although he can't live or sleep well in this prison, at least he won't go hungry.

As for the food and wine ordered by the king of Qi, there are also a lot of food, but Chengde doesn't move his chopsticks, but often eats a bowl of rice, reluctantly hanging his life.

Jin Xuan will come, firstly because he wants to come, and secondly because Lu Wenzhao thinks that this is not an option for Chengde, and he is afraid that he will starve to death in prison, so he specially asked Jin Xuan to come.

"Using Yanshan to threaten His Highness externally, and internally threatening His Highness with a hunger strike, you make it very difficult for His Highness..."

Kim Hyun filled Sung Deok's wine glass with wine and handed him chopsticks at the same time.

Facing the wine glass, Cheng De took it and drank it down. Facing the chopsticks, Cheng De didn't take it, but looked at Jin Xuan after drinking, and said casually:

"Only His Highness can save Daming..."

"Save Daming?" Jin Xuan smiled wryly and shook his head: "Now Daming doesn't need His Highness anymore."

"It's too old and can't stand the toss."

"What it needs is gradual progress, and what it needs is an emperor who can expand the territory while maintaining his success."

"Compared to Daming, Qi needs His Highness more, and the faster Qi progresses, the faster Da Ming will progress."

"It's the way to seek disaster." Cheng De interrupted Jin Xuan, he didn't think that Zhu Youjian's going to the Qi Congress would make Daming progress.

Daming is old, he admits, and it is precisely because of Daming that Zhu Youjian is needed to sit at the center, allowing this old-minded dynasty to adapt to his strong body step by step.

As far as Fan Qi is concerned, it is not to give Daming an answer to follow, but to cultivate a future opponent of Daming.

Qi's geographical environment is unique, as long as it has a strong navy, it can be almost invincible.

With such an existence, even if Zhu Youjian can't get over it, the development of Qi will never slow down, let alone Zhu Youjian's passing.

If Zhu Youjian can't become a vassal, plus Zhu Ciran, Daming can at least stabilize the state for a hundred years.

But if Zhu Youjian insisted on surrendering, no one would know how long Daming's Guozuo would last.

"Zong and vassal are one..." Jin Xuan couldn't help but was interrupted by Cheng De: "Do you believe it?"

"..." Cheng De's words made Jin Xuan slightly silent.

After a while, he continued to answer Cheng De's question: "At least for now, and for the next few decades."

"How about decades later..." Cheng De asked Jin Xuan, and brought out the "Yanshan Textbook":
"What is the center of the sixth chapter of Yanshan Politics? Do you remember?"

Cheng De didn't give Jin Xuan a chance to answer, he rushed to answer: "It is not to leave difficulties to the successors."

"Now that we have the opportunity to create a century-old achievement, why are we greedy for decades of peace?"

"Restricting the imperial power, this matter was led by me, in order to take care of His Highness's face."

Cheng De was surprised, and continued: "Your Highness values ​​love and righteousness, and is unwilling to seize the throne, so the throne will be given to them."

"Stay here and be the only chancellor, so that the people of Ming Dynasty can enjoy another hundred years of peace. Why not?"

"It's just for the sake of the so-called brotherhood, to make the common people dust, this is not His Highness in my heart."

"But Your Highness is Your Highness!" Jin Xuan interrupted, and stared directly at Cheng De: "I support Your Highness!"

"..." Jin Xuan's words made Cheng De speechless for a moment, and the cell fell into silence, so that Jin Yiwei, who was guarding the door a few minutes later, couldn't help knocking on the door.

"Tuk Tuk Tuk..."

The knock on the door broke the dead silence between the two, and Jin Xuan was the first to give in: "Today we don't talk about political affairs, just eat and talk about the past."

"Don't you think it's absurd for you to enter here with your authority, but say you don't talk about political affairs..." Cheng De suffocated Jin Xuan here.

Indeed, it was impossible for the former Jin Xuan to use his power to visit friends in this kind of place. What he would do in the past was just blindly neglecting the matter and distinguishing between public and private.

But now...

"You've changed, let's go..." Cheng De took a last sip of wine, then lay down on the haystack, turning sideways to avoid looking at Jin Xuan.

Jin Xuan looked at his back lying on his side, hesitated to speak, but didn't know what to say.

After a long time, he took away the food box he brought and left the food behind.

Looking at Chengde's back, Jin Xuan's eyes were complicated, and when he turned around, he could only explain:
"The food is my mother's wish, eat it, I will come to see you some day..."

After finishing speaking, he went to the iron door and knocked on it. The Jin Yiwei outside the door took a look at Chengde's condition in the cell, and then let Jin Xuan go.

After a few seconds, there was the sound of the iron door closing, and the sound of Jin Xuan's footsteps walking further and further away.

In the end, Cheng De was the only one left in this small cell...