Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 662 Extra Story ([-]) Uncle and Nephew
"you are……"

When Zhu Cihong got into the carriage and saw a nearly sixty-year-old official in a third-rank official robe sitting in the carriage, he was stunned for a moment.

"Your Majesty Qi Guochang Shi Xia Yunyi, please refer to His Highness the Prince of the County."

Seeing Zhu Cihong getting into the car, Xia Yunyi got up and bowed, and only then did Zhu Cihong know that the person in front of him was the father of his playmate Xia Wanchun, the long history of Qi.

"I met Xia Changshi..."

Zhu Cihong bowed back, but looked at Xia Yunyi curiously.

Obviously, he was thinking about why Xia Yunyi appeared here, and why he was on the carriage entering the palace.

Although Zhu Cihong has practiced for a few years, he is still a young man and cannot hide his thoughts, so Xia Yunyi knew his thoughts by looking at his expression, and bowed in response:

"This year is the third year that the Qi State has entered the court. This year, the King of Qi sent his officials to the court to report the affairs of the Qi State to Long Live."

"Long Live learned that today is the day for the minister to enter the palace. It should be to let His Highness understand with you."

"So that's how it is..." Hearing Xia Yunyi's words, Zhu Cihong finally came to his senses.

He calculated the time and found that it was almost time, so after reassuring, he also sat opposite Xia Yunyi.

"Is father okay?" Zhu Cihong asked about Zhu Youjian's physical condition, but Xia Yunyi had a complicated expression and didn't know what to say.

This made Zhu Cihong's heart hang, and Xia Yunyi said after a while:
"It's still the old problem of "sweeping condoms". Every time the season changes, I feel chest tightness and discomfort for a few days."

"The envoy Zhang of the Imperial Hospital said that this is the sequelae left by the unhealed wind and cold back then."

Zhu Youjian's health is very good, but he couldn't hold back when he was too young when he went to the battlefield.

At the age of 12, he went to war on horseback, at the age of 15, he took part in the battle of sweeping sets, and at the age of 17, he went on the third Northern Expedition...

Although it seemed nothing at the time, when we get older, various injuries will follow.

"..." Listening to Xia Yunyi's words, Zhu Cihong felt a breath stuck in his chest, which made him very uncomfortable.

"But don't worry too much." Seeing Zhu Cihong like this, Xia Yunyi couldn't help comforting him:

"Besides these, His Highness is still relatively healthy. According to Zhang Yuanshi's words, it should not be a problem to live to sixty or seventy."

Sixty or seventy... It sounds like a long time, but this year Zhu Youjian is in his forties, and after all, it is only a dozen years.

"After this incident, I should go back to Qi with Xia Changshi."

After Zhu Cihong expressed his attitude, Xia Yunyi nodded and breathed a sigh of relief.

In fact, judging from Zhu Youjian's physical condition, if there are one or two people to assist, it will not be so tiring.

Although he handles government affairs quickly, his character is there.

When he was in Ming Dynasty, his energy could be used for him to deal with all the memorials at the government level.

After going to Qi State, although there were only 25 prefectures in Qi State, Zhu Youjian delegated the authority to deal with memorials to the county level.

Changing and changing, in fact, his burden has not been relieved at all.

It wasn't that Xia Yunyi didn't want to ease the situation, but that Zhu Youjian just didn't trust the officials. He had to read all the memorials by himself before making a decision.

It can be said that the reason why the people of Qi State live so relaxed and leisurely now is inseparable from Zhu Youjian's meticulous attention to detail.

All county magistrates knew that King Qi would review his memorials and make detailed plans for each county.

In this case, even if someone wants to be corrupt, he has to weigh whether his neck is hard or not.

Although Xia Yunyi felt that even if Zhu Cihong, Zhu Cixuan, and Zhu Cijiong all went back, it would only allow Zhu Youjian to rest for a few months.

After a few months, Zhu Youjian may have to delegate the memorial and the handling of the subordinates to the town level.

It is a blessing for the common people to have such a king, Xia Yunyi is also very happy.

However, he is also very clear that if Zhu Youjian continues to work hard like this, he may really be the same as what the Tai Hospital said...

"Sorry..."

"arrive."

Just when Xia Yunyi was hesitating, the carriage stopped, Zhu Cihong also got up and said something, and then got out of the carriage.

Xia Yunyi got out of the carriage, and in front of them was the Donghua Gate of the Forbidden City, and the three guards of the Imperial City under the Donghua Gate.

However, at the entrance of the corridor, there was an elephant car parked there, apparently for Zhu Cihong to ride.

Next to it, there is an open-air car, obviously prepared by Zhu Youxiao to take care of the elderly Xia Yunyi.

The two went to Xiang Luo and Che Yu respectively, and were later admitted to the palace.

When they walked through the long Donghuamen palace road and arrived in front of the East Palace, they could already see the Wenhua Palace not far away.

At the gate of the Wenhua Hall, there were many officials looking at the place, obviously curious about Zhu Cihong's whereabouts.

"Is someone here?"

Listening to the noise outside the hall, a voice came from the main worship hall in the back hall of Wenhua Hall.

Hearing this voice, the Hanlin scholar at the door bowed inward:
"Reporting to the elder, it should be here."

"Um……"

Hong Chengchou murmured in response, but then asked again: "How is Sun Gechen's health?"

"The Tai Hospital said that the situation is not very good, and Sun Gechen himself is preparing to become a retired official..."

"Hmm..." Hong Chengchou actually felt a little regretful after the Hanlin scholar finished speaking.

Of his three opponents above the temple, only Sun Chuanting made him feel a little tricky.

Now that Sun Chuanting is old and retired, only Jin Xuan and Yan Yinshao are left, which really makes it difficult for him to arouse his interest.

"Long live the Ming Dynasty, don't let Gechen Sun feel too chilled."

Hong Chengchou wanted the emperor to give Sun Chuanting some rewards, otherwise others would think that he was targeting him when they saw Sun Chuanting's poor life after he became an official.

"Yes……"

Hanlin Bachelor agreed, turned around and went to work.

Watching him leave, Hong Chengchou, who was also in his sixties, stroked his long beard, as if feeling a little overwhelmed by the heights.

He was more leisurely, but Xia Yunyi and Zhu Cihong on the way to Qianqing Palace were full of worries.

Zhu Cihong was worried about Zhu Youjian's physical condition, while Xia Yunyi was thinking about how to report the state of Qi to the emperor.

It takes skill to report this kind of thing, and you can't say that Qi is too strong or too weak.

If you speak too strongly, even if the emperor doesn't care, the ministers will.

Now it is not more than ten years ago. Now most of the officials in the court are from the East Palace, and not one person is loyal.

Even if Zhu Youxiao and Zhu Ciran didn't feel that Qi was a threat, there was no guarantee that all the officials would feel so.

As for being too weak, it's a bit clumsy.

Therefore, Xia Yunyi is still going to speak euphemistically about some of the growth of Qi State, so as to prevent officials from the DPRK and China from being interested in Qi State.

Just as he was thinking so, Xiang Luo and Che Yu also stopped.

Zhu Cihong and Xia Yunyi tidied up their clothes, then got out of the car and walked into the gate of Qianqing Palace.

Passing through the long Qianqing palace road, when they came to the gate of the palace, Wang Tiqian, who was standing at the gate, had already asked the emperor for instructions, and bowed with a smile:

"His Royal Highness, Xia Changshi, please come in..."

"Thank you for the palm print..." Zhu Cihong and Xia Yunyi bowed to each other, and then followed Wang Tiqian into the Qianqing Palace, and came to the Hall of Piandian Master Jing.

When they walked in, what appeared in front of their eyes was Zhu Youxiao, who was wearing a crown of wings and wearing the red uniform of the emperor, and Zhu Ciran, standing beside him, standing five feet six inches tall and wearing a red round collar robe .

Zhu Youxiao, who is 54 years old, looks rosy. Although he has a beard, he looks only 45 or [-] years old.

Standing beside him was Zhu Ciran, although he was only 34 years old this year, he looked the same as 36 Qi.

"Courtesy Zhu Cihong and Xia Yunyi, see Long Live, Thousand Live..."

Zhu Cihong and Xia Yunyi saluted one after another. Logically speaking, at this time Zhu Youxiao should be concerned about the state affairs of Qi State, but he asked Xia Yunyi with a worried face:

"I heard that my younger brother had a lot of coughs at the beginning of the year, but is it better now?"

"Long live, His Royal Highness King Qi is suffering from an old illness, and he is in good health." Xia Yunyi seemed to have gotten used to it, and her answer was watertight.

"If the place in Qi State is not suitable for recuperating, you can let my younger brother come back to the capital."

Zhu Youxiao said with a worried face, but he seemed to be afraid that his words would be misinterpreted as something else, so he added:
"Or call Li Zhongzi from the capital to check my younger brother's pulse."

Li Zhongzi is the current envoy of the Imperial Hospital, and also a famous doctor selected by Zhu Youjian for Zhu Youxiao. He is on par with the deceased Wang Kentang in the treatment of internal diseases.

If Li Zhongzi goes, then Qi State can rest assured, and so can Zhu Youxiao.

But upon hearing his words, Zhu Cihong bowed helplessly and said, "Long live, Li Yuanshi is now 80 years old, and I'm afraid it's not good to be tired."

"Long live, Brother Lang is right." Zhu Ciran also tried to persuade him helplessly.

"I forgot about it..." Zhu Youxiao only realized that Li Zhongzi was too old to go.

"Long live, Your Highness is fine. I told my minister before coming here, so don't worry about Long Live."

Xia Yunyi said, and at the same time bowed and took out the memorial from his sleeve and said:

"This is the situation of Qi in the past three years, please read it long live."

Seeing this, Wang Tigan next to him took the memorial and sent it up, but Zhu Youxiao didn't take it seriously and said:
"Don't worry, I have something to ask Brother Lang."

After all, Zhu Youxiao looked at Zhu Cihong: "Brother Hong is planning to return to Qi?"

"Long live back, that's exactly it..." Zhu Cihong responded with a bow neither humble nor overbearing, which made Zhu Youxiao's eyes flash with regret:
"My brother is not in good health. It's better if you go back earlier, but if you leave, I don't know if you will not come back to see me for more than ten years like my brother."

"Please don't worry, Uncle Huang. If my nephew goes back, he will come here every three years in the future." Zhu Cihong made a promise, which made Zhu Youxiao feel a little better.

"If you go, let your father come to see me in the capital in his spare time. After all, the round trip will only take two months."

"If it drags on for too long, I may not be able to live until then."

What Zhu Youxiao said was very serious, if it wasn't for Zhu Cihong standing in front of him, looking at his radiant face, those who didn't know would think that he was already in danger.

"Ahem..." Zhu Ciran was also speechless by his father's words, and couldn't help coughing a few times, then picked up Xia Yunyi's memorial and looked at it.

Seeing this, Xia Yunyi also knew what Zhu Ciran was thinking, so she cooperated with him to change the subject:

"In the past three years, the population of Qi State has increased by more than 670, and more than [-] of them have migrated from the state."

"In addition, in the past three years, Qi State has also added more than [-] million mu of cultivated land, and agricultural and commercial taxes..."

Xia Yunyi talked about Qi's progress, and Zhu Youxiao also listened carefully.

In general, the current state of Qi has become a country with more than 2 million mu of arable land and a population of more than 3000 million.

If technology is not discussed, Qi is the third largest country in the world right now in terms of paper population and arable land, second only to Ming Dynasty and the extremely bloody Mughals.

If we talk about science and technology, then Qi State is undoubtedly the second largest country in science and technology and the second largest country in comprehensive strength.

"Did Uncle Qi bring anything this time?"

After seeing the strength of Qi State, Zhu Ciran didn't feel any threat.

Judging from his understanding of his Uncle Qi and his Brother Hong, at least in the next 40 years, there will be no conflicts between the two countries.

"His Royal Highness King Qi said that Daming has recuperated for more than ten years, and now the people are healthy and the country is strong."

"Therefore, the space for the Mughals can be further compressed while preparing for immigration."

"However, the specific situation still needs to be decided by Wanzai and Qiansui. For example, what is the desire of the people to migrate now? How is life like? How is the population density in the interior?"

After Xia Yunyi finished speaking, Zhu Ciran nodded slightly, then motioned to Xia Yunyi and said:
"The State of Qi will follow Uncle Qi's own ideas. As for what Uncle Qi said, I will let the Metropolitan Procuratorate and Jin Yiwei investigate."

What Zhu Ciran said meant seeing off the guests, Xia Yunyi was not ignorant of flattery, but bowed and left very well.

Seeing this, Zhu Cihong wanted to leave, but was stopped by Zhu Ciran:

"You stay, bro, there are some things you need to know."

Zhu Cihong stopped, and Xia Yunyi had no choice but to go to the gate of Qianqing Palace to wait for Zhu Cihong.

After Xia Yunyi left, Zhu Ciran said to Zhu Youxiao next to him:

"Father, according to statistics from the Ministry of Household Affairs this year, Guochao has 14 billion mu of arable land and a population of more than [-] million."

"Among them, the four northeastern provinces have a population of 760 million, the seven northwestern provinces have a population of 930 million, and the three southwestern provinces have a population of 800 million..."

"The population of the three overseas provinces and two divisions is 920 million, while the population of the Central Plains, the two capitals and the thirteen provinces is 270 million."

Zhu Ciran roughly talked about the population distribution of the two capitals, the thirty provinces and the two divisions of the Ming Dynasty. It is not difficult to see that the population of the Ming Dynasty is still dominated by the Central Plains.

"Nearly 300 million people are crowded in the two capitals and thirteen provinces. Although the two capitals and thirteen provinces have increased a lot of acres in recent years, the cultivated land is only more than [-] million mu."

"Based on five acres per person, it seems that it can last for more than [-] years, but I am afraid that the population of the two capitals and thirteen provinces will exceed [-] million in more than [-] years."

Zhu Ciran is not alarmist, but because there have been few disasters in the Central Plains in recent years, many people have returned to the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Central Plains.

If things go on like this, it won't take more than [-] years at all, and in just a dozen years, the population of the two capitals and thirteen provinces in the Central Plains will exceed [-] million.

Although Daming can also continue to develop cultivated land, the cultivated land is limited. If there is no immigration, I am afraid that when Zhu Heyin grows up, Daming's population density will be a big problem.

"Ten years of peace and prosperity, the intelligent rich peasants in Jiangnan and other provinces have gradually become wealthy businessmen."

"These wealthy businessmen must be related to local officials, so my son's opinion is..."

"You just let it go, you don't need to tell me about this kind of thing." Zhu Youxiao interrupted Zhu Ciran.

Zhu Ciran's intention is obvious. It is nothing more than arresting wealthy businessmen who have illegally colluded with officials all over the world through anti-corruption, affecting three or even nine ethnic groups, and then relocating in batches.

In this way, although the local economy is destroyed for a short time, the merchants who migrated to other places can continue to engage in business locally, and the relocated local economy will also be filled by new merchants.

Zhu Ciran dared to do this because the commercial tax of Daming is mainly paid by the Huangdian.

For example, in the 37th year of Tianqi last year, the commercial tax of Daming was 670 million taels, and the imperial store alone paid 1305 million taels.

The remaining merchants at home and abroad in the world only turned in 5305 million taels.

This is certainly caused by the monopoly of all walks of life by Huangdian, but it also shows that the proportion of the private economy that can pay taxes is very small in Daming.

For Daming, relocating them was just a labor pain.

"I heard that Mughal has trained [-] flintlock soldiers and horses. If you want to recover all the land north of the Ganges, how many troops do you think will be sent?"

Zhu Youxiao didn't care about the life and death of merchants, he only cared about how many soldiers and horses he would send and how much money he would spend.

Zhu Ciran was also prepared for this.

"Currently, the Mughals have more than 30 million mu of arable land, their population is only [-] million after wars and civil strife, and their soldiers and horses are no more than [-]."

"I have asked Li Dingguo. If Li Dingguo takes command, he only needs to mobilize [-] battalions of [-] troops from the Western Army to recover the thousands of miles north of the Ganges River."

"The time required is only half a year, and the cost is expected to be no more than 500 million taels."

It is indeed a relatively cost-effective deal to seize thousands of miles of territory and tens of millions of acres of arable land north of the Ganges for 500 million taels.

However, what Daming wants is only arable land, and the population living on it...

"What do you think about the southern captives here?"

Zhu Youxiao asked, and Zhu Ciran replied without hesitation: "Imitate what Uncle Qi Wang did when he wrote Hong Chengchou."

What Zhu Ciran said was that Hong Chengchou drove the people of Bengal to the borders of the Mughals, and made them strife in the Mughals because of the food problem.

This can weaken the Mughals, but also strengthen the Ming Dynasty and reduce local ethnic problems.

"Since you have thought about it, then you just do it."

After Zhu Youxiao knew that the business would not lose money, he no longer worried.

It's just that Zhu Ciran heard the words, but continued:
"There is no need to worry about things, but after taking the remaining places north of the Ganges, will this place be merged with Bengal and Demasa to form a province?"

"If you really want to set up a province, you have to ask your father to give it a name."

"Well... let's set up a province." Zhu Youxiao's thoughts had already flown to the sky, and after answering, he thought for a moment and replied:
"Set up the Ganges Province, control the Ganges, Bengal, and Demasa."

"Yes..." Zhu Ciran stopped talking, and Zhu Youxiao also set his sights on Zhu Cihong:

"Brother Hong has worked hard in the past three years. Don't be in a hurry to go to Qi Kingdom these days. Come to the palace every day to accompany me. It won't be too late to leave in the twelfth lunar month."

Zhu Cihong couldn't laugh or cry at Zhu Youxiao's words, so he had no choice but to bow:

"Nephew... leads the decree..."

(End of this chapter)