Rule over Ming Dynasty

Chapter 149
As March drew closer, there was not much time left for the imperial court to promote cotton planting.

Cotton is not suitable for planting in all areas. According to the distribution of cotton-producing areas in later generations, they are the Xinjiang area, the cotton area in the Yellow River Basin and the cotton area in the Yangtze River Basin.

The capital is located in the cotton area of ​​the Yellow River Basin, and the Gyeonggi area can encourage cotton planting, which led Zhu Youtang to decide to start with the Wuxun Group.

Since the founding of the Wu Xun Group, although their military talents have been inferior to each generation, they have attached great importance to family business and have evolved into big landlords.

This gang of martial arts is born to be superior, no matter how poor their military skills are, once they can enter the military and political system, they will be directly awarded high positions, and they can also directly participate in the country's major military decision-making.

Like the enthronement congratulatory form sent by the little prince last year, who claimed to be the "Great Khan of the Yuan Dynasty", the opinion proposed by the British Duke Zhang Mao at that time was not to be ignored. As long as their envoys were not very rude, the court would still reward them according to the old practice. .

This is a peculiar phenomenon of the Ming Dynasty. Wu Xun, who has never led troops to fight, only relies on blood, but he controls tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of troops, but he is far from meeting the standard of "expert in civil war" arrive.

But in terms of merging land, they are not inferior to others.

They have received the salaries stipulated by the imperial court for generations. Although these salaries do not seem too outrageous now, they were undoubtedly the richest group of people in the early Ming Dynasty.

Just like the traditional concept of the Chinese people, they like to buy a lot of land when they have accumulated, so many families of Wu Xun have a lot of land.

For example, Xu Yongning, the Duke of Ding, owns [-] hectares, and Zhu Yi, the Duke of Chengguo, owns [-] hectares, and most of them are fertile fields.

After the eunuch's notice in advance, at the exact moment today, a group of nobles entered the palace to face the saint.

Due to some special circumstances in the Wu Xun Group, Duke Ding Xu Yongning has gone crazy, Duke Cheng Zhu Yi served as Nanjing's garrison, and now British Duke Zhang Mao is ordered to sit at home and wait.

The princes or speakers of Hongzhi Tun's various noble houses entered the palace, followed the little eunuch through the Xiyuan Gate, and came to the newly built Hall of Mental Cultivation next to it.

Under the shining of the rising sun, the newly built Hall of Mental Cultivation looks golden.

Funing Hou Zhu Yong and other dignitaries saw this new hall for the first time, looking at this Hall of Mental Cultivation, which seemed to be in a picture scroll of lakes and mountains, felt envious and jealous.

Liu Jin personally brought people in from the Mental Cultivation Gate, but instead of taking them to the Main Hall of Mental Cultivation, he led them to the Imperial Study Room located in the east.

The front hall of the Imperial Study Room looks very spacious. According to Zhu Youtang's design intention, a pavilion is built in the inner area, and the upper pavilion is the important place for collecting books.

"I bow to Sheng An!" Funing Marquis Zhu Yong and other dignitaries saw Zhu Youtang on the attic, and immediately knelt respectfully and saluted.

Zhu Youtang was picking books in the attic, but he didn't intend to take the initiative to come forward.

There has been no new progress in the last stabbing incident, but judging from various signs, the biggest suspects are still the Wu Xun Group.

Guo Yong stood on the edge of the dragon chair below, and responded on his behalf: "Chen Gong'an!"

"Your Majesty, is this military book suitable?" Tan Conggui also came here to help find books, but he presented an ancient book respectfully.

Zhu Youtang saw that it was a book about military training, so he read it carefully.

Now, if you want to strengthen your army, you need not only armaments and food, but also scientific military training methods, and you need to cultivate more military talents through Jingwei martial arts.

It's just that most of the current military books are expansions or annotations of Sun Tzu's Art of War, and many military books are based on specific weather and geographical conditions, but it gives him a feeling of high ambition.

No matter how extravagant these military statements are, if you want to use infantry to win more with less, and to wipe out others with just a trick, it is not credible.

Zhu Youtang is not a person who likes to fantasize. When he saw that this kind of books about martial arts practice was systematically written about practicing physical fitness, courage, and camp formation, he immediately felt that he had found the right book.

Facing dozens of Wu Xun and several important foreign relatives who came, Guo Yong conveyed his sacred intentions: "This is the five-year plan for revitalizing the cotton industry just sent by the Ministry of Household Affairs. , Lords and sons, please read it for details!"

Funing Marquis Zhu Yong and Duke Cheng's son Zhu Fu silently exchanged glances, then received the plan sent by the eunuch, and someone also took the opportunity to observe Zhu Youtang standing on the attic flipping through the books.

The young Zhu Youtang, now no one dares to treat him as a young man, has grown into an emperor who makes them feel afraid.

Everyone has a copy, but just looking at the contents of the plan, many people can't understand it at all, and even a few idiot Wu Xun can't even read the words.

They may be able to understand the book of war, and they can also talk about the way of the saints to govern the country, but only the study of economics has no clue at all, and they don't even understand what the five-year plan is going to do?

Guo Yong has been standing in front of them, but because of his high position, he is able to see their reactions clearly.

Some people are looking closely, and some people have clearly turned it upside down, but many people just glance at it and do it perfunctorily.

Wu Xun didn't pay attention to the rules like civil servants, and several Wu Xun felt that this plan was boring, but they discussed it loudly here.

Zhu Youtang was looking at the book of military training, but he saw that the method was still too general, and it would be more practical to write a book by himself, but when he heard the voice below gradually getting louder, his face sank slightly.

cough!
Guo Yong always remembered that the Son of Heaven was standing above him, and originally wanted to speak later, but seeing the disorderly appearance of these martial artists, he couldn't help coughing heavily.

"Eunuch Guo, what does Your Majesty mean by calling us here? Just say it!" Zhu Yong asked directly, insisting that he had made military achievements.

All Wu Xun are close relatives by marriage. Seeing that Zhu Yong took the lead in expressing his opinion, they quickly formed an alliance. They all looked at Guo Yong and Zhu Youtang above.

Guo Yong saw that these relatives were unwilling to take a closer look, so he simply concluded: "Your Majesty has decided to vigorously develop the cotton industry in Ming Dynasty. The Ministry of Industry will improve the production efficiency of spinning machines and looms. We will encourage the private sector to build weaving workshops and dyeing workshops. At that time, the cotton industry will definitely usher in a golden period of development. This time I called you together to invite all the noble mansions to participate. Spring plowing is coming soon, and all the noble mansions are invited to grow more cotton , so that the cotton production in the Gyeonggi area can increase this summer, and then each noble mansion can also build its own weaving workshop and dyeing workshop, responding to the imperial court's plan to develop the cotton industry!"

"This is not a fool..."

"Cough cough..."

"So that's the case, but... the ancestral lord is not allowed to do business!"

Fuyonghou Zhu Yong almost said something that should not have been said, but fortunately Taininghou Chen Huan next to him reminded him in time, and Zhu Fu, the son of Duke Cheng, pointed directly at the core tunnel.

Although it has long been a dead letter for the imperial court to restrict nobles and officials from doing business, it has always been an express regulation after all.

Now Zhu Fu is unwilling to heed Zhu Youtang's call. This thing that was originally reduced to a dead letter is a weapon for this prince to block the emperor.

"The ancestral lord is not allowed to do business?"

Although Zhu Youtang was turning the pages of the book, he could naturally hear the reaction below.

In fact, he didn't have any malice towards this gang of martial arts. After all, he was a lord conferred by the Ming Dynasty, and the court should be kind and supportive.It's just that the nobles who are "not as good as civil officials and not as good as generals" are in charge of the army, which is seriously inconsistent with their own concept of strengthening the army.

If it is said that Zhu Yong's perverseness still has a bit of confidence in military exploits, this son of Duke Cheng is actually pretending to be smart, and even moved out of the ancestral system to challenge himself.

If I remember correctly, this Cheng Guogong lineage not only opened the city gate to welcome Li Zicheng in the end, but also persuaded Li Zicheng to come in, which is simply a disgrace to China.

Both Liu Jin and Jia Conggui heard the disrespect of Wu Xun below, and couldn't help turning their heads to look at these honorables silently, while Qin Conggui's eyes cast a fierce look on Zhu Fu.

"Yes, the little prince is right, we can't violate the ancestral system!"

"A few acres of cotton like this is okay, but it's not appropriate to build weaving workshops and dyeing workshops!"

"If Your Majesty insists on doing this, then we must announce it to the world, so we can follow it!"

……

The British Duke Zhang Mao did not come, but the young and vigorous Zhang Lun came, and he also felt resentful towards Zhu Youtang, and immediately supported Zhu Fudao, the son of Cheng Guogong.

Although the Wu Xun Group is afraid of Zhu Youtang, it is already dissatisfied.

Jingying has always been the private land of their Wuxun Group, and they have always divided up this sweet cake, but now almost all of them have been dismissed.

Not only has their income been greatly reduced, but their influence in the Beijing camp has also declined significantly.

Originally, they could still rely on the influence passed down from generation to generation to control many senior generals in the Beijing camp. They have always had a pivotal influence in the Beijing camp, so they were able to encourage the battalions to raise wages last time.

But after the assassination incident, the [-]th Battalion once again ushered in a major purge. The generals they had promoted earlier were either demoted or had already defected.

Especially after the emperor introduced the competition mechanism, the Twelfth Battalion was no longer the army they were familiar with competing against the backstage, but dared to fight fiercely, and those thorns who had been hit by them all came to power one after another.

Such a Twelve Army Battalion, not to mention obeying them, even if they are approaching now, they are greeted with a pair of indifferent eyes, and now they have already served the eunuch and the emperor in front of him.

Now Zhu Youtang wants to use their financial resources to develop the cotton industry, not to mention that they will never try such an unsafe business, and they are also against all the emperor's actions in their hearts.

Just like that, what they would most like to see is for the emperor to be beaten to death, until they finally found out that it was wise to hand over the Beijing camp to Wu Xun.

Zhu Youtang felt the hostility of these Wu Xun, and noticed that Tan Conggui's eyes were not friendly, so he pointedly said: "Have you written down what they said today?"

"Your maidservant has written it down!" Tan Conggui was taken aback for a moment, and then he realized it.

Zhu Youtang doesn't understand why history books always like to tout these meritorious deeds, but after being in contact with this group of martial arts for a long time, he finds that these people are really not smart or only play a little cleverness.

Not to mention that many Wu Xun's body shape is not up to standard, but they can't even read big characters, and this son of Cheng Guogong who thinks he is smart just gave himself a stick.

Guo Yong didn't expect these Wu Xuns to make a fuss about the ancestral system, so he said lightly: "The weaving workshop and the dyeing workshop can be discussed later, but spring plowing is coming soon, and this is a good time to plant cotton. The Ministry of Industry has prepared cotton varieties. If you can't buy it in the capital, you can buy it from the Ministry of Industry. Your Majesty means that planting cotton is not only loyal to the country, but also beneficial to the income of various princes, so I hope you can plant more!"

"The capital is short of grain, so it's easy to sell it after planting it, but not necessarily for this cotton product!"

"Even though our Hou Mansion doesn't eat rice, the tenants below have to eat rice too!"

"Since His Majesty has spoken, Duke Cheng's mansion should get [-] acres to plant cotton!"

"Well, the Marquis also has to support His Majesty's decision, but he doesn't have the family background of Cheng Guogong's mansion, thirty acres!"

……

At the beginning, all the honorees and Qi pushed back three times and four times, but saw that Zhu Fu, the son of Cheng Guogong, only took out fifty mu to deal with it, and immediately followed the way as if he could see the wind.

In fact, every family will plant some. After all, the economic benefits of cotton are really good, but they don't care about these things.Now he suddenly agrees to plant dozens of acres, which is actually to deal with and run on Hongzhi.

Although Guo Yong was not optimistic about today's events, seeing the perfunctory attitude of these honorable nobles, he even used tens of acres to deal with His Majesty, and his whole face could not help but gloomy.

"His Majesty's word of mouth! Today's matter is a secret, and it is not allowed to be disclosed. Each family can plant as much as they like. Step back!" Liu Jin came to the guardrail of the attic and passed the decree to the nobles below.

"Your Excellency will leave!" All the nobles couldn't help but looked at each other, but they still bowed politely to leave.

It is indeed much more convenient for Sheng Sheng here. He has just left the Yangxin Gate, and there is already the gate of Xiyuan in front of him.If you are still in the Qianqing Palace, you don't know how long you will have to walk to reach the Meridian Gate.

"Obviously I wanted to ask for help, but in the end I still put on airs!"

"So mean and ungrateful, you want us to show our loyalty with all our money, it's really whimsical!"

"Speak carefully, now His Majesty's targeting of us is well known throughout the city, and we must not let it go any longer!"

……

Cheng Guogong's son Zhu Fu and others came out of the Xiyuan Gate, and just after opening the distance from the guards, they discussed what happened just now.

Although it is still difficult for them to regain control of the Beijing camp, Zhu Youtang's sudden summons today, and the fact that Zhu Youtang obviously needs them in developing the cotton industry, gave them some confidence.

During the whole process, there was a disciple of Wu Xun who remained silent all the time, and that person was Xu Shiying, the son of Duke Ding.

Among the three princes in the capital, the lineage of Duke Ding was the most frustrated.

Xu Shiying's grandfather, Xu Xianzhong, passed away without being awarded a military post, and his father, Xu Yongning, went crazy directly, so he was not given a post.

Xu Shiying, who is now over 30 years old, although he is the son of Duke Dingguo, has never had a sense of presence in the entire Wu Xun Group.

Xu Shiying always had a feeling of uneasiness in her heart, but she still didn't know what the problem was, especially the emperor who was not liked by their Wu Xun seemed very calm all the time.

　There are many things, and what I owe will be paid back tomorrow morning!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)