Han Du stretched out his hand to comfort the emotional Lan Chun, "Money needs to be spent, but it's not as serious as you think."
"What are you going to do, teacher?" Yu Qian looked at Han Du with burning eyes.
"It's nothing extraordinary, it's just Guan Zhong's estimate." Han Du smiled faintly.
"Guan Zhong?"
Lan Chun was still confused. He liked to wield swords and guns, and he had only heard of Guan Zhong. But he knew nothing about what this man had done.
Yu Qian was much better than Lan Chun. He knew the elegant meaning of Xiange and immediately asked with certainty: "Teacher, are you talking about the Hengshan conspiracy?"
"Almost." Han Du nodded slightly.
Yu Qian instantly felt an inexplicable excitement. Many people knew about the Hengshan conspiracy, but the teacher was probably the only one who dared to carry it out.
Moreover, Yu Qian knew that the teacher was unpredictable in running a business. Now that he had the opportunity to see the teacher's methods with his own eyes, how could he not be extremely excited?
Lan Chun's face was full of confusion. What's the Hengshan conspiracy? What does this have to do with Guan Zhong?
"If the teacher wants to use this to attack the Timur Empire, I'm afraid one million guan is not enough?" Yu Qian calculated in his mind, wondering what the teacher had just said. Why not let Lan Chun spend all his family wealth? If the Hengshan plan means to defeat the enemy without fighting, it will also consume a lot of property.
When Lan Chun saw this, he was about to express his willingness to pay again. After all, judging from the current situation, he doesn't have much energy left, but as long as he can avenge his father, he doesn't care about money.
Han Du waved his hand to stop Lan Chun's words and explained: "At the beginning, I really wanted you to give up all the money. But now, I have a better idea."
"What's the idea? Teacher, can you explain it in detail?" Yu Qian asked in surprise.
Han Du shook his head, "Now is not the time. I have to go into the palace to see the emperor. I still need the emperor's nod before this can proceed."
...
Taking advantage of the opportunity to visit the sick Zhu Biao in the palace, Han Du proposed to Zhu Biao.
"Your Majesty, I have some doubts."
Zhu Biao's physical condition was getting worse and worse, and he originally wanted to rest. But in the face of Han Du's question, Zhu Biao still cheered up, nodded and asked, "What's the doubt?"
Han Du took a deep look at Zhu Biao and said, "The emperor should know how big this world is. The Ming Dynasty now occupies only one-tenth of the land. But why has the emperor never expanded his territory since he succeeded to the throne? Ambitious?"
"When Emperor Gaozu was here, in just a dozen years the Ming Dynasty expanded into Southeast Asia, went to the West, and established nearly a hundred governor's offices. However, since the emperor succeeded to the throne, there has never been another governor's office."
"I would like to ask your Majesty, why is this?"
After hearing this, Zhu Biao didn't seem to be surprised that Han Du would ask. Instead, there was a look of relief on his face, "You finally asked."
Han Du was silent. He had wanted to ask this for a long time, but he was lucky enough to think that this situation was only temporary. As long as Zhu Biao had the ambition to open up new territories, he would not turn a blind eye to this.
What Han Du never expected was that Zhu Biao really had no ambition to develop, which made Han Du extremely disappointed.
"What do you think of the current Ming Dynasty?" Zhu Biao asked back.
Han Du pondered for a while and replied: "The Han and Tang Dynasties are far away! Even the territory of the Yuan Dynasty is not as good as the Ming Dynasty today. Emperor Gaozu and his Majesty worked hard for decades, and finally reproduced the glory of the Han and Tang Dynasties, allowing the people to Standing proudly in the world.”
"These are all my father's achievements, and I deserve them!" Zhu Biao waved his hands calmly.
Then he said: "Didn't you just ask me why I didn't open up more territories? Because I know that a thousand birds in the forest is worse than a bird in the hand."
"No matter how vast the land is in the world, no matter how many rare treasures there are, if it cannot be in the hands of the Ming Dynasty, what's the point? When I inherit the throne, I will naturally turn the land where my father opened up the territory into the Ming Dynasty completely and completely. land, that’s what matters most.”
Does Zhu Biao make sense? It makes sense, and it makes perfect sense.
When Lao Zhu was here, he allowed himself to roam around the South and West, occupying land after land and setting up governor's mansions one after another.
But as Zhu Biao said, if the Ming Dynasty could not allow these governor's mansions to take root in the local area. No matter how you get it, you will lose it sooner or later.
"Your Majesty, in the face of such a huge world, can we just look back and sigh?" Han Du was very unwilling. This is as uncomfortable as a gourmet who cannot use his chopsticks at will when facing a table full of delicacies.
"Who wouldn't want to embrace such a colorful world?" Zhu Biao sighed, "But we have to be able to eat it, right?"
"How many people are there in the Ming Dynasty? How big is the world? You know these better than me. Do you think the current people can occupy the entire world?"
Han Du was silent and had to agree with Zhu Biao's view. After decades of recuperation, the population of Ming Dynasty has only just returned to the level before the war, which is about 60 million.
This small number of people can barely occupy the Ming Dynasty. If Nanyang is added to it, the population will not be enough. To truly occupy Nanyang, at least 30 million people are needed.
If we add the continents and subcontinents, there will be too many people to feed. At least judging from the current situation, it will be impossible for the Ming Dynasty to fill all these places within at least a hundred years.
"Your Majesty, it is indeed impossible for the Ming Dynasty to occupy all the places now. But it will be used one day in the future. Taking it first can benefit future generations." Han Du said.
"It's beyond our reach!" Zhu Biao shook his head slightly, obviously disagreeing with Han Du's view.
Han Du was stunned for a moment and suddenly understood.
I originally thought that Zhu Biao, like Lao Zhu, had an infinite thirst for land, was ambitious, and could fearlessly practice his inner beliefs. But now it seems that Zhu Biao is far behind compared to Lao Zhu.
Zhu Biao does not have the pioneering courage of Lao Zhu, he is just a qualified conservative king!
Han Du never expected that just when he was ambitious and wanted to turn the Ming Dynasty into an empire where the sun and moon shine, Zhu Biao was not very enthusiastic about it.
The previous extremely firm belief was shaken a little. Han Du stared into Zhu Biao's eyes tightly and wanted to persuade him again: "Your Majesty, if you stop here, it will be a failure!"
So what if success fails? Zhu Biao didn't care.
He smiled and shook his head and explained: "I didn't say we would stop here, but the Ming Dynasty does not need to occupy so much land now. If there are more people in the future, people will naturally continue to develop."
Later? Haha, Han Du sneered in his heart.
When two armies fight, they must focus on one strong force and then weaken three times, let alone develop global hegemony?
Han Du was sure that as long as Zhu Biao could not continue firmly and the next emperor succeeded, Ming would never have the chance to dominate the world from now on.
Han Du had never been so disappointed in Zhu Biao as he was now, and his eyes gradually dimmed until he could no longer see any brilliance.
I don't know how long it took, but Han Du took a deep breath and cheered up again.
He said in a deep voice: "Since the Emperor looks down on those unowned lands, why not make a decree."
"What's the purpose?" Zhu Biao frowned, a little dissatisfied with Han Du's attitude.
Han Du can't control that much. Since you, Zhu Biao, don't like this land, you might as well give it to someone who likes it.
"The people are allowed to develop unowned lands on their own, allowed to do business in those places as they please, and have the right to form their own guard force."
The first two are nothing to Zhu Biao, he has to agree. But the last one, the so-called formation of a guard force, is actually easy to understand, which means allowing private soldiers to be raised in captivity!
Zhu Biao did not agree casually, but looked at Han Du in a daze. After thinking for a moment, he asked: "What exactly do you want to do? Don't tell me. Ordinary People can go so far."
"It's not the people who want to go, it's the ministers who want to go." Han Du has never been as determined as he is now.
Because in Han Du's view, this was a loss that would benefit the Ming Dynasty without any harm, and no one would refuse it.
From the beginning, I wanted to rely on Lao Zhu to achieve the goal of letting Ming occupy the entire world. Lao Zhu indeed gave Han Du unlimited support. Unfortunately, Lao Zhu died too early in the end and was unable to achieve full success.
Later, Han Du placed his hopes on Zhu Biao, because in Han Du's view, since Zhu Biao was Lao Zhu's most valued successor, he would definitely inherit Lao Zhu's legacy and continue to lead the Ming Dynasty to expand its territory.
But he never expected that Zhu Biao would shrink back!
This made Han Du extremely sad and painful, and he decided not to place his hope on anyone else. Since there is no one to rely on, Han Du has to rely on himself!
Zhu Biao lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then shook his head slightly: "If I make this decree, I'm afraid I will be criticized in the future!"
What criticism? To put it bluntly, it is possible to remain infamy for eternity.
Zhu Biao knew what Han Du wanted and what Han Du meant by opening up new territories.
Han Du looked at Zhu Biao seriously and said: "The emperor's move may be a sin for the present, but it will definitely serve the future!"
The crime is in the present time, but the merit is in the future!
Zhu Biao was stunned for a moment, lowered his head and fell silent.
After a long time, he raised his head and sighed towards Han Du: "Okay, I'm already like this, why do I still care about my reputation? I can't do it. Let Yunye bear this responsibility, right?"
"Come here, prepare your pen and ink, I want to issue an edict!"
Wang Yue walked in quickly and looked at Zhu Biao with a look of disbelief on his face, "Your Majesty, do you want to draw up an edict?"
Zhu Biao shook his head, "No, I will personally issue the order."
Then he looked at Han Du and said, "Help me up!"
"Your Majesty, your dragon body..." Han Du didn't want Zhu Biao to be so tired.
Zhu Biao smiled and shook his head, "It's okay, I still have the strength for the next decree."
Seeing this, Han Du quickly went over and helped Zhu Biao up.
