"We're here, stop..."
In the dark alley, when an old voice sounded, an ordinary traveling carriage stopped in front of a courtyard guarded by two soldiers.
The driver of the carriage was a strong man. Before the soldiers at the door could ask questions, he got out of the driver's seat and showed a waist badge.
"This, this, this... this humble position, see the commander!"
The two soldiers were startled by the official title written on their waist tags. Although they could not see clearly which guard commander it was, the official position was enough to overwhelm them.
They bowed and bowed, but the military attache ignored them. He turned around and placed the horse stool on the ground where he was driving, and knocked on the door twice.
While breathing, the car door was opened, and the first person to get out was a young man of seventeen or eighteen years old.
He has a round face with thick and slender eyebrows. He is not handsome, but he is somewhat delicate.
After getting off the car, his green round-neck robe was very eye-catching, and the gold-inlaid jade hairpin in his bun was also very eye-catching.
Such a noble young man did not walk directly into the courtyard after getting off the carriage. Instead, he stood beside the carriage and stretched out his hand toward the carriage, as if to help someone.
In an instant, a philanthropic old man with a round face and white hair and beard wearing a plain green round collar robe got out of the carriage with the help of a young man. He looked up at the lintel of the courtyard, even though there was no plaque hanging there.
Seeing that the powerful old man was about to enter the hospital, two soldiers stood in front of him.
"Bastard!" the military attache yelled subconsciously, and the old man and the young man were also stunned for a moment.
Bite the bullet, a soldier in his twenties bowed his head and bowed angrily and asked: "My lord, do you have His Majesty's permission?"
"Haha..." The old man laughed, and then took out a waist card: "Does this count?"
The soldier couldn't tell what material the waistband was made of, but he was not a fool. The person who was led by a commander to clear the way was obviously not someone he could afford to offend.
If it weren't for His Highness who lived in the courtyard, he wouldn't have dared to stop him and ask.
Seeing that the opponent was about to play a riddle, the helpless soldier could only step aside and said: "Please..."
"You are quite loyal to your duties," the old man praised, and then opened the door and walked into the courtyard with the military attache opening the way.
As soon as the courtyard door opened, the sound of pipa and singing came into the old man's ears.
"The sky is blue waiting for misty rain, and I am waiting for you..."
"Huh?" Listening to the song sung by the familiar voice, the old man was stunned: "Does this kid know that I'm coming?"
"Grandpa Huang?" Seeing that the old man refused to leave, the young man next to him thought something had happened to him.
"It's okay..." Hearing the voice of his grandson next to him, the old man came back to his senses and walked toward the main room with the young man and the military attache with a strange look on his face.
Only a few steps away, they walked into the main house and headed towards the study where the singing came from.
"The white and blue koi fish leapt at the bottom of the bowl, but I was thinking about it when I copied the Song style inscription..."
When the door of the study room was pushed open, the singing stopped suddenly. Zhu Gaoxu, who was lying on the chair with his legs crossed, looked at the military attache's unfamiliar face in confusion. He was about to ask him who he was, but he didn't want to see the young man behind him. With the old man.
As for the young man, Zhu Gaoxu still felt that he looked familiar, but he couldn't remember who it was for a moment. But when he looked at the old man, he was too familiar.
"Zhu Gaoxu, the second son of Yan, meet grandpa!"
Zhu Gaoxu slid from his chair to his knees like a loach, bowing five times and kowtowing three times skillfully.
Looking at his appearance, Zhu Yuanzhang smiled, which surprised the young man next to him. He had not seen his grandfather smile so happily for a long time.
"Get up, change into thicker clothes, and come with me out."
Zhu Yuanzhang raised his hand to Zhu Gaoxu in the air, as if to let him get up.
Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu also quickly stood up, placed the pipa on the table beside him, and put on the robe hanging on the hanger.
When he turned back, Zhu Yuanzhang and the other two people were walking out, and he quickly followed them.
"Your Highness..."
As soon as Zhu Gaoxu walked out of the main room, he saw Wu Zhang and others in the side room running out, with some surprise on their faces.
"I'm going out with my grandpa."
Zhu Gaoxu said a word and chased Zhu Yuanzhang and the other three who were about to leave the courtyard.
"grandfather?"
Wu Zhangyi and the others looked at each other, and after a while, their eyes widened.
Isn't His Highness's grandfather the current Emperor Hongwu?
"May your Majesty be blessed with good health!"
Wu Zhangyi quickly knelt on the ground and sang a salute to Zhu Yuanzhang and the three people who had almost disappeared at the courtyard gate. The sound alarmed the people in the surrounding courtyard, but due to the curfew, they did not dare to go out to watch.
On the other hand, the two soldiers guarding the door widened their eyes and watched Zhu Yuanzhang walk out and glanced at them before kneeling down quickly: "Your Majesty, may you be well and well!"
"Everyone, get up, it's freezing cold..."
Zhu Yuanzhang, who was getting into the carriage, said something, then got on the carriage with the young man, and Zhu Gaoxu also ran out of the courtyard.
He looked at the two soldiers at the door, smiled and cursed: "Why are you kneeling? Didn't you listen to my grandfather? It's freezing cold, go to the courtyard to drink and warm up."
"Ah?" The two soldiers were stunned. Zhu Yuanzhang in the carriage also heard Zhu Gaoxu's words when he sat down, and his expression became a little stiff.
He obviously just said that there was no need to kneel, but when Zhu Gaoxu got it into his mouth, he actually asked the two soldiers to go drink in the courtyard.
"That's all, there's no need to guard him anyway..."
Shaking his head gently, Zhu Yuanzhang no longer hesitated, and after the two soldiers reacted, they quickly sang a long live salute to the carriage.
After Zhu Gaoxu got on the carriage and the carriage drove away from the courtyard gate, the two soldiers entered the courtyard arm in arm and closed the courtyard gate.
On the carriage, Zhu Yuanzhang sat in the main seat, the young man sat on the right, and Zhu Gaoxu bowed his head and sat on the left.
Seeing the way he lowered his head, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but say: "He has grown taller."
"It's high." Zhu Gaoxu reacted quickly, without any consciousness of being grounded for several months, and said casually: "I measured it yesterday, and it's five feet eight inches and two cents."
The age of fifteen or sixteen is the age when your height increases rapidly. In this era when the average man is five feet two three inches, Zhu Gaoxu is a whole head taller than ordinary people. And judging from his age of fifteen, he may be able to grow to six years old. Many feet.
Zhu Yuanzhang did not expect that his old Zhu family could raise such a tall and burly descendant.
"How much can you do with a gun now? How about a bow?"
As a lance enthusiast, Lao Zhu asked about Zhu Gaoxu's martial arts. Fortunately, Zhu Gaoxu has not neglected his martial arts these days, so he said confidently:
"You can shoot a 140-pound tiger-power bow to the full moon, use a 10-pound iron spear in your hand, and use a 150-pound stone table to practice."
What Zhu Gaoxu reported was much better than what he had heard in the teaching field ten months ago. Even Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but nod.
"Grandpa Huang, where are we going?"
The young man on the right spoke and immediately caught Zhu Gaoxu's attention: "Grandpa?"
Zhu Gaoxu looked at the young man with a suspicious look on his face, but he could not remember this man. It seemed that he had never met him before in the main hall.
When he was doubtful, Zhu Yuanzhang also responded to the young man: "He will be there soon."
During the conversation, the carriage drove smoothly on the roads of the imperial city that were under curfew. Since the roads were wide and there were no pedestrians, the carriage was not slow and stopped in one place in just a short time.
"You go down with me, Yunxi, you can stay."
Zhu Yuanzhang greeted Zhu Gaoxu and comforted the young man next to him when he stood up.
The name he blurted out made Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but look at the young man.
"Zhu Yunxi..."
Looking at Zhu Yunxi, who was one or two years younger than Zhu Yunwen, Zhu Gaoxu didn't know how to describe him.
If we want to be more apt, I'm afraid it would be more appropriate to call him the most unlucky guy in the early Ming Dynasty.
He was obviously the second son, but the early death of his mother Chang gave him a new mother.
Even so, he still has his eldest brother Zhu Xiongying, the true eldest son of the Ming Dynasty.
It's a pity that his eldest brother also died early due to illness, and the throne that he should have inherited was changed from the second legitimate son to the third legitimate son because his father straightened up the Lu family and also straightened up Zhu Yunwen.
In this situation, if Zhu Biao chooses him as his successor, Lao Zhu will also choose him as his grandson. However, facing Zhu Yunxi and Zhu Yunwen, Zhu Biao's approach was in the year when Lan Yu broke Bei Yuan Yu Yu'erhai , canonized the ten-year-old Zhu Yunxi as the county king, and declared him out in advance.
Zhu Gaoxu didn't know why Zhu Biao did this, nor what happened that year. He only knew that in the following years, Lan Yu often took credit and was arrogant, and was finally liquidated after Zhu Biao passed away.
As for Zhu Yunxi, after Zhu Biao and Lan Yu passed away one after another, he was the only "outsider" left in the entire East Palace.
What happened next was that Zhu Yunwen succeeded to the throne after Lao Zhu's death, named Zhu Yunxi the King of Wu, and established the vassal state of Hangzhou.
But before he could claim vassal status, the Battle of Jingnan broke out, and Zhu Yunxi was trapped in Nanjing for four years.
Four years later, Zhu Di entered Nanjing and succeeded to the throne with the recommendation of Jianwen ministers. Zhu Yunxi was demoted to the title of King Guangze.
After Zhu Di's throne was firmly established, Zhu Yunxi was deposed as a commoner and imprisoned in Fengyang by Zhu Di for being unable to assist his brother.
Fifteen years later, Zhu Su, the king of the valley who opened the gate of Nanjing, falsely claimed that Zhu Yuesui, the king of Chongyang in Shu Mansion, was Lord Jianwen in order to rebel. Zhu Yunxi, who was imprisoned in Fengyang in the same year, died violently at the age of thirty-nine.
It can be said that compared to Zhu Gaoxu himself, Zhu Yunxi's experience can be said to be a situation where death is inevitable no matter how you look at it.
When Zhu Yunwen came to power, even if there was no move to reduce the vassal status or the Battle of Jingnan, with Zhu Yunxi's sensitive status, it would probably be difficult for him to end well.
Zhu Di came to power, and in order to stabilize the throne, it was difficult for Zhu Yunxi to end well.
Looking at it this way, Zhu Gaoxu felt pity for him...
"Huh?" Feeling Zhu Gaoxu's pitiful gaze, Zhu Yunxi frowned slightly, and Zhu Yuanzhang, who was getting out of the car, also looked at Zhu Gaoxu.
Noticing Zhu Yunxi's gaze, Zhu Gaoxu turned his head to avoid it and got off the carriage with Zhu Yuanzhang.
This is the first time that Zhu Gaoxu has left the courtyard of the military avant-garde in more than two months. The scenery is different from the scene before he was banned. This dim alley is filled with snow on both sides, with only one foot wide in the middle. blue brick stone road.
Zhu Yuanzhang walked forward, and Zhu Gaoxu followed behind him.
The grandfather and grandson walked for who knows how far, and did not speak during this period. It was not until they walked out of the alley and turned into another alley that Zhu Yuanzhang spoke:
"Recently, many people in Nanjing are speaking out for you. Do you know anyone?"
"My grandson doesn't know..." Zhu Gaoxu really didn't know who was speaking for him. The only people he could think of were his eldest brother Zhu Gaochi and some old people from the Yan family who knew Zhu Di.
As for Xu Huizu, Li Jinglong and others, there is no need to say more about the latter. Although the former is his uncle, he is currently in Yunnan, and he is not very influential in the court. Even if he wants to speak out, few people will respond.
"Huaixi, Zhejiang, Jiangyou and Jiangdong..." Zhu Yuanzhang said, suddenly paused: "You have involved a lot of people."
"My grandson has nothing to do with them, and I haven't even met them a few times." Zhu Gaoxu didn't expect that he could involve so many people. You must know that he had never met many civil servants and military officers from these places.
"I know..." Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, walked in front with his hands behind his back, and after a few breaths of silence he said again:
"You know everything about Yunnan, so I won't talk about it. I don't care whether it's true or not about his ability to see Shandian Mine. In short, as long as you are sure, you have to draw a picture and tell Grandpa."
"That's natural." Zhu Gaoxu nodded without thinking, but felt inexplicably guilty.
When he felt guilty, Zhu Yuanzhang glanced sideways at him, then quickly looked away and said in a deep voice:
"Someone wants to send you out, but everyone in the temple wants you to stay. What do you think?"
When he said these words, Zhu Gaoxu was stunned.
He combined the gold and silver mines mentioned by Lao Zhu with the idea that officials from various factions did not want him to leave. It was not difficult for Zhu Gaoxu to guess that the officials from various factions probably wanted to obtain some benefits from the mines he pointed out.
Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties...
No matter which dynasty the scholar-bureaucrats were in, they were all cannibals without spitting out their bones. Although Zhu Gaoxu didn't know how they wanted to benefit from himself, he instinctively didn't want to say hello to these people.
If he hadn't yet determined the life and death of Fu Youde and Feng Sheng, he would have left Nanjing in a hurry as before.
As for the people Lao Zhu mentioned who wanted him to leave, Zhu Gaoxu could only think of Zhu Yunwen, Zhu Jixi and Zhu Shangbing.
In the current situation, I am afraid that only the three of them would want to leave Nanjing.
"Going back to Peiping?" Zhu Gaoxu asked Zhu Yuanzhang after thinking about it, without giving his answer directly.
"Go to the north of Liaodong..." Zhu Yuanzhang paused, and then continued: "Jilin Shipyard."
"Jilin Shipyard..." Zhu Gaoxu was stunned. He did not expect that Zhu Yunwen and the others actually wanted him to go to Jilin Shipyard.
Zhu Gaoxu's memory cannot be said to be unforgettable, but he will remember it for a long time after seeing it two or three times. Therefore, he knows the situation of Jilin Shipyard better than anyone else.
There are 1,377 military craftsmen households, with a total of 6,847 people, 276 army horses, and 2,876 acres of cultivated land. Their responsibility is to build and maintain Jilin boats. The division's warships also bear the responsibility of contacting the Jurchen tribes.
The strength of such a place is only about the same as that of a thousand households in the mainland. Moreover, due to its large area of jurisdiction and its proximity to the Jurchens in Haixi, Donghai and other regions, it is often robbed by Jurchens who are disobedient to discipline.
In addition, the temperature in the Northeast dropped sharply in the early Ming Dynasty and was no longer as warm as during the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Therefore, the only crops that could be cultivated on that land were sorghum (sorghum), wheat, soybeans and other crops.
Not only that, due to the long cold period in the Northeast in the early Ming Dynasty, the harvest time of crops grown locally was half a month or even a month earlier than in later generations. If you harvest early, you will have to face the problem of insufficient yield per mu.
According to Yi Shiha, growing grain in the area north of Kaiyuan can only yield 70 to 80 kilograms of solid grain per acre, and to feed a person without enough non-staple food requires at least 500 kilograms of staple food.
From this point of view, the Jilin Shipyard's less than 3,000 acres of land can support four to five hundred people, and the remaining more than 6,000 people have to rely on blood transfusions from Liaodong.
As for food, Zhu Gaoxu had to face a situation where his neck was stuck.
Zhu Gaoxu knew that the Jilin Shipyard had insufficient water conservancy facilities, causing the grain output to be unable to keep up. However, even if he built water conservancy facilities, according to the knowledge he learned in his previous life, the Jilin Shipyard's grain output could only increase by 20 to 30% at most. At least six acres of land are needed to support one person.
There are more than 6,000 mouths in the Jilin Shipyard. Even if Zhu Gaoxu wanted to be simply self-sufficient, he would need to cultivate nearly 40,000 acres of land, which is more than ten times the current amount of cultivated land in the Jilin Shipyard.
In such a place, if the operation is not good, Zhu Gaoxu's idea of making a contribution in the Jingnan Campaign may be declared bankrupt.
But...can he not go?
There is only this one opportunity. Once you miss it, it will be difficult to say...
Zhu Gaoxu was struggling. Although he thought a lot, the outside world had only passed a few breaths.
"Grandson..." Zhu Gaoxu didn't know what to say, but Zhu Yuanzhang didn't let him think for too long, but saw his thoughts from his expression.
"If you don't want to go, grandpa won't force you."
Zhu Yuanzhang turned his back to Zhu Gaoxu and talked as he walked. Zhu Gaoxu was silent after hearing this. He didn't want to give up this opportunity, but if he really asked him to go to Jilin Shipyard, if he was not prepared, he would probably make the same mistake again in the Battle of Jingnan. The same mistakes as before.
He wants to join Jingnan as an original stock, which is why he has never asked for anyone from Yan Mansion.
Jingnan must be carried out based on the situation of the two teams, Yanfu and Zhu Gaoxu, otherwise for him, there will be no difference between the success and failure of Jingnan.
With so many thoughts on his mind, Zhu Gaoxu stopped.
Hearing the footsteps behind him disappear, Zhu Yuanzhang also stopped, turned sideways and looked back at Zhu Gaoxu, waiting for his answer.
"If my grandson dies, will Duke Ying and Duke Song survive..."
Zhu Gaoxu raised his head and asked Zhu Yuanzhang, but when faced with this question, he remained silent.
The Hongwu Emperor, who in the eyes of later generations had absolute say, could not make a decision in line with his wishes in front of Zhu Gaoxu.
Without any words, Zhu Gaoxu just stood in the dark alley, waiting for Lao Zhu's answer.
Time passed bit by bit, and Zhu Gaoxu was suffering from waiting. Fortunately, Lao Zhu finally spoke: "You don't have to go..."
He did not answer directly, but the meaning behind his words made Zhu Gaoxu's mind go blank.
"Is it really necessary to die..." He murmured to himself in his heart, but Lao Zhu turned around and continued walking forward.
Zhu Gaoxu's face was ashen, but he still kept up with Lao Zhu's pace.
It was only during the long road that followed that the grandfather and grandson never talked again. It was not until they came to a place where lanterns were hung that Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Gaoxu stopped.
Under the lantern, ten people with a small flag stood in two rows, wearing Zhu Gaoxu's familiar armor.
"Your Highness...Your Highness..."
A familiar voice came, with a hint of surprise in his tone.
Zhu Gaoxu, who was heartbroken, looked up and saw Wang Jian's surprised face.
Wang Jian's appearance shocked Zhu Gaoxu. He looked to the left and right, and not only saw the equally surprised brothers of the Xu family, but also saw the tall lintel and the high-hanging plaque.
【Yingguo Gongfu】
Looking at those four words, Zhu Gaoxu turned to look at Zhu Yuanzhang.
"Open the door..."
Zhu Yuanzhang spoke to Wang Jian calmly. Although Wang Jian didn't know who Zhu Yuanzhang was, judging from the status of Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Yuanzhang, he thought he was a high-ranking person, so he ordered someone to open the door.
Zhu Yuanzhang walked in, and Zhu Gaoxu followed him.
Faced with Wang Jian's confused look when he was in the wrong body, Zhu Gaoxu didn't say much. Now he just wanted to know why Lao Zhu brought him to Yingguogong's mansion.
Walking in the familiar Duke Ying's mansion, Zhu Gaoxu felt uneasy.
He thought of many things at this moment, the main one being the time of Fu Youde's death.
Fu Youde died on the 29th of the winter lunar month, and it is now the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month. Historically speaking, Fu Youde lived for six more days and changed the original history.
But now it seems that if Lao Zhu suddenly brings him to Duke Ying's mansion, nothing good will happen.
Zhu Gaoxu didn't dare to think about it. Even though he had thought of it belatedly, he tried hard to avoid it.
On the way forward, many servants of Duke Yingguo's mansion that Zhu Gaoxu had seen before or had never seen before were saluting the two of them, but this time the object of their salute was no longer Zhu Gaoxu, but Zhu Yuanzhang who was walking in front of him.
Perhaps it was at this moment that Zhu Gaoxu could deeply understand the terror of Jin Yiwei.
His face was pale and he felt cold all over.
Under the guidance of a royal guard, they walked to a courtyard.
There were many people standing in the room in the courtyard. Some of them were sobbing, some bowed their heads in sadness, and some were waiting quietly for something.
Zhu Yuanzhang walked in with Zhu Gaoxu. At first, the group of female relatives were still thinking about who they were, but before they could react, two five or six-year-old children sitting aside rushed up and hugged Zhu Yuanzhang's legs.
"Grandpa! Grandpa!"
The voices of the two dolls broke the atmosphere in the room, and rapid footsteps sounded from the bedroom. Fu Zhong and Fu Rang walked out one after another.
The moment they saw Zhu Yuanzhang, they subconsciously knelt on the ground and kowtowed: "Your Majesty, may you be blessed and well..."
"Your Majesty?" The stunned female relatives finally reacted and knelt on the ground and kowtowed three times: "Your Majesty, may you be blessed and well..."
For a moment, the only people standing in the room were Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Gaoxu, and the two dolls holding Zhu Yuanzhang's legs.
It was the first time for Zhu Gaoxu to see the two dolls, but he knew their identities from the names they called Zhu Yuanzhang.
These two dolls may be the two children born to Fu Zhong and Princess Shouchun.
"Get up..."
Zhu Yuanzhang touched the heads of the two dolls with both hands. With a look of kindness on his face, he also asked Fu Zhong and others to stand up.
After they got up, Fu Zhong and Fu Rang discovered Zhu Gaoxu following Zhu Yuanzhang. Their eyes showed a kind of joy, followed by relief.
Looking into their eyes, Zhu Gaoxu had a bad feeling in his heart.
"I'll go in and see your dad, you guys wait outside."
Zhu Yuanzhang patted the two dolls, motioned them to let go, and explained to Fu Zhong and Fu Rang.
Facing Zhu Yuanzhang standing in front of them, no matter what they said about him behind his back before, when he really appeared, Fu Zhong and Fu Rang still instinctively followed everything he said.
They stepped forward and took away the two dolls, making way for Zhu Yuanzhang to enter the bedroom.
In front of all of them, Zhu Yuanzhang walked in.
Zhu Gaoxu also wanted to follow, but stopped when he saw Zhu Yuanzhang closing the door.
He stood at the door of the bedroom. There was only a door between him and Fu Youde, but he couldn't walk in.
Even so, he did not leave, but kept standing at the door, waiting for Zhu Yuanzhang to call him in...
(End of chapter)
