"Gao Xu is a lot taller, and he will be in the north in the future. If there are any difficulties, just report it..."
At the banquet in Huagaidian Square, Zhu Yunwen chatted eagerly with Zhu Gaoxu, and Zhu Gaoxu also nodded from time to time with a smile on his face.
The way these two get along makes people say "brothers, friends and brothers".
On the main table of these twelve people, in addition to Zhu Yunwen and Zhu Gaoxu, there were also princes such as Min Wang Zhu Ling, Gu Wang Zhu Su, Han Wang Zhu Song, Shen Wang Zhu Mo, An Wang Zhu Ying, Tang Wang Zhu Huan and other princes.
In addition to the eight of them, there were also Zhu Yunxi, whom Zhu Gaoxu had met that day, and Zhu Yunxi, Zhu Yunxi's younger brother.
It can be said that Zhu Gaoxu is the only third-generation descendant besides Zhu Biao who is seated. Because of this, he is particularly eye-catching.
Sitting at the banquet near them, Qin Jinyan and other vassal chiefs looked at Zhu Gaoxu's back. Some did not take it seriously, while others showed jealousy in their eyes.
Among them, Zhu Gaochi was the only one who was depressed and had no intention of even using his chopsticks.
Zhu Gaoxu had no time to care about their situation. He was busy dealing with the uncles at the dinner table at the moment.
As Zhu Yunwen opened his mouth to proof, King Zhu Song of Han and King Shen Zhu Mo also poured wine and toasted to Zhu Gaoxu from their seats:
"Gao Xu, if you guard Jilin in the future, we will feel more at ease in the south."
Zhu Song and Zhu Mo were the only uncles at the dinner table who were enthusiastic about Zhu Gaoxu. Although the others were about the same age as Zhu Gaoxu, they thought they would not have anything to do with Zhu Gaoxu in the future.
As for Zhu Song and Zhu Mo, the former has been canonized in Kaiyuan, Liaodong, and the latter is in Shenyang, Liaodong.
In Lao Zhu's original plan, the King of Liao was stationed in Guangning to prevent the Liaoxi Corridor from being cut off, the King of Han was stationed in Kaiyuan, ready to use troops against the Jurchens in the northeast, and the King of Shen was stationed in Shenyang, ready to support the Liao and Han vassals.
It can be said that the three kings will form an iron triangle to completely defend Liaodong.
If Lao Zhu's plan is successfully realized, Liaodong may be Chineseized over a long period of time, and the administrative area will continue to expand, and finally be set as a province.
It was a pity that after the Jingnan incident, Zhu Di believed that it was easy for separatist forces to form in Liaodong, so he moved the three kings into the pass.
For the three kings, this is naturally good news. After all, compared with dealing with the Mongols, Jurchens, and Koreans in Liaodong, where they live a life of constant fighting, enjoying peace in the pass is what they want.
But for Daming, this is a huge loss.
Zhu Gaoxu looked at the two people who toasted to him, and raised his glass in return.
If he remembered correctly, these two people only visited the fortress kings in various places at the beginning of this year. Since then, due to insufficient immigrants from Liaodong, they have not been able to join the vassal state. It was not until a few years after the Jingnan Campaign broke out and ended that they were able to join the vassal state. Within the pass.
Of course, Zhu Gaoxu knew this himself. Zhu Song and Zhu Mo could never predict the future.
Therefore, in the eyes of the two, making friends with Zhu Gaoxu is what they should do. After all, if Zhu Gaoxu can defend the Jilin Shipyard, then the two of them will not have to go to the battlefield.
Even if the north cannot be defended, as long as Zhu Gaoxu can fight, they can also second the palace guards to Zhu Gaoxu and let him lead the troops to prepare the border. It is impossible for him to go to the battlefield and live the life of licking blood with the blade of a knife.
Everyone at the dinner table could see their little thoughts, but Zhu Yunwen was too lazy to pay attention to them.
Although he has already clipped one of Zhu Fan's wings, he will also clip Zhu Fan's other wing next, so that he can feel completely at ease.
In the face of Zhu Fan's problem, Zhu Gaoxu's problem can be put aside for the time being. After all...
"Haha..." Zhu Yunwen thought of Zhu Gaoxu's Jilin Guard and couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth.
He really couldn't imagine what kind of trouble one or two thousand men could cause.
"Hail, Your Majesty!"
Suddenly, the sound of singing sounded in the square. Zhu Yunwen almost subconsciously put the wine glass in his hand on the table, then turned around and bowed to the Huagai Hall.
Like him, there were the other princes at the main table, the bunch of princes and grandsons running around in the square, and the married princess and consort sitting in the corner.
The emperor had been ill for many days and had not appeared in front of everyone for five days, so they all looked at the emperor curiously.
Like them, there is Zhu Yuanzhang himself who has not seen his family for many days.
Standing on the high canopy hall, he could have a panoramic view of what was happening in the square.
Because of this, when everyone was hurriedly bowing, he especially saw Zhu Gaoxu who stood up and bowed unhurriedly.
He knew that Zhu Gaoxu was expressing his dissatisfaction in his own way, but he didn't take it seriously.
If possible, he hopes that Zhu Gaoxu can regain some of his former temperament, so that he can feel more confident about putting him in Jilin.
"Today is a family dinner, don't be formal."
Zhu Yuanzhang raised his hand to signal everyone not to be formal, but how many people present dared to relax?
Everyone was nervous, except Zhu Gaoxu who immediately let go and sat back down.
If it weren't for the fact that there was no food on the table, he would have started eating already.
His behavior made others tremble with fear, but their father and grandfather, who they thought were majestic, did not scold him.
In front of everyone, Zhu Yuanzhang walked down the Huagai Hall and sat down at the main table.
Seeing him sit down, the others sat down one after another, and the officials of Guanglu Temple also announced the meal.
Under the trays of hundreds of eunuchs, plates of exquisite meals were carried out and served.
Since it was still the Hongwu period, the food at Guanglu Temple had not evolved to the point where it was as unpalatable as it was during the Zhengde and Jiajing years.
As a beggar, Zhu Yuanzhang was quite good at choosing cooks.
Seeing the plates of "sitting through the prison" dishes being placed on the table, Zhu Gaoxu waited for Lao Zhu to move his chopsticks.
As long as Lao Zhu moves his chopsticks, he promises to move his chopsticks immediately and leave after eating.
Perhaps because he had just recovered from illness, Lao Zhu didn't say much, let alone invite his children and grandchildren to drink, but started eating with chopsticks.
Seeing him move his chopsticks, Zhu Gaoxu immediately followed, and the princes and grandsons next to him also followed up and moved their chopsticks.
Zhu Gaoxu ate well, but he didn't want Lao Zhu to see him only focusing on cooking, so he specifically said:
"After Gao Xu leaves Jilin, you, Lao Twenty and Lao Twenty-one, will feel much more at ease. In a few years, Lao Fifteen's palace will be built, and the people of Liaodong will no longer be nervous. You will then establish a vassal state." Go to Shenyang and Kaiyuan."
"Yes, dad..." Zhu Song and Zhu Mo nodded in agreement. Seeing this, Lao Zhu also nodded to Zhu Gaoxu:
"After you leave the town of Jilin, remember not to abuse the power of the people. There are only a few thousand people in Jilin. The palace can be built slowly, and you will have to accept your grievances for the time being."
While speaking, Zhu Yuanzhang also decided on the rules of the county and prince's palace. He turned his head and looked at the eunuch who was accompanying him and said: "Today we will decide on the rules of the county and prince's palace..."
Today's Ming Dynasty does not have regulations on the prince's palace, only the regulations on the prince's palace.
According to the regulations established by Lao Zhu, the perimeter of the Prince's Mansion is one hundred and fifty feet, two inches and a half wide from east to west, and one hundred and ninety-seven feet, two inches and a half long from north to south.
There are a main entrance, front and back halls, four-gate towers, two main halls, Cunxin and Chengyun, as well as dozens of top gate towers, courtyards, chambers, kitchens, warehouses, rice warehouses, two altars of Sheji and Shanchuan, and an ancestral temple.
In addition, there are three palaces at the back of the palace, namely the front, middle and back palaces, with nine rooms each. There are 99 rooms on both sides of the palace gate, and 800 rooms in the palace.
After the foundation is completed, the palace gate and gate tower of the Prince's Palace will be covered with blue glazed tiles. The Prince's Palace will be decorated with vermilion, blue and green, and other bedrooms will be decorated with red and green tiles.
After this calculation, the area of a prince's palace is almost 330,000 square meters, one-third of the area of the Forbidden City in Nanjing, which is close to 500 acres.
Such a huge palace would cost tens of thousands of dollars to build even in the mainland, which shows how much Lao Zhu cares about his children and grandchildren.
If the Prince's Mansion is like this, the County Prince's Mansion will naturally be no worse.
After Lao Zhu spoke, the eunuch quickly used the brush he carried to record it, and Lao Zhu also said:
"This is the system of the county prince's mansion. It is forty-six feet wide from east to west and sixty-two feet long from north to south. It has four gate towers, a transport hall, a kitchen and a rice warehouse, fifty-six halls and corridors, and two hundred and six houses. Ten rooms…”
After all, it seemed that Zhu Gaoxu was different from other princes in that he was too far away from Prince Yan's palace and had to be stationed at the border, so Lao Zhu specifically said:
"Jingjiang and Bohai Mansion can be built according to the regulations of the Prince's Mansion."
But after he said this, he reminded Zhu Gaoxu again: "Although you are allowed to regulate the construction like the prince's palace, you must not waste people's energy to pursue your own selfish interests."
"..." Listening to Lao Zhu's words, Zhu Gaoxu didn't know how to evaluate him.
As for his Jilin Guard, which only has six to seven thousand people, even if he has that intention, there are not that many people.
But even so, he still nodded: "My grandson knows..."
"Well..." Seeing Zhu Gaoxu agree, Old Zhu felt relieved and said to Zhu Gaoxu:
"Your palace is different from others. I think about it these days, but I am still going to give you something."
As soon as Lao Zhu opened his mouth, Zhu Gaoxu's ears immediately stood up. What he hoped most was that Lao Zhu would give him more things.
"There is a lot of firewood in Jilin, but there is no iron ore. Therefore, every year from now on, Liaodong will allocate 30,000 jins of iron and 1,000 jins of gunpowder to you. In addition, this year, we will allocate 20 bowl-mouth blunderbuss and 200 copper blunderbuss for you to defend the city." .”
"Thank you Grandpa for your kindness." Zhu Gaoxu was a little happy after hearing this. This was not because of the firearms and iron materials.
Speaking of iron, there are iron mines near the Jilin Shipyard. Even if not, there are iron mines in other places, and they are not far away.
As for gunpowder, if others don’t know, how can Zhu Gaoxu not know how to get it?
In this era, no one dares to say that he knows more about gunpowder than he does, and he does not care about those firecrackers and artillery given to him by Lao Zhu.
The reason why he was happy was that both the bowl-mouth gun and the copper gun were made of copper. He could smelt these firearms and then imitate the smooth-bore bronze cannon.
There were many types of artillery in the early Ming Dynasty, but whether it was the artillery of the generals, the second generals, and the third generals, or Hongwu iron cannons, Hongwu bronze cannons, Wankou blunderbuss and other artillery, their ranges were basically tens to hundreds of steps. No wait.
The only one with a range of more than two miles is the Hongwu Iron Cannon, which weighs more than a thousand kilograms and can only be used to defend cities.
This kind of rock-shooting cannon lags far behind the smoothbore cannon technology that matured only more than 200 years ago, and what Zhu Gaoxu wanted was a high-range, light-weight field cannon.
He wanted to use enough copper to cast field cannons, and then use the heavy iron cannons for naval battles and city defense battles.
Even if he couldn't cast bronze cannons, Zhu Gaoxu could melt these things and pay them to the army.
In short, his entry into the palace this time was not in vain, and he finally reaped the benefits.
After receiving the benefits, he also sounded and behaved much better. This made Lao Zhu shake his head and thought: "Just like his father, he has to be good and be good..."
But no matter what, being able to make up for Zhu Gaoxu made Lao Zhu feel a lot better.
Maybe it was because he felt better, but he didn't feel as coughing as before.
At this family banquet, he looked at his groups of children and grandchildren with joy, and gradually felt relieved.
It's just that there is no such thing as a feast that lasts forever. As time came to midnight, Lao Zhu, who was preparing to go to court tomorrow, finally returned to the palace under the escort of the Jing Army. Zhu Yunwen and others also left the banquet one after another.
Zhu Gaoxu left shortly after Lao Zhu and Zhu Yunwen left. Before leaving, he chatted with Zhu Song and Zhu Mo to prevent Lao Zhu from arranging for them to join the Liaodong vassal in advance in the future, which would cause him to have nothing to do with them.
In addition to the two of them, Zhu Gaoxu also chatted with Zhu Gaosui for a while, but Zhu Gaochi was nowhere to be seen.
"Finally we have taken care of it. We are ready to leave when Yang Bin's money is delivered."
"Well, I heard that Yang Bin has been raising money recently. Calculating the progress, he should be able to send the money before the Lantern Festival."
After leaving Xihua Gate, Zhu Gaoxu got on the donkey cart called by Yishiha and complained with him in the cart.
Perhaps Yi Shiha was used to being criticized in the palace, so for him, being outside was better than being in the palace no matter what. Therefore, he always laughed and forgive Zhu Gaoxu's complaints.
"By the way, Your Highness, I just met Commander Fu outside the Xihua Gate. He said that Shouchun Prince Consort asked him to take a hundred guards to accompany you north."
Yi Shiha suddenly remembered what happened just now. Zhu Gaoxu was a little complicated after hearing this, but he still nodded and said:
"It would be nice to have more people, after all, I don't know how many people are available in Jilin Guard."
Zhu Gaoxu calculated it and found that if he added a hundred guards from Duke Ying's mansion, he could lead 600 soldiers to the Jilin Shipyard.
Even if only half of the thousand soldiers at Jilin Shipyard can be used, the total number will be more than a thousand.
A thousand elite Ming troops in armor were enough to destroy two to three thousand Mongols and five to six thousand Jurchens.
With the background of Jilin Guards and the situation in the Northeast, it would be difficult for Zhu Gaoxu to support war with war, but this is not important. What he wants more is mobility, that is, animal power.
The Jurchens of Xiyangha and other tribes and the Uliangha tribes of Songnen Plain have a large amount of animal power. The Uliangha tribes have more than 100,000 people and more than 30,000 people who can fight. With this small force, I can only Defend but not attack.
Attack Xiyang Ha first, stabilize Xiyang Ha's tribe, then select and train troops and wait for the opportunity.
If Zhu Gaoxu remembers correctly, Wu Liangha would go south in the 29th year of Hongwu, deliberately attracting Daning Tangqi in the pastureland in the north of Daning, in an attempt to encircle and annihilate the Ming army that was advancing deep.
Fortunately, after Zhu Quan learned the news, he ordered the army not to pursue him and told Zhu Yuanzhang.
After Zhu Yuanzhang got the news, he immediately sent Zhu Di to control the troops in Daning and Liaodong and patrol the northern border fortress.
Worried that Zhu Di would encounter war, Zhu Yuanzhang also specifically asked the Zhou crown prince Zhu Youduan to lead the palace guards to patrol the border to be ready to support Zhu Di at any time.
"Although the morning bell has not yet rung, it is already the twenty-eighth year of Hongwu, which means I only have one year, to be precise, less than ten months..."
Zhu Gaoxu frowned slightly, it was too difficult to solve Xiyang Ha within ten months.
The question for Xiyang Ha is not whether he can fight, but whether he can catch up with him.
This old boy is not only a wallflower, but his escape skills are also top-notch. In history, Song Sheng and Zhou Xing led troops to encircle and suppress him, but this old boy escaped in advance on a sled.
If Zhu Gaoxu remembered correctly, he would run once in February, then run back again in July, and continue to plunder south during the autumn harvest. It could be said that he was jumping back and forth on the border of the Ming Dynasty.
To deal with such a person, what Zhu Gaoxu has to do is to catch him in one fell swoop during the autumn harvest. Even if he cannot catch him, he will still be beaten painfully.
With this thought in mind, the donkey cart also stopped, and Zhu Gaoxu and Yi Shiha got off one after another.
"There are so many people so late at night..."
After getting off the carriage, Zhu Gaoxu didn't expect that it was almost midnight and the streets and alleys were still full of people.
Seeing Zhu Gaoxu say this, Yishiha also smiled and said: "On New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, even the most evil merchants have to give their workers a three-day holiday so that their workers can go home and have a good New Year. "
"Not only that, some additional benefits are inevitable. Some are guaranteed a day's wages, and some are only five or six cents, which is enough to buy two kilograms of rice."
"That's not bad." Zhu Gaoxu smiled and shook his head, taking Yi Shiha into the restaurant where he had eaten for a year.
Seeing Zhu Gaoxu coming, the waiter who often delivered meals to Zhu Gaoxu also came forward to greet them and sent them to the private room on the third floor.
Opening the door, Wang Xuan and Yang Zhan were already sitting inside drinking.
"Why don't you order food?" Zhu Gaoxu looked at the dining table with only two bottles of wine and a plate of beans, thinking that Yang Zhan and Wang Xuan might want to wait for him.
"We went shopping and ate some and were not hungry, so we waited for His Highness to come down and had a great time eating like this."
Yang Zhan said this, but Zhu Gaoxu could only say to the waiter waiting at the door:
"According to our usual tastes, let's serve those dishes as if it's the New Year at your place."
"Hey!" The waiter smiled when he heard this and was about to close the door. When Yang Zhan saw this, he raised his hand and called out: "Another four kilograms of good wine!"
"Okay!" The waiter nodded in agreement, closed the door and went down to notify the kitchen.
After Zhu Gaoxu sat down, Yang Zhan also reported good news to Zhu Gaoxu: "Your Highness, you were not here just now, and Yang Bin came to give you money. I can't find you anywhere. You have been waiting for someone in this restaurant. Listen to that guy He said that we were your servants, so he stopped us, sent someone to move two large boxes of money into the yard, and gave you twelve taels of gold as a New Year gift."
"Did the money come?" Zhu Gaoxu was stunned. He didn't expect Yang Bin to move so quickly. He probably had to spend a lot of money to get the 8,000 yuan in time on New Year's Eve.
However, he also gave away twelve taels of gold, which surprised Zhu Gaoxu. Of course, it also allowed him to see Yang Bin's desire to make money.
Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu turned to look at Yi Shiha next to him: "It's not convenient for the Spring Festival tomorrow. On the second day of the Lunar New Year, you take Yang Bin to get some salt. Then you, Wang Xuan and Yang Zhan go to find Fu Rang, and go to the Ministry of Household Affairs together. My salary and other things have all been spent."
"I sold those satins, silks and other burdens to Yang Bin at a low price. I just need to take the money and tea home."
"As for the grain, ask Fu Rang to send someone to Jilin by sea. The grain moves slowly, and it will only take a few days for us to catch up."
As soon as Zhu Gaoxu heard that Yang Bin's money had been received, he stopped delaying and told Yi Shiha to go to the Ministry of Household Affairs to withdraw his salary and some other things.
He didn't have much time anymore and had to leave for Jilin early.
"Your Highness, won't you follow?" Yang Zhan asked curiously.
"I..." Zhu Gaoxu hesitated for a moment and sighed: "I will go to the palace to pay New Year's greetings tomorrow morning, and I will go to the Duke of Song's Mansion to say goodbye to the old Duke in the afternoon."
Having said this, Zhu Gaoxu looked at him and said, "Get the matter done as soon as possible. We will set off on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year."
"Yes" Yi Shiha agreed. Yang Zhan and Wang Xuan also looked at each other with a bit of regret on their faces.
If Zhu Gaoxu leaves, then there is no need for them to stay in Nanjing.
I just don’t know if we are destined to see each other again in this life.
The depressed look of the two people was noticed by Zhu Gaoxu, so he comforted them and said:
"You are all literate, but it's not like you can't write letters. When you go to the guard station, if you have any difficulties, you can write to me. If you encounter something interesting, you can also write to me."
"That's..." Yang Zhan and Wang Xuan nodded with forced smiles. Seeing this, Yi Shiha next to him also took out three letters from his arms and pushed them to them.
"Is this what it is?" The two of them looked puzzled, but they also laughed and said:
"Your Highness has already thought about you two. These two letters are letters of recommendation written to Commander Fu, Duke Wei and Duke Cao of Kunming, Yunnan."
"His Highness said that although you two have passed the major exams and obtained official positions, after all, you have just entered the officialdom, and many meritorious deeds are not your turn."
"With these three letters now, you have someone taking care of you locally, saving you a lot of trouble."
Yi Shiha relayed what Zhu Gaoxu said to him word for word, and Yang Zhan and Wang Xuan also looked at Zhu Gaoxu.
At this moment, Zhu Gaoxu had a wry smile on his face. Facing the two people's hot gazes, he said helplessly to Yi Shiha:
"We agreed that you would hand it over to someone after we left. Why did you hand it over so early?"
"Haha..." Yishi laughed and said, "If I do as you say, I'm afraid you will feel a little regretful, right?"
"It's better to make the two of them happy on this festive day and get drunk in this restaurant, so as not to have to drink again before leaving."
"That's true..." Zhu Gaoxu raised his eyebrows and turned to look at Wang Xuan and Yang Zhan.
"Xu Fuhu, the food is here!"
By chance, as their eyes met, the food and wine arrived at the door. It seemed that even God was making things happen tonight.
Yi Shiha stood up and opened the door, and Zhu Gaoxu also looked at Yang Zhan and Wang Xuan and shook his head:
"It looks like I won't be able to get home until I get drunk tonight..."
(End of chapter)
