After the winter solstice, the news that Zhu Gaoxu had killed Xiyang Ha began to spread, which meant that the chaos in the northeastern part of Liaoning caused by Xiyang Ha had finally been temporarily subdued.
As for whether the trouble in Northeast Liaoning can be completely quelled, it still depends on what route Atai Wailan takes, and whether the Bohai Navy can defend Andong City and restrain the ambitions of Atai Wailan and others.
But no matter what, at least for the moment, the military households in Liaodong got a chance to breathe, and Zhu Gaoxu's move naturally caused dissatisfaction among some people.
"He is really capable!"
In the East Palace, Zhu Yunwen, who had just returned to the East Palace from Wuying Palace, expressed his dissatisfaction with two groups of more than a dozen ministers in the palace.
In response, Bao Zhao also bowed and said: "Although His Majesty has increased the annual income of Jilin City and wants to relocate a thousand households from Shandong, the land of Jilin is barren after all."
"Besides, we have all watched what happened in Suisu. Based on the current situation of Suisu, Jilin City can only rely on the imperial court, so Grandson, you can rest assured."
"I'm just too relieved..." Zhu Yunwen was a little dissatisfied, but he didn't show it on his face.
However, from his words, it was not difficult for everyone to hear his thoughts.
"Now it seems that Ataiwailan, the son of Xiyangha, may not be able to become an enemy of Jilin City in a short period of time."
"What needs attention now are the Uuliangha tribes on the Suwen River."
Qi Tai has always been very concerned about Zhu Gaoxu. Now that he has achieved great achievements and his power has gradually taken root outside the customs, Qi Tai naturally wants to find a way to curb the expansion of Zhu Gaoxu's power.
Therefore, after Zhu Yunwen expressed his dissatisfaction, he held the Wat board and bowed:
"The road leading to Jilin is now covered with heavy snow. If you want to send the message, you have to wait until the end of March next year."
"Therefore, I suggest that Jilin City encircle and suppress the remaining seven Jurchen tribes in Azhemi after the beginning of spring. This can not only ensure the safety of our Liaodong, but also contain the King of Bohai on the ground of Azhemi."
"The bodyguards in King Bohai's hands are only over 2,000 even if you include the 1,000 households that were relocated this time."
"I'm afraid it won't be that easy for more than two thousand people to deal with the seven Jurchens in the vast mountains and forests of Azhemi..."
Qi Tai's words were already very explicit, and the words "weakening Zhu Gaoxu" were barely written on his face.
However, Chun He and the two ministers in the palace had no reaction at all to his words, as if everything was as it should be.
The vassal king was powerful and should have been restrained. Zhu Gaoxu was no more than a county king, and sitting outside the pass with more than 2,000 troops was already an incredible situation.
If it weren't for Guxuan Pass in Jilin City, they would even want to seize Zhu Gaoxu's sore feet and rip off a few of his books.
"Just do what Mr. said."
Zhu Yunwen looked at Qitai, who rarely agreed with him once, and his originally bad mood became slightly better.
He left this matter to Qi Tai, while he discussed more important matters above the temple with the other ministers.
"How is the encirclement and suppression of barbarian bandits in Guangxi, Guizhou, Sichuan and other places?"
Zhu Yunwen talked about the rebellion in the southwest caused by gold and silver mines.
Since news of the gold and silver mines spread in July, the land conflict between the Ming Dynasty and the chieftains has become increasingly intensified.
In August, Miao Yao invaded and plundered in Fengyi, Qingyuan, Huguang, Zhenyuan, Guizhou and other places. Therefore, Zhu Yunwen had to transfer Gu Cheng back to Guizhou and was responsible for encircling and suppressing the barbarian bandits in Guizhou and Guangxi.
In addition, the kings of Xiang and Chu were also transferred by Zhu Yunwen to pacify the Yuanzhou Yao pirates.
Before these rebellions ended, Guangxi Pingchuan and other thirty-sixty-six-yuan bandits and Bingui mountain bandits took the opportunity to cause trouble again and plundered prefectures and counties.
In addition to these rebellions with a scale of more than a thousand people, there are dozens of rebellions with more than a hundred people in the local area.
Fortunately, these rebel areas were all in Guangdong, Guangxi and the Southwest. With Xu Huizu in charge, Qu Neng, Gu Cheng, Song Sheng, Muchun and others could put down the rebellion with peace of mind.
More than three months have passed, and when the time has entered winter, the southwest has finally become much more stable, and the only ones that are relatively capable are Wumeng Mountain and Daxue Mountain.
"You are truly good ministers to our country in the Ming Dynasty. I am truly lucky to have you..."
Seeing that Qi Tai, Bao Zhao, Huang Zicheng and others finished their reports, Zhu Yunwen couldn't help but be polite.
"We don't dare to accept it..." After hearing this, the two groups of ministers bowed in return. At this time, Zhu Yunwen also took out a memorial and said proudly:
"This is a report from the Ministry of Industry. Since the emperor sent 20,000 tribute students from the Imperial Academy to local government offices last year, as of the beginning of the month, 4987 ponds and 4162 rivers have been opened in counties and counties across the country. There are 5,448 Piqu embankments..."
"With so many things done at the local level, I think next year's taxes will be much higher than this year."
"I wonder how much tax deductions will be made with banknotes this year?" Zhu Yunwen asked the question he was most concerned about. In response, the head of the Ministry of Household Affairs stepped out and bowed:
"The following document booklet has been sent up, but I'm afraid the amount is a bit..."
The chief officer's words made everyone feel nervous. Zhu Yunwen's smile was a little stiff, but he was good at cultivating energy. He said with a smile: "After all, it is the policy of the imperial court. If there are problems, we will make changes."
"This year..." the manager said anxiously: "This year, the policy of deducting the autumn tax in cash is still the policy of the Susong and Song Dynasties. However, the second government taxed more than 3.97 million shi, but the final payment was 964,000 shi." There are more than a thousand ingots of treasure money, but the actual tax paid is less than 700,000 stone..."
Shocking...Zhu Yunwen never thought that the gentry and wealthy businessmen of Su Song's Second Mansion would do this.
Of the nearly four million stone tax and grain tax, only 700,000 stone was paid in the end, and the rest was used to offset the tax with treasure money.
It is true that using cash to offset taxes is a policy promulgated by the imperial court, and they can indeed do this, but the consequences of doing so are equivalent to depriving their families.
If the emperor sees this account, I'm afraid it will be difficult to use cash to offset taxes next year.
"Why don't you pay some..." Zhu Yunwen gritted his teeth. He didn't expect this group of people to be so greedy.
This is already the second year that the Susong and Song Dynasties have used banknotes to offset taxes. Last year, out of the actual tax of 1.4 million guan, the court only received less than 400,000 guan.
It's even worse this year, with nearly 1.5 million guan, and the imperial court may not even get 200,000 guan...
Zhu Yunwen felt that he was flattering them by saying they were greedy, but at the moment he had no intention of pursuing it. He only thought about what his grandfather would think after seeing this booklet.
"Stop the use of cash to offset next summer's tax"
Suddenly, Zhu Yunwen announced his decision, and this move made everyone in the hall look at each other in shock.
Obviously, Zhu Yunwen wanted to use this method to remind the wealthy gentry and wealthy households in Su Song's second house not to look too ugly.
Faced with his actions, the ministers said nothing, but all bowed in agreement.
As for whether they would say anything behind their backs, that was no longer Zhu Yunwen's consideration.
He must choose a balance between the Jiangnan gentry and his own imperial grandfather. Otherwise, if he allows the Jiangnan gentry to continue like this, who knows whether they will get worse?
Thinking of this, Zhu Yunwen narrowed his eyes, waved his sleeves to signal the ministers to leave, and at the same time focused his eyes on Huang Zicheng among them.
"I'll take my leave..."
The ministers signaled, bowed and sang, and left. Only Huang Zicheng stayed.
After they left completely, Zhu Yunwen said to Huang Zicheng:
"It's been four months, how are things going at the Southwest Gold and Silver Mines?"
"The mining progress is good. In four months, more than 700 taels of gold, more than 14,000 taels of silver, and 120,000 jins of copper ingots were mined. The total amount is nearly 40,000 taels."
"I have asked officials from the Ministry of Industry and the Yunnan Capital Division. If there is no disturbance by bandits and more than 10,000 households can be immigrated every year to enrich the mines in various places to ensure mining, then next year we should be able to earn 300,000 yuan a year, and then double every two years. , until he earns more than two million yuan a year..."
When Huang Zicheng reported, although he tried his best to calm down, his tone was still excited.
"Are there really that many?"
The output of the Yunnan mines made Zhu Yunwen stunned, and Huang Zicheng nodded firmly: "The miners in Yunnan Dusi reported that as long as there are enough miners, the copper mines in Yunnan alone can produce millions of kilograms per year, and can cast more than a hundred coins. Wan Guan."
"Great Grandson, if the imperial court can mine silver mines in Ansheng, Yunnan, then even if the amount of tax deductions with banknotes is too large, according to what King Bohai said, Yunnan ores can be used to make up for the tax deduction deficit."
"What's more, the price of treasure banknotes in Jiangdong Six Prefectures has now risen back to 700 guan each. Although the treasure banknotes recovered this time are large in number, they are still worth more than 600,000 guan. It's just that the imperial court will not use them for the time being. It cannot be said that the imperial court is losing money. More than a million guan..."
Huang Zicheng's words sounded like sophistry, but Zhu Yunwen needed such sophistry to excuse himself at the moment, so he couldn't help but nod:
"Having said that, we still have to stop using cash to deduct taxes next summer, in order to beat the gentry and wealthy households in the six prefectures of Jiangdong."
"Great Sun Yingming..." Seeing that Zhu Yunzhen couldn't be persuaded, Huang Zicheng could only sing a salute to approve his behavior.
His singing voice was very useful to Zhu Yunwen, so he couldn't help but calm down and prepare to deal with other things.
As for Zhu Gaoxu's matter, he may have forgotten it long ago. When Huang Zicheng saw this, he also mentioned something about Zhu Yunwen himself.
"The grandson, the Ministry of Rites and His Majesty have chosen the concubine. It is said that she is the daughter of Guanglu Shaoqing Ma Quan."
"In addition, the Imperial Concubine Yan and other princes and imperial concubines were selected. Among them, the youngest granddaughter of Wu Dinghou was selected as the Princess of Bohai. His Majesty is planning to move a thousand military households northward in the next spring, and let her go north with the army to marry the Prince of Bohai... …”
"Guo Ying's little granddaughter?" After hearing Huang Zicheng's words, Zhu Yunwen was a little afraid.
Now that Fu Youde and others are dead, among the founding fathers of Hongwu, only Geng Bingwen and Guo Ying are still alive.
Although Guo Ying has not formed a clique, he still has quite a few old subordinates. Now that his granddaughter is getting married to Zhu Gaoxu, it is not surprising that Zhu Yunwen is worried.
Fortunately, King Zhu Zhi of Liao married Guo Ying's daughter last year, so Zhu Gaoxu would not get any benefits.
Thinking of this, Zhu Yunwen also became indifferent: "Let him go, it's just a granddaughter."
"Yes..." Seeing that Zhu Yunwen didn't care and had nothing else to say, Huang Zicheng bowed in return and left the Chunhe Hall.
Watching him leave, Zhu Yunwen sat for a long time before looking out the window, and then turned his attention to the "On the Cutting of Fans" that Zhu Yuanzhang had asked him to read for more than a year.
Looking at the article "On the Cutting of Fans", Zhu Yunwen's face showed sneer.
"So what if you are talented? You are not yet a minister."
"Boom!!!"
Just when Zhu Yunwen was mocking Zhu Gaoxu, a dull explosion broke out in a snowy mountain forest.
It's just that many people in a stone fort in the mountains have become accustomed to the sound of explosions. At this moment, they are more concerned about the tall man holding an iron rod.
"The sound of this mine explosion is quite loud..."
Holding the iron rod in his hand, Zhu Gaoxu teased Yishiha on the side, and then turned his attention to the iron rod.
The iron rod was four feet long, about the thickness of a thumb, and someone had drilled a hole in it using an unknown tool.
Others may not know what such a wrought iron hollow stick can be used for, but Zhu Gaoxu knows it very well, because he was the one who had it made.
"Let's go inside and talk."
Holding the wrought iron hollow roller, Zhu Gaoxu led Yishiha and Shibao's hundreds of officials into a simple wooden house.
After they entered the wooden house, Lin Su who followed them asked people to surround the wooden house and ordered no one to come closer than ten steps.
After doing all this, he walked into the wooden house.
After entering the wooden house, he walked silently to Zhu Gaoxu. Zhu Gaoxu took the iron rod and asked the officials in front of him:
"Meng Zhang, you are an old brother of Xu Zibaihu, so I leave this matter to you."
"Tell me now, whether this hollow wrought iron stick can be used as a firecracker."
Meng Zhang, as an old brother among the hundred households with the name Xu, was appointed by Zhu Gaoxu to come to the Iron Smelting Stone Castle to supervise the iron smelting and secretly manufacture gunpowder.
A few months ago, Zhu Gaoxu had another drawing sent to him, asking him to make a wrought iron hollow iron pipe according to the drawing, which is what Zhu Gaoxu had in his hands at this time.
Today Zhu Gaoxu came to the Iron Smelting Stone Castle, and what he wanted to know was whether the wrought iron hollow iron pipe could be used.
In this regard, Meng Zhang did not disappoint him, bowing confidently and saying:
"Your Highness, I made the wooden lathe according to the drawing you gave me, and I also used this wooden lathe to make this wrought iron hollow stick."
"I asked the blacksmith who made this stick, and he said it is much more useful than a copper bludgeon. Although I haven't tried it, it will definitely work."
"As long as it works!" Zhu Gaoxu picked up the wrought iron barrel and felt that it was very hot.
Zhu Gaoxu couldn't make mass-produced matchlocks, but that didn't mean he had to sit back and wait until he could do it.
Although the matchlock gun has not yet been designed by Zhu Gaoxu, he knows what is the most time-consuming thing about the matchlock gun.
Without him, it is nothing more than the barrel of a gun.
Before the industrial revolution, gun barrels had always been the most time-consuming and in-demand firearm material among firearms.
Zhu Gaoxu couldn't make firearms, but he could first make a strong enough gun barrel for later use. As long as he solved the problem of the powder chamber and firing, he could immediately use wrought iron hot forging technology to assemble the barrel and other parts in the shortest possible time. In time, a batch of matchlock guns were produced that could be used on the battlefield.
The barrel of the matchlock gun in the middle and late Ming Dynasty was simply hot-forged from wrought iron. The wrought-iron sheet was hammered into a long stick with holes in various ways. The joints were hot-welded, the ignition hole was drilled at the predetermined position, and then the inner bore was processed again. to the legal size, and finally seal the tail of the barrel with a screw structure.
In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the Han people had invented pedal lathes and vertical lathes to drill gun tubes.
Today's Zhu Gaoxu just brought this thing to this era more than a hundred years in advance.
I have to say that these two lathes are really easy to use, and the wrought iron barrels drilled out can be said to be perfect.
This barrel is better than the matchlock barrels that Zhu Gaoxu saw in some Ming and Qing firearms museums in his previous life. This shows how mature the forging technology was in the early Ming Dynasty and how solid the materials used by the craftsmen were.
"How long does it take to make a barrel of this gun? How much does it cost?"
While Zhu Gaoxu was observing the barrel of the gun, he asked Meng Zhang, to which Meng Zhang also answered accurately:
"With a vertical lathe, it only takes three people three days to drill out one. And it's a simple job. Even if three people pull it back and forth, they can drill out one in three days."
"This gun barrel only took three masters three days to make. We mine the iron ourselves for free, so only counting the master's wages, the cost is only one hundred and fifty cents."
"However, if we calculate based on the price of purchasing iron materials and hiring craftsmen in the pass, this barrel will cost at least 400 cents."
The benefits of Zhu Gaoxu's infrastructure construction began to show. The price of a gun barrel of 150 yuan was enough for him to continue production.
If there was no iron ore, then he would have to spend money to buy iron materials to make the barrel, and the price more than tripled.
What also surprised him was the speed of drilling the gun barrel. In his previous life, he clearly remembered the online description that it took a month to drill out a gun barrel during the Qing Dynasty. How come it only took three days to get here?
But after thinking about it carefully, he didn't think it was strange.
Some things seem to take more than twenty days, but in fact they only take half a day to complete, such as some materials from Zhu Gaoxu's previous life unit.
As long as some unnecessary processes are eliminated, it is difficult to improve productivity and mobility.
Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu no longer struggled, but continued to ask: "How is the production of gunpowder?"
"Daily mining consumes a lot. Currently, we can save more than 400 kilograms per month. Now there are more than 1,600 kilograms stored in the gunpowder warehouse. If we add 20 people, we may be able to produce 5,000 kilograms every month."
Meng Zhang lowered his voice. Obviously he also knew that it was against the law for the Bohai Navy to make gunpowder in private, but he was still willing to make gunpowder for Zhu Gaoxu.
His words cheered up Zhu Gaoxu, and he turned to look at Yi Shiha: "Tell two hundred Jurchen women to Meng Zhang..."
As he spoke, he looked at Meng Zhang again, handed over the barrel of the gun in his hand, and said at the same time: "Twenty people make gunpowder, and the rest are used to make the barrel."
Zhu Gaoxu calculated in his mind that 180 people could produce 600 gun barrels every month, which is more than 7,000 barrels a year.
Now we are about to enter the 29th year of Hongwu. Lao Zhu passed away in May of the 31st year of Hongwu. In December, Zhu Yunwen began to monitor his father. In July of the following year, the Jingnan Campaign broke out...
If he only counts up to December of the thirty-first year of Hongwu, he still has thirty-five to thirty-six months. Even if he only counts thirty-five months, he can still produce more than 20,000 gun barrels.
"More than 20,000..." Zhu Gaoxu murmured the number. He was not sure how many troops he could pull out in the Jingnan Campaign.
At least for now, even if he integrates the sixty-nine troops who have taken refuge with him, it is unlikely that he will have more than 30,000 troops under his command.
Twenty thousand matchlocks are enough to equip these 30,000 people. After all, he cannot have all the matchlocks in his army.
In an era before rifled guns appeared, the dominance of cavalry and heavy infantry on the battlefield still existed.
There must be enough spearmen and cavalry for Zhu Gaoxu to unleash the power of firearms.
Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu felt itchy in his heart, because he knew that if he wanted to defeat the Nanbing soldiers, the first thing he needed to do was to have enough powerful artillery.
He already had the manpower to cast the cannon, the clockmaker he had originally scouted from Nanjing City.
Before the 19th century, there was not much difference in the methods and methods of casting cannons and bells. As big a bell as you could cast, you could cast as big a cannon.
The clocksmith Zhu Gaoxu found only needed a few experiments to create the artillery he needed.
But the problem right now is that firearms are no better than blunderbuss.
Zhu Gaoxu took out the barrel of the gun. Others may not be able to see what it is, but the artillery can see it at a glance.
Now Zhu Gaoxu has no way to determine whether the others except the four of them are Jin Yiwei. If any Jin Yiwei sees the artillery, he will have to face Lao Zhu's severe accountability.
Because of this, Zhu Gaoxu delayed it again and again, and even did not dare to let anyone make clay molds for the artillery, for fear of leaking the news.
But things are different now. As long as the Songhua River Basin is controlled by the Bohai Navy after next spring, Zhu Gaoxu can build a stone fortress anywhere upstream and downstream, select a team of soldiers and horses he can trust to station, and then study a suitable model. Count of artillery pieces.
As long as the research is successful, the artillery will be destroyed immediately, and then enough artillery clay molds will be made according to the proportion.
After Lao Zhu left, a few months would be enough for him to forge hundreds of artillery pieces to cope with the coming war.
When his thoughts came to him, Zhu Gaoxu explained to Lin Su, Yishiha and Meng Zhang respectively:
"There are not many people I can trust right now. Apart from you, the only person I can trust is Fu Rang."
"There are spies in this army. If they know what we are doing, they will definitely report it to my grandfather."
"I want you to choose fifty trustworthy brothers in the army. It is best to choose them before spring."
Zhu Gaoxu had never explained something to Yi Shiha and the others so seriously. After hearing this, they also realized that His Highness might want to do something terrible.
However, they did not think about rebellion. They just thought that Zhu Gaoxu was going to do something that violated the law, so they all bowed: "Your Highness, please rest assured."
Zuo Yi stood up and bowed. As a person who has been walking in the palace all year round, Yi Shiha suggested without thinking:
"Your Highness, in fact, the best candidates are the captured Jurchens, especially the Jurchens who cannot speak Mandarin."
"I know it too, but can you ensure that they will be obedient and will not be bribed?" Zhu Gaoxu had his own worries, but Yi Shiha thought about it and said:
"There are also words among the Jurchens that ordinary Jurchens cannot understand. If Your Highness is willing, you can ask Fudaha from the Suzhen Department to bring some Udiha savages from further east."
"If these Udiha savages are used to do things, even the guests who are proficient in Jurchen language cannot bribe them."
"Okay!" Zhu Gaoxu nodded, looked at Yishiha and said, "I'll leave this matter to you. It's best to bring more people here to avoid being mixed up in the future."
"Don't worry, Your Highness, I will finalize this matter soon!" Yi Shiha bowed respectfully.
Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu felt a lot more relieved, and his thoughts on promoting firearms research became more and more intense...
(End of chapter)
