On the ninth day of April, when the ice on the Heilongjiang River thawed, Zhu Gaoxu led more than ten horse boats upstream to Jilin City.
During this period, Zhu Gaoxu stopped at Anton City and got off the ship to see how Chen Chang was running Anton City.
Chen Chang did not disappoint him. The management of the entire Anton City was very good, and because many Jurchens on the Azhemi ground came out to accept recruitment, the defensive pressure of Anton City was sharply reduced.
In order to implement Zhu Gaoxu's policy of Sinicizing the Jurchens, he is currently leading the army and civilians to build health schools.
Once this health school is built, all Jurchen children under the age of fifteen in the city will receive Chinese education.
However, as a result, Zhu Gaoxu also had a new problem.
Not only Heishui City, but also Andong City and Jilin City need a large number of officials to enter health teaching, and this time they need a lot of officials.
The original good mood was ruined by Chen Chang's words, but Zhu Gaoxu did not show it.
Without money, food and talents, he should not blame the people below him. If he only blames the people below him, what is the difference between him and those emperors in the late Ming Dynasty who did not dare to take responsibility.
He had given the order to recruit, and he had long been prepared to accept the consequences. However, he did not expect that the recruitment work would go so smoothly and so many people would be recruited.
Perhaps feeling that the burden on his shoulders was heavier, Zhu Gaoxu returned to the boat after hastily strolling around Andong City for an hour and continued towards Jilin City.
On the waterway back to Jilin City, he had already thought about the financial pressure he would face after arriving in Jilin City.
On April 13, his boat passed by the former Jixi Fort and now the Jixi Pass.
Seemingly seeing his banner, many soldiers and people who were busy clearing wasteland inside and outside Jixi Pass greeted the boat one after another.
Zhu Gaoxu didn't know if they could see him, so he walked to the side of the ship and waved to them to say hello.
Not long after, the boat crossed Jixi Pass and arrived at Jilin City Bay, which was nearly 70% reclaimed.
Zhu Gaoxu briefly looked at the reclamation situation in Zhongwan, and then turned his attention to Beiwan in the north and Nanwan in the south.
On the Nanwan Pasture, many military horses were grazing behind the fence, mating or galloping.
On the edge of the Beiwan swamp, many cattle and sheep grazed, forming a picture with the white mountains and black water in the distance.
Looking at all this, the pride in Zhu Gaoxu's heart goes without saying.
The establishment of Jilin City was his greatest achievement in the past few years since he came to Ming Dynasty.
The four cities of Jilin, with hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland, are things that Zhu Yunwen is not willing to abandon.
With this foundation here, even if its own Jingnan campaign failed, Ming Dynasty could consolidate Liaodong and open up Northeast China.
As long as the Four Cities of Jilin remain, their achievements cannot be erased.
"Dang..."
Not long after, the boat docked, and officials from hundreds of households on duty at Jilin Pier led their troops to greet Zhu Gaoxu.
"His Royal Highness is blessed with good health!"
When officials from hundreds of households saw Zhu Gaoxu disembarking from the boat, they quickly led everyone in bowing and saluting.
Zhu Gaoxu walked to the dock and looked at the many Jurchen folk who were busy loading grain on the dock. He couldn't help but curiously asked: "Why have I started loading grain for the boats before I gave the order?"
Facing Zhu Gaoxu's doubts, Baihuguan explained: "The general doesn't know either. He only knows that Tangqi came to Liaodong just now, and then he ordered the grain to be loaded on ships and prepared to be transported to Zhaozhou."
"Zhaozhou?" Zhu Gaoxu was even more confused. He didn't know what kind of medicine Yishuha was selling.
"Let Yishiha come to the Prince's Mansion to find me." After leaving a sentence, Zhu Gaoxu took out a good-looking draft horse from the dock and rode it to the Bohai Prince's Mansion.
Along the way, many people recognized Zhu Gaoxu and knelt down and kowtowed in the fields to show respect.
Even though Zhu Gaoxu gave repeated orders not to let the people kneel down and kowtow, the people still did so, so Zhu Gaoxu let them do it.
"Your Highness!!"
"His Royal Highness is back!"
"Long live your highness!"
"Thousands of blessings and good health!"
Along the way, many unceremonious singing sounds came one after another. Zhu Gaoxu had no choice but to wait until he saw Yi Shiha and let him convey the correct singing sounds to the people.
After all, it is not far before Zhu Yunwen comes to power. If the people are not properly restrained, maybe Zhu Yunwen will take advantage of the situation.
"Your Highness!"
At least when he arrived in front of the Wangfu Chengyun Gate, Zhu Gaoxu stood up and dismounted, and more than twenty soldiers came forward to hold his horse for him in surprise and surrounded him.
"Yes, Wang Liu, you have become a lot stronger."
Needless to say, Zhu Gaoxu had a good memory. He could remember the faces and names of many people in the army, so when he saw the flag officer on duty at the door, he called out his name.
When Wang Liu was stunned, Zhu Gaoxu patted him and another soldier on the shoulders: "You can also look for me with your palm prints. Just let him in."
After that, Zhu Gaoxu walked into the Chengyun Gate, and Wang Liu came back to his senses after a moment, proudly puffing up his chest: "Did you hear that? Your Highness remembers who I am!"
When he said these words, the surrounding soldiers cast envious glances, which made Wang Liu straighten his waist even more.
At the same time as he straightened his back, Zhu Gaoxu returned to the house and looked for the backyard.
Just a word later, he saw Guo Yan outside the former bedroom.
At this moment, she lowered her head and didn't know what she was doing. The maids on both sides saw Zhu Gaoxu. They were surprised and wanted to shout out, but when they saw Zhu Gaoxu's hissing action, they all closed their mouths.
Zhu Gaoxu walked behind Guo Yan. Perhaps because of his tall stature and the backlight, his shadow quickly enveloped Guo Yan.
Feeling the sudden darkness around him, Guo Yan subconsciously raised his head, and the next moment he met Zhu Gaoxu's eyes.
"Your Highness!" Guo Yan stood up excitedly, turned around and hugged Zhu Gaoxu.
Zhu Gaoxu looked down and realized that Guo Yan was taking care of his armor just now.
"Do you know how to do this?"
He asked in surprise, while Guo Yan smiled and lifted up a piece of skirt armor on the table: "I have been idle and bored these days. I learned it from the wives of several thousand officials in the city. How is your craft?"
She showed off her skills, and Zhu Gaoxu didn't hesitate to praise her: "It's very good."
"You haven't seen me for half a year. Have you missed me?"
"Your Highness..." Guo Yan blushed at Zhu Gaoxu's words. He just looked at the maids on the left and right with their heads lowered, and whispered: "Of course I thought about it."
"Just think about it." Zhu Gaoxu sat on the chair and hugged Guo Yan in his arms, making her blush again.
It's just that this ambiguous atmosphere didn't last long before it was interrupted by the sound of footsteps behind him.
Zhu Gaoxu turned around and immediately saw Yi Shiha who was stunned.
Guo Yan looked back. After seeing Yi Shiha, he immediately broke away from Zhu Gaoxu's arms with a blushing face. After adjusting his clothes, he whispered: "I am going to make tea for His Highness He Yi Zhangyin."
He said he was making tea, but actually he just wanted to escape from this place.
She took her two maids and left the Qianqing Palace as if they were running away, but Zhu Gaoxu, a shameless guy, acted as if nothing had happened and waved to Yishiha: "Sit down quickly, why are you standing there stupidly?"
Zhu Gaoxu could act as if nothing happened, but he felt uncomfortable after losing Ha.
Despite the embarrassment, he carefully sat on the chair next to Zhu Gaoxu, holding an imperial edict and several books in his hand.
"Is there news from the palace?" Zhu Gaoxu saw the imperial edict, and Yi Shiha quickly handed it over with both hands.
"This is the decree that arrived at Mao Clan today. You will know the details after looking at it."
Listening to Yi Shiha's words, Zhu Gaoxu took the imperial edict and opened it doubtfully.
When he read the imperial decree at a glance, the smile on his lips could no longer be suppressed, and he couldn't help shouting: "Okay!"
Needless to say, this edict was about the Northern Patrol sent by Zhu Yuanzhang.
The northern patrol was not a big deal to Zhu Gaoxu. What he really cared about was that Lao Zhu sent him three more thousand households, and also increased this year's line and monthly rations to 540,000 dan.
These 540,000 stones are almost enough to support the four cities of Jilin for six months. How can Zhu Gaoxu be unhappy.
With this batch of food and his own salary, Jilin City can survive until the end of the year.
Counting the grain harvested in September, he can definitely last until June next year, which is one month before the Jingnan Campaign breaks out.
How could he not be happy with such good news.
"As expected! Grandpa will certainly not forget me about the Northern Patrol incident!"
Zhu Gaoxu's eyes were burning. He had thought about persuading Zhu Di to rebel after Lao Zhu's death. This was not because he was arrogant, but because Zhu Di had absolute capital at that time.
After Zhu Fan's death, Zhu Yuanzhang arranged for Zhu Di to control the guards of the four kings of Ningyan, Gu and Liao and the troops of the Sandu Division on their northern patrol.
Coincidentally, not long after Zhu Di started his northern tour, Zhu Yuanzhang died in the Forbidden City in Nanjing.
Historically, the reason why Zhu Yunwen did not dare to attack Zhu Di first was because Zhu Di had nearly 200,000 soldiers at that time, nearly one-third of the Ming Dynasty's elite soldiers and more than half of the cavalry.
Therefore, Zhu Yunwen first appeased Zhu Di, and then asked Guo Ying, Wu Gao, Liu Zhen and others to lead troops back to their base, and ordered the four kings to return to the vassal territory.
After everyone complied, Zhu Yunwen asked Li Jinglong to make a surprise attack on Kaifeng City in the name of military training. Without Zhu Rui reacting, he directly handed over the military power of the three guards of Zhou Mansion, and transferred the soldiers from Henan, Shanxi, Shaanxi and other places. Feng Sheng's old troops were transferred to Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan and Guizhou and other places.
When Zhu Di came to his senses, he only had three guards and horses left in his hands. He had no choice but to be a quail, and he did not dare to rescue his own brother at all.
Three months later, Zhu Yunwen was even more reassured when he saw that Zhu Di had not made any move, and he quickly replaced the officials of the Third Division of Peking who had an old relationship with Zhu Di to minimize Zhu Di's influence in Peiping.
As a result, Zhu Di was forced to stay behind closed doors, thinking that this was the end.
It's just that he underestimated Zhu Yunqi. Another three months later, Zhu Yunqi issued an order to the kings not to control the civil and military officials of the palace. In the next month, he transferred Zhu Di's three guards from Peiping and ordered Song Zhong, Xu Kai, Geng Yu and others. He led his troops to be stationed in Kaiping, Linqing and Shanhaiguan around Peiping.
Zhu Di was forced to have no choice but to pretend to be crazy and act stupid to survive.
Seeing that Zhu Di was "crazy", Zhu Yunwen immediately started his own plan to reduce the feudal vassal.
In less than three months, King Zhu Bai of Xiang was forced to self-immolate, and King Zhu Su of Qi, King Zhu Gui of Dai, and King Zhu Min of Min were deposed as commoners...
One year after Lao Zhu's death, four vassal kings were deposed as commoners, one was forced to commit suicide, and the other was driven crazy.
Zhu Yunwen's plan to reduce the vassal status frightened all the vassal kings and made Zhu Di successfully give up.
Therefore, when he learned from Zhang Xin that Zhu Yunwen wanted to kill him, Zhu Di did not have any doubts, and was determined to raise troops to quell Jingnan even if there were only 800 guards.
It only took Zhu Gaoxu a few minutes to think about these things. In just over a year, Zhu Di went through the huge task of controlling more than 200,000 soldiers and horses to pretending to be crazy and acting stupid, surviving and being killed. gap.
Fengtian Jingnan was undoubtedly forced out. There were too many lucks and coincidences during this period, and Zhu Gaoxu did not dare to gamble.
Therefore, he wanted to directly incite Zhu Di to raise troops to quell Jingnan during his northern tour this year.
Although there is no great righteousness, the Yan army will have more than 200,000 soldiers.
At present, the capital of Peiping is basically Zhu Di's one-man command. The person left behind in Daning is Chen Heng, who admires Zhu Di. Although there is no one in the capital of Liaodong, as long as Zhu Gaoxu moves quickly enough, the news of Zhu Yuanzhang's death can be conveyed to Beiping. In front of the patrol team, Guo Ying and others were controlled.
Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu looked carefully at the imperial edict in his hand.
Zhou Xing resigned and returned to his hometown. The King of Liao, Guo Ying, Wu Gao, and Yang Wen were appointed to lead troops to Quaning Guard.
The huge Liaodong will be all mobilized in less than two months. Except for the 30,000 guards and some soldiers in Liaonan who will be left to guard, Liaodong is overall empty.
Fu Rang is currently in charge of the farming in southern Liaoning, and Zhu Gaoxu is confident that as long as he opens his mouth, Fu Rang will bring his farming soldiers and combat soldiers to him.
As for Zhou Ding, who has 30,000 guards, let alone being kind to him. Just because his army is approaching, it is impossible for him to be his enemy with his life-saving character.
In other words, as long as he controls the three kings of Gu, Ning, Liao and Guo Ying in the northern patrol team, the more than 200,000 soldiers of the three northern divisions will belong to the Yan Mansion.
This is a scale that Zhu Dijing has not been able to reach for four years.
With an army of this size, coupled with the commanding abilities of his father and son, matchlock guns, artillery, and the fact that famous northern generals such as Guo Ying were under control, Zhu Gaoxu was confident that he could capture Nanjing before reinforcements came back from the southwest.
At this time, Zhu Gaoxu finally understood why An Lushan in history couldn't help but rebel.
When the chips in their hands are big enough, few people will tolerate the existence of someone who is above them and can execute them at any time.
If what he wants can come true, it will be equivalent to An Lushan solving Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi when he raised his army, and Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing were dragged into fighting in Central Asia by Arabia. There will only be one brother Shuhan in the entire dynasty. Can fight.
Such a situation made him unable to stop clenching the imperial edict with his hands, so hard that even the edict made a tense sound.
"Your Highness?"
Yi Shiha was frightened by Zhu Gaoxu's huge reaction and reminded him carefully.
"I'm fine..."
Zhu Gaoxu pretended to be calm when speaking, but he was very excited in his heart.
But there was a problem before him, that is, how to convince Zhu Di.
This question was one that he had not thought of for a long time.
Whether it is persuading or forcing the emperor to enter the palace, or using a yellow robe, the prerequisite for these methods to be effective is that the person who is wearing a yellow robe himself has the idea of usurping the throne, but Zhu Di does not.
Historically, he did not rebel when he had an army of more than 200,000 people, he did not rebel when he had the entire city of Beiping, and he did not rebel when there was only one Yan Palace and three guards left, until it was finally determined that Zhu Yunqi was going to kill him. , he took eight hundred guards and started the road to peace.
Compared with Zhu Yunwen's method, Zhu Gaoxu felt that the things he thought about were too childish.
He even suspected that if he insisted on forcing the palace, Zhu Di might rather kill himself than start an army with him.
If Zhu Di died, he would not have the ability to control Sandusi. At most, he would be able to capture Liaodong.
What awaits me next is probably the 500,000 elites from the pass heading north together.
Thinking of that ending, Zhu Gaoxu loosened his grip on the imperial edict.
"That's all. Without an army of more than 200,000, it will be no good. Even if we continue step by step, my father and son's cards will be much greater than in history."
Zhu Gaoxu took back those thoughts, and after sorting out his thoughts for a while, he said to Yi Shiha: "Is Yang Bin coming this year?"
"He came at the beginning of the month. After staying for three days, the slave gave him deer antler, ginseng and many herbs, and asked him to take some back to Thirty Thousand Guards first, and then return to Jilin City after you have finished it. Wait for your Highness to return to Jilin City. Talking about business.”
Yi Shiha explained everything and continued; "Yang Shanren has properly sold last year's sheep herbs, and also sold a small amount of furs, so this time he brought more than 34,000 kuan..."
Before Yi Shiha finished speaking, Zhu Gaoxu interrupted: "If we sell all our sheep, how much food can we get from selling them."
"Huh?" Yi Shiha was stunned. He didn't expect Zhu Gaoxu to ask such a question. After all, sheep are the basis for continuing the sheep trade.
But when he saw Zhu Gaoxu's expression that didn't look like he was joking, he still took out a palm-sized abacus from his sleeve.
After knocking several times, he said with a complicated expression: "If we sell them all, we should still be able to sell less than 20,000 guan."
"Sold them all, and asked Yang Bin to exchange for some food in advance." Zhu Gaoxu said without thinking, which surprised Yishiha, but he had to nod in agreement.
He knew that His Highness had his own considerations, so he chose to obey the military order.
"How much food are you planning to transfer to Zhaozhou?"
Zhu Gaoxu asked again, and Yishiha glanced at the imperial edict: "I have inquired about the troop dispatches of the various governors and the palace. Except for the soldiers left on guard, all the other soldiers have gone out, so I thought that the palace should at least We only need 10,000 troops, so we plan to send 50,000 shi of grain to Zhaozhou and Wang Yi will make it into military rations."
"No, three thousand cavalry is enough." Zhu Gaoxu interrupted Yi Shiha and proposed the idea of bringing only cavalry to patrol the northern border here.
Now the number of cavalry in Bohai has reached 5,000, and there are nearly 9,000 horses.
This time the northern patrol was destined not to encounter enemies, so Zhu Gaoxu did not plan to take too many people with him.
If he could find a chance to convince Zhu Di, the three thousand cavalry would be enough to control the situation.
If you can't find a chance to convince Zhu Di, it will be useless no matter how many people you bring there. It is better to bring less and save food.
Zhu Gaoxu could predict that once Zhu Yunwen came to power, he would definitely use food to choke him.
Food is the basis that determines whether Zhu Gaoxu can maintain the current peace of more than 20,000 troops heading south.
"My slave understands."
Yishuha nodded and waited for Zhu Gaoxu's next question, and Zhu Gaoxu continued to speak: "On this expedition, I will only take Wang Yi with me, and I will entrust you with all the city building matters in Changchun."
"After the city building is completed, Xu Sheng and two thousand trustworthy brothers will be stationed in Heishui City. The grain warehouses in Changchun City will be filled up first with the grain sent from Liaodong in the south."
"In addition, I want to ask you to do something for me..."
Zhu Gaoxu used the word "please", and Yi Shiha was so frightened that he quickly stood up and bowed: "Your Highness, if you have something to do, just give me an order, but please don't offend me."
"Haha..." Zhu Gaoxu stretched out his hand to pull Yi Shiha to sit down, and then told him with piercing eyes: "I want you to go find Yang Bin and ask him to move his family to Jilin City. Also, tell him that if he If you trust me, you will sell your property and bring one hundred thousand guan to Jilin City, and sell the rest of your property to buy food."
"In addition, stop holding on to all the fur in the treasury and let Yang Bin sell it at a low price and go north to buy grain."
"This..." After hearing Zhu Gaoxu's words, Yishiha finally understood why he had to use the word 'please', because this matter was indeed difficult.
Yang Bin finally led his family to become the leading merchant family in Huai'an, but now His Highness wants to make him start over again.
Doing this would make him feel more uncomfortable than killing Yang Bin.
"Slave... I'm willing to give it a try."
Yi Shiha was not sure that he could convince Yang Bin, so he only dared to answer by giving it a try.
But such an answer obviously did not satisfy Zhu Gaoxu. His expression instantly dropped and he spoke gloomily:
"If Yang Bin doesn't want to, teach him to keep to himself, sell all the furs in the treasury at low prices, take 100,000 guan to the north, and the rest will be enough to buy food."
"If you don't get enough money, just borrow it from him, write a note, stamp it with a seal and give it to him."
"Yes!" Yi Shiha lowered his head. He knew that Yang Bin must complete what Zhu Gaoxu wanted him to do, otherwise Yang Bin would most likely become an enemy of the palace.
Feeling the pressure from Zhu Gaoxu, even people as close to him as Yi Shiha couldn't help but feel heavy.
"His Highness's thoughts are becoming more and more elusive..."
"Please stand down. In five days I will lead the troops out of the Pass to patrol the north."
Yi Shiha was still sighing, but Zhu Gaoxu had already issued an eviction order.
"My slave, please leave." Without staying too long, Yishiha stood up and left this sweaty place.
After he left, Guo Yan, who had said he was going to make tea, slowly walked in from outside the hall.
She glanced at the back of Yishiha as he left, slowly walked to Zhu Gaoxu and sat down, and said in surprise: "This is the first time I have seen His Highness's expression."
"You still haven't seen many of my expressions." Zhu Gaoxu poured himself a glass of water, drank it in one gulp, and looked outside the hall:
"The south may be unsettled..."
(End of chapter)
