At the end of the Youshi period, a military camp was stationed in the suburbs of the capital.
"Your Majesty, the Crown Prince has personally gone to the mansions of Fan and Li to convey His Majesty's wishes, and had a heart-to-heart talk with the two Lords about the essence of Confucianism. Both Lords admire the Crown Prince very much!"
"After that, the prince went to the lobby of the Ministry of Justice and asked Master Meng about Xu Yunzhen and others..."
In the temporary tent, Wu Mengming respectfully informed Zhu Yuanzhang about Zhu Cihong's itinerary after leaving Dongnuan Pavilion.
After Zhu Yuanzhang listened to his story, he nodded and said: "Okay, Commander Wu, after we leave the capital, you must take good care of the prince!"
After Wu Mengming bowed in agreement, he was stunned for a moment before he realized what was happening. He said with some surprise: "Your Majesty, you..."
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "Why, shouldn't you be grateful?"
Upon hearing this, Wu Mengming hurriedly knelt down to thank him, and at the same time he was filled with gratitude.
Zhu Yuanzhang stepped forward slowly, helped Wu Mengming up with his own hands, and said, "Wu Qing, we know you have suffered a lot these days, but everything is difficult at the beginning."
"Now that Jinyiwei's renovation has begun to bear fruit, you only need to reorganize Jinyiwei's strongholds in various places, and things will be simple in the future..."
Wu Mengming listened to Zhu Yuanzhang's words and nodded in agreement.
After Zhu Yuanzhang comforted him, he asked again: "Have you spread the news that we are planning to personally conquer the Jurchens?"
Wu Mengming said: "The general has already sent people to Jiangnan, Shanxi, Shaanxi and other places to publicize this matter according to His Majesty's instructions. I believe that soon all places will know about this matter!"
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said: "This matter must be publicized quickly, but not deliberately, so as not to arouse suspicion. You must grasp the balance here."
"Furthermore, we are leaving the capital this time with only 500 tiger warriors. Jiang Yingkui and a thousand heavy armored cavalry will be left with you. You must ensure the safety of the capital!"
Wu Mengming heard this and said with some worry: "Your Majesty, you are only bringing this few people with you on your trip south this time. Is it too few?"
Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said: "We are not going south to fight this time. These people are enough."
"Besides, Li Ruolian has soldiers in his hands and Xia Wanchun attracts everyone's attention, so there won't be any danger."
Wu Mengming wanted to persuade him again, but he heard Zhu Yuanzhang's voice: "Let's see it's almost time. Why haven't Ping Xihou and the others arrived yet?"
Wu Mengming heard this, looked out at the sky, and replied: "When the general sent someone to check earlier, they were less than twenty miles away. I think they took a detour to hide their whereabouts, but they should be around soon... ..."
Before he finished speaking, he saw a guard in Jinyi hurried in to report that Gong Yonggu and Shen Zhanran were outside asking for a meeting.
After Zhu Yuanzhang signaled Wu Mengming to greet them in person, he picked up the teacup again and took a sip.
After a while, Gong Yonggu and Shen Zhanran walked into the big tent.
Zhu Yuanzhang saw that although both of them were tired and exhausted, their expressions were different.
There was a trace of sadness hidden in Gong Yonggu's fatigue, and he was obviously worried about the war situation in Datong.
But Shen Zhanran seemed a bit calm, even joking, with an aloof look.
When Zhu Yuanzhang saw this, he couldn't help but feel a little angry.
Then he remembered Shen Zhanran's previous actions in Beijing. Although those measures were beneficial to the court in general, they also showed Shen Zhanran's arrogance based on his talent, and even his contempt for the royal majesty, which made him even more dissatisfied.
However, Zhu Yuanzhang was about to change his impression in everyone's mind, and he suspected that Shen Zhanran was deliberately testing him. In addition, the identities of Shen Zhanran and others were completely different from when they first met, so he could no longer express his blame directly.
So instead of showing any dissatisfaction, he enthusiastically allowed them to take their seats.
After a while of polite greetings, Zhu Yuanzhang brought the topic to the governance of Shanxi and the war situation in Datong.
Gong and Shen seemed to have known that Zhu Yuanzhang would ask this question, so they slowly told the story.
According to the two of them, Zhu Yuanzhang learned that the peace of the people in Shanxi was not going smoothly.
Originally, Ni Yuanlu was planning to follow the capital's method of reassuring the people and divide it into
Allocate land and property to bring peace to the people.
But because Zuo Liangyu occupied most of Shanxi, within his jurisdiction, the gentry not only got back their original land, but even some ownerless fields were divided up by them, so that Ni Yuanlu had no land to divide. People's lives are quite difficult.
Although the imperial court had allocated more than two million taels of silver, the people were unable to survive or settle down because they had no land.
In order to survive, those people could only follow the disaster relief officials and move around.
In this way, not only was money wasted, but it also allowed the plague to spread faster.
Although Fu Shan and Wu Youxing had superb medical skills and cured many people, they had little effect because they could not block the source and the infection recurred from time to time.
Nowadays, not only the common people, but also many soldiers in the army are infected with the plague, so that their combat effectiveness is increasingly weakened...
After Zhu Yuanzhang listened to their stories, he frowned and said, "There is still a lot of vacant land in the capital. Do you think it is feasible to move some people to the vicinity of the capital?"
Gong Yonggu glanced at Shen Zhanran, shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, this is absolutely impossible!"
"You must know that the plague in the Datong area was not as serious as it is now. It was because there was some open space at that time. Lord Ni suggested moving some people here."
"Unexpectedly, just after the news was released, people from all over the country flocked to the place, causing a major outbreak of plague, and many soldiers were infected."
"In view of this, I have set up a checkpoint between Shanxi and the capital to prohibit people from traveling. If your majesty allows the people of Shanxi to go to the capital, the capital may immediately become the next Datong."
"When the two places are hit by disaster, the imperial court will not only have to spend more money, but it will also be unable to solve Shanxi's predicament. Your Majesty, please think twice."
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he glanced at Shen Zhanran, then shook his head and said, "Gong Qing, you misunderstood what we meant. Our idea is to allocate a few pieces of land as a buffer between the capital and Shanxi."
"For example, the two places are divided into three areas in a hierarchical manner. The first area is used to house all the people and doctors. This will not only stabilize the people but also not hinder the treatment."
"If you are in good health or have recovered through medical treatment, you can enter the second area and be observed while giving birth."
"If people observe for a period of time in the second area and confirm that they are OK, they can then enter the third area. By analogy, they can not enter the capital until they are confirmed to be OK. What do you think?"
Hearing this, Gong Yonggu felt that this method was feasible, but he still took a peek at Shen Zhanran.
Seeing that the other party was still silent, he said, "Your Majesty, this method is theoretically feasible, but what if the people are not restrained or sneak into the capital from other places?"
Zhu Yuanzhang said solemnly: "We have implemented systems such as road guidance and zhidingfa in the capital. Without the permission of the government, they will not be able to gain a foothold in the capital."
"Of course, we also have to guard against some people with ulterior motives, lest they use the plague as a weapon and affect our measures to calm the people."
"However, this matter is not difficult to deal with. You must publicize it well beforehand. If there are those who do not obey the law, just arrest some thorny ones and kill them to scare everyone."
As he spoke, he looked at Shen Zhanran and said, "Shen Qing, what do you think of this method?"
Hearing this, Shen Zhanran suddenly knelt down and apologized: "Your Majesty, this humble minister is guilty, please punish me!"
As soon as he said this, Gong Yonggu couldn't help showing a look of surprise, but Zhu Yuanzhang's face relaxed a lot.
