Grain shipped to Nanyang?
A smart person like Widow Xu didn't even get around it at once. Although there is also a drought in Nanyang, the situation is much better than in Shaanxi. Moreover, Nanyang is close to Huguang, and Huguang is rich in grain. There are as many as 200 million acres of cultivated land in Huguang, and a considerable part of it is paddy fields with high yields per mu. Moreover, there is a waterway between Huguang and Nanyang that can be used, and the cost of transporting grain is very low. Even if there is a famine in Nanyang, grain can be transported from Huguang to provide relief.
Zhu Youjian did not explain much, but took the roster of "royal profiteers" and said to Widow Xu while reading: "Ruolan, you have to work hard and arrange the transportation of grain to Nanyang as soon as possible. .....There are still 10,000 Zhangqian infantry in Tongguan who are not equipped with muskets. They can be used to protect food. I will ask Cao Wenzhao, the general commander of the Zhangqian Army, to stay in Henan to help you. You finish transporting food. After the incident, we immediately brought a group of reliable and capable royal merchants to Xi'an to take over the property of Prince Qin's palace!"
"Ah..." Widow Xu was startled, "Wan, long live my lord, are you going to take away the title of Qin Fan?"
Zhu Youjian glanced at her and said with a smile: "Why are you panicking? Are you afraid that I will let the world point at my spine and scold me for ignoring my family ties?"
"Your Majesty, I don't dare." Widow Xu paused and then said, "It's just that the Qin Dynasty came from the second son of Taizu Emperor Gao. It has been inherited for more than two hundred years and has considerable influence in Shaanxi... ....If you rashly commit sin, you may be afraid that people’s hearts will not accept it.”
In fact, Widow Xu is not worried about people's dissatisfaction. She is just because of the close relationship between the Qin Palace and the Qin-Jin merchant gang. Once she is convicted, many Shanxi merchants who are closely related to her may be implicated.
Zhu Youjian laughed and said: "Yes, although Qin Fan has no real power, after all, in Xi'an for more than 200 years, ten major princely palaces have been spawned. Most of Xi'an City belongs to their family, but now there is no Qin Fan King!
Even if I want to take away the Qin vassal, there is no king to blame. Since there is no king, the Qin vassal should naturally be removed! "
After being reminded by Zhu Youjian, Widow Xu remembered that there was no His Highness King Qin in the Ming Dynasty. Although the Qin Palace is still there, the previous generation Qin King Zhu Yizhen passed away in the forty-sixth year of Wanli. But for some reason, his eldest son Zhu Cunshu delayed for 10 years and did not officially inherit the title of King Qin. He only took charge of the affairs of the Prince of Qin's palace in the name of the eldest son.
The old prince passed away in March of the second year of Chongzhen, and he did not have a son to succeed him...
Widow Xu thought for a while and then said: "Long live my lord, but I remember that the Crown Prince of Qin has brothers."
Zhu Youjian nodded and said with a smile: "I also know that Zhu Cunshu has brothers, but the "Huang Ming Ancestor Instructions" stipulates that only the son of the prince can inherit, and there is no rule that the elder brother will succeed the younger brother. Over the years, the prince's palace has been removed due to the elimination of heirs. There are quite a few.”
His words only coaxed Widow Xu. If she said it in the court, she would definitely be educated by a group of civil servants and great scholars - the palaces that have been removed due to the elimination of heirs over the years are all county princes' palaces and the first prince's palace. There is no such thing. The prince who had been inherited was expelled due to the precedent of extermination.
All the hereditary princes who died out were succeeded to the throne by their brothers or nephews. However, this method of inheriting the prince's title from a collateral branch does not comply with the provisions of the "Huang Ming Ancestor Instructions" and is a special favor from the emperor to the palace.
In other words, whether Zhu Cunshu's brother can inherit the title of King of Qin depends on whether Zhu Youjian is willing to grant special favors... Although there is no precedent for the prince who has been inherited to be removed from the title, the decision of whether to grant favors or not The power is still in the hands of the emperor Zhu Youjian.
In his previous life, Zhu Youjian wanted to be a wise king with "relative friendship", so in the second year of Chongzhen, Zhu Cunji inherited the throne of Qin's son from his brother Zhu Cunshu.
But in this life, Zhu Youjian had driven Prince Dai, Prince Fu and ten other princes out of his fiefdom, turning them into empty princes. Although there was still a salary to eat, King Fu also received a small amount of land. But compared to the industry they owned before, the current salary is really low.
Compared with the two serious princes Dai Wang and Fu Wang, Zhu Cunji, the third brother of Qin Crown Prince Zhu Cunshu, is really far behind. He is just a prince of Ziyang County and does not even have the name to be in charge of the affairs of Prince Qin!
If there were no precedents for King Dai and King Fu, Zhu Cunji, who is 37 years old this year and has no son to succeed his brother Zhu Cunshu, might still be a little calmer... But now, when he thinks of the misbehavior of this little emperor Chongzhen after he came to power, , Zhu Cunji was a little frightened.
What made him even more frightened was that the little emperor came to Shaanxi in person!
...
On November 1, the second year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty, a group of people in black sand python robes had gathered outside Changle Gate, the east gate of Xi'an Mansion. The colorfully painted archway used to pick up the driver has been set up in accordance with regulations - this time it’s a big deal, pick up the driver! It’s the Ming Emperor himself who comes!
Since the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, there has been only one prince in Xi'an Mansion, Prince Yiwen (Zhu Biao) of Emperor Hongwu. Since then, the people of Xi'an Prefecture have never seen anyone who is a direct descendant of the Ming Dynasty Royal Family. For them, the biggest piece of sky above their heads is His Highness the King of Qin who lives in the Imperial City of Xi'an.
However, among the clan members who can stand outside the Changle Gate today and wait nervously for the arrival of the young emperor, there is no King of Qin, and no Crown Prince of Qin. There are only a few county princes and a group of lieutenants of the Fuguo and Fengguo, all of whom are hanging on. My dear, I looked at Shaanxi Governor Bi Ziyan who just returned from Tongguan Guard yesterday, and then looked at the official road leading to Tongguan Guard.
Suddenly, there was a rapid sound of horse hooves on the official road, and then they saw a Fubiao general and more than a dozen cavalry soldiers sent by Bi Ziyan to greet the emperor, flying towards Bi Ziyan from a distance. Here they shout: "Long live Lord is here, Long live Lord's army is here!"
Long Live Lord has arrived with his army!
The vassal kings, the lieutenants of Fuguo and Fengguo who were waiting somewhat impatiently let out a low buzz and began to adjust their robes and clothes involuntarily.
The chubby Zhu Cunji couldn't help wiping his sweat. Since his brother Zhu Cunshu passed away, he has asked people to use his connections more than once.
But there is no way to send back an accurate message.
Now that the little emperor has come to visit in person... I wonder if the Qin Prince's Mansion, which has been passed down for more than two hundred years, can still be preserved?
If Prince Qin’s palace is not protected, the future will be miserable!
Because the clan families in Xi'an don't have much property, they all rely on the Prince of Qin's Palace to support them... Once the palace is gone, what will the clans do? Can you afford it with the little property from a few county princes' mansions?
There were more sounds of horse hooves and footsteps in the distance, and the sound was so loud that even the earth was shaking slightly!
Zhu Cunji, who was feeling uneasy there, changed his expression. How many soldiers and horses did the little emperor bring here?
Is he going to attack Prince Qin's Mansion?
At this moment, red flags finally appeared on the horizon, and then there were undulating spear points, glowing with dazzling light, which made people shudder, as if they were going to pierce people's hearts directly.
They are the 10,000 front infantry troops who have just been reviewed by Zhu Youjian at Tongguan Guard! All of them were young men recruited by Sun Chuanting from various places in Shaanxi, which was hit by drought. Although they are not assigned the same fields as the knights, they all receive a generous salary (for example, silver plus military rations, 30 taels a year), and the training is harder than that of the knights. They are in the camp all the time, and they have to practice hard according to the "997" standard - knights are relatively scarce these days, so the treatment is naturally better. There are many strong men who can't ride a horse. They get 30 taels of food a year, but they are not allowed to practice to death?
Just when several county princes and a group of lieutenants of Fuguo and Fengguo under the Qin Palace were all shocked and speechless by the "torrent of spears" in front of them. There was another sound of horse hooves, and a group of "red knights" were already running on the road vacated by the pikemen column. Everyone was carrying spears and bows and arrows, looking like they were about to go into battle to kill the enemy. The first rider was none other than Emperor Zhu Youjian of the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Youjian and his bodyguards arrived outside Changle Gate in a blink of an eye, and then reined in their horses. Bi Ziyan knew Zhu Youjian, so he took the lead in kowtowing and said, "The minister of the Ministry of War, the governor of Shaanxi and others are in charge of military affairs. Bi Ziyan respectfully welcomes His Majesty the Emperor."
Several county princes, lieutenants of Fuguo and Fengguo, as well as a bunch of officials from Shaanxi Province and Xi'an Prefecture, also reacted and all knelt down to salute.
Zhu Youjian didn't even get off his horse, so he waved to the people below him from the horse's back and said, "Stay flat!"
Then he saw a group of princes and officials standing up, and then he asked again: "Now that the King of Qin is gone, the Crown Prince of Qin is gone too... Who is in charge of all the affairs in the Prince of Qin's Mansion?"
