Although Jiangnan is good, Your Majesty cannot stay here forever! "
Finally, a loyal minister came forward to speak out.
The person who dared to offend Yan Zhijian was Zhu Xieyuan, the Minister and Counselor of the Ministry of War in Nanjing. Although Mr. Zhu was from the south, he was the Prime Minister of the North. He was tall and burly, with a long beard and eyes like torches. He looked righteous and awe-inspiring whenever he went there.
But what he said was wrong. Zhu Youjian lived in Nanjing for so many years in his previous life, and finally died in Nanjing. Wasn't it okay?
"Why can't I live in the south of the Yangtze River forever?" Zhu Youjian looked at the old minister in front of him and asked, "Our Ming Dynasty implemented a two-capital system, with Shuntian Prefecture as Beijing and Yingtian Prefecture as Nanjing. Why can't I live in Nanjing? "
"Your Majesty," Zhu Xieyuan said loudly, "now Liaodong has fallen to the enemy, and the Eastern captives invade the territory every year. The country is in danger. It is only thanks to the bloody battles of Yan and Liao soldiers that it has been preserved to this day. If Your Majesty and the imperial court move south, Yan Liao, who defends the country, will Do the soldiers still have morale? Once Ji Liao and Yan Ning are lost, the gates of the country will be opened and the world will be shaken. Therefore, I ask your Majesty to return to Beijing as soon as possible to supervise the war and ward off the slave thieves!"
"But the emperor's nephew is in charge of Beijing!" Zhu Youjian said, "Since our southern patrol last year, the emperor's nephew and King Xin have defeated the Eastern captives. The country is as stable as Mount Tai, and they have regained a lot of territory. What a mistake!"
Zhu Youjian is very reassured about the defense of the north!
Because now not only the rebellious son Zhu Cixiang, the Xinwang Zhu Cixuan, but also the third prince Zhu Cijiong was born... Zhu Youjian has already thought about it. When the third prince Zhu grows up, he will be named Prince Ning and go to Daning to take charge. , so you can sit back and relax.
"Your Majesty! The emperor's nephew is only five years old! How can you let a five-year-old child guard the country?" Zhu Xieyuan was a little anxious.
He originally thought that although Zhu Youjian was a little faint, his military ability was still very good!
This can be seen from the fact that Zhu Youjian twice defeated a large number of slave thieves in the Manchu Eight Banners soldiers in field battles away from the castle. Since the time of Saarhu, the Ming army has suffered more defeats than the Jin army in its battles, and the number of field battle victories has been even rarer. But this trend of enslaving the strong to the weak was completely reversed after Zhu Youjian came to power. This shows that Zhu Youjian's military ability ranks third among the kings of the Ming Dynasty.
But now Zhu Youjian, who has the third strongest military ability, actually wants a five-year-old child to guard the country. It is really ridiculous to the extreme.
"Although the emperor's nephew is young," Zhu Youjian considered his words, "but he has the talent to lead troops in battle... From my perspective, he will make great achievements in military strategy in the future!"
As he spoke, Zhu Youjian's face was full of pride: All of my sons can fight, and it's up to them to pacify Liao and eliminate slaves!
"Your Majesty, the emperor's nephew may be able to lead troops in the future, but he is only 5 years old now!" Zhu Xieyuan was already frightened by Zhu Youjian's words. Is this faint king's mind normal?
Zhu Youjian looked at the old loyal minister blowing his beard and staring, and sighed in his heart: It seems that it is difficult for people to believe that a five-year-old child can defeat Huang Taiji!
"The nephew of the emperor is a little young..." Zhu Youjian sighed, "I will wait another ten or eight years! But during this period, I have to run in both directions, the north and the south. Beijing! I can’t love Beijing alone and not come to Nanjing!”
"Your Majesty, the palace in Nanjing is dilapidated and in disrepair, and it has been uninhabited for a long time." Zhou Yingqiu, Minister of the Ministry of Industry of Nanjing, stood up at this time. I don't know whether he wanted to persuade Zhu Youjian to go to Beijing to guard the house for everyone, or whether he wanted to attract business? It is a huge project to build the palace in Nanjing!
Zhu Youjian nodded, "That's true...but I don't want to live in the Forbidden City. Xiyuan by Mochou Lake is nice. I want it to be renovated as my future residence in Nanjing."
In addition, the old mountains in the north of the Yangtze River are very nice, with beautiful mountains and rivers, overlooking the river in the south and the Chu River in the north. I want to build a palace there. "
Two big projects!
Zhou Yingqiu, who was also the remnant of Wei Zhongxian's lackey, immediately made plans in his mind, but Zhu Youjian's next words made him happy in vain.
Zhu Youjian said: "There is no need to trouble the Nanjing Ministry of Industry for the construction of Xiyuan and Laoshan Palace. I will let Huangzhuang come forward to find someone to build it!"
The construction of Xiyuan and Laoshan Palace will be handed over to the Bai family salt merchants in Yangzhou. There were many experts in gardening in Yangzhou in this era. If you leave the project to them, the price is not expensive, and the quality is reliable. The gardens are beautifully built, and their work is much better than that of the Ministry of Industry.
"But the Nanjing Ministry of Industry also has work to do!" Zhu Youjian's tone became heavier, "Commander Luo, Commander Xu, please tell us about the floods in Huaibei and the interruption of water transportation!"
When Zhu Youjian said this, of course he was preparing to abolish the canal and reform the sea!
This matter is extremely controversial because it involves too many interests. Zhu Youjian had long wanted to abolish the canal, but he never formally raised it because he was worried that the opposition would be too fierce.
And now... the Xuzhou and Huaibei sections of the canal have been flooded again!
The Yellow River water will bring a lot of sediment, which will silt up the Xuzhou and Huaibei sections of the canal. Even if the water recedes, the canal will not be able to resume navigation soon. Instead, the government will need to allocate funds to dredge it... This is a big project that sometimes takes several years.
Of course, the siltation of the canal does not mean that grain cannot be transported northward through the river, because there is still the Yellow River that can be used. However, the Yellow River is difficult to navigate because the current is too fast, and the canal boats going north have to go up in reverse from low to high, which is very laborious. In addition, there are many dangerous shoals in the Yellow River, making it easy for boats to capsize.
Under this circumstance, as long as Zhu Youjian stops the canal dredging project, water transportation will naturally be abolished - the power to allocate or not allocate this money is in Zhu Youjian's hands. If he doesn’t give you money, there’s nothing anyone else can do!
"Long live my lord," Luo Yangxing said, "This time the floods in the Yellow River are very serious. The city of Xuzhou has been flooded again, and the country is surrounded by lakes... I still took a boat out of the city!"
Zhu Youjian asked: "Will the Xuzhou city wall collapse again?"
"That's not true," Luo Yangxing said, "I am personally responsible for the reconstruction of Xuzhou City. According to the plans given by Long Live Lord, I first built a bastion made of sandbags and prepared to cover it with bricks later. Although the new city wall It’s not very tall, but its bottom is so thick that it can even reach the embankment of the Yellow River, so it blocks the river water.”
"What about the canal?" Zhu Youjian asked again, "Can it be restored? Can water transportation be maintained?"
"Your Majesty," Xu Yunsong said, "the canal channel has long since disappeared. We have to wait until the water recedes before we can see it... As for water transportation, of course it is also interrupted. We can only transport it to Huai'an and then change to sea ships."
The Huaihe River now has an outlet to the sea, and Huai'an is still a city with an inland river port!
Zhu Youjian asked again: "After the water recedes, can the canal be restored immediately?"
"Impossible," Xu Yunsong replied, "The canal can only reach Huai'an for the time being... It is estimated that new river channels will have to be dug in the river section north of Huai'an."
The sediment of the Yellow River can even bury the city walls of Xuzhou, not to mention the canal channels in the Xuzhou section and the Huai'an-Huaibei section? It doesn’t exist anymore!
"How old is it for the new river channel to be dug? Could it be that the river channel was not dug properly and was flooded again?
"This...I don't know."
"Since we don't know..." Zhu Youjian pretended to think for a moment, "Then let's take the sea route first! After the autumn grains from Huguang and Jiangxi are harvested this year, 4 million dan will be transported to Nanjing. Your canal army wants to They are shipped to Huai'an, and I will ask Haisha to help transport the grain to Tianjin."
Shanghai has not yet opened a port. The future international shipping center is currently just a fishing village and cannot handle millions of tons of grain. Huai'an has always been an important water transportation town, with ready-made docks and warehouses, as well as enough dock workers and boatmen. Therefore, the operation center of Haisha Gang is not in Shanghai, but in Huai'an. In the past few years, Haisha Gang has taken over the business of "opening COFCO" and transports about 2 million shi of grain and other materials from Huai'an to Liaodong and Western Liaoning every year. Already familiar with the shipping route, as long as Zhu Youjian gives an order, Shen Tingyang can take over the big business of transporting 4 million stone grain to the north... But the question now is, how can so many people eat by shipping? manage?
(End of chapter)
