In the early spring of the 16th year of Yongle, the frost and snow in Beijing melted, it was the season when all things sprouted, and everything was developing for the better.
After going through a difficult winter, the old man's health finally improved slightly, but his complexion only looked better. He was not as shaky as in the winter, as if he might die at any time.
These days, Zhu Gaojie has been taking the old man's pulse every day and prescribing the most appropriate prescription based on the diagnosis. In terms of traditional Chinese medicine, if he dares to say that he is second, no one in the world dares to say that he is second. One. Despite this, he was still just trying his best to keep the old man alive.
No matter how he diagnosed it, there was only one final result: the old man could not survive the winter of Yongle's sixteenth year.
As a son, he can only try his best to fulfill his father's wishes.
The old man has four wishes: First, he will not be blamed by Lao Zhu after his death.
This wish has been fulfilled. Lao Zhu has now forgiven him. After all, there is nothing he can do if he doesn't forgive. People are going to die, so they have to be somewhat tolerant.
Second, finding Emperor Jianwen was a pity.
This wish has been fulfilled, Emperor Jianwen has been buried in the western suburbs, and this heartache has finally been cured.
Third, after his death, there will be successors to the Ming Dynasty.
This wish was also fulfilled. Zhu Gaojie said that even if the Ming Dynasty lost Zhu Di, it would still be done.
So, there is only one last wish left.
Zhu Di is a nostalgic person. After more than ten years in office, almost all the people he missed have died. For example, Li Jinglong, Duke of Cao State, Mahamu, the leader of the Wala Tribe, Zhu Yunwen, Emperor Jianwen, Zhu Zhanji, the great sage grandson, Zhu Gaochi, the former prince...
However, one of Zhu Di's old friends is still alive.
The leader of the Tatar tribe, the Grand Master of the Northern Yuan Dynasty, King Hening, the supreme commander of the Mongolian tribe, the last glory of the grassland, the Phoenix, Arutai.
Arutai, the most powerful enemy of the Ming Dynasty in Mobei, Qiu Fu, the Ming army general who made the first contribution to Jingnan, was defeated at the hands of this man. He was almost wiped out by Zhu Di, but eventually led the Tatar tribe in Eastern Mongolia to rise. He was also defeated by Mahamu from the Oara tribe, but now the grass on Mahamu's grave is two feet high. Today, Arutai is still active on the grassland.
He is a real phoenix. With his strong resilience, he outlasted his old rival Mahamu on the grassland. In the Battle of Hulanhuwenwen, the Ming army defeated Oara, but the biggest winner was not the Ming Dynasty, but the Tatars.
After Mahamu's death, Arutai led the Tatar tribe and quickly unified Eastern and Western Mongolia, becoming the well-deserved overlord of the grasslands and the only king of Mobei. His arrogance became more and more arrogant, and he even wanted to go south to recover.
Zhu Di's last wish was to bring his old friend Arutai with him before his death.
Judging from the fate of the old man's old friends, it is an extremely unwise choice to make friends with Zhu Di.
But as a son, Zhu Gaojie had to be filial.
He wants to help Zhu Di completely eradicate Arutai, the last overlord of the grassland, before winter comes!
…
"Is this how you test the prince?"
"Which prince cannot withstand such a test?"
In the Wenhua Hall, Zhu Gaojie put down the book in his hand and looked at Xia Yuanji doubtfully, "Old Minister, our Ming Dynasty is not short of money, right?"
Xia Yuanji nodded: "Of course there is no shortage. After the reform of the official administration and tax system, although a large amount of money has to be distributed every year to support the construction of various provinces, the wealth of the national treasury is far better than that of previous dynasties. Even in the past two Song Dynasties, in terms of wealth, It is far inferior to the treasury of our Ming Dynasty."
"Since there is no shortage of money, is it that difficult for you to prepare some food and grass?"
Zhu Gaojie frowned and said, "Old man, we have to fight before this winter. The expedition cannot be postponed until winter, and the decisive battle will be in autumn and autumn at the latest. For the decisive battle in autumn and autumn, we will send out troops in mid-summer, and we cannot prepare food and grass until summer. This spring, we will definitely It’s about getting everything in order.”
"It has been a month of preparation now. You tell me, the food and grass are not half ready yet? Mr. Xia, are you really planning to wait until the war begins to prepare the logistics?"
Xia Yuanji sighed helplessly: "The fact that the country is not short of money does not mean that the country is not short of food. Your Highness should know that the weather has not been kind in the past two years, and the land tax in various places has been pitiful. In some places, the state treasury has to open warehouses to provide food relief." OK."
"We can't say that just for your majesty to fight this war, all the granary reserves in various places will be drained. If we really have to mobilize the granary reserves in various places, I have to say something unpleasant. In case of a severe drought, all provinces will Without food reserves, the world would be in chaos."
Zhu Gaojiu asked coldly: "Huguang, Jingxiang, are major grain-producing provinces. But I see that among the grain tributes from these provinces, the 250,000 shi paid by Huguang is not half as much as that of Henan or Shandong. Henan and Shandong produce about the same amount of grain." Is that so much? You have to give me an explanation."
"The land in Huguang, Jingxiang and Huguang is fertile, but the land is sparsely populated, so it attracts an influx of people."
Xia Yuanji explained, "But most of these inflowing people are black households, and black households do not pay land taxes. Under the pressure of the Academy of Arts, Huguang has conducted a thorough investigation of black households in the past two years, and the results have been outstanding. Last year alone, Huguang registered The population on the yellow list has doubled, but transformation takes time. If we want to plan Huguang's land tax within the administrative system, it will take at least three to five years."
"Can we wait three to five years for the Northern Expedition? It's not like you don't know about the old man's health. If he can survive until this winter, he will burn high incense. Do you want him to wait for you for another three to five years?"
Zhu Gaojie was a little impatient, and Xia Yuanji remained silent.
His prince's recent temper has indeed been a bit bad.
Not only because he was too busy with government affairs, but also because the old man's health was getting worse day by day, he became more and more worried.
After a long time, Zhu Gaojie's voice was hoarse and he slowly spoke: "Just now, I was worried. Mr. Xia, I will apologize to you."
Xia Yuanji is not the kind of person who is lazy and playful. He will definitely do his best in the tasks assigned to him by Zhu Gaojie. If he can't do it, it's not that there's a problem with his ability or that he doesn't care, it's just that the matter is too difficult.
Seeing that Mr. Xia was already very old, he was struggling with death every day with Zhu Gaojie. He was urging people to send him errands, his face was sallow and his complexion was sluggish. It was really hard work.
Xia Yuanji hurriedly raised his hands and said: "The Crown Prince has offended the old minister. This is what we should do for the country and the people. The old minister cannot bear the apology from the prince. The old minister also understands the prince. After all, these days Come, I see everything."
"The Crown Prince has been unable to sleep peacefully for many years, and is busy with state affairs. How can your ministers dare to slack off if you are like this? Your Majesty's dragon body is not in good condition. As a latent dragon of the Eastern Dynasty, it is reasonable for the Crown Prince to be anxious about his father."
"It's just this food collection..."
"It's really not easy to act too hastily. The prince is a wise hero, so he should naturally understand the hidden dangers in collecting food. If we push too hard, I'm afraid it will lead to a backlash."
The sign of a country's decline is that the country begins to collect grains regardless of the consequences.
Whenever there is a war, food must be collected first. If the grain levy is urgent, the people will rebel, and if they want to quell the situation, they can only levy grain. The more they levy, the more they rebel, and the more violent the rebellion becomes. The order of the entire country is gone, and it falls into dire straits.
Although today's Ming Dynasty does not have to levy a grain to make the whole country rebel, but in the face of this kind of thing, it is better to retreat.
Zhu Di's eyebrows stretched: "How about Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Suzhou and Hangzhou?"
Xia Yuanji shook his head and said: "No, the imperial court has reached its limit on the people of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Suzhou and Hangzhou in the past two years. The Zhili people in the south are the most stringent. With less than 10% of the population, they bear more than 30% of the country's taxes. If it continues If we fight, the people will rebel."
Zhu Gaojie also shook his head: "I have never thought of confiscating the people's food."
“If you don’t tax the common people’s food, who will?”
"Whoever has food will be levied."
"Who has food?"
"Aristocratic families, officials, chambers of commerce, landowners, they have money."
Zhu Gaojie raised his eyebrows and said, "Don't look at the Taxation Yuan as if it were crossing the street with the god of plague. It will peel off the skin of a corrupt official when it sees it. In fact, this is just the tip of the iceberg on the surface. Some people, even the Taxation Yuan Don’t dare to touch it, the common people only have so much food in their hands, the only ones who really have food are the landlords and the aristocratic families behind the food.”
Xia Yuanji smiled bitterly and said: "His Highness himself said that these people don't even dare to touch the Tax Supervisory Court. It's not that they don't have the courage, it's that they can't do it. The country is a country composed of small families. These families are the aristocratic families. , if even the aristocratic family is gone, where will the country be?"
A country without aristocratic families is an utopia, a fantasy that does not exist in reality.
Why do poor people study hard in a cold window for what they want? It is nothing more than trying to squeeze into the ranks of aristocratic families. If even the aristocratic families are gone, and people in the world cannot see the goal, this country will also perish.
The emperor and the court are the top leaders of the country, while the aristocratic families form the base of the country. If the grassroots are torn into pieces, then the country will be rootless and will be shattered with the demise of the aristocratic families.
If it can overpower the noble families, it will prosper for a while at best, but the country's order will be disrupted from bottom to top, the system will collapse, and the empire will fall.
If they cannot defeat the noble families, then the noble families will begin to change emperors and dynasties.
Regardless of victory or defeat, if you want to wipe out the family members, you will destroy the foundation.
"Gu Wei has never thought about annihilating the family members. What Gu wants is for them to compromise."
Zhu Gaojie spread his hands and said, "It seems that aristocratic families can change dynasties at will. In fact, every change of dynasty has a huge impact on them. For them, only when the country is stable can they be stable."
"Now, the country is going to war and there is no food. To collect the country's food, each family only needs to contribute a little. When the war is won and the country is at peace, it is also a good thing for them. It is a win-win situation and everyone will make money. "
"The country is not the enemy of the family. What Gu wants is their compromise. Gu allows them to stay in Evergreen, but they also have to contribute money and effort to the court."
Xia Yuanji sighed: "It's difficult. We all understand the truth. The aristocratic family members are not fools, and they naturally understand this truth. But for these gluttons who only want to eat and don't want to vomit, asking them to contribute money and effort is more difficult than climbing to the sky. It’s difficult, there’s always a gap between the two sides.”
Zhu Gaojie's eyes flickered: "I want to patrol the south."
Xia Yuanji thought he heard wrongly: "What did your highness say?"
"Gu said, southern tour."
Zhu Gaojie said calmly, "I will go to the south personally to resolve this matter. I want to formulate a set of rules with them, a set of rules that will accompany the Ming Dynasty for eternity. The family members must contribute money and efforts when the court needs it, and the court can ensure that the family members There’s always a place to stand.”
Since ancient times, the emperor's tour has been the best way to stabilize the situation. Although Zhu Gaojie is only the prince now, he is already better than the emperor.
When the capital and local areas are far apart, the court's control will be greatly reduced. The emperor went on tour to stabilize people's hearts and to control power and radiate imperial power to local areas to consolidate the image of the court.
Of course, Emperor Qianlong's six southern tours are not included in this list. Alon was just looking for fun.
The emperor went on tour to stabilize the people's hearts. Before Qianlong's grandson's royal boat reached the shore, the local army was dispersed by the people to 800 miles away. The people shunned the people who still had a woolen heart.
Of course, Alon did not ask all the people to avoid it, it was just that the men avoided it and the women stayed. One time, Emperor Qianlong was having fun and was having sex with a dozen or so girls in a brothel. Suddenly, the queen came. Alon was interrupted from shouting, and in a fit of anger, he kicked the queen violently. The queen was so strong-tempered that she jumped into the water and drowned.
It is pure nonsense that the grandson wanted to experience the customs of Jiangnan.
Xia Yuanji's expression changed slightly: "Your Highness, the southern tour is no small matter."
"Your Majesty is in poor health. Beijing needs a prince who can control the overall situation. If you go to the south, what will happen to the north? Without the backbone of the court, can it still be called a court?"
Zhu Gaojie smiled slightly and said, "Isn't it still you?"
"The road is not alone, and I have never been alone. Here in Beijing, there are you, Yang Rong, Su Wensu Wu, Lu Chaoyang, Shen Qingyu, Zhang Fu and Zhu Yong... When I patrol south, I only bring Just Zhang Muzhi from Jinyiwei."
"Old Xia, you have been an official for decades, and you should understand one thing. The emperor has always supported the imperial court. The roc rises with the same wind in one day, and soars up to 90,000 miles. It is not just the roc that rises 90,000 miles. And his thousands of scales and feathers.”
Xia Yuanji hesitated to speak, and said with a wry smile: "How can there be such truth? Since ancient times, the emperor has been dictatorial, and there has never been anyone as big-hearted as you."
The corner of Zhu Gaojie's lips curled up slightly: "The answer is the hesitation to speak, and the answer is not the question. Don't ask the question with the answer."
He was never alone, with his followers by his side.
Just like when the Qin Dynasty unified the six countries, the First Emperor Ying Zheng was followed by Li Si, Lu Buwei, Meng Tian, Meng Yi, Wei Liao, Wang Jian and others.
"Old Minister Xia, go and prepare for the southern tour."
Zhu Gaojie stood up and left with his hands behind his back, saying, "During the period of the Gunan tour, the government will be controlled by you and Mr. Yang Ge, and the military affairs will be decided by Zhang Fu and Su Wu. If there is a big event, you can go to Qianqing Palace to ask the old man."
"Da Ming is still the same Da Ming."
"On this southern tour, I want to relieve Ming Dynasty of its worries."
(End of chapter)
