After the edict was issued, it indeed caused a certain backlash.
Those tribes that surrendered were actually used to the loose management methods of the Central Plains Dynasty. They originally thought that this time would be no different from before. As long as they offered the title of a minister, they would be rewarded and protected by the court. Why not?
The current conditions are equivalent to depriving many tribal chiefs of their power, making their power only slightly greater than that of Han officials, and even less powerful than the chieftains of the southwestern Ming Dynasty.
Of course they were not happy, so some people tried to contact the Tatars and return to the embrace of Mongolia.
But since you have already joined, you can't leave just because you want to.
Lan Yu's cavalry aimed at them and began to attack and kill them.
In the end, after the bloody lessons of several small tribes, most of the tribes that had surrendered had no choice but to accept such harsh conditions.
They sent envoys to Beijing to pay tribute to the respected emperor. At the same time, they began to divide the regions of various prefectures and send Han officials.
However, the Ming Dynasty did not deny benefits. From now on, the Ming army would no longer point its finger at them. Instead, it would include them under its protection and open the mutual trade to them. All kinds of scarce products from the grasslands continued to flow in. The Ming Dynasty also Many high-quality war horses were obtained through this.
Of course, there are also disadvantages. Such harsh conditions have caused some Mongolian tribes who originally planned to be just outsiders to give up their thoughts, and even began to unite with Oara and Tatars. Gui Lichi had already been beaten so much that he was planning to surrender to the throne. When he saw this situation, he would rather fight guerrillas than surrender to the Ming Dynasty.
After all, this time Daming made a real move. If he accepted this, Gui Lichi would suddenly be reduced to being on an equal footing with the chiefs of the small tribes he usually looked down on. This was of course unacceptable.
So Zhu Di added 50,000 troops to the grassland and ordered Lan Yu to continue the expedition.
In any case, the grassland is in great shape.
In this case, Zhu Di was also very satisfied.
He continued his northern tour.
I came to Beijing here, firstly, to consolidate border defense; secondly, to inspect the results of Zhu Gaochi's work during this period; and thirdly, to pick a good place for myself.
According to Yan Keng's suggestion, the focus of future operations has been established to consolidate the border defense; the city of Beijing has also been repaired very well, which made Zhu Di's impression of Zhu Gaochi much better.
Finally, it’s time to choose a good place to sleep.
He took a fancy to Chang Ping.
In a treasured place surrounded by mountains and rivers, Zhu Di stopped.
"Just choose this place." He said softly to the eunuch beside him:
"In this way, I can sleep more comfortably after my death."
"This mountain will be renamed Tianshou Mountain from now on!"
The location of the Ming Tombs and Changling was thus established.
After that, Zhu Di inspected the defense of the Northland again, and then returned to Nanjing with satisfaction.
But as soon as he arrived in Nanjing, there was bad news waiting for him.
"Your Majesty, there are only 140,000 taels of silver in the treasury, and the rest has been exhausted. And before taxes from various places have been paid, the treasury is already empty!" At the court meeting, the Minister of Household Affairs stood in front of Zhu Di and complained:
"These 140,000 taels have been scheduled to be sent to the front line for military expenses. Now many parties are asking the Ministry of Revenue for money, but the Ministry of Revenue really can't allocate any silver. Your Majesty, please take a closer look."
Zhu Di was speechless for a moment.
Although his northern tour was not as majestic as the Qing emperor's expedition to the south of the Yangtze River, it was still an emperor's tour, and it also cost a lot of money.
Coupled with the simultaneous operation of various affairs, even if Zhu Gaochi is a master of government affairs, he cannot conjure so much silver out of thin air. Now the Ming Dynasty is really unable to make ends meet.
"Your Majesty!" At this moment, the prince also stood up, and a loud voice came out from his fat body:
"Conquering grasslands, opening canals, building grand ceremonies, and building Beijing all cost huge amounts of money. How can the imperial court afford it?"
"In the previous battle for the throne of the emperor, the mountains and rivers were broken and the people of Ming Dynasty were displaced. Your Majesty ascended the throne. It is the time to rebuild the mountains and rivers and recuperate. The people of the world also look forward to your majesty's benevolent government and restoration of the prosperity of Hongwu."
"Your Majesty is using troops everywhere, spending a lot of gold and silver, and assigning corvees. If you say something unpleasant to me, the people of the Ming Dynasty are already suffering unspeakably!"
"Nowadays, there are constant riots in Jiaozhi and the invasion of Japanese pirates from the southeast. It is a troubled time, but your Majesty is still consuming the country's power in such a way, making the people exhausted and the treasury empty. If this continues, disaster will surely arise!"
"I sincerely request your Majesty to stop such actions that waste the people and money, and start a new era with the people just like the Wenjing rule of the past!"
As soon as these words came out, everyone was shocked, and Zhu Gaoxu's face showed a look of gloating.
He knows better than anyone else the status of these things in Zhu Di's heart.
Among them, conquering the grassland and compiling the canon were the actions that Emperor Yongle cared about most. He has ambitions to rely on these two achievements to rival the ancient emperors.
It's not that no ministers have put forward opinions, but they all discouraged Zhu Di tactfully and stopped one or two unimportant things first. Zhu Gaochi, on the other hand, wanted Zhu Di to stop all with this breath. It would be strange if this did not offend the emperor.
Even if what he said does make sense.
During this northern tour, he performed extremely well and became closer to Zhu Di. At this time, his eldest brother was recklessly offending Tian Yan. Hehe...
Sure enough, as Zhu Gaoxu expected, after saying these words, Zhu Di's face suddenly didn't look very good:
"If there is injustice on the northern border, there will never be peace on the border; moving the capital to the canal is also a plan for the future. I am doing this for you and for all generations of the Ming Dynasty!"
"Of course I know my father's good intentions, but now that the Ming Dynasty is running into deficits, it is no longer the time to go to war!"
Zhu Gaochi stiffened his neck and looked up at Zhu Di, just like Zhu Biao and Zhu Yuanzhang before.
Zhu Di's face turned completely gloomy.
He knows that he spends money like water, and he also knows that his son handles internal affairs, but this is not the reason for his son to fight against him.
In the court hall, there was gradually a strong smell of gunpowder.
Fortunately, at this moment, a servant broke the solemn atmosphere. He hurried to the temple and said loudly:
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty! Ma He, the eunuch of the Imperial Envoy, has led the fleet and arrived at the port!"
In an instant, the entire court fell silent.
——
Ma He came back in time.
Accompanying Ma He's return were a large number of exotic objects.
"There are more than six thousand jars of pepper, twenty boats of ebony, ambergris..."
Listening to the reports from relevant officials, Zhu Di's face became more and more happy.
This was not hundreds of years later. In that era, pepper and other spices were absolutely rare in the mainland and could be sold for extremely high prices.
(End of chapter)
