The Ministry of War official finished describing the situation, and then bowed to the emperor, waiting for the emperor to speak with some anxiety. He was still a little afraid that Lao Zhu would get angry, but after careful consideration, Lao Zhu understood the Ministry of War's difficulties. Originally, the most suitable troops to send troops to rescue were the northern soldiers, but it happened that the north suffered another natural disaster and food and grass were not available.
In his letter, Zhu Di also wanted to ask for support from the Northern Army, but Zhu Di was far away in Central Asia and could not have expected the natural disaster.
At this time, even if he forced himself to embarrass the Ministry of War, it would be meaningless.
"There is no reason why our Ming Dynasty has millions of troops without troops to send." Lao Zhu pondered for a while and made his decision with a wave of his hand. "The Ministry of Household Affairs immediately issued a document stating that the taxes and grains from the nine border provinces do not need to be sent to the capital this year, but will be left to the provinces to support them in disaster years."
"We will also allocate taxes and grain from the three provinces in the south of the Yangtze River to the north to serve as food for the army. This year, four provinces in the north began to experiment with planting corn. Corn is drought-resistant. I think there will be more grain in the autumn harvest than in previous years, enough to tide over this crisis."
"As for the losses caused by the south-to-north grain transfer...there is nothing we can do. We should focus on Lao Si's army first."
"Yes." The officials bowed. Although the emperor's decision cost a lot of tax revenue, it was the safest way now.
It is better for the imperial court to tighten one's belt than to suffer hardships for the people and soldiers on expeditions.
After the decision was made, the officials resigned one after another. Zhu Biao also said goodbye to Zhu Su, and then hurried back to the cabinet to attend to state affairs. Zhu Su was still pondering where he was. Lao Zhu, who wanted to approve a few more memorials, couldn't help but feel a little strange when he saw it: "Lao Wu, what's wrong? Why do you look so worried?"
"Don't you think our method is adequate?"
"Oh, no." Zhu Su shook his head. "Your decision is very sound. In such a short period of time, you were able to come up with this most appropriate decision. I really admire you."
"Glib tongue." Lao Zhu smiled happily to show his disdain for Zhu Su's clumsy flattery. "Since there is nothing wrong, why are you still here?"
"Our imperial kitchen doesn't leave any food for you."
"Look at what you said." Zhu Su not only ignored Lao Zhu's expulsion order, but instead asked the young eunuch to get a chair and sat down beside the imperial desk. "The food cooked by Xu Xingzu in the imperial kitchen is so delicious that even my sons can't stand it!"
"I just thought about it. Although the south-to-north grain diversion is also a method, it requires recruiting civilians and bearing the losses... It is indeed a big loss. You haven't seen the adults from the Ministry of Household Affairs. After listening to what you said, These methods make even my face turn green..."
"If this battle is fought like this, even if we can take over the land of Persia in Central Asia, I am afraid that my Ming Dynasty will have to lose some vitality... Is there a way to help my fourth brother and take over East Asia without having to bear too much losses? What about?"
"Tell me, what can you do?" When talking about state affairs, Lao Zhu sat up straight.
"Erchen just has a vague outline, I haven't figured it out yet." Zhu Su said. As he spoke, he motioned to the young eunuchs serving on the left and right to bring forward the Map of Kunyu and Ten Thousand Kingdoms. "Since Fourth Brother wants to attack Persia from north to south, can we... not go all the way to support him from the Hexi Corridor with signs and grains?"
"Instead, take the sea route, land directly from here and then head north... to join Fourth Brother in Central Asia?"
"Oh?" Lao Zhu's eyes lit up. Going by sea? He hadn't thought about this route. He looked carefully at the lines drawn by Zhu Su's fingers on the Kunyu Ten Thousand Kingdoms Map. "You mean...going to Nanyang?"
"Yes." Zhu Su nodded. "As I said just now, there is almost no fighting in the southeastern sea area, so it is the most suitable to be mobilized for rescue. However, the southeast is farthest from the northwest. If we take the land route, the loss will be too huge and the gain will not be worth the loss."
"But if you take the sea route... From ancient times to the present, there has been a Maritime Silk Road that leads directly to Persia. If you take this route, it will arrive in just ten months. Moreover, the loss of boating on the sea is far less than that of the land route, and there is no need to adjust food to the north. , just supply food and grass directly from the places south of the Yangtze River and board the ship."
"Even... we can recruit private merchants to go west with the fleet in the name of opening up the silk trade to the west. Nowadays, the Nanyang and the western sea areas are all occupied by foreign races, although there are many Westerners coming from far away through this trade route. Trade, but very few merchants from the Ming Dynasty dare to go west by sea."
"This route has always been of great benefit. If my imperial navy protects the westward journey, merchants will definitely flock to it. Even if they are asked to bear the cost of my army along the way, they should be willing..."
Zhu Suyue said, the more he felt that this method was feasible. At first, he only had a rough idea in his mind, but now it becomes smoother the more he talks about it. "Moreover, there are many spice treasures in the Southeast Asia. Going to the Southeast Asia and the West is also the general trend in the future."
"In this case, it is better to do these things together. In addition to opening up the Maritime Silk Road, we can also take the Nanyang Islands together as a transit route in the future. In the future, just taxes will also be a share. Very considerable treasury revenue..."
Zhu Suyue said, and Lao Zhu's eyes became brighter and brighter. He has now tasted the sweetness of maritime trade and commercial taxes. Just talking about the land of Yingzhou, no matter how much gold and silver is sent every year, just the port taxes of merchant ships coming and going in Hangzhou, Sakai Port and other ports can be collected every year. It is equivalent to a year's grain tax in several northern provinces of the Ming Dynasty.
Not to mention the Silk Road, whose benefits have existed since ancient times. In the Song Dynasty, they made a lot of money by relying on sea trade taxes, and with only half of the country, they became one of the few wealthy dynasties in China since ancient times... If they can open up a trade route to the west for the Ming Dynasty, they can also help the Ming Dynasty. How much benefit does it bring?
The trade routes are not trade routes, they are galaxies flowing with real money!
"This recipe works!" Lao Zhu said. The sea route is fast and less expensive. We can also land from the south. When the time comes, we and Laosi will coordinate the north and south, which will teach the Persian country that the north and the south cannot care about each other.
"As you can imagine, this trip is not a light one. It has to sweep through Nanyang, coordinate merchants, and be proficient in business... It also has to be well versed in military affairs on land and sea, and it also has to be able to suppress a bunch of chiefs of the Six Ministries. official."
"Tie Xuan and Zhang He are suitable, but they have gone to Fengmingzhou now... Most of our old brothers are rough guys who only know how to fight. Do you have any suitable candidates to recommend?"
Zhu Su thought for a while, but he really couldn't think of any suitable candidates. Liu Bowen is suitable, but the old man is already so old and has traveled westward for many years in the original history. He really can no longer work for the old man. Moreover, there were very few generals in the Ming Dynasty who were good at maritime affairs. Among the Huaixi generals, Wu Zhen, the Marquis of Jinghai, was also good at maritime affairs. However, he had died of a serious illness a few years ago...
"Since I can't think of a suitable candidate, why don't you give it a try."
Lao Zhu saw that Zhu Su was thinking about it and couldn't think of a candidate, so he simply made a decision.
(End of chapter)
