The Western Region is a treasure land and is by no means a burden. If managed and managed well, it can definitely become the strongest barrier in the northwest, deterring the Oara to the north, deterring the Central Asian countries to the west, and ensuring that no problems arise in Uszang (Tibet) to the south. .
As for grapes, don’t even think about them. They are so far away and will become raisins in the capital. But they can be used to make wine in the future...
"Eternal God Emperor"
Zhu Yunwen's vision has gone beyond recovering the Western Regions to governing the Western Regions. This somewhat makes Xie Jin, Xu Huizu and others dumbfounded. After all, Timur is very strong. If he goes eastward, he is afraid that he will bring hundreds of thousands of troops. This battle has not yet happened. Fight, you have already started working on things after victory. Isn’t it too disrespectful to Timur?
Zhu Di didn't think Zhu Yunwen was so inappropriate. He was the emperor, and it was his duty to govern the world. He was a general, and Timur was his own dish. There was no need for Zhu Yunwen to hold out his chopsticks, so both of them were comfortable.
The discussion on the northwest on the Mid-Autumn Night allowed Zhu Yunwen to gradually clarify the route for ruling the Western Regions. All that was left was to finalize the details of military affairs, people's livelihood, health stations, logistics and other aspects.
In view of the advantages of advanced preparations for the Annan expedition, taking into account the minimization of civilian recruitment, the maximum guarantee of the army's marching speed, and the maximum support of divine machine guns and weapons, Zhu Yunwen decided to start from September this year in Henan, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu and other places. Set up a large granary.
Considering the remote location of this part of the granary, in order to reduce the cost of transporting grain to the court, Xia Yuanji proposed to eliminate two-thirds of the border merchants in Peiping and Liaodong and transfer them to the northwest. The grain supply in these places could be supplied by sea through the navy, and at the same time encourage the northwest and other places to collect grain and store grain, attracting surrounding grain merchants to the northwest, such as Sichuan-Sichuan grain merchants, Guanzhong grain merchants, etc.
As for the mobilization of the Beijing army's troops, it is naturally impossible to move it a year or two in advance, but the divine machine guns, tiger squatting cannons, muskets and gunpowder can be transported to the northwest in advance.
Zhu Di knew that this battle was no small matter. Timur had been in power for decades and destroyed dozens of countries. He was extremely talented in military affairs. To ensure that everything was safe, the lion said loudly: "The number of divine machine guns should be no less than 600. Tiger Crouching Cannon." The quantity is 2,000, more than 10,000 mines and grenades are needed, and at least 10,000 muskets are needed. Gunpowder, gunpowder shells, cannon stones, etc. are fully prepared, and another 580 oxen crossbows and 200 bed crossbows need to be built..."
Xia Yuanji's face became more and more ugly. The Eight-Niu Crossbow and the Bed Crossbow were extremely powerful. They were usually used to attack the city and were directly drilled into the city wall. The soldiers climbed up the city along these big logs. Zhu Di actually wanted to take them out to attack. cavalry……
The cost of this thing is not low. A good eight-niu crossbow is difficult to buy without eight taels of silver. It is more expensive than an iron gun.
Zhu Yunwen did not hesitate and agreed to them all, promising: "I will order the Second Artillery Bureau and the Military War Bureau to go all out to deliver the supplies you need to the northwest within one year. In the future, you and Xu Huizu will be responsible for the northwest strategy, pay attention Intelligence, be prepared.”
Zhu Di nodded repeatedly, feeling very comfortable.
At least from now on, it seems that Zhu Yunwen has no intention of hiding himself. He still has a place to be useful for the Ming Dynasty!
Zhu Yunwen looked at Xia Yuanji: "I'm afraid the household department is the hardest. How to set up granaries in the northwest requires a lot of attention from you."
Xia Yuanji solemnly agreed.
The campaign against Timur and the pursuit of the Western Regions are different from the conquest of Annan. There are many grain-producing areas to the south of the capital, and there is a lot of grain in Guangzhou. It is not difficult to build granaries and reserve grains, but it is completely different in the northwest. Shanxi has a large population , the food is enough for oneself, and more is not much. Shaanxi is okay, the Guanzhong Plain is at least a granary, but the problem is that the land there has been cultivated for more than a thousand years, and the land has been severely degraded. I just don’t know how much can be extracted. Food comes...
Fortunately, there is a large area of fertile farmland in Sichuan and Shu in the south, with good harvests every year, so we should be able to raise a lot of food. The remaining shortcomings need to be controlled through food control in various places. This is a big project that cannot be determined overnight or by pointing at a map.
Xu Huizu was a little unwilling and asked: "Your Majesty, although I am in charge of the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies, it is all thanks to my father's blessings. Without military merit, it is really difficult to convince the public. In this northwest battle, the imperial court will take back the Western Regions, so The situation has changed, and such a war will definitely leave its name forever and shine brightly in the annals of history. I want to go to the front line..."
Zhu Yunwen looked deeply at Xu Huizu. This man was capable, that was certain, but how great was his ability? History did not give him this stage. Now that he was plotting the Western Region, it was time to give Xu Huizu a chance.
"You can go to the Western Regions, but the specific position you will hold depends on your fourth uncle."
Zhu Yunwen said with a smile.
Xu Huizu looked at Zhu Di and laughed: "It's finally my turn. King Yan, how about giving me a vanguard?"
Zhu Di shook his head repeatedly, how could Wei Guogong be the vanguard? If something went wrong, it would have a great impact on morale, so he should stay in the middle army or the rear army.
The bright moon gradually moved westward amidst the laughter of Xu Huizu pestering Zhu Di to take the vanguard.
August 16th.
The emperor and empress of the Ming Dynasty began their northern tour, and there was a lot of movement in the capital.
After all, this was Zhu Yunwen's first formal inspection of the place since he ascended the throne. The Ministry of Rites did not dare to neglect it, and set up an accompanying team of 1,600 people in accordance with the imperial book system.
In Zhu Yunwen's view, this ostentation is a bit wasteful, but in the view of the Ministry of Rites, this is already the lowest travel level configuration for an emperor. If the highest level of etiquette is followed, the honor guard alone will be no less than 3,000 people, plus the accompanying Officials, guards, and even five to six thousand people were too embarrassed to go out.
"When the emperor comes out, the order of driving and driving is called the Lu Book."
The book itself can be said to be a kind of book, which records the emperor's travel level, names of accompanying officials, number of guards, honor guards, various ceremonial utensils, etc.
Compared with the Lubu system of the Ming Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty, except for some differences in the utensils carried, there is basically no difference. They are all ceremonial guards, with crowds in front and behind, vehicles and riders holding each other's names, and flags fluttering...
Countless people watched the emperor's carriage, but few knew that there was no Zhu Yunwen in the carriage, only the queen and the concubine Xian. However, a group of people left the capital, and then were transferred by the navy fleet, arriving in Yangzhou at noon.
Yangzhou officials were summoned and waited outside the dock.
The ship docked, but Zhu Yunwen did not come out. Cabinet minister Yu Xin came out of the ship and read out the imperial edict: "The two Huaidu salt transfer envoys, Sidu transfer envoys Ding Chuchen, Tongzhi Wang Cai, Zuo Yun, and the inspection and inspection office Sun De, Liu Chun and others Sixteen officials conspired with local gentry to manipulate the price of salt and were ordered to be detained for questioning. Gentleman Liu Zhan bribed officials, planted confidants, and murdered others. He must be severely punished..."
Yangzhou Magistrate Pang Pian and other officials trembled when they heard this. The emperors' inspection tours in other dynasties were just for sightseeing and fun, but Zhu Yunwen's tour was directly to handle cases.
After reading the imperial edict, Yu Xin scanned the crowd and saw Zhu Yunwen, Xie Jin and others on the high slope in the distance. He couldn't help but feel a little depressed. The group of people were playing outside, and he could only stand guard in the honor guard...
Thirty-six officials were punished in one breath, most of whom were officials from the Salt Transfer Department of the Huaihe River. This made the people watching cheered because there was a sentence in the imperial edict: "The price of salt is as high as that of tigers. How can the people of Ming Dynasty live with tigers?" ?”
The emperor publicly stated that he would solve the problem of high salt prices, which naturally excited the people of Yangzhou.
Dealing with the transfer of salt envoys from the Huaihe River to the Huaihe River is just a side dish, while reforming the salt policy is the real big deal.
Zhu Yunwen was in charge of the Salt Transport Department of the Huaidu and Huaidu regions. After discussing with the cabinet ministers and the minister of household affairs, he determined the strategies and methods for reforming the salt administration. The central bank officially entered the field of salt administration, and the corresponding shortcomings were resolved one by one.
As for the graft and corruption within the Yangzhou government office, Zhu Yunwen did not let go. According to the account books provided by Liu Zhan, including the interrogation by the Security Bureau, eighteen corrupt officials were discovered, all of whom confiscated their property and distributed them to farm in Peiping.
What is unexpected is that just this round of confiscations brought in as much as 2.59 million taels to the court. This amount is simply jaw-dropping, and it also made everyone realize how many bugs there may be in the salt policy.
The salt administration is corrupt and few people are poor.
Zhu Yunwen looked at the boxes of silver, the carts of copper coins, and the stacks of treasure banknotes. He was somewhat speechless. Last night, Xia Yuanji was still worried about the issue of military expenditures, but now he is not worried anymore. He picked up the silver ingots and went to He delivered it with his mouth, with a smile on his face, but there was no trace of the demeanor of a minister.
Xia Yuanji didn't care about Zhu Yunwen's contempt and justified himself with one sentence: "Only hundreds of thousands of soldiers can eat well, wear warm clothes, and win battles. It doesn't matter if I lose a little face."
The choked Zhu Yunwen got angry and took away 590,000 taels of silver. The remaining two million taels went to the household department.
Xia Yuanji couldn't compete with Zhu Yunwen, so he had to ask someone to deposit two million taels of banknotes in the Central Bank of Yangzhou first to avoid being robbed by Zhu Yunwen again.
Zhu Yunwen was very emotional: "You said that there are more than two million taels of corrupt officials in the Lianghuai Salt Administration, so will there be more in the Zhejiang Salt Administration..."
Xia Yuanji shivered, and Xie Jin, Yu Xin and others took a deep breath. This Zhu Yunwen was addicted to ransacking homes.
Zhu Yunwen is indeed a bit addicted. I wonder why there were so many corrupt officials and wealthy businessmen in the late Ming Dynasty, and their families had so much money. Why did the smart Chongzhen not know how many households to confiscate? If he really wanted to confiscate the properties of more than ten or twenty corrupt and wealthy businessmen, how many provinces could he confiscate? We have a lot of finances, so why do we need to increase the salary and do not need to give Li Zicheng a discount...
"All salt policies in the world need to be strictly investigated and investigated to the end. No matter who is involved, no tolerance will be tolerated."
Zhu Yunwen is very determined to verify corruption in his administration. For the sake of money, no, for the sake of justice, for the sake of integrity, and for the sake of the people, spit out as much as you have corrupted, move those who need to move, and move their heads if they need to.
Yu Xin took over the Yangzhou government office, specializing in handling unjust and wrongful cases. The gate of the government office was open day and night, advertising to the people:
When the people have grievances, they beat drums and sound far away.
The emperor comes in person and makes a decision between right and wrong.
When the people heard about it, they swarmed in. Dozens of unjust cases were piled up, and everyone else was just watching and eating melons...