The winter in Beijing is very cold. For many officials, the wind always feels like a knife when walking. Even if they wear cotton-padded clothes, it feels like wearing unlined clothes, and they can't stop shivering.
Many officials secretly complained about moving the capital. It would be better to stay in Nanjing, at least they would not suffer so much. But when I think about the wet and cold weather in Nanjing, it seems that it is not much more comfortable than the dry and cold weather in Beijing. In addition, the emperor gave me a new stove for free, and heating pipes were installed in my home and office. It is really not easy to complain publicly.
The benefits of having Beijing as the capital also began to emerge. Especially after the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Industry, and the Fifth Army Governor's Office reorganized the post stations and determined new transmission routes, the imperial court's control over the Northeast, the grasslands outside the customs, and Western Xinjiang was significantly strengthened. But this also brought about a problem, that is, the intelligence from the southwest was sent slowly.
Wuying Palace.
Zhu Wenkui carefully examined the documents, and then read the contents of the note posted by the cabinet. If he felt it was appropriate, he would copy the contents on the note on top of the document. If he felt it was inappropriate, he would put it aside until all the documents were read. Afterwards, cabinet officials were summoned to discuss countermeasures.
"Your Highness, Xia Yuanji, the Minister of Household Affairs, would like to see you."
The chamberlain came to announce.
Zhu Wenkui nodded slightly: "Please come in, Mr. Xia."
The chamberlains have become accustomed to it, whether it is cabinet ministers or six ministers, they all have taught Zhu Wenkui a lot like the officials in the East Palace. Since moving the capital, Zhu Wenkui has addressed him as sir from time to time to show his closeness.
Xia Yuanji entered the palace and saluted.
Zhu Wenkui walked out, personally helped Xia Yuanji up, and arranged for him to sit down. Then he returned to the desk and sat down.
Xia Yuanji was a little emotional.
Zhu Wenkui is the prince, his identity is undisputed, and his status is unshakable. No prince could compete with him. Under such circumstances, he still maintained a humble attitude towards his ministers, without any arrogance or condescension. Except for occasionally showing majesty in government affairs, he rarely used power to dominate the six ministries and ministers. above the cabinet.
This is a kind prince, and he will become a benevolent king in the future!
Xia Yuanji was very happy because after more than forty years of conquests during the Hongwu and Jianwen dynasties, Ming's external wars were basically over, and the future Ming Dynasty would need benevolent kings to stabilize its internal affairs.
Precisely, Zhu Wenkui met the collective expectations of civil servants.
Xia Yuanji reported: "Your Highness, all provinces, except Southwest, Xijiang and other provinces, have sent autumn harvest documents. Among them, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Jiaozhi, Nanzhili and other places have already received 70 to 80% of their autumn grain. , some places have completed harvesting, and output has reached a new high. However, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Huguang and other places have experienced 30% to 50% reduction in output due to natural disasters, insect infestations and other reasons. Especially in Shanxi, there was drought first and then flood in autumn, and the output was reduced by more than half... …”
Zhu Wenkui was worried: "Shanxi has a lot of people but little land. Now that production has been reduced by more than half, there will be many hungry people. How are the Ministry of Revenue and the Shanxi Chief Minister prepared to respond?"
Xia Yuanji replied seriously: "The Chief Envoy of Shanxi Province has sent an urgent document, hoping that the imperial court can allocate grain from the surrounding areas to cope with the famine in spring. The local official warehouse has limited grain and can support the people for a month at most."
According to the regulations of the Jianwen Dynasty, local disaster preparedness food needs to be enough to support half a year's needs.
Half a year is a length of time to ensure safety and survive natural disasters.
….
Once a famine strikes and production needs to be reduced, people will take the initiative to cut back on food and clothing to ensure that the whole family can survive the disaster year. With the help of local government warehouses to provide relief, after half a year, basically new crops should be harvested.
Shanxi's disaster preparedness food can only support the people for one month, which is far lower than the court's requirements. But this is not the result of the inaction of the Shanxi Chief Envoy and local government offices.
Zhu Wenkui thought for a while and said: "In order to support the imperial army's northern expedition, Shanxi's province, government and county governments, and the people have all given a lot of support. Many ordinary people's families have even handed over their stored grain. When they came out, countless people rushed to transport food to the army, and this was the great victory of the Northern Expedition army in Hulanhu."
"My father said that more than 70% of the logistics of the Northern Expedition fell on the people of Shanxi. It was they who pushed the army across the vast sea to find the main Tatar force. Without the full support of the people of Shanxi, the Northern Expedition could not go deep without any worries. fight. Now the people of Shanxi have encountered
Difficulties, the court cannot chill people's hearts. "
"A month's supply of food, coupled with the food stored at home, is difficult to sustain for three months. Even if Shanxi Province is allowed to purchase food at high prices and merchants take action, it may not be able to meet local needs. After all, it is November. , the cold winter, walking for food is no better than in spring and autumn. The most important thing is that the court cannot only rely on businessmen to solve this crisis. "
Xia Yuanji nodded slightly and asked, "Your Highness, you mean to recruit people from the capital to transport grain to Shanxi?"
Zhu Wenkui waved his hand: "I don't think the imperial court needs to recruit people."
"this……"
Xia Yuanji was a little confused. What should we do if we don't recruit the people to transport food? We can't use the Beijing army, right?
Zhu Wenkui smiled and said to Xia Yuanji: "Open the granary in the capital and distribute it free of charge to the people who immigrated from Shanxi to the surrounding areas of the capital. Each household will be given three stones. In addition, a notice will be issued that the imperial court will mobilize 20,000 troops from the capital to transport grain to Shanxi." , and mark the route map and inform the people."
Xia Yuanji's eyes lit up.
Zhu Wenkui's meaning was very clear. When the imperial court immigrated from Shanxi, these people had now completely taken root in Beijing and its surroundings. At this time, they were given food and told that the army was about to send food to Shanxi.
The direct result of this move is that the Shanxi people here will go back to visit, bring food back to celebrate the New Year, and support their fellow villagers to tide over the difficulties.
Zhu Wenkui turned a food crisis into a family trip home and a reunion trip!
Yes, it is actually impossible for these common people plus the Beijing army to send massive amounts of food to solve Shanxi's problems, but these actions are powerful and influential. They can show people's hearts and tell everyone in the world about the lives of people who have immigrated to other places. Everything is fine.
Xia Yuanji was filled with admiration. Zhu Wenkui seemed to have inherited Zhu Yunwen's wisdom. When dealing with problems, he not only considered the problem itself, but also considered more things.
"If this is the case, Shanxi merchants will definitely follow suit in order to win the hearts and minds of the people of Shanxi. If the imperial court redistributes grain from granaries around Shanxi, then this food crisis can be solved."
Xia Yuanji said in a deep voice.
Zhu Wenkui nodded slightly: "After discussing with the cabinet, if there are no problems, we can do it as soon as possible. As for the transfer of the Beijing army, I will go to my father to discuss it."
….
Xia Yuanji understood.
After Zhu Yunwen sent away Zheng He, Zhu Di and others, he returned to Beijing and basically met once every three days. He didn't know where he went on weekdays. Whether he was busy making babies in the harem, or visiting the streets and alleys of Beijing privately, officials We don't know much. The one sitting in Wuying Hall handling official documents is mainly the prince.
However, documents such as military affairs, clan affairs, and the Second Artillery Bureau were still sent directly to Zhu Yunwen and not to the East Palace.
All officials have become accustomed to it. Even though Zhu Wenkui is not very old, he is very smart like Zhu Yunwen, has a strong memory, and is good at summarizing experience. In addition, after being tempered by preparations for moving the capital, Zhu Wenkui appears calmer. The prince should just deal with the official documents. Anyway, this was what Zhu Biao did when he was old, but Zhu Biao had just grown up at that time.
Xishan, Beijing.
A cannonball flew through the sky, fell into the lime circle, exploded, and raised dust.
Zhu Yunwen put down the telescope, nodded with satisfaction, and said to Tao Zengguang, Hu Yuancheng and others: "The power of black gunpowder is approaching its end. If we continue to study it, we will not be able to increase its damaging effect."
Tao Zengguang, Hu Yuancheng and others nodded repeatedly.
Hu Yuancheng sighed: "In the past two years, we have been optimizing the ratio and improving the purity, but we can always feel the bottleneck. After all, the best ratio has been found, and the purity of the material has reached a point where it is difficult to increase it. If we blindly increase the amount of gunpowder, It can indeed increase the range, but it also does damage to the firearm itself."
Tao Zengguang continued: "Although the Second Artillery Bureau is already looking for new materials to replace granular gunpowder, there is currently no progress. People in the Gunpowder Department are also very worried about whether there is a way forward, and some people have doubts."
Zhu Yunwen thought for a while and asked Tao Zengguang to summon all the craftsmen of the Second Artillery Bureau.
The number of craftsmen in the Second Artillery Bureau has reached more than 1,600 people. It is they who ensure the artillery fire of the Ming Dynasty army.
They continued to innovate and optimize the application of firearms, which led to the emergence of rifled muskets and rifled cannons, allowing more advanced firearms to appear in the Ming Dynasty.
Looking at these familiar and unfamiliar faces, Zhu Yunwen stood on the high platform and shouted solemnly: "I heard that some craftsmen are worried that the research on firearms has come to an end, and no matter how much research they do, they will not make new breakthroughs. In this case, I am If you don’t agree, go back to twelve years ago. How many steps did it take for the Hongwu Fire Gun to break through leather armor? Fifty steps! The general range of the Hongwu Divine Machine Cannon is only three miles!”
"But after years of research and improvement, now the new fire cannon can not only break through armor and kill people from a distance of 150 steps, but also increase the range of the divine machine cannon to more than ten miles! If someone had shouted in those days, the range of the divine machine cannon would have been It can reach ten miles, who of you will believe it, who dares to believe it?"
"Yes, no one would believe such ridiculous words at that time. But now you have done it. The range that was once fanciful and unachievable has become a reality here! Then why don't you have the courage to put twenty miles or fifty miles , one hundred miles as the next goal?"
"Firearm research has come to an end. What a ridiculous idea. I tell you, you are still far away from real firearms. Real firearms can not only attack and kill thousands of miles away, but also destroy a village or a town with one round of ammunition. ! And this kind of firearm that destroys heaven and earth is the real firearm!"
Tao Zengguang and Hu Yuancheng opened their mouths wide, and all the craftsmen were shocked.
No one suspected it, but everyone was shocked.
Destroying heaven and earth, is this a real firearm?
Are there really such firearms in the world?
A craftsman stood up and shouted: "Your Majesty, will the Second Artillery Bureau really continue to exist and continue to research until it develops firearms that can fly thousands of miles and destroy towns?"
Zhu Yunwen laughed and responded solemnly: "Everyone, the Second Artillery Bureau rests with the country! The Ming Dynasty will never be destroyed, and the Second Artillery Bureau will last forever!"
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