The spring of the seventh year of Yongle was very different from previous years.
Since the reign of His Majesty, there has never been a large-scale war in the Ming Dynasty.
Even during the campaign against Annan, Ming Dynasty chose quick tactics and completed the country's destruction and reorganization in just half a year.
But in the early spring of this year, the Ming Dynasty, which had been peaceful for seven years, was shaken because of a newspaper!
The Jiangnan Navy, Shandong Navy, Naval Academy, and Gyeonggi Forbidden Army were all mobilized.
The word "Eastern Expedition" quickly spread throughout the Ming Dynasty as newspapers spread it.
The people's call for war resounded throughout the capital. Every day, people spontaneously gathered in front of the Hongwu Gate and asked His Majesty to listen to the voices of the people.
Why does a newspaper have such a big effect?
It's very simple. On the Lantern Festival in the seventh year of Yongle, the People's Daily of Ming Dynasty only published one piece of news on this day.
"Book of the Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty"
The Queen of Japan, Komatsu, and the King of Korea, Yi Ji, reported:
Emperors, emperors and queens all return to the wind of China; nectar blooms in the clouds and competes to offer the praise of Ruimai.
Pi inherited the merits of his ancestors and brought peace and security to the country.
Your Majesty is both a saint and a god. He only has literature and objects. His two glorious classics are Yao and Shun, and he has lived through the Han and Tang Dynasties.
Taking care of the disadvantages of the city, although the Dutch country is kind, I worry about Xiao Qiang, and I pay tribute.
Spread the Ming Dynasty across the world, far and wide among colleagues; hope that Chang'an will be safe by the sun, and it will always be one.
Woohoo, now the small sect is in danger of war, the ancestral temple is destroyed, and tribute is cut off.
Look up to the Holy Mercy, listen carefully to your true feelings, and express your feelings carefully.
Woohoo, the ministers Xiaosong and Li Qi were frightened and paused and said:
Husband Jurchen is a barbarian foreign vassal. He is responsible for consolidating Liaodong. He refuses to teach and refuses orders. He plunders our land and subjugates our subjects.
The small sect of our country is unable to resist; we can only hope for the divine mercy and the heavenly soldiers and gods will descend.
Save the ancestral temple of a small country from falling, and save the people of a small country from hanging upside down.
Woohoo, Xiao Zong wept, and Da Zong expressed pity.
Fuyuan, the world's Zhenhai territory, thought it screened the feudal vassal.
On the twenty-eighth day of the eighth month in the late autumn of the sixth year of Yongle, I would like to express my gratitude to His Majesty the Great Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.
The two-hundred-word memorial took up a whole page of the newspaper. Other entertainment information, government orders, and even advertisements were missing.
There is only one memorial letter, every word of which is filled with tears.
During the Ming Dynasty, Qi was nourished for seven years, and wealth and Qi were stored in the people.
How could the people of Ming Dynasty, who were accustomed to being superior, stand this kind of anger?
The Jurchen savage, whom I had never heard of, actually beat up his two most submissive brothers. Isn't this a slap in Ming's face?
Fuck him!
Gotta fuck him hard.
As a result, the government and the public asked for war, and the people became even more angry.
Your Majesty is required to take action to punish those ignorant Jurchen savages.
Just kidding, even the beggars are superior to people from other countries in the Ming Dynasty.
Can you, a bunch of Jurchen savages, beat up my Ming Dynasty’s younger brother?
The imperial court's response was even more rapid. After the memorial was published in the newspaper, the candidate to lead the expedition was quickly finalized.
Zhu Gaoxu, the king of Han, was given the rank of general for conquering captives.
He led the Shandong Navy, the Jiangnan Navy, and the Shenji Battalion among the three major battalions. There were a total of 80,000 troops, plus 100,000 civilians, making it a 300,000-strong army.
As the commander-in-chief of the three armed forces, he was bound to find a way back for his two younger brothers by crossing the sea and marching eastward.
As soon as this news spread, the morale of the entire Ming Dynasty was greatly boosted, and there was a lot of discussion.
Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, only the Hongwu Dynasty has experienced such large-scale wars a few times.
Those are 80,000 elite soldiers, real elite soldiers.
In the cold weapon era, an elite soldier would need to be equipped with at least three auxiliary soldiers, plus five civilian husbands.
It is not an exaggeration to declare a million-strong army to the outside world.
The Ming Dynasty had firearms, so it only announced 300,000 to the outside world, but even this scale has been a rare large-scale war since the founding of the Ming Dynasty.
It is second only to Marshal Xu Da's Northern Expedition to the Northern Yuan Dynasty during the Hongwu Dynasty.
After seven years of calm, Ming Dynasty is finally going to take action again. How can the people not be excited and excited?
Not to mention the common people, even Chen Kan was equally excited when he saw the mighty army marching out at the school grounds in the north of the city.
Over the years, small wars in the Ming Dynasty have never stopped, but the large-scale war to destroy the country was Zhu Neng's southern conquest of Annan.
Moreover, Zhu Neng said that he had brought an army of 100,000 people, and there was an army of 200,000 people under the command of Xiping Hou Musheng as a support. In fact, the number of soldiers was less than 50,000.
Zhu Neng brought over three water divisions plus 20,000 auxiliary troops, with less than 20,000 combat troops. Mu Sheng's 200,000-strong army was even more water-heavy. They were all chieftain troops from Yunnan and elite combat troops. No more than 30,000 people.
After a few years, what kind of storm will the Ming Dynasty's 80,000 elites set off in the East China Sea?
With the 80,000-strong army, it took a full three months from the time Zhu Gaoxu took command to the time when the troops were assembled. Chen Kan, Zhu Di, and the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty were busy for three full months.
Finally, in mid-April, the army was sent out.
At the North Campus of the capital, Zhu Di led the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty to send out the army.
Until the navy's broken treasure ship disappeared into the sky of the Yangtze River, the civil and military officials in the court were still in a state of excitement.
Who would have thought that the Ming Dynasty's military could develop to such an extent less than 50 years after its founding?
Not only did they completely abandon the shortcomings of the military household system established by the great ancestor, but they also deployed muskets throughout the army, completely burying the cold weapon troops in the dust of history.
Looking at today's Ming Dynasty's army, even the most pedantic literati would not say such nonsense that even if a country is large and warlike, it will perish.
Why do literati oppose war?
Because the gains outweigh the losses, not only will people die, but money and food will also be wasted.
The more we fight, the poorer the country becomes. Of course they are opposed to it.
But if fighting can bring huge benefits, they will transform into vanguard war madmen.
In essence, we still cannot escape the shackles of the word profit.
Watching the army disappear, the fat Minister of War, Rujun, suddenly sighed with emotion: "The military appearance of our Ming Dynasty is more prosperous than it has been in five thousand years."
Although everyone knew that Ru Ru was trying to flatter Zhu Di, at this moment, no one could say anything against it.
In the prosperous Tang Dynasty, could they defeat the Ming Dynasty's muskets and cannons?
Zhu Di withdrew his gaze, took over Ru Yu's words and said: "Although the country is big, if it likes war, it will perish. I, the Ming Dynasty, only serve as a teacher of benevolence and righteousness, and do not fight unjust wars."
As soon as these words came out, all civil and military officials in the court immediately bowed their heads: "Your Majesty is wise."
"Okay, let's drive back to the palace."
After receiving all the flattery from the civil and military officials of the court, Zhu Di gave it up casually, then turned around and got into Luan Jia, and headed towards Nanjing surrounded by the palace people.
The army went out to fight, and Zhu Di returned to the palace.
Chen Kan also followed the large army and walked slowly towards the capital.
Now that the army has successfully sailed to sea, the domestic calls for war have gradually subsided, and the court has resumed normal operations.
As for the things that Fang Xiaoru assigned to Chen Kan years ago, Chen Kan can now take the time to do them.
What's going on?
On New Year's Eve, Fang Xiaoru had asked him to visit his wife Zheng after Yuanzheng, and also visit His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.
To visit Master Zheng, Chen Kan took his wife and children to Fang Mansion on Yuan Day.
But then he was busy with Zhu Gaochi's expedition. More than three months passed and he still had no time to visit Zhu Gaochi in the East Palace.
Now that I have time, I naturally want to take care of this matter.
After all, it was Fang Xiaoru who gave the order himself, and it was impossible for Fang Xiaoru to let him do something meaningless.
Zhu Di returned to the capital with the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty, and a group of people dispersed.
Chen Kan's current position is Zhan Shifu of Zhanshi Mansion. He does not have to attend court, but only needs to teach the princes and grandsons, so he decisively skipped work and returned to the Houfu.
As soon as he returned home, Chang Ning came over and asked, "Husband, has the army set off?"
Chen Kan nodded: "The vanguard has probably passed the Yangtze River estuary and sailed into the East China Sea."
Hearing what Chen Kan said, Chang Ning showed a relaxed look on his face and said with emotion: "With the army going out, our family can finally relax for a while."
"Yeah~"
Chen Kan also felt a little emotional.
During the period when the army was setting off, Chen Kan had been busy. He had no choice but to do it. The plan to drive away the wolf and swallow the tiger came from him, and he had to explain many details and processes clearly to Zhu Gaoxu.
Personal grievances are private grievances, but in such a national event, Chen Kan would not hold back Zhu Gaoxu.
After all, it was an army of 80,000. If he was not careful, he might be buried in the sea. Chen Kan did not want to become a sinner of the Ming Dynasty.
So for many things, if you can be meticulous, you must be meticulous.
Now that things are settled, I can naturally relax for a while.
The couple sighed for a long time, and then Chang Ning seemed to remember something else, and hurriedly turned around and ran back to the study.
While running, he exclaimed: "Husband, there is a letter from Hua Shi'er."
"oh?"
Hearing what Chang Ning said, Chen Kan followed quickly.
After spending time in Yuanzheng, Hua Shi went to Beijing non-stop, and then there was no news for several months.
Now that someone has asked someone to send the letter, there is only one possibility. Hua Shi has completely controlled the power that Chen Kan left in Beijing.
He quickly followed Chang Ning to the study and opened the letter sent by Hua Shi. Chen Kan couldn't help but grin after just one glance at it.
The facts were just as he had guessed. As soon as Hua Shi arrived in Beijing, he showed an iron-blooded skill that was completely inconsistent with his age.
First, he took control of Chen Kan's intelligence organization in Beijing, which was the brothel headed by the matchmaker, using the strategy of killing the chicken to scare the monkey.
Immediately, a series of personnel appointments and removals were made in the army in the name of Chen Kan.
When Fang Xu, Cheng Feng, and Zhou Shi were all transferred to Nanjing by Chen Kan, the five thousand people left behind in Beijing were quickly controlled by him.
"Yes, he is worthy of being a student taught by me. He has a bit of a teacher's demeanor."
Chen Kan grinned and laughed, which immediately caused Chang Ning to roll his eyes.
After burning the letter, Chen Kan said calmly: "Madam, please reply a letter to Hua Shi in your name. As my husband, I will not get involved in this matter."
Chang Ning nodded in agreement, and she naturally understood what Chen Kan meant.
When delegating power, it must be done thoroughly. Too much interference may be self-defeating.
Chen Kan came out of the study and called Yuncheng over. After asking him to prepare everything for visiting His Highness the Crown Prince, he sent someone to summon Cheng Feng, Fang Xu and others to see him.
After thinking about it, Chen Kan sent out another manpower to invite Chen An, Shi Wen and Xu Yuan from the Five Cities Military and Horse Division to come to the banquet.
Since he was going to stay in the capital and serve as Zhu Di's chess piece, it was time to make some arrangements.
