"Missing!" Lao Zhu also frowned at this time and said, "Mengyuan has no way, wars are everywhere, the north is particularly affected by the war, it can almost be said that there are ten rooms and nine empty, a large number of fertile fields are abandoned, although after these years of recuperation, but the north still has not recovered, but the north needs to garrison heavy troops, the food gap is very large, and it can only be transported from the south, but the capacity of the imperial court is limited, and now it cannot supply the consumption of the north!" ”

Li Jie also sighed when he heard this, he also knew something about the situation in the north, and as long as there was a war, the north would be greatly damaged, which was also one of the main reasons why the economic population of the south slowly surpassed that of the north.

For example, the war at the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty led to a great decline in the population of the north, and Henan, Shandong, which were the main grain producing areas in the north, even needed to immigrate from Shanxi because of the lack of population, which is also the famous migration in the early Ming Dynasty in history.

However, even so, the population and economy of the north cannot be recovered in a short time, and the north is directly facing the border troubles of the grasslands, which requires a large number of garrisons.

"Your Majesty, to mobilize grain from the south to go north, is it mainly by water?" Li Jie thought for a moment and asked again.

"Yes, when I first ascended the throne, I let people dredge the canal, and now the grain is mainly transported by water, after all, the news of the land route is too big, ten catties of grain to the north, I'm afraid it will cost nine catties just on the road."

Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly paused when he said this, and then said: "However, the capacity of the canal is also limited, and this canal alone still cannot meet the grain demand in the north, which is why I plan to let the death row prisoners transport grain to the north." ”

"What about shipping, hasn't the imperial court tried shipping?" Li Jie heard this and asked curiously again, of course, there will be restrictions on river transportation, firstly, the canal has a limited river channel, and can only pass some small and medium-sized river boats, and secondly, the canal cannot only be used to transport grain, but also needs to undertake other transportation, so it is naturally greatly restricted, in contrast, there are no such shortcomings in sea transportation.

"Of course, I have considered shipping, and I have tried it for a while, but firstly, at that time, the Japanese were rampant, and even dared to rob the grain ships of the imperial court, and secondly, the wind and waves at sea were also strong, and in case of a big storm, the entire fleet was in danger of capsizing, so after several major losses, the shipping was temporarily put on hold." Lao Zhu replied again.

"Your Majesty, now that the external threat of the Japanese Invaders has been eliminated, as for the dangers such as storms, they are not absolute, and the risks can be reduced by observing the climate and improving the ships, so the minister feels that it is time to restart shipping!" Li Jie immediately suggested again that of course, a Japanese state alone could not restart maritime trade, and the Ming court must also be involved, and shipping is a good access point.

Lao Zhu Wenyan also showed a contemplative look, Li Jie's suggestion is indeed worth considering, compared with river transportation, the advantages of shipping are great, such as sea ships can be built very large, and they are not limited by river channels, and the cost is lower than river transportation, especially now that there is no threat of Japanese robbers, only natural disasters at sea remain, although there is still danger, but you can find ways to reduce the risk.

"Your Majesty, last time we set off from Ningbo, all the way north to Dengzhou, and then we can enter the Bohai Sea to reach Dazhigu, which is also the gateway to Beiping Mansion, although there are some twists and turns on the road, but overall it is still very safe, I heard the boatmen say that as long as you choose the right season to go to sea, you can avoid most of the storms." Li Jie saw that Lao Zhu was moving, so he worked harder again.

"Sea freight is indeed a good way, I asked people to prepare and restart sea freight to give it a try!" Lao Zhu finally nodded at this time and said, the grain pressure in the north is too great, and the transportation of grain by death row prisoners is only a drop in the bucket, but if it can be transported by sea, it will completely solve the transportation problem between the north and the south.

"Your Majesty is wise!" Li Jie also saluted Lao Zhu again, and at the same time his heart was full of joy, through his own efforts, the Ming Dynasty's sea trade is also opening step by step, with the imperial court's shipping, slowly the people will be driven to the sea, as long as the development continues step by step, sooner or later the Ming Dynasty's sea trade can return to normal.

Early the next morning, Mu Sheng led the Iron Book Army out of Beijing, Li Jie also went to see him off in person, and Liu Ying also went to see him off, although he was the commander, but he didn't have to go to Goryeo, in fact, he basically didn't care much about the entire Iron Book Army, and Mu Sheng had always managed it on his behalf.

After sending Mu Sheng away, Li Jie and Liu Ying took a car back to the city together, and on the way Liu Ying also complained to Li Jie: "Mu Sheng took people away, and the rest is all trouble, some of those sons want to go with them, and some don't want to go, but they don't want to watch their slaves being transferred. ”

"Uncle, I think you have a problem with the management of this gang." Li Jie thought about it and said directly.

"What's the problem?" Liu Ying was stunned for a moment and asked.

"You let them be too idle, as long as people are idle, they will definitely have all kinds of ideas, on the other hand, if you arrange a lot of things for them to do, they are tired every day, how can they have the energy to make trouble?" Li Jie gave Liu Ying an idea.

"This is also true, those who are willing to follow Mu Sheng to Goryeo have also followed the military training before, they are all very honest, and they have never made trouble with me, but now as soon as Mu Sheng leaves, they immediately make trouble." Liu Ying nodded thoughtfully.

But soon Liu Ying asked Li Jie a little puzzled: "But what should I find for them?" I've let them do whatever they want, even if it's gambling or listening to music, but even that can't stop them! ”

"It's easy to do, aren't those sons divided into two factions? One faction is ambitious and ambitious, and the other faction only wants to eat, drink and have fun, then find a way to divide them, and for those who are ambitious, you let them practice again, and even make a promise to them, and you will find a way to let them realize their ambitions in the army in the future! Li Jie said again with a smile.

"yes, that's a good idea!" Liu Ying is also a smart person, and when he heard Li Jie's words, he immediately came to his senses, and immediately slapped his face and said, although Mu Sheng is gone, but with his identity, it is very simple to find an experienced veteran who will continue to practice these people.

"Uncle, these sons under your command will not be hostages forever, after all, they are the queen of the gate, and now it is only because of the special period that they will be arranged to serve in the Iron Book Army, and sooner or later they will enter the army to serve in the army, so I think you can open something similar to the academy, so that these nobles can mention enough military education before entering the army!" Li Jie suggested again at this time.

"Academy? Just like that Truth-Seeking Academy of yours? Liu Ying was also very interested when he heard this, and asked again.

"It's almost, but your military-related academy is even more special, after all, it is used by the imperial court to train military generals, if it is done, even the generals in the army in the future may come from this academy, think about it, the importance of this academy may even be compared with Guozijian!" Li Jie also showed a solemn expression at the end.

Liu Ying was also startled when he heard this, he had never had any big ambitions, but now he suddenly heard the prospect described by Li Jie, but it made him feel a little scared, after all, it is not a good thing to have such an important thing in his own hands.

"Uncle, don't worry, this matter must be approved by His Majesty, and even taken care of by His Majesty himself, just like Jinyiwei, of course, Your Majesty is only a name, and another person needs to manage it on his behalf, and you, as the person who put forward this idea, must be the first manager, this is an opportunity to go down in history!" Li Jie finally tempted again.

Liu Ying's heart was also moved when he heard this, although he didn't have any big ambitions, but hearing the four words that went down in history still made him very moved, not to mention anything else, those princes and generals, aren't they just for these four words?

"Uncle, you also know your cousin's temperament, although he participated in the military drills, his performance was average, and you definitely couldn't bear to send him to the battlefield, in this case, why don't you work harder and add another credit to your cousin and even your cousin's children and grandchildren?" Li Jie persuaded again.

Hearing Li Jie mention his son Liu Yi, Liu Ying finally patted his thigh and nodded: "It's so decided, but what to do about this matter, you have to help me advise!" ”

"No problem, I'll write a plan in the next few days, and then Uncle you can refer to it, and we'll discuss it if there are any problems!" Li Jie immediately smiled and said, he had already had the idea of a military school, but he never had a chance, and now he can just borrow the Iron Book Army to start it.

In the next few days, Li Jie accompanied Zhu Biao to lose weight during the day, and wrote the plan for the military school at night, but before he finished writing the plan, there was news from Lao Zhu's side.

I have to say that Lao Zhu Daquan has advantages in monopolizing it, as long as he nods his head, he can make a decision quickly, the exile of death row prisoners was first approved by the Criminal Department and Dali Temple, but there is also a condition, that is, the heinous death row prisoners must be killed, and other death row prisoners can be exiled instead, and now the destination is temporarily set on Jeju Island, but it is just a transit station, and it will definitely be sent to the Wa Kingdom in the future.

In addition, the resumption of shipping is also very smooth, which is also thanks to the extermination of the Japanese pirates, so that there is one less big threat at sea, of course, the grain pressure in the north is too great, forcing the officials of the DPRK and China to agree, after all, they have no better way to solve this problem, can only agree to sea transport to try.

Just a few days after the above two decrees were promulgated, Li Jie received another news that Jiang Xuan, the commander of Jinyiwei, had returned, and he also brought the latest news from Goryeo.