March 12, 26th year of Xingqian.

On this day, the former cabinet chief assistant Gu Yanwu was buried in a low-key manner in his hometown in Kunshan, although there is a "non-military merit does not seal the marquis" of the dynasty, but the emperor still issued a special decree to seal it as "Yicheng Zi", under the title system of the Ming Dynasty, the son, the male and female titles are not hereditary lifelong noble titles. In the beginning, this kind of title was awarded to those loyal ministers and righteous men of the Ming Dynasty and their descendants, in order to show the world that loyalty can be rewarded. Later, as more and more ministers died, these two titles became their exclusive rewards. Of course, this reward is more of a recognition of his merits. There is no real meaning, there is no Xuntian, only some money rewarded by the emperor himself, the amount is not much, and it is more symbolic.

For the Ming Dynasty and the opposition, Gu Yanwu's death does not seem to have much impact, after all, he has been dead for many years, and for the officials of the imperial court, he is just an old man who has returned to his hometown. If the biggest impact is probably that according to his will, all the royal rewards behind him will be used to sponsor students from all countries in Zhuxia to study in Daming or to sponsor students from Daming to study in Zhuxia.

After Zhu Mingzhong learned of this, he also took out one million taels from his personal treasury and donated it to the "Gu Yanwu Huaxia Education Fund" in the name of the crown prince, which was the first education fund in the Ming Dynasty, and the object of funding was only limited to the people of Zhuxia.

As for what kind of changes this education fund will bring to Zhuxia in the next few hundred years, it is not something that people of this era can predict, and even Zhu Mingzhong, as the largest donor, also does not know what the future will look like. The reason why he personally took out such a huge sum of money was more because he missed Gu Yanwu. He hopes to commemorate this old friend who has done his best and dedication to Daming in this way.

After all, the world has undergone earth-shaking changes, this day, the heart of the Ming Empire, ushered in a rare heavy rain in spring, decades ago, such a heavy rain is enough to make both sides of the Huai River fall into waterlogging, and now re-enter the sea for more than 20 years, the Huai River has already become a river, as for both sides of the Huai River, but also reappeared yesterday's prosperity.

A heavy rain in spring no longer means a flood, but a good harvest.

The palace in the midst of the rain is magnificent and majestic, and people are always in awe when they look up from outside the palace.

As the crown prince, Zhu Hejia looked at his father in the imperial study and looked at his father's back. He could feel the sorrow that his father had suppressed in his heart.

Gu Yanwu is not only a minister to his father, but also a friend of his father, the emperor has no friendship, of course this is impossible, after all, the emperor is also a human being, and he also needs friendship.

Although he is less than thirty years old, Zhu Hejia has gradually matured, after all, in the past many years, he has been in charge of the country several times, and the change from the crown prince in the eyes of the ministers to the prince of the prison country is obvious to all.

However, unlike his father, his special identity and experience made him mature prematurely. His military career has taught him how to hide his true feelings. For Gu Yanwu's death, he could understand his father's sorrow, but he couldn't understand the feelings between his father and some ministers. Reason told him that as an emperor, he had to let go of certain emotions, perhaps, he could be friends with his former comrades-in-arms, but for ministers, the duties of a king made it impossible for him to be friends with them.

Of course, it is sometimes necessary to show sadness, after all, Gu Yanwu has worked a lot for this country, and he has contributed to the society. But that's all,

In fact, for Zhu Hejia, who has maintained an ascetic military life for many years, even so, it is extremely rare to show a sad side, compared to his father, he is more ruthless on many issues, perhaps, this is also the change that his military career has brought to him.

"Yan'er, do you remember, ...... back then?"

Shaking his head and sighing lightly, Zhu Mingzhong still didn't continue, he knew that for his son, Gu Yanwu was just a minister, nothing more.

Zhu Hejia, who received Confucian education and military education since he was a child, is different from any prince in previous dynasties, especially the career of entering the army under a pseudonym, which has brought him too many changes, he will calculate gains and losses like a soldier, for this, Zhu Mingzhong's heart is very clear.

For the general, everything is a pawn that can be discarded, all he needs is victory.

But he had to teach his son to rule the country with political wisdom and even tolerance, not just the traditional "imperial arts". If you just rely on the so-called "imperial technique", a hundred years later, both the imperial family of the Ming Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty itself will face an unpredictable crisis.

Thinking of this, Zhu Mingzhong couldn't help but turn around and ask his son, and then asked.

"Yan'er, these days, you have been patrolling around the place, how do you feel about the place?"

"Back to my father, my son went to the Northeast for a while, and found that compared with the mainland, the people in the Northeast are probably richer, perhaps because the Northeast is vast and sparsely populated, while the mainland is narrow and densely populated.

Zhu Hejia said with a smile.

"It can be seen that there is a lot to be done in moving people from narrow and densely populated places to vast and sparsely populated places."

"Well, it's true, you can think of so much, and my father is also deeply relieved."

Zhu Mingzhong nodded when he heard this. In terms of behavior, Zhu Hejia is indeed much more mature and self-disciplined than the children of the nobles of the same age, and his experience is also far from being comparable to that of the princes of previous dynasties.

But then he asked.

"Since this issue has been mentioned, how should you promote relocation since there is a lot to be done?"

Migration is different from immigration, for the current Ming Dynasty, immigration is to move overseas, and migration is limited to internal migration.

"Follow the strategy of Shaanxi back then! After all, many people still stay in the mainland by renting official land, if they want to move the people to the real side, they must break their thoughts, and keep one of the two, so the implementation of the "relocation policy" for 20 years, after 20 years, the Ming Dynasty will definitely have no borders! ”

Zhu Hejia blurted out without thinking. Seeing that his father did not react, he hurriedly added.

"Of course, in terms of law, we must fully study it to avoid the government taking the lead in breaking the law, but Erchen thinks that there is a precedent in Shaanxi, and there should be no problem in law. Moreover, in the long run, it is beneficial to the people, even if it is disturbing the people in the short term, it is acceptable, after all, it has been proved that after the relocation of the people in Shaanxi, whether they stay in the local area or move from other places, their lives have been greatly improved. ”

Facing his son's last few slightly duplicitous additions, Zhu Mingzhong couldn't help but smile helplessly in his heart. As expected, many times, he would use some things that a soldier's mind thinks about to calculate something. But for a king, especially the king of a huge country like the Ming Empire, he is very politically skillful, and he can't really control the country just by calculating the gains and losses.

For the Chinese Dynasty, the king still has to enjoy supreme power for a long time in the future, which means that the emperor must have a more sophisticated political skill, in this regard, he is still a little too tender, perhaps, he has now mastered the skills to control the court, but for governance, it is still a little blunt.

So Zhu Mingzhong should be tempted even if he is good.

"Yan'er, as a soldier, you really need to calculate the gains and losses repeatedly, the military gains and losses are very simple, but even so, they are divided into strategic gains and losses and tactical gains and losses, maybe tactical losses can be made up for by strategic gains, but a strategic failure will make a hundred tactical victories go down the drain, and this is also the difference between a commander and a general, as a commander-in-chief, you must consider the whole picture."

"Father, the son feels that the immigration is also based on the strategic future of the Ming Dynasty, for the Ming Dynasty, only by strengthening the immigration in the north and making the northern natives fully integrate into the Ming Dynasty can the safety of the Ming Dynasty be ensured."

Zhu and Jia argued for their own opinions.

"And it is good for the lives of the people."

"Yes, what you said is very right, but we must also consider whether it will arouse the dissatisfaction of the people if they suddenly make such a big move against the people decades after Chengping?"

Zhu Mingzhong said in his son's tone.

"Water can carry a boat and also capsize a boat, this truth, you also understand, for a long time, the stability that the people need, not the disturbance of the government, and the inheritance of the eldest son, it seems to be slow, but it does not hurt to cut the flesh with zero knife, although it takes some time, but the effect is the same, don't you say?"

"It's my father, and my sons know."

Zhu Hejia saluted respectfully. But Zhu Mingzhong smiled, looked at his son and said.

"Yan'er, your idea is not wrong, the north is indeed a hidden danger of the Ming Dynasty. Everyone should have their own ideas, even the emperor, but one thing we must see is that now, with the development of science and technology, we have established a comprehensive weapon technology advantage over the nomads in the north, as long as we want, the so-called iron cavalry is vulnerable in front of the rifled guns, and we even have a faster rate of fire breeched guns, cavalry ......"

Once upon a time, for the Central Plains Dynasty, cavalry from the north had always been a nightmare for the Central Plains Dynasty. But now with the advancement of technology. All of this is over.

"Our cavalry training and horses far surpass theirs, and they can no longer pose any threat to us! Even to a certain extent, it is already very gracious that we don't take the initiative to beat them and erase them from this world. If they can't figure it out. So. I think the troops stationed there can easily get rid of them, and in a way, maybe a lot of people would love to see that happen. ”

Not only willing, but they will simply cheer. Those who are not of my race will have different hearts. Such words are deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

"Actually, even they know this very well. Why do they now call their father the Heavenly Khan? ”

Zhu Mingzhong said with a sneer.

"For the father, I don't care what the title of Khan is. This title is nothing more than a foundation built on your strength. Even if they seem to be submissive, they seem to bow down in front of you. But once the Central Plains Dynasty weakened, they would immediately show their sharp teeth. will reveal their true colors, the so-called Heavenly Khan, but they are just there to paralyze others, those people can give their wives and daughters to their enemies in order to survive, and their dictionary has never lacked the words forbearance and humiliation. ”

"What my father said is extremely true, it is precisely because of this concern that there will be the previous proposition,"

While agreeing with his father, Zhu Hejia asked with some doubts.

"Even though we know who they are, why shouldn't we increase the number of immigrants there?"

"Because it's not necessary."

Zhu Mingzhong smiled.

"If it had been 20 years ago, I would never have said that. But now I can say it with confidence. Even if there aren't enough immigrants there, they can't afford to make waves. Those people may be reluctant. But now Da Ming has an absolute power advantage over them. This kind of strength is not only the superiority of manpower, national strength, and financial resources. It's the technology that matters. ”

looked at his son seriously. Zhu Mingzhong said earnestly.

"Technology is our best weapon to conquer them. It's not just the lead in armament. It's the lead in the whole system. Now we can build the railway into the grassland at any time if we want to. In fact, hundreds of thousands of troops can be sent there. This technological superiority is definitely not something that barbarism can oppose. ”

"What if they had mastered these weapons as well."

Looking at his father, Zhu Hejia asked rhetorically.

"Volume!"

Zhu Mingzhong slowly spit out two words.

"In the midst of industrial civilization. It is not so simple to determine the strength of the country, it is necessary to have enough population to be able to sustain the industrial power of the country, and the population of the nomads of the north will not be able to have such a size for at least the next 200 years, and if they are integrated into our family within two hundred years. Then neither me nor you nor our children and grandchildren will be incompetent. Integration, integration is the root of solving all problems. ”

After saying this, Zhu Mingzhong walked to the window, his eyes looking into the distance. Then he looked into the distance and said.

"And that's what keeps this empire going."

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