People walked along the canal and gradually reached the west side of Kaifeng City. The Great River (Yellow River) was in front, and the Chinese cavalry escorted Zhu Gaoxu and other monarchs and ministers, and everyone rode to the south bank of the Great River first.

The embankment is high and thick, and there are several parallel protective embankments. Zhu Gaoxu abandoned his horse and walked along the dirt road of the steps on the embankment, and the civil and military forces had to follow him to climb the slope, and after a while, some officials who were not physically fit were out of breath.

After a long time, everyone walked up an embankment. Zhu Gaoxu took a long breath and looked around. After a while, he looked down at the dirt beneath his feet and saw that there were many branches and sacks in the dirt.

At this time, Gao Xianning's voice said: "Saint, that is the material left by the willow roller. In this place, there must have been a river burst and a flood overflowed, so the water control officials used willow rollers to repair it. ”

Zhu Gaoxu was surprised: "Gao Siqing actually knows how to control water? ”

Gao Xianning arched his hand and said: "Back to the saint, the minister just listened to people talk about it, and he knew a little about fur. However, since the beginning of Wude, the imperial court has changed its strategy for governing the river, and at first it was the suggestion of the minister. ”

Zhu Gaoxu felt a little strange, since Gao Xianning said that he "knows a little about fur", can he still suggest a major strategy for governing the river?

Gao Xianning pointed to the east and said: "Holy Lord, please see, there is a tributary of a big river (Yellow River) blocked in the distance, and over the past few years, no less than 100 tributaries have been blocked along the river. This is the result of the implementation of the new policy of the imperial court's 'building embankments to contain water and attacking sand with water'. ”

He continued: "At that time, there was a student in Shanxi who sent a letter to the minister's office, and put forward a detailed exposition of this strategy. The minister handed it over to Qi Butang. Qi Butang contacted the Ministry of Industry Shangshu Ru Yu and other ministers to discuss, and finally decided to adopt the method of Shanxi students, and the chapter was approved by the Holy Emperor's pen. ”

Zhu Gaoxu didn't say anything, because he didn't have any impression at all, he completely forgot about it, maybe he didn't look at it too carefully when he criticized the chapter. He couldn't remember what the situation was, it was possible that it was the Northern Expedition, the war was distracted, and Qi Tai and everyone agreed to the concert, Zhu Gaoxu generally would not refute it.

Gao Xianning said: "The previous water control strategy was to focus on dredging to avoid the breaking of the embankment. Over the years, the princes have changed their minds, blocking tributaries, collecting water and washing sand in large rivers, and lowering the riverbed. The results are immediate. ”

Zhu Gaoxu nodded and said in his heart: No wonder since he ascended the throne, the most earthquakes have been the most, and no one has reported the news of the flooding of the Yellow River.

He immediately asked, "Who is this Shanxi student, and where is he?" ”

Gao Xianning said: "There is no name on the letter, only the four words 'Shanxi Shengren' have been signed, and the minister sent someone to look for it, but no one was found." This person should be a hermit and is not willing to become an official. ”

"And such people?" Zhu Gaoxu blurted out. But he immediately remembered that Gao Xianning was also this kind of person, and Gao Xianning was forced to be an official at the beginning. Zhu Gaoxu asked a different question, "Then why did he want the imperial examination?" ”

Gao Xianning said: "The gentry have a lot of conveniences, such as being able to travel around with weapons. ”

Zhu Gaoxu was speechless, because what Gao Xianning said was very reasonable. He said casually: "Send two to Shanxi to search, find him out, and serve the country." ”

Gao Xianning said: "The minister's decree." ”

Zhu Gaoxu turned his head and glanced at He Kuisi, who was accompanying him, He Kuisi bent his waist and looked a little embarrassed.

The river in front of me was turbulent and very noisy. Zhu Gaoxu just spoke loudly in order to let others hear clearly, so he stopped talking and stared at the surface of the river for a long time.

At this time, the water of the Yellow River does not seem to be as yellow as it was hundreds of years later, so it is no wonder that people still call it a big river.

After watching it for a long time, Zhu Gaoxu suddenly felt a little emotional, so he turned his head and said loudly: "The Ming Dynasty uses the sun and the moon as the country name, which is the phase of fire. ”

Several civil and military forces echoed one after another.

Zhu Gaoxu said: "But what is irresistible is that we must be close to the water for many years to come." In this era, the transportation equipment, such as cars, horses, boats, etc., only water transportation is the most labor-saving and sustainable. Shipping abroad and river transportation at home is the only way to maintain the New Deal. ”

After he said that, he couldn't help but say again: "I want to pass on my words to future generations." ”

At this time, I saw that Hou Hai had gotten a pen and paper out of nowhere, and recorded it on the spot. Hou Hai was reluctant to return to the camp to record again, could it be because he would forget it after a few hours? Several people around him looked at him silently.

Everyone walked east along the river embankment for a while, and Zhu Gaoxu saw that there were steps dug out in the south, so he took people down and left here.

After returning to the camp, Zhu Gaoxu decided to stay here for two days. Because there was a nearby warehouse used to stock up on military supplies from the south, he wanted to visit it himself.

Of course, even if there is any problem with this transportation route, Zhu Gaoxu can't see it; The officials will definitely cover it up so that the emperor will look like everything is fine, and the world is peaceful. However, Zhu Gaoxu is not here to find faults, he is too lazy to ask too specific matters, he just wants to understand the general operation process.

There are more than a dozen provinces and more than 1,000 counties in the Ming Dynasty, and there are countless affairs, and Zhu Gaoxu's asking about one or two things will not make any difference. So far, the most effective way to govern the Ming monarchs and ministers is to rectify the rule of officials and select talented and virtuous aspiring young people to hold real power, and second, to formulate strategies and laws that conform to reality, and nothing else has much effect.

Unexpectedly, at this time, another thing has progressed.

Before leaving Beijing, Zhu Gaoxu issued a holy decree that He Fu in the northwest sent people to Hamiwei to state in writing what the king of Zhongshun (the king of Su of Mongolia) knew about and the remnants of the Tatars.

He Fu's messenger arrived at this moment and sent straight to the emperor's camp. Thousands of miles back and forth, but things are done so quickly, probably because the emperor personally interrogated about things, no one wants to slack off.

King Zhongshun knew that the Ming Emperor personally asked, and many things were directly revealed.

There were several important figures in the Tatar remnants, one was one of the Mongol prime ministers, Touhuochi, and the other was Ashali, the unmarried Khan concubine of Benyali Khan. There was also a child, a Mongol prince born to Asari and Benyali Khan.

When Asari first arrived in Hamiwei, she lied about smallpox and was confined to the house for months. After the Varspurs attacked Hamiwei and withdrew, Tsuhuo Chi took the initiative to tell King Chungshun that Asari was not sick and had a child in secret. The reason why the Tatars concealed it was for the safety of their children.

King Zhongshun's uncle was killed by the previous Mongol Great Khan Ghost Power Chi, and his uncle was first occupied by Ghost Power Chi, and now by Arutai. Tuohuochi and the others promised to be loyal to the king, and as long as they could return to the Tatar tribe, they would release and return the uncle and mother of the king of Zhongshun. Now the Ming court has agreed to the Tatar remnants to borrow the road, and the king of Zhongshun should hand over the Tatars and be escorted eastward by the Ming official army.

After reading the letter, Zhu Gaoxu felt more and more that something was not quite right. He immediately summoned the Chinese army and civil and military forces to discuss the matter.

The six civil and military people arrived one after another, and circulated the recitals sent by He Fu with fast horses.

Zhu Gaoxu

He said straight to the point: "Benjari Khan really has a biological son, who is in Hamiwei; We speculated before that Arutai was appointed as a vassal to rescue the Mongol prince, but we probably didn't guess wrong. In this way, the news that Arutai wants to support the Horqin people as the Great Khan is very strange. ”

Gao Xianning arched his hand and said, "He Duwei's previous inference may be correct. ”

Zhu Gaoxu nodded lightly and glanced at He Kuisi.

Gao Xianning's voice said again: "But the minister has doubts. According to the news of the king, Asari gave birth to a child when she arrived at Hamiwei; How did this news spread to the Tatar tribes thousands of miles away?

In the north, there are activities of the Tile Thorn people, and in the south is the territory of the Ming Dynasty and the fortresses of the Nine Frontier Guards. Not to mention that the Mongols have to walk such a long way, even the Han people cannot reach Eastern Mongolia in time without the official road guide. ”

Zhu Gaoxu looked sideways at Gao Xianning: "It is reasonable, the distance is too long, the danger is too great, and it is extremely difficult to communicate between the Tatars of the east and the west. ”

Gao Xianning leaned forward, bowed and said, "If the existence of the Mongolian prince and Arutai did not know about it in advance, then what reason did he rely on to do things?" Sending envoys to claim that the ministers were honored, bribing the Han people to respond, etc. ”

He Kuisi opened his mouth and said: "The tile spur suddenly attacked Hamiwei in a big way, and something went wrong. With this matter, Arutai may guess a few points. ”

Everyone was talking, and Hou Hai's voice said: "You are very mysterious. Such a big thing is just guessing, and Arutai dares to do things? ”

Wei Da said: "In the big battles when the Holy Lord led the ministers, many decisions were made by guessing, and they could only be guessed. ”

Zhu Gaoxu nodded and said: "The transportation is inconvenient, if you have to confirm the news in everything, then you have to make a decision in the year of the monkey?" ”

Gao Xianning said: "He Duwei's reasoning, if it is not wrong, then Arutai and Dehuochi are too godly.

The Washorn people knew the news of the Mongol prince, and it may have been deliberately leaked by Detachment Chi; It's like taking the initiative to tell the king of loyalty. Otherwise, how would the Vaspurs know that Asari had given birth to the son of Benjari Khan? The Vaspurs must not have known that Asari was pregnant at first, otherwise they would have kept a close watch on the Tatars so that they would not have a chance to escape, or they would have been killed as soon as possible.

The reason why Dehuo Chi deliberately leaked the news was to let Arutai cooperate with this strategy and provoke Daming and Tile Thorn's strategy. Thousands of miles apart from Arutai, how can they be so connected? What's even more amazing is that Arutai really understands the mind of dehuotai, which is why he has done so many things to cooperate with the remnants of the west. ”

Zhu Gaoxu listened to Gao Xianning's discussion, and also felt that this matter was really a bit magical.

He preferred to believe that one of the Tatars' men with wings had traveled thousands of miles through the thousands of miles of territory where the Ming and Ming had been active, and flew to Arutai's side and informed him of the strategy of the fire.

He Kuisi said: "As soon as Gao Siqing said this, Asari's birth of a child may also be fake, they only need to premeditate and pretend, and then spread false news." ”

Gao Xianning nodded and said, "That's true." None of the parties will doubt the news that she gave birth to a Mongol prince, because at first glance, this news is very unfavorable to the dehuo Chi Ashali and others. ”

Even He Kuisi, who put forward the idea, was shaken at this time: "Maybe the speculation of Xia Guan a few days ago was fundamentally wrong. There are many things in the world that don't make sense. ”

Zhu Gaoxu stretched out his hand and rubbed it on his forehead, he had some habits when he thought, as if he could increase his energy by touching his head.

(Tianjin)