On April 27, the nineteenth year of Yongle, the crown prince Zhu Gaochi returned to heaven, which calmed down the atmosphere in the capital that was still excited about the new science and technology scholars.

Before the red feathers of many restaurants were removed, they were immediately replaced with white cloths to show mourning.

Although the crown prince Zhu Gaochi has never been in power, the name of benevolence and filial piety has spread all over the world, and he has a good reputation among the scholars.

His death had no impact on the government, but for the people, the sensation was still relatively large.

Many people associated him with the former prince Zhu Biao and discussed, this Ming Dynasty, Prince Ke!

Today's Ming Dynasty has experienced three emperors, two princes, and the two princes are both blessed and died without ascending the throne.

However, Zhu Zhanji is much more stable than Zhu Yunwen's throne, although Zhu Yunwen was trained to be an emperor before Zhu Yuanzhang died, he did not have the power to supervise the country like Zhu Zhanji.

Now Zhu Zhanji has been in charge of the country for more than a year, and he has the power of civil affairs, military and government in one hand.

Moreover, during the period of Zhu Yuanzhang, the vassal king was powerful, he had twenty-six sons, a nephew, and several godsons, each of whom held great power.

After Zhu Di came to power, he continued Zhu Yunwen's policy of cutting the domain, and now the vassal kings are restricted one by one, and they no longer have any power.

Zhu Di also has only three adult sons, the King of Han has now been reduced to a commoner, and King Zhao gets into the eyes of money every day, and no one will become a threat to Zhu Zhanji at all.

Therefore, although Zhu Gaochi, like Zhu Biao, is the prince of thin life, Zhu Zhanji, the grandson, is much stronger than Zhu Yunwen at the beginning.

Zhu Di is still here, and the prince's funeral naturally can't be held in a big way. On the evening of April 27, Zhu Gaochi returned to heaven, and on the second day, hundreds of officials began to worship.

His body was sealed in a coffin and was to be suspended in the courtyard for seven days, and then transported to the Linggu Temple in Zhongshan to receive worship from the officials and the people.

In other words, his body could not be transported back to the palace, but could only be stopped at the temple. As for how long it will last, it will have to wait for Zhu Di's holy decree.

According to the customs of the Ming Dynasty, basically he will not be buried until Zhu Di comes back to take a look.

At the southern foot of Zhongshan Mountain, starting from the Purple Mountain and ending in the area of Linggu Temple, this area has been all classified as the imperial tomb.

Now Zhu Di's tomb is already under construction, but this is the tomb that Zhu Di chose for himself, and it is impossible for Zhu Gaochi's son to occupy it.

Therefore, many yamen also united to select a tomb for Zhu Gaochi at the southern foot of Zhongshan.

In this matter, now that Zhu Gaochi has died, the Zhang family has a very large right to speak.

The selection of the tomb is not random, it must be in line with the dignity and inferiority of the entire family of the Zhu family.

The Zhang family will be buried with Zhu Gaochi in the future, so she has a certain right to speak in the selection of the tomb, as long as she does not exceed the rules, her opinion is decisive.

This also reduced a lot of burden for the Zhang family, you must know that in this era, filial piety is the hardest burden.

Because of his noble status, not to mention the entertainment of welcoming guests, just crying filial piety three times a day is extremely hard.

Within five days, Zhu Zhanyin, Jiaxing and several of their children fell ill one by one.

Even so, they still keep filial piety when they are sick, mainly because they can't get up when they are sick, but they have to stay in front of the spirit all the time.

Only Zhu Zhanji is more relaxed, he is the grandson of the prison country, and the country cannot be without a king for a day.

As soon as the first seven days passed, he returned to Beijing with his spirit and deposited the coffin in the main hall of Linggu Temple. Zhu Gaochi's concubines and other children still had to stay at the temple to watch the spirits, and he could worship once a day.

Zhu Gaochi's mausoleum was chosen at a high post between Zhu Yuanzhang's tomb and Zhu Di's tomb, because he was not the emperor, and the regulations were much smaller.

However, enough places were still reserved, because although he did not become an emperor, his father was an emperor, and his son would also be an emperor in the future, and he would be posthumously crowned emperor at that time.

Zhang is also very satisfied with this place, in this era, people pay more attention to what is after their death, even more than when they are alive.

Entertainment was banned in the entire Tianfu for a month, and the Qinglou painting theaters were closed for January.

However, these venues have not been greatly affected, because the Department of Education has allocated a lot of funds to rehearse for Zhu Gaochi's death, which can make up for some of their losses.

When the entire capital fell into peace, the arrangements of these newly promoted jinshi did not stop during the liberation period.

Originally, according to the usual practice, he would be appointed to the Hanlin Academy, but this time he was arranged to go to the Luzon political secretary Dongshan Prefecture from Wupin Zhizhou.

Luzon is now divided into four areas, the north of the main island is bounded by the later Cordillera Mountains, and the east side belongs to the later Cagayan Valley, which is a large plain, with several provinces in the interior, all of which are plains and fertile fields.

Due to its sparse population, it was only classified as a state, known as Dongshan State.

This area has not yet been developed, and in Zhu Zhanji's plan, this will not only be a rice and sugarcane production area in the future, but also a major rubber production area.

arranging the release period here, Zhu Zhanji also hopes that he can keep his heart and do something well.

To the west of the Cordillera, which is a major waterway and rich in resources, the Baguio Gold Mine, the largest gold mine in Luzon, is also located here.

Because he often has to deal with businessmen and mine supervisors here, and the personnel relationship is complicated, Zhu Zhanji is reluctant to be blackened early during the release period.

In most of the area south of Baguio, Manila in later generations, centered on the current Beiming Street, was designated as the Beiming Mansion, which was reserved for the Xu Chai Lao family.

Their family has been developing here for nearly 20 years, and the local agriculture and handicraft industry have all been developed by Xu Chai Lao, and if someone else is sent to pick peaches, it will cause a lot of conflicts.

Anyway, Xu Chai Lao is old and has a few years to live, so he wants to mix sand with Beiming Mansion, and it will not be too late for him to die.

The large islands south of Luzon, including the Kalamian Islands and a large area of Palawan, are now part of the transition zone, which is designated as the Kuril Islands and is now under the administration of the Navy.

This area borders the Sulu State, which has now become the political envoy of the Ming Dynasty, but the Ming Dynasty only appointed a few officials to supervise it, mainly relying on the original three kings to govern.

Only the right to trade was taken by the internal supervisor, because they had to rely on trade to make profits, so that they could be assisted and helped.

The leaders of the Turen led by Du Mahan, they did not realize the importance of economic power, for them, the merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty continuously brought them materials to improve their lives, and it was cost-effective to take refuge in the Ming Dynasty.

Moreover, with the protection of the Ming Navy, they don't have to worry about the surrounding tribes rebelling at all, and they don't have to worry about pirates.

Now they are lured by the internal eunuchs, and they have also taken out a large amount of money for spice cultivation, and they have been completely corrupted by a group of eunuchs in the internal prison.

Xie Zhen was appointed as the governor of the state, this is the chief official of a state, if it is in the territory of the Ming Dynasty, it is impossible to arrange such a high level.

But because it was in Luzon, there weren't many people against it.

This is also because the Xie family has a great influence in the DPRK, and if it was an ordinary champion, I am afraid that he would have been impeached a long time ago.

And Liu Ju, who is on the list, and Yu Qian, who explores flowers, were arranged to edit in the Hanlin Academy according to the convention.

Liu Ju, Yu Qian and Xie Zhen period are different, the two of them have never entered the officialdom, so it is impossible for the two of them to go directly to the bottom to experience like the Xie Zhen period.

For the liberation period, they only have envy, but no jealousy. Because the conditions of the Xie Zhen period itself are fundamentally incomparable to them, few people can be like the Xie Zhen period, not only the parents are in the center of power, but also grow up with the grandson.

Liu Ju is a person who likes to do learning, and entering the Hanlin Academy is what he expects.

But for Qian, he is more willing to do something practical, because the family style education he received since he was a child is mainly to be a minister.

However, he did not have the background of the liberation period, so he did not dare to put forward his ideas to the officials.

In his mind, it is good to enter the Hanlin Academy, the three generations of their family have been away from the officialdom of the capital for many years, and most of the relationships in the capital have been weak, and he also needs to re-establish the relationship network in the capital.

With a network of contacts, in the future, whether it is an official or a foreign official, there will not be no assistance in the capital.

Yu Qian and the others entered the Hanlin Academy, began to familiarize themselves with the officialdom, and worked on their qualifications, but the release period was temporarily put on hold.

This is mainly because of Zhu Gaochi's death, although Zhu Zhanji is a prisoner, he also has to keep filial piety for 7749 days.

During these forty-nine days, the procedural affairs departments decided on their own, and except for major emergencies, such matters as the appointment of officials were temporarily suspended.

However, the release period was not idle, because although his appointment was postponed, it did not mean that he was idle to wait for the appointment. Since he is going overseas to serve as the chief official of a state, and it is a newly established state, he needs to complete the officials at all levels.

The second-class and third-class jinshi in the same department, if he is not selected as a Jishi, he can directly seek a position, and he needs to be vigorously wooed.

I also want to find myself an experienced guest secretary to plan for the development of Dongshan Prefecture and so on.

Although Zhu Gaochi's death can be regarded as removing an obstacle to Zhu Zhanji's ascension to the throne. But his death did not have much impact on the entire capital and the entire Ming Dynasty.

Everything is still going on in an orderly manner, and even Zhu Zhanji has not been affected much.

In the northwest, tens of thousands of miles away, the war between the Ming Dynasty and Timur entered the final decisive stage after more than two months and thousands of miles of pursuit and interception.

Zheng Heng of the Northern Route Army knew very well what his responsibilities were.

Although he carried 170,000 cavalry this time, the cavalry of the Ming Dynasty alone had 100,000 people.

But he also knew that he was not the main general in this big battle with the country of Timur.

Since he is not the main general, he can't steal the limelight of the main general Zhu Di, otherwise, this is not a meritorious, but a fault.

However, he could not derelict himself in his duties, and he could not allow the Ulugh Begs of Samarkand to accumulate strength to deal a fatal blow to the Southern Route Army that came from afar.

Along the north and south routes of the Silk Road, Zheng Heng sent a large army to carry out sweeping and containment missions on the periphery, so that the enemy's forces could not be gathered.

From Shattered Leaf City to the Kokand Valley, the army has been sweeping through the walls and fields, occupying every choke point.

In the area from Broken Leaf City to Shymkent and Turkestan, he fought against the power of Timur and showed the power of the Ming Dynasty to the major tribes of the Golden Horde.

The cavalry of the Ming Dynasty completely blockaded the Syr Darya River from Shymkent to Hindara. The passage to Timur's kingdom was completely blocked.

With only 30,000 cavalry, Zheng Heng established a well-established defensive front along the banks north of the Syr Darya River.

The three major tribes in the north of Timur attacked three times in succession, each time leaving behind a large number of corpses of soldiers and retreating to the south.

Step by step, the army surrounded Samarkand, and now Timur's army, with only the passes to the west and southwest, remained in his hands.

In mid-March, the Tyumen Taoist and several apprentices, escorted by 3,000 cavalry, arrived on the outskirts of Kabul along the eastern front and joined Zhang Xin and Mu Xin.

This important trading city is now much more decimated because of Zhang Xin's harassment. If they exclude the army, Zhang Xin and they will avoid fighting.

And the Timurs were powerless to pursue, and in the face of muskets, they did not have an effective means of defense. In the field, the Ming people did not need to beat people at all, as long as the horse was killed, they would helplessly become lambs to the slaughter.

When the troops were absolutely superior, Zhang Xin and them ran when they got up. If there are fewer people who shoot out, it will not be enough to deliver food to Zhang Xin.

When the news of the destruction of the city of Herat came, Muhammad, the firefighter stationed in Kabul, was so frightened that he blocked the city gates and no longer dared to go out of the city to pursue Zhang Xin and others.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Zhang Xin and others drove straight into the north and occupied Charikal, the largest grain-producing area in Kabul.

Charikar is a vast alluvial plain between high mountains and mountains, a hundred miles north of Kabul, which has abundant water due to the melting of snow-capped rivers and is one of the largest food producing areas in Afghanistan.

When Zhang Xin and his men occupied this place, they not only obtained enough food, cattle and sheep, but also made the defenders of Kabul panic.

In early April, after nearly two months of marching, 30,000 Ming infantry marched outside Kabul.

The infantry did not carry any siege weapons, but everyone was confident in the breach of Kabul because they had the new explosives.

The Tyumen governor also lived up to expectations, and deployed another 400 catties of explosives outside Kabul. After a series of earth-shattering explosions, the southern part of Kabul was completely destroyed, and the defenders fled north.

Zhu Di's army did not come to Kabul, which also allowed Muhammad and them to flee to the north without encountering much interception.

This is also deliberately done by the Ming Dynasty, so that the cost of letting the army come to Kabul is too great, and the supply line is too long. I want to bring the enemy together and destroy them.

The city of Kabul fell, and the Ming soldiers plundered a large amount of property, which was transported back to the south by the internal supervisors, and the city was ceded to the Indians for occupation.

By this time, the Delhi Sultanate had completely relented, and they announced that they would renounce the Green Religion and join the Indians in the Hindu sect.

This also means that they will seek to integrate with the Indians, rather than relying on the Mongols, the Turks, to appear superior to the Indians.

In addition, they sent representatives to Chalzhu to meet Zhu Di, to show their submission to the Ming Dynasty, and voluntarily paid tribute to a large number of gold, silver, and beauties.

Zhu Di was not willing to make trouble at this time, and he did not want to help the Indians get rid of this great enemy, so he accepted the surrender of the Delhi Sultanate.

The conditions of surrender he gave to the Delhi were not harsh, and he only demanded that the other party pay a tribute of 200,000 taels of gold, 10 stones and precious stones, and 5,000 maidens.

The Delhi Sultanate did not dare to say any conditions at all, and directly agreed to Zhu Di's conditions, and implored that they could also trade with the Ming Dynasty in the future.

Of course, Zhu Di also agreed to the other party, which is actually what Da Ming wants to do.

Influenced by Zhu Zhanji, Zhu Di is no longer an economic idiot, and he knows very well how much trade prospects there are in Peninsular India, a place with tens of millions of people.

Through trade, the Ming were able to not only dump their own products, but also control the economy here.

When the Delhi people had departed, he looked to the north and waited for the messenger of the Northern Route Army to arrive.

At this time, the Ming army had approached Samarkand from three sides and made contact with each other.

Charju was later known as Turkmenabad, a large city on the south side of the Amu Darya River. Because of the moisture of the Amu Darya River, it is also a grain producing area and barrier in southern Samarkand.

However, the city of Charju was only a settlement of original herders, and because it was located in the heart of the city, the city did not have walls.

Zhu Di led the army along the oasis tribes such as Mashi Hade and Ma Lei all the way north, and all the tribes took the initiative to surrender, offering horses, cattle, sheep and grain, and no longer dared to fight.

However, there were still many disobedient tribes, who robbed Charju of grain, cattle and sheep, abandoned the city, and established a defensive front on the northern side of the Amu Darya River.

The distance between the Amu Darya River and Samarkand is less than 600 miles from the heart of the kingdom of Timur. No matter how powerful the Ming is, there are still many tribes who are unwilling to surrender.

On the 13th of April, Zheng Heng personally crossed the lofty mountains and mountains from the Osh Valley in the east, and made a detour of 3,000 miles to reach Chalju.

Zhu Di was very satisfied with Zheng Heng's attitude, although as the commander-in-chief, he led less than 10,000 cavalry and trekked 3,000 miles, which was an adventure. But now that the Ming Dynasty has an absolute advantage, and the surrounding tribes have joined it, the danger is not great.

Zheng Heng is not arrogant, arrogant, and still loyal, for Zhu Di, the emperor, this is the most important thing.

On the banks of the Amu Darya, Zhu Di, Zhang Xin, Mu Xin, Zheng Heng and other generals formulated the final strategy for attacking Samarkand according to the actual situation.

On 15 April, Zheng Heng led his soldiers to bypass the Alai Mountains and return to Kokand in just ten days.

After five days of contact, the date of the general attack was scheduled for the first day of the fifth month.

The reason why it is so urgent is that I don't want to make it difficult to cross the river when the snow-capped mountains melt and the rivers become wider and more rapid when the weather gets hotter.

Although the river brigades in the Western Regions are not large, you can find a place where you can easily cross the river everywhere. But now the Ming soldiers are extremely dependent on muskets, and if the gunpowder is wet, the threat of the Ming soldiers will not be able to play at all.

Zhu Di stayed in Charzhu for nearly a month, and during this time, the soldiers had been building wooden bridges in the gentle part of the river.

In this regard, the Timurid soldiers on the other side of the river had nothing to do. They can only harass with bows and arrows, but the range of bows and arrows is not as good as that of muskets, and when bows and arrows are a threat, muskets are more threatening.

What's more, the Ming artillery was so powerful that the Timurid soldiers on the other side of the river did not dare to gather together and become targets.

On the first day of the fifth month, a total of hundreds of artillery pieces began to fire in unison, firing across the river.

In the trench where Timur's soldiers were, the power of the bow and arrow became less and less. They were suppressed by the muskets of the Ming soldiers, and they couldn't raise their heads at all.

The Timurid soldiers in charge of interception could not resist the Ming offensive at all, but in half a day, they lost their positions on the river bank and retreated.

Zhu Di was not in a hurry, he had been steady and steady, and now that Samarkand was approaching, no conspiracy could play any role in the face of absolute strength.

However, the resilience of the Timurid people this time has also increased a lot, they are no longer scattered in a hurry, even if they can't resist the firepower of the Ming Dynasty, they have been using the mobility of horses to contain the Ming army.

Especially at night, they would send soldiers to harass them every day, trying to exhaust the Ming soldiers.

Zhu Di and the others had already received news from the secret agents in Samarkand, and Ulugh Beg had already begun to transfer scholars and people.

They migrated west from Samarkand and traveled west along the Amu Darya River. At the Nukus Oasis, it is divided into two routes, north and south, all the way to the Caspian Sea, and then to the south, all the way along the edge of the Dead Sea, to the north.

Zhu Di knew this, but he was powerless to stop it.

It's full of wastelands and deserts, pursued by armies, and supplies are uncountable.

What's more, the Western Regions are too big, even if they are cavalry, their total strength is only more than 300,000, and they want to completely blockade these millions of square kilometers of land, but they have more than enough strength.

For Zhu Di, as long as he can defeat the other party and let the other party evacuate his home, it is already a victory.

As a semi-nomadic, semi-agrarian country, as a tribal confederation. Abandoning one's homeland means losing most of its strength.

A strong Timurid country is not an opponent of the Ming Dynasty, and Timur, whose strength has been greatly damaged, is not a threat.

Moreover, the ethnic groups here in the Western Regions are complex, and the relationship between tribes is extremely complicated. It is also more in the interests of the Ming Dynasty to leave a big enemy for these tribes.

For Daming, it is better to occupy this gold and cotton production area, and let them continue to fight.

The Ulugh Beg's withdrawal this time was not much damaged, they harbored hatred and would leave a threat to the Uzbeks, the Golden Horde, and the Eastern Chahatai Khanate.

Of course, Zhu Di would not let them escape in vain, and learned about several horse teams transporting goods through secret agents, Zhang Xin and them divided into several pursuit teams, specifically targeting these goods, and also intercepted a lot of goods.

The army made steady progress along the oasis corridor of Bukhara, Navoi, and finally reached the western outskirts of Samarkand at the end of May.

Zheng Heng had also led a large army to surround the city from the north and east, and at this time, Samarkand, except for 30,000 enemy troops, had almost become an empty city.

Zhu Di's Chinese military tent was arranged at the Ulughgh Beg Observatory on the northeastern outskirts of Samarkand, which had not yet been completed, and Zhu Di was shocked.

The forty-meter-long marble quadrant (Baidu Encyclopedia said that it was a sextant, but there was no technology for a sextant at that time, it should be a quadrant.) No one can help but be shocked.

"A small barbarian country can build such a huge observatory, why can't I?"

(Chinese New Year, after the New Year, I went on a business trip again, the update was not effective, I came home today, and I will start refueling tomorrow)