Although Geng Bingwen knew Zhu Ao's intentions, Zhu Ao was a vassal king after all, and Geng Bingwen could not refuse his order, so he immediately drove to Jiuquan with more than 3,000 soldiers and horses of his cronies and began to build the Suzhou Acropolis. Seventy miles west of the Suzhou Acropolis is the famous Jiayuguan, which is the westernmost part of the actual control of the Ming Dynasty.

At this time, Jiayuguan was not the first male pass in the world in later generations, but only a large castle built with sand and soil, in which there were only 263 soldiers, 128 mules and horses, and there was a garrison and a general commander, and it governed 39 small piers nearby. However, Jiayuguan has a unique condition, that is, there are wells in the city and springs in the mountains, so they are not afraid of being cut off from the water source.

As long as the Jiayu Pass is held, it is the necessary place for the western feudal domains to attack the Hexi Corridor, so the Ming generation is vigorously managing this place.

Zhu Ao handed over the Suzhou Acropolis and Jiayuguan to Geng Bingwen to be responsible, firstly, because he was the first good general in the world and had a lot of experience in building cities; The second is that it is better to make merit than to make mistakes, after the rebellion of thousands of households was revealed, anyone could guess that Geng Bingwen was behind the scenes, but Zhu Ao did not continue to pursue it, which is equivalent to letting him go. At this time, when Geng Bingwen was sent to build the city, there was a little bit of a taste of making him guilty and making meritorious contributions. If Geng Bingwen does a good job, Zhu Ao can not blame him for his past, if he still cheats and cheats, then this matter will be caused by Lao Zhu, and I am afraid that Zhu Yunwen will not be able to protect him. After all, Zhu Ao has already let you go once, and you still don't know the importance of it, it really can't be said.

How could Geng Bingwen not know Zhu Ao's intentions, he was really surprised by the scheming of this prince, no matter how he looked at him, he didn't look like a sixteen-year-old person. In any case, Geng Bingwen was still very concerned about the construction of the city, because he knew that when he followed Lao Zhu to fight the world, Lao Zhu used the method of inspecting the construction of the city to catch the pigtails of the generals who disobeyed Lao Zhu, and from then on ordered unification. He didn't want to touch this brow.

The Acropolis of Suzhou was handed over to Geng Bingwen, and the Acropolis of Ganzhou (Zhangye) Zhu Ao wanted to be responsible for himself. After all, this Yecheng is the place where he Zhu Ao settled down. What's more, although there are Suzhou Acropolis and Jiayu Pass in front, the Uighur soldiers and horses have broken through Jiayu Pass many times in history and reached the city of Zhangye.

According to the records of Ganzhou Prefecture, from the first year of Ming Yingzong's orthodoxy to the sixteenth year of Ming Sizong's Chongzhen, during the two hundred years, there were more than 50 large and small wars in Ganzhou, and an average of less than four years was fought.

At this time, the city wall was still the scale of the Yuan Dynasty, with a circumference of nine miles and thirty steps, and after Zhu Ao took Qu Neng to inspect a circle, he decided to expand three miles and 327 steps on this basis, so that its total circumference reached one hundred and twenty miles and three hundred and fifty-seven steps. In addition, the city wall was increased to three zhang and two feet, that is, 10.6 meters, and widened to three zhang and seven feet, that is, more than 12 meters. Open a gate in the southeast, northwest, and northwest directions, build a semicircular urn city outside the city gate again, build a corner tower at the four corners of the city, surround the moat outside the city wall, and the water depth is more than one battle.

In addition, he urged the craftsmen to replace all the wooden gates with iron gates. Zhu Ao also wants to wrap all the walls of Ganzhou with bricks, but there is no such condition yet, so he can only wait for later.

In order to strengthen the defense of the city wall, Zhu Ao decided to add six horse faces to each wall. The so-called horse face, also known as the enemy platform, is a part of the city wall that protrudes outwards and can be used to attack the enemy under the city wall with crossfire.

Zhu Ao was very interested in this kind of building, you know, when the enemy rushed to the edge of the city wall to dig a pit, he was suddenly attacked by the front and left three sides of the fire, how uncomfortable the situation would be.

And the horse face is solid, even if you dig up the horse face, you won't be able to enter the city. Zhu Ao also decided to build a hollow enemy platform on the horse face, so that the soldiers defending the city could live in it with grain, grass and ammunition, and it was very convenient to fight the enemy.

It's not enough to just build the city walls, but you also need sophisticated equipment to defend the city. Bows, arrows, knives and guns are essential, but firearms must also be taken seriously.

Although the firearms of the early Ming Dynasty were not powerful enough to hang cold weapons, they also had a strong lethality, such as the iron mortar (mortar), attack artillery, god gun car cannon, general cannon, second general gun, etc., the firing range reached one mile to several miles, and the Yuan Dynasty people were proud of the stone throwing machine, the range was only 300 meters. With the great development of artillery, the stone throwing machine has gradually withdrawn from the stage of history.

It is said that when Lao Zhu was roaring Jianghuai, a craftsman named Jiao Yu came to him and offered a firearm he had made himself. Zhu Yuanzhang was very happy, and he made firearms for himself, so that Zhu Yuanzhang's righteous army was the only army in the Jiangnan righteous army that used firearms as standard equipment, and made great efforts for Zhu Yuanzhang to compete for the world.

In the famous Battle of Poyang Lake, Lao Zhu used firearms to restrain Chen Youliang's big ship. There is no record in the historical records that Chen Youliang used firearms on a large scale, which shows his own indifference to firearms, and it is also an important reason why he finally lost the world.

There has always been such a story among the people of Nanjing, saying that after Zhu Yuanzhang repaired the city wall of Nanjing, he climbed the Purple Mountain surrounded by ministers and his sons. Looking at the Ming city wall with tigers standing on the dragon plate and the city walls like iron, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't stop nodding his head, and he could be high-spirited. However, his fourteen-year-old son Zhu Di said something that made people unhappy: "Cannons were put on the Purple Mountain, and the cannons hit the Forbidden City." Zhu Yuanzhang was shocked when he heard this, because at this time, the commanding heights such as Purple Mountain, Shogunate Mountain, and Yuhuatai were all outside the city, and the distance from the Forbidden City was only one or two thousand meters, and the cannon could reach it, which was extremely unfavorable for defense.

Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang, who was stable by nature, ordered the construction of the outer city in the ninth year of Hongwu, with a circumference of 180 miles, and 18 city gates such as Xianhe Gate and Qilin Gate, including the commanding heights such as the Purple Mountain.

The above historical data shows that firearms in the early Ming Dynasty already had a certain power. Although at this time it was still mainly cold weapon warfare, and Lao Zhu's troop establishment was 20 knives, 40 guns, 30 arrows, and 10 guns, that is, only 10 percent of the firearms were firearms, and the main force of the attack was still 40 percent of the pikemen, but at this time, some firearms, especially artillery, could already play a role in breaking up the enemy's formation and deterring the enemy's troops, and should be taken seriously.

Zhu Ao, who came from later generations, naturally knew that firearms were the general trend of the development of weapons in the future, but he was a science idiot, and he only knew that the muskets of later generations could be fired continuously, and they were metal bullets, not lead bullets, as for how to get them, he didn't know anything. I can only tell this to the craftsmen, hoping that they will figure out the way out.

Zhu Ao ordered the head of the craftsman to lead the craftsmen to make a large number of iron mortar cannons, god guns, attack cannons, general cannons, second general cannons, carrying guns and other firearms and placed them on the city wall. The artillery of the early Ming Dynasty could not solve the problem of recoil, and could only fix the artillery on the ground and fire, when attacking the city, it was not conducive to improvisation, but it was unique to defend the city.

Looking at Zhangye's increasingly strong city walls and increasingly perfect firearms system, Zhu Ao felt at ease, so that he was more confident to protect his territory and family. He is different from King Su in history, he never thought of leaving Zhangye and running to the rear to enjoy happiness. He wants to take the Hexi Corridor with Zhangye as the center as a base and establish his hegemony step by step.

The time came to the end of November of the lunar calendar, and it was already very cold in Zhangye at this time, and everyone was wearing cotton clothes. After Zhu Ao completed his daily routine inspection, he returned to the palace accompanied by Huai'en.

Dai Nu was wearing a red coat, waiting for Zhu Ao at the gate of the palace, and when he saw Zhu Ao coming back, he immediately walked up quickly and said, "Lord, someone is coming from the palace." Let you take the order. ”

"Order?" Zhu Ao had a big doubt in his heart, what is the matter with Lao Zhu looking for me? Is it because I almost provoked a mutiny to scold me, or because I gave him and Zhu Yunwen a step to praise me.

Seeing Zhu Ao's frowns, Dai Nu thought about it, stepped forward and hugged him and said, "What's wrong with the prince?" ”

Zhu Ao said: "What is the demeanor and tone of the person who came, is it kind or straight-faced?" ”

Dai Nu said: "There is no expression, but it is very polite to us, that is, I want you to hurry up and receive the order." ”

Forget it, it's a blessing or a curse, and you can't avoid it.

Zhu Ao hugged Dai Nu and said, "Go, go with this king to meet him." ”

Zhu Ao came to the main hall of the palace, set up a case and burned incense, and then led the people of the palace to kneel on the ground to receive the order.

The eunuch who announced the decree sang in a shrill voice: "Fengtian carries the emperor, summons and says: The fourteenth son of the emperor, Su Wang, has been away from Beijing for a year, and I miss my mother very much. Chin this. ”

Zhu Ao's heart was confused, why did I want to go back just a few days after I came, but he still received the decree and thanked him, and said: "The son of the minister has the decree, may my father live long live." ”

The eunuch helped Zhu Ao up and said, "Lord Wang, get up quickly." ”

Zhu Ao stood up and said, "Dare to ask my father-in-law, are my father and mother okay?" ”

The eunuch who announced the decree immediately shook his mind and said, "Slaves and maids dare not be. The emperor and the mother are fine, the mother misses the prince very much, before the slave and maid came, the mother specially asked the slave and the maid to inform the prince to return to Beijing as soon as possible. ”

Zhu Ao thought of this mother who loved him so much, and he couldn't help but mourn in his heart, and said: "I miss my mother too, I have Father-in-law." My father-in-law stayed here for two days, and the king arranged to return to Beijing with my father-in-law. ”

The eunuch bowed down and said, "The slave and maid obey the king's orders." ”

The prince is going back to Beijing to face the saint, and the palace is naturally busy again. The system designed by Lao Zhu for Zhu Ao is very perfect, even if Zhu Ao is not in the palace, all the work of the Su Fan can be carried out in an orderly manner.

Zhu Ao decided to only take Dai Nu back this time, firstly, Dai Nu wanted to go back to see Niangniang, and secondly, the capital was Lan Youcheng's sad place after all, and she was Lan Yu's daughter, so it was really inappropriate to be taken to the capital by Zhu Ao in such a grand manner.

In order to make up for Lan Youcheng, Zhu Ao stayed in Lan Youcheng's room for the past two days. Lan Youcheng lay on the bed, hugged Zhu Ao's neck and said, "I'm afraid it will take a few months for the prince to come back, will he think of the slave?" ”

Zhu Ao smiled: "You serve this king so comfortably, how can this king not want you, this king doesn't take you to the capital, there is still a layer of meaning, do you know?" ”

Lan Youcheng leaned his head on Zhu Hao's chest and said, "Of course the slave knows that the prince wants the slave to give the prince a good look at the money and grain accounts of our Su Domain. ”

Zhu Ao turned over and pressed Lan Youcheng under him, and said, "I know that I can't hide it from the eyes of you, a ghost elf, I finally took back the financial power, you have to show me a good look." You can't tell anyone anything about your accounts except your king. ”

Lan Youcheng raised his head and kissed Zhu Ao's mouth, and said, "Don't worry, Lord Wang." The prince trusts the slave and maid so much, and the slave and maid are in the mansion, even if the Jade Emperor descends to earth, he will not want to ask a word from the slave maid's mouth. ”

Zhu Ao smiled and said: "You little girl is going to please this king, this king can warn you, if you dare to take advantage of this king's time to steal men, this king will send you to a slave camp from the beginning." ”

Lan Youcheng's face changed, and with a crying voice, she said, "In the eyes of the prince, is the slave and maid this kind of shameless woman?" Since the prince distrusts the slave and maid so much, the slave and maid have no choice but to die. "Anyway, I want to turn over.

Zhu Ao pressed her on the bed and said, "Why do you all like to die so much?" Can't you hear that this king is deliberately teasing you? How could the woman of this king take a fancy to someone else! ”

Lan Youcheng cried: "The slave maid is born as the prince's person, and death is the prince's ghost." How can you be a prince and make such a joke? Besides........."

Before she could finish speaking, Zhu Ao blocked her mouth.

The next day, Zhu Ao took Dai Nu and Huai En and a group of guards to enter Beijing with the eunuch Xuanzhi, this time down the river, the speed was much faster, after more than ten days of trekking, Zhu Ao and others came to the capital smoothly.

The first thing is naturally to visit Lao Zhu. Zhu Ao put on his court clothes and came to the Forbidden City Hall where he had been absent for a long time, and after seeing Zhu Yuanzhang, he bowed his head and said: "My son will visit my father, may my father live long live!" ”

Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at Zhu Ao expressionlessly, and said, "Get up, you have worked hard all the way." ”

Zhu Ao slowly stood up and said, "Thank you father, my sons miss my father and mother, and I don't feel hard. ”

Zhu Yuanzhang asked inexplicably: "How is your Tuntian?" ”

Zhu Ao knew that Lao Zhu would definitely ask about this matter, and he had already prepared for this, and said: "Back to my father, my son has reclaimed 5 million acres of fertile land, and all of them have been sown, and the water conservancy system has also been completed, and it is expected that food self-sufficiency will be achieved next year, and I will no longer worry about my father." ”

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly, his children can be self-reliant and no longer rely on the family, which is what every parent is willing to see, but the so-called deep love and responsibility, Lao Zhu thinks that Zhu Ao's approach is very dangerous, so he can't help but mention him, and said: "I heard that you almost had a mutiny there, but is it true?" ”